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Heavenly Father, as we open your
Word together to listen to you, I just ask that your Spirit might
cause each of us to hear what we need to for this day, for
your purposes, for your glory, for our edification, where there
is teaching, where there is correction, rebuke, training, whatever is
needed in each of us, Lord, that your Spirit might be doing that
work in us, that we might live in this world as those who are
representative of your children that we might live more Christ-like
before a dying world that so desperately needs to see Him.
So we ask for that blessing this morning in Christ's name. Amen. Well, this morning we've come
to our final message in our study of Hebrews. Every time we get
to an end of a book, which isn't too often, but when I do, I always
find myself wanting to kind of take everything I've learned,
everything I've gleaned through it and go back to the beginning
and start studying it all over again. No, we're not gonna do
that. But Hebrews is certainly one
of those books. As difficult as this book is,
it's been an incredible, incredible adventure to study over the past
year. We've gazed upon the glory of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, together and here at the end
we've been challenged with how to live in this world in light
of who he is and in light of all that he has accomplished
on our behalf. A year ago when we began this
study, I said there is no person that even begins to come close
to Him. There is an infinite chasm between
sinful humanity and the perfect God-man. There is none that is
more captivating than He is. There is none more beautiful,
none more glorious, none more exhilarating than Him. And we've
seen much of that here in Hebrews. He is the eternal God, the second
person of the triune Godhead through whom all that was made
was made. And although He is eternal God
and our Creator, He willingly humbled Himself for us. It was He who added humanity
to His deity that He might redeem undeserving sinners to Himself
by giving Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf. And
of course, because of His sinless nature, He was raised from the
dead, is now exalted to the right hand of the Father. He is our
better High Priest who is continually interceding for His people. He
is Lord who is about to return and judge in shaking the nations. He is about to judge the nations,
establish His kingdom which is an everlasting unshakable kingdom. A kingdom where righteousness
dwells, where God will be honored forever. with the perfect worship
do His name from His creatures whose hearts will be perfected
in their love for Him. This is our Christ. This is our
Savior. This is our Lord. This is our
Creator. This is our God. And we who by
God's grace have come to faith in Him are a multitude of sinners
who have experienced the unfathomable mercy and saving grace of God. We are those who have been forgiven
for our sin. We are those who have been made
alive in Christ. We are new creatures who now
find it our greatest joy to worship Him, to adore Him, the one who
gave Himself to save us from our sin through the shedding
of His own blood. Jesus is our salvation. He is
the focal point of our faith. He is the focal point of our
hope, the focal point of our love. And Hebrews has helped
us to fix our eyes upon Him. Our goal in studying this book was
to have our hearts endeared even more to Him. to stir deeper affections
for Him, to engage our lives in more consistent, heartfelt
obedience to Him, to, I guess to sum it up, to elevate our
worship of Christ. As we've learned, He is the radiance
of God's glory, the exact representation of His nature, better than the
angels, than Moses, better than the Old Testament high priests,
the new covenant cut in His blood, His once-for-all-time sacrifices,
better than the Old Testament sacrifices that had to be repeated
over and over. He is now resurrected in the
Holy of Holies, serving as our better High Priest, interceding
for us continually, and has procured for us perfect and perpetual
access to fellowship with God so that we can always, anytime,
draw near. This is what Hebrews has shown
us about our Christ. And so our affections for Christ
should should be reignited. Reignited to the place of counting
all other things but rubbish. Our hearts longing to know in
greater and greater measure the glory of our God seen in the
face of Christ. He is the surpassing eternal
treasure of the redeemed. We've seen that in our study
of these 13 chapters. Now that we're finishing the
book, we need to remember this word of exhortation, this gift
from God that we call Hebrews, because it is so practical for
today to keep us close to Him. We need to stay in it, not just
leave it and go on to the next book, but remember what's here
and to revisit it often. The world is filled with deception. The world is filled with darkness
that's distracting many Christians from their first love. We're
becoming preoccupied with the world around us and all the trinkets
it has to offer today. John told us in 1 John 2 to not
love the world. For the lust of the eyes, the
lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life are not of the
Father. We need to be careful that we
aren't becoming entangled, that we aren't becoming infatuated
with the world. And in doing so, losing our love
for Christ and thus our testimony for Him in this world. Our affections
need to be nurtured toward Him, always to be set on Him and growing. When our affections aren't upon
Him, they need to be turned and cultivated in that direction.
And Hebrews is God's grace, it's God's fuel for that repentance. You might remember when we started
this study, I mentioned Thomas Chalmers, the Scottish minister
who said, The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection
is by the expulsive power of a new one. He said, we know of
no other way by which to keep the love of the world out of
the heart than to keep in our hearts the love of God. No other
way by which to keep our hearts in the love of God than building
ourselves up on our most holy faith. The love of God and the
love of the world aren't just two competing affections. They
are at enmity with one another and are so irreconcilable that
they cannot dwell together in the same soul. The only way to
dispossess that old affection is by the expulsive power of
a new one." To tear away an old affection
for the world from the heart, we need to be regularly exposed
to a new affection that is so attractive it would render obsolete
all the other old affections. And Hebrews gives us Jesus as
that expulsive power, that power that pulls our affections away
from the world and toward Him. That emanciating power is the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Gospel. to rid himself of worldliness,
to rid himself of the preoccupation with self, to rid himself from
the arrogance and pride that rises up in our flesh that thinks
we are the autonomous rulers over our own life, to rid ourselves
of dwindling affections for Christ, we must, by faith, set our eyes
back upon the glory of Christ. It's in gazing even more upon
Christ, His person, His past and present and future work for
us, His glory, His beauty, His love for us, that the things
of this world once again grow strangely dim. It's as we press in to learn
more of Him that our affections for the world disintegrate and
cease to control us. Our pride is torn down and our
affections for Christ rise up to new heights of radical love
for Him, which is then seen in our growing obedience to Him. Peter commands us to do that
in 2 Peter 3.18 when he says, grow in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are to be progressing. Paul commands us in Colossians
3 to keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated
at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above,
not on things that are on earth. John said in his gospel in chapter
17 verse 3 that this is eternal life that they might know you,
the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Knowing God,
knowing Christ is eternal life. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4,
6, For God who said light shall shine out of darkness is the
one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Christ. It's Christ who perfectly
communicates the glory of God, the light, the truth of the knowledge
of the glory of God is found in the face of Christ. This is what Paul was so passionate
about in his preaching. He says in Philippians 3.8, I
count all things to be lost because of the surpassing value of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things and count them but rubbish so that I might gain Christ. I want more of Him. His prayer for the Colossians
was that they would be multiplying in the full knowledge of God.
Christ is the treasure of the universe. And when we see Him
as such, when He holds that place in our hearts, we will consider
obedience to Him our greatest privilege, submission to Him
and His commands our greatest honor. Is that where your heart is? If Christ has become dull to
the Christian, it's only because we've taken our gaze off of him
and let the world around us entice us away. But Hebrews reminds us that our
calling isn't to settle down in this world. Hebrews reminds
us that we aren't to be captivated with what this world has to offer,
but to stay captivated with Christ. Not to shrink back even when
suffering comes for His namesake, but to press forward in faith
like those who have gone before us did, who lived and even died. in faith, still looking for a
better country, a city prepared for them, a heavenly one where
righteousness dwells and the righteous king rules. Hebrews
cultivates those affections for Christ. It revives our drooping
and discouraged spirits and causes us to press on to the glory that
awaits us. That's the purpose for Hebrews. That's what we've been learning
and hopefully that's where your heart has been moved to closer
to Christ because of our time here. So after 42 weeks of being saturated
in Hebrews, Where is your heart? Where is your heart? The real test to find out is
in chapter 13 that we've been looking at. Jesus said in John 14, 15, If
you love Me, you will, what? Keep My commandments. If you love Me, you will keep
My commandments. So chapter 13 of Hebrews is kind
of the litmus test. Do you rejoice in all these exhortations
that we've been looking at in chapter 13? Do you see them as
right for your life, as those things which you want to do and
are praying and laboring to have them integrated into your life?
This is what you're wanting to be growing in because of who
Christ is and all that he's done on your behalf. Are you continually
showing gratitude to God? Chapter 12, verse 28. Are you letting love of the brethren
continue? Chapter 13, verses 1 through
4. Are you honoring marriage and
keeping yourself sexually pure? Verse 4. Are you continually
being content with what God has given? Verses 5 and 6. Are you
imitating the faith of your leaders? Verses 7 and 8. Are you keeping
yourself from strange doctrine, false doctrine, even worldly
philosophies that are in opposition to God's Word? Verses 8 and 9. Are you continually offering
sacrifices of praise? If those exhortations there are
right in your eyes, if that's been welling up in you and you've
been putting those things into practice out of your love for
Christ, then Hebrews has had a positive effect on your soul. But if not, you need to go back to chapter
1, verse 1, and ask God to help you learn Christ and treasure
Christ so you can live like Christ. Because all these exhortations
are Christ-like behavior. And the one who truly loves Christ
will want to live in this way, pleasing to Him. Now as we come to the final nine
verses, we conclude our study with two final exhortations. Two more to add to the other
seven that we've been looking at. The first we're looking at
is dealing with honoring the leadership God has given to the
church. The second one is the final exhortation
which is to make the most of all that we've learned in these
13 chapters. Well, let's look at this eighth
exhortation as we finish up the book of Hebrews. We find it in
verses 17 through 21, and it's exhorting us to honor the leadership
in the church. And you notice this is the longest
one that we've seen so far. And so I want to kind of divide
it up into five parts. This is a very, very important
exhortation. And it's especially important
for when a church is in a difficult situation or having in difficult
circumstances like this particular church was. Which is why I think
there is more ink used here than any of the other exhortations.
Remember they were being persecuted, they were suffering, and times
like that are not only trying on the leadership's ability to
lead in keeping with God's Word, but also the congregation's willingness
to obey and stay in submission to that leadership as they all
go through that together. So this eighth exhortation is
very important. Verse 17 begins by simply stating
that the church is to obey your leaders and submit to them. Now the words obey and submit
are two words that cause most people to kind of bow up quicker
than anything. The fallen nature is rebellious
and even Christians who have a new nature struggle with the
old Add to that the fact that most of us have been abused by
authority in some way, and that leaves us very, very skeptical
about someone's sincere care for us. And so we have a hard
time with obedience. We have a hard time with submission
to anyone, especially when you're an American,
doubly especially when you're a Texan. So those two words are difficult
to hear. And yet God calls us to honor our church leaders by
obeying and submitting to them. And this isn't a little thing
because he brings up leaders three times here. In verse 7,
we were told to imitate them. Here in verse 17, we're told
to obey and submit to them. And in verse 24, we're told to
greet them. So your willingness to honor
the church's leaders is important. God puts a high priority on it. Why? Well, because Christ mediates
much of His rule over the church through them. Christ mediates much of His rule
over His church through them. So in reality, when you obey
your leaders and submit to them, it is Christ you're obeying or
not obeying. When your leaders teach and preach
as they bring the Word of God to bear upon a congregation or
an individual or are giving guidance and counsel to the body from
biblical principles, they are simply acting as under shepherds,
shepherding God's flock as sort of a surrogate. That's why the
requirements for elders are so high. They are to be men who
know the Word and are controlled by the Spirit of God, who have
been gifted for that particular task. Once a pastor strays from God's
Word or God's principles given to us in His Word, once he ceases
to be controlled by the Spirit in his attitudes and actions,
he is no longer functioning the way Christ would have him. But
when He is, the weight of responsibility falls on you to obey and submit
because in reality, you're obeying or rejecting Christ, not Him. Christ gave leaders to the church
for the purpose of helping her to mature. That's what Ephesians
4 tells us in verse 11, it says, and he, Christ, he gave some,
he himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some
as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers, why? For the equipping
of the saints for the work of service to the building up of
the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith
and of the full knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man
to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness
of Christ. That's why as Paul was planning
churches, he appointed elders in every church. He instructed Titus to appoint
elders when he went to Crete. Paul's helpers were given lists,
in fact, in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 in order to identify the men
God would have as elders and appoint them as leaders over
the churches. Their responsibilities were to
teach. Their responsibilities were to
preach the Word of God, to feed the flock, so they could spiritually
grow, to shepherd the flock, to guard the flock, to protect
the flock, to pray for the flock, to give oversight to Christ's
church. That's the responsibility. And
the responsibility of the flock is to obey your leaders and submit
to them as they do that work. Yes, I'll be the first one to
admit it. There are pastors who abuse their
role, who are in it for money, who are in it for power, who
are in it for their egos, a lot of things other than their love
for Christ and their love for people. And so it's incumbent
upon the flock to know their shepherd. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians
5, 12, but we ask of you, brothers, that you know those who labor
among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you. Know them,
watch their lives, understand their labor and love for you.
But it also says that as you do, that you regard them very
highly in love because of their work. So you're to obey. That is, as
they teach God's Word, you're to be like a Brean, to check
them out and then make sure you're obeying what they teach. Obey
them as they bring God's Word to bear upon you. And so I ask
you, all these exhortations that I've been teaching here out of
chapter 12 and chapter 13 at the end of Hebrews here, I ask
you, are you applying them? Are you applying them? That's
the issue here. Are you actively showing gratitude to God? Are
you letting brotherly love continue? Are you thinking about that and
applying it in your daily life? Are you honoring marriage and
keeping the marriage bed undefiled? Are you content with what God
has given you? If you aren't, if you're just
coming and going and putting no thought into what you're learning
so as to apply it to your life, then you are disobedient. not to the one proclaiming the
word, but to Christ. So you're called here to obey
and submit. Submission has the idea of yielding. of yielding to someone else because
you recognize them as having greater authority than you. So
you give way to their guidance. That's honoring them. Rather
than bowing up in prideful rebellion, rather than being arrogant, rather
than being full of strife and dissension, bucking their insight
and wisdom because you think you know better. No, you're to
yield to them. You're to yield to them. And the reason you should be
willing to do that is found in the next phrase here, for they
keep watch over your souls. There are times when I think
I care for people's souls more than they care for their own
souls. I'm giving them truth, I'm giving
direction, I'm going before God begging on their behalf and they
just continue to live like they want to live. They ignore, they
reject the truth that is coming to them. Some of you might remember Tom
Landry. He was a coach of the Dallas
Cowboys when I was a kid and when the Dallas Cowboys actually
had a team. This is what he told the players. He said that my job is to make
them do what they don't want to do so they can become what
they say they want to become. That's often the way it is with
believers. They have some issue they're dealing with, and you
tell them to get into God's Word, to listen to Him. You bring biblical
principles to bear upon their lives. You tell them to learn
Christ, to apply His Word in specific areas. And sometimes
people just don't want to do it. They profess to love Christ
and want to grow to be more like Him, but they don't obey, as
if God's Word isn't sufficient. As if God's word is insufficient
and they don't care what you're talking about. So they just disbelieve
and leave. They won't submit. And because
of their negligence, because of their neglect and disobedience,
they don't grow closer to God. And James says, God resists the
proud, but gives grace to who? The humble. One of the unique
features of humility is that it is a teachable spirit. Pride
is not. My Bible says God's word restores
the soul, revives the heart, makes wise the simple, rejoices
the heart, enlightens the eye, it gives life, it sanctifies.
Then the pastor tries to gently lead people in it to that end
and they disobey, they won't submit, they disregard everything
that's said. And so they don't get what they
say they want. The great burden of the pastor
is for others to know God and to walk with Him, not only for
God's glory, but for their present and eternal good and joy, for
those they're ministering to. We're concerned with who is saved
and who isn't. We're concerned with where people
are going to spend, where they're gonna spend eternity. We're concerned
with the witness they're living before the world now. We're concerned
with their fruitfulness. We're concerned with their progress
in Christ, that they're becoming more and more Christ-like. We're
concerned with what's happening on the inside of people. So like Paul said in Colossians
1, 28 and 29, him we proclaim. admonishing every man and teaching
every man with all wisdom so that we might present every man
complete in Christ. That's the goal to which the
pastor labors and strives. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12
15, So I will most gladly spend and be fully spent for your souls. Not for his comfort. For your
souls. for the good of the flock, for
those whom Christ died for. And so your obedience to your
leaders, teaching of God's word and submission to our guidance
is crucial for your spiritual growth, honoring the pastors
who God has given charge over you. As we listen to this, keep
watch over your soul. But I think second, to help you
obey and submit in this area of obedience and submission,
it's important to remember the accountability that pastors have. We're those who watch over your
souls, here it is, as those who will give an account. There is
an accountability before God for how we have cared for those
God has entrusted to us. If my love for God and my love
for people wasn't so great, this accountability alone would keep
me from doing what I'm doing. It scares the fire out of me
continually. And I think that's the way it's
supposed to be. In Ezekiel 34, the shepherds
in Israel got severely rebuked for using the flock for their
own selfish gain. Thus saith the Lord Yahweh, woe
shepherds of Israel who have been shepherding themselves.
Should not the shepherds shepherd the flock? You eat the fat and
clothe yourselves with wool, you sacrifice the fat sheep in
shepherding of the flock. Those who are sickly you have
not strengthened, and the diseased you have not healed, and the
broken you have not bound up, and the scattered you have not
brought back. Nor have you searched for the lost, but with strength
and with severity you have dominated them. That's a frightening rebuke.
They love themselves. Add to that what James says in
chapter 3 verse 1, Do not many of you become teachers, my brothers,
knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment? Christ cares
about the spiritual food that His flock is being fed. He cares about the examples that
are set before you, the attitudes and actions. So the pastor carries a weight
of responsibility in his teaching and in his living. So to help you honor the church's
leaders, remember they will be held accountable for their care
for you. And third, remember, they're
laboring for your benefit. Obey and submit so that the pastors
who are caring for you will do this, it says, with joy and not
with groaning, for this would be unprofitable for you. Notice
that God here is concerned for the pastor's well-being too.
First and foremost, we're sheep too. Pastors are sheep, too. But as an under-shepherd, God
desires that the work we've been given to do, the caring for His
people, would be something that is joyful, that's exhilarating.
And believe me, it can be. I mean, the highest height of
joy to see people walking as the Lord would have them. I listen
to testimonies of what God does in people's lives and it brings
tears to my face every time. It's beautiful. John said in
3 John 4, I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children
are walking in the truth. That is true, no greater joy.
That's all we want. That's what God used in us. That's what He put in us to get
us to shepherd the flock. That's part of the gifting. Many of you fit into this category
that makes me absolutely filled with joy 99% of the time. I mean, there's so many people
in this body that I've watched over the years that have continued
to walk with God, that have grown, that are bearing fruit. Just
so many people that are active in other people's lives and sharing
and being productive for the Lord and finding joy in their
own hearts from just walking with Him. And it just, I'm stunned. I'm just so thankful to the Lord
for that increase that they've received. There are husbands
and wives in this body who I've watched over the years grow closer
to the Lord, and in doing so, growing closer to one another,
ministering as one on the same page, praying together, fighting
the battles together, growing together, finding joy in the
marriage, bearing fruit. I find myself just really tearing
up. This is better than a Disney
movie, you know? I just tear up when I see the
grace of God impact people's lives. But I've also seen people harden
their heart to the Word of God. I've also seen people dig in
their heels. I've also seen people refuse
to humble themselves, refuse to listen to God speak through
His Word, refuse to come under the leadership. And there is
nothing more devastating, nothing more destructive than that. And
the sorrow and pain is felt deeply by the pastors. It can cause
groaning. You pray for good and they choose
evil and it can become almost unbearable. Numbers 12.3 tells
us Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth
and Israel in their rebellion and their stubbornness drove
him to sin against God, hitting a rock rather than speaking to
it. They grieved him so bad. Jeremiah is called the crying
prophet. He wrote lamentations which is
a dirge over Israel because of their hard-heartedness, the judgment
that they were going to receive. Jesus wept over Jerusalem because
of their unbelief and arrogance and refusal to repent and receive
him as their Messiah. Truth and love calling out to
them like a hen wanting to gather her chicks and yet they refused. The pastor wants good for the
people, joy and peace to abound and yet people rebel and it can
emotionally break a leader to the place of groaning. So a pastor's heart is taken
from the highest highs. I always describe ministry this
way. It is the highest highs you can have as a person here
this side of glory and the lowest lows. Maybe within a few hours. It can be filled with sorrow
when someone in his flock isn't walking with God. All that to
say your obedience or lack thereof affects your pastors. And God
takes note of it. God takes note of it. But you know the saddest thing
is that the sheep who refuse to obey, who refuse to submit,
who refuse to repent, who refuse the guidance and care of the
pastors are the ones who get hurt the most. That's what it says at the end
of verse 17. For this would be unprofitable
for you. It would be unprofitable for
you. Loss of joy, loss of fruitfulness,
loss of opportunity to honor God, loss of eternal rewards.
To not obey and to submit to those who are trying to care
for you spiritually is to shut off your spiritual progress until
you repent. Let me give you a fourth way
to honor the church leaders. Pray for us. I'm convinced this is the greatest
way to keep your pastors in line and on fire and to keep your
own hearts able to receive from them is to pray for them. I know
this goes on here. I'm not sure I'd be standing
here anymore if I didn't know people were praying for me. I
feel the effects of the prayers in my life. Pray for us, the author says
in verse 19. Take those who are your leaders,
take us before the throne room of God that Jesus, our high priest,
has given us access to, to boldly draw near and plead to God on
our behalf. We are weak. We are mere men. We can be foolish. We can be
sinful. We're constantly dealing with
our own feelings of inadequacy. And yet we want to minister to
you in the power of the Spirit for your sake, for your advancement,
for your fruitfulness. So pray for us. We are desperately
needed. The warfare can be intense. It
can be constant. It can be debilitating at times.
And yet there is work to do. We just can't sit around and
mope. So pray for us. If we're going to be men of deep
conviction, men of resolve, men who can minister as clean vessels
for the Holy Spirit to use, men who have wisdom to lead, to equip
you, to love you, to pray for you, we need prayer ourselves. All of those are reasons to pray
for your leaders. But he gives two specific reasons
here that we're to pray for them. First, he says, for we are convinced
that we have a good conscience desiring to conduct ourselves
well in all things. In other words, our consciences
are clean. There's nothing that we know
of that we're doing wrong before God. Our intentions are clean
in sending you this letter. There's no hidden agenda. We
aren't after money or some ulterior motive. It's solely for the glory
of Christ and the edification of His church. It's to help you
all set your eyes upon the person and the work of Christ, to see
His supremacy over all things, so that you will experience the
faith to rise up and stand strong in the face of persecution, of
the persecution that you're experiencing. That was the heart of these pastors. wrote this letter and he says
so pray for us our conduct is in keeping with all that we've
exhorted you to do we aren't hypocrites but we say we say
that carefully because we are still mere men So pray for us
to that end. And just to show that in sincerity,
he goes on and he mentions here a second reason that he wanted
prayer from them. Verse 19, and I urge you all
the more to do this, that is to pray, so that I may be restored
to you the sooner. Sometimes it's easy to write
to people and tell them what to do when you're not in the
midst of their situation. Sometimes it's easy to do that,
but he says here, pray that we can be restored to you the sooner. In other words, we wanna be there
with you in your suffering. Even if we have to suffer with
you in the midst of it, we wanna be there to encourage you just
as we've written to you. That's the pastor's heart. Pray
for us so that we can be with you sooner. The pastor doesn't
run from difficult situations. He gets in the middle of it in
order to help people work through it in a way that is honoring
to God and beneficial for them. That's what he's asking them
to pray for here, that they might come sooner and be there to minister
to them in their suffering. So to honor the church's leaders,
first you need to obey your church leader. Second, you need to be
remembering their accountability before God. Third, you need to
be remembering their laboring on your benefit. Fourth, you
need to be praying for them. And fifth, the fifth point is
that you need to remember they're praying for you. Your pastors are praying for
you. That's what verses 20 and 21 are. It's a benediction, which
is simply a prayer. a request for divine blessing
on the people of God that they love so much. Not always, but
usually it comes at the end of the letter. That's the case here.
In verses 20 and 21, listen to it. Now the peace of God, who
brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep through
the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you in
everything to do his will by doing in us what is pleasing
in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever
and ever. Amen. That's this pastor's request
for his church. a blessing on all those He's
written these 13 chapters to. His great longing is that God
would equip them to do His will by doing what is pleasing in
His sight. Now that they know His will from this letter, they'll
need the power to step out and do it. And so he asks the only
one who has the power to do that, the God of peace, the only one
who can make true peace, lasting peace between God and man, and
who has provided for that through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
God is the one who brought up the dead The great brought up
from the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood
of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
resurrection power by which he is able to equip you. Verse 21,
in every good thing to do his will. Remember Philippians chapter
2 verse 12. Paul says, we are to work out
our salvation with fear and trembling. In other words, you're to put
forth sober effort to grow in Christ's likeness. Four, it is
God who is at work in you, both to will and to work according
to His good pleasure. In other words, you are working
and God is exerting His power in you to accomplish what He
desires. And you might be wondering, well,
what is my work? What's my part? The answer is
to yield to God's Word. Yield to God's Word. Your work
is to fight the flesh, to mortify the flesh and its tendencies.
Put off the sin that so easily besets you. Turn from it and
set your eyes on Christ. And in light of His glory, yield
to His word that directs you in His will so that you're doing
that which is pleasing in His sight. And as you do, the power
of God's word, powerful. is powerful enough to raise the
dead, it will be transforming you more and more in Christlikeness.
God's Word is the power of God unto salvation, is it not? Romans
1.16. And it is the sanctifying means by which we are changed.
John 17.17. It is the living and active power of God. Hebrews
4.12. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is that same
power that's working in you. that is able to do that transforming
work in you as you yield to His Word. The great motivation, of course,
to yield to His Word is God's love for us demonstrated on the
cross. What an incredible benediction
here. All that the author wants to see unfold in this suffering
church is able to unfold because he has confidence in God's resurrecting
power that's available to them because of what Christ has done
on their behalf. And so it's Jesus Christ to whom
be the glory forever and ever. All glory is to be given to him
because without him, the supreme one, the one whom God appointed
heir of all things, through whom he made the worlds, who is the
radiance of his glory, the exact representation of his nature
and upholds all things by the word of his power, who having
accomplished cleansing for sin, sat down at the right hand of
the majesty on high, who is better than the angels, better than
the Old Testament sacrifices, better than the Old Testament
priesthood, better than that old covenant, the one who's made
the way to glory for sinners through his own blood, his once
and for all sacrifice on our behalf to him, be the glory forever
and ever. Amen. That's his prayer. What an appropriate climactic
prayer for this church. So honor the church's leaders.
as you're remembering that they're praying for you. One last exhortation
in conclusion. Look at verse 22. But I urge
you brothers, bear with this word of exhortation. He's saying,
listen church, all of you, continually hear, continually listen, and
apply this word of exhortation. This word of exhortation is referring
to all 13 chapters. He's talking about the whole
book here. Soak it up. Revisit it and apply
it to your lives. Gaze upon Christ in it. Heed
the five warnings in it. Be the person of faith that it's
described here. Apply all the exhortations. Don't
be a person who is deceived, who merely hears the word and
doesn't do anything with it. That's what James 1.23 warns
about, right? Rather bear with it. That's the
last exhortation here. You say, well, it's such a long
book. I mean, you know, I got things
to do. I got YouTube videos to watch. I got an extra 45 minutes. Well, he actually says here,
for I've written to you briefly. Briefly. I mean, he could have
actually, he could have very easily written volumes on Christ
and volumes on the Old Testament system and volumes on faith. But as God does in the efficiency
of His communication and with His illumining work to help us
understand, the Spirit made it brief. You can read these 13
chapters through in 45 minutes or you can study them over 42
weeks. Bear with it. Revisit it. continually
hear, listen, and apply this word of exhortation. It's the
grace that we need to endure and live by faith in difficult
times. Verse 23 tells us about Timothy. Kind of an interesting thing
that he sticks him right here. He says, know that our brother
Timothy has been released. In other words, he had been in
jail and they released from prison. With whom, if he comes soon,
I will see you. There's a lot of reasons he could have inserted
that quick note about Timothy. But I think it was to hold him
up as a final example of someone who lived this book. Someone who treasured Christ.
Someone who understood the New Covenant. Someone who was living
by faith. Someone who was being persecuted
and yet endured. Someone who they knew well, someone
who they would have considered one of their leaders. In fact,
Timothy could have been the one who planted this church. That's
certainly what Paul had trained him to do. So he would have been
dear to them, a perfect example of them to enduring persecution
by faith and of a leader they needed to honor. And then comes
the final greeting here. Verse 24, greet all of your leaders
and all the saints. It's an expression of love, isn't
it? It isn't confined to just their immediate leaders, but
all of them. Not just some of the saints,
but all of them. Leave none out. In other words,
care for one another, love one another enough to greet them.
Greet all of them for us. It's another way of saying, we're
with you in this. We're with you in the trials
and your suffering. Greet those that, verse three,
remember, said were in prison and those who were being mistreated.
Can you imagine the encouragement that that would bring to the
body at large? Those, he says, from Italy greet
you. From the family here in Italy, all the believers here,
they greet you. One big family in different geographical
locations, but all caring for one another, concerned for one
another, praying for one another, expressing their love for one
another. Romans 16, this greeting went
on all over the place, as it should. Romans 16, 16, greet
one another with a holy kiss. 1 Corinthians 16, 20, all the
brethren greet you, greet one another with a holy kiss. 2 Corinthians
13, 12, greet one another with a holy kiss. 2 Corinthians 13,
13, all the saints greet you. 1 Peter 5, 14, greet one another
with a kiss of love. Again, family affection, family
affection bound together in Christ even with those they've never
met. And then he says, grace be with
you all. Let God's unmerited favor shown
to us in Christ be the overwhelming excitement for everyone. Let
it always be at the forefront of everyone's mind as we live
this life and even endure the suffering together by faith. in our glorious Christ until
he comes. We live in a world whose foundations
are shaking. But Hebrews reminds us that Christ
is supreme over all and is on his throne mediating as our high
priest even now. And His kingdom that He has made
us a part of through the new covenant cut in His blood cannot
be shaken. Therefore, we are not to cower
or become fearful or become complacent. We aren't to settle down and
be content with the things as they are, but to continue to,
by faith, press forward in obedience as our Lord and Savior did in
His earthly sojourn, continually advancing God's purposes. Hebrews
reminds us that when discouraged and tempted to give up, don't,
but press forward. And as we've seen, it gives us
plenty of motivations and incentives to do so. The most spectacular
of which is the reminder that the unshakable kingdom that we've
entered into by faith will soon be realized in its fullness,
a better country, a city, a kingdom, a heavenly home one where righteousness
dwells and our righteous King rules forever. Heavenly Father, we thank you
so much. What an incredible gift to us. Thank you so much for
helping us to see Christ more for who He is and reminding us
more of all that He's done on our behalf. It does excite our hearts. It
does move us to want to serve Him, to obey Him, to love Him
even more. Thank you for reminding us what
faith is and helping us to think through it and giving us just
an abundance of examples from the past that we can understand
it by. Most of all, thank you for our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is that perfect example for
us. We also want to thank you for
the exhortations at the end. We ask that you would, by your
resurrection power, be working in us all, that we might not
only cherish the righteousness that they represent, but that
it would be worked into our lives so we could live it out. Even today, in this world, where
we are now, for your glory, for the testimony of Christ in this
world, and for our joy, we ask in Christ's name. Amen.
Living in Light of the Unshakeable Kingdom: Part 4
Series Hebrews
| Sermon ID | 323251824572333 |
| Duration | 56:49 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Hebrews 13:17-25 |
| Language | English |
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