This morning, it's a short passage, just two verses that we will be looking at in Hebrews. As we conclude our study of this book, there's some interesting comments made at the end of the book about Italy. And I've only written to you briefly, and I'll leave it up to you to explore those fascinating topics. We'll concentrate just on this benediction that we find in verses 20 and 21 of Hebrews chapter 13. Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. The book of Hebrews ends with a benediction, two verses that summarize the grace that God has for us here. This is not a closing prayer. It's not a prayer at all. This is not addressed to God, but it is addressed to you. It's not a doxology where we ascribe glory to God. There is a brief one at the end of verse 21, to whom be glory forever and ever, amen. That's an ascription of praise or a doxology, but there is so much more that is here in these two verses. It's not a charge. That is, you and I are not being told to go and do something. Verse 22 is a charge, which we didn't read. I appeal to you brothers, bear with my word of exhortation for I have written to you briefly. There, they are being told to do something, but verses 20 and 21 is not a charge. This is a word of pure grace. It's a word. God himself is speaking to you. It's a word of grace. God is giving you something. It's a word of God's grace. It's not just a pious wish. This is God's word. It creates and it bestows, it communicates the very thing that is being said. And it's a word of grace that is to be received. Like every means of grace, it doesn't work like magic. It has to be heard. It has to be embraced. It has to be believed. And so this morning, what is it that God has for us in this benediction as it summarizes for us so much of what we have looked at in the book of Hebrews? We'll notice, first of all, that this word of grace comes from the God of peace. the God of peace, and what a wonderful name. We hear it so often in the Bible. Romans 15, may the God of peace be with you all. Romans 16, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. 1 Corinthians 14, God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. 2 Corinthians 13, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Philippians 4, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and the God of peace himself will be with you. 1 Thessalonians 5, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless. The God of peace. But why the God of peace? Isn't that what we really need? We're not at peace. Not with ourselves, not with others, not with God. We cannot create peace. The psychiatrists cannot create peace. The NAACP cannot create peace. The United Nations cannot create peace. Rules and regulations, the church cannot create peace. I've included a quote in your bulletin on the outline. This is a 19th century Anglican British Bishop B.F. Westcott, excellent commentator on a number of books in the New Testament, but he made this comment that got my attention this week. He says, it is through God as the author and giver of peace that man is able to find the harmony which he seeks in the conflicting elements of his own nature, in his relations with the world and in his relations to God himself. These three different realms. Within ourselves, things are not right. We're not at peace. In our relationships with other people, things are not right. And with God, often things are not right. We're conflicted within ourselves. People are so bruised and broken by the fall that they don't even know which bathroom to walk into. And I don't mean that as a joke. I mean that as something that is very sad about our culture, that people are so confused about who they are. It's just evidence of the Continuing evolution of the noetic effects of sin, the way that sin affects our minds, our personalities, our self-image. We don't know who we are. There's so much that is conflicted within us, so much confusion. The Bible refers to it as darkness. Ephesians chapter 4, beginning at verse 17, Paul writes, This I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. That is unbelievers, those who are outside of Christ. In the futility of their minds, they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality. greedy to practice every kind of impurity, but that is not the way that you have learned Christ. Sin works on the mind, it affects the heart, you get confused about who you are, and it comes out in some kind of sensual, impure behavior, confusion. People don't know who they are anymore, gender, sexual orientation, even race. People have gotten this idea, you know, I'm somebody, but I'm trapped in somebody else's body. And so I've got to find out who I am. In their confusion and lostness, they resort to self-destructive lifestyles, they self-medicate, they lash out at others, or they commit suicide. They've developed this platonic idea. The real person's inside, and I don't know whose body this is that I'm living in. I mean, that's the noetic effect of sin on the mind. It's darkness. They've lost all sense of why God created them and put them here and what they're doing. I mean, that's teaching people over a period of time that there is no God. He didn't create you. We have no idea why you're here. We're just here, so let's make the best of it. confused, unhappy with who they are. They've lost their way and there's no peace within. We clash with other people. Isn't this the root cause of all racial unrest? It's a sin. Isn't this the cause? Why marriages break down, they come apart. Isn't this why work becomes tedious? The workplace, violence in the workplace, road rage, people are short-tempered. There's no peace on earth. And we're at odds with God. You know, we don't want God telling us what to do. We don't want Jesus to tell it. We don't want to have to go by the Bible. I mean, even here in the South, we don't want to do that anymore. We've done it for too long. We want to do what we want to do. Who cares about right and wrong? I mean, who's to decide what is right? So there's no peace with God. The good news is that there is a God of peace, and he does resolve that conflict that is within us. He washes us clean, and then he grants that harmony that we yearn for with other people and with God. This God of peace has already done something wonderful for us. For us, all we like sheep who are constantly going astray. For us, he has provided a shepherd, a great shepherd. This is the only place in the book of Hebrews where Jesus is called a shepherd. It's kind of surprising. You know, why introduce this concept here at the end of the book? And yet it's a very appropriate description that summarizes all that Jesus is for us as we find it just being expounded throughout the book of Hebrews, that he is our prophet, our priest, our king, a great shepherd, guides and leads us into all of the truth. He lays down his life for the sheep. leads us into green pastures to nourish us, to defend us. He loves the sheep so much that he's willing to bear with our foolishness. And though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil because this great shepherd is with us. There's no doubt about who this good shepherd, this great shepherd is. Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus. Whenever a biblical author uses the name for Jesus, he says it exactly the way that he means it. Why not Lord Jesus Christ? Why not Christ? Why not just Jesus? He's got a purpose in saying it the way that he says it. Jesus. Speaks of the shepherd's humanity. He's one of us. He knows what it's like. We've read about the incarnation today. He knows exactly what it's like to live in this world. But he's Lord Jesus. Speaks of the shepherd's sovereignty. He's so much more than us. He's the son of God. And he's our Lord Jesus. He's for us. He's on our side. And through this good shepherd, the God of peace has done something for us. He gives us new life. He brought back, he brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is a public demonstration that the death of Jesus, the sacrifice of Jesus is acceptable to God. It did the very thing that God wanted it to do. God accomplished in Jesus the very thing that he wanted to do. Hebrews chapter two, verse 14. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that is flesh and blood, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. He delivers us from death, from the fear of death, and he does this through the resurrection, through the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He gives us this new life by his blood, the blood of the eternal covenant. We don't like to talk about blood. It's messy. But you find it throughout the Bible. There's got to be a reason for that. Our problem is that serious. It's a situation that calls for the most graphic example that the Bible can use. Leviticus 17, life is in the blood. Jesus said, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. It's the blood of Jesus that defeats the enemy of death and gives us that life. Jesus lays down his life for you and for me, he bleeds. And God brings him back to life again to be the source of our new life. And so it's by his bleeding, it's by his dying that the eternal covenant is realized and this opens the door to heaven. One of the major points that the author is trying to make, chapter 10, verse 19, with one of those great therefores as he's trying to summarize much of what he's been talking about since the first chapter. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is through his flesh, And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. All of the good things. that Jesus has gained for us through his death. Those benefits of redemption, if we speak theologically. The good things that God has for us in his son, Jesus Christ. Justification, adoption, sanctification, the assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, growing in grace, perseverance to the very end. All of that wrapped up in a package that we call grace. And God gives it to us. by the blood of the eternal covenant and proves that to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But this benediction is from the God of peace who is still doing something in us. We make a huge mistake if we think about Christianity as just thinking about what Jesus did for us. and that we're just living in the shadow of something great that has happened in the past and that nothing really is happening today. God has done something for us in the past. He is doing something for us right now. He has done something for us, but he continues to do something in us. Andrew Murray put it this way, all that God has done in Christ is only a beginning, a promise, and a pledge of what he will do in us. God's putting you back together. That's what God is doing now. Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, that's what God has done for us, now verse 21, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, amen. We belong to God, we are his, he has bought us, and so we are his, but we still need to be fixed. There's still something wrong. We're under new ownership, but there's still some damage that needs to be dealt with. Verse 21, may he equip you. Equip, the word here means to restore, to be put back in proper order, to repair what was broken so that it can be used again. It's used in the Gospels as men are repairing, restoring their fishing nets so that they can use them again. You can just listen to these, but a couple of places where the word occurs, 1 Corinthians 1, verse 10. Paul says, I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united. The word there is restored, that you be equipped, that you be united, that you be restored in the same mind and the same judgment, so that there be no broken relationships, so that you would not be clashing with one another. that you would be restored. Galatians six, verse one. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgressions, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness to be restored with God, to be put back into that right relationship with God. And then a benediction that I often use. First Peter, chapter five. Beginning at verse 10, after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Broken by suffering and the pain of life, God's grace works to restore and to equip us. God restores and equips you with everything that is good, everything that's missing, everything that you need, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, understanding and accepting who you are, why you're here, what your calling in life is, what you're supposed to be doing with your time and your energy, God restores by giving you all of that. He does this that you and I may do his will, no longer confused and conflicted inside of ourselves, no longer clashing with our neighbors, no longer at odds with God. He does this by working in us. He works on us through circumstances, through providence. He works with us by giving us instruction with his through his word and by putting us with other believers, but it's by his spirit that he works in us. This is where you plug in Ezekiel 36. That new covenant promise, I will put my spirit where? Within. So that I may cause you to walk in my statutes and obey my rules. He does this by working in us. He works in us what is pleasing to him. It's not just what makes us feel better. It's not just so that we would be better pleased with the outcome, though that may well happen. He's transforming us into what he wants, God's best for us, God's best plan, what he wanted, what he had in mind when he created Adam and Eve. He's recreating us into that, what is pleasing to him. And he does all of this through Jesus Christ, the resurrected and ascended Jesus, the one who bleeds, the one who dies, the one who's brought back from the dead, the one who is ascended into heaven, the one who sends his spirit to be at work within us. To whom be the glory forever. Amen. We know this is the best thing for us, and so we say, Amen. This is going to happen. It shall be so. This is happening. And so that's why we respond with amen. This morning, believe God's word of grace that you find here in this benediction. By faith, embrace what God is saying to you and the gift that God has for you here. That in Christ, he has already fixed the worst thing about you. I mean, that's already done. That's something that's been done in the past. He's already fixed the worst thing about you. He's already, once for all, paid in full for all of your sins and mistakes. He's wiped out the sentence of death against you and given you new life. You cannot be tried twice for the same crime. Those sins, those offenses are dealt with and are gone. He's already done something wonderful for you. And believe that in Christ, he is still working in you. Everything that remains broken, everything that is bothersome, is being repaired and you are being equipped for life. It may be slow in coming, but be patient. You need to stick to it and persevere to the very end. You need to be patient. You need to be patient with others, patient with your children, patient with your spouse. patient with people here at church. We will still struggle with confusion about who we are, why are we here, what are we supposed to be doing? We will still struggle with suspicion and prejudice and rivalry and disappointment. And we will still struggle with shame and feelings of guilt and frustration. But the Word of God assures us that the God of peace in Jesus Christ is still working in us. Let's pray. Father, we can get so distracted and frustrated When we look at ourselves and we see so little progress, and we hear about your good news and about the gospel and about what it means to be in Christ, and we look at ourselves and we see that there's some discrepancy here. You think, that's not my experience. Why is that so? Help us, Father, through these two verses. to truly believe that you are working in us. You are still working. You will never stop working within us until you completely work in us what is pleasing to you. Father, fill us with gratitude for what you have already done and what is accomplished and that we can stand upon that and we can rest upon that as we anticipate your continued work of grace in our lives. Give us patience. Help us as we deal with our loved ones, as we deal with other believers that we come into contact with, that we would be patient with them. And in this way, we would grow together into that likeness of Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.