Let me invite you to turn in your Bibles or in your worship guides to the passage we’re going to be focusing on this evening, and that is Hebrews chapter 13, looking at verses 20 and 21.
Over the last three months we’ve had the extraordinary privilege of journeying through the letter to the Hebrews, and along the way there’s a couple of themes which have been highlighted. We have been reminded first and foremost that Jesus Christ is supreme over everything in the created order – over the angels, over the greatest of the Old Testament covenant leaders, namely Moses. And of course when we come to chapters 7, 8, 9, and 10 we were treated to a feast as we were reminded that the temple and the high priest and the entire sacrificial system was a mere shadow pointing to the greater and the better reality, that of Jesus Christ. One of the other themes that’s been pretty predominant in the series up until now is that we have been reminded that every believer is saved by grace. And having been saved by grace, you are called to pursue holiness. You are called to pursue obedience to that which pleases God.
The entire letter, the letter to Hebrews, is structured in order to equip the readers – both the readers then and the readers now – to not fall prey to the dulling and the drifting and the hardening of heart that comes so readily. John Calvin was absolutely correct when he said that, “The human heart is an idol factory.” If you’ve been walking with the Lord Jesus for any period of time you’ll know how easy it is for us to go astray; whatever it is, in terms of the various idols of this world and of course our own temptations and inclinations. And so obviously in the letter there is a number of warning passages. And so the author, he spends – and we notice that he spends – the first twelve chapters teaching a large amount of theological truth. At the same time as teaching theological truth, he’s also correcting the errors that have begun to infiltrate this little Christian community, hence they’ve started to go back and think that maybe it’s okay to return to Judaism. On top of teaching them and correcting them, he’s also been encouraging them to press on and to keep looking to the Lord Jesus Christ one day at a time. That’s the first twelve chapters, for the most part.
But when we come to chapter 13, he begins to shift gears a little bit, because chapter 13 is not so much about the theology; it’s actually about the practice of the Christian life. He’s moving from creed to conduct, from orthodoxy to that which is called orthopraxy. He so desperately wants them to see that these theological truths apply to them, impact their lives, and do transform their lives. They cannot remain the same, and we cannot remain the same once Jesus Christ has impacted us.
And so as we come to the conclusion of our series this evening, Hebrews 13 is jam packed with a number of practical words of exhortation. There’s a series of rapid fire commands that he gives to us right at the outset; one truth after another that is based pretty much, it’s a distillation of the theology of chapters 1 through 12. I want you to remember that so often, concluding remarks, concluding words, in this case these concluding verses, it’s often a last ditch effort as a means to press home the message, to massage the message into the nooks and the crannies of the hearts and the minds of those readers and hearers so that when they go out into their lives they have a few truths that continue to be mulled over as they go back into family, community, society, and wherever else the Lord leads them.
And so to frame our study this evening, as I said, we’re going to be looking at just two verses, and it’s the words of the benediction in verses 20 and 21 of Hebrews 13. And so before we read God’s Word, let’s bow our heads and ask that He help us in our understanding and study of this. Let’s pray.
Our Father in heaven, we pray now that You would send forth the Spirit to help us, to illuminate the Word, the written Word, that we may behold these glorious truths and it may teach us to love the Lord Jesus Christ all the more. And we pray this for His sake and in His name, amen.
Hebrews chapter 13, reading from verses 20 and 21. This is the Word of God:
“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.”
Friends, let me begin by stating that the way that we interact with one another as image bearers, whether it be within the community of faith within the church or whether it be in our various spheres in the society in which we find ourselves living. And the way that we interact with the world around us has everything to do with what we know to be true of God and how He has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. This is the essence of Christian ethics, one would say. And this evening what I want us to consider is that in light of who God is, in light of who God is, how does God call us to live as Christ’s disciples? What is becoming of a disciple of Christ? And we’re going to consider this through the lens of God being our God of peace, our God of power, our great Shepherd, and our Savior. We’re going to be looking at those four points very briefly. Four glorious truths that are embedded in this covenant benediction in these verses that we read. And in some way, they’re actually a distillation of much of the theology throughout the book of Hebrews up until this point. And I’d encourage you to go and read the letter when you go home in light of these four points and just see how it’s all over the map with regards to these four characteristics of who God is.
Our God of Peace
So firstly, He’s our God of peace. That’s the first statement that’s given to us in verse 20 of the text. One of the great promises in Scripture is knowing – if you look at verse 5 right at the end there – that statement that we can know that God will “never leave us nor forsake us.” God will never leave us nor forsake us. That’s the essence of peace for the believer – that the God of peace has made peace with us with Jesus Christ, or in Jesus Christ. He has given us that peace by His mercy and grace and He continues to be at work in us so that the fruit of peace is what is on display to a watching world. The God of peace has made peace, has given us His peace, and continues to bring forth that peace as part of the fruit of the Spirit.
One commentator writes this. He says, “Peace in Biblical thought is something far more than serenity,” which is typically how the world would understand peace. And then he continues. He says that, “Peace in Biblical thought denotes the quality of salvation God is able to give to His people. He has obtained peace for us through the work of Christ, who brought man’s greatest warfare to an end by His victory over sin and death and the devil.” And it’s this peace with God that we get to enjoy that we are also responsible to extend in our message and in our actions with those that we interact with and the way that we view this world that we’ve been placed in. Isn’t it true that when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes, when God comes to us, we are changed. We’re not the same as we once were. We have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We have been justified by the righteousness and the work of Christ. We have been adopted into the family of God. We now have a Father who has our best interest at hand all the time. We are reconciled to God through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. And on top of that, we have been brought into a relationship of peace, a relationship of peace with God. No longer are we at enmity with Him. Our greatest problem has been resolved, and from that point we begin to understand that we can get to enjoy and be satisfied and be content as we submit ourselves to our new King, who is our Ruler and who reigns over us.
And that can take an entire life. In fact, it will take an entire life as God teaches us what it means to die to self and die to the inclinations of our heart and the idols of our lives. To be content and to be satisfied with Him and to be a servant of His. And you see, it’s in light of this, it’s in light of this peace with God that we have experienced, that we have come to know, that He implores us – and I’d invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to verses 1 through 5 – He implores us to obey these commands. “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have. For he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”
Brothers and sisters, to embody and to live in the knowledge of that peace that we have with God is to extend that peace through, “Let brotherly love continue.” It’s to show hospitality to strangers. And notice how the author, he begins with the body of Christ. “Let brotherly love continue.” In other words, strive to have peace within the community of faith. And then he goes out to the next realm or the next ring in the circles and he says, “Extend that peace to the strangers by showing them hospitality.” And then he goes a step further. “And don’t forget those who are in prison and those who have been mistreated. Extend the peace and let them know about the peace with God, that you have been the recipient of.” And then he brings it back in to the most intimate relationship that exists between human beings, between a man and a woman in marriage. “Fight to have peace in your marriage,” he says. And then on top of that, he deals with the most intimate relationship we have with the world, and that is through the means to survive here – and that is money. Make sure that you have peace with regards to the way you understand money and the way that you deal with money – that it’s not a love, but you see it as a tool for existence to the glory of God.
These are daunting commands if you take time to think about them and consider them. How is it possible to live in this way? Well, again, at the end of verse 5, he says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” There’s a sense in which we are being reminded here, God reminds us that we were never designed to strive to fulfill these commands in our own strength and in our own abilities. We are meant to be a people who find ourselves and recognize that we are needy and we cry out to Him for mercy and for strength, for wisdom and for grace with each new day.
It’s interesting because this statement in verse 5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” is actually quoted in Joshua 1:5. It’s alluded to elsewhere in Scripture as well. But in Joshua 1:5, it is God who comes to Joshua and says, “I want you to lead My people into the Promised Land and know that I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua knew that the land that they were meant to be entering into, the people there were far more numerous and they were actually much stronger. And so Joshua, in his wilderness wanderings, he had learned something about who this God is. He has learned that God was not asking him to do this in the strength and the might and the power of those who they were going to be fighting, but in actual fact, that God would be going ahead to do the battle. He was simply to be faithful and to be obedient.
And I think similarly, just as Joshua had to look to God and had to trust in God to bring them into the Promised Land, we too, in order to fulfill and to live out the commands that God has stated and to grow in holiness, to grow in our obedience and our desire to be obedient and holy, we need to be a people who rely upon the Spirit, working through the Word to continually change us as we become more and more dependent upon the living God, that He would help us to be less self-centered, that we would die to our lusts and that we would die to our love of money as well, just as is intimated in those opening verses in chapter 13.
I would encourage you to go and read those five verses and ask the Lord to help you to search your heart when you go home because these commands are overwhelming. And the reason that it’s overwhelming is because in a community, in a church like this, there’s bound to be people who are struggling to extend peace to others or to families within the family here. There’s bound to be some who perhaps are neglecting the poor or are disregarding those who are in prison. There’s bound to be some who are facing struggles, series struggles, perhaps in your marriages, and perhaps you’re facing increasing anxiety with regards to money. God reminds you and I this evening, “Look to Me. Cry out to Me. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. My presence changes everything because I am your peace.” And so that’s the first thing I want us to note.
Our God of Power
The second one is that He is our God of power. In fact, it’s resurrection power that is a reference in verse 20. He is our resurrection power. We know that Jesus defeated sin and death in the resurrection. His great victory has become our great victory because we are in union with Jesus Christ. F.F. Bruce, he’s one of the leading commentators of the last century one would say, in the New Testament, he says this. He says that “Jesus’ resurrection is a demonstration that His sacrifice has been accepted by God and that the new covenant has been established on the basis of that sacrifice. It all hinges around the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb.”
Now what are the implications of this for us? Well look with me at verse 6 of the text. He’s just said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and then in verse 6, “So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” What can man do to me? It’s a quote from Psalm 118. Again, to get the full extent of the context you would need to go and read Psalm 118. But the author of Hebrews is drawing out this one verse because he wants us to be reminded that when we are in union with Jesus Christ we walk with and we walk in the power of the Lord. It is the Spirit of the living and resurrected Lord Jesus Christ who dwells within us. It is He who has powerfully raised us from spiritual death to spiritual life, and we will only grasp the fullness of His victory and that resurrection power when –
In the 1980s, there was a Christian band by the name of Petra. Some of you may have heard of the band. They had a title of a song called “Graverobber.” Because we will only grasp the fullness of Christ’s victory and His resurrection power when the grave robber comes to steal us away. Death is not the end. The grave is not the end. “But Jesus will come and He’ll take us away.” It’s beautiful imagery in that line.
Friends, let me remind you, in death – and let’s just bring this a little closer to home. This past week we’ve had three of our brothers and sisters who have closed their eyes here on earth. In death, every believer will enter the presence of the Lord in a split second. And they will wait with the Lord Jesus for the great consummation when the veil between the seen and the unseen will be torn apart and Jesus Christ will appear with the trumpets of heaven blaring, and every eye will see Him and behold Him in that moment and every knee will bow down. And all who trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, if they are still alive when He appears, they will be gathered together in the air with Him. And for those who died in Christ, their bodies and their souls will be miraculously reunited and they will go to the place that has been prepared for them by Jesus. And it’s in light of that, the resurrection power and victory that is ours, who are in Christ, “Therefore, I will not fear,” verse 6. We need not fear. “I am with you,” He says. “I will not forsake you.” What can man possibly do to you? It’s a redundant question, isn’t it? Human beings can do nothing to us because we are safe and secure in the arms of the living God.
You’ve heard me say this before, but this life is like a breath. You’ve heard it, time and time from this pulpit. We really are here for a moment, and that moment is often filled with tremendous heartache; there’s tears, there’s suffering, there’s hardship, there’s trials, there’s difficulties – all of which God uses for our own sanctification and growth in grace. There’s no doubt. But friends, when our moment is done, when death takes us, the power that raised Jesus from the grave will carry us all the way home. That’s a sure and certain hope that we have faith in. What Christ has promised will come to pass. So He is our God of peace. He is our God of resurrection power.
Our Great Shepherd
He is our great Shepherd. He is our great Shepherd. I’m sure this is not true of many of you, but one of the characteristics of sheep is that they tend to go astray very easily. I know that of my own heart. But along comes our great Shepherd, time and time again, to gather in the sheep, to lead the sheep, to protect the sheep, to provide for the sheep. Look with me at verses 8 and 9 of the text. “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.” You could add in there, “Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings or any of the idols and trinkets of this world.”
Friends, our great Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is perfectly unchangeable. John Newton said this. He said, “What a cause of joy to know that our great Shepherd’s perfect love to us, it is infinite and it is unchangeable.” Did you hear what he is saying? It is so different for us. Our moods and our circumstances often have an influence on the way that we respond to people and situations. That’s not the case with God, with our Lord. His disposition towards you and I, who are in Christ, is of a perfect Shepherd. Perfect love. Perfect care. Perfect leading. Perfect provision. Perfect protection. And He always strengthens us, verse 9, in His grace. He wants us to recognize that we are weak and needy with regards to our sin, with regards to situations we face, because there’s a sense in which when we come to Him, when He bestows and lavishes His grace and mercy and wisdom and His love upon us, it brings great joy to our Savior.
Now I do want to just simply mention in passing that the relationship that we have with our great Shepherd is never earned. I’ve met so many Christians through the last twenty years of ministry, both in South Africa and here, who understand that completely with regards to the beginning – that salvation is a gift of grace. But there comes a point sometimes in their walk with the Lord where they believe or they’ve come to the conviction or the understanding or their thinking that all of a sudden they’ve got to do something in order to earn the love of God towards them. Stop striving to prove yourself to your Savior, please. Your great Shepherd – you are loved in Christ. And it is this great Shepherd who, this evening, as we celebrate the Lord’s Table in just a few short moments, He invites you to come. And in coming to the Table, to eat and to partake of the bread and the wine, you’re being reminded of His love that is demonstrated in His sacrifice and the grace that is yours in His victory.
I also need to mention just one more thing with regards to our great Shepherd because part of the great Shepherd’s care of the sheep is actually to give to the church under-shepherds. You see that in verse 17 as part of the Lord’s care when He says to us, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy, not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” So my encouragement to you this evening – see that as part of God’s ordained plan to shepherd your souls. So you’re encouraged to obey them; to obey your leaders, to submit to them as they live out their function to watch over your souls. And at the same time, verse 18, “Pray for us,” the author says. Pray for your leaders that they may find much joy in the midst of their labor.
Our Savior
So He’s our God of peace. He’s our God of power. He’s our great Shepherd. And finally, He’s our Savior. He’s our Savior. Look at verses 12 through 14 with me in the text please. Verses 12 through 14. “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own blood. Therefore, let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here, we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” Part of what the author is doing here is contrasting old covenant and new covenant language and the way things operated. In the old covenant, the animals were taken into the city gates, or through the city gates into the city walls, and they were sacrificed within the bounds of the city walls, in fact, within the temple courtyard. And of course, part of the sacrifice was then taken to the Holy Place, and one a year into the Holy of Holies. Whatever was not consumed in the burnt offerings was then disposed of outside the city gates. It was a place that was renowned for the stench of death that lingered there.
But notice that Jesus overturns that entire old system. Jesus, we’re told, suffered, and was sacrificed outside the city gate. And being sacrificed outside the city gate, He was making a way for all those who would be found in Him towards a city without walls, not to the city with walls. It’s beautiful imagery. And hence, here we have no lasting city but we seek the city that is to come. Keep your eyes fixed on the home that is being prepared for you. It energizes you and it keeps you going day by day. One author that I was reading said this with regards to these verses. He said, “The author of Hebrews exhorts Christians to join Jesus outside the camp, to leave behind the security and comfort of Judaism.” Obviously, they were thinking of returning to the Judaic order of things so he’s saying, “Leave behind the security and comfort of Judaism.” For us, it would be, “Leave behind the security and comfort of the things of this world.” And then he continues, “And be ready to bear the disgrace that He Himself bore.”
At this moment in time, there are Christians in various nations across the world who are suffering and who have lost everything for the cause and for the name of Jesus Christ. This verse is true for them. I’ve said this once or twice in the Sunday schools over the last couple of years. There’s no guarantee that there will not be persecution in the United States, twenty, thirty years from now, maybe even sooner. Let us not be so attached to the security and the comfort that comes from this world, and let’s prepare ourselves daily to bear the reproach that Jesus Christ Himself bore as well. There is no other name under heaven by which a person is saved. Only in the name of Jesus. It’s through His blood that there is forgiveness of sins. It’s the spotless Lamb who knew no sin, who became sin in order to random us so that we may know life. He’s a glorious Savior. He’s a worthy Savior. And He’s the one that enacted the final, everlasting covenant. And it was not a covenant that was secured in the blood of bulls and goats, but it was secured in His own blood as He laid down His life on Calvary.
We were reminded of that obviously by Cory as we were looking at the sacrificial system in Hebrews 7 through 10. But there’s another part of those verses in Hebrews chapter 8 that remind us of the benefits, the benefits that belong to all who are in this new covenant. There’s forgiveness of sins. There’s the sanctification that comes by the Holy Spirit. And thirdly, there’s the immediate and the forever fellowship with God Almighty. That’s part of the benefits that flow to us.
So let me ask you this question as we come to a close. Brothers and sisters, where are you turning when pressure comes your way, when there’s a difficulty that you’re facing? Where are you turning to find forgiveness and strength and peace and rest for your soul? And don’t think I’m asking that question because it’s not relevant and pertinent to myself. This past week there was something I was wrestling with, very close to home. C.S. Lewis stated this once. He wrote, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us. We are like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.” Or what about what Thomas Watson says, one of the great Puritans. He says, “What fools are they who, for a drop of pleasure, drink a sea of wrath?” For a drop of pleasure, drink a sea of wrath.
True rest, true peace, true forgiveness can only be found in God’s glorious covenant of redemption where, from before the foundation of the world a Lamb without blemish was ordained to be slain. And at the end of His life, at the appointed time, in meekness and out of obedience, He laid down His life, putting the power of sin to death once and for all. Friends, if you trust in Jesus Christ, and as you come to the Table this evening, remember that He is our God of peace, He is a God of resurrection power, He is your great Shepherd, and He is your Savior. We have been ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven.
And just very quickly, I want you to look at verse 21 of the text once again. He writes, “Now may the God of peace,” and then in 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.” I said in the beginning that no one comes to Jesus, no one is impacted by the God of the universe and remains the same. It’s just not possible. You’re a new creature in Christ. It is the Father and the Son who sends the Spirit of Christ to dwell in every believer. And part of His function is to continually tweak our consciences so that we desire and we see ourselves growing in obedience and growing in holiness. But at the same time there is a responsibility on our side, and the responsibility is to make use of the means of grace – to read the Scriptures, to pray, to come and be part of the fellowship, to sit under the preached Word, and to come to the Table and to partake of the elements of bread and wine as we’re going to do in a short while. Because as verse 21 intimates, it is He who equips and enables us to do His will so that is it pleasing in His sight. And as we’re crying out to Him, as we’re calling out to Him, asking Him continually, day in and day out, “Lord, give me the wisdom. Give me the grace. Give me the strength. Enable me,” that glory may be His, verse 21, that the glory may be His, forever and ever. Amen.
It’s not about you and I. It’s about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and surely we want our lives to give Him the glory that is due His most worthy name. May God minister to us and encourage us this evening through His Word.
Let’s pray, shall we.
Our Father in heaven, we give You thanks and we give You praise for Your Word. We thank You that it is Your Spirit that applies it to our hearts and our minds and continues to use it to change us into the likeness of Christ. Lord, we pray that You would continue to do that even now. Father, teach us to be a people who constantly live with an attitude of repentance, trust, a desire to be obedient, and a desire to grow in holiness, that the glory and the honor and the praise and the worship may be to God Most High, forever and ever. Amen.