Equipped by Faith
The Playbook of Faith • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Announcements
Small reception after church for Bazzells
Wednesday meal - Spaghetti and Salad
dLife training - FBC on August 26, 8am-12pm
Reading: Hebrews 13:20-25
20 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,
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.
22 I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.
23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon.
24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.
25 Grace be with all of you.
Pray
As we close out the book of Hebrews this morning, we come to a beautiful prayer and a few last-minute details the author wanted to include. This ending - offering a blessing in the name of some deity and giving final greetings and instructions - was a standard for ancient letters. Lest we forget, this book was originally a letter, written to some unknown Christians by an unknown author.
But these words aren’t just for people who lived thousands of years ago in a land thousands of miles away. They are just as true for us - just as meaningful here and now - as they were there and then.
All of us are called to live the life of faith. I called this series “The Playbook of Faith” because faith is the playbook of Christianity. Everything we do we are called to do by faith, whether it’s a “religious” activity like reading the Bible or praying, or a “secular” activity like making pizzas or cutting grass. Everything we do we should do by faith.
We’ve looked at how faith affects every aspect of our lives, like how a playbook determines every route, every scheme, every detail of every play.
Knowing the playbook is one thing…putting it into practice is something else. If we are going to live by faith, we need to be equipped.
Can you imagine if a football player ran out onto the field with no pads on? Or can you picture a welder going to work without a helmet? What about a soldier marching into battle without a gun?
Yet we often engage in life trying to live by faith when we’ve left all the equipment of faith at home. We need to be equipped! We need to put on the full Armor of God; we need to be suited up; we need to have all the equipment (and know how to use it, too!)
God doesn’t want us ill-equipped for the life of faith.
If We Are to Live Lives of Faith, We Need to Be Equipped by our Heavenly Father
If We Are to Live Lives of Faith, We Need to Be Equipped by our Heavenly Father
These verses in Hebrews show us how well God equips us for faithful living. It all starts with how we relate to God. Look at the very beginning of verse 20:
20 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,
God of Peace. What a special description of our God! Have you ever known someone who calms your soul just by being around them? The idea of peace is one of things being “right,” or as they should be. It’s not just “no conflict,” peace is when everything falls into place.
That peace is God’s character.
His Peace Enables Us to Trust Him in Difficult Days
His Peace Enables Us to Trust Him in Difficult Days
He is the kind of God who, when you have trusted in his Son as your Lord and Savior, puts your anxious heart at rest. Boy, we all need peace to live by faith! When we get anxious, we start to doubt God’s goodness, and then we start to trust in ourselves. But knowing the God of peace and resting in him enable us to trust him even in the worst of times. God gives us his peace so we can keep the faith no matter how bad things get.
God’s peace can’t be explained. You may not know how you know or why you know, but you’ll never doubt that you know peace when it comes from God. Have you been equipped with God’s peace? You can be today. This peace comes by means of the second thing God gives us to live by faith:
His Son Shepherds Us into Covenant with God
His Son Shepherds Us into Covenant with God
God’s peace is his character, but that peace doesn’t come until we surrender ourselves to God’s only begotten Son. The reason we can be at peace with God is because of what Christ has done. In fact, our relationship with God happens only through Christ. Look how the author of Hebrews describes God:
20 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,
God’s work in and through Christ establishes a relationship between he and us. We are God’s through Christ’s redemption. He leads us, or literally, “shepherds” us into the presence of God.
You might think this only matters at the beginning, or at salvation. But you’re missing the beauty of Christ - he even now is bringing you into God’s presence. We will never relate to God apart from Jesus Christ! And since (verse 8 tells us) Christ remains the same yesterday, today, and forever, we know that we will never ever lose that relationship with God. The Son shepherds us to the Father.
How marvelous this truth is for our faith. It’s not based on us, but on Christ! But it’s also not contingent on our feelings or whims. We can’t mess it up, we can’t fumble our salvation away. This Son of God secures our hope and place in God’s presence!
Paul told the Galatians:
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
The Son doesn’t just bring us to faith, he implants and grows and develops faith in us. Christ lives through us when we live in him.
So, then, what other tools and gear and equipping does the Father give us through the Son? Well, he also equips us with, well, everything! Verse 21 tells us:
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.
God gives us everything good that we need. Numerous verses recount this truth:
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
God gives us all things that we need! And those gifts enable us to do his work.
His Gifts Energize Us to Serve Him Faithfully
His Gifts Energize Us to Serve Him Faithfully
The gifts of God give us the power and the motivation to live by faith. In fact, it’s Jesus Christ working in and through us:
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
The gifts of God are not just the stuff - the Holy Spirit is the gift of God, and he is the one that energizes us to serve.
In fact, this leads us to another of God’s provisions that equip us to live by faith:
His Presence Empowers Us to Please Him
His Presence Empowers Us to Please Him
The work of God in us produces the praise of God by us. Verse 21 continues:
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.
God gives us his Son, whose Spirit dwells permanently within us. That indwelling Spirit brings us into God’s presence, where he works in us those things that please the Father. We can bring pleasure to God by doing his will, and we perform his works because he dwells in us and we in him.
Not everything is so smooth. Faith isn’t just victory after victory. Sometimes, the truth is not pleasant. It takes God’s equipping us to live by faith with the truth hurts.
22 I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.
Look at the language…he is appealing (as if trying to persuade them that doing this is going to be hard but worth it in the end), he asks them to “bear” with his message, which is a word of “exhortation.” Do you hear the toil of these words?
His Grace Strengthens Us to Bear Tough Truths
His Grace Strengthens Us to Bear Tough Truths
The reason we can “bear with” the word of exhortation is that God gives us the grace to endure. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. The tough truths are often punches to the gut. But by the grace of God we can be strong enough to live by faith anyway.
By the way, the comment he makes in verse 22, “I have written to your briefly,” I think refers to how much more he wants to tell them compared to the room he had for this letter. He loves them dearly but is not afraid to point out their faults. By God’s grace, they would be strong enough to bear truth that is often hard to bear. Thank God for his grace, equipment we need so much to live the life of faith.
This last gift is one that sums up all of God’s work and character in us.
His Love Stirs Us to Love One Another
His Love Stirs Us to Love One Another
23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon.
24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.
When we live the life of faith, we begin to care more and more for others on the same journey. Look first at how this author refers to people in verses 23-24: he calls them “brothers.”
The author refers to Timothy - this is the same young pastor that Paul wrote two letters to. They love this brother so much that he is compelled to tell them the good news that Timothy is free from prison. And he wants them to anticipate his arrival, hopefully with Timothy’s too.
He tells them to great leaders and saints alike, and passes on greetings from other believers. Do you see how God’s love stirs up the love of our own hearts? As we know him better, we love others better.
You wouldn’t go into a football game without pads, or to work welding without a helmet, or into battle without a gun. Don’t go trying to live by faith without God’s equipping you, either.