47) May God Equip You
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We have made it to the end of the book of Hebrews. The author has given the rich doctrines and truths of who Jesus is, what he has accomplished, and where he sits today. He has encouraged the group of believers that is receiving this letter and exhorted them to live by faith in the new covenant. He has finished with his instructions on christian living and now comes to the closing of the letter.
He closes the letter with a benediction, and a couple closing remarks.
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 22 Brothers and sisters, I urge you to receive this message of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 Be aware that our brother Timothy has been released. If he comes soon enough, he will be with me when I see you. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who are from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with you all.
We have been reading this benediction together for close to a year at the end of the time we have together each week. For anyone who may be unfamiliar with the term benediction. It is a spoken blessing from one person to another. We see them in the new testament and the old.
For example in Romans Paul gives this one
5 Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.
And here is another in Numbers
24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’
So we come the author’s blessing to the believers that he has been writing to.
God of Peace
God of Peace
It starts with
Hebrews 13:20 (CSB)
20 Now may the God of peace, ...
This blessing starts with the source of the blessing. In reality the source of all blessings. It is God the Father that will bring forth this blessing. He points out a characteristic of God. That he is the God of peace.
Peace is such a hard word for many to wrap their mid around. If you spend some time looking up quotes on peace I think you will find a couple of things. One is that people have been looking for peace, longing for peace for a long time. Another thing you will find is that there is a theme about finding inner peace will achieve outer peace.
Another is that there is hope that peace is possible. But what is peace? The word here brings forth the idea of rest, quietness. Harmonious relations with freedom from disputes.
If you look at the data it shows that worldwide armed conflicts have been growing at least since the 80’s in 2022 there was over 180 armed conflicts in the world. This is the most since the 80s. It has gone from 86 to 182. A 211% increase. One would think that as we get more sophisticated as a world population that conflict would go down. That is not the case as it seems.
If you look at the quotes, people believe that peace on earth is possible. But the question one must ask is “Is it possible to have peace on earth?” All of recorded history has conflict in it. It doesn’t matter if you completely reject the account of creation in the bible and look just to history, there is a universally consistent theme of conflict.
Do you find it ironic that most common methods used to attempt to bring peace is war? That the thought goes “That I can end conflict with conflict?”
My marriage will just be better if I win this argument. We can have peace with this country or that country if we just go to war and win. But as history tells us, that path just doesn’t produce peace.
I can only find two places that we see peace on earth. One is in the garden before the fall and the other is in the end in revelation
3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.
There will be peace on earth in the end like there was in the beginning. No tears, no death, no grief or pain. Peace was broken the moment man rebelled against God’s command. Sin entered the world, men became enemies of God.
9 What then? Are we any better off? Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, 10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. 13 Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. 14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, 17 and the path of peace they have not known.
Or the prophet Isaiah
8 They have not known the path of peace, and there is no justice in their ways. They have made their roads crooked; no one who walks on them will know peace. 9 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we live in the night.
Sin entered the world and peace is broken. We see conflict arise in the marriage of Adam and Eve.
16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
There is this conflict in the sin of man between husbands and wives. There is this desire to rule by the man which is not what God calls men to be as leaders of their homes in Ephesians. And wives will desire to be contrary to their husbands. These is a nearly identical statement in chapter for about sin and its desire to be contrary to Cain.
6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
After the Lord speaks to Cain we see him go out in a field and kill his brother.
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
It is very evident that the peace that existed in the garden has now been shattered. At no time in history has there been true peace in this world since that time. It is actually a fools errand to believe true peace will be a reality in a world that contains sin. One single selfish person will break peace.
We know this. We crave this peace. Has anyone ever thought why can’t I have just one day where everything doesn’t fall apart? Has anyone ever come to the point of exclaiming, “Can I just have a single minute of peace?”
We want it, but most look in the wrong places for it. The reality is that God is the God of Peace. To be with God is to be at peace. But the worlds idea is that if everyone would just get along that peace would somehow come. To have a world where everyone got along is not what Jesus promised.
51 Do you think that I came here to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
The world calls for us to coexist. Just let me be me and you be you. that will work won’t it? What would happen in a family where all people coexisted. You be you and I will be me. Your 5 year old son comes out of his room to a plate of warn food that mom has just made. He looks at it, picks up the plate and walks into the living room and throws the plate through the front window. Glass breaking food everywhere. He turns to mom and says I think I want cereal. To coexist would call for mom to shrug it off and say that’s just who he is.
To coexist in a world of sin would require us to ignore another characteristic of God, his justice.
As long as two people have different standards of right and wrong there will never be peace. More specifically, as long as there are men and women who do not have God’s standard of right and wrong there will be conflict.
In the world we live in, the Gospel bring division. The good news that Jesus, born of a virgin, was both equally man a God, lived a perfect life without sin. Who died on the cross to pay for the sins of his children. Then 3 days later was raised, conquering death and the grave. And those that repent and believe that Jesus did this for them. That he paid for their sin and by grace through faith a person is saved.
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
The Gospel requires a person to come face to face with their own behavior and then stand before the holy God of the bible. To come face to face with the realization that they are enemies of God and that are in need of the saving work of grace. That no matter how hard they try they realize they can never be reconciled to God without the work of Jesus.
10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.
God’s justice requires that punishment be given to those who have rebelled and sinned against God. But we are reconciled, brought back into fellowship with God through the death of Jesus. We are saved by his life and justified before God which brings peace. As he took the punishment the we deserved.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
What an amazing truth. To be at peace with God. There is no other way to peace with God. The only way is through Jesus. Today we those that are saved are at peace with God.
The blessing the author writes comes first and foremost from the Holy God.
Resurrection of Peace
Resurrection of Peace
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
God’s power, love, compassion, mercy, and grace are all brought into focus in the sacrifice of Jesus. Any peace that man will ever experience comes from this sacrifice.
12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. 13 He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.
It was his sacrifice that perfected those that are sanctified. He paid the penalty for our sins.
5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
It is by the sacrifice of Jesus and the resurrection that the words of John are possible.
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
God sent his son into the world. The son who was with God and was God in the beginning and who came to dwell as a man on earth in order to save the world through him.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God. 14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ ”) 16 Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, 17 for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.
Word became flesh and dwelt among us, he says, as they witnessed his glory. The author of Hebrews calls him the great shepherd of the Sheep.
Shepherd of Peace
Shepherd of Peace
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
The Lord has been called a shepherd throughout the bible. Jacob referred to God as his shepherd.
15 Then he blessed Joseph and said: The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, 16 the angel who has redeemed me from all harm— may he bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow to be numerous within the land.
David called him the Good Shepherd.
A psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. 2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.
Jesus called himself the Shepherd
31 Then Jesus said to them, “Tonight all of you will fall away because of me, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.
As he quoted Zechariah
7 Sword, awake against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate— this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.
The most explicit example of the Shepherd is in John. Listen to the care and work of the Great Shepherd.
1 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. 7 Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. 13 This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” 19 Again the Jews were divided because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and he’s crazy. Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others were saying, “These aren’t the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” 22 Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 “I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 26 But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
and he will always be our shepherd.
17 For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; he will guide them to springs of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
We wandered around like lost sheep in a deadly world. Not knowing where to go and what to do until we heard the Shepherds voice. Through his word we were drawn to him and have come into the care of the Great Shepherd.
25 For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Covenant of Peace
Covenant of Peace
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
The sacrifice of Jesus established the new covenant. The covenant of faith.
14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after he says: 16 This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, the Lord says, I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds, 17 and I will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts. 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
The new covenant is eternal and effective as all of a believers sins have been set aside to never be remembered. A covenant was prophesied many times by other prophets.
3 Pay attention and come to me; listen, so that you will live. I will make a permanent covenant with you on the basis of the faithful kindnesses of David.
40 “I will make a permanent covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from me.
26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a permanent covenant with them. I will establish and multiply them and will set my sanctuary among them forever.
The blessing that the author is speaking over the people is that God would equip them. He pointed out that God is the God of peace and that it is through the new covenant that he equips us. It is because his laws are written on our hearts.
May God Equip
May God Equip
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
It is God who equips us to do the will of God. How do we know God’s will.
6 Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart.
It is the laws that he has put on our heart. The will of God is his commands and these commands give life.
1 How happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk according to the Lord’s instruction! 2 Happy are those who keep his decrees and seek him with all their heart. 3 They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways. 4 You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept. 5 If only my ways were committed to keeping your statutes! 6 Then I would not be ashamed when I think about all your commands. 7 I will praise you with an upright heart when I learn your righteous judgments. 8 I will keep your statutes; never abandon me.
May God equip you to do God's will. Working in us what is pleasing. It is the work of God though the Holy Spirit that equips us to do his will. To obey God. What that produces is a life that is pleasing in the the sight of God. It is through Jesus that all of this is possible. Without Jesus there is no new covenant, the law is external to our lives not written and it is man trying to conform to a law that he cannot meet.
21 Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.
165 Abundant peace belongs to those who love your instruction; nothing makes them stumble.
There is nothing in this blessing that is dependent on man. It is the work of God, through Jesus, for God. All for the Glory to God. All to elevate his name to the highest place of honor. To exalt Jesus it the out come of a life that has been equipped to do God will and to be pleasing in the sight of God.
13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
This will likely make us unpleasing at some point to the world around us. But we are not the ones at work but we are to pursue his word and to be obedient to the words of God.
To Bear (Receive)
To Bear (Receive)
The author moves on from the blessing to one final call.
22 Brothers and sisters, I urge you to receive this message of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.
He urges them to receive this message. The word for receive means to bear this message. The author likely knows that this is not an easy message for this group. Their is much for them to turn away from and he challenged much of their thinking and their behavior. Which is usually the case with the truth of God’s word.
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
23 Be aware that our brother Timothy has been released. If he comes soon enough, he will be with me when I see you. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who are from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with you all.
Timothy, Greet… Grace.
6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
Conclusion
From verse 1:1 till the end we have explored and examined the teachings of who Jesus is, his exalted place, his new covenant, what faith is, and how to life as a Christian community and be pleasing to God.
All of it can be said to be in support of
35 So don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised. 37 For yet in a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith; and if he draws back, I have no pleasure in him.
His righteous one will live by faith. Do not turn away from Jesus. So that you may receive the eternal reward that was promised.
So what if we are struggling with things today. What if we are not experiencing the peace that we read in the scriptures.
6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
We must align our lives with the will of God and pray and petition the holy God through our perfect mediator. Jesus.
What is God calling you to do today? Have you fallen to temptation and sin and need to repent and confess those to God. Are there areas of you life that are worshiping the idols of this world and not the creator of heaven.
We must also remember the Jesus never promised peace with the world but the peace of God. But have courage.
33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
The world has been conquered and we will experience the full peace in the future. But today we are to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.
15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful.
Let us pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer
Communion
Warning
Children, Lost, Sin
19 And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
27 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Prayer
Song
Closing
Blessing/Benediction
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
