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Sermon Notes: http://notes.cornerstonesj.org
Glory to Jesus
So I just need to make sure that it's going to work.
I mean, it's just hard because I want to do a good job. I just know there's a lot that's going to start.
Well, you know, that's exactly right.
And people that are online should know that it's going to start. Yes. Are they doing this part online now?
Yeah. Yeah, I think that's good. I'm going to say good morning,
Cornerstone. If you're out in the hall, come on in and join with us. But what does
Sunday morning mean? I mean, it would be interesting to ask around the table on Saturday night, what does
Sunday morning mean? And I wouldn't be at all surprised, especially for those who are part of our family here, they would say, well, we're going to go to church.
And my fear is that for some, this might be, well, it's
Sunday morning, let's go to church. As opposed to, it's
Sunday morning, we get to meet with God tomorrow. It's not on your to -do list or on your calendar, but it's the reality that this is our chance to be with him.
It says in Psalm 26 .8, O Lord, I love the habitation of thy house and the place where thy glory dwells.
To look at that verse and to contemplate on it, to have a desire to find and to be with and to seek out direct fellowship with the
Father, what a blessing we have. I mean, prior to salvation, we're dead in our trespasses and sins, and we don't even understand the things of God.
But as we have a relationship with God, to be able to realize that we can seek out the habitation of thy house, the place where thy glory dwells, we're going to understand better in about an hour and 25 minutes when
Jeff is done. Oh, not quite that long. Exactly what the glory of God means.
And that we are here with each other in fellowship, and wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there am
I in the midst of them, and we are actually being showered with God's glory. Let's prepare our hearts to quiet ourselves away from the world and to seek
God's face and his glory. Let's pray for a moment. O Lord, I love the habitation of thy house, thy house, and the place where thy glory dwells.
Give us a heart anticipating you this morning, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.
A few of the announcements that are going on. Gentlemen are going to be on our retreat.
We leave Friday. I believe you can get to the camp as early as 2 o 'clock, get yourself situated up at Pocono Mountain Bible Camp.
So we look forward to sharing time with you. Iron sharpening iron as men together.
Sunday, the women are going to be sharing silverware. They have a covered dish luncheon
Sunday after second service at 1230. So women, come on back on Sunday.
The men will be on their way home, but enjoy your time of fellowship. As you walked in the door, and as we've walked in the door the past few
Sundays, on your right -hand side coming in, you have seen these boxes for Operation Christmas Child.
There are still some empty boxes out there, but if you look at the wall underneath the windows, you can see
I counted just about 100 boxes have already been brought in. Let's triple that.
Let's quadruple that. Two weeks. We have two weeks. Two weeks from today will be the 21st.
That's when we're going to celebrate all these Operation Christmas Child boxes and commission them out into the world.
If you have not already taken a box, take one and fill it. It's almost kind of enjoyable.
We go to this place in one of the local malls, Senerton Plaza, I guess it's called. Five Below is the name of the store.
Everything's $5 or less. And we walked in with a box in our cart. We were going to fill up several of the boxes, but you only needed one to figure it out.
And the young lady that was there, she immediately recognized that box. She knew how to help us. So that's kind of a cool blessing too, testimony.
But get the boxes. Fill them out. Love Life typically is the second
Saturday of the month. This is the second Saturday of the month coming up, but we're going to be on our retreat.
The men will be. We're moving it out one week. So if you are excited about being part of Love Life, well, we'll be meeting together on the 20th.
Not this Saturday, but the following. But that doesn't mean you can't be in prayer. There are unborn children.
It's not my body, my choice that is preached. Because there's two different DNAs.
And when there is an abortion, there are two different DNAs involved, and one of them has no say in the matter.
But we have a say because we can be in prayer. And we can reach out to God.
Continue to be in prayer, and then a week from Saturday, we have our prayer walk out there. Continue to take advantage of our opportunities tonight, 6 o 'clock.
Please come back for our 6 o 'clock prayer time. And then during the week, the women's studies, the men's fellowships and studies, small groups.
So continue to be part of that. Let's turn to prayer. Dear Lord God, we lift up the cabins to you today, our missionaries in Portugal.
We pray for their ministry. We pray for the word that they faithfully put out in a country that is so dark.
And we pray for Terry, for her health as she continues to battle with the cancer. We pray for those unborn babies that you have wonderfully made that are your creation in the womb of those mothers who are contemplating ending that life.
We pray, Father, Lord, that you would just reach into the hearts of those women or the men who are making these decisions.
Father, we pray, we pray, Lord, that you would do a miraculous work in their hearts.
Father, we rejoice. A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated baptism. And we continue to support those who recently baptized and those who witnessed.
Satan is on the attack. We pray for their spiritual walk and growth, grace of God and the blessings on their lives.
Lord, we continue to lift those in our midst in spiritual and physical need, I say, in physical need, those who have recently lost.
We continue to pray for the missionaries in Haiti that remain in captivity. Speak to the hearts of those that are their captors.
Change their hearts. Protect those missionaries for our country, we pray. This morning, as Pastor Jeff opens the word and we get to see a glimpse of the glory of God, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Amen. Let us sing together. As we come into your presence
We remember every blessing That you've poured out so freely from above Lifting gratitude and praises
So, so amazing Lord, we've come to give you thanks
For all you've done Because of your love
We're forgiven Because of your love
Our hearts are clean We lift you up Songs of freedom
Forever we're changed Because of your love
As we come into your presence We remember every blessing
That you've poured out so freely from above Lifting gratitude and praises
For compassion so amazing Lord, we've come to give you thanks
Our hearts are clean Songs of freedom
We're changed Because of your love
It says in Psalm 145, Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. His greatness is beyond understanding.
In Psalm 19, it says that we can see God's handiwork in the heavens and in the skies.
We are made to worship. We have this lost soul with an empty space.
And when Jesus Christ comes in and fills that, He overflows it. And allows us to see and glorify
Him every day. Let's sing together. The splendor of the
King Clothed in majesty
And all the earth controls
He wraps Himself in love Darkness trials
His true love And trembles at His voice
How great Sing with me
How great is our God And all will see
How great, how great is our
God Age to age
He stands Time is in His hands
Beginning and the end Father, Spirit, Son, Holy Light He is our
God Sing with me How great is our
God And all will see How great, how great is our
God Old age we'll see
How great is our God Today He's our
God How great is our
God Sing with me How great And all will see
How great And sings my soul
My Savior God Today How great
And sings my soul
My Savior God Awesome wonder
Consider all I see the stars
Sing with me He's our
God Sing with me again How great is our
God Amen.
You may be seated. Man, to hear us singing how great is our
God is just, give me a big amen for how great is our God. Amen.
The nation of Israel wandered through the wilderness and the truth is as they wandered through the wilderness
God was always with them. But as they wandered through the wilderness their ability to experience and perceive
God was limited. They had, the Shekinah glory was in the tabernacle.
And at night there'd be a pillar of fire leading them and by day a cloud.
Moses goes up on Mount Sinai and God says all I'm going to let you see is the backside of me and even that places so much radiance upon him as he comes down that it just shines.
He has a veil over him. The ability for Israel to actually see and to experience
God personally they couldn't even say Yahweh. They couldn't even say that name. Well with the coming of the
Messiah things changed. And in fact we know that from the beginning from before the foundation of the earth it was
God the Father's it was God's plan to send his son because we needed redemption.
And so as Messiah comes and man you just read it in Isaiah all of the realities of how many years before?
600 years before? 700, thank you. That this was going to happen.
Well Messiah comes and walks among men on the earth. He comes in the form of men.
And so there is this direct experience. As the time draws near Jesus tells his apostles go into the town find the owner and tell him that the master has need of the room.
Go prepare that place. And so we start to read in John how they're in that upper room and Jesus had first of all instructed them to prepare the place.
But then as they're up in the room Jesus shares with them some of the most amazing truths including breaking the bread and giving the cup.
This is my body broken. This is my blood shed for you. And so he shares with them.
Now we're here this morning. And again as we approach the beginning of the month it's the first Sunday of the month we're going to do communion.
No, we are going to do communion. We are going to be like those 12 go in the upper room with their master.
We are all gathered together here today and we are going to experience that blessed sacrament.
That gift that is given for us. Now God tells us to come prepared.
But then he promises that he is going to be here with us.
In the upper room he shared the Passover with his followers. And here today we're sharing his body broken, his blood shed as a remembrance.
Now we need to be prepared. I want to read out of 1 Corinthians 11 starting in verse 27.
Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the
Lord. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup.
So before we share let's bow our heads, examine ourselves, and prepare.
Let's pray. Lord, I know as I walk this world and as I am drawn,
Lord, I fall short of your command. It's called sin. Lord, coming here today and seeing the bread, seeing the cup, remembering your body broken, your blood shed for me.
Lord, I examine my heart. Lord, I want to be right with you.
It says, continuing in verse 22 of 1 Corinthians 11, For I have received of the
Lord that which also I have delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread.
And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you.
This do in remembrance of me. Take, remembering our
Lord. As Jesus hung on that cross, his body beaten, his legs broken, the pierced side, the blood flowing.
Before that, Jesus in the garden had said, Father, please, if it is any other way, but not my will, but thine be done.
And so he willingly went to the cross, his blood shed for us.
After the same manner, also he took the cup when he had supped, saying,
This cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye, as oft ye drink it in remembrance of me.
For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the
Lord's death till he come. Take, drink. Let's sing together before Jeff opens a word of God to us in response to communion.
Would you stand with me? The mysteries of the cross
I cannot comprehend. The agonies of Calvary.
You, the perfect Holy One, crushed your sin, reserved for me.
Your blood has washed away my sin. Jesus, thank you.
The Father's wrath, completely satisfied. Jesus, thank you.
What's your enemy? Now seated at your table,
Jesus, thank you. The sacrifice
I've made. God, the riches of your blood.
His grace, your mercy, your kindness, knows no end.
Jesus, thank you. My soul,
I want to live for you.
My soul, I want to live for you.
Your blood has washed away my sin.
Jesus, thank you. The Father's wrath, completely satisfied.
Jesus, thank you. What's your enemy? Now seated at your table,
Jesus, thank you. Yes, Jesus, thank you.
Thank you for your shed blood. Thank you for the redemption that we all can find through that blood.
The life that we find can only be through your blood, Lord Jesus. We want to continue every day saying thank you, thank you.
Jesus, thank you. Just another announcement and a really exciting one at that.
We have all noticed that our public school system has been highly influenced by politicians, progressive politicians, and many of them bringing wicked elements into the curriculum.
So we could sit back and bemoan that or someone could run for school board in Mount Laurel, which is what
John chose to do, our beloved pastor. And not only did he run, he won.
So let's give the glory to God. So John is now officially on the school board and as you start that task, we just would call you to remember our
Lord Jesus Christ. And as the Messiah, in Isaiah 11, 2 and 3, it speaks of him, but the same spirit that rested on Jesus and in fact was the spirit of Jesus is now living in you because you're a believer in Christ.
And it says, the spirit of wisdom and fear of the Lord, the spirit of counsel and power, the spirit of knowledge, and he will delight in the fear of the
Lord. So in Isaiah 11, 2 and 3, we have a picture of the Messiah, but that same spirit lives in you.
And our prayer for you, brother, is that the spirit would give you wisdom in what to say and when to say it.
So awesome. So glory to God. Glory to God for what he did there. Let's pray.
So Father, we do give you all the glory and we do pray for our brother that you would fill him with the Holy Spirit to have wisdom to know what to say and when to say it.
And Lord, now, as we come to open your word, we pray that you would stir all of us up that way, that we would do things for your glory, for the name that is above every name.
So as we finish the book of Hebrews today, we pray that you would energize us and motivate us and strengthen us to do things that are eternal, that have eternal consequence for the sake of the name that is above every name, the name of Jesus, in whose name we pray.
Amen. It was April 2007 in the
Anbar province of Iraq. A team of Navy SEALs were closing in on a terrorist cell.
As they went from building to building, they had zeroed in on where this cell was hiding and so they needed to open doors and to enter in to take these guys on.
So the leader of that SEAL team was named Mike Day.
He was the Senior Chief. And so as the Senior Chief and the leader of this squad, he was the first one to go through the door.
And as he entered that door, he found four terrorists on the other side.
He neutralized the first threat right away, but there were three others in the room.
In the dark of that room, they unloaded their rifles. At Mike Day.
He took 27 bullets. He was shot everywhere on his body except for his head.
He later described it as being slammed with a sledgehammer.
He says that in that moment, he prayed for the first time in his life.
And his prayer was, God, please get me home to my girls. Day says, when people hear about this story, they can't believe it.
He says, I was there and I can't believe it. I was shot 27 times.
Anything but my head, I got shot there. The reason I didn't die is that I wouldn't have gone to heaven.
You see, later, Day came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord opened his eyes.
So looking back on that moment, he realized that in that moment, he couldn't die. He belonged as a sheep to the
Father and the good news would come to him and he would be saved. That was God's plan for him. Nevertheless, in that moment, his
M4 rifle was shot out of his hands. Then he continued to fight with his
Sig 9mm pistol. After the pistol grip and his thumbs were shot off, he used the handless pistol and killed the other three bad guys.
Then he walked himself to the medivac helicopter. That is a picture of a hero.
Now, in our culture today, when you think of a hero, you think of the athlete who just won the Super Bowl or the
American Idol singer who just won the competition, but I would say that a hero who takes bullets like that for his country and for the love of his brothers back home is a true hero.
What you saw there is a glimpse, just a mere glimpse of the glory of God.
First of all, that he supernaturally survived that firefight, but also in the strength of a man who would go to war and in the courage of a man who would go through a door knowing that one of these doors will hold the terrorists and yet he went.
And in the steadfastness that didn't panic but got himself back to the helicopter.
That is a picture of courage and that is a picture of glory. And so it brings the question to us this morning, what is glory and specifically, what is the glory of God?
Now, whenever you have a question like that, you guys know where to turn, right? David Crowder told us, you go to the internet machine.
The internet machine. But in this case, Crowder is actually right. If you go to a website called
GotQuestions, you'll find that GotQuestions usually has some really good orthodox theology and good answers to some of these questions that we have.
What is the glory of God? Now, that doesn't mean that GotQuestions would be right on everything. I haven't read the whole website to vet it, but from my experience, that's a great place to go because they're bringing us not their own opinions, but the word of God surrounding a certain question.
I like their answer to this question. What is the glory of God? Because in that soldier, you saw a picture of glory.
And to a lesser extent, when an athlete is so great at his craft that he wins the Super Bowl, you see a picture of glory.
But what is the glory of God? The glory of God is the beauty of his spirit.
It is not an aesthetic beauty or a material beauty, but it is the beauty that emanates from his character.
So there was nothing pretty about that soldier shot up, but there was some glory in that because we're seeing a reflection of the character of God.
But the glory of God is the beauty of his character from all that he is.
So the full display of the attributes of God would be described as his glory.
God's glory is constant, says GotQuestions. And as we journey through life, we see it manifest here and there in this person or that forest, in a story of love or a story of heroism, fiction or nonfiction, or our own personal lives.
It all goes back to God in the end. The only way to God is through his son,
Jesus, and we will find the very source of all beauty in him, in Christ.
In heaven, if we are in Christ, we'll see it. Nothing will be lost to us. All those things that faded in life we'll find again.
We will find again in him. So the glory of God is the display, the beauty, of who he is.
And we catch glimpses of it in this life. So have you ever seen a hummingbird just kind of eating nectar from a flower or something or from your bird feeder?
And you notice, maybe you use a high -speed camera and you capture what's actually happening as that hummingbird just hovers there.
Its wings are beating at 5 ,400 beats per minute.
Amazing! Or you see a mountain, or you see a sunset, or an ocean, and you're overwhelmed not by the thing itself, because that thing makes you feel small, but by the
God who made such a thing. It all points to his glory. Psalm 19 is consistent with that.
It says, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. The glory of God is seen in the things that he has made.
Romans 1 .20 says that it's constantly on display, that there is a God. He has eternal power and divine nature.
And you look everywhere with eyes to see it. You can see it. In Isaiah 42 .8,
we learn that this God who made everything does not share his glory with another.
And yet, when you read Daniel chapter 7, you see someone clamoring to receive glory.
It's a picture of the Antichrist, and he's described like a horn. Now when you think of a horn, you think of some grotesque beast, and that's how the
Antichrist is. The Revelation describes him as a beast, and this beast wants glory, and he boasts of great things.
But then, flash to another scene, and there you have the Ancient of Days. The Ancient of Days seated on a throne with white hair to picture his wisdom.
And he's surrounded by thousands and tens of thousands attending to him.
Glory. Glory to the one on the throne. And then that boasting
Antichrist is thrown down and burned with the fire and is no more.
So it will be with every pretender to the throne. Everything that seeks glory in itself will be thrown down.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God stands forever. But if you keep reading
Daniel 7, something amazing happens. Here you have the Ancient of Days. God, the creator of all things, on his throne.
And then, one like a son of man appears.
And he comes to the throne of the Ancient of Days. And he's not struck down or burned.
Instead, Daniel 7 describes it this way, and to him was given a kingdom and glory and honor that all the nations of the earth should serve him.
Daniel saw a vision of the Son of God. And his name is
Jesus. Even in the Old Testament, he was revealed there in Daniel chapter 7 as God.
For he shares the glory of God. Only God deserves to be glorified and worshiped and served by all the nations.
Jesus was foreseen, and then in the New Testament, we get the full revelation of him.
That's what the book of Hebrews has been to us, hasn't it? A revelation of the Son. In the past,
God spoke through the prophets at various times in various ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us in his
Son. And this Son is the image of God. We're told all things were made through him, so he was there when this world was made.
He's the instrument of the Father's creation. He is the radiance of God's glory and the exact imprint of his nature, sustaining everything by the power of his word.
He is God. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit have always existed as one.
And Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. So as we come now to the last verses of the book of Hebrews, turn with me to Hebrews 13, and we finish the book, what we have here are magnificent expressions of honor to the
Son. He deserves glory. And we come to this point in the text to close the book of Hebrews because we should leave the book of Hebrews changed by it.
Having seen and beheld the glory of Jesus, we are being transformed from one degree of glory to another.
And as we go out of the book of Hebrews, we're changed to live for his glory, not for our own, to find joy in his glory.
So let's read it and how the book sends us out to inspire us to live this way.
Hebrews 13, 20 through 25. We finish the book.
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. I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation for I have written to you briefly.
You should know that our brother Timothy has been released with whom
I shall see you if he comes soon. Greet all your leaders and all the saints.
Those who come from Italy send you greetings. Grace be with you all. So here the central idea is the glory of Jesus to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen. We end the book with the glory of Jesus. But notice that we are connected to that glory because we are being equipped to glorify him, to do what's pleasing to him, pleasing in his sight, to do his will.
And these two concepts are not separate. In fact, the glory of God and our joy in doing his will are connected as one thing.
Here's how Jonathan Edwards put it. God's purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God's glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory and that these two are one passion.
What Edwards is saying is that the point of life is to glorify God. Westminster Confession.
They used to teach the Sunday school kids this in American history back in the day. What is the chief end of man?
And everybody would answer, to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. To glorify
God. That's why you're here. And our culture is certainly being very man -centered and secular and humanist, thinks that the purpose of life is to glorify oneself.
But the chief purpose of man is in fact to glorify God. Now, but notice these two ideas are connected.
They are one passion. When the passion of your life is to glorify
God, it is your joy to do it. It's not something that you're begrudging to do.
It's not like getting a tooth pulled. It's your joy to serve him.
And you delight to see him exalted. It's like a parent who watches his child score a goal or make a hoop or hit a home run.
The parent doesn't feel jealous for the glory and the spotlight being put on the son.
In the same way, the father delights to see his son glorified. And we as his people should delight to see
God glorified. Not, there's no sense of competition there between father and son, let alone us.
Our joy is made complete, according to John, in the glorification of the son.
This, in fact, is the purpose of life. Isn't it good that we actually know the purpose of life? Most of the world doesn't know why we're here.
Why did God make people in his image? We were meant to be like little mirrors.
Adam and Eve were like little mirrors on the planet that reflect his glory. Image bearers that shine and show his glory, but of course they fell into sin and that image was defaced.
And so you have a broken world where the glory of God is not on display in people's lives as it should be.
We were made for his glory. And so now, as we get into these verses, we're at verse 20. In that first verse, we're going to spend most of our time there.
Because there are four expressions in verse 20 that are meant to stir up our affections.
If his glory and our joy are hand in hand, what we need is to see his glory and to find delight in it.
So, the author of Hebrews knows that and he finishes the book with the most hard -hitting, joy -inspiring expressions he can come up with.
These are things that should make us happy when we see him. These are things that should make us delight and get excited.
Don't you want to have energy to serve God? I mean, you've been told what to do in chapter 13, right? Sexual purity and contentment in the things that you have.
And all of the commands of Scripture, right? We want to do those things, but wouldn't you want to have a motivation to do it?
That's what we find in verse 20. The first one, the God of peace. The second one, the resurrection.
The third one, the shepherd. And the fourth one, the blood. What do these things have in common?
All of them should stir us up to do what we've been studying, so that in verse 21, we're equipped to do his will.
So, the first one is the God of peace. The God of peace.
Do you think of God as the God of peace? Well, if you knew who you were before God came to your life, a right assessment of that, you would know that you were at enmity with God.
We were all not only strangers from God, but we were enemies of God. We are rebels to the king's throne.
We're going our own way, doing our own thing, and therefore, we are not at peace. These are kingdoms at war.
We are broken away, and we're in rebellion, and so God has wrath.
In the Old Testament, God sent a king to judge an erring people.
Because there was no peace. This king's name was Jehu. Ever heard of him?
Jehu was hanging out with his friends one day, and this mad man comes running into the house.
And he sends everybody out and says, I need to talk to Jehu. And when everybody was gone, he took a flask of oil and poured it on Jehu's head, and says, as a prophet,
God has anointed you king over Israel. Well, after the mad man ran out, all his friends were like, what was that about?
And Jehu said, you know that guy, he's crazy. And they said, no, no, tell us, what did he say?
And he said, well, he said, I was king now. And all of his friends strapped on their armor and bowed the knee to King Jehu.
Because that word was from God. And so Jehu started taking it seriously. And he got on his chariot, and he rode out to find the now deposed king of Israel, Joram.
And as he rode along, he approached the city where Joram was, and Joram saw him coming.
And he knew it was Jehu, because he said, I know how he drives his chariot.
He said, he drives like a mad man. He drives like Jehu. That must be Jehu. So if any of you drive your car like a mad man, you drive like Jehu.
That's the expression. Only he was driving a chariot, not a car. So up comes
Jehu, and the king sends out an envoy to go say, Is it peace?
And when the messenger gets to Jehu, as he's coming into the city, the messenger said,
Is it peace? And Jehu said, How can there be peace? Fall in behind me.
The messenger fell in behind Jehu. And then, another messenger came from the city, from the king, and said,
Is it peace? And Jehu said, How can it be peace? Fall in behind me.
And finally, Jehu, driving like a mad man, came up to the city, and the king himself said,
Is it peace, Jehu? He answered, What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother
Jezebel are so many? Doesn't sound like peace. Jehu came anointed by God to judge.
And this king came upon Joram and killed him, and then tracked down Jezebel, and then killed all of Ahab's family, and set himself up as king of Israel, because God sent him to judge a wicked king.
Now, we hear that story of Jehu. It's a story of justice. It's a story of the wrath of God.
And because we know how wicked Ahab was, remember how he killed a man and took his vineyard, how wicked
Jezebel was, worshiping the false gods, and all of the idolatry and the murder of this, we kind of think, you know what, they're getting what they deserve.
It wasn't peace, because they're really wicked. But here is the lesson of the story. It isn't peace.
We cry, peace, peace, when there is no peace, until one day
God sent another king, this time the true king of kings and lord of lords, whose name is
Jesus. And he came into our world, lived a perfect life, and then did not trample us all underfoot as we deserve, but he came as the prince of peace.
And God, reaching down to a sinful, rebellious people like us, all of us who have fallen short of the glory of God, whose sins go before us, and the penalty is death.
Jesus did not crush us like Jehu. He didn't trample us under his chariot wheel.
Instead, this king came, and he took that trampling on himself. He took a crown of thorns on his head.
He took the nails through his hands and the stripes on his back. He bore the beating that we deserved, and the death that he died was in our stead.
And they buried him, and on the third day he rose. And in so doing, God made peace with us.
You see, whenever we hear the term God of peace in Philippians, throughout the New Testament, Romans, here, the
God of peace reminds us of reconciliation, that we were enemies, and he came to make peace with us.
It's entirely one -sided. We did nothing to make peace with God.
He made peace with us. Jonah would testify to that. Remember Jonah running from God, thrown off the ship, helplessly sinking to the depths of the bottom of the sea, seaweed wrapped around his head.
He looked to the God of the temple, that one day he could worship in Jerusalem again,
Yahweh. And God sent a whale to swallow him up, and bring him to the shore, and spit him out.
And he once again worshipped God in the temple, after going to Nineveh, to obey
God this time. But in Jonah 2 -9, he makes a very pointed point.
Salvation belongs to the Lord. It was all God who rescued
Jonah, and it was all Jesus who rescued us. And even as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a fish, so Jesus was three days, three nights, metaphorically, in the heart of the earth.
Jesus is the king prophesied by Jonah, and he is the one that made peace with us.
So when you read God of peace from this day forward, remember, it should stir your affections.
I was dead. In fact, I deserved not just physical death, but eternal fire.
And yet God came and rescued me, the sinner. The God of peace reconciled with me.
Amazing. Secondly, and we'll spend most of the time in verse 20, the second thing that he uses here to finish the book to inspire us is that God who brought again from the dead our
Lord Jesus. Resurrection Isn't there just something about the resurrection of Jesus that stirs your affection?
When Michael is leading us in worship, and we come to the point in the song where the stone is rolled away, and there's that empty tomb, there's that empty slate, when we sing that part of the song, whatever it may be, when we sing about him conquering death, rising from the dead, don't we sing a little louder?
Can't you feel that? You see, the resurrection has not yet been mentioned in the book of Hebrews.
Isn't that interesting? He saves it for here. Because the resurrection reminds us that our king conquered the grave.
He is a triumphant king. He rose. And yes, the book is about him as a priest who is the sacrifice, and how he paid the price.
But now we're being sent out to go and do. We're being equipped to do. And so we're reminded here of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
God brought him up again from the dead. And so the resurrection is motivating to us.
We don't serve a dead king. We serve a living king.
We don't serve some prophet whose grave can be found in Calcutta, or Medina, or Mecca, or wherever they bury the false prophets of this world.
Our king's grave is empty. For he rose from the dead.
And he ever lives to make intercession for us at the Father's right hand. He is a living priest.
For he rose from the dead. Any of you guys watch TED Talks to try to get some motivation, the motivational speakers?
And what do they tell you? I've only listened to a couple. Hopefully you guys don't do that all day. They all say the same thing, right?
Tell yourself, I am competent. I am confident. I am assertive.
I am a champion. I am a winner. And the
TED Talk guy, he's trying to motivate you to believe this. But what he doesn't tell you is that the last thing he should say is,
I am dead. The TED Talk can't bring you back from the grave.
The TED Talk can't raise the dead. But here we are,
Christians, we have a risen Savior. That makes a difference in our lives.
That's why a guy would run for the school board and win. Motivated to go to seminary after retiring.
There's some energy behind that. And it's the guy who knows that his
Savior lives. And the power that's in us is greater than what's in the world. The same power that raised
Jesus from the dead now lives in you. That motivates me. I don't know about you. I think it does, from all the nodding
I'm seeing. Amen? He is alive. And so the third one. Don't you love when the preacher says amen as a question?
Amen? And then the third one is the great shepherd of the sheep.
Why does he talk about the shepherd? Because that metaphor is beautiful. The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. Leads me beside the still waters, makes me lay down in green pastures, restores my soul.
And yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
For thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. By the way, why does the shepherd have a rod and a staff?
The rod is for beating back the wolves. And the staff is for guiding us, his sheep, to go where he has for us to go.
He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. He anoints our head with oil. Our cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. And we will dwell in the house of the
Lord forever. We have a shepherd. He's a good shepherd. And in John 10, we learn just how good he is.
This shepherd, he's not like a hireling. When the wolf comes and the danger comes, the hireling who's guarding the sheep, he's just going to run away, right?
You don't want to get eaten by a wolf. Let the sheep die. But this shepherd is the good shepherd.
John 10, 11, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. What a picture of care.
And in the perfect harmony of the Trinity, the Father sent the Son to do this. He is a good shepherd.
1 Peter 5 calls him the chief shepherd. But notice here in Hebrews 13, 20. He's not called the good shepherd.
He's called the great shepherd. Again, a term that refers to his glory.
Now we have the resurrected Christ. We have the great shepherd. The God of peace.
And lastly, we have the blood. Why does the author of Hebrews, who
I think is Paul, why does the author of Hebrews mention the blood?
We took communion this morning, didn't we? And we saw in that cup the dark red of grape juice.
And it reminds us the price that he paid. And our desire as Christians, when we think about that, the blood of Christ is to return to the
Lamb the reward of his suffering. When we think about the price he paid.
With what were you purchased, brother and sister? You weren't purchased with gold and silver, but with the precious blood of the
Lamb. As a Lamb without spot. The cost that was paid.
When we think about the blood, Christian, if you're genuinely born again, the blood should stir you to live for Him.
To think of the sacrifice. Billy Graham, when he finished his ministry, was asked, what would you do differently?
And to many people's great surprise, he said, I would talk more about the cross and the blood.
Well, that's interesting because if anybody's listening to Billy Graham, especially back in the 50s and 60s when he was really on fire, all he talked about was the cross and the blood.
But he remembered that however much emphasis you put on that, he deserves more.
The world needs to hear and Christ deserves that we preach
His blood. He did the work. He shed the blood. Now we preach the blood. Because in the shedding of Jesus' blood, there is forgiveness of sin.
And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. It's a dividing line of history. Those who come under that blood are washed clean and those who reject stand in their own sins, filthy in sin and dead.
And so the blood stirs us and that brings us to verse 21. If this is the final energizing, motivating, inspiring portion, well, what is it for?
It is to equip you with everything good that you may do His will.
The book of Hebrews is sending us off to do the will of God. It says, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight.
This is what brings glory to God for it goes on to say, through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen. So my sermon today is called Glory to Jesus. Because the point of life and the point of this book is that we would live to bring glory to Jesus.
Nowadays, Christianity gets so watered down in many places that people think that the world revolves around them, not to bring glory to Jesus.
But when we live for His glory, it changes what we do and how we think. We are brought into conformity to His will, not ours.
Sadly, there are many who identify as Christian, but are unwilling to be conformed and changed to the image of God.
I was reading some statistics about this new generation that's coming up, and it was done by Barna.
You guys remember the Barna research group? Great researcher and gives helpful information.
He said that just 26 % of Gen X and 16 % of Millennials believe that when they die, they will go to heaven only because they confessed their sins and accepted
Jesus as their Savior. Only 26 % and 16 % of Millennials.
Additionally, 43 % of Millennials stated they don't know or don't care or don't believe that God exists, compared to 28 % of Boomers and 44 % of Millennials.
The study also found that overall, younger Americans are significantly more likely than the two previous generations to embrace horoscopes as a guide and karma as a life principle.
To see getting even with others as defensible, to accept evolution over creation, and to view owning property as fostering economic injustice.
So there's a generation that's departing from this book and doing the will of God.
It's very sad to see. But there are still in that generation 60 % that say they believe this book.
And among ages 18 to 24, now 40 % are identifying as LGBTQ.
40 % in that age group. Now we used to be told, just eight years ago,
I remember a debate between Doug Wilson and Andrew Sullivan, where the argument back then was there's always 3 % who have this genetic problem that causes them to be
LGBTQ, and the world needs to welcome that. It's genetics, not their fault. But if it's cultural and it's sinful, then you would expect as the culture departs, 3 % would turn into 5%, would turn into 10%, and then 20%, and here we are in 2021, just eight years after Andrew Sullivan debated
Doug Wilson, and 40 % of 18 to 24 -year -olds are identifying that way.
Maybe it's not genetic. Maybe it's sin. See, the old arguments are now gone.
You see, God has a prescribed will in His Word, and those who live according to the will of God will delight to do that will, and a genuinely converted
Christian will leave behind the deeds of the flesh and turn to Christ to follow
Him. And then some say, well, but I can't overcome the flesh. It's true. You're going to struggle and you're going to stumble, but the blood of the
Lamb washes you clean of all unrighteousness. When you repent and turn to Him, guess what you're going to find.
Look at verse 21. In these things that we're studying, you are equipped with everything good to do
His will. You see, the Word of God and the
God of peace, and the resurrection power that is in you, and the shepherd who takes care of your soul, and the blood of Jesus, the most precious thing in the universe, has power enough to break every stronghold and set you free.
You can walk in freedom. You can overcome the flesh, because what I'm reading here in verse 21 is that you are equipped with everything good that you may do
His will. And so the lies of the culture notwithstanding, when you believe the
Word of God, here's how you glorify Him. You keep His commandments. This is love.
Not that we loved Him, but that He loved us and gave His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
So how do we say thank you? How do we glorify Him in the body? Keep His commandments.
Jesus said, If you love Me, keep My commandments. We become conformed to His Word and His will in how we live.
So we should come out of Hebrews different than how we came into it. Remember? By seeing the glory of Jesus, we're told here that it changes us from one degree of glory, 2
Corinthians 3 .18, we're being changed to be like Him, to be mirrors that reflect
His glory to the world. So the last four verses is kind of like a postscript where Paul is addressing, if it's
Paul, I keep saying that. I'll tell you why I think it is. If you notice here, Timothy is like his protege.
And the theology of Hebrews is so in keeping with everything that Paul wrote. But if you look here, it says,
I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. Have you considered this sermon series brief?
When did we start, Rob? Had to have been like January, right? We've been in this book for months and months, but here's the point.
It's brief in length compared to the lengths that we ought to go to glorify
Him. This is nothing, this is, reading the book of Hebrews takes an hour. We should delight to do that again and again and again and let it become a part of us.
It's brief compared to the lengths that we ought to go for His glory. Then it says in 23, you should know that our brother
Timothy, so this is the time when Timothy had been locked up. And then the author says, with whom
I shall see you if he comes soon. So the idea is, I'm trying to get back to you, and I'm going to try to come with Timothy.
So it's just a clue as to what's going on historically there. And then it says, greet all your leaders and all the saints.
The leaders there goes back to verses 7 and 17. We've been talking about, literally those who have the rule over you, those who lead you, the elders and pastors of the church who are leading.
Here now you're to greet them. So the author is saying, say hi to so and so, because he knows them.
And then it's interesting, it says, those who come from Italy send you greetings.
So maybe this is just me, but I just picture Guido over here with a white baker's hat, and he's making spaghetti, and he's throwing spices in, and whoever's writing this book is writing the words of God.
And he hollers over, say hi for me! And that makes it into the
Bible. Because this is a human work inspired by God.
Fully human, an author is writing in his context, but the Holy Spirit is carrying along so that we would be reading the very words we're reading today.
Kind of as Jesus is fully divine and fully human, the Bible is fully divine and fully human.
An actual human author wrote in his circumstances for a reason. And here the
Italians are greeting the church. I think what that tells us is probably the church to whom this book is written is in Rome, or somewhere in Italy.
There are some scholars that think it's in Jerusalem, but from this evidence, I'm thinking the Italians are greeting people that they know.
And that's why he says that. Lastly, final verse of the book, wouldn't it be just fitting?
Grace be with you all. And so we close the book of Hebrews at that point with this note on grace.
Because grace is the mountain of his glory. All things that happen are to the praise of his glorious grace, according to Ephesians 1.
We most clearly see the glory of God in his grace. That he sent his one and only son to die for sinners like us.
And so the pinnacle of that mountain is the cross. And there we see the glory of God.
Guys, before you leave today, try to grab, does anybody have one of the blue papers I put on the back table?
Somebody hold that up if you grabbed one. Could you hold that up? Try to grab one of those on your way out.
It's a summary of the book of Hebrews. I worked on that this week. And I want you to put it somewhere where you'll remember it.
For what I do, when I finish a sermon series, I summarize the main thing that was taught.
And I put it on my bulletin board by my desk. So that sometimes I'll look up and read a main idea of the book thinking to myself, if I preached that,
I better live it. In the same way, each of you should take that and remember what was preached so that we can turn our hearing into doing, our faith into action, to continue to live according to the way that we're instructed.
So put that somewhere prominent. And so in closing, what does it say? It essentially says glory to Jesus.
The first point, and these will be brief, the first point, Jesus made everything.
He is the radiance of the glory of God. He is the exact imprint of his nature.
All things were made through him, so he is the highest revelation from God. The second point, he's greater than angels.
Angels are winds and fires to serve the living God. They worship God, but Jesus is
God. And all things were made through him. The third point, he is greater than man.
He is the better man. Where Adam and Eve failed as image bearers, he is the image of the Father, the image bearer who dwells among us, lives the perfect life we should have lived, and then dies in our place so that as a man, he reconciles men to God.
Makes sense? He didn't become an angel to die for angels, he became a man to die for men.
So he is the highest man. Fourth, he is the great high priest.
The high priest. He's not a Levite, he's from the tribe of Melchizedek.
And we learned all about that from Psalm 110. Not only that, next, he is the sacrifice.
He's the sacrifice. Not the blood of bulls and goats, but the precious blood of the
Lamb. The blood of Abel spoke a message of judgment, but the blood of Jesus speaks a better word to us.
Better blood. Better sacrifice. And so we have the warnings that go throughout
Hebrews. We must heed those and not reject Jesus. Then we have motivation from the
Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11 to show he's worth living for even if you can't see him. Then the practice of discipline, and finally the practicalities of chapter 13, which is summarized in, give your life to him to give glory to Jesus.
Amen? That's what the book's about. Let's pray. So Father, we have studied through the book of Hebrews, and Lord, we recognize there's so much more for us to learn.
Even having spent months in it, Lord, we've barely scratched the surface of the depths of your knowledge revealed to us in this book.
We thank you for what we've seen. We've seen a glimpse of glory. The glory of the
Son of God. So I pray for all who hear this. In fact, I got a text message today from a soldier down at the base, and he and his friends are watching this morning.
Lord, I pray for them, for Kyle and his friends, that you would strengthen them and equip them to do your will.
We pray for all who are listening right now in this sanctuary and those listening online, that we would not reject
Jesus, but we would submit and bow the knee to the Lord, to the King of Kings.
Motivate us today, Lord, that we would go from this place remembering the God of peace, the resurrected one, the good shepherd, the great shepherd.
Remembering the blood that was spilled for us, and that we would go out with energy and motivation inspired to live according to your will.
We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Awesome.
Glory to God. Glory to God. In response to God's word, let's stand and let's sing this last song as if we're giving glory to the one who deserves our highest praise.
Sing from the heart. To God be the glory
Great things he has done So loved he the world that he gave us his son
He did his life and atoned for sin and opened the life that all may go in Praise the
Lord Praise the Lord Let the earth hear his voice
Praise the Lord Praise the Lord Let the people rejoice
Through Jesus the
Son And give him the glory Great things he has done
Redemption The purchase of blood To every faith
It's the faith you truly believe
That all men can receive
Praise the Lord Praise the Lord Let the earth hear his voice
O come to the Father Through Jesus the
Great things he has taught us
Great things he has done And praise him
Rejoice ye Through Jesus the Son The glory great will be
Our wonder Our transfer When Jesus will see
Praise the Lord Rejoice The Son And give him things he has done
Amen Hallelujah Great job singing that out Praise the Lord So it says
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