Glory to Jesus (Hebrews 13:20-25, Jeff Kliewer)

I just, I want to do sports.

That's exactly right. And people that are online should know that it's going to start. Are they doing this part? I'm going to say good morning, Cornerstone. If you're out in the hall, come on in and join with us.

But it, 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, 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, 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. I love the habitation of thy house, thy house, and the place where thy glory dwells. Give us our 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, it will be the 21st. That's when we're going to celebrate all of 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. Well, Five Below is the name of the store.

It's 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 and 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, six o 'clock, please come back for our six 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, the blessings on their lives. Lord, we continue to lift those in our midst in spiritual, 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.

Sing together.

We come into your presence We remember every blessing From above 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 in songs of freedom, ever we're changed Because of your love, into your presence We remember every blessing that you poured out so freely From above, Lord, we've come to for all you've done

As 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 king, and all will see how great And all will.

May be seated.

For 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. No, 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 gonna 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 gonna 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, 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. 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. You would stand with me.

For us I cannot take my sin Jesus, thank you Father's wrath is completely satisfied Jesus, thank you Once your enemy now seated at your table Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Once your enemy at your table Jesus, 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 wanna continue every day saying thank you.

Your blood has washed away my sin Jesus, thank you The Father's wrath completely satisfied Jesus, thank you Once your enemy now seated at your table Jesus, thank you

Prayer and the Word, 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, two and three, 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, two and three, 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, and 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. And 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.

And 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 Superbowl, 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 seven, 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 seven, 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 seven 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 seven 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 gonna 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 wanna 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 madman 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 madman ran out, all his friends were like, "'What was that about?'. And Jehu said, "'Oh, 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 madman.

He drives like Jehu, that must be Jehu.'". So if any of you drive your car like a madman, 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 madman, 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.