The Grandest Plea

If you would, please take your
Bibles and turn one last time to the epistle to the Hebrews. We find ourselves in chapter
13, Hebrews chapter 13. And so finally, and really for
me, I admit, we come to this, the end of this incredible epistle.
And for me, it is, I am wistful as we draw near to the end. This
epistle perfectly met the occasion. The tumultuous and uncertain
times in which we find ourselves, just as the first century believers
residing in Jerusalem were facing the prospects of horrific crisis,
so we began some 20 weeks ago pondering the threats of an unfamiliar
but frightening pandemic, the fears of which soon gave way
to a gut-wrenching season of social unrest. which has not yet ended. No doubt this epistle we found
to be timeless. It is for us that just as those
first century saints were imperiled and therefore uncertain and in
dire need of a word from God. So we too are imperiled. and in need of divine guidance
in order to glorify God ourselves in the midst of our own times
and trials and uncertainties. We built this study around the
exhortations in this letter, the admonitions that are interspersed
throughout this letter. Whether they took the form of
a command, an imperative, Or whether this gracious writer
placed himself in and among the church and the command took the
form of an imperative. Or what we frequently discovered
in this letter, the form of a subjunctive verb, the we verbs. We have considered 14 of these
admonitions. And in a very rapid fashion this
morning, I want to review them for your sake as well. Our plan
of this study, as I remind you, was based on these exhortations. Divine encouragements for saints
imperiled. And we began with the consideration
of the fact that if we are to glorify Christ in a great trial,
we must listen to the one who is greater than the angels, chapters
one and two. We must come to the one whose
salvation is greater than that of Moses, chapters three and
four. We must draw near with confidence to his throne of grace,
chapters four and five. We must become spiritual adults. chapters five and six, we must
cultivate an intimate relationship with the Holy God, chapter 10,
verses 19 through 22. We must fulfill our obligation
to the body of Christ, chapter 10, verses 23 through 34. We must persevere to the salvation
of our souls, chapter 10, verses 35 through 39. We must strenuously live out
our Christianity. Chapter 12, verses one through
three. We must embrace God’s discipline
as a blessing. Chapter 12, verses four through
13. We must vigorously pursue relational
godliness. Chapter 12, verses 14 through
17. We must demonstrate a fearful
thankfulness. Chapter 12, verses 18 through
29. We must care for people’s needs. Chapter 13, verses 1 through
6. We must avoid false doctrine. Chapter 13, verses 8 through
16. We must follow God-given leaders. Chapter 13, verses 7 and 17.
And finally, If we are to glorify God in great
trial, we must devote ourselves to prayer. We consider this final
exhortation this morning. And I want to acknowledge that
even though this last exhortation that we will consider, there
are other imperatives in this epistle. If you glance down at
chapter 13, look at verses 22 through 24. We see three additional imperatives
just in that paragraph. Bear with this word of exhortation. Take notice, verse 23, that our
brother Timothy has been released. Greet all of your leaders and
the saints. And so those are imperatives
as well. I’m not suggesting for a moment
that we have hit every single one with equal intensity. Those are indeed imperatives,
but they’re not germane to our study. These verses we will leave
for another day, but considering the passage that I want to consider
this morning, the formal conclusion of this letter, verses 18 through
21, we had to have this exhortation. Our study would not have been
complete without this exhortation and a consideration of it. Our
writer has given us, as we’ve just reviewed, an exceedingly
tall order. Those 14 previous exhortations,
to begin to honor all 14 of those admonitions is almost unthinkable. Where would we even begin? How
would we even think to live up to these or to any of God’s high
standards? And so this section that follows
not only follows naturally after the strong exhortation to submit
to spiritual leaders in the church, verse 17, it is an exceedingly
fitting capstone to the entire epistle. We all need divine assistance. We need God’s help. And that
help we’ve already learned is available immeasurably at the
throne of grace, chapter four. And that grace is accessed through
no other means than by prayer itself. This final exhortation
is the crucial key to the entire epistle. Please read along with
me verses 18 through 21, a writer’s final exhortation. an imperative
which is found in the opening verse of this section, verse
18, where he urges his readers to pray for him and for his fellow
workers. Verse 18. Pray for us, for we
are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct
ourselves honorably in all things. And I urge you all the more to
do this so that I may be restored to you the sooner. Now, The God
of peace who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of
the sheep. Through the blood of the eternal covenant, even
Jesus, our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do his will. Working in us that which was
which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom
be the glory forever and ever. Amen. We have need of grace. We have need of divine enablement,
and therefore we have need of prayer. This godly shepherd needed
prayer as well, and those to whom he wrote also needed prayer. Look at the way he begins in
verse 18. This section is one of the most
confirming in this entire epistle about the character of this writer.
This is no arrogant, headstrong, insensitive man. This servant
of God is not arrogantly self-sufficient. This is a humble man. Throughout
this epistle, we have seen his humble association with his readers
over and over again. It wasn’t a top-down organization. He was among them. He was of
them. He’s not talking down to them.
Dozens of times he employs the first person plural, we, or the
pronoun us when speaking of things that must be done. We must do
this. Once again, his use of the subjunctive
verb, which serves to function more like an encouragement of
a coach and not an edict from a commander. And so here, too,
his humility is evident. He knows well his need. He knows his weaknesses and limitations. He knows how utterly dependent
he is upon God and his sustaining grace. He knows that absolutely
whatever he or any believer has. There is only one place to turn. Where those needs might be supplied.
to God by means of prayer. Think of how frequently even
the great Apostle Paul expressed the need for the prayers of God’s
people. 2nd Corinthians 1 11 join with
me in helping us through your prayers Ephesians 6 19 pray on
my behalf that utterance might be given to me in the opening
of my mouth Colossians 4 3 praying at the same time for us as well
that God will open up a door to us for the word 2nd Thessalonians
3 1 pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly
Now let me just say If one so graced and so gifted and so powerfully
used by God as the Apostle Paul Needed the prayers of God’s people
How much more any other Shepherd Whether it’s the writer of this
great epistle or the lowliest of small church pastors This
writer knew of his need and of the inexhaustible supply that
is available to Christians. And so he strongly admonishes
those that he’s serving, his readers, he admonishes them to
pray and to pray earnestly for him. I urge you all the more
to do this. It’s more than just a simple
prayer request. It’s an urgent plea to stand
with him spiritually, to hold his arms aloft in a sense, to
constantly bear him up in prayer, because that will mean not just
success for him, it will mean success for them, for the church
itself. Consider it. It’s a relatively
general request. Pray for us. And then there is
at least a hint of some contingency, some obstacle that prevented
his soon return to them. That just seems to be to point
to the fact that he had been with them at some point for some
length of time, but that currently he was apart from them and prevented
from returning to them. Perhaps the Roman army just outside
the gate was so thick a guest couldn’t penetrate. Further,
though, there was something preventing him. We have no idea what. Other than that, his appeal is
just a very vague, very general request. Pray for us. We’ve all
done that at times. Pray for me, brother. And sometimes
people can put two and two together. They know your circumstances
and they pray accordingly. But such at times is the nature
of this activity of prayer. Sometimes the circumstances are
such that we don’t even know how to pray. We don’t even know
what to ask for. We know well. The reminder of
Romans 826, we do not know how to pray as we should. But that
alone shouldn’t stop us just because we don’t know exactly
how to pray for any given circumstance. Paul proceeds to tell the Roman
Christians in those difficult circumstances when both thoughts
and words seem to be fogged in that the spirit himself intercedes
for us with groanings too deep for words. but only if we make at least
the effort to pray. And so, while the author here
is hardly able to articulate a clear prayer request, one that
could be shared on a Wednesday night, right? Or one that could
be sent out via the prayer chain. He cannot stop short. The matter
is too important. He values prayer. The prayer
of the people to whom he’s writing is too valuable. And so he appeals
to him in a general fashion. Even if he can’t pinpoint the
specifics, he pleads, pray for us. There’s a sad footnote to
this simple request. The remainder of verse 18. Effectively,
it serves as the reason that these readers should pray for
him and his ministry companions. Not unlike what Paul had so constantly
to do in his letters, this is a defense. It’s a defense of
this writer’s ministry. We have a good conscience. We believe that we’ve tried to
walk according to God’s will. We believe that we have done
so. We believe that we have conducted ourselves honorably in all things. What a strong statement. What
a powerful testimony. And the sad thing is that he
had to even say it at all. Even if it were just those harsh,
Judaizers, the church’s main detractors at that time, his
integrity was in question and it was a real concern. The fact
that he has to say this is a clear indication that there were some
who had their doubts. There were some who questioned
his honesty. There were some who weren’t so
sure that his intentions or his actions We’re honorable. Why
else would he even have to say this? Sad. So he says, pray for
us. For we are sure that we have
a good conscience desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in
all things. And I urge you more all the more
to do this so that I may be restored to you the sooner. And having laid this groundwork,
of humbly appealing to his readers. To bow in prayer on his behalf.
This writer knew his own need. And he knows the infinite grace
available to believers and having humbly sought the urgent prayer
of his friends. He immediately returns the ultimate
kindness. Don’t you look at prayer like
that? That’s the ultimate kindness. Whenever anybody says that they
prayed for me, it’s the ultimate kindness. He returns the ultimate kindness
and he prays for them. And as we’ve noted in verses
18 through 21, this section that forms the formal close of this
letter, The immediately preceding verse, verse 17, our writer had
admonished his readers, remember? Obey and submit to their God-given
spiritual leaders. And he provided, you will recall,
an absolutely impenetrable defense. For they keep watch over your
souls as those who will give an account. Who wouldn’t or who
shouldn’t? being submission to such men.
And we saw that this account, or rather accountability, is
ultimately to God. They’re certainly accountable
to the saints. They’re certainly accountable
to one another as leaders. But ultimately they are accountable
to God and to Him they will give account. What assurance, what confidence
the saints then can have in their loving shepherds those whom God
has appointed to watch over their souls. And what more sure example
of that than what we find here in verses 20 and 21. Earnest
prayer on their behalf. This is that which these believers
needed more than anything else. And with that, our writer humbles
himself before the throne of grace and utters one of the most
beautiful, one of the most significant, even if one of the briefest prayers
recorded in scripture. We tend to naturally embellish
our prayers, don’t we? I wonder if sometimes because
we either doubt the content of our prayers or the theology of
our prayers. If we think that just simply
by adding a whole lot more words, people won’t notice. But I want
you to notice how simple this prayer is. This is the simple sentence.
Now the God of peace equip you to do his will. And of course we can add, amen.
Such a simple prayer. Such a modest, unpretentious
prayer. And yet at the same time, how
deep and how thorough. I would suggest to you that this
is one of, if not the grandest appeals in all of scripture.
It provides in a single sentence, one of the, not only the recipient
of such a plea, the specific request, but the clear reason
for that request. This prayer reminds me of one
of the greatest moments in Paul’s ministry. And when you think
of all that God used Paul to accomplish, planting churches,
pointing people to Christ, when I say that this is one of his
grandest moments, It’s important. It occurs in
Acts chapter 20. You know the situation, Paul
has summoned the Ephesian elders to himself. Paul knew that in
all likelihood, his ministry, his four year ministry to the
Ephesian church was over, drawing to a close. Paul would go on
and write a letter to this Ephesian church, which letter you know,
He would continue to serve them, but it seemed that his face-to-face
ministry was over, finished. And he fully expected to be arrested
in Jerusalem. His worldwide traveling days
were drawing to a close. And he calmly explains to his
friends that they would no longer see his face. Remember this scene?
And Paul passionately wanted them to know that they would
be fine. And in a very real way, they
would be better off without him. This is the Apostle Paul, the
greatest pastor, greatest evangelist, greatest shepherd the church
has ever known outside of Christ. And yet he says, you’re gonna
be better off without me. Here’s how he said it. And this is what
I would say is Paul’s greatest moment ever. Acts 20, 32, and
now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace. Which is able to build you up
and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
He basically tells them you don’t need me. My time with you is
drawing to a close. You’re going to be better off
without me. I commend you to God and to the word of his grace.
See, the problem is that The Ephesians are just like us. They’re
too dependent on everything else, everything else but God. We have
a tendency to take for granted or be forgetful of God and his
grace. We depend too much on ourselves,
on our abilities, on our reputation, our influence, on our wisdom,
on our credit limit. on our connections. There’s nothing wrong with any
of those, necessarily. And the problem isn’t at times
that we lean on or utilize those things. The problem is that we
depend too little on God. This was Paul’s greatest moment,
and it’s the writer of Hebrews’ greatest moment as well. He prays
the greatest prayer recorded in scripture, certainly one of
them. Let’s look first at the recipient
of such a plea. This is the shepherd’s greatest
prayer for his flock. And we see, first of all, the
recipient of such a plea. Look at verse 20. Now the God
of peace. Now a writer, this faithful shepherd
knows exactly what to do in the case of need, any lack, whether
physical or spiritual. He knows to turn to God in prayer,
and he does so here. And you will no doubt notice,
depending on the translation you’re reading, there is no verb
in this sentence. Your translation perhaps has
inserted the word may. I couldn’t find a single example
where they used any other word. May. May the God of peace equip
you. I looked and many, many translations
do this, the ESV, the Holman, the NIV, New King James, New
Living Translation, all of them. And if they have inserted this
word, may, it is probably italicized. And when they do that, they are
indicating to you that this word has been supplied. This is only
academically honest. They’re telling you that, look,
this word is not in the original text. But in order to have the
sentence make sense to our English hearing ears, they supply this
word. In fact, I would suggest to you
that if they don’t put it in italics, get a new translation. I’m kidding. But make no mistake. Whether they insert this word
may or not, it’s a prayer. He’s turning to God on behalf
of his readers, these first century Christians, so persecuted, so
troubled, and he prays for them. After nearly 13 chapters of instruction
and encouragement and admonition, there is no better thing that
he could have done or said than to point his readers to prayer. But he also seeks here to build
on their spiritual understanding. And so rather than just a mundane
and undefined dear God prayer, he ascribes this great God to
whom those who love Christ can turn. He refers to him immediately
here even as part of the simple sentence has it, the God of peace. Isn’t that comforting? Ah, the
God of peace. This identifier for the Almighty
is used in a number of different ways. God is the God of peace
in a number of ways. Remember, this is a church in
desperate turmoil, severe persecution, vexing uncertainty, a church
preparing for earthly destruction, scattering the likes of which
they had never experienced. And as a result, they were exceedingly
anxious. So it could very well be here
that the peace that he’s referencing here is a more general kind of
peace, a reminder that God is able to calm your anxious hearts. Such is the gift of God, whereby
he grants spiritual comfort to his children. He is the God of
peace, that kind of God, that kind of peace as well. He is
the ultimate source of all good things. Peace in scripture, the godly
Robert Haldane said, signifies all kinds of good and prosperity. To say then that God is the God
of peace is to say that he is the author of every blessing
and all that is true. Every blessing, including the
comforting blessing of inner tranquility, comes from God himself. God sustains us, granting an unexplainable calm
in the face of utter turmoil. That is the peace that passes
all understanding, remember? So the writer, in a very few
words, could be telling them that God is a God of comfort
to his people. He’s the God of peace. Just a
simple reminder. But I don’t believe that our
writer is referring to that kind of peace here. God’s comforting
peace in difficult circumstances is indeed a truth, but I don’t
think that’s what he’s referring to here. And the reason that
I believe that is because of what follows In verse 20, it’s
the writer’s own explanation of what kind of peace he’s referencing. When we think of peace in a biblical
sense, God is most basically the God of peace in the sense
that whereas we were at enmity with him, he now has established
a peace treaty with us. by sending the prince of peace
himself to secure and restore peace with a holy God through
the payment of our sin on the cross. Well, this is precisely
what the remainder of verse 20 says. Look at it again. Now, the God of peace who brought
up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood
of the eternal covenant, even Jesus, our Lord, Why this God,
the author describes, is not only the God of peace, he is
also the God of all power because he brought up from the dead the
great shepherd of the sheep, Jesus our Lord. The writer is
speaking of the resurrection of Christ, no doubt. But he uses
here a very unique word to describe it. The word is used 13 times
in the book of Acts as a nautical term. to set sail, or to put
out to sea. And then in the Gospels, the
word was used to speak of Jesus being led up by the Spirit to
the wilderness to be tempted. In fact, the only other time
that this word is used to speak of Christ’s resurrection is Romans
10, 7, which says to bring Christ up from the dead. This is a very
unique way of speaking of Christ’s resurrection. But he is assuredly
doing so. Because Christ isn’t being led
to a body of water or brought to a wilderness or brought up
to a particular city. Our writer says that God, the
God of peace, brought him, the great shepherd, up from the dead. God raised him. He’s speaking
of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is
the great shepherd of the sheep. The solemn declaration by Jesus
himself in John chapter 10, if you will recall, there that good
shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. And it’s recalled
here in Hebrews by the phrase, through the blood of the eternal
covenant. This is the new covenant. This is, bear with me, the never
again having to be replaced or repeated covenant. It’s the eternal
covenant. It’s eternally conceived. It’s
eternally effective. And like the covenants of old,
this covenant was sealed with the blood of a sacrifice. Jesus
Christ, the good shepherd, laid down his life. He shed his blood
unto death. Death on the cross, as scripture
tells us. And all of this, our writer points
out, was for the cause of peace. The cause of peace. Peace between
sinful people and a holy God. Indeed, God is the God of peace.
Hear the great and godly Puritan John Owen on this great truth. The wellspring of the whole dispensation
of grace lies in the bringing again of our Lord Jesus Christ
from the dead. Through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, had not the will of God been fully executed, atonement
made for sin, the church sanctified, the law accomplished and the
threatenings satisfied, Christ could not have been brought up
from the dead. The death of Christ, if he had not risen, could not
have completed our redemption. We should have been dead in our
sins yet. But in the bringing up of Christ
again from the dead, by the blood of the everlasting covenant,
it is that which gives assurance to the complete redemption and
salvation of Christ’s church. The writer’s whole point The
writer’s whole point in reminding us of this truth in verse 20.
It’s the same truth that Paul declared in a single verse in
Romans 8, 32. He who did not spare his own
son, but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also
with him freely give us all things? Do you hear what he says? That
we have a peace treaty with God. We can go to him for anything. That he will not withhold. Will he leave us in any deficit?
We can come to him with any need. And so in this grandest of all
pleas, we see the recipient of such a plea, the God of peace.
But what is the plea? What is the request itself? Look
at the verse, verse 20. Take it in full, beginning in
verse 21, in verse 20 rather. Now the God of peace who brought
up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in
every good thing. These are the specifics of the
plea. We’ve addressed this tendency
in the past. Prayers that are so completely
general that they can hardly be called prayers at all. These
are the God bless all the missionaries in the whole wide world prayers. As recorded in the Gospels, Matthew
7, Luke 11, When Jesus commanded us to ask,
seek, and knock, he intended for us to make specific requests. God intends that we come insofar
as we’re able with particulars in mind. We’ve already noted that there
will certainly be times when we don’t know how to pray. And
the Lord himself makes provision on those occasions to intercede
for us. We know this. But this is not
an excuse for mental laziness that just mutters up some general
kind of appeal to God so as to let him figure out the particulars.
After all, he’s God. In this regard, we try Don’t
we? We try to provide our fellow
saints with as many particulars as possible in our prayer requests,
in our prayer lists. And our writer here utters no
undefined request. This is a bullseye prayer. I’ve
already suggested to you it’s the greatest prayer in the scriptures,
at least one of them. It’s very specific. As their
earthly shepherd, he knows exactly what they need. He knows exactly
who to ask, and he knows precisely what to request. He asks that
God may equip them. That might have a funny sound
to our ears, doesn’t it? We who perhaps have had the pleasure
of owning or even ordering up a vehicle fully equipped, right? What can it mean that God should
equip his people? The word, it’s a fascinating
one, it has the basic meaning to put in order or to set in
order or to fix or to mend a broken thing, a broken relationship,
even restoring that which was lost. A doctor would use this
word to speak of the process of setting bones, broken bones. The word has a beautiful and
diverse use in the New Testament. We see it first used in the Gospels. It’s used there to talk about
men who were in the process of being called as Christ’s apostles. And there the word was used to
describe them in the process of mending their nets. We see the word again used in
Galatians 6. We looked at this just a few
months ago. Brethren, if any man is caught in any trespass,
You who are spiritual, restore such a one. That’s our word.
Restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, each one looking
to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Here in Galatians, we
have this same word, not for mending nets, but for restoring
wayward believers. As it turns out, we breezed right
past this word last week. In a verse that I read to you,
we were considering that verse that pertained really specifically
to unity in the church. 1 Corinthians 1 10. Now I exhort you, brethren, by
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and there
be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete, there’s
our word, in the same mind and the same judgment. So biblically speaking, this
word could be used to speak of supplying what was either broken
or faulty or altogether missing. So what, specifically, is our
writer praying on behalf of these first century believers and for
us as well? In what sense did they, in what
sense do we need to be mended, restored, or made complete? Well,
the answer to that question is as plentiful as there are believers
multiplied by all the various ways that each one of us are
broken, wayward, or incomplete, right? God can do any of it and
all of it, right? Jesus forecasted this. great
need when he told his disciples in John 14, 15 and 16 that they
needed divine assistance in the form of a helper whom he would
send, the Holy Spirit. We need help. We need divine
assistance. And even after believers are
saved and in the possession of the Holy Spirit, they still needed
encouragement. All through Paul’s ministry and
acts, He is recorded as going about strengthening the churches. Even once those churches were
established, he still found them to be in need of continued prayer,
and so he specifically prayed for a number of these churches.
He prayed for the Ephesians. He prayed for the Ephesians that
they would be strengthened with power through his spirit. He
prayed for the Colossians who were yet incomplete when he wrote
to them and prayed that they would be strengthened with all
power according to his glorious might. He prayed for the Thessalonians
who needed prayer. For them, he prayed that God
would sanctify them completely, entirely. At other times, his
words took the form not of a prayer, but as an encouragement. To the
Romans, he encouraged them that they would be established. That was his desire for them,
for the Corinthians, that they would not be lacking any gift
for the Ephesians, that they would be strong in the Lord,
for the Philippians, that God would who began a good work in
them would perfect it in time. For any child of God. there is
much left to do, right? As long as we’re alive, there
is much left to do. Peter used this same word in
the very same way When he said in 1 Peter 5.10, after you have
suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called
you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself perfect, there’s
our word, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. There’s the
idea. We all have a great deficit. We all have great need of equipping. There is no one answer. Even
the prepositional phrase appended to this request seems only to
broaden this appeal. Glanced down at it, if you would.
He says, may the God of peace equip you in every good thing. So even though this is a very
specific prayer request, only God himself can know an answer
as it pertains to each and every believer, and it broadens infinitely. Does he refer here, perhaps,
to courage in the face of persecution, that they needed that kind of
equipping? Yes. In every good thing. Does it
refer to giftedness in the service of Christ and His kingdom? Yes. Every good thing. Is it wisdom
for navigating life’s challenges? Yes. Every good thing. Is it perseverance so as to endure
to the end? Every good thing. Is it sanctification
in the ongoing battle of mortifying sin in our lives? Yes. Every
good thing. Is it the financial means to
be able to participate in the spread of the gospel in this
world? Yes. Every good thing. Is it a call to the ministry?
A call to proclaim Christ? A call to shepherd Christ’s flock?
Yes. Every good thing. Whatever the
believer might need. Every good thing. And I want
you to just pause and think of how broad that is. God is able to fully supply and
equip. He has the infinite resources.
to provide us every possible means in order to fully accomplish
His will. So this request is at the same
time very specific and very broad. May God equip you in every good
thing. He specifically asks that God
may equip His friends in whatever way they might need. But He adds
one final particular to his grand plea. This is, as I’ve suggested, the
shepherd’s greatest prayer for his flock, the grandest plea. We see the recipient of such
a plea and the specifics of such a plea, but what’s the objective
of such a plea? We see it in the remainder of
verse 21. Now the God of peace equip you
in every good thing to do his will. Working in us that which
is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be the glory
forever and ever. Amen. Why should this friend
ask for such equipping? I mean by this, why should he
have to ask? He answers that question in the
final words of verse 21. Without such divine equipping,
without the manifold grace of God, there is for the child no
ability, absolutely no ability to do his will. There is a classic
illustration of this principle given to us in a famous interchange
between Augustine and a man named Pelagius. Some of you know this.
Pelagius either heard or read the following prayer by Augustine,
which immediately drew his ire. This is what Augustine prayed.
On your exceedingly great mercy rests all my hope. Give what
you command and then command whatever you will. Oh, love ever
burning, never extinguished. Oh, charity, my God, set me on
fire. Give what you command, then command
whatever you will. Pelagius felt that man had the
inherent capacity to obey God’s commands, and he took offense
to this prayer. He reasoned that the very fact
that God gives us commands means that we can, if we desire, obey. Augustine, on the other hand,
believed that if God so desires us to do a thing, he must grant
the necessary grace to obey. If God were not to provide such
grace, No such deed could be performed unless God provides
the grace, the necessary means for doing his will. It will it
must go undone. We do not have the capacity to
do any God honoring thing outside of his enabling grace. How could
we ever think that we could do something pleasing in his sight? apart from His enabling grace.
Such deeds, even though they cannot possibly be done, would,
if they could be done, be called works. Deeds which commended
us to God and obligated His kindness to us in return. But I want you to see, and I
want you to see graphically how airtight our writer’s argument
is. Remember that apparent conundrum
in Philippians 2. Keep your finger on Hebrews 13
and turn there for just a minute. Philippians 2. Philippians 2 and glance down
at verse 12. So then, my beloved, just as
you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear
and trembling. For it is God who is at work
in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. This is
the same remarkable conundrum in Hebrews 13. Would you turn
back? Glance down at verse 21. There’s
a beautiful play on words here. It’s the same verb used twice
in very close association, but most translations completely
obliterate it with the depending on the particular word they use
here. The same verb is used twice in close relation. Look at this.
Literally, it would say this literally to do his will doing. Good works, serving Christ, honoring
his commands, living out these enduring admonitions is not something
that we can do by our own power or strength. It is God’s doing
in us to do his will. God is the one who does. God
is the one who gives the ability to do that which is pleasing
in his sight. By his enabling grace, we can
do such things which are pleasing to him. Or as this word is so
often translated elsewhere, acceptable. God receives it. It’s welcome
to him. It’s acceptable or pleasing like
the scent of those so many sacrifices of the Old Testament. As Paul
told the Corinthians, their lives could be to God. By his grace,
acceptable and pleasing, a fragrant aroma of Christ. With God’s grace. that which he supplies. Of course,
it is our desire to please, to honor, to do that which is acceptable
in his sight. This was Paul’s overarching exhortation
to all of his churches. Take, for example, Romans 12.
Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is
good and acceptable and perfect. Much more succinctly, he said
essentially the same thing to the Corinthians. Therefore, we
have as our ambition, our heartfelt desire, whether at home or absent,
whether here on earth or in glory, to be pleasing to him. One great theologian spoke of
this heart desire. to live a life pleasing to Him.
He said, just as ambitious men of the world desire and strive
after fame, so Christians long and labor to please Christ. Love
to Him, the desire to please Him and to be pleasing to Him
animates their hearts and governs their lives and makes them do
and suffer what heroes do for glory. Believers are required
to walk as children of light, examining and determining what
is acceptable to the Lord. They are to regulate their conduct
by regard of what is pleasing to him. In other words, our aim, our
desire as believers in Christ is to please please God, not
ourselves. But note, finally, that this
is just like the equipping at the beginning of the verse. It’s
built on the foundation of what God accomplished in Christ as
we saw in verse 20. Likewise here in verse 21, whatever
God works in us is done through Jesus Christ. And this tells
us that there are no good works outside of Christ. God works
in us by means of through Jesus Christ. And as a final ornate capstone,
not only on this argument, but on the entire epistle. He says
to whom that is to Christ. Be the glory forever and ever.
Amen. Would you pray as we humble ourselves
at the throne of grace? Our merciful King, we come before
you and we acknowledge this great, perhaps
the grandest in all of scripture, prayer. And Lord God, we do acknowledge
the peace treaty that was enacted by God, by sending his son to
pay for our sin on the cross with his own son’s blood. And
Lord, we know that Jesus came willingly to establish God as
the God of peace. Lord God, we thank you as well.
For the particulars that we have in this prayer. That we need
equipping. We thank you for that reminder
that we need your grace. If we will ever do another God
honoring thing in our lives, we desperately need your grace.
Lord, we desire indeed to do your will. We desire to honor
you with our lives. We desire to honor you with our
words. We desire to honor you in all that we do. Lord God, we humble ourselves
and as believers, we plead and pray. for your enabling grace. It’s in Jesus’ name that we ask,
amen.