A church service should be a spiritual oasis…a time where we can come together as a family celebrating our belief in 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. [Ephesians 4:5-6]
But for many the time to exit the sanctuary only means a step back into the frustrations of the world…returning to our homes with all the realities of life we left just a few hours earlier…still there…the over-due bills…the laundry that needs done…the lawn that needs mowed…going back to work with the awaiting deadlines and the uncompleted tasks.
As people exit the doors of the church some feel that the spiritual oasis is now behind them…while others are just glad to get out of church.
When it comes to the actual time spent in church the average length of a sermon varies…researchers found that the average is around 37 minutes but there are striking denominational differences…14 minutes for Catholics…25 minutes for mainline Protestants…then there’s variations of what a sermon should include.
The goal of a sermon should not be:
…to dispense information. We’re drowning in information.
…to showcase the speaker’s oratory skills. It’s not about the messenger.
…to prove to the congregation that the preacher studied all week. Who cares?
The purpose of a church service is to praise God for who He is and what He has done…and there are two primary things God has done and is still doing that He needs to be praised for.
MERCY…God not treating me as I deserve to be treated.
GRACE…God treating me as I don’t deserve to be treated.
That’s why for some benedictions are a great enjoyment for a couple reasons:
…again…for those who are anxious to leave the benediction signals that the service will soon end and everyone’s free to go home.
…But for many the benediction is meant to impart a blessing from God on our lives.
That is why benedictions are important…after telling you how important they are…I don’t personally offer up a benediction at the end of the service…usually Richard closes the service with a prayer.
Here’s what I want you to remember when you leave the church…it’s what I shared with you through my sermon…but statistics indicate we forget 95% of what we hear after 72 hours.
That is why we don’t include any business or reminders about upcoming events after the sermon…I want you leaving the church hopefully thinking about what I just preached on.
In verse 20-21 of Hebrews 13 the author is offering up a benedictionleaving them both a blessing and a comprehensive summary of the book of Hebrews reminding them that Jesus is:
I. The Source of Our Peace
II. The Preparation of Our Peace
III. The Purpose of Our Peace
IV. The Result of Our Peace
I want us to look at these summaries which include the whole argument of the book of Hebrews and its case for the Finality of Jesus.
Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect, in every good work, to do His will, by working in you, that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory, forever and ever, Amen.”
I. Jesus…The Source of Our Peace
The first summary is found in the first line…the expression, “God of Peace” meaning more than just the absence of hostility…the idea of peace in the Bible is wholeness…completeness…blessings…and fulfillment.
This expression is found only in the letters and in the prayers of Paul…most of Paul’s letters begin with the words ‘Grace and peace to you from God’ …in addition Paul uses that phrase in many of his writings.
…Romans 5:1, “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God” …Romans 15:33, “Now the God of peace be with you all…”
…Philippians 4:9, “and the God of peace shall be with you.”
…1 Thessalonians 5:23, “And the very God of peace sanctify you totally…”
The writer of Hebrews…whoever he was…used the Greek word for “peace,” with its Hebrew roots of shalom…but there is a distinction:
—Roman peace was a peace dictated by man…for the Hebrew, shalom was the peace of God.
—For the Romans, peace was dictated by their conditions…for the Hebrew, shalom was a mutual agreement.
—For the Romans, peace was a temporary pact based on how long the peace agreement remained…for the Hebrews, shalom is a permanent agreement.
The first example of the peace of God in the Bible is the condition that existed in the Garden of Eden…Adam and Eve were at peace with God and all He created. If any people ever experienced Godly peace in this world it was Adam and Eve.
BUT with Adam and Eve the condition of peace they enjoyed lasted only as long as they were obedient to God’s will…unfortunately for them…when they disobeyed…the shalom of God…the peace of God was lost for them.
It’s God’s desire for every person in this room to have the same shalom of God that Adam and Eve enjoyed…Scripture tells us it is possible:
…having been justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ [Rom. 5:1]
BUT…because of the Church’s position the past 50 years peace with God has taken on an unbiblical meaning…because of the false idea that just anyone can experience and enjoy peace with God…everybody…they can’t. It’s conditional.
The hope that includes any and all persons go to heaven has softened God’s mandate regarding salvation.
We even see it in some Bible translations…Bible translators often times slant their translations to agree with their political…theological…or personal agenda with regards to their understanding of Scripture.
As a result, sometimes we are left with a less than accurate or complete meaning of certain passages…EXAMPLE…we have all heard the Christmas story and the angels’ words to the shepherds on that first Christmas; (KJV) / (Luke 2:14)
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
That verse is one I’ve heard since I was in grade school and I’m sure it’s what most of us have heard throughout our entire lives…buy a Christmas card and it’s usually printed somewhere on it…this verse is from the King James translation …what has this to do with Jesus as the source of our peace?
The word translated as ‘good will toward men’ can be written in a number of ways…one letter difference changes the entire meaning of that phrase.
There is a text-critical issue. Does the original text of Luke 2:14 read εὐδοκίας (“of good pleasure,” genitive case) or εὐδοκία (“good will,” nominative case)? A look at the oldest and most reliable manuscripts makes clear that all three major codices—Sinaiticus (א), Alexandrinus (A), and Vaticanus (B)—point to εὐδοκίας as the original wording. But in both the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, later translators erased the final sigma to change the harder genitive to the easier nominative reading which subsequently picked up in the King James version issuing the translation, “on earth peace, good will toward men.”
In later translations, including the King James Version, they omitted the final letter (ς) on the word we translate ‘with whom He is pleased’ …the absence of that one letter changes the meaning from:
The genitive case (εὐδοκίας) indicating only those with whom God is pleased
The nominative case (εὐδοκία) indicating good will toward all people…as translated in the King James…that is, humanity at large.
The removal of that single letter (ς) results in a less than accurate meaning of the text…the addition of the (s) makes the meaning more restrictive…the genitive case in Greek shows possession.
Most experts in Greek agree that the whole clause should be translated, “Peace on earth among men of His good pleasure” …this implies that God was bringing peace specifically to certain ones…not to everyone as the KJV and other translations imply.
The angels told the shepherds in the field, “Glory to the Most High God and peace on earth among those He favors!” indicating there’s a condition…I keep telling you with regards to the promises of God they’re conditional… peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased (Luke 2:14) …because God is not pleased with all humans…in our natural state we are enemies of God.
Men are in a state of hostility with God and with each other…the carnal mind is enmity against God…so…with whom is God pleased? …how does one become the recipient of God’s good pleasure?
God’s pleasure and peace rest only upon those who receive His Son by faith because His peace only with ‘men in whom He is pleased.’ …in short: by putting their faith in Jesus as the Messiah.
See the importance of knowing what the Bible actually says…that caution should be applied to any translation…not that they’re flagrantly wrong but sometimes they’re shaded to a particular translator’s interpretation.
For the Christian…Peace with God means:
…our sins have been paid for…[1Peter 3:18 / John 1:12; 3:16]
…that we are no longer enemies of God [Rom 5:10]
…that God sees us as righteous (Col. 2:14; Rom. 3:22)
…that we are His beloved children (1 John 3:2).
…that we no longer need to fear death (Rom 6:5 / Phil. 3:20)
II. The Preparation of Our Peace
The second summary describes God’s work of preparing our peace.
It is through the power of God…“having brought out from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep”.
There is no greater act in all of creation than the resurrection of Jesus…no one has ever come back from the dead to tell us whether there was life after death.
HOLD IT…what about near-death-experiences…do people die and then come back…is their story reliable?
The nature of near-death-experiences (NDEs) is largely unknown but recent evidence suggests the possibility that NDEs may refer to actual “perceived,” and stored experiences…BUT…for the majority who have not personally experienced an NDE, we should be cautious about labelling NDEs as “unreal.”
So…I’ll clarify my statement by saying…no magician…no other religious leader…no philosopher…no leader of state…no one anywhere in the universe at any time has ever come back to life after being dead for 36 hours.
Here is the capstone of the Christian faith…this is God’s proof to all who wonder if Christianity is the only true way to God and heaven…the same power that brought Jesus out of the grave after 36 hours is the same power that is available to us.
The preparation of our peace was included in God’s original plan from eternity past… it has never been upset or overthrown…it is the blood of Jesus [20] that makes it an “everlasting” and “eternal” covenant.
Christ’s death is the guarantee that God will never turn away from doing good to us…since His covenant is eternal, we have no need to fret or worry…the means and the plans of God are unchangeable.
God is not about to revise or reconstruct His plans due to what some think…or believe…He has remained on course and on the same plan since He devised it before creation in eternity past.
It is the very covenant God made with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden [Genesis 3:15] …It is the one He made with Abraham [Genesis 12:2-3] …it’s the same one He made with David [2 Samuel 7] …and the one He renewed in the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34…the means and the plan are sure.
III. The Purpose of Our Peace
What is the purpose of God’s peace? Christmas cards and Miss America contestants talk about “peace on earth.”
By this they mean peace among men…the end of war…violence and bloodshed. By this they mean the end to conflict among nations but this is not what the angels meant by peace.
This is not what our text means by peace…this view of “peace” is too limiting… this is how man views peace…this kind of “peace” is pathetic.
Luke writes in the book of Acts the purpose of our peace: [John 20:19]
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
Peace is the calm assurance that what God is doing is best…there’s no mistakes …no errors…or miscalculation with God…peace comes from knowing that He is in control causing all things to work together for good…always for His good, sometimes for yours…to those who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).
Peace is God’s way of signaling to you that you can rest in Him…that you can trust Him…you’ll be able to see Him at work in your life…here’s how… He’ll make you able to do what you think you cannot do.
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).
On their own…there is no way those frail…timid apostles could have even remotely preached about a risen Savior…who for many…was nothing more than a criminal.
The Bible records the events of people who did what they thought they could not do…for all who think they cannot do what is needed to minister in the Church …He is able to bring our abilities into accord with His plan so we can do what we thought we were unable to do.
Notice what He does…when we are determined to do the will of God…doing what pleases Him…God equips you with everything you need to do His will.
So how does God teach us…equip us?…it’s not through osmosis…it’s not by giving you an automatic understanding of the Bible…here are some of the ways God teaches Christians:
…God teaches us through the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us
…He speaks directly to each person through the Bible
…He will use your background
…your level of education
…your current and past occupations
…all of your life experiences—good or bad
…He will surround you with people who are unfamiliar to you to teach you lessons that you couldn’t learn any other way
…He’ll possibly send you to school
…God uses a variety of ways to teach you.
Here’s the problem…many times it’s us…some say…“I have never been able to perform in a way that I would say is “well-pleasing” to God” …that’s because in our own strength we muscle our way through things to get it done…and because we are weak…and feeble…without Christ we are unable on our own to do anything spiritually good.
This is one of the most encouraging texts I know…a prayer that God would prepare and equip all believers who need encouragement in fulfilling the purpose for which you were created…that He’ll equip you in every good thing to do His will.
God has given to every Christian a gift that He will hold us accountable for…in order to accomplish that we need to be strengthened with spiritual strength.
We must never hope “to please God” by anything done in our own strength.
In [21] is the answer… He will “work in us”. That is where the power comes from so we can accomplish every good work… it happens “through Jesus.” …Jesus does not do mediocre work…when we submit to His leading everything is “well-pleasing” in the eyes of God!
Verse 21 is translated different ways in different versions but fundamentally the point of the author’s prayer is that God will equip the church with every good thing that they need to do His will…. and God will supply all of this through His Son.
IV. The Result of Our Peace
People ought not to go to church to hear the sentiments or the ideas of a man, but to hear the word of God.
The benediction is a blessing for us…but only to the degree that it enables us to take our eyes off ourselves and to place them on the one who saves us…this concluding prayer and benediction is a reminder of what has been promised us.
ONE…that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that is available for those who have trusted Jesus as their Savior.
SECONDLY…that we might know who is the source of our peace…it’s not in the tangible things of the world…true peace comes when the God of peace takes over our lives…therefore, let us fix our eyes on the God of peace, for only He is able to meet us at the level of our deepest needs.