Go ahead. If you take your Bibles
and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13, we'll
be looking at verses 20 and 21 this morning. It is good to be
back with you here. I had a wonderful time, a wonderful
vacation, and I'm thankful for it, but I am thankful to be home.
Boy, it is good to be back. Hebrews 13 and verse 20. The title of the message is,
Our God of Peace. Our God of Peace. Hebrews chapter
13 verse 20 says, Now the God of Peace, that 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, working in you that which is
well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen. Now, the apostle having
given us many exhortations in this chapter, exhortations concerning
both our faith and practice as believers in Christ. He says
that we should love one another as Christ gave us commandment. He exhorts us to be content that
our lives should be without covetousness. And we would be content with
such things as we have. The apostle says to be mindful
of the gifts of God. Be mindful of his apostles concerning
that wrote his word, his prophets that wrote his word. Remember
them. Remember his pastors and preachers
of the gospel. Remember that these are gifts
meant for your edification, for your enjoyment, for your good. The Apostle encourages us that
we are to keep in mind the immutability of our Savior. The immutability. What a blessed thought that is.
Praise God for the immutability of Christ, who is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Give thanks to God for this,
that He has always been our Savior. He has always been our Redeemer.
He has always been our Mediator. and His gospel that is preached
to us, that the Holy Spirit has implied to our hearts. Remember
this, that His gospel does not change. There are many things
that change in this world. We are constantly creatures of
change. But yet, one thing is constant,
one thing is sure, and that is the author of the Gospel, Jesus
Christ, is the same. He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. And that means all of His characters,
His characteristics are the same. His love is the same. His mercy
is the same. His grace is the same. And it
doesn't change. And His Gospel is the same. And so we are encouraged by this.
And by this, that we are also encouraged not to be tossed about
by false religion. Not to be tossed about. He tells us that in verse 9,
don't be carried away with different doctrines. Don't be carried away
by these things. Well, pastor, I would never.
Really? If you think that, you should
be very careful. You should be very careful. Let us not be tossed about with
works religion. Don't be turned aside by their
trinkets of wealth, health, and prosperity. Don't be turned aside
by their fake smiles, by their fake joy, and by their
fake happiness. You remember Asus. He wrote that
in Psalm 73. He said, truly God's good to
Israel. Now I know this, God's good to Israel. But as for me,
I know God's good to Israel, but as for me, my feet had nigh
well slipped. My feet were ready to go because
I was envious at the prosperity of the wicked. Do you not look
at this world at times and feel that? Envy? You look out there and they seem
to be having such a wonderful time. They're not bound by the
same things that we are. They're not interested in things
that we are concerned with. They're not concerned with them.
We're concerned about our sin. We're concerned about life after
death. We're concerned with Christ and
His glory. And these things have no concern.
There's no bands in their death. They're not afraid to die. They are corrupt, they speak
wickedly, they speak against heaven, and yet therefore the
people of God return hither, he said, and the waters of full
cup are wrung out to them. In other words, we have a lot
of troubles. I see God's people have a lot
of difficulties. I see them with a lot of sicknesses.
A lot of things that is not concerning to other men. And he said with his own heart,
he said, I don't even want to tell anybody. That would be so
discouraging. If I were to sit here and tell
you all of my wicked thoughts and evils and unbelief, I know
this, I don't want to. That would be discouraging to
you. And I know that from you. You hide those things from others. We don't want to discourage God's
people. He said, I don't want to. I don't want to discourage
God's people. He said, all the day long I'm
plagued. Are you plagued all the day long with your sin? He said, I have to know this
was too painful for me. He said, until I went to the
sanctuary of God and then I understood their end. Believer, consider
the end of the wicked. Consider the end of their foolishness
and their brazenness. Consider the end of them that
their end shall, in a moment, those fake smiles will be turned
to terror. They're walking on thin ice and
soon the ice will break and their feet will slide off into hell. Don't be concerned about their
prosperity. Don't be fooled by their gains. He said, our gospel doesn't change
because our God doesn't change. Believer, remember that we are
not friends of this world. We are not to be friends with
this world. James says, you adulterers and
adulteresses, know you not that friendship with the world is
enmity with God. This world is not our friend
and we're encouraged about this. This world is not our home. This
is not our end. Everybody's looking for that
next biggest thing, aren't they? The flesh is always looking for
that. The next big thing. But the next big thing, then
you'll look for the next big thing. This world is not our
home and it doesn't satisfy us. It just don't. This world is
not going to meet all our needs. Believer, this world is not our
home and nothing can fulfill our need of mercy, our need of
forgiveness, our need of peace with God other than the Lord
Jesus Christ. He alone can give us rest. He alone can give us peace. Don't
be turned aside by these evil things. Don't pay any attention
to them. Let me ask you this. Is there
anything more needful than Christ? What can you name that's more
needful than being found in Him? To the believer, there's nothing
more needful than to be found in Christ. Nothing. Nothing. Christ, to us, is everything. And yet, we who believe on Christ
are often fearful. We who believe on Christ, who
are saved by the blood and righteousness of Christ, yet we find ourselves
constantly in turmoil, constantly fearing, constantly doubting. We're like those disciples who
were in the ship with the Lord, and He was in the back, asleep.
And then the waves and the winds beat upon the side of the vessel. And it began to be filled with
water. And these disciples were so afraid,
they were terrified. And they went into the Lord and
they said, Lord, carest thou not that we perish? What a question. The Lord told them they were
going to the other side. Yet they were fearful and unbelieving
that they would make it. And they came crying, carest
thou not? What a question. But yet we all
ask it. Every one of us have asked that
question. Don't you care? Sometimes it seems as Lord is
in the back of the boat asleep, that He doesn't care. Oh, friends,
He does care. He does care. And that gentle
rebuke He gives His disciples, He said, why are you so fearful?
And how is it that you have no faith? Such gentle words pierce our
hearts. Our Lord and Savior is so gentle
in His rebuke, and yet it pierces through us. How is it that you
would be fearful when I promised you that we would go to the other
side? And yet we are. And so this morning, I want us
to behold the Word of God for our comfort. Do you need comfort? Do you need assurance? Because
I sure do. I find myself often troubled,
often in doubt. And so therefore, let's see this
in our text. See this, that now the God of
peace, I want us to see that God is the architect of peace. God is the architect of peace. That God is the builder of our
peace. And God is the giver of our peace. First of all, He is the architect
of all peace. We who were born were born into
this world full of sin. Every one of us were born into
this world dead, spiritually depraved, and set against God,
set fully. I've not really found the degree that I've been set
fully towards sin. I've not found how evil and wicked
this nature truly is yet. I imagine if God showed it to
me, I would die. I would die of despair if God
showed it to me all at once. But if we want to see the total
depravity of man, it's very simple. If you look to John chapter 5
and verse 40, Jesus said, You will not come to me that you
might have life. You will not come to me that
you might have life. Is that not the most awful thing. That a man will
not come to Christ, that he might have eternal life. Does that
not clearly show the depravity of our nature? God says, here's
life. I am life. I am the bread of
life. And yet men still will not refuse
and reject their sins, repent from their sins, and turn to
Christ. That they might have life. Second of all, John 6, 44, no
man can. Not only no man will, no man
can. No man can come unto me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him. See the total depravity
of this, that no one can come. or will come to Christ. You who have come to Christ know
this, that by nature we never would have come and we never
could have come unless God has chosen us, unless God has redeemed
us, unless the Holy Spirit called us to life. We never would have
come. There is nothing in us that is
good. Have you got a hold of that? That there is nothing in
you good at all? Nothing. There is nothing that merits
the grace of God. There is nothing in us that is
pleasing to God. There is nothing in us to satisfy
God. Paul writes in Romans 8, for
to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. So then, they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. This is the plain truth concerning
your nature, concerning my nature. Believer in Christ, let us remember
that our old nature has not changed. This old man has not changed. He's just as vile and wicked
as the day he was conceived in our mother's womb. This old man is corrupt. But
when God by grace called us with a holy calling, and by grace
gave us a new nature, He gave us a new heart, a willing heart. I will come to Christ. I will
right now come to Christ. I am willing to come to Christ.
That is a new nature. And not only willing, I'm able.
I'm able to come to Christ. What a glorious transformation!
What a glorious thing has happened to me that I am willing and able
to come to Christ by faith. We are now people of two armies. Two armies, two natures. The
one you were born with and the one that God gave. The one that
God created in you. And these two natures are constantly
at war and at struggle with one another. So that you cannot do
what you want to. I want to be holy. But I know
this, that when I would do good, evil is present with me. Paul said, I know in Romans 7
that in me, That is, in my flesh, in my old nature dwelleth no
good thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not." Have you
found a way to do good without sin? Because I can't find it. I can't find it. Even when I
would do good, I know this, that evil is present with me. this
very clearly, how I was inconvenienced at one time. I had a neighbor
and she was elderly. And she asked me to come over
and take out her trash. Well, I was busy. And then I thought, well, I should
sacrifice for others. And I went out and I took that
lady's trash out. And I felt so good about myself.
Sin was present with me. If I've ever done good, I don't
know when it was. It was never. I've never done
good. Because evil is always present
with me. Oh, wretched man that I am! Is this your confession? Oh, miserable man! I am a miserable man. This is my confession that there
is a war constantly raging and I confess that my nature is full,
full to the brim, full and overflowing with sin. That there is nothing
good in me, not one thing. I confess that I desire to live
soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. I desire
with all my heart. I don't want my sin. I hate my
sin. I despise my nature. And yet to do that, I can't find
out. I can't do it. And notice this, only a man with
a new nature confesses such guilt. A man that only has one nature
will not confess this kind of guilt. Only a man with two natures will
confess himself. Paul said, I know that in within
me dwelleth no good thing. But he said, I also delight in
the law of God after the inward man. He's talking about two men,
two natures in himself. What then is the only peace and
comfort for our souls? This is it. Now, the God of peace. God is the architect of peace,
the designer. You think of an architect, he
draws the plans. He goes out in great detail,
in great measurement, in every way, in exactness. He plans out
the building. before it's built. God is the
architect of peace. He has planned our peace. He has planned our peace. He's
planned our peace in His sovereign love for us by an eternal covenant. By an eternal covenant. This
is how Paul could say grace and peace to you. From God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. In Christ. According as He hath chosen us
in Him, before the foundation of the world. For what purpose? That we should be holy. And notice this, without blame. This is God drawing the design
of peace. He said, this is how it's going
to be. I have chosen a race for myself. I have chosen them and given
them to my Son. And in Him, they'll be perfect. In Him, they'll be holy. In Him,
we'll have peace. In Him, we'll have peace. Accepted
in Christ. This is the foundation of our
peace. If you want peace, it has to be rooted in eternity.
It has to be rooted in the eternal love and purpose of God. If it's rooted in anything in
time, we won't have any peace. Because if it can begin, it can
end. But in this matter of peace,
it never began. It always was. And friends, it
will never end. God designed our peace. He chose
us in Christ. And it was a covenant between
God and His Son. We were not there. We had nothing
to do with this covenant. Other than we were the benefactors.
We were the ones that benefit from this covenant. Jesus purposed and agreed to
be all our righteousness and our redemption. This covenant
was purposed in eternity, but it was completed when God was
made flesh and dwelt among us. It was finished when Christ fulfilled
the law and made an everlasting righteousness for us. This covenant
was ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ. Go to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Look at
verse 13. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were
sometimes were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Notice this. for he is our peace. God who designed our peace, purposed
that our peace would come only by one, not by you, not by me,
but by his holy son. He is our peace, who hath made
both one, and broken down the middle wall of partition between
us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the commandments
contained in ordinances. For to make in Himself twain
one new man, so making what? Peace, that He might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having He slain the enmity. He abolished the enmity and He
slain the enmity. What was it? It was sin that
separated us from God. It was our sin. It was our guilt
that separated us from God. That caused a disruption between
us and God. It is ours and our sin alone
that is enmity. against God. Believer in Christ,
know this, that God never hated you. I hate me, but God never has. God never has. God has never
condemned you. We condemn ourselves, but God
has not. We are justified from all eternity. Well, how can we be so sure?
Well, if you go back to your text, now the God of peace who
raised up the Lord Jesus Christ. The God, now the God of peace
that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ. I can
know that God has made peace because he has raised the Lord
Jesus Christ from the dead. This is our evidence. If your
conscience needs evidence, here it is. That Jesus Christ has
risen from the dead. The blood of Christ of the everlasting
covenant was accepted and satisfied forever Therefore, Jesus, having
removed all of our sins by His enduring the wrath of God in
our stead, death could no longer hold Him. You see, death was
the result of sin. He was made sin for us. Who knew no sin? That we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. And as He was made
sin for us, God justly poured out His wrath on His Son. And
as He bled on the cross, He paid the redemption price. God says
in His Holy Word, I have found a ransom. His Son. His blood. And as He died, on
the cross. He was obtaining our peace that
God had purposed. God purposed to have peace with
you. God desired to have peace with you. And it was obtained
by the blood, the righteous blood of Christ. And to prove this, to prove this,
He raised His Son from the dead. He said, I've accepted His offering
and His peace. That's why the Scripture says
in Colossians 1.21 that He hath made peace. Stop trying to make
peace with God. It is a futile effort. Why would
we do something so foolish when Christ has already made peace? This is why we have to labor
to enter into His rest. Because the struggle of the old
man always desires evidence within the self, within the person.
He always desires to merit peace. But we labor to cast him off
and by faith look to Christ who has made our peace with God through
His blood. And to prove this, God raised
him from the dead. God purposed it. Christ obtained
it. And now the Holy Spirit has implanted
it. The Holy Spirit has given us
peace. The peace of the new nature.
Faith in Christ. Do you realize how great a miracle
faith is? Everybody wants to see a mirror. If you want to see a miracle,
look at me. I believe on Jesus Christ. That's
a miracle. That's a work only God can do.
I will come to Christ. I have come to Christ. I do come
to Christ. And I desire to come to Christ.
And I don't desire to go anywhere else. He made my peace with God. And even though hell itself rages
against us to destroy us, God says that he is seated on the
throne of heaven and rules all things after the counsel of his
own will. Even hell itself is working for our good. Because he controls everything. And God is the maker of our peace. Therefore, you, sinner, saved
by grace, are well-pleasing to God. Did you hear that? You are well-pleasing to God. Look at that in our text, verse
21. Now the God of peace make you perfect in every good work
to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in
his sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Believer, you are his
workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God
hath before ordained that you should walk in them. Every good work that I do, I
know this, sin is mixed with it, but yet, Through Christ,
it is pleasing to God. Your worship this morning, would
you count it pleasing? Maybe I should pass out cards
so you can do a self-check, right? Well, I think I did pretty good
this morning. I know that every believer would
check the bottom. Not pleasing. Not pleasing to
God. Not pleasing. No, it's pleasing. It is. Hard to believe, isn't it? Impossible
to believe, except God give us grace to believe it. That through
Christ we have absolute peace with mercy, forgiveness, compassion,
love. All of these things through Jesus
Christ, our Lord, to whom be praise, to whom be glory forever
and ever. Amen. May God bless this to your
hearts.