God working in you. That's what I've entitled this
message. God working in you. Are you interested in that? I
am, and I believe you are too. Now all that is said in verse
21 is predicated on what is said in verse 20. And all that's said in verse
21 is not only possible, but an absolute necessity because
of what is said in verse 20. Now let's read these verses together. And remember, what's said in
verse 21 is because, and it's a necessity, of what is said
in verse 20. Verse 20, now the God of peace. What a name for our God. The
God of peace. That brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus. He really died. That is something
that mystifies and amazes me more and more that Jesus Christ
The son of life died and the Lord brought him from the dead
because he did what the father gave him to do and he completely
satisfied his father. That's why he was raised from
the dead. There was no reason for him to stay dead. That great shepherd of the sheep
through the blood of the everlasting covenant. That's the covenant
of grace, the covenant made before the foundation of the world,
the covenant of which David said, although my house be not so with
God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant. That's the covenant he's speaking
of, ordered in all things And sure, now because of that covenant,
and this is a promise to every believer, 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. Question. If God forgave
you of your sin and didn't do anything else for you, could you be in heaven? No. Because of my sin, my sinful
nature, if I entered heaven, I would ruin that holy place
by me being there. God's going to have to do more
for me than forgive me. He's not only going to have to
do something for me, He's going to have to do something in me. You know that so don't you? He
must do something in me. Now I've used this illustration
before but I believe it's a good one and I think it will speak
of what I'm trying to say. Verse 20 is the work of God for
you. Verse 21 is the work of God in
you. Both need to take place for me
to be in heaven. Now, what if I were on death
row? I have committed a crime of which
I'm guilty, and I've been found guilty, and I'm scheduled to
be executed in 24 hours. And I've got another problem.
I need a heart transplant. I need a new heart. And if I'm
not given that heart, that new heart, I will die in 24 hours. Now, what good would it do me
if I got a pardon from the president? You're pardoned. You're not going
to have to be executed. You're set free. What good would
that do me if I didn't also get that new heart? It wouldn't do
me any good at all. I'm still going to die in 24
hours. What if I was given that new heart? I was feeling so bad
and now I'm given this new heart, this heart that I didn't have
before. I've got the heart transplant. I've got a new heart. But I have
no pardon from the president. What good does that new heart
do me? Absolutely none. I have to have the pardon and
I have to have the new heart. The work of God for me, the forgiveness
of my sin, what he accomplished on the cross for that, and the
work of God in me. Now, I believe the Lord illustrated
this so clearly in the parable where he said, you don't take
a piece of new garment and use it to patch up holes in an old
garment. You just have the new garment, the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. It's no patchwork for the holes
in your righteousness. It's a single garment. And you
don't take new wine and pour it into old wine flasks. They're old. During the process
of fermentation, they'll end up bursting. You got to put new
wine in new bottles. new wineskins. God doesn't take
His grace and pour it in your old heart. It wouldn't work.
He gives you a new heart in which He pours in His grace. The work of God for you and the
work of God in you. Now, He speaks of the work of
God for us in verse 20 and He speaks of the work of God in
us in verse 21. And look what verse 21 says.
Because of the everlasting covenant, that's His work for us. That
didn't have anything to do with us, did it? It was made before
time began. You weren't even around when
this covenant was made. Ordered in all things and sure. And this
guarantees, verse 21, now to make you perfect in every good
work, to do His will working in you. That which is well-pleasing
in His sight, don't miss this, through Jesus Christ. It's only
through Jesus Christ that this is well-pleasing in His sight. Never think of anything independent
of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He promises
to do a work in us. Now turn back to Hebrews chapter
8. And this is a quotation from Jeremiah chapter 31. Verse 10. For this is the covenant that
I'll make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord,
I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their
hearts. And I'll be to them a God, and
they shall be to me a people." Now, here we read of this work
of God done on the inside. I'll write my laws in their minds. I'll put them in their hearts
and understand that's not talking about the Ten Commandments. You
were born, I was born with the Ten Commandments written in our
hearts. There isn't anybody alive that
doesn't know intuitively that lying is wrong, and sexual sin
is wrong, and stealing is wrong, and murder is wrong, and disobedience
to your parents is wrong. That's one of the reasons. People
say we need to teach people how to live. Everybody already knows
how to live. You know you're supposed to pay
your bills. You know you're supposed to be honest. Everybody knows
that. When he's speaking of these laws, as a matter of fact, Romans
chapter two says the work of the law is already written in
the heart of the unbeliever. And here's what it does. It makes
them come up with excuses or it makes them accuse themselves
and feel guilty or excuse it. So that's not talking about The
Ten Commandments, we love the Ten Commandments, but that's
not what that's talking about. That's talking about God's laws
written on the heart. And I think it's very interesting.
Laws, plural, in the New Testament, we read of six laws. The law of righteousness. When God writes in your heart,
you cannot be satisfied with anything short of perfect righteousness,
the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You can't find any comfort in
anything else. All you're satisfied with is the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. And then we read of the law of
sin. Anybody that God has written His laws in their heart, they
believe that everything that comes from them is sin. Everything. The law of sin. And then we read of the law of
faith in Romans 3 27. This is what happens when God
writes in your heart. You believe. It's your nature
to believe. You cannot not believe. You believe the gospel. You really
believe that Jesus Christ is all your righteousness before
God. God's written that in your heart, the law of faith. And
I love what James speaks of when he speaks of the royal law of
love. When God writes in your heart,
it is your nature to love God exactly as he reveals himself
in his word. You love every one of his attributes
because you love him. And then there is, as James says,
once again, the law of liberty. If God has written his laws in
your heart, you must have liberty. You must have freedom. You cannot,
if you owe anything, you're in trouble. You have to have complete,
all debts paid. And this thing of walking with
Christ, I've got to do it. I want to do it because I want
to, not because I have to, not because I'm scared of what will
happen if I don't. This is what I want. This is the law of liberty. Now, this is what happens when
God writes His laws in your heart. Galatians 1.15, But when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me
by His grace to reveal His Son in me. It's not enough for Him to reveal
His Son to me. I must have Him reveal His Son
in me. If He's only revealed to me,
I'll forget, I'll mess it up. I need Him to reveal His Son
in me. Galatians 2.20, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Philippians 1.6, being confident
of this very thing, that he that hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. I'm confident
of that too. If God has begun a good work
in me, he'll complete it. He leaves nothing undone. Philippians 2.13, work out, your
own salvation with fear and trembling, for it's God that worketh in
you, both to will and to do his good pleasure. This is the work
of God in you. I love this, 1 Thessalonians
5.21, faithful is he that calleth you. He said, quench not the spirit,
despise not profit. He gave seven or eight things,
and everything give thanks. And then he says, faithful as
he that calleth you who also will do it. And I love the fact
that he doesn't say he'll enable you to do it, although he does,
but that's not what it says. It says, faithful as he that
calleth you who also will do it. This is God's work in you. And then our text in Hebrews
chapter 13, once again, Verse 21, this is his work in
you. Make you perfect. This is every
believer. This is the promise of the covenant.
This is his promise of what he's going to do in me and in you. 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. Make you perfect in every good
work. Let's talk about these good works
in every good work. This is the promise of the covenant. Ephesians 2.10 says, we are his
workmanship. I like that, don't you? That
means he made me. I'm no self-made man. He did
it all. We're his workmanship, literally
his poem, his poem, created in Christ Jesus. Now this work is
a creative act of God. He makes you something that you
were not before. This work in you. Created, we
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. That's why they're so sure. Does
God foreordain anything that doesn't take place? Absolutely
not. He has ordained that we should
walk in them. Titus 2.14 speaks of a peculiar
people. This is what every believer is
called. A peculiar people, zealous of good works. And every believer
You know, I want to be rich in good works to the glory of Christ.
You do too. That's the desire of every single
believer without exception. Zealous of good works. Now, what
is a good work? What is a good work? I know what
the Lord called a good work. Only one action that he ever
called a good work. It's when Mary took that alabaster
box of ointment, so costly, so precious, and it was an act of
faith. The Lord said what she was doing
was to anoint his body before the burial. You know, she's the
only one who believed what he said. He told all the disciples,
I'm gonna be crucified, I'm gonna die, they're gonna put me in
a tomb, the third day I'm gonna rise from the dead. He said that
at least three times. There's only one of them that
believed it. Mary. And she takes this costly alabaster
box of perfume and she breaks it. I love that manner of extravagance. She doesn't just get a little
bit out, she breaks it and pours it on him. And the disciples
were critical. They said, why was this waste
made? There's all kinds of good that
could have been done with this money. And the poor could have
been fed. Oh, they were so critical. That's
like us, isn't it? Somebody does something for the
glory. You do something for the glory of Christ, I'll find a
reason to criticize you for it. That's so ugly. The disciples
were so ugly at this time. And the Lord says, let her alone. she had performed a good work
upon me." Anything done out of love for Christ is a good work. It's that simple. Anything done
for his sake is a good work. Now it says, God make you perfect
in every good work. And that word is used for mending
nets. When they were mending their
nets, they were perfecting their nets. That's the word. It means
to be joined together, to frame, to be restored, to repair, perfected. God make you perfect, frame you
in every good work, to do His will. Now I know this, the only
people that will be in heaven are the people who do His will. He said, Not everyone that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. That's the
only people that are gonna be there. Many shall say unto me in that
day, Lord, Lord, we've done your will. You know us, we preached
in your name. We cast out demons in your name,
works of power in your name. We've done many wonderful works. The quantity, many, and the quality,
wonderful. Then shall I say to them, depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. All these works that you are
so impressed with are nothing more than works of iniquity. He says, I never knew you. While
they had these works they considered wonderful, they never did His
will. They never did His work. This
is the work of God. that you believe on Him whom
He hath sent. Don't talk about doing His will
unless you believe on Him whom He hath sent. That is doing His
will. This is the work of God. The
Lord tells us that. This is God's work. This is my
Father's work. This is what He does when He does something for
you. that you believe on Him whom He has sent. You believe
He was before He was sent, He did what the Father sent Him
to do, and you believe, you rest, you trust Him. Now if you and
I do His will, there's one reason for it's God that worketh in
you. Think of the power of that statement.
If I believe the gospel, And I do believe the gospel. I'm
trusting the Lord Jesus right now as my all in salvation. I do believe the gospel. That is God working in me. Both to will and to do his good
pleasure. I want to do his good pleasure,
that's my will. And I do his good pleasure, I
believe the gospel. That is Him working in me. Now, not only has something been
done for the believer, which is summarized by this glorious
statement, it is finished. What's better than that? It is finished. Everything God
requires of me has been accomplished. He's done something for me. It
didn't have anything to do with anything I've done. He did something
for me. God's salvation is not what you do for God. It's what
he does for you. Amen. You believe that. He's done something
for me. And not only has He done something
for me, He has done something in me. And we are just as dependent
upon the Father to do something in us. It's His work, as we're
dependent on Him to elect us. We didn't have anything to do
with election, did we? He did it. We didn't have anything to
do with the cross, making payment for our sins. He did it. And
we're just as dependent upon Him to do this great work of
grace in us. Verse 21, make you perfect in
every good work to do His will, working in you that which is
well pleasing in His sight. Look in verse 15 of the same
chapter. By Him Therefore, let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God nonstop. That is the fruit of
our lips, giving thanks or confessing His name. Now, I'm confessing
His name is the only reason I'm saved. Can you confess that? Is that the confession of your
heart? You're saved for Christ's sake. You're saved for His name's
sake. And you believe that. That's your confession. That's
what you believe. By him, verse 16, but, but, to do good and
to communicate, forget not. And like I said, I was looking
at that verse when we looked at this a few weeks ago and I
thought, I forget all the time. I need to be reminded all the
time. To do good and to communicate or forgive. Forget not. For with such sacrifices, God
is well pleased and he's pleased because he's pleased with his
son. Don't ever look at something you've done and say, God's pleased
with that. He's pleased with that through the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. If you're in
him, you're well pleasing to him. working in us that which
is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, through
the mediation and the intercession of Jesus Christ. That's what
makes them well-pleasing to God. Never look at anything you do
independent of the satisfaction, the righteousness, and the merits
of Jesus Christ. Because if you look at it in
any other light, it's odious to God. It's not well-pleasing
to God. Christ is well-pleasing to God. That's Him working in you, that
which is well-pleasing in His sight, and you can't take any
credit in that, can you? Don't want to, do you? Now, in
conclusion, what does that look like? What does it look like? When
God is working in a man, that which is well-pleasing in his
sight. You see, when God saves a man,
he's different. He's not what he was before. Now, the old man is always as
bad as it ever was. I would be remiss to not say
that because it's just so. And if you don't say that, people
will start mixing the whole thing up. But you are something you
were not before. When God does this work of grace
in you, when he gives you this new heart, you've been blessed
of God. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us. Is He us every believer? Yes
sir. Who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now what does
it look like when God has blessed a man on the inside? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Now when we're talking about
the Beatitudes, this is not an image we're trying to project,
but what we are. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Now let me be real simple as
to what it means to be poor in spirit. It doesn't mean to be
beating yourself up all the time. It means this, you don't have
anything but Christ. That's it. You have nothing else. You don't
have anything you would bring to God, but Christ himself. And
you know, you don't bring Christ to God. He brings you to God.
You're in him. He's all you have. You don't
look to anything else. I love saying this. The gate
is so straight that if you have anything other than Christ, you
can't get through. Poor in spirit. That's someone that God has blessed.
Poor. That's someone whom God has done
a mighty, miraculous work of grace on the inside, poor of
spirit. Blessed are they that mourn. Now, this word is pretty much
reserved to what you do when somebody dies. Before they die,
you have some hope. You're praying for them. But
when they die, you mourn. because you can't do anything
to bring them back. Now what this is talking about
is mourning over your sin. And like I said, this is not
trying to project an image. This is not trying to show this
to somebody else. Before God, I mourn over my sin. My sin, like David said, is ever
before me. I mourn. over my sin, I can't
make it go away, I can't make it get better, I mourn over my
sin. Paul put it this way, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I mourn over my sin. Now when God has done his mighty
work of grace and blessed somebody, they mourn. Blessed are they
that mourn. And then he said, blessed are
the meek. Meek before God. Now what is meekness? Meekness
is bowing before anything he does as right because he did
it. not arguing and complaining and
bucking against. Whatever God does is right. Whatever He does with me is right. Meekness, you're on the Lord's
side. Whatever He does is right. And you accept it as good because
He did it. Blessed are the meek. When God does a work of grace
on me inside, blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
righteousness." Now if I'm hungry, it's because my stomach's empty.
And the only thing that's going to satisfy it is going to have
to come outside of my stomach. I have to have His righteousness.
I hunger after His righteousness because I have none of my own.
And I'm in a constant state of hungering and thirsting. This
is not some It's everything to have His righteousness.
I hunger, I thirst to be clothed in Him. Oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is
of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. I hunger and I
thirst after His righteousness. I don't want to stand before
God among righteousness. I hunger and thirst after His. Blessed are the merciful. Now
somebody that God has blessed, they are a merciful person. You see, they've experienced
the mercy of God. They've been saved by the mercy
of God. And they're not haughty and arrogant
towards others. Merciful. Our message is mercy. the mercy of God in Christ Jesus,
the free mercy of God for Christ's sake. That's our message. We've
experienced his mercy toward us. If he gave me what I deserved,
I'd be in hell right now. He didn't do it for Christ's
sake. Mercy is our manner. Merciful
people. If somebody's not merciful, they've
not experienced the mercy of God. This is this state of blessedness. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. If God has shown you mercy, you'll
be merciful. And if he hadn't, you won't be. Blessed are the pure in heart.
Now, what's it say? Blessed are the pure in heart. This is the new heart he gives.
You see where there's a pure heart? This is the new heart
given. A new heart also will I give you. Where there's a new
heart, there's poverty of spirit. There's mourning over sin. There's
meekness before God. There's hungering and thirsting
after righteousness. There's this merciful attitude.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed
are the peacemakers. God is called the God of peace. We read of the gospel of peace.
And you know who the true peacemaker is? The person who preaches the
gospel. That's true peacemaking. Preaching
the gospel. And caring about peace with men,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of
peace. He is our peace. Peace, peacemakers, not contentious,
not argumentative, not fighters, but peacemakers, because He is
our peace. You know, I love to think of
the peacefulness of God. He's never worried. He's never
stressed out. He's at perfect peace. I love to think of the peace
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, my peace I give
unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Now this is what happens when
God does a work of grace in a man. Now this is what the Lord tells
us. This isn't something I've come up with. This is how the
Lord describes what a believer is in the Beatitudes. Blessed
are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake. Now when
God has done a work of grace in your heart, You're going to
stand for the righteousness and merits of Jesus Christ as being
the only righteousness there is. And you're going to have
people persecute you, and they're going to say, you don't care
anything about good works, you don't care anything about your life. Why,
that'll lead people to indifference, that'll lead people to a careless
attitude towards sin, all the accusations that come out of
that. You want to go, I don't care if they make those accusations.
The righteousness of Jesus Christ is the only righteousness there
is. And it's the only righteousness I have. And when God does a work
of grace in somebody's heart, they're willing to be persecuted
for righteousness' sake. And they are persecuted for righteousness'
sake. And you know what? If I'm persecuted for righteousness'
sake, I don't care what accusations men bring against me. I could
care less. I'm standing for His righteousness, and I don't care
what men say. This is the work of God in a
man. And this is done through Jesus
Christ for Christ's sake, and it's done because of the blood
of the everlasting covenant. This is God's promise, a work
for me and a work in me. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the covenant that you and
your son and your spirit made before time began that was purchased
by the blood of thy son. that causes you to work in us
that which is well-pleasing in your sight through Jesus Christ. Lord, accept our thanksgiving. Lord, take this message according
to your will and bless it for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.