You still have your place in
Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. Look with me again at verse 20. 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, the God of peace, the God of
peace. And we do not want to do what
so many do in our day to try and speak peace where there is
no peace. Men say a lot of false things
in our day, and they have, they always have. They say things
like, God loves everyone. That's not what the God of peace,
that's not what that means. He is the God of peace, that's
declared clearly in scripture. But if you look back in the last
verse of chapter 12, if you just look across the page at verse
12, we also read that God is a consuming
fire. Outside of Christ, God is a consuming
fire. He is going to punish sin. Proverbs 29 verse 1 says this,
he that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly
be destroyed and that without remedy. Without remedy. No cure. No cure for the disease,
no pardon for their sins, no recovery for them out of their
miserable and undone condition. They're lost, they're lost. Those that have despised his
instruction, those that refuse to hear him, refuse to hear his
commands. In the Old Testament, God's wrath
against sin was revealed time and time again. One of those
times included the destruction of this world. Back there in
Genesis 6, it says, God saw that the wickedness of man was great
in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
were only evil continually. And it repented God that he had
made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. And
the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from
the face of the earth, both man and beast and creeping thing
and the fowls there, for it repenteth me that I've made them. Just a few chapters over in Genesis
17, God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their
great sin. Genesis 13 says this, the men
of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. God sent a pestilence back in
2 Samuel 24. Remember David had sinned against
God in numbering Israel? And God sent a pestilence for
three days. Just three days. And 70,000 men
were killed in that time. And you'll notice in all these
things, in all these examples, there's two things. There's man's
sin and there's God's wrath against sin. And it's easy for us to sit and
think, well, you know what? He should have destroyed those
people. They were awful. They did terrible
things. They were sinners that rebelled
against Almighty God. Oh, but I'm not like that. No,
I'm not a sinner. I live a good, righteous, and
moral life. You know, that's what men say,
isn't it? That's what we say. That's what David said. Remember
that? God sent Nathan the prophet to
reprove him. And he told that story of a rich
man. Remember that? He took that poor
man's lamb and he slew it and made a dinner for that rich man
that was traveling. And when David heard that, he
heard how awful that fellow was, what did he say? He said, the
man that had done that, he shall surely die. How often, how often have we
judged another? Remember what Nathan said to
him. This must have just brought him
to his knees. He said, David, thou art the
man. Thou art the man. All, scripture says this, all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. David would later say this, he
would say, against thee, against God, against thee and thee only
have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. And you know, he
cried out for mercy. And listen, we need to hear this. Man is dead. Dead in trespasses and sin. And
God in His wrath, God in His justice, God in His holiness,
He is going to judge sin. That's evident. That's clearly
declared throughout the Word of God. God's wrath is revealed,
listen, it's revealed from heaven by the judgments, by God's judgments
in times past. We just read of a few of them
there, right? This world, Sodom and Gomorrah,
David. God's going to judge sin. He's
going to punish sin. We see it in His providence. The book of Jude says this, that
God is going to judge the ungodly. And Romans 3, 8 declares this,
that that damnation, it's just. It is just. The judgment of God
that falls upon man is just. And again, that wrath is revealed
throughout the gospel. Ultimately, it was shown at the
cross when God showed His wrath, His punishment for sin, when
it was found on His Son. Was it ever more clearly on display
than at the cross? When He found sin on His Son,
the sins of His people, He slew Him. He poured out His wrath
upon him. The Lord Jesus Christ cried out,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? God is angry. Angry with the
wicked. Angry with the wicked every day. That's not what man says, but
I tell you, that's what God's Word says. God hateth all the workers of
iniquity. Sin is under God's wrath and
all creation is under the judgment of Almighty God. And these men
that are going out saying otherwise, listen, they're lying on God
when they say otherwise. God's holy, he's just, he's righteous,
he doesn't love sin. But aren't we thankful? Here we read in our text that
he is the God of peace. A peace described in scripture
as such that passeth all understanding, And the source of that peace
is found here in verse 20. 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. The first thing we see here is
that we have peace. through His blood." You see that? Peace through the blood. Listen to these words from Colossians
1 verse 19. It says, "...having made peace
through the blood of His cross." God was made a man. He took on the form of a servant. He took on Himself flesh. And Scripture says that He appeared
once for this purpose, to put away sin. You know our sins have
separated us. Separated us from God. But His
death That which separated us, His death put it away. He put away the sins of His people. The angel announced this at His
birth. The angel said, Thou shalt call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. That's why He came. He came to
put away the sin of His people. I was thinking about this last
night. I have ruined, and Abby can, she can back me up on this. I have ruined a lot of clothes
over the years by getting stains on them. Grease, blood, dirt,
you name it. Food. Stains are hard to remove. I once ruined a perfectly white chair by eating
chocolate-covered peanuts on it. It was awful. It wasn't even our chair. Stained. Ruined. Could not be removed. But there's
a stain that's far worse. The stain of sin. Sin is a stain
that we have nothing that will remove it. And men have tried. Those Jewish sacrifices, they
couldn't remove it. Scripture says this, every priest
standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sin. Religious ceremony, can that take away sin? Scripture says this, by the deeds
of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. What
about our so-called good works? Can that remove sin? Can that
put away sin? Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done. Listen, even death and hell cannot
remove sin. But there's one, there is one
who can. It's the blood of Christ. The
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what God's word says.
The blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses us from all sin. There's nothing, nothing else.
We love that hymn. What can wash away my sin? What is it? Nothing but the blood
of Jesus. We have peace. Peace through
His blood. Do you still have Hebrews 13?
Here's the second thing. We have peace through His resurrection. You see that in Hebrews 13 verse
20? We're brought again, brought
again from the dead. That means, it could also mean
brought up or led out. Our Lord was brought into death
by the sentence of the law. And He lay in the grave, but
then He was led. He was recovered. He was restored
by the God of peace. perfect peace. He was brought
from death to life. And by that righteousness, God's
righteousness is imputed to those who believe in Him. Those He
raised, that one who raised our Lord from the dead. The Lord
Jesus Christ who was delivered for our offenses. He was raised
again for our justification through His Blood, the shedding of His
blood, the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without spot
or wrinkle. And listen to these words. Actually,
just turn there. Romans, I believe it's Romans
6 verse 4. this resurrection. Look at verse
4, Romans 6. Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. The same power that raised up
Christ is the same power that works in His people. Does that give you peace? Peace
through His resurrection. You know, the resurrection is
proof that Christ is who He said He was. No other man has ever been raised
from the dead apart from Christ. Eternal Son of God. And God has
appointed a day in which He's going to judge the world. And actually read this. This
was the same message of the apostles. They preached Jesus and the resurrection. Third, back to our text. Peace through His covenant. The everlasting, the blood of
the everlasting covenant. You see that there? This wasn't,
listen, this wasn't a backup plan. That's what, I don't know
where men get that from. They say that this was a backup
plan. Listen, it was planned in grace
and purposed by God before time began. Turn to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy. Chapter 1, verse 9. 2 Timothy
1, verse 9. Go back to verse eight. Be not
thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor me
as prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel
according to the power of God, who hath saved us and called
us with a holy calling. He saved us. Then He called us,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace given in Christ Jesus. When? After you made a decision. When? Before the world began. An everlasting covenant. It's called a new covenant, a
better covenant, built on better promises. Listen, we have peace
from God by that eternal covenant of grace. In Hebrews 8 verse 9, if you
just turn back a few pages there from our text, from Hebrews 13,
Hebrews 8 and 9, It says this, God's Word says
this, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of
the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant. And I regarded them not, saith
the Lord. Listen, that covenant was broken
by man. But this covenant, this better
covenant, it cannot fail. It's an everlasting covenant,
ordained by Almighty God, sealed by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and it's by the power of the Spirit of God, He breathed
life into a dead sinner. Back to Hebrews 13. Verse 20, 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.
Here he speaks of the great shepherd of the sheep. The Great Shepherd,
fourth point here. We have peace through His Son,
the Great Shepherd of the sheep. I love this picture of our Redeemer. And if you get a minute this
afternoon, take time to, you don't have to wait until we get
to a funeral home and read this on the back of the car, but Psalm
23, just six verses, Take time this afternoon and
just sit and read that. The Lord is my shepherd. And as the shepherd, we see His
tenderness. We see His love toward His flock,
His chosen people. And listen, He's not just a shepherd
or the shepherd, he's the shepherd of the sheep. By eternal covenant, God has
a people and he is everything to his sheep and they mean everything
to him. He's our peace. Consider the
work of the shepherd. He leads his sheep. He feeds his sheep. He satisfies
his sheep. He protects his sheep. He gives
them eternal life. He creates them. He owns them.
He rebukes them. He saves them. He restores them. And I love this. He carries them
in his arms. He lays down his life for the
sheep. Our Lord told that parable of
the lost sheep back in Luke 15. Turn there with me just for a
minute. Turn to Luke 15. Look beginning with verse 4 of
Luke 15. What man of you, having a hundred
sheep, if he lose one of them, does not leave the ninety and
nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until
he finds it? And when he finds it, He lays
it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and his neighbors, saying unto them,
Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep, which was lost. Who'd that shepherd go searching
for? Not all. not all, but that which
is lost." That's who he came to save, that which was lost. Christ came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Are you a sinner? Are you a sinner? Their sheep, they were a They
were far off. He went into the wilderness,
huh? Far off. But because of His love for them,
His great love for the sheep, that relationship between the
shepherd and the sheep, because of the Father's will, because
of that covenant, and for His own glory, He goes out and He
finds them. And when He finds them, Where does he find them? He finds
them dead in trespasses and sin. And he speaks life to them. And
he calls them by name. He claims them as his own. He reaches down and he pulls
them out of the pit, out of the deep miry clay. He rescues them
out of the hand of Satan. And he takes them and he washes
them. That filthiness, he washes it from them. He heals them of
their diseases. He feeds and he refreshes them. And then he covers them with
his robe of righteousness. And he lays them on his shoulders. You ever have an animal lost
I'll just speak for myself here. I've had a lost dog before and
I tell you when I found it, I was not, I wasn't happy, I wasn't
kind. What's our Lord do? He doesn't put a leash on him
and drag him back to the house. He doesn't get a whip out and
drive him back No. He takes them up in his arms
and he lays them on his shoulders, knowing something of their weakness,
knowing something of their helplessness. And listen, we're not capable
of a good thought. We're without a desire or an
ability to do anything. But we're his sheep. and he knows them, and he loves
them now. He loved them from before the
world began. Isn't that revealed in his dying
for them? Scripture, greater love hath
no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. And when he carries them on his
shoulder, There's no reason to fear. We do, but I ask you truly, what
do we have to fear? No longer in any danger of the
law or justice of God. No danger of Satan, no danger
of the enemy, no danger of even falling away. Listen to these
words from Romans 8. I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, where is that found? In Christ Jesus our Lord. That's peace, isn't it? Turn
back with me to Hebrews 13. Verse 21, 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. He made us perfect. He's made
us perfect. He's made us complete. Scripture
says that. We're complete in Him. Working
in you by the Spirit of God, Christ in you, the hope of glory,
that which is well-pleasing in His sight. To whom be glory forever
and ever. That's the God of peace. And
I pray, I pray he would be pleased, not just this morning, but continually
to speak peace to our hearts through his word. All right.
Don't forget, 6 o'clock tonight.