Benedictions and Blessings
Hebrews 13: 20-21
Intro: How many of us like long blessings? Most of us, by the time the blessing comes around, are ready to eat aren’t we. Last Thursday, Thanksgiving, My little niece said the blessing before the Thanksgiving meal at Pam’s parent’s house. Being in the third grade, she did the usual “God is great, God is good, lets us thank him for this food. By his hands we are fed, give us Lord our daily bread, Amen”. My brother in law looks at me and says “ man I like them short ones”. When I was a teenager, my favorite was “bless the food, bless the meat, it’s getting late, lets eat.” Kind of direct and not very spiritual was it.
. If you look at the old blessing that we teach our children, even though it is short, it is powerful. The blessing speaks of God’s goodness and greatness and mercy and our dependence upon him. Sometimes it doesn’t take a lot of words to convey a powerful message.
. There are many famous blessings or benedictions in scripture.
. I use parts of many of them when we dismiss each Sunday morning with a blessing.
. God gave Moses what we call the Priestly blessing in Numbers 6: 22-26
. 22Then the LORD said to Moses,23“Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing:
24‘May the LORD bless you and protect you.
25May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you.
26May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace.’
. 2 Corinthians ends with this Benediction and Blessing.
. In 2 Corinthians 13:14, Paul writes.
. 14May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
. What a beautiful way to end a letter.
. Our scripture this morning is the Benediction and Blessing that the writer of Hebrews ends his letter with.
. In the blessing that we teach our children, we learn much about God.
. This Benediction or Blessing tells us much about God also.
. In this Benediction the writer in reminding the Hebrew people just who it is that they worship.
. The writer lays out four characteristics of God for them and for us this morning.
. Lets read our scripture. Hebrews 13: 20-21
. 20Now may the God of peace—who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
21may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.
. The first thing we see here is that God is a God of peace.
. “May the God of peace …”
. Our God is a God of peace.
. We hear about our political leaders striving for peace in the middle east and all over the world. It seems that they believe that no wars will ultimately bring world peace.
. Have you ever watched the beauty pageants on TV. They interview the contestants and they say that if they win, they want to work for world peace. I have news for then, the Bible says that when we accomplish that, then destruction will come.
. 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul is writing about the coming day of the Lord or end times and he writes in verse 3.
. When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape.
. Folks man is searching for the wrong peace. Mankind must search for peace with God.
. The God we serve is the God of peace.
. To say that God is the God of peace, means that God alone is the source of peace. If a person will turn to God in faith, he can experience peace no matter how much trouble he may have in this life.
.Peace comes through a right relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. In Romans 5:1, Paul writes:
. 1Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us
. To experience God’s peace, we must turn our lives over completely to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The more we develop and nourish our relationship with God, the more God’s peace will take over our life. God is a God of peace. Therefore, man’s only hope for peace comes from God. God and God alone can give perfect peace within one’s heart.
.It is the “God of Peace” who blesses us.
. Next we see the God of Power in this benediction.
.Look at verse 20 again;
. 20Now may the God of peace—who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
. God has the power over death.
. He brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus.
. Nothing else in infinity has this kind of power.
. Do we as Christians really stand on and believe in God’s power?
. The story is told of a man who got a permit to open the first tavern in a small town. The members of a local church were strongly opposed to the bar, so they began to pray that God would intervene.
A few days before the tavern was scheduled to open, lightning hit the structure and it burned to the ground. The people of the church were surprised but pleased - until they received notice that the would-be tavern
owner was suing them.
He contended that their prayers were responsible for the burning of the building. They denied the charge.
At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, the judge wryly remarked, "At this point I don’t know what my decision will be, but it seems that the tavern owner believes in the power of prayer and these church people don’t."
. Folks we can’t just talk about Gods power.
. We need to recognize how powerful the one true God Is.
. 24 year old Danny Simpson was sentenced to 6 years in jail for robbing a bank. Danny got 6 years in the clink for stealing $6,000. But the gun he used in the robbery ended up in a museum.
The .45 caliber Colt semi-automatic turned out to be an antique made in 1918 by the Ross Rifle Company. His pistol was worth up to $100,000 on the collectors market. If Danny Simpson had known what he had in his hands, he would not have ended up in jail.
Many Christians live like this. They spend their lives searching for God’s power and presence, not realizing it’s already in their hands.
. The writer of Hebrews is reminding the Hebrew people that God is a powerful God and that power is available to them.
. God’s power is available to us this morning. We just need to grab hold of it and depend on God.
. Our God is the God of Peace and the God of power. He is also:
. The God of Provision
. Look at verse 20 one more time:
20Now may the God of peace—who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
. God provided Jesus Christ as the Great Shepherd of his people.
. A shepherd guards and takes care of his sheep and he also protects them and even gives up his life to protect them.
. As our shepherd, Jesus laid down his life for his sheep.
. He willingly died for us so that we might be saved.
. When mankind sinned way back in the beginning by being disobedient to God, God started creating a way for mankind to return to him
.
. A way for mankind to be in a right relationship with him. We call that righteousness.
. For a while, He did this through animal sacrifice so that man would understand that in order to be seen as righteous by God, blood would have to be shed.
. A life would have to be sacrificed.
. God loved us so much that eventually he sent his Son Jesus to be that ultimate sacrifice.
. Not only are we saved or placed into a right relationship with God but through the power of the resurrection of Jesus, we are assured an eternity in that right relationship with God.
. When the great Shepherd gave his life for our sins, he was ratifying or placing his signature on a covenant that He had made with man.
. This covenant is found I what we call the last supper or communion.
. Look at Matthew 26:28 with me.
. For this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.
. This is a new covenant that God makes with you. No longer do you have to sacrifice animals for the forgiveness of sin, my blood will take care of that.
. When Jesus died on the cross, He signed that covenant or contract with mankind with his blood.
. The writer of Hebrews is telling his readers to never forget what God has done for you by providing a means of peace for your soul,
power to live a Christian life through the provision of a shepherd who has willingly given his life for you.
. In verse 21, the writer leaves them with this;
. May he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.
. The writer is telling them that God has a purpose for them.
. He is a God of Purpose.
. The writer is praying that God will produce in them the good works that He has for them to do.
. There is a purpose for their lives and they need to depend on God to equip them and allow the power of Jesus Christ to flow out of them.
. The will of God is not perfected in us by our own works and efforts. We can try to work up the energy to do God’s will but we will fail. No matter how hard we try we can never perfect ourselves.
. The will of God can only be perfected in us by God himself. God must do the work in us.
. Paul wrote to the Philippians, in 1:6 :
.6And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
. On over in chapter 2:1 3, Paul again reminds us:
. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
. The writer is saying that God is not finished with you. God has a purpose for you.
. His prayer is that God will equip you for his purposes to do the will of God.
. We just need to allow God to use us in any way He so chooses.
. In his commentary on Hebrews, John MacArthur writes:
. “The thing we must contribute to the Christian life is willing yieldedness. All we have to do is open the channel of our wills and let God’s power work through us”
. The writer of Hebrews is telling us to be available and open for God to equip us for the purposes that He has in store for us.
. In his benediction, the writer encourages us to understand that God is:
. A God of Peace
. A God of Power
. A God of Provision
. A God of Purpose
. Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Illustrations from sermon central
The MacArthur Commentary Series, Hebrews, John MacArthur, pg451
Outline from The Benediction, Frank Lay, sermon central
