We’ve been reading from Hebrews, and we’re in the final chapter, 13. In this final chapter of Hebrews so far we’ve discussed a lot of application. Most of the first 12 chapters of Hebrews were focused on theology and the comparison of the Old Covenant with the new one. The Author compared and contrasted the old sacrificial system versus a permanent sacrifice that Jesus made once and for all. We spoke about how the law was a shadow of the better things that are found in Jesus Christ. We mentioned the priesthood in the order of Aaron and the Levites, versus the priesthood found in Jesus Christ. He is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. In the order of Melchizedek means he’s a priest and a king. But the promise of such a priest means that the high priesthood as they knew it was over. It was obsolete. Jesus Christ sat down at the right hand of God, having made atonement for sin, and reconciling us, the Elect, to the Father. We can talk about the event that happened in history, and think about the majesty of the gospel, being made righteous, being forgiven, being adopted, all because of who Jesus was, and what Jesus did. These are all good things to think about. But there is something very mysterious and impossible for us to understand about Jesus though. He has a quality that doesn’t naturally make sense to us. He is the only human who could fill the role as a priest Forever on the order of Melchizedek. And the key word in that phrase is the Forever. Let’s read Hebrews 13:8.

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Jesus is forever. We change, we age and face entropy, our physical bodies break down into a more and more disorderly state. Jesus died at the hands of sinners, but the Bible tells us his bones and body did not face decay. He didn’t stay dead. The resurrection proved that Jesus was who he said he was, that he had the power of God, that His death wasn’t His defeat, but his victory. His resurrection tells us that he won the victory over sin, death, and the effects of the fall. In Christ, we’ve regained that state in Eden before the fall, when Adam and Eve had fellowship with God. The closest thing we could imagine to paradise, and in Christ, the relationship has been repaired. The effects of the fall no longer have their hold in our lives, and will no longer have their victory in our death. That’s a very theoretical and abstract theological concept, but there is also a physical and tangible side, where Jesus didn’t stay dead, and he appeared to hundreds, not immediately recognizable, but was able to eat and interact and teach people. He was able to perform miracles and cook fish. In Acts 1, we read that Forty days after this resurrection, Jesus returned to heaven, not as a corpse, but as a living being. In different parts of the world they celebrate the Ascension of Jesus back into Heaven, which always happens on the Thursday that falls 40 days after Easter; this past year, we were traveling in Norway on that day, and all the stores were closed. It’s a day that isn’t celebrated quite as much in churches around here, but it is significant for our doctrine and it’s worth thinking about. There were only a few accounts in the Bible of people who didn’t stay dead, one was Enoch, who didn’t see death but walked with God. He was found in Genesis 5, and since that early part of God’s word, we have been shown an example eternal life. Since then, the idea of Resurrection has been in our minds, there is a correlation of people who walk with God, and spend eternal life with God. Another account was the prophet Elijah who was taken up in a whirlwind. Why did God do that with Elijah? Elijah was to return as a prophet for the savior. According to Malachi 4:5, God promised to send Elijah to return before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. The final one was Jesus Christ. We also know that there is a permanent priesthood, in the order of Melchizedek, and we talked about this extensively in hebrews 7. This priesthood and priest were foretold in Psalm 110, which was well after Enoch. In order to hold a priesthood permanently, that person must not be subject to decay, death and change.

Acts 13:37 explains that the one whom God raised from the Dead did not see decay. Jesus holds that position. Not only did Jesus not die a normal death, but this passage here indicates that Jesus shared a characteristic with God called Immutability.

He is unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 6 talked about the Unchanging nature of God’s promise. Since God is unchanging, His promises are unchanging. Since his oath cannot change, God needs an oath-keeper or priest who also cannot or will not change. Jesus alone is worthy to be praised, and he alone is suitable to be our Great High Priest. Because he’s unchanging that means that sound doctrine and the Gospel are unchanging. The teachings of the Bible never need to be upgraded or modified. We should always strive to understand Biblical teaching, and correct our beliefs and opinions if we realize what we believe is contrary to scripture. Scripture won’t change, and is like an anchor or a rock,

9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

Because Jesus Christ is the same forever, God’s message will never change. The author is saying don’t get carried away by strange teachings. If it’s strange or inconsistent, it’s not sound doctrine. If it’s a new or novel interpretation, and you think nobody’s thought of it before, that’s not a good thing. In Hebrews 4 the author wrote that the Word of God is Living and Active. Sometimes people misinterpret this to mean that God’s word could grow or change. When we think Living and Active, we think it grows and changes, and eventually breaks down or needs fixing. But That’s only because our perspective on what living means is human centered. Living and Active mean that the Word can affect us. The Word is alive, and is not dead. The Word of God is active, it has power to change us, but the Word itself does not change. So it is Living, and Active, yet Unchanging! That’s how we should approach doctrine.

UnOrthodox is not a good feature when it comes to Doctrine.

Sometimes people use the word Orthodox to mean old school, or standard, approved, traditional, consistent or boring. And there are denominations that use that word “Orthodox” to mean consistent or traditional TO their religious tradition. Our theology and our doctrine should be in a sense Orthodox; we should be Orthodox TO the word of God. Our church and our worship might not be orthodox TO a certain set of human traditions, but we are Orthodox to the Gospel. There isn’t anything new that we bring to the gospel. In many fields of study or work, creativity is an important feature for success, but when approaching the word of God, we should never try and be creative. There’s nothing for us to create as far as that’s concerned. Anything that humans add to scripture is actually heresy. At that time in History, it was interesting because Scripture was still being written, but the Gospel and the plans of God to reconcile his people were done. The problem was that people were adding things to the Gospel. We can see this from what’s written here, and also what Paul had written in his letters to churches, especially to the Galatians. They were borrowing old covenant ceremonies that were supposed to point us toward Jesus Christ. There were ceremonial foods that were supposed to symbolize togetherness and fellowship with God, but in Christ we have the real thing. There was an altar used to prepare animal sacrifices and the Jewish people would eat from that altar. That altar gives us No benefit. It’s symbolic, and what it symbolized has arrived. We share in a better altar, which is Christ himself. In Verse 10, The people stuck worshipping at that Altar have no right to eat at ours.They don’t have a place at our altar, because when they continue in their symbolic pursuits of him, they are actually denying Christ. If you are chasing after the shadow you are ignoring the real thing. If you pursue the Old Covenant, you deny Christ. It’s actually very sad to see this, but here’s an example that might help you understand how troubling that behavior is. Let’s say I was very excited to have a visit with my parents. I get the house ready, I plan what we are going to eat, a special dinner, I even think about different things to talk about, stories to tell. Now finally they arrive. But instead of acknowledging they are here, I keep talking about what I plan to do when they arrive. I ignore them, poke around the house, I eat some old leftovers, leave the dirty dishes laying around, offering them nothing. I lay on the couch and watch a movie. When they try and engage me, I hush them saying, stop distracting me, my parents are arriving shortly. Confused, my parents say to me Hello! It’s us! We are here,” and I respond, “shut up, I don’t want to be around you two. I don’t know who you two are!!” They would probably have me committed, or send me to a doctor. Ceremonial eating and drinking of peace offerings serve no purpose now that Christ is here. But the language in verse 10 about the priests not having a right to eat at the altar of Christ is a bigger idea, and the author is about to make a different argument. Denying the priesthood the right to Christ involves the sin offering, which is a different type of sacrifice than a peace or fellowship offering that is eaten and shared among the people.

11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

In some translations, Verse 11 begins with a Moreover. It’s not a continuation of the prior thought, but a new and more exciting thing to consider. We don’t understand this as well as Hebrew readers would, but it’s a separate topic than eating ceremonial foods in verse 9. This is explaining verse 10. Sin offerings were taken outside the camp. The blood of Sin offerings was used in the purification ceremonies and brought into the Most Holy Place, but the animals that produced the blood were to be burned outside the camp or the temple. Sin offerings weren’t to be eaten or consumed; they represented sin and exclusion, as opposed to the peace and fellowship offerings which were meant to be eaten. You might ask, so why do we eat the bread and partake in the body of Christ during communion? Eating bread of Christ is symbolic of fellowship with God in one sense, but if Jesus is also the sin offering, then eating the body of that animal is forbidden and you are sent outside the camp, outside the city, outside the Gate of Jerusalem. Priests who ate the forbidden meat of the sin offerings were condemned. They were banished from the people. They were outside of the camp. So Jesus was that banished and forsaken animal. Jesus was disgraced, and he suffered. When we partake of Jesus, we also are disgraced for eating a sin offering in the eyes of the Old Covenant. We join Jesus outside the camp of Jerusalem, and we become something different than a practicing Jew. For us, this might not be all that profound. I never considered myself a practicing Jew. But to the readers, it was a very big and severe step. Because you eat and identify with the sin offering, you are leaving Judaism in disgrace, You were leaving the old faith, leaving the camp, leaving the temple, leaving the synagogue, leaving the city of Jerusalem. The author tells them in verse 14, that in Jerusalem we do not have an enduring city any longer. We are out of the camp now, and we are looking for a new city that is to come. Our home is no longer Jerusalem, or anywhere on Earth. Our citizenship is in heaven.

15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Our sacrifices shouldn’t be animals or sin offerings, our sacrifices are praise to God. Our lips profess his Name. People sometimes look at this verse alone and think that singing praise and worship songs are the new form of sacrifice. They’d say that the singing and worship part of Church is all we need, and God doesn’t want us to do anything but profess his name with our lips.

But that’s not really true either. That’s using our language and our words to praise God. And while our language and words are important, there’s more to praise and sacrifice than just talking the talk. The sacrifice of praise isn’t just having lips that profess his name, but having THE FRUIT OF lips that profess his name. Our actions need to support those words. Read Verse 16, we should do good and share. In Acts 20:35 Paul says “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” The author of Hebrews wants to remind the readers to share. To help. To do good. Don’t forget! Those are the sacrifices that Please God! We should be actively trying to put ourselves in a position where we can help each other. In that excerpt from Acts, Paul said he worked hard, in order to help the weak. Paul wasn’t the kind of guy who would say, “well, that’s not really my thing, or I am not really in a position to help” Paul worked hard; he continued working during his ministry building tents. He worked hard so he could bless others who were weak or in need, he wanted the ministry of Jesus Christ to not burden people. He wanted to give the gospel free and without charge. Paul quoted Jesus as saying that it’s more blessed to give than to receive, and he lived his life consistent to that teaching. We should strive to be helpers. But when we need to be helped, we should be humble enough to accept others’ kindness. There are blessings to receiving help when needed, and there are greater blessings to give, to help, to demonstrate love.

20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

This is a beautiful and poetic blessing. May the God of Peace. This is our Lord and God, a God who loves first and while we were still still enemies made a way for us to be his friends and sons and daughters. The One and Only God, who bought our forgiveness with the precious blood of his Son. And that blood sealed a new and Eternal Covenant. Again, this will never change, and never needs updating. This is an eternal covenant, a promise that extends indefinitely, and its terms will last forever for all time that is to come. Through that precious blood, the God of Peace, brought back our Lord and Savior Jesus from the dead. Jesus saw no decay and is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus Christ is that great shepherd of God’s Sheep, the bridegroom for his Bride, the church, his precious Elect. Verse 21 Now may that God, using that Blood to seal that covenant, may He Equip us with Everything Good for doing his will. The language here is God is preparing us with a divine and supernatural power, when the bible says “Everything Good”, it means his Holy Spirit and his blessings and provision being given generously to us, so that we can Do His Will. Other places in the bible call these things Spiritual Gifts or talents. We are given these things to equip us, but the real blessing is the first part, it’s the forgiveness and the reconciliation found in Verse 20. Sometimes we get focused on comparing gifts, as if the gifts themselves were to be praised. Oh, he’s a great speaker, she’s a good singer, I am not as good as him at that. In first Corinthians Paul was describing how he did some planting, Apollos did watering, but God was doing the growing. He explained why the gifts don’t need to be focused on, and it’s because the gifts should be drawing everyone closer to God. They are tools that God equips us with to do his Work! God equips us so that we may do the things that bring Him Glory, so that he may use us to Do His Will, the things that are pleasing to Him. God is equipping us so he may work in us things that are pleasing to him. What does it mean to Do God’s Will? What does that look like? Sometimes people tend to ignore this part because they expect things to happen in Biblical proportions. They read this part and think it’s written for other people. I know I’ve done that. People might question whether God is really at work in them because they don’t have a international ministry. I am not writing scripture like Paul or planting and growing churches like Timothy. I am not going out and getting persecuted or stoned for my faith like Stephen. I am not healing crippled people off the temple gate like Peter. But this blessing and promise for God to equip believers to do His will and Please Him is for all of the elect. Romans 8 says In all things God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. He is working for the good of His people, and he’s doing the work In us, so we are participating. Don’t think that God’s Work has to be far reaching, famous, well recognized. Don’t think that working for God needs to happen here in a church or away at a seminary. The work of God might mean doing something mundane, something ordinary. The work of God might involve your current job (oh how terrible might that be)! Doing the work of God might not involve doing something groundbreaking or meaningful in and of itself, it might not be the what that we are doing, as much as the how. With the help of the Holy Spirit we might be patient, kind, forgiving, when nobody else has that patience, kindness, or mercy. We might take a drudgery and with God’s help, do it with a smile on our faces. All work can be done honorably if it’s done for God’s glory. First Corinthians; Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Colossians: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. God made work for us to do so we can bring him Glory, so let’s look out for opportunities to let God’s love shine in our lives.

The final four verses, 22-25 are closing farewell and valediction. While these might contain really exciting clues for scholars who are still trying to figure out who the author is, they don’t really help us or leave us any instruction. In summary He says brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, it was actually brief. So he was downplaying the length of the letter. He said, “Greet your leaders,” so we know the author was familiar and friendly with the leaders he urged them to follow and pray for. Then he said those from Italy send their greetings, so the author is either in Italy, or has been speaking and relaying messages from people in Italy. Then he says, Grace be with you all. So we will end Hebrews 13 with that same good bye, May God’s grace be with each and every one of you, may His favor and forgiveness be ever cherished in your hearts, may you view that humbly, knowing we’ve done nothing, have no personal qualities or implicit goodness to deserve or earn such a great love, may we be open to examine evidences of God’s grace in our lives, and open to be used by God to do his Work, and the things that please him! Amen