Now get on with it

[0:00] We'll look into this passage, this final chapter, final section of the book of Hebrews.! Every Christian knows that text, doesn't they? Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

[0:16] ! That's Hebrews 13 verse 8. Possibly rivals Romans 3.23 as the verse most commonly quoted out of context.

[0:30] What is the context of it? Actually when you look at the passage of the scripture and its place as we were reading through, its place in the logical development of the chapter is not actually quite clear.

[0:47] It sits between two sections on holiness like a kind of jewel. And so I'd suggest in fact it's not so much in context as it is the context.

[1:00] This verse is the context of the material that surrounds it. It's what makes sense of the material that's surrounded. It's the central truth in which the whole passage, and one could even say the whole letter, revolves.

[1:16] I don't know whether you've ever thought this, that you could argue that actually of course it isn't true in a formal sense. Of course the divine son is the same yesterday, today and forever of course.

[1:30] But as we learned in chapter 1 verse 2. But Jesus, we're told in chapter 1 and chapter 2, did things. Changed status in a sense.

[1:43] Jesus made purification for sins and then sat down. That's chapter 1 verse 3. He was made lower than the angels. He was crowned with glory and honor.

[1:53] He tasted death. Chapter 2 verse 9. We're told he was made like his brothers. He made atonement. He was tempted as we are. Chapter 2 verses 17 and 18.

[2:07] So what is the writer getting at here? What he's doing I think is ascribing the eternal nature of the Godhead to the human Jesus here. The anointed king of the house of David.

[2:21] Remember that he's trying to dissuade his readers from going back to Jewish rituals. And if we think on those terms we can see that he's saying that it is in Jesus Christ that the Old Testament makes sense.

[2:35] If they were not for Jesus Christ for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And all those stuff that went on in the Old Testament. Leading the people to the promised land.

[2:46] Sacrifices and so on. Would not really have made any sense. It only makes sense in Jesus Christ. Because there only ever was one sacrifice. There were many kings in the Old Testament.

[2:58] But really there was only ever one king. And there were two or three. Well four if you count the tabernacle. Four temples built.

[3:11] Three of them recorded in the Old Testament. And then Herod built one after that. But there was really only one true temple. And that is the one where Jesus Christ is the eternal priest.

[3:24] As we read in the central section of the book. It's in Jesus Christ. Not in any restored temple worship. That the future is to be found.

[3:36] And so this one sentence stands there. As a summary for all the previous arguments. That we read in the book. In the letter. That Jesus Christ is what makes sense of it all.

[3:47] In that sense. He's the same yesterday. Today and forever. So having said that. What do we find in this final chapter?

[4:00] It's it as I say by way of a sort of appendix to the letter. And it consists of two parts. Verses 1 to 19. Form what I might describe as a kind of holiness checklist.

[4:15] Interspersed with a few words of commentary. And then in the final few verses. In 20 to 25. There's some personal requests. News and greetings. So I'd suggest we divide up the passage.

[4:27] And look at it. As I've shown you on the screen there. The first section. Verses 1 to 7. I've called practical ethics. And then we have that single verse.

[4:39] Verse 8. And then a similar cycle of things. In verse 9 to 19. Which I've called spiritual ethics. Although it's really. You can't really divide them up that way.

[4:51] I couldn't really think of better titles. But for the sake of saying something. And then at the end is the prayer. Exhortation and greetings. There are certain parallels.

[5:05] Between verses 1 to 7. And verses 9 to 19. Although they're not very close parallels. But the various general structure is the same.

[5:17] And both sections end. For instance. With mentioning the leaders. As you may have noticed. When we were reading it. And this is of course. It isn't a detailed exposition.

[5:28] Of Christian ethics. It couldn't be in such a small. A short passage. But instead it's a brief summary. Of the things that the writer thinks. Are important. And as such.

[5:39] It's useful. Perhaps for focusing. On the main issues. So I say. We can look at this. As a kind of checklist. For our personal and corporate. Christian life.

[5:51] And holiness. And we can go through. And let's go through. And see if we can tick the boxes or not. So verses 1 to 7.

[6:05] First of all. The first three verses. Refer more to the community. And verses 4 to 6. Are more on personal life. But of course. They're all interrelated. Avoiding greed.

[6:18] Is an essential prerequisite. For instance. To hospitality. Of helping those in need. But still. Let's look through them. The first three. Relate items.

[6:28] Refer to community living. And if you look at them. You notice that they move outward. In scope. Starts first of all. With love. Love starts at home.

[6:40] He says. The brothers and sisters. Love the brothers and sisters. The implication being. Clearly. He means the local church. The church to which the. Letter is written.

[6:50] The church. When it's read out. That you love those closest to you. Your church family first. Chris has pointed this out to us. In numerous occasions.

[7:01] That there are advantages. In being a smaller church. In that. It's possible to get to know everybody. And to show real. Love. For those.

[7:12] Who are gathered together. And who we think of as our church family. Love starts at home. And that intimate contact.

[7:23] Makes love. Easier. In one sense. But of course. In another sense. It also makes it harder. Because. The people are. There are all the opportunities.

[7:33] To offend each other. And of course. Families. Can blow themselves apart. Quite easily. And so. The writer reminds us. That we need. To start.

[7:44] In our church life. By focusing on that. That we love each other. We start there. We won't go too far wrong. But then. If you've got the hang of this love.

[7:55] Among the brothers and sisters. You can try and export it. Verses two and three. Probably refer mainly to. Hospitality to other believers.

[8:06] From other churches. But. Maybe not exclusively so. Maybe more generally. In the community. And what does he tell us to do? Well. Keep a hospitable house.

[8:17] Even to those you do not know. Personally. If. Brothers and sisters in. Christ. Travelling to. Brighton. For some reason or other.

[8:28] Particularly if they're. On the Lord's business. Explicitly. But I don't think. Even necessarily that. We should try and keep. A hospitable. His. Sorry. Hospitable house.

[8:39] Can't say that. Even though we don't know. Say even to people we don't know. And. The writer. Sort of rather. Quatly. Makes the point. Your visitor might actually be an angel.

[8:51] Whether he means that literally. Or whether he means a messenger of God. I don't know. But. He's saying that. You might be. Maintaining. You might be giving hospitality. To a very messenger of God.

[9:03] And I think we do need to be. Hospitable. Even to those who are not. Necessarily of the faith. I don't think there's. An exhortation to be foolish. I mean your children.

[9:15] And even your possessions. Do need some. Protection. Of course these. Houses. Would have had bigger households. In those days. And perhaps there would have been.

[9:26] Servants and people around. And maybe it'd be easier. To offer hospitality. Without foolishness. But still. We. Do need to. Be prepared.

[9:37] To welcome people. Into our houses. And into our. Fellowship. And of course. That comes. With a caveat.

[9:48] Itself. We can. Say it here. But if we look in John. He says. Don't welcome those. Who of course. Are bringing a different message. Than the message of. Jesus Christ. You want to help them.

[9:59] On their way. But nonetheless. Try to keep out. The welcome mat. That's what. We're to do. Who knows. Who you might be. Entertaining. And then he goes.

[10:10] One step. Further. To something. That we're. Cautious. Of. Conscious. Of. At the moment. We. Look around. And we get. News. Through the internet. Perhaps.

[10:21] In those days. It would have taken weeks. For them to find out. That so and so. Had been arrested. Or that. That's the church. In. Some town. Somewhere. Was being persecuted.

[10:33] Now. Of course. It takes seconds. The news gets to us. We have too much news. In a sense. Don't we. Almost. But. The command. The command. Still stands.

[10:44] That. We need to. Pray for those. Who are suffering. And I think. Implied. And that is. Do what we can. To help them. If we. Obviously.

[10:56] We can't solve. All the problems. Of the world. From Brighton. But. Pray for those. Who are suffering. Sympathize with them. Not always easy. To do that. Is it? Now.

[11:07] Natural. Human reaction. Is I'm all right. Jack. It's your problem. But. No. We're told. To sympathize with them. As if we. Ourselves. Were suffering. And I'm sure.

[11:18] If we can. Do anything. To help. We should be. Doing so. So. How do we live in the community? Love. Is the key word.

[11:28] Isn't it? Love. Love. To those. Of our immediate family. And then love. Exported. To those who might come to us. And those who can't come to us. Because they're in prison.

[11:39] Or otherwise. Suffering. And then he moves on to items. About more personal living. And. He mentions.

[11:50] As you'll see. Two things. Particularly. First of all. That we honor marriage. In other words. That's. Well. Two things. We honor marriage. And we practice generosity.

[12:02] And why does he pick those out particularly? Well. I think probably because lust and greed. Are deadly enemies. Of the godly life. Because through that.

[12:12] They undermine faithfulness. They cause jealousy and division. Wife swapping is a no-no. I'm afraid. In the church.

[12:23] Because. Although we're one family. We. Our marriage is to be honored. He tells us. And notice what he doesn't tell us.

[12:35] He doesn't tell us. To abstain from sex. And take a vow of poverty. As. The church has occasionally done. Perhaps in medieval times. Particularly. He doesn't tell us. To do either of those things.

[12:45] He tells us. To rejoice. In the wife or husband. That you have. Or the gift of singleness. And celibacy. If that's what. The lord has given you. And to be content.

[12:56] With the gifts. That God gives. Not to reject them. But. Not always demanding more either. And then perhaps.

[13:08] This sounds a bit. Tough. And so he gives us. Two helps. How to be content. How can we be generous. And content. And first of all.

[13:21] He suggests. That we actively practice. The presence of God. Verses five and six. He reminds us. From the scriptures. That the lord has promised. To be.

[13:31] Always with us. And I think he's not just saying. Yeah. We note that. That's interesting. But he's saying. We should be conscious of that. And we should be conscious.

[13:43] We should aim to practice. The presence of God. In our lives. I think. We should. To use the old phrase. Have a personal relationship. With Jesus. I think that's gone a bit out of.

[13:55] Out of fashion now. But it's. It's a good thing to say perhaps. We should be. Reminding ourselves always. That God is with us. And making sure that. We're with him.

[14:06] And that we're conscious. Of his presence in our lives. And. As part of that. We can say. It's exercising faith. As an act of will. I think it's true to say.

[14:18] In Hebrews. That. Faith is not so much. Something you have. As something you say. And do. It's not that you. Find yourself. In a state of believing. But that you actively.

[14:29] Make a decision. And an effort. To believe. And remember. That the Lord is indeed. With us. And. Behave accordingly. Because that's what faith is about.

[14:42] And. He also gives us. A slightly more earthly. Help. And he says. Well look. You've got some role models. Use your leaders. As role models.

[14:55] Emulate. Their way of life. Emulate. Their faith. Now. Of course. That puts a bit of a. Responsibility. On the leaders. We were looking at.

[15:06] Elders and deacons. And the. Qualifications. How they must. Be exemplary. In their. Life. They be exemplary. So they can be examples.

[15:19] And. Those of us who are. Elders and deacons. I'm sure. Feel that so often. We don't live up to that. To be the examples. That we should be. But. That's what.

[15:30] Jesus. That's what. The writer tells them. To do anyway. That. In a sense. They are the. Under shepherds. The representatives. Of. The shepherd amongst you. And so.

[15:41] You should be able to. Copy them. And emulate. The. The faith. Of the leaders. But.

[15:52] Then. He reminds us. In verse 8. As I've already said. That Christ. Is at the center. Of all this. Properly considered. It's all about. Jesus. The.

[16:03] Leaders. Are. Hopefully. Showing the life. In Jesus. Jesus. So let's. Move on to that. Second. Checklist. Which. Has a slightly.

[16:16] Different emphasis. Verses 9. To 19. And he starts. By talking about. Doctrinal. Purity. Says.

[16:26] Make sure. What is taught. Amongst you. Is. Is sound teaching. We're thinking. About this. This morning. Won't we a bit. Um. I can give you a phrase.

[16:38] We might say. What we need is. Reformation. Not innovation. Says on our website. We're a church. In the reformed tradition. And.

[16:49] Um. I guess we'd. I'd sign up to that. I guess. I hope we are. A church. In the reformed tradition. Of course. We may not be. Reformed enough. Some people might say.

[17:00] We're not reformed enough. But. Um. If you mean. Reformed. In the past tense. Then. I don't think. That is really. In the reformed tradition. The.

[17:12] Tradition. The. Buzzword. Of the reformers. Was always. Being reformed. Always being. Remade. By the word of God. So.

[17:23] Remember. It is. By the word of God. It's sound doctrine. That remakes the church. The Lord. Has yet more light. And truth. To break forth. From his word.

[17:34] God. So I've said. Reformation. Not innovation. I mean. I'm not suggesting. That. Obviously. Innovation. Is useful. Sometimes. But. The. It is. Reformation.

[17:45] By the word of God. Which really. Causes the church. To grow. As we were thinking. This morning. That's not to say. Of course. We do need plans. And. We do need to.

[17:55] Interpret. Contextualize. Is a trendy word. I think. The. The gospel. To those around us. That. It is. Jesus Christ. Is the same.

[18:06] Yesterday. And today. And forever. It's not a different gospel. And false teaching. He reminds us. Detracts from grace.

[18:18] Whenever you. Move aside. In any way. You turn aside. Into a by path. As. As John Bunyan. Put it in. Pilgrim's Progress. Whenever you do that.

[18:29] You detract. From grace. You put something else. In the place of grace. In this case. It was eating. Sacrifice animals. I suppose.

[18:40] We have much. Of a problem. With eating. Sacrifice animals. But we're always ready. To put something else. In the place of grace. Aren't we? Rules and regulations. Or. Some new.

[18:53] Buzzword. Some new teaching. But. Anything. That. Detracts from grace. Is not. Sound doctrine.

[19:04] We feed on Christ. By faith. And anything else. Won't provide. Any spiritual benefit. Like those. Dead animals. Didn't really. Provide any spiritual benefit.

[19:16] At all. It was only through Jesus Christ. That they had. Any efficacy. At all. And then he. With this.

[19:27] Idea. Of the Old Testament. Sacrifices. In his. Mind. He. He'd pointed out. That the priests. Were allowed. To eat the meat. Of many of the sacrifices.

[19:38] But not the sacrifice. Of atonement. On the day of atonement. In picture. Pictorially. Speaking. At least. That carcass.

[19:49] Was too. Contaminated. By sin. To be eaten. It had to be taken. Outside the. Camp. And it had to be. The law required.

[19:59] That it had to be. Removed from society. And burned. Because it was disgraceful. And yet. He makes an odd point.

[20:10] Here. Doesn't he? Interesting point. But. An effective one. I think. He says that. Actually. Spiritually. And pictorially. In the communion. We eat the body. And blood. Of our sacrifice.

[20:21] Of atonement. And so that makes us. Spiritual outsiders. Jesus was the sacrifice. Who bore the disgrace. And was. Taken outside the camp.

[20:31] Outside the city. To be destroyed. And so that's where Jesus is. In that sense. He's outside. The. Polite society.

[20:43] Perhaps. You might. Put it in those terms. The white. Fictions of Judaism. Or of the world. More generally. And so the writer says.

[20:54] You've got to remember. To be an outsider. Don't be a hypocrite. Don't pretend. To be what you're not. And don't make it look.

[21:04] Palatable. Sometimes when it isn't. You have to be prepared. To be. An outsider. With Jesus. Because that's where he's to be found. Verse 12. Outside the camp. Why would we want to do this though?

[21:18] Well he reminds us again. In verse 40. Verse 14. What he said so much about. In chapter 11. That the city we're in. Is not the city.

[21:30] And so we don't mind. Being outside that city. Because it's not the city. It's not the city. Whose builder and architect. Is God. And he still keeps.

[21:45] Sacrifice in mind. And then he moves on. To verse 15 and 16. And I say. There is a certain. Parallelism here. With the. First cycle.

[21:55] That we looked at. In verses 5 and 6. We were told. To practice. The presence of God. And in. These verses. 15 and 16. We're told.

[22:06] To practice. The worship of God. And he has this idea. Of sacrifice. Still in mind. I think. That under the Old Testament. Law. If you.

[22:17] Something good. Had happened to you. You were supposed to go. And give a. A sacrifice. To a thanksgiving. And. Say thanks.

[22:27] To God. For the. Blessing. That he'd given you. These were the ones. That the. The. The. The Levites. Were allowed to eat. The priests. Were allowed to eat. But.

[22:40] There's no more. Animal sacrifices. In the new covenant. So what. Sacrifices. Of thanksgiving. Are we. Supposed to bring. To the.

[22:51] To God. To the heavenly father. Father. But. But. We. He tells us. They've got better. Sacrifices. Than dead animals.

[23:02] To offer. And what are they. Well he lists them for us. Here doesn't he. Says. Praise. To the father. Confession.

[23:12] Of Christ. And in a sense. Going back to where he started. Doing good. And helping others. If we've had some.

[23:23] Blessing from God. We should. As it were. Be passing it on. And helping others. And. Doing good to them. And. The. Writer.

[23:33] Reminds us. That these. Are the sacrifices. That God really wants. And of course. That was true. In the old testament. As well. I just forgot that. Sometimes. What does the Lord.

[23:45] Require of you. But to do justly. And to love mercy. And to walk humbly. With your God. And these are the true. Sacrifices. That. Sacrifices. Of thanksgiving.

[23:56] And praise. That God wants to receive. Praise to God. God. Confession. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. And doing good. And helping others. And so that last point.

[24:09] Reminds us. Doesn't he. That. You can't really separate out. Practical and spiritual ethics. Because it's all holiness really. Not really that different. In verse seven.

[24:23] We were told to remember. Our leaders. In verse 17 and 18. Sorry. Sorry. Should have changed the slide. We're told to respect.

[24:35] And to obey them. The first phrase there. Probably means to have confidence in. And respect them. But we are told to submit to their authority. Certainly. Why is that?

[24:46] You might ask. Reasonably. Well because they're appointed as spiritual guardians. But frankly we have a bit of a problem with that. Don't we? Certainly in western society we do.

[24:59] So what are we to make of it? Well the first thing I think we need to remember. Is that the kingdom of heaven is not a democracy. We may run our churches on kind of democratic lines.

[25:15] Our independent churches. We tend to do that. But the church of heaven is not really a democracy. In fact what is it? It's an absolute monarchy. There is an absolute king.

[25:28] There is one king over all. Jesus Christ. And his authorized officers. The under shepherds. Exercise his authority in that sense.

[25:44] The problem we have with this of course. Is that to us. Absolute monarchy equals tyranny. Doesn't it? That's what we feel. That whenever there's been an absolute monarch. Absolute power is corrupted absolutely.

[25:56] And you land up with a tyrant. That's why we like democracy. Because we like checks and balances. That we cannot have our rulers with absolute power.

[26:09] But the kingdom of heaven is not run that way. It isn't. There is one absolute king. The Lord Jesus Christ. But we need to remember also.

[26:21] That our king is the servant king. The son of man came to seek and to serve that which was lost. This king was once in the wilderness.

[26:34] And was tempted by Satan. To put aside. And to take the chance to become a earthly ruler. And he would have become a worse tyrant than the Roman emperors.

[26:46] If he'd submitted to that temptation. But he rejected it. He said you must worship no one but the father.

[26:59] God himself. And so our king is a servant king. And so our leaders are servants.

[27:10] They're there not to enslave us. But to guarantee our freedom. Now they do have executive powers one way or another. To restrain those who want to undermine those freedoms.

[27:23] They do have the authority to put people out of the church. And when we. When we. In a part of our membership service. We agree to submit.

[27:33] To the authority of the elders. And of the assembly. The church as a whole. But they are there as I say. Not to restrict our freedom in some way.

[27:44] And certainly not to turn us into a cult. As it was saying yesterday. It was Phil wasn't it. It was saying a week or two ago. So submitting to elders is not a matter. The elders are not there to tell you. What color to paint your bathroom.

[27:56] Or even where to go on holiday. But rather to ensure that. If you do either of those things. You do them to the glory of God. And what happens when we submit to that authority.

[28:11] Is it. Arduous. Is it horrid. For both us and them. It can be can't it. To be a manager or a boss. Can be a horrible job. Sometimes. Can be dreadfully stressful.

[28:25] But. He says no. You want. Them to be. To have joy in their work. And I think he's suggesting there.

[28:35] He doesn't say it explicitly. That in fact that will be a shared joy. That we will rejoice together. When the church. The local church. And the church as a whole. Runs properly.

[28:46] And is really. Subject to the authority of King Jesus. In the way that it should be. This is a rule of joy. Not a tyranny.

[29:00] And I would remind you of course. That we're only required to obey our leaders. In so far as they reflect. The authority of Christ. I mean he's warned. He's warned against teachers earlier.

[29:11] Who deviate. From the gospel. You shouldn't follow them. You shouldn't obey them. And of course. Leaders. Unlike Christ himself.

[29:22] Can fall to the temptation. To abuse. Their power. And so having made the point of obedience. The writer is acutely conscious. Of his.

[29:32] Own responsibility. And so in verse. 18. Sorry. That should say verse 18. Not verse 8. No. Typo. Sorry. Verse 18.

[29:44] He suggests that we better pray. For the leaders. He actually says us. So. Not the elders of the church. Where the people are.

[29:54] But he says us. Presumably meaning. We're not all Christian leaders in the world. I don't think. Or the rest of the verse. Wouldn't read true. Whatever the group of elders. Or apostles. With which. He's associated is.

[30:07] We need to pray for them. I think we need to pray for all church leaders. Is the implication. He says. They have a. Claim. A clear conscience.

[30:18] And. Trust. We hope that. Anyone who has a position. Of leadership in this church. Does have. Do so with a clear conscience. And yet. I suspect.

[30:29] Neither. None of us. Has a totally clear conscience. We all do things. That we're. Ashamed of. And wish we hadn't done. Or said. But nevertheless. We do. Aim to.

[30:41] To live. With a clear conscience. But we can't take that. For granted. We need. The prayer. Of God's peoples. In order that. We can remain that way.

[30:52] And the church leadership. Does remain pure. And faithful. To the word of God. And so it is essential. To pray for those who are. Leaders in the church.

[31:02] And in the churches. Generally. They need the prayer. Of God's people. To stay that way. And in verse 19.

[31:15] He comes down to I. Verse 18 is in the plural. But verse 19. Is in the singular. I believe. He says. I. I want to.

[31:26] Remain faithful. I want to speak. The word of God. And exercise the word of God. Faithfully. And he sees his responsibility. Is to his readers.

[31:37] And so. And to his hearers. And to us. Two thousand or so. Years later. That. What he. Writes. And. So. What he says. Would be.

[31:48] Generally. The word of God. So let's now. Move on. To that. Closing section.

[32:03] I suppose. He felt at this point. Well he couldn't really. Ask. His. Hearers and readers. To pray for him. Unless he was already. Also prepared. To pray for them.

[32:15] So that's what he does. In verses. 20 and 21. The basis of this prayer. For them. Is interesting.

[32:25] Isn't it? He's been reminding them. All the way through. That their hope. Is in Jesus Christ. In the priesthood. And sacrifice. Of Jesus Christ. In the new.

[32:36] And better covenant. And so he makes that. The basis of his prayer here. He says that it is on. I'm praying for them. On the basis of the new covenant. And the blood of Jesus Christ.

[32:48] And the resurrecting power. That is found. In Jesus Christ. He's not working. On the basis of some. Very good wish.

[32:59] He's working. On the basis. Of a certain knowledge. Of grace. And that shapes. The prayers content. Doesn't it? He prayers that his readers.

[33:10] And his colleagues. Should all be equipped. For the work. And the task. That God has set. In front of them. Whatever. That might be explicitly. He doesn't say.

[33:21] But he says. That they all have a work. In the kingdom. And whatever that work is. Then. His prayer is. That God would equip them. For that work.

[33:32] As I say. He does it. On the basis. Basis of grace. And so. He's confident. Of a positive answer. Because he knows. That it's actually. God himself. Who is at work.

[33:43] In them. In order to glorify. Jesus Christ. Very short prayer. But a great one. And we're going to. Actually. We're going to sing it. At the end of our.

[33:54] Talk. And so. The writer's nearly done. Tells us in verse 22. Tells us he's written.

[34:05] A short letter. Or he's written briefly. Well. It's a bit of a relative term. That isn't it? Perhaps he means it's short. In comparison. To all the things. He would have liked.

[34:16] To have said to them. All the way through. He's repeatedly warned them. Of what happens. To people who ignore. The word of God. When it comes.

[34:28] And now he said. My letter. Is the word of God. That's come to you. Make sure you don't ignore it. Doesn't put it quite as strongly.

[34:39] He says. Bear with it. But I think he's. What he's saying there. Is listen to it. Take it seriously. Remember what happened. To those people. Who rejected the word of God.

[34:50] In the old covenant. So when the word of God. Comes to you. Take it seriously. If you ignore the word of God. When it comes. The result is always. Judgment and destruction.

[35:02] Of one kind or another. So it was the word of God. To his readers. And it's the word of God. To us. Two thousand years later. And we need to take it seriously.

[35:14] It carries the same warning. We ignore it. At our peril. Then he moves on. Finally. To some final greetings. Now the good news.

[35:27] He says. In verse 23. Perhaps. I don't know. Maybe he felt. That it had been a bit. Too gloomy. With all this talk. Of suffering. And persecution. Shedding blood. And so on. So he's got a bit of good news.

[35:38] For them. Our brother Timothy. Has been released. That's one reason. We. Think this might be a late letter. Because. We don't.

[35:49] I don't think we actually read of that. In Acts. Do we? I don't remember. We ever read of Timothy. Being arrested in Acts. But he obviously was. At some point. But they let him out. It's not all bad news.

[36:02] He's been released. From arrest. And. There's still opportunity. In spite of all kinds. Of opposition. For God's people. To preach. And teach the word.

[36:15] And so he finishes. You might think. With all these warnings. He's given us. Throughout the letter. He might finish. With a warning. But actually. He doesn't. He finishes instead.

[36:25] With a greeting. He wants to greet. All God's people. Why? Because they're united. In love and purpose. Even those.

[36:37] At the heart of Rome's power. In Italy. Where. They live under. A. Tyrannical government. But. Even there.

[36:49] They send greetings. Greetings. Are. Joy. Aren't they? You don't send. Greetings. And. You know. Sort of. Oh dear. I've had a terrible time.

[37:00] And you might want to say that. To your. Fellow Christians sometimes. But you wouldn't call that. A greeting. Would you? Greeting. Is to. Say. You know. We're rejoicing. And I want you to rejoice.

[37:11] With us. And perhaps we should learn from that. And when suffering comes.

[37:24] Whether it comes to us. Here. Or those we know. Closely. Or whether it comes to. Believers in other parts of the world. Who suffer. Yes.

[37:35] We should be praying for them. Perhaps we should be sending them greetings. Greetings. I don't know. Maybe we ought to. I don't know whether Barnabas Trust. And other organizations do that. But. Often they send us greetings.

[37:47] Don't they? Do we send greetings back? Do we say. The. The brothers and sisters in Brighton. Send you greetings. Perhaps we should. But to expand that thought.

[38:01] To take a. Another whole scroll. And so he cuts to the chase. Doesn't he? In the end. Where does he finish? What really matters is grace. That God's favor should rest on them.

[38:16] Them. Those who heard the word. Read the letter. Had it read to them. Those in Italy. And elsewhere. Who sent the letter. That grace should be with them.

[38:29] And on all God's people. That grace. Of God. Should be with us. And that's where. He ends. With grace. Because this. Letter is all. A letter of grace.

[38:43] So. Hymn number 802. By Nick Needham. If you look at it. Is in fact. That prayer.

[38:58] We didn't have music. So I wasn't able to check. What the. Well there wasn't any point. In checking. What the set tune. For this. Was. But we can sing it.

[39:08] To the tune. Of the God of Abraham. Praise. So that's what we're going to do. And you'll notice. That it is. It is that prayer. From the end of. Hebrews. May the God of peace.

[39:19] Raised from the dead. The shepherd of the sheep. Jesus our head. It's that prayer. Set. Made into a verse. So Chris. If you'd like to. Lead us. desde a verse.