Grace Be With You All
First B Jackson
2020-03-15

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Would you stand and sing where if you're here, you can stand at home if you'd like to. We're we're trying our best to broadcast this live at on Facebook and so that's most of the congregation got the word. We do have a few visitors. I'm glad to have you all here. We're going to sing hymn number four zero six.

If you have your hymnals and it should come up on your screen at home or on these screens here, sing out like you mean it. Fill this room with sound if you will.

Sing them over again to me wonderful words of life. Let me more of their beauty see wonderful words of life. Words of life and beauty teach me faith and beauty. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.

Christ the blessed one gives to all wonderful words of life. Sinner list to the loving call wonderful words of life. Also freely given, wooing us to heaven. Wonderful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.

Sweetly echo the gospel call, wonderful words of life. Offer pardon and peace to all wonderful words of life Jesus only savior sanctify forever. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words wonderful words wonderful words of life Amen. Y'all sound good.

Amen. Few but fervent. Blessed assurance. How about that? Hymn number five seventy two.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Amen.

Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his spirit, washed in his blood. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my savior all the day long. This is my story. This is my song.

Praising my savior all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my side. Angels descending, bring from above. Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. This is my story, this is my song, praising my savior all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song, praising my savior all the day long. Perfect submission, all is at rest. I, in my savior, am happy and blessed, watching and waiting, looking above, filled with his goodness, lost in his love. This is my story, this is my song, praising my savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song praising my savior all the day long

Thank you, Florian. Y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements and actually, the announcements are common normal ones but most of em have been amended in some way. One of em is Home Sweet Home here during the week is Monday nights at First B. We normally do Monday nights at First B at 06:00 and normally, we have meal, music, and a message every Monday night.

This time, you're on your own for the meal because we're not gonna have a congregation gathering here at the church. Carl will be here. The band will be here. We'll still do music. We'll still do a message but Monday nights at First B will start at six tomorrow night on Facebook and on the firstbjackson.org website but that is gonna be the services on Proverbs especially as it concerns patients which is wonderful.

That's a good time for that. So, Monday nights at first be 06:00 on Monday nights. Usually, Awana, the kids club happens at the same time but we are not doing Awana this week on Monday. We also have a group called the Chosen Girls on Wednesdays in the afternoon. That's not happening this week.

Bible studies for high school, boys and girls, and children's Sunday school did not happen in the nine like they usually do and they will not happen for the next two weeks. Part of that is because spring break is the next two weeks and so we don't have the Awana Kids Club or the Bible Studies during spring break. Most people in town usually leave. We'll see how that goes this time. Our Jeremiah study and the precept study on Thursday will not be happening this week either.

So, that's been cancelled for the next three weeks and I think this one is still on but I'm not sure. You can call Cecilia Connell to make sure. (703) 987-5273 or Stacy Hampton (925) 997-5043. If you'd like to ask them if they're still getting together from 08:30 to ten at the Connell's home, that's a smaller group. The baby bottle campaign is still going on for Turning Point Pregnancy Resource Center, so we still have baby bottles here.

And if you're considering doing the, the helping out with them, that's still happening. Community groups is sort of an organic thing. We have a lot of different community groups that meet throughout the week in different places and different homes. Those are small group gatherings, and many of them will still be on, but get in touch with your community group leader to make sure that that's still happening. If you have not heard nursery volunteers, no, not needed this Sunday because we're not having a nursery service for this Sunday nor the next nor the next.

So, for three straight weeks, we're not going to have that And that's the announcements that I know about. It feels like I might be missing one or two. I got the chosen girls in there. So for the next three weeks, we are gonna be figuring out exactly how to do this. The fourth week from now will be Palm Sunday, and the fifth week will be Easter.

If you haven't known this, this is a general announcement for the town of Jackson. So, the town of Jackson met yesterday on Saturday and had a long marathon, 4.5 meeting of the town council, and they decided that any groups of a 100 or more should be either postponed or canceled. They canceled our normal hill climb where there's a snowmobile hill climb here. They canceled that. They've canceled Rendezvous Fest, which is a big concert downtown, And they canceled a lot of other things or postponed them.

And they've asked for us to do this, and we are going to stick with this for the next thirty days is, we're trying to keep the crowd under a 100. And we're determining this week, we're working on how exactly this looks by Palm Sunday and Easter. But for the next two weeks, we're gonna do it just like we're doing now. Nine and eleven will be broadcast on Facebook. Monday night will be broadcast on Facebook.

That's the way it's gonna go. Those are the announcements I can think of. Normally, we would say, stand and greet one another. This week, you don't have to shake hands but hey, when you're there at home or wherever you are meeting with whoever, whomever you're meeting with, hug as you see it appropriate. I will say, will you stand up and Florine's gonna play something pretty and we'll get back to singing this.

I don't know all that's going on but I do know whom I have believed and that's the next song. Hymn number five twenty seven. What did you say? People can still donate Yes. That's right.

Sure. Any kind of way they want to. Yes. Yes. Here we go.

M number 527. Here we go. It's I know whom I have believed.

I know not why God's wondrous grace to me, he hath made known nor why unworthy Christ in love redeemed me for his own but I know whom I have believed But I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. I know not when my Lord may come at night or noonday fair, nor if I walk avail with him Amen.

Y'all know the song Higher Ground. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Alright, let's let's sing it together. Hymn number five forty nine.

I am pressing on the upward way, new heights I'm gaining every day, still praying as I'm onward bound. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand by faith on heaven's table land. A higher plane than I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay, though some may dwell where these abound. My prayer, my same, is higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand by faith on heaven's table land, a higher plane than I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. I want to live above the world, though Satan's darts and me are hurled.

For faith has called the joyful sound, the song of saints on higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand by faith on heaven's table land, a higher plane than I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. I want to hail the utmost high and catch a gleam of glory bright. But still I'll pray till heaven I found.

Lord, lead me onto higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand by faith on heaven's table land, the higher plane than I have found lord plant my feet on high Amen.

Amen. Thank you. Y'all can have a seat. Normally, we have a frontline team to come forward and take up offering. I'm gonna ask Diane if you would.

There's a basket at the back and we're gonna pass the basket as it were. She's gonna pass this around to the few and the fervent that are here. Don't be uncomfortable. It's a weird service today. Florine's going to play something pretty.

If you are at home and you are on the website and you would like to, this would be a good time to learn how to do your giving online. We are worshiping together through giving and there are instructions to figure it out if you want to but would you pray with me? God, I arose this morning to this deep, deep snow and just thought how you blanket the earth with your goodness. It is amazing lord. The way you pour yourself out and sometimes we see it and we just don't even understand what's going on and sometimes lord, we look at a blessing and we go, really?

Why? Why? And why now? We don't understand your thoughts. Lord, would you exchange your thoughts for our thoughts?

Would we, lord, exchange our thoughts for your thoughts? I pray that you would, lord, give us direction, that you'd give us peace, that you'd give us hope, that you'd give us comfort, and most of all, lord, that we would live our lives in the center of your will and your grace. The grace that you have for us, lord. We pray to be extended to others and lord, we ask right now that the offerings that will be offered this morning would be used for the proclamation of the gospel that the kingdom may advance lord and for the ease of human suffering that we would take it seriously that people are and will be in need and that they will need sustenance and they will need kindness and goodness. Lord, would you take these resources and do with them as you will?

We offer this to you freely, freely we have received, and we freely give. In Jesus' name, thank you. Amen. Amen. At least right here in the sanctuary, that didn't that didn't take as long as it usually does.

Nice short song there, Florine. We're gonna move right on long. If I can find the clicker. Yep. Do we know where the clicker went?

Oh, here it is. Sorry about that, Josh. That's all the sound man jumping back there. We're going onwards. Hebrews 13.

So, last week, if you were here, you would know that we covered Hebrews thirteen seventeen. That's this verse. Says, obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. This is a hefty hefty verse and for me to present this last week, I am seeing myself as being one of the leaders that God has placed in a position and it says, they keep watch over your souls but the next line is very important and should be staggering. As those who will give an account, I and the elders here and the staff here that are leading.

We have to give an account for what we do and we have to consider that everything that we do offering salvation, offering the gospel, offering classes and training and all of the things that we offer to equip the saints for the work of the church. All of that stuff is to watch out for souls. So, obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account and let them, the leaders, do this with joy and not with grief for this would be unprofitable for you. I wanna say this morning, I am very joyful this morning. I woke up excited about the oddity of this service, the weirdness that we were gonna go through.

We always have church at nine. We always have church at eleven. We typically have a connect hour between them. And this was just gonna be different and when I woke up this morning, it was joyful. Was not a thing of grief.

It was not anything depressing or upsetting about it in that God's word is gonna go forth. It's gonna go forth in a different way than it usually does but God is on the throne. None none of this surprises him at all and I'm joyful over that. So, that was last week's verse but it's nice to see that because that's the context in which we see these 18 through 25. We're gonna finish the book of Hebrews and since we've got folks that are visiting this morning and happened in, we have been going in a chronological study of the New Testament.

First of all, seven years ago, we started in the book of John which is a later book written and we went to the book of Acts. So, we did the life of Jesus in the book of John, life of the early church in the book of Acts and since then, we've been going forward in scripture in the order as best we can tell that the books were written. So we're up to about AD sixty six, sixty seven right in there before the destruction of the Jewish temple in seventy AD. We're working on this and we're up to about '60 six, '67. We covered three quarters of the New Testament.

We're going forward. One paragraph at a time pretty much for seven and a half years. So, we're at Hebrews thirteen eighteen through 25 and it starts off this way. It's an earnest plea and a magnificently Christ centered blessing, a benediction is the next to the last paragraph. Then there's some personal greetings as is common for a letter in Greek at this time in the Roman Empire.

And then the last word. And the last word is just a simple five word sentence and that's what we'll close with at the end but the earnest plea to begin with a magnificently Christ centered blessing, personal greetings from afar and I in preparing for last week's service, I thought I could put seventeen and eighteen and nineteen together because they kinda go together but I thought, I'm I wanna hit 17 squarely and I don't really know why I wanna put eighteen and nineteen off until this week and it makes sense because last week, as a leader in the church, yeah, I'd like for y'all to listen. Yeah, I'd like for y'all to to listen to what God has to say and obey what God has to say and I wanna be a a channel of that But I never dreamed last Sunday that this week, I would be asking everybody not to come this morning. As a leader, that seems unusual. So we got the word out to the whole church to y'all don't come out of respect for the town's decision to keep the crowds down.

We'll figure out a different way to do this. I never dreamed that when I said, obey your leaders and submit to them last week but this earnest plea starts off with the first word is in Greek. Is y'all be praying. It's a second person plural, present imperative middle. It is continuous action.

So y'all be praying. Y'all be praying for or y'all be offering prayer. Y'all be about this business, continuous action. Now, we hear the word pray all the time. We know the word pray.

We say it all the time. But I want you to look at the definition of pray. That's where it starts off, pray. This is it. It's imperative.

So, it's a command. It's a direct command from the writer or writers of Hebrews to the people. We don't know exactly where this letter was written to. I have an idea. I think.

I think. I know But it's not certain. So we don't say we know exactly and exactly the time as best we can tell. Sixty six, sixty seven AD right around there. And this letter was written to a church group in a geographic location that met in multiple houses and met in multiple places, and there were various leaders of those little fellowships.

And this morning, we have that happening here. Multiple church happenings. Two or three are gathered together in a lot of different places. Prostuchus the is a command and it means, first of all, the press is towards or in exchange for towards. And euchemai, which is to wish or to pray.

So properly, it is to exchange wishes. It's to exchange wishes. To pray is a good translation, but literally, think about this. This is a dictionary definition, Thayer's Lexicon. I didn't make this up for my own purposes.

This is what it means. Literally, it is to interact with the Lord by switching your human wishes or ideas for his wishes as he imparts to you faith. It is about divine persuasion. So, when we think pray, a lot of times we think, ask God for something. That's certainly part of this but rather than trying to change God's mind into your mind, prayer is about communicating with God and getting him to exchange his wishes for your wishes.

You hand over your wishes and he imparts faith. Accordingly, praying is closely interconnected with faith in the New Testament all over. So that, Proseuchus, Y'all be praying. Y'all be praying for or y'all be offering prayer. Pray for us.

Pray what? Pray for us. Be praying continually, continuous action. Y'all be praying for us. Now, the us there is interesting.

This letter is being written. Typically, we think of a letter written by one person. Multiple times throughout the letter and multiple times in the following verses, it'll say, pray for us. We, we, we, we, we, us. So, I think that the letter was written by more than one person.

I also mentioned to our gathered crowd for the last six months or seven months that we've been in Hebrews maybe that it when we get to the end, I'd like to share who I think wrote Hebrews but pray for us. I've been trying to correct myself throughout every time that I say the writer of Hebrews to say, or writers, pray for us. I think that it was more than one person. And there's an earnest plea coming from these people. Pray for us for we are sure that we have a good conscience.

We are sure that we have a good conscience. This sounds like the writer or writers of Hebrews were presenting to a people that they knew and they knew well, but they were having to defend themselves a little bit. Now, Paul does that multiple places and different places in the New Testament. People are challenging his authority to say so. But the letter to the Hebrews is written, first century Jewish background believers who are used to the old sacramental ritualistic first century Judaism which was old covenant Judaism practiced in the first century which was pointing towards Christ.

And this letter is being written to Christians who had put their faith in Jesus, but they were being tempted by societal and circumstantial pressures to abandon their faith in Jesus and go back to this which was persecuted, not as difficult. They would not stand under any threat of losing their homes. They would not stand under a threat of being imprisoned if they were practicing as Jews. But Christians were being persecuted at the time. So, the temptation was to fade away from Jesus to drift away and go back to what they had already known.

The new covenant is where the writer of Hebrews says, you must stick with this. Don't fall away and go back to that old covenant ritual stuff. We are sure that we have a good conscience. We are sure we have a good conscience that are sure that. So from last week, I said, obey your leaders was be being persuaded.

Be being persuaded. And this is the same word. We are persuaded. The obey your leaders, I translate it this way. Y'all be being persuaded by those who are leading you of the truth of God.

Be being persuaded and then it's kind of a play on words. Very next verse, it says, for we are persuaded. We are sure. We are persuaded that we have a good conscience. We are doing the best that we know how under God's direction, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably.

Ourselves, again, plural. Honorably. The word honorably there means noble, honorable, good. I like another dictionary definition of it, to be winsomely attractive. To be winsomely attractive for those who may be in one ditch of license, licentiousness, or those who may be in a legalistic ditch to be acting out of our freedom in Christ in such a holy and good way as to be winsomely attractive to everyone.

A good witness among outsiders is the way it would be put in Colossians. Desiring to conduct ourselves honorably, honorably is that winsomely attractive and in what? In all things. In everything that we do. So, it was a hard call this week.

In the first century, it was a hard call for this writer or writers of Hebrews to say exactly what this church should be doing because there was a threat to their life. There was a threat from mobs. There was a threat from the government. There was a threat from like I said, seizure of property, imprisonment, all of those things are mentioned in this book. No one had died in that church that they knew about yet but they were expecting it to happen soon.

No one yet had shed blood. So, that's the first century and this leader writing to the church was saying, we feel that we are, in fact, says we are persuaded that. We're sure that we have a good conscience. We're desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. In the twenty first century, it was not an easy thing this week to decide basically, to call off meeting together, especially in Hebrews where it says, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together.

We're still assembling in multiple places and trying to transmit this as we can, and we're looking for the way forward over the next few weeks to how to do this. I'm willing to do... We're willing to do whatever we need to. We're sure we have a good conscience, desire to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. And then this letter, which is an exhortation.

It is an exhortation. The whole thing is an exhortation from the very beginning. The exhortium all the way through. And I urge you, what? All the more.

All the more comes up a lot in Hebrews. It is. Jesus says, all the more, so much more the better than angels. Jesus is better than this and that. All the more comes up a lot.

It says, to encourage one another as you see the day approaching all the more. So, I urge you all to do this. All the more to do this. Now, this is pray. We're urging you to exchange your thoughts and ideas about what is going on for God's ideas of what's going on.

In the first century, under this persecution, there was a purification of the church. For those who persevered through it were purified and that's been mentioned. Chapter 11, chapter 12, it's been mentioned and so, pray for us. For we're sure we have a good conscience, desire to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. I urge you to all the more to pray for us and I would say the same thing.

For those who are in leadership, this week, it was really nice. Actually, I'm gonna pray right now. God, I thank you for the opportunity this week to be in almost constant contact with the folks from other churches in town. I love and know well all of these guys and guests and for Jimmy Barts at Saint John's and for Ben at the Presbyterian Church and for David Bach at Redeemer Lutheran and for Anger at the Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran and for Jeff Brown at Flat Creek Community and for all of these to get together, for Eric Davis at Cornerstone, for Don at CBC, for all of these, Lord. I pray that you'd be directing us exactly how you would have us to proceed and lead in this time where the world does not know what's going on and it seems to have kinda lost its bearing.

But lord, we can be grounded in you and in your will and I think as we'll see for the rest of scripture today, I pray that we would be drawn into a complete and total unity and we would be able to offer the answers that will be needed and the help that will be needed. Lord, would you use us to do your will and your way as one body of Christ. Amen. Amen. So, would you pray for us?

I urge you all the more to do this. How? Why? So that I may be restored to you the sooner. Ain't that a great lining up there?

This person or people, these people that were writing this letter wanted to be reunited with the church that they were preaching to. I I feel like this. Some people call it a treaties, all of Hebrews. I think it was one sermon to be delivered at one time and that was from someone who earnestly longed to be reunited with the congregation that he loves so much and I could say that I'm looking forward to that and I urge you all, keep on praying so that we may be restored to one another sooner in the twenty first century. Pray for us.

Meeting in homes and small gatherings is the way that this is done in most of the world throughout most of time and it does not take the trappings of American Christianity to be real. The faith moves person to person one at a time and I pray that God would keep on doing what he is doing through that. So, pray for us so that we may be restored to you the sooner. It's an earnest plea and then we go to this magnificent blessing. This is probably the most Christocentric blessing in the New Testament.

Although there are a lot to choose from, it's just beautiful and the whole book has been about Jesus and persevering in Christ and it's been about Jesus' high and elevated place. Now, it starts off this way. This magnificent blessing and now may the God of peace. Now, define prayer. That might seem awful pedantic but now, I'm gonna define peace.

Peace. Peace or peace of mind, Erenes, Erenes or Erenes is the Greek for peace or peace of mind. The word... The name Irene, the pastor's wife, Rich Stigg's wife, is named Irene. She's one the most peaceable people that I have ever met and it it fits her.

Irene, that name means peace. Irene's. Peace or peace of mind. The invocation of peace is a common Jewish farewell in the Hebrewistic sense of the health of an individual specifically as health is involved when they would part. It would be a shalom for good health and I think that's pertinent for our times right now too but or peace, I wanna give you the six dictionary definitions of this and I think that they get to be more pointed at what this passage is meaning, the God of all peace.

So, peace, first of all, the normal first definition most people think of is a state of national tranquility, exemption from rage and the havoc of war where we are at peace as a nation. That's not exactly what this is talking about, although that is peace and it's nice. Second is peace between individuals. We talk about that one a lot. In fact, with all we are loving God and loving people through Christ is the motto of this church and peace between individuals comes from people who have peace with God.

Being peacemakers, blessed as the P or the peacemakers. Peace between individuals or harmony or concord. I just mentioned almost every pastor in town. I probably missed a few but I was praying for the ones that I've talked to four, five days this week. Brian Hunter, I knew there was one more.

Brian and Alyssa. So Brian, and and we've been talking all week long. We've had this steady conversation all week. And from across a theological spectrum, God is pulling all of us together to love one another and center around his good gospel. And I praise him for it.

Peace between individuals, harmony, concord is great. So after the Hebrew, I don't know that word in Hebrew. I'm assuming it's Shalom but I don't know Hebrew very well. After the Hebrew, it's about security, safety, even prosperity, and felicity because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous. Now, at the time when this letter was written, they were living in a time period that many people call the Pax Romana, the Roman peace.

And that was an enforced peace, militarily enforced peace. A lot of people say, we are living in the Pax Americana, which is the American enforced peace. I wanna go on from there and say specifically, and I think this is getting more after the God of peace that we're talking about. Specifically, it is the Messiah's, the anointed one's peace. Peace that comes from Christ.

If we go forward, the fifth definition here is the one that I think really centers on this. According to a conception distinctly peculiar to Christianity. Peace is the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ and so, because of that, fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is. Ain't that beautiful? I'll read it one more time.

The tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, whatever sort that may be and then the last definition for peace is in the context of rest and peace. Of the blessed state of the devout and upright man after death. That's a great state of peace. Now, may the God of peace, think of that. May the God of that solid assurance that one has.

May the God of peace who brought up from the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep. This is describing who God is. Now, may the God of peace who brought up from the dead that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant. Now, their temptation back then was to go back to the blood of bulls and goats. That was the normal way.

It seems like they had some teachers or some maybe even itinerant traveling people that were coming in and saying, listen, you can still be a Christian but then do all of this stuff too. Or they were having someone coming in and saying, yeah, you're free in Christ to do whatever you want to. Just he paid it all. Do whatever you want to. Complete liberty, licentiousness, or legalism.

This says, may the God of peace who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant. The new covenant is the solution for ritualistic, legalistic living. It is the solution for licentious living, the new covenant offered by grace accepted through faith. Jesus' blood, the blood of the eternal covenant. That had a picture, a shadow, as it says in Hebrews of what was to come but this is it.

This is the blood of the eternal covenant, the sacrifice that is once for all. There's one mediator between God and man. The blood of the eternal covenant and it makes it explicit by saying, even Jesus our lord. It is by Jesus Christ alone. May the God of peace and then it tells who he is.

May the God of peace equip you in every good thing to do his will. May God who has all of the resources and he has all of the peace. May he equip you to do his will and every good thing and you might look and say, well, there's a lot of bad around us a lot of the time but you have to exchange your human ideas and your human thoughts for the thoughts of God. He has purpose and he has a plan. He's using willing and obedient people to go about and accomplish his will.

Persecution is always purifying for the church. Perseverance is necessary to get through. Discipline is necessary to get through. We've seen that in chapter 12 especially but chapter eleven and twelve. May the God of peace equip you in every good thing to do his will.

Working in all of us, that which is pleasing in his sight. May God work in all of us. That which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. That's the only way it's gonna happen. It's not because of our superior intellect or not because of our winsome personality, not through any conception of the human mind but through Jesus Christ because Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Our human circumstances change. But Christ remains the same. Yesterday, today, and forever and we can go forward on Jesus, the firm foundation, unshakable. Through Jesus Christ to whom be the glory forever and ever and that just sounds like, oh, that's the end of the verse, end of the blessing. We get that.

We've seen this all over. To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. No, no, no. It feels kind of like, yeah, that's of course, that's the way it closes.

We don't think about it. I want you to think about it. Two, the word right there in Greek can mean two, four, and by or with. I want you to think of it every way right now. Two, God be the glory.

That makes sense. I want to ascribe to God that which is due only to God to Jesus Christ be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Ascribe to God that which belongs to him and glory does. For whom be the glory forever.

A lot of people receive a lot of praise. Bound praise. A lot of people receive a lot of praise but honestly, the grace of God is what has given us every gift that we have and we do not deserve any of the glory but it should be for Jesus Christ. In whom, all union with Christ. Union with Christ is what it's about.

You're united with Christ by the grace of God through faith. You're united with Christ and in Christ, there is glory forever and ever. Think about that. Eternal glory. Co heirs with Jesus.

Co heirs with Jesus. Think about that. In him, there is marked glory and eternal. By whom? By the blood of the covenant.

By Jesus blood. By whom there is glory forever and ever. With whom to think about and look forward to that time when we will be with him. He's seated at the right hand of the father. This is presented earlier in Hebrews.

He's elevated and seated at the right hand of the father and he's interceding for us. Ain't that a beautiful picture? And this says, and we will be with him forever and ever even unto the end of the ages. It will be forever with whom be glory. So to whom be the glory forever and ever, amen.

And amen was a Hebrew term meaning so be it, absolute affirmation, and positively so. Amen. That had transferred over into Greek, amen. Exactly. Same pronunciation, same everything.

They had to learn how to spell it but it was a transliteration. Just moved it over and then, we moved it over in English and depending on where you're from in the country, you may say it differently but amen is amen is amen everywhere and amen. I put an exclamation point there. I think that's a magnificent blessing. So, we've gotten through the earnest plea and the magnificent blessing.

These are the greetings from afar and greetings from afar are like this and but I urge you, brethren, brothers and sisters, I urge you brothers and sisters. The urging. It's funny. The earnest plea started off with an urging too. Actually, the whole of this letter is an urging.

It's an urging towards perseverance. It's urging towards acting out of your faith. Not being afraid. React Reacting in faith rather than fear. Today, if you hear the voice of lord, do not harden your hearts like you did in the rebellion but hearken unto it.

If God is leading you to do something, do it. I urge you brothers and sisters, bear with this word of exhortation. Listen to what it is that I'm saying. I'm pleading with you for a reason and then this is funny to me. Bear with this word, singular, of exhortation for I have written to you briefly.

Hebrews is 13 chapters long with 20 something verses or more in each chapter. It's a long sermon from today's standards. Now, I do believe it would have been given all at once and if you would, this week, I'm asking you to and you have to obey your leaders, right? So, read through Hebrews. Read through the whole.

We're finishing it off here today. This is the last sermon I'm planning on preaching on Hebrews. Although, I like to do a recap. I might come back to that But read through the whole of book of Hebrews after we've been through it together. I think it would be a really, really good exercise.

The writer or writers, I think maybe even tongue in cheek or say, I have written to you briefly but think about this, is it briefly? There's so much more that could be written? There is so much more that could be written about Christ. This is one of the most Christ centered books in the New Testament but John says that if all of the books that should be written about and were written, the whole world couldn't even contain them all. So, I've written to you briefly 13 chapters, a lot of it and then we get into the personal greetings.

Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released. So, Timothy was known to this audience and Timothy was known to these writers. Timothy was a close running buddy of Paul's and at this time, we believe that Paul was either in prison at his ultimate imprisonment or he had already been murdered. Timothy was known to them. Paul left Timothy in charge in Ephesus.

We know that the writers knew him and knew him well because it says, take notice that our brother Timothy has been released. If you go on only the New Testament information only, we didn't even know Timothy was in jail. Okay? With whom, Timothy, if he comes to you soon, I will see you. We're going to get together and I'm coming with Timothy as soon as we get together.

We're coming to see y'all and it says, pray for us that we might be restored to you sooner as soon as I get together with Timothy, we're coming. If he comes soon, they had to worry about weather. We have to worry about weather too, obviously but Timothy, if he gets here soon, I'm gonna be seeing you soon with him. Greet all of your leaders. The leaders were people who were known.

In fact, verse 17 doesn't just happen in a vacuum. Verse 17 where it says, obey your leaders, the writer or writers of this book were writing to a group of people, a congregation who had leaders that were known to the writer. Does that make sense to you? Greet all of your leaders. I know who they are.

Greet them. Doesn't give names in that place. And it says, and all of the saints because they met in a lot of different homes. I believe that the writer of this or the writers of this actually had a house church that met in their home. Those from Italy greet you.

Now, the lining up of the first century and twenty first century seems odd. Italy has been in the news a ton lately and they have been really been under under the gun with this corona virus and so, would you pray for the folks of Italy and they are in this time period, those from Italy, the ones who are with us that are from Italy, greet y'all who are still in Italy. I think it was a letter written to people in Rome. So greetings from far twenty first century. There are some people that are watching right now over in Driggs or people who are watching in Alta.

There are folks who are watching in different places and greetings from afar in the 20 century but this Sunday is an oddity. This is the weird weird... I've preached to less people before in person a few times. But this Sunday is oddity. In a hundred and nine years, even with the Spanish flu in 1918, we don't have a record of doing church like this.

They didn't have the option of doing an internet Facebook Live in 1918 but they didn't keep a record of it if they didn't come to church. We we have not been able to find out. No one here can recall or find a record of a Sunday when church didn't happen pretty much in its usual manner. So, this is very odd indeed and speaking of things that are very odd. Who wrote Hebrews?

Now, if I were to ask theologians, there are a lot of different people who have guessed a lot of different things over the years. In fact, I'm gonna read something to you. The external evidence, it's not internal. The internal evidence, there's excellent vocabulary and Greek style and discourse features. So, it's a well educated person.

There are exclusively Septuagint quotes and Paul doesn't do that. He does it sometimes but he doesn't do that. So, historically, in fact, the King James Bible at the top to the Hebrews, it says, there's one guy here who thinks it's Paul. Almost nobody agrees with you nowadays but that's okay if you if you think that. The King James Bible said, the epistle of Paul to Hebrews.

But that's not from manuscript evidence. So, the main runners usually are Paul or Apollos or Barnabas or Luke or even Clement. But there are some secondary options. Those are the ones that most people guess but there's no evidence that says that. In fact, one of the early church fathers, Eusebius quoting Origin says, who wrote the epistle in truth God only knows?

I think it was Priscilla. I think that it was Priscilla and Aquila together. I think that it was a couple who were the missionary couple that loved Jesus and they loved him but they didn't know him personally while he was ministering. This person or people that wrote the book of Hebrews says that they heard from those who heard. Paul had a direct encounter with Jesus.

Second generation Christian, we would say, these folks heard. Apollos is great. That's a good guess. He was eloquent. Everybody talked about the rhetorical skills of Apollos, but there was a couple that taught him the way of God more accurately, and it was Priscilla and Aquila.

The timeline lines up and everything else. I think it was Priscilla. Now, I'm not gonna arm wrestle anybody over it. I'm kinda glad there's an empty room because I could see you rushing the stage afterwards. But I think that that's what it was.

I think there's a reasonable thing. If you disagree, please let me know. And I don't doubt you will. But I think it was Priscilla and Aquila and I think that that's a subtlety about the word of God. I think it's a cool thing.

Now, for the last word. So, this is the last sentence of the book of Hebrews which has been glorious and joyous, I think, for me to get to go through this and even today. Hebrews thirteen twenty five, it ends off this way. Grace. Oh, grace.

Now, that's another church word. I've already defined pray and I've designed, defined peace. Grace, I don't have a slide for it but I can tell you, grace is a leaning towards. Charis is the word. Jews said when they greeted from one another, they said, peace or shalom.

May your goings be well with your health and then, Christians at this time said, not just peace but grace and peace. Grace and peace. Grace is may God be leaning towards you with his favor. Unmerited favor. You have not done anything to deserve the love of God but through Christ and the blood of the eternal covenant, God has given freely of his unmerited favor, his love and so this says, grace starts off that way and I I define it because grace, yeah, oh, it's church.

Of course, they're going to say grace. We we say grace around the supper table. My grandmother's name is Grace. My wife's grandmother's name is Grace. No, grace.

May God's unmerited favor. He is leaning towards you with an offer of love that you don't deserve and if you humbly get that, it is very winsomely attractive. Grace be with you all. May there not be anyone who hears this message that does not grab on to the grace of God available in Jesus Christ. Hebrews.

I'm gonna get Florina come on up and we're gonna sing one more song. It's near the cross. I feel like the writer of Hebrews never strayed at all from the cross and I want and would pray that God would keep us near the cross. Would you sing with me hymn number three nineteen? The altar is open

Jesus, keep me near the cross. Bear a precious mountain free to all healing stream

will mention too that on the on the internet, if you're watching on the internet and you listen to this and you feel like I gotta say something about this and you don't have a place to go to talk to somebody about what you've heard, you are welcome to Email me or talk to me. Ray McDaniel, that's not me. That's me. RayMcDaniel@Me.com is my address, my Email address. If you feel like I need to talk to somebody about what I've heard today, please do contact me.

RayMcDaniel@me.com. Straight altogether, one word and if you get an Email from somebody that says, hey, email me right back real quick. I need for you to do something for me. That's not for me. I'm not gonna email you and say that.

There are people phishing. There are a lot of scams going on and it's been happening a lot this month And so, if it's from me, you'll know it's me. I'm RayMcDaniel@me.com. Not any other combination. And if you get a text from somebody saying the same thing, I'm ministering to a cancer patient and I just need you to send me a $400 eBay gift card.

That's not me. Okay. Sorry to interrupt but that needed to be said. There there have been a 100 people probably this week have called me to say that they've been fished. So, I'm not anxious about it because this is our benediction for the day.

Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. It will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. May you go forth with peace in your heart and grace received and ready to give out. In Jesus name, amen.