PARTING WORDS IN THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS

Heb. 13:20-21

Morning Meditation 8/16/16

Verses 20-21 say, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."

F. E. Marsh says, "This is one of the green pastures, and the provender is thick, sweet, and nourishing. Every word is weighted with intrinsic worth and holy wealth."

The words "Now the God of peace" are a personal title of God. The word "eirene" that is translated "peace" means "the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is." God is the God of this. Marsh says, "The God of Peace proclaims the calm of His holiness, the quiet of His love, the stillness of His rest, the power of His Word, the resources of His grace, the steadiness of His purpose, the harbor of His care, the beauty of His character and the glory of His nature." The Holy Spirit is aiming a loaded gun of blessings at the Hebrew Christians as He closes out this Epistle. And praise the Lord he pulls the trigger every time a Christian reads these Words with His aid.

Next He says, "that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus . . ." The words "brought again" translate anago which means "to lead up, to lead or bring into a higher place." It is used of navigators and is used in that context to mean, "launch out, set sail, put to sea." This means that the God of peace "led Jesus out of the city of the dead and He launched him into the sea of His will to make Him the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and make this earth His footstool." This process is ongoing and will reach its glorious climax when God lives in the midst of His people in the New Jerusalem. The words "brought again" is an aorist tense verb. It is a point of time divorced from time and perpetuated forever. It stands as an eternal fact. God did this. Marsh says He did this, "Without disturbing swathing bands, weight of spices, heavy stone, God brought Christ through them all. Hades could not hold Him, nor the grave detain Him, nor Hell hinder Him. The resurrection of Christ proclaims the greatness of God's power, and also its might."

Next the words, "That great Shepherd of the sheep" speak of the character Christ took on Himself as the Leader of His people. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep . . . And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:11, 16, 27 ,28). Marsh says, "His sheep are blood bought, hand-kept, spirit-led, and grace-guarded, and promise-fed. He is great to do all these things, and loves to serve them. He lives to bless them, as He died to purchase them." Someone hold my mules!

There was a farmer in a country church that constantly disturbed the services with his ecstatic outbursts of praise to God when the preacher would make a good point that thrilled his very soul. Well, they got a young preacher that would lose his place in his sermon when this man would glorify God in praise. So they elected a committee to talk to him and instruct him not to do that any more in the service. They found him down in the field ploughing his cotton. They stopped him in the middle of the field and explained as best they could that he was disturbing the preacher. He explained to them how the love of God would get the best of him and it seemed that he would blow up if he didn't let the steam off. He gave testimony to what God had done for him and how he blessed him constantly and as he explained this to the committee he got carried away again and handed the reins to his team of mules to one of the committee and said, "Please hold my mules. I feel one of them spells coming on." Someone asked me to explain what I meant when I said, "Someone hold my mules."

Next are the words, "through the blood of the everlasting covenant." The word "through" means "By means of." The word "blood" is the blood of God (Acts 20:28) and not the blood of bulls or goats that could never take away sin (Heb. 11:4). It is the price of our redemption: "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:" (1 Pet. 1:18-19). Not only does the Holy Spirit call attention to the price of our redemption but the security and duration of that redemption. Marsh says because of the shedding of Christ's blood, "Heaven is satisfied, justice is magnified, law is gratified, Hell is stultified, saints are sanctified, sinners are vivified, Christian workers are intensified, and believers will be glorified. The covenant was made between Father and Son, and we get the benefit, and that benefit is eternal in its blessing." Selah!

Then He says, "Make you perfect in every good work to do his will." The words "make you perfect" translate katartizo and means "to render fit, to make sound, to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair, to complete." It is an aorist tense verb which refers to a point of time. It is active voice which means that God is the ACTOR to accomplish this. It is optative mood and the optative mood is a fourth class condition and does not appear often in the New Testament. It is a wish that is doubtful. It is like saying, "I wish it would happen but I doubt it." This is very good. The human author and the Holy Spirit through him puts experiential perfection in the doubtful category. We shouldn't aim at imperfection but we should face reality. A man with an Old Sin nature is not going to reach perfection in this life. But he should constantly be moving toward it. The words "to do his will" tell us what is to be accomplished. Marsh says, "To answer to God's will by being thoroughly adjusted to His Word, is to be perfect. For this perfection we need the Perfect One. The will of God, nothing less, nothing more, nothing else. When God has His way with us we get our way with Him, because we only want What He gives. To be God-made is to be God-stayed."

Then he says, "working in you that which is wellpleasing in His sight." The word "working" is a present active participle which means that this work is going on constantly in the present tense of a believers life. God is not working to satisfy our sinful carnal desires but rather "that which is well pleasing in His sight. Marsh says, "The consciousness of the Lord's presence is the soul of consecration. To please the Lord always produces a pleasure to the one who does it. Here again the Lord is the end, as well as the beginning and center."

The words "through Jesus Christ" speak of grace. The preposition "through" means "by means of the active agency of our Lord." His activities did not cease at the Cross; they began there with a new purpose and power. He is still the active agent by means of whom all blessing flow to us. We never can get beyond the sphere of His grace. Any and everything we need as saints and servants, as well as sinners, is "through Jesus Christ" our Lord.

Then finally, "To whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen." Marsh says, "We may well bless Him with our praises, since He has blessed us with His mercies. A thankless man is a disgrace and a dishonor, but a thankful man is a delight and an honour."

May the Lord bless each of you.

In Christ

Bro. White