Hebrews 13:20-21

The God of peace

The God of peace and our sanctification

I. I call your attention to THE PECULIAR TITLE UNDER WHICH GOD IS ADDRESSED IN THIS PRAYER: “NOW, the God of peace.” The names of God employed in prayer in holy Scripture are always significant. Why, then, did the apostle here call God “ the God of peace”? He had a reason; what was it? Iris a Pauline expression. You find that title only in the writings of Paul. It is a name of Paul’s own coinage by the teaching of the Holy Ghost. There were reasons in Paul’s experience which led him to dwell upon this peculiar trait of the Divine character. Just as in our text he prays, “Perfect you in every good work to do His will,” so in Thessalonians he says, “And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is evident, not only that the apostle delighted in the expression peculiar to himself, but that he saw a close connection between the peace of God and the sanctifying of believers, and for this reason, both in the Thessalonians and in the Hebrews, his prayer for their sanctification is addressed to the God of peace. The title is a gospel one. God is not spoken of as the God of peace in the Old Testament; but there He is “a man of war, the Lord is His name”; “He shall cut off the spirit of princes; He is terrible to the kings of the earth.”

1. The appropriateness of the title to the particular prayer will readily strike you, for holiness is peace. “May the God of peace make you holy,” for He Himself is peace and holiness.

2. The God of peace has also graciously restored peace and reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, but it has been by the putting away of sin, for while sin remained peace was impossible. He died for our sins, but He rose again for our justification, which is none other than the replacing of us in a condition of reconciliation with God. He went into heaven to take possession of our inheritance; and what better evidence could there be that we are reconciled to God?

3. If you pursue the subject you will see more and more clearly the significance of the title, “the God of peace”; for, to make us perfect in every good work to do His will is to give us peace. Sin is our enemy, and the new life within us is heartily at enmity with evil, and therefore peace can never be proclaimed in the triple kingdom of our nature until we always do that which is well pleasing in the sight of the Lord, through Jesus Christ. Nor is this all.

4. When the apostle, praying for our sanctification, prays to the God of peace, it is as much as to say to us that we must view God as the God of peace if we are to be led to do His will. O man, is God your enemy? Then you will never serve Him, nor do that which is well pleasing in His sight. You must first of all know that there is peace between you and your God, and then you can please Him. This knowledge can only come to you through Christ Jesus, for peace is made only by “the blood of the everlasting covenant”.

5. I will call to your notice the fact that the title, “the God of peace,” sheds a light over the whole passage, and is beautifully in harmony with every word of the prayer. Let us read it line by line. “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus.” War brings down to death; but the God of peace brings back from the dead. The restoration of the Lord Jesus from the grave was a peaceful act, and was meant to be the guarantee of peace accomplished for ever. “Through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” The very word “covenant” is also full of peace: and especially is it so when we remember that it is a covenant of peace which eternal love has established between God and man. The apostle goes on to pray, “Make you perfect in every good work to do His will.” If God’s will is done by us, then there must be peace, for no ground of difference can exist. “Working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight.” When all in us is well pleasing to God, then, indeed, is He the God of peace to us. The final doxology is also very significant, for in effect it proclaims the universal and eternal reign of peace: “To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” What can there be to disturb the universe when the Lord God omnipotent shall reign, and all nations shall glorify the Ever Blessed, world without end? Not without reason, therefore, did our apostle select the title, “The God of peace.”

II. We have now to consider THE SPECIAL ACT DWELT UPON” IN” THIS PRAYER. “That brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” The bringing back of the Lord Jesus from the dead was the seal of His perfected work, and consequently of our peace and ultimate perfection in holiness. Because He had wrought all righteousness, therefore did tie stand amongst living men; and because He had merited a crown of glory, therefore did He rise even to the throne of Jehovah, to sit there till His enemies are made His footstool. We go further yet. The bringing again of Christ from the dead was in effect the leading back of all His people. Not without the sheep did the Shepherd come, for that were to return defeated. The text speaks of “Our Lord Jesus.” Did you notice that? Ours in His offices of Shepherd and Saviour, altogether ours as brought again from the dead. What He did was for us. He is the great Shepherd of the sheep, and therefore what He did was for the sheep. “Because I live,” saith He, “ye shall live also” and because He lives to intercede, therefore His people are preserved from evil: Satan desires to have us, that he may sift us as wheat; but the great Shepherd, who was brought again from the dead, is daily watching over us, and the power of His life, and of His kingdom, and of His plea, are manifested in us, so that we conquer temptation, and advance from strength to strength in our pilgrimage to heaven.

III. Thirdly, let us notice THE VERY REMARKABLE MANNER IN WHICH THE HOLINESS PRAYED FOR IS DESCRIBED in the text: “Make you perfect in every good work to do His will.” That is the first clause, but the translation is not strictly accurate. The passage would be better rendered, “make you fit in every good work to do His will,” and the original Greek word properly means to reset a bone that is dislocated. The meaning of the text is this: by the fall all our bones are out of joint for the doing of the Lord’s will, and the desire of the apostle is that the Lord will set the bones in their places, and thus make us able with every faculty and in every good work to do His will. The first part of the prayer, then, is for fitness for holiness. The next is for actual service: “Working in us that which is well pleasing in His sight.” And here I ask you to notice how all things are of God. Even he who is best adapted for the performance of virtue and holiness, yet does not perform these things till the Lord worketh in him to will and to do of His own good pleasure. Over and above this mode of securing all the glory to God notice the next clause--“through Jesus Christ.” That which we do even when the Lord works in us we only do through Jesus Christ. We are nothing without our Lord, and though we do what is acceptable in the Lord’s sight, yet it is only acceptable through Jesus Christ.

IV. Our fourth point drops into its place very naturally, for we have already seen that THE WHOLE OF IT COMES TO A MOST APPROPRIATE CONCLUSION OF PRAISE: “To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” To glorify God is the object of it all. Praise is the flower for which the stalk of prayer exists. It would be a very difficult question to decide to whom the last clause alludes, whether to “ the God of peace,” or to “Our Lord Jesus,” and, therefore, I think, the safer way is to take them both together, for they are one. “To whom,” that is to God; “To whom,” that is to the Lord Jesus, “be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Let it be so; it ought to be so, it must be so, it shall be so. Amen. Amen. Tarry just a minute while we give glory unto the Three-One-God. He is the God of peace; approach Him with holy delight; adore Him; glorify His name evermore. Then magnify Him next, because He found for us a Shepherd. Glorify]=lDDint next for the covenant. And then adore Him because the power which He exerted upon Christ He is now exerting upon you. Bless Him for every grace received, for faith however little, for love, even though it burn not as you would desire; bless Him for every conquered sin, bless Him for every implanted grace, bless Him evermore. Bless Him that He deals with you through Jesus Christ. Through the Mediator all good has come to us, and through the Mediator it will still come, until that day when He shall deliver up the throne to God, even the Father, and God shall be all in all. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The work of God

I. LOOK AT THE ASPECT IN WHICH GOD IS HERE PRESENTED.

1. A God of peace. Were we hastily to form our opinion of the character of God from the aspects and condition of this world, we might come to a different conclusion. “God of peace”! Where is peace? Read the world’s past history, or survey its present condition! Has not every age been filled with wars? and what soil, from the sands of Africa to Polar snows, has not been drenched with human blood? Unconverted man is at peace--neither with himself, nor with others, nor with God. Shall we therefore conclude from this view of the world that He who is at once its Maker and Monarch is not a God of peace? Assuredly not. He had nothing to do with this miserable condition of affairs; and is neither to be judged by it, nor blamed for it. In a fatal hour, sin was admitted into our world; and the ship that takes a Jonah aboard parts with peace. She has nothing to look for but thunders and lightnings, and storms and tempests. But let God have His way, only let His will be done in earth as it is done in heaven, and such a change were wrought on this world, as would recall the change that night saw on Galilee, when Jesus woke, and, rising in the boat, looked out on the tumbling sea, to say, “Peace, be still”--and in a moment there was a great calm.

2. God has made peace. “Fury is not in Me, saith the Lord.” He has turned from the fierceness of His anger, and made peace between Himself and man by the blood of the Cross; but not “peace at any price”--at the expense of His honour, holiness, justice, law, or truth. No. God has not overlooked the guilt of sin; He pardons, but does not palliate it. Peace, as has often been done between man and man, may be established on a!also basis. Take for example the States of America. Before they were actually rent asunder, they might have established a peace on the foundations of iniquity. Had they given ear to preachers who perverted the Word of God, and, regarding slavery as the white man’s right, and not the black man’s wrong, had they joined hand to hand to sacrifice the interests of humanity to those of commerce, they might have had peace instead of war. They might have cemented their union with the blood of slaves. But such a peace as that would have offered a complete contrast to the peace of the gospel. This preserves God’s honour. Not “peace at any price,” it is peace at such a price as satisfied the utmost demands of His law, and fully vindicated His holiness in the sight of the universe.

II. HE BROUGHT CHRIST FROM THE HEAD.

1. In one sense the glory of His resurrection belongs to Christ Himself. The only thing else I have now to give, Jesus might say, is My life; and there it is. Of My own will, by My own, free, spontaneous act, I lay it down. All your wretched tools and cruel tortures, your crown of thorns and bloody Cross, cannot deprive Me of life. It is not you that take away My life; nor is it God. It is not taken away--but given; for I have power to lay it down, as I have power to take it up again. Hence our Lord’s claim on our love and gratitude. But He who said, “I have power to lay down My life,” also said, “I have power to take it up again”--as He had before intimated, when, the Jews having asked a sign of Hint, He said, referring to His body, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

2. Here our Lord’s resurrection is attributed to God. Here unquestionably; but not here only. Paul says, “He hath raised up Jesus again.”

In conclusion

1. Look at this aspect of Christ as the Great Shepherd of the sheep. How many are the elements of His greatness! He is a Divine Shepherd. And unlike other shepherds, who in the East dwell in tents, and here in the lowly cottages, His home is a palace, and His servants are the angels of heaven. How many are the shepherds He has under Him. Indeed, those who bear the greatest names in His Church are, though leaders, but part of the flock; He Himself being the only Shepherd, Bishop, and Overseer of souls. Nor here, as sometimes happens among men, is greatness separated from that goodness which is the best property of the two. But both properties, infinite in measure, meet in Christ. Paul calls Him the Great, but He calls Himself the Good Shepherd.

2. Glance at Paul’s prayer. “Make you perfect.” Could I express for you a better wish, or could you aim at a better object? I know that we are not perfect yet; far from it! In our imitation of Christ, how unlike is the’ fairest copy to the great original I Still there is no ground for despair. Perfect freedom from the power of sin, perfect obedience to the precepts and spirit of the law, perfect harmony to the mind and perfect conformity to the image of God, are within the bond, sealed with blood; and also in the prayer, “I will that those whom thou has given Me be with Me where I am.” (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

The great pleas of a great prayer

I. THE NAME OF GOD IS THE WARRANT FOR OUR LARGEST HOPE. God is the God of peace, and, therefore, He will, if we will let Him, make us perfect unto every good work. That, of course, must imply that the peace which is here ascribed to Him, as its source and fontal possessor, is that deep and changeless calm of an infinite and perfectly harmonious being which is broken by no work, perturbed by no agitations, and yet is no more stagnant than the calm depths of the ocean, being penetrated for ever by warmth and majestic motion in which there is rest. “The God of peace” wills to give to men something not altogether unlike the tranquillity which He Himself possesses. The hope seems altogether beyond the conditions of creatural life, which is tossed to and fro amidst change and agitations. How can the finite whose very law of life is change, whose nature is open to the disturbances of external solicitations, and the agitations of inward emotions--how can he ever, in this respect, approximate to the repose of God?And yet, analogous, if not similar, tranquillity may fill our hearts. When our wills are made pliable and flexible, no longer stiff and obstinate, like a bar of iron, to His touch, but bendable like a piece of dressed leather; when our hankering desires no longer go after forbidden dainties, but keep themselves within the limits of the Divine will; when we are ready for all that He commands or appoints, meeting the one with unmurmuring resignation, and the other with unquestioning obedience--then nothing that is at enmity with joy can utterly abolish or destroy the peace that we have in God.

II. THE RAISING OF THE SHEPHERD IS THE PROPHECY FOR THE SHEEP. I ask myself, Is it possible that I shall be delivered from this burden of corruption; that I shall ever, in any state, be able, with unhesitating and total surrender of myself, to make the will of God the very life of my spirit and the bread on which I live? And all the unbelieving and cowardly suggestions of my own heart as to the folly of trying after an unreachable perfection, and the wisdom of acquiescence in the partial condition to which I have already attained, are swept out of view by this one thing--the sight of a man throned by the side of God, perfect in holiness and serene in untroubled beauty. That is a prophecy for us all. We look out upon the world, or into this cage of evils in our own hearts, and are tempted to fold our hands and acquiesce in the inevitable. Alas! it is too true that “ we see not yet all things put under man.” Courage! Nothing less than the likeness of Jesus Christ corresponds to God’s will concerning us. In Him there is power to make each of us as pure, as sinless, as the Lord Himself in whom we trust.

III. THE EVERLASTING COVENANT IS THE TEACHER AND THE PLEDGE OF OUR LARGEST DESIRES. Is it not a grand thought, and a profoundly true one, that God, like some great monarch who deigns to grant a constitution to his people, has condescended to lay down conditions by which He will be bound, and on which we may reckon? Out of the illimitable possibilities of action, limited only by His own nature, and all incapable of being foretold by us, He has marked a track on which he will go. If I may so say, across the great ocean of possible action He has buoyed out His course, and we may prick it down upon our charts, and be quite sure that we shall find Him there. Be sure of this, that within the four corners of God’s articulate and unmistakable assurance lies all that heart can wish or spirit receive from Him. You cannot expect or ask more from Him than He has bound Himself to impart. You desires can never be outstretched as to go beyond the efficacy of the blood of Jesus Christ; and through the ages of time or eternity the everlasting Covenant remains, to which it shall be our wisdom and our blessedness to widen our hopes, expand our desires, conform our wishes, and adapt our work. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Peace from God through Christ

I. THE AUTHOR OF PEACE. From all eternity God purposed in Himself the counsel of peace; and when by reason of sin, discord and misery came into the world, the Lord always comforted His people by the promise of redemption. In the fulness of time came Jesus, the Peace-maker; and when the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, the Father made peace through the blood of His Cross. Jesus Himself is our peace; but it is the God of peace who gave Jesus, and who by His atonement made peace, and reconciled all things to Himself. Peace means not merely calmness and rest of conscience and heart, based on the righteousness of God, but it means also restoration to health and well-being; or rather, since in Christ God makes all things new, not a restoration to Adam’s state of innocence, but the creating us anew after His image.

II. JESUS THE CHANNEL OF PEACE. Our Lord Jesus was the Paschal Lamb on Calvary. From that moment our peace was purchased, and we were identified with the substitute. Now the Lamb that was slain is also the good Shepherd, that laid down His life for the sheep; He is not merely the good, true, genuine Shepherd; He is also the great Shepherd, the mighty, sublime, the only one, who leads the flock out of the grave to the heavenly glory.

III. GOD WORKS IN US. Have we thus risen to the thought of the God of peace, the Redeemer, the Restorer, who through the sufferings of Jesus, and by His blood, delivered us from all evil, and has raised us together with Christ, unto a new, spiritual, and endless life, then we can understand the benediction, that God should work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. We are humbled by the sense of our transgressions, and above all of the sinfulness of our old nature. Let us be exalted by the grace of God. True, we groan in this tabernacle, being burdened, but we rejoice in God. The Lord works in us. He gives good desires, true petitions, living words and works. He prepares us for the work in time, as He prepared the work for us in eternity. He works in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight, for what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. And all is wrought through Jesus Christ. For He is our life and strength. Only abiding in Him can the branches live and bear fruit. The Spirit in us is not a substitute for Christ, but the connecting-link between the Lord and us. Thus the Divine energy within us acts simply through our faith in Jesus. Lean then on Jesus, and you will conquer sin. (A. Saphir.)

Our Lord Jesus

The names of the Saviour:

To most of us, I suppose, the various names by which our Saviour is designated in Scripture are just like so many aliases, indiscriminately used, and all conveying the same impression. But, in truth, they each suggest some distinctive aspect of His nature or relations to us, and in Scripture are never used without at least a sidelong glance to their special significance. The writer’s thought is always tinted, as it were, even if it is not deeply coloured, by the name which he selects. I have chosen the words which I have read as our starting-point, because they very strikingly bring together the extreme names; that which expresses lowly manhood and that which expresses sovereign authority, “Jesus our Lord,” in the union whereof lie the mystery of His being, and the foundation of our hopes, and by which union He becomes “that great Shepherd of the sheep.”

I. So, then, in the pursuit of this design, I have to ask you to notice, first, THE SIMPLE, HUMAN NAME JESUS.

1. Let us ever keep distinctly before us that suffering and dying manhood as the only ground for acceptable sacrifice and of full access and approach to God. Then, further, let us ever keep before our minds clear and plain that true manhood of Jesus as being the type and pattern of the devout life,

3. Then, again, let us set clearly before us that exalted manhood as the pattern and pledge of the glory of the race.

II. Then we have THE NAME OF OFFICE--JESUS IS CHRIST. IS your Jesus merely the man who by the meek gentleness of His nature, the winning attractiveness of His persuasive speech, draws and conquers, and stands manifested as the perfect example of the highest form of manhood, or is He the Christ, in whom the hopes of a thousand generations are realised; and the promises of God fulfilled, and the smoking altars and the sacrificing priests of that ancient system, and of heathenism everywhere, find their answer, their meaning, their satisfaction, their abrogation? Is Jesus to you the Christ of God?

III. We have THE NAME OF DIVINITY--JESUS THE CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD. NOW that designation, either in its briefer form, “the Son,” or in its fuller form, “the Son of God,” is, we may say, a characteristic of this letter. The keynote is struck in the very first words. And then the writer goes on in a glorious flow of profound truth and lofty eloquence to set forth the majesty of this Son’s nature, and the wonderfulness of His relations to the whole world. Jesus is this Son. Once, and once only, in the letter does the writer buckle together these two ideas which might seem to be antithetic, and at the utmost possible poles of opposition from each other: the lowly manhood and the wondrous Divinity. But they are united in Him who, by the union of them both, becomes the High Priest of our profession--Jesus, the Son of God. Further, the name is employed in its contracted form to enhance the mystery and the mercy of His sharp sufferings and of His lowly endurance. “Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered.” The fuller form is employed to enhance the depth of the guilt and the dreadfulness of the consequences of apostasy, as in the solemn words about “crucifying the Son of God afresh,” and in the awful appeal to our own judgments to estimate of how sore punishment they are “ worthy who trample under foot the Son of God.” In like manner once or twice our letter speaks of Jesus as “Lord,” declaring thereby His Sovereignty, and setting forth our relation of dependence and submission. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Christ brought from the dead:

Which words carry with them the form and purpose of a devout prayer. And prayer is the usual conclusion of St. Paul’s Epistles. This prayer of Paul is a mutual prayer. In the two former verses he craves their prayers for himself, “Brethren, pray for us” (Hebrews 13:18). He desires the assistance of their prayers. And see how he requites that fruit of their love. What he requires of them he performs for them; he prays for them again. Such strong combinations of mutual prayers are prevailing means to bring down blessings. The prayer he makes is most seasonable and pertinent. This prayer is a full and sweet comprehension of his former doctrine, and a great confirmation of the piety and holiness of it. It is a good character of truth when we can pray that which we preach. The text, then, you see, is St. Paul’s charitable and devout prayer, his apostolical and fatherly benediction, and blessing of the Hebrews.

I. The first thing observable is THE PERSON AND AUTHOR FROM WHOM HE SEEKS AND CRAVES THIS BLESSING OF GRACE AND HOLINESS FOR THEM. It is from the God of peace. Why doth he insist in that attribute of God, above all others, when he prays to Him for grace for his people? Many other excellencies God hath ascribed to him in Scripture, and the interposing of them in our prayers would seem very useful for the obtaining this great blessing of grace and sanctity.

1. The Scripture terms Him the God of power; and the blessing He sues for is a work of great power, to sanctify, and fit such sinful creatures as we are, to every good work (2 Peter 1:3).

2. The Scripture terms Him the God of grace; and this work is a gracious work. This prayer is a petition for grace, and so St. Peter frames it accordingly (1 Peter 5:10).

3. The Scripture terms Him the God of glory; and this work we are about, the work of sanctification, is a glorious work. St. Peter calls it the spirit of 1 Peter 4:14). Yet we see the apostle passes by these attributes, and insists upon this, the God of peace, as most proper to what he aims at. In general

(1) The aim and drift of the apostle in this epistle is to compose all jarrs and differences of opinion in the Church of the Hebrews.

(2) He prays for grace from the God of peace, because, in truth, all grace flows from this, that God is become a God of peace to us. While He is an offended God there is no hope to receive from Him any gift of grace. Sue for pardon and peace first, and then His grace and Spirit, all that belongs to life and godliness, shall be made good unto thee.

(3) This title of the God of peace carries with it a third intimation, and that is of a necessary qualification, that is requisite in us for the receiving of this grace St. Paul prays for. He is the God of peace, and bestows His grace where He finds His peace. Such as follow peace the grace of God follows them and enters into them. If there be a Son of peace the blessing of grace shall rest upon him. A peaceable spirit invites the Holy Ghost to enter into us and to abide with us. It makes our hearts a fit soil for the feed of grace. But besides these more general considerations

2. This title of the God of peace hath a more close reference to the text, to the purpose of it, and to all the parts of it.

(1) It hath a reference to the blood here mentioned, and to the great Shepherd’s death. And it refers to that as to the main ground, and foundation, and purchase of this peace.

(2) A second reference to this title of the God of peace is to another passage in the text. It refers to the bringing of Christ back from the dead again as the proper effect and fruit of this peace. God, being now at peace with us, He brings Christ back from the dead. When Christ was brought under the dominion of death, that was the bitter fruit of God’s fierce anger, but the restoring back again to life, that is the sweet and blessed truth of His peace.

(3) There is a third reference of this title of God, the God of peace, and that is to the Shepherd of the sheep. It refers to that as to a great evidence and token that now He is indeed at peace with us. For He hath not only restored Christ to life, but restored Him to his office too, committed to Him the care of His flock again.

(4) There is yet a fourth reference of this title of the God of peace, and that is to the everlasting covenant that the text speaks of. God is now become a God of peace to us, because He is become a God in covenant with us. Nay, it is not only a lasting, but an everlasting peace. He hath bound Himself to maintain this peace by an everlasting covenant. He hath established a peace that shall never be broken. Nay, it is not only the peace of a covenant, though that be strong, but the peace of a Testament. We read of the quarrel of God’s covenant (Leviticus 26:25), that may meet with jars; but when peace becomes a legacy, a firm deed, and bequeathment that is unalterable, we shall inherit peace. Peace and safety is the heritage of the Lord’s servants (Isaiah 54:17). And for our greater assurance He hath erected a public office in His Church, where we may view and exemplify this covenant, take out a true and perfect copy of His last will and testament; and that is in the institution of the sacrament. We have done with the first particular, the Person, of whom he craves the blessing; that is the God of peace. Now

II. follows the MOTIVE THAT HE USES, AND BY WHICH HE STRENGTHENS AND ENFORCES HIS PRAYER. And that is the consideration of our Saviour’s resurrection. And it is the Divine art and holy rhetoric of prayer, not only to present our suits, but to press them by the interposition of such prevailing arguments. The motive, I say, which he uses is our Saviour’s resurrection. And of it take a double view. See the description of it; and that consists of three particulars.

1. Here is the Person raised. And He made known

(1) By His personal title, the Lord Jesus. And this title is very pertinent to His resurrection. For, however this glorious title was due to Him, even from His birth, yet it is observable it is never completely given to Him till after His resurrection. By His resurrection He was declared to be the Son of God; then made known to be Lord and Christ.

(2) The title of His office. The former, indeed, is more honourable for Him; but this other, that great Shepherd of the sheep, is more comfortable to us, as implying thus much, that whatsoever betided Him in the whole carriage of this business befell Him not as a private person for His own cause, but in the behalf of those that were committed to His charge. Whatsoever He did or suffered, it was all for His sheep.

1. His first mission and coming into the world was for His sheep Matthew 15:24).

2. His death and passion was not in His own behalf, but for His sheep John 10:15).

3. His resurrection, that was for His sheep to resume that office, to take care over His flock (Acts 3:26). All for us men, and for our salvation. For better understanding of this title let us take it asunder into these three particulars. First, We see the Church, the body of Christians, they are called sheep. And this resemblance is exceeding frequent in Scripture. The Church of God is called a flock of sheep (Luk 12:32; 1 Peter 5:5; Ezekiel 36:38).

It is fitly so termed in these resemblances.

1. Sheep are such kind of creatures as naturally gather themselves together, unite into a flock. Such are Christians; such is the Church, combined in a holy society and communion. If we belong not to the flock we belong not to the Shepherd, we make ourselves a prey to the wolf.

2. Sheep are of a very harmless and inoffensive nature. And such must Christians be, endued with dove-like simplicity, with lamb-like innocency. The most cruel dispositions shall be tamed and sweetened when they come once to be of this flock of Christ. 3, Sheep are creatures exceedingly subject to stray, if not tended and kept in the better; unable to keep out of error; and, having erred, unable to return. Such are Christians, the best of them, if left to themselves. How soon out of the right way are we if God takes off His guidance and leaves us unto ourselves? Into what mazes and thickets of errors do we run ourselves (Psalms 119:176).

4. Sheep are weak and shiftless creatures, unable to make resistance. And such is the Church, if considered in itself, and from under Christ’s protection. The enemies of God’s Church are like the fat bulls of Bashan, whereas God’s people are like a few helpless sheep.

5. Sheep are not, as many other creatures, wild and of no man’s owning, creatures at large, but they are the property and possession of an owner. So God’s Church is not a loose, scattered people; they are His proper possession, His chosen people, the sheep of His pasture, His peculiar people, the people of His purchase, His choice inheritance. Secondly, Here is His office. Christ is a Shepherd. He vouchsafes to be called and known by that name (Psalms 80:1). Our Saviour assumes this name to Himself John 10:11).

All that is requisite in a Shepherd is fully in Christ.

1. A Shepherd is an employment of much diligence and attention. It requires a constant, continual inspection over the flock. Such is the watchful care that Christ hath over His Church (Matthew 28:20).

2. A shepherd is an employment of tenderness, and mildness, and of much compassion. If the sheep stray he seeks them carefully, brings them home gently, lays them on his shoulders. And such a Shepherd is Christ, not like a lion over His flock, but meek and merciful (Isaiah 40:11).

3. A shepherd’s is an employment of skill; he must be able to know the state of his flock (Proverbs 27:23). What diseases they are subject to, and how to prevent or cure them: what food is wholesome for them, and how to supply them. Sure, in this also, Christ is a perfect Shepherd. He hath not the instruments of a foolish shepherd, as Zechariah speaks Zechariah 11:15), but is completely furnished with all abilities for the good of His flock. He knows their diseases, and can cure them; their dangers, and can prevent them; their necessities, and can supply them; their enemies, and can disappoint them (Psalms 23:1).

4. A shepherd’s is an employment that requires stoutness and courage. He that will keep his flock from mischief must not fear the wolf or flee from him, but withstand and resist him.

5. As shepherd’s is an employment of much patience and hardship. He must bear many a storm, and blast, heat, and cold, undergo all weathers. He must endure much tediousness in seeking and reducing his poor stray sheep. It was Jacob’s lot, and much more our Saviour’s. He served a hard service; storms and tempests fell upon Him in tending His flock. He was a man of afflictions, patiently undergoing all the toil of His laborious employment. Thirdly, Take notice of the dignity and eminency of this office. He is called “that great Shepherd.” Great Shepherd! Surely in the world’s account there is scarce good congruity between these two words. If a Shepherd, then we conclude Him to be a mean man. Kings and priests joined together in the Scripture. Nay, peasants and priests, that is the world’s heraldry; so they rank them, set them wish the dogs of the flock, as Job speaks (Job 30:1), that place is good enough for them. Shepherd, Priest, Minister, all words of contempt, not to be found amongst the titles of honour; nay, what saith Moses (Genesis 46:34)? Every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. So is a Church shepherd to profane worldlings. Well, let the ministry be the scorn of the world; let them stumble at it in their folly, or spurn at it in their pride, yet it is the wisdom of God and the power of God. A shepherd’s is the office of our Saviour and the glory of Christ. So then, with or without their leaves, Christ is the great Shepherd. Every way great.

1. Great in His person. If the Son of God become a Shepherd, surely then a great Shepherd. How wonderful is it to see the Lord Jesus Christ, with His shepherd’s crook, tending His flock! This humiliation of His Person in a great exaltation of the office makes Him a great Shepherd.

2. Christ is the great Shepherd, because He is the supreme Shepherd, the Prince of Shepherds. All other pastors, of what title soever, are inferior to Him. All hold their employment in dependence from Him.

3. He is a great Shepherd, for His flock is great; great, I mean, in the value. His flock is a flock of souls, and that is a precious flock.

4. He is great in prerogatives. All the flock of Christians is under His inspection. He is the only true OEcumenical pastor. All other shepherds are but petty shepherds, of a portion only of His flock. But to be the universal Shepherd of the whole Church is Christ’s prerogative.

5. He is great in possession. The flock is His own, He is the rightful Owner and Possessor of it. We, the best of us, are but servants to Him, to tend His flock. He sets us on work, to Him we owe our accounts. He will pay us our wages, or reckon with them that shall any ways defraud us.

6. He is great in His abilities to tend His flock.

1. A great Shepherd in knowing His flock. He hath a special knowledge of every poor sheep. He hath all their names engraven on His breast (John 10:3).

2. Great He is in His love and affection to His flock. He lays down His life for them.

3. He is of great power to save and preserve them (Isaiah 63:1). (Bp. Brownrigg.)

That great Shepherd

The great Shepherd of the sheep

I. WHY GOD’S RELIEVING PEOPLE ARE COMPARED TO SHEEP.

1. Sheep are harmless creatures (Philippians 2:15).

2. Meek and patient (1 Peter 3:4).

3. Clean (Psalms 73:1).

4. Simple and guileless (Psalms 32:2).

5. Tractable (John 10:27).

6. God made them His sheep by free grace (Psalm c. 3).

II. JESUS CHRIST IS THE GREAT SHEPHERD OF HIS SHEEP.

1. He carefully feeds His flock (Isaiah 40:11).

2. He feeds them in providing ordinances for them (Psalms 23:2).

3. In providing shepherds to dispense ordinances (Ephesians 4:11).

4. He spiritually blesses the feeding of His flock (Ezekiel 34:14).

5. Christ knows all His sheep (Jeremiah 33:13).

6. He knows them as given to Him by His Father (John 17:6).

7. He knows them as bearing His image (Romans 8:29).

8. He knows them by the sprinkling of His blood (Revelation 7:14).

9. He preserves them from danger (John 10:28).

He preserves them

(1) By His death.

(2) His intercession.

(3) His presence.

(4) His union to them.

(5) His promise.

(6) And His Holy Spirit.

III. WHY CHRIST IS CALLED THE “GREAT SHEPHERD.”

1. In regard to the dignity of His character (Zechariah 13:7).

2. In regard to His great ability to save (John 3:34).

3. In regard to His property in the sheep (John 10:11; compared 1 Peter 1:18).

4. Other shepherds are sheep as well as shepherds (Acts 14:15).

5. In regard to His dominion over the shepherds (Ecclesiastes 12:11).

6. In regard to the success that He can give to His pastoral care 1 Corinthians 3:7).

7. In regard to the jurisdiction He has over them (1Co

6:20).

8. In regard to the extent of His jurisdiction (Psalms 72:8).

Improvement. To ministers:

1. To teach ministers to act for Christ.

2. To feed their hearers with gospel truths.

3. To show believers their daily mercies.

4. To remind them of their security in Christ.

5. And their final salvation and glory.

Instruction. To believers:

1. Be ruled and governed by Jesus Christ.

2. Submit to the shepherds that He has appointed.

3. Pray to love the goodly pastures of Christ’s providing.

4. Bring forth fruits unto the glory of His grace.

5. And expect to live with Him hereafter, where all sorrow and sin will he for ever done away, and the whole Church will rejoice in God eternally. (T. B. Baker.)

The blood of the everlasting covenant

The blood of the everlasting covenant:

All God’s dealings with men have had a covenant character. It hath so pleased Him to arrange it, that He will not deal with us except through a covenant, nor can we deal with Him except in the same manner. It is important, then, since the covenant is the only ladder which reaches from earth to heaven, that we should know how to discriminate between covenant and covenant; and should not be in any darkness or error with regard to what is the covenant of grace, and what is not.

I. First of all, then, I have to speak of THE COVENANT mentioned in the text; and I observe that we can readily discover at first sight what the covenant is not. We see at once that this is not the covenant of works, for the simple reason that this is an everlasting covenant. Again, I may remark that the covenant here meant is not the covenant of gratitude which is made between the loving child of God and his Saviour. Such a covenant is very right and proper. But that covenant is not the one in the text, for the simple reason that the covenant in our text is an everlasting one. Now ours was only written out some few years ago. It would have been despised by us in the earlier parts of our life, and cannot at the very utmost be so old as ourselves. Having thus readily shown what this covenant is not, I may observe what this covenant is.

1. Now, in this covenant of grace, we must first of all observe the high contracting parties between whom it was made. The covenant of grace was made before the foundation of the world between God the Father, and God the Son; or to put it in a yet more Scriptural light, it was made mutually between the three Divine persons of the adorable Trinity. This covenant was not made directly between God and man.

2. And now, what were the stipulations of this covenant? They were somewhat in this wise. God had foreseen that man after creation would break the covenant of works; that however gentle the tenure upon which Adam had possession of Paradise, yet that tenure would be too severe for him, and he would be sure to kick against it, and ruin himself. God had also foreseen that His elect ones, whom He had chosen out of the rest of mankind, would fall by the sin of Adam, since they, as well as the rest of mankind, were represented in Adam. The covenant therefore had for its end the restoration of the chosen people.

3. And now having seen who were the high contracting parties, and what were the terms of the covenant made between them, let us see what were the objects of this covenant. Was this covenant made for every man of the race of Adam? Assuredly not; we discover the secret by the visible. As many as shall believe, as many as shall persevere unto the end, so many and no more are interested in the covenant of Divine grace.

4. Furthermore, we have to consider what were the motives of this covenant. Why was the covenant made at all? There was no compulsion or constraint on God. As yet there was no creature. Even could the creature have an influence on the Creator, there was none existing in the period when the covenant was made. We can look nowhere for God’s motive in the covenant except it be in Himself, for of God it could be said literally in that day, “I am, and there is none beside Me.” Why then did He make the covenant? I answer, absolute sovereignty dictated it. But why were certain men the objects of it and why not others? I answer, sovereign grace guided the pen.

II. But now, in the second place, we come to notice ITS EVERLASTING CHARACTER. It is called an everlasting covenant.

1. And here you observe at once its antiquity. The covenant of grace is the oldest of all things.

2. Then, again, it is an everlasting covenant from its sureness. Nothing is everlasting which is not secure.

3. Furthermore, it is not only sure, but it is immutable. If it were not immutable, it could not be everlasting. That which changest passes away. But in the covenant everything is immutable. Whatever God has established must come to pass, and not word, or line, or letter, can be altered.

4. The covenant is everlasting, because it will never run itself out. It will be fulfilled, but it will stand firm.

III. Having thus noticed the everlasting character of the covenant, I conclude by the most precious portion of the doctrine--the relation which the blood bears to it--THE BLOOD OF THE EVERLASTING COVENANT. The blood of Christ stands in a fourfold relationship to the covenant.

1. With regard to Christ, His precious blood shed in Gethsemane, in Gabbatha and Galgotha, is the fulfilment of the covenant.

2. With regard to the blood in another respect, it is to God the Father the bond of the covenant.

3. Then, again, the blood of the covenant has relation to us as the objects of the covenant, and that is its third light; it is not only a fulfilment as regards Christ, and a bond as regards His Father, but it is an evidence as regards ourselves. Are you relying wholly upon the blood?

4. The blood stands in a relationship to all three, and here I may add that the blood is the glory of all. To the Son it is the fulfilment, to the Father the bond, to the sinner the evidence, and to all--to Father, Son, and sinner--it is the common glory and the common boast. In this the Father is well pleased; in this the Son also, with joy, looks down and sees the purchase of His agonies; and in this must the sinner ever find his comfort and his everlasting song, “Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness are my glory, my song, for ever and ever.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The blood of the everlasting covenant:

This everlasting covenant is the covenant of grace, or the gospel, made with Christ, as the Head and Representative of all His believing people. It is called “everlasting,” in contradistinction to some transient outward forms of it that had already vanished or were vanishing away. God had made legal, ceremonial, national covenants, which were temporary--which had not the elements of permanency. But this covenant touches, embraces everything: reaches up to God’s highest attributes, and down to man’s deepest needs--over all the breadth of law, and along all the line of existence. Nothing can happen to shake it. Nothing can alter the disposition of Him who makes it. He foresees all changes. He overrules all events. He provides for all circumstances. We read of “everlasting love”; of “the eternal purpose”; of “predestination unto the adoption of children”; of being” chosen before the foundation of the world”; of “the mercy of God unto eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began”; and here we have “the everlasting covenant.” Everlasting! I cannot fix a beginning, any more than an end. I can only think there never was beginning. Oh I it is a wonderful thought that God never began to love the world, that He never began to love you. And He will never cease to love. We go on now to the other term, “the blood of the everlasting covenant.” That is the virtue of the death of Christ. It is that grand act of atonement and self-sacrifice by which He bore the penalty of sin for us, and secured the gospel as God’s method in this world for ever.

I. GOD IS THE “GOD OF PEACE,” WHO MAKES PEACE WHERE IT HAS BEEN” BROKEN, AND GIVES IT WHERE IT IS LOST. The God who makes peace between heaven and earth, between law and conscience, between Himself and sinful men. How does He make it? Through “the blood of the everlasting covenant.” If there is a way between heaven and earth, an open way for hopes and prayers, for departing souls and descending angels; if troubled consciences are pacified and cleansed; if thunders of broken law are hushed into silence, it is because this blood was shed, because Christ died, “the lust for the unjust.”

II. HE BROUGHT AGAIN FROM THE DEAD OUR LORD JESUS. He wrought that mightiest work that has ever been wrought in this world, the resurrection of Christ. How? Again, “through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” The power of the death sprang into resurrection. The corn of wheat fell into the ground and died, and then, with a mighty vegetative force, produced this harvest of resurrection--this splendid flower-fact, which towers and shines above all others.

III. It is through the same act of self-sacrifice is death that He becomes “THE GREAT SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP.” What kind of shepherd is needed by this wandering widespread flock of men, scattered over all the hills of earth and time? Is it one who will come and pipe to them while they pasture? Is it one who will speak to them, and call them all by name? Is it one who will lead them out and drive them home? Nay, the first and foremost requisite in the good Shepherd is, that He shall die for the sheep.

IV. Now, passing over the ridge of the passage, we come down upon the human side of it, AND WE HAVE THIS BLOOD OF THE COVENANT FULL OF EFFICIENCIES ON THIS SIDE ALSO. Here the first term that meets us is the term “perfect”; given us at once this high idea, the idea of perfection as a thing attainable now, by means of the blood and death of the Son of God. And this perfection is not merely a thing ideal and distant, not only a thing to be hoped for beyond earth and time, in heaven and glory. It is a thing to be striven for and realised in measure in daily life and service, as here--“The God of peace make you perfect in every good work.”

V. Finally; in this illustration of the power of the Cross, we have the inworking of the Spirit of God in the heart of the man who is thus seeking perfection, “WORKING IN YOU THAT WHICH IS WELL PLEASING IN HIS SIGHT.” This secures simplicity and spirituality--God working within by the Spirit--then all is right and good. The water is cleansed at the fountain, thoughtis touched as it springs, feeling purified as it begins to flow, affection lifted to its object, will bent to the will of God. Lessons:

1. Let us come to this blood of the covenant, or to the death, or to the Cross of Christ for cleansing. This alone cleanseth us from all sin. Here, on Calvary, is the open fountain.

2. Let us come to this blood for motive. Nothing will stir us so purely, nothing will stir us so much. Here is nobleness without a shadow, unselfishness without reserve, self-sacrifice without regret. Here is the love of God all in motion! The purpose of God in and for man, beginning to shine! Here is the everlasting model and example for new obedience!

3. Let us come to this blood for speech. The blood of sprinkling speaketh; and if we hear the utterances, we shall speak too, and tell out what we hear. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)

The blood of the covenant

I. The subject is the covenant of grace, as it is here spoken of, and I shall begin by noticing, first, THE COVENANT NAMES which the apostle uses. He calls the ever-blessed Father “ the God of peace”; and to the Redeemer who has taken the other side of the covenant, he gives the title, “Our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep.” As many of us as have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ are in Christ, and He is our Head and Representative, our Shepherd and Sponsor. Jesus has, according to His promise, shed His blood, and now the covenant stands only to be fulfilled on the side of the eternal Father, and under that aspect of the covenant the apostle calls the Father, “the God of peace.” He is not the God of a hollow truce, not the God of a patched-up forgetfulness of unforgiven injuries, but the God of peace in the very deepest sense; He is Himself at peace, for there is a peace of God that passeth all understanding; and, moreover, by reason of His mercy His people are made to enjoy peace of conscience within themselves, for you feel that God is reconciled to you, your hearts rest in Him, your sins which separated you have been removed, and perfect love has cast out the fear which hath torment. While the Lord is at peace with Himself, and you are made to enjoy inward peace through Him, He is also at peace with you, for He loves you with a love unsearchable; He sees nothing in you but that which He delights in, for in the covenant He does not look at you as you are in yourself, but in your Head, Christ Jesus, and to the eye of God there is no sight in the universe so lovely as His own dear Son, and His people in His Son. Henceforth be it ours in every troubled hour to look to the Lord under this cheering name, “the God of peace,” for as such the covenant reveals Him. The apostle had a view of the other great party to the covenant, and he names Him “Our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep.” We must view our Redeemer in the covenant first as Jesus the Saviour who leads us into the Canaan which has been given to us by a covenant of salt, even the rest which remaineth to the people of God; He is also the Lord Jesus, in all the dignity of His nature, exalted far above all principalities and powers, to be obeyed and worshipped by us, and our Lord Jesus--ours because He has given Himself to us, and we have accepted and received Him with holy delight to be the Lord whom we cheerfully serve. Further, our Lord is called “the great Shepherd of the sheep.” In the covenant we are the sheep, the Lord Jesus in the Shepherd. You cannot make a covenant with sheep, they have not the ability to covenant; but you can make a covenant with the Shepherd for them, and so, glory be to God, though we had gone astray like lost sheep, we belonged to Jesus, and He made a covenant on our behalf, and stood for us before the living God. This is a great subject, and I can only hint at it. Let us rejoice that our Shepherd is great, because He with His great flock will be able to preserve them all from the great dangers into which they are brought, and to perform for them the great transactions with the great God which are demanded of a Shepherd of such a flock as that which Jesus calls His own. While we rest in the covenant of grace we should view our Lord as our Shepherd, and find solace in the fact that sheep have nothing to do with their own feeding, guidance, or protection; they have only to follow their Shepherd unto the pastures which He prepares, and all will be well with them. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters.”

II. Secondly, the apostle mentions THE COVENANT SEAL. “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.” The seal of the covenant is the blood of Jesus. Think how impossible it is that the Lord should ever break that covenant of grace, which He spontaneously made with His own Son, and with us in Him, now that it has been sprinkled with blood from the veins of His own well-beloved Son. Remember, too, that in our case that blood not only confirmed the covenant; but actually fulfilled it; because the covenant stipulation was on this wise: Christ must suffer for our sins and honour the Divine law. It is not only ratified with that bloody signature, but by that blood it is actually carried out on Christ’s part, and it cannot be that the eternal Father should start back from His side of the compact since our side of it has been carried out to the letter by that great Shepherd of the sheep who laid down His life for us. By the shedding of the blood the covenant is turned into a testament. Dwell with pleasure upon that word “ everlasting covenant.” The covenant of works is gone; it was based on human strength, and it dissolved as a dream; in the nature of things it could not be everlasting. Man could not keep the condition of it, and it fell to the ground. But the covenant of grace depended only upon the power and love and faithfulness of Christ, who has kept His part of the covenant, and therefore the covenant now rests only upon God, the faithful and true, whose word cannot fail.

III. We have now to notice THE COVENANT FULFILMENT, for the Lord has commenced to fulfil it. “The God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that good Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” See, then, Jesus Christ has been brought back again from the dead through the blood of the covenant. See how He climbs aloft, and sits upon the Father’s throne, for God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Now note by what means our Lord returned from the dead to all this glory. It was because He had presented the blood of the everlasting covenant. When the Father saw that Jesus had kept all His part of the covenant even to death, that He began to fulfil His portion of the contract by bringing back His Son from the grave to life, from shame to honour, from humiliation to glory, from death to immortality. See where He now sits expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. Now, what has been done to Jesus has been virtually done to all His people, because, you observe, the Lord “brought again from the dead,” not the Lord Jesus as a private person only, but “our Lord Jesus,” as “that great Shepherd of the sheep.” The sheep are with the Shepherd.

IV. Fourthly, we will view THE COVENANT BLESSING. What is one of the greatest of all the covenant blessings? The writer of this Epistle here pleads for it. “Now,” saith he, “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.” Notice that one of the chief blessings of the covenant is power and will to serve God.

1. Taking the text word by word, I perceive that the first blessing asked for by the apostle is meetness for the Divine service, for the Greek word is not “Make you perfect,” but “meet,” “fit,” “prepared,” “able for.”

2. But the apostle asked for an inward work of grace, not merely meetness for service, but an operation felt--“Working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight.” Do not be satisfied with a little, weak, almost inperceptible, pulse of religion, of which you can hardly judge whether it is there or not; but ask to feel the Divine energies working within you, the eternal omnipotence of God, struggling and striving mightily in your spirit until sin shall be conquered, and grace shall gloriously triumph. This is a covenant blessing. Seek ye for it.

3. But we need outward as well as inward work. Working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight--no small matter when you remember that nothing but perfect holiness can please God. We must know the power of our Lord’s resurrection, and exhibit it in every action of our lives.

4. Observe, once more, the completeness of this covenant blessing. Just as Jesus is fully restored to the place from which He came, and has lost no dignity nor power by having shed His blood; but rather is exalted higher than ever, so God’s design is to make us pure and holy as Adam was at the first, and to add to our characters a force of love which never would have been there if we had not sinned and been forgiven, an energy of intense devotion, an enthusiasm of perfect self-sacrifice, which we never could have learned if it had not been for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. God means to make us the princes of the blood royal of the universe, or, if you will, the body guards of the Lord of Hosts.

IV. We conclude with THE COVENANT DOXOLOGY, “TO whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” If anything in the world can make a man praise his God it is the covenant, and the knowledge that He is in it.

1. Our God deserves exclusive glory. Covenant theology glorifies God alone.

2. He also has endless glory. “To whom be glory for ever and ever.” Have you glorified God a little, because of His covenant mercy? Go on glorifying Him. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Make you perfect

Apostolic prayer for the Hebrews

I. He prays that the God of peace would MAKE THEM PERFECT IN EVERY GOOD WORK TO DO HIS WILL. The word here translated “perfect “ occurs in various other texts, and properly signifies to adjust, to dispose or prepare with great wisdom and propriety. The apostle obviously means that God would fit and dispose the minds of His brethren for every good work to do His will. “The doing of the will of God,” whether this relate to active obedience, or to suffering, forms the grand end of the gospel, considered in its practical design on the heart and life.

II. He also prays, in connection with this, that God would would WORK IN THEM THAT WHICH IS WELL-PLEASING IN HIS SIGHT, THROUGH JESUS

CHRIST. That which is well-pleasing in the sight of the all-perfect Jehovah, must be supremely excellent in itself, and adapted to promote the true, the eternal happiness of His people. It consists of the various dispositions and desires and practices which are comprehended in His “good and perfect and acceptable will.” A very great and unspeakably important part of the great salvation, consists in being delivered from the dominion of the old man--in being renewed in the spirit of our minds, and having infused into the heart those gracious dispositions which are the fruit of the Spirit, and the produce of faith in that Saviour of whom He testifies. Lessons:

1. Let us be exhorted to contemplate the blessed character of our God as the God of peace, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and who is the author of that holy tranquillity and sweet serenity of soul which is the happy portion of those who know and love His name. It is this which calms the troubles of the breast, and fills us with that peace which, in the language of our Lord, the world can neither give nor take away.

2. We are reminded of the inseparable connection between our enjoyment of the blessings of the everlasting covenant, and of the God of peace as our God, and our being fitted for every good work to do His will.

3. Let us imitate the example of the apostle Paul, in commending one another to the God of peace.

4. Let us ascribe the glory of all to Him who is the author of our salvation. (Andrew Arthur.)

The closing prayer

I. THE BURDEN OF THE PRAYER is that these Hebrew Christians may be made perfect to do God’s will. There is no higher aim in life than to do the will of God. It was the supreme object for which our Saviour lived. This brought Him from heaven. This determined His every action. And human lives climb up from the lowlands to the upland heights just in proportion as they do the will of God on earth as it is done in heaven. God is love; to do His will is to scatter love in handfuls of blessing on a weary world. God is light; to do His will is to tread a path that shines more and more to the perfect day. God is life; to do His will is to eat of the Tree of Life, and live for ever, and to drink deep draughts of the more abundant life, which Jesus gives. God is the God of hope; to do His will is to be full of all joy and peace, and to abound in hope.

II. MARK THE GUARANTEES THAT THIS PRAYER SHALL BE REALISED.

1. The appeal is made to “ the God of peace.” He, whose nature is never swept by the storms of desire or unrest; whose one aim is to introduce peace into the heart and life; whose Dove to us will not brook disappointment in achieving our highest blessed-ness--He must undertake this office; He will do it most tenderly and delicately; nor will He rest until the obstruction to the inflow of His nature is removed, and there is perfect harmony between the promptings His will and our immediate and joyous response.

2. “He brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep.” To have given us a Shepherd was much; but to have given us so great a Shepherd is marvellous. He is the great Shepherd who died, just as He is the good Shepherd who knows His flock, and the chief Shepherd who is coming again, He is great, because of the intrinsic dignity of His nature, because of His personal qualifications to save and bless us, because of the greatness of His unknown sufferings, and because of the height of glory to which the Father hath exalted Him. And, surely, if our God has given us such a Shepherd, and raised Him to such a glory, that He may help us the more efficiently, there is every reason why we should confidently count on His aid.

III. THE DIVINE METHOD will be to work in us.

1. It is necessary first that we should be adjusted so that there may be no waste or diversion of the Divine energy.

2. When that is done, then it will begin to pass into and through us in mighty tides of power. “God working in you.” It is a marvellous expression I We know how steam works mightily within the cylinder, forcing up and down the ponderous piston. We know how sap works mightly within the branches, forcing itself out in bud, and leaf, and blossom. We read of a time when men and women were so possessed of devils that they spoke and acted as the inward promptings led them. These are approximations to the conception of the text, which towers infinitely beyond. On His doing all that may be needed in us, as He has done all that was needed for us.

3. He will certainly respect the everlasting covenant, which has been sealed with blood.

IV. THE RESULT will be that we shall be well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)

The great prayer based on great pleas:

This prayer is the parting highest wish of the writer for his friends. Do our desires for ourselves, and for those whom we would seek to bless, run in the same mould?

I. CONSIDER THE PRAYER WHICH THE NAME EXCITES. “Make you perfect in every good work.” Now, I need only observe here, in regard to the language of the petition, that the word translated “make perfect” is not the ordinary one employed for that idea; but a somewhat remarkable one, with a very rich and pregnant variety of significance. The general idea of the word, is to make sound, or fit, or complete, by restoring, by mending, by filling up what is lacking, and by adapting all together in harmonious co-operation. And so this is what Christians ought to look for, and to desire as being the will of God concerning them. The writer goes on to still further deepen the idea when he says, “make you perfect in every good work”; where the word “work” is a supplement, and unnecessarily limits the idea of the text. For that applies much rather to character than to work, and the “make you perfect in every good” refers rather to an inward process than to any outward manifestation. And this character, thus harmonised, corrected, restored, filled up where it is lacking, and that in regard of all manner of good--“whatsoever things are fair, and lovely, and of good report”--that character is “well-pleasing to God.” So you see the width of the hopes--ay! of the confidence--that you and I ought to cherish. We should expect that all the discord of our nature shall be changed into a harmonious co-operation of all its parts towards one great end. It is possible that our hearts may be united to fear His name; and that one unbroken temper of whole-spirited submission may be ours. Again, we shall expect, and desire, and strive towards the correction of all that is wrong, the mending of the nets, the restoring of the havoc wrought in legitimate occupations and by any other cause. Again, we may strive with hope and confidence towards the supply of all that is lacking. “In every good”--and all-round completeness of excellence ought to be the hope, and the aim, as well as the prayer of every Christian.

II. NOTE THE DIVINE WORK WHICH FULFILS THE PRAYER. “Working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ.” Creation, Providence, and all God’s works in the world are also through Jesus Christ. But the work which is spoken of here is yet greater and more wonderful than the general operations of the creating and preserving God, which also are produced and ministered through that eternal Word by whom the heavens were of old, and by whom the heavens are still sustained and administered. There is, says my text, an actual Divine operation in the inmost spirit of every believing man. Expect that operation! You Christian men and women, do you believe that God will work in your hearts? Some of you do not live as if you did. Do you want Him to come and clear out that stable of filth that you carry about with you? Do you wish Him to come and sift and search, and bring the candle of the Lord into the dusty corners? Do you want to get rid of what is not pleasing in His sight? Expect it! desire it! pray for it! And when you have got it, see that you profit by it! God does not work by magic. The Spirit of God which cleanses men’s hearts cleanses them on condition, first, of their faith; second, of their submission; and third, of their use of His gift.

III. NOTICE THE VISIBLE MANIFESTATION OF THIS INWARD WORK. NOW the writer of our text employs the same word in the two clauses, in order to bring out the idea of a correspondence between the human and the Divine Worker. “To work His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight.” God works in order that you and I may work. Our action is to follow His. Practical obedience is the issue, and it is the test, of our having the Divine operation in our hearts. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Importance of service:

The soul into which privilege is over running without any outflow of service will become a stagnant and acrid Dead Sea in which no spiritual thing lives. (J. Alison, D. D.)

Perfect in every good work through the Holy Spirit

As we ascend from stage to stage in the animal world we find the structures becoming ever more complex, consisting of innumerable parts, articulated or adjusted to each other. That word “articulated” comes from the same root as the word here translated perfect. It means every organ, faculty, feeling in the fulness of its appropriate energy, discharging its proper work; every power disciplined to the height of its capacity and in ceaseless performance of its functions, in due relation and harmony with all the other powers, thus working with them to a common end, so that we are fit not merely for one kind of service, nor two kinds, nor ten, but for every good work. The juice of earth and the carbonic acid of the air passing into the tree, minister to every part of its structure, carrying on all the operations involved in its common life. The stream Of chyle or digested food, drawn up into the blood, serves a thousand distinct ends, restores the energy of nerve and muscle, renews every tissue in the frame, freshens every power of nature, keeps the whole machine at work. And so the Divine Spirit, passing into the consecrated soul, worlds there not merely to the development of one kind of energy. He aims to breathe the mind of Christ through and through the man, so that Christ being present more and more in the man, may recover to His service, dominate, impregnate, and use every power of the nature, intellect, imagination, emotion, memory, will, with all specific talents, aptitudes, qualities. (John Smith.)

Conscientious discharge of duty:

“I notice,” said the stream to the mill, “that you grind beans as well and as cheerfully as fine wheat.” “Certainly,” clacked the mill; “what am I for but to grind? And so long as I work, What does it signify to me what the work is? My business is to serve my master, and I am not a whit more useful when I turn out fine flour than when I make the coarsest meal. My honour is not in doing fine work, but in performing any that comes as well as I can.” (Baxendale’s Anecdotes.)

God the originator of good work:

In a mill where the machinery is all driven by water, the working of the whole machinery depends upon the supply el water. Cut off that supply, and the machinery becomes useless; let on the water, and life and activity is given to all. The whole dependence is placed upon the outward supply of water; still, it is obvious that we do not throw away the machinery through which the power of the water is brought to bear upon the work. Just so it is with the Christian’s labour for God. All is naught without the Divine blessing. The living stream must be poured out from on high, or the machinery, however beautiful to the eye, and however carefully constructed, will be useless. For the will to work; for the power to work; for success to work, man is altogether and always dependent upon the Spirit of God. (Christian Armour.)

Only a chisel

I’m only a chisel Which cuts the wood, while the Great Carpenter directs it. (General Gordon.)

God working in His people:

Human nature is sordid and mean and base; and human nature is grand and heroic and sublime. And the history of the mean men of the world shows how bad you and I can be, without trying very hard either. And the history of the great, and the heroic, and the Divine men shows what you and I might become if we would let God have His way with us. Put a violin in the hands of a poor player, and you will put your fingers in your ears to keep out the dissonance. Put the same instrument in the hands of a skilful player, and you will feel the soul breathing through the instrument. It is the player that makes the difference. Look all along the line of human history, and you may see what kind of figures God can make out of clay like yours; you may hear what kind of music He can play on instruments such as you are. The great and good men of the world are witnesses to the power, not ourselves and yet that is in ourselves, to the power that makes men great. (Lyman Abbott, D. D.)

Man Divinely equipped

Just as a machine which has got out of order must be set right before it can work easily and well; just as a ship must be equipped and fitted up before it can safely commence its voyage; so it was necessary that these Jewish Christians should have their whole nature re-organised before their Christian life could be vigorous or happy. The prayer is, that the re-organisation should be such as would make them ready for “every good work”--for the courageous confession of Christ, for the patient endurance of suffering, for worship, for all moral excellence, for brotherly love, for submission to their church rulers, for whatever duty the law of Christ, and the perilous times in which they lived, might impose on them. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

Workers needed:

“You sit here and sing yourselves away to everlasting bliss,” said a certain true witness, “but I tell you that you are wanted a great deal more out in Illinois than you are in heaven.” (Proctor’s Gems of Thought.)

Grace be with you all

Grace:

This is the most comprehensive, the best, the sweetest wish. Grace bringeth salvation. Grace contains all things pertaining to life and godliness. By grace we have been saved; by grace we stand; in grace we rejoice, and grace will end in glory. May the free, unmerited, boundless, all-suf-ficient love of the Father in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the blood of the everlasting covenant, shed for the redemption of guilty and helpless sinners, be with us through the power of the Holy Ghost. By Jesus, and in Jesus,we say Amen. For He is the Amen, in whom all the promises of God are sealed. (A. Saphir.)

Amen

I had been talking to a little ignorant, neglected boy about the good God and His love for children. “I should like to live along o’ Him!” said the poor little man with a wistful sigh. It was all such a new revelation in his hurried, loveless existence. “Shall I pray to God to make you a good boy, clean and good, fit to live with Him?” I asked. “Yes, do, missus.” “But you must pray too,” I urged. “I dunno’ how.” “Then you must listen to me and say ‘ Amen’ at the end of my prayer. That will mean ‘Yes, I want all that,’ and God will understand you. The child nodded, and I began a very simple, short prayer for the Holy Spirit’s help to make my little friend pure and true and obedient, for Jesus Christ’s sake,--I paused for the “Amen.” A soft, hushed “Yes” fluttered up to heaven from the young lips. “I couldn’t remember the other word,” the child whispered, “but won’t God know about it?” And he went away quite satisfied. He had made the prayer his own in his own way. If all Amens could have the force of that gentle “Yes,” I thought, as I watched the last flutter of the poor little man’s rags, surely prayer would meet with a fuller and quicker answer. But we are too apt to think that the prayer is everything, the Amen nothing, and so we listeners do not do our part; we remain mere listeners, no prayers.