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Hebrews 13:20-25
Whilst the writter of Hebrews could say loads more, he finishes by praying for them. He knows that the real help they need comes from God.
One Last Word Hebrews 13:20–25
As the writer reaches the end of his message, he prays for them.
Who does he pray to?
He prays to ‘the God of Peace’. He could have described God in many ways, but he chooses peace. This is what his friends needed to know. Their lives were in turmoil, as ours can be at times, and they needed peace: the kind of peace that rises above the storm.
Where can you find such peace? It does not come from within ourselves. God is the source and giver of peace. We find and experience peace in the midst of turmoil when we realize that our lives are safe in the hands of the One who is greater than our circumstances.
But can God deliver that?
What’s the ground of his prayer?
When you need someone’s help, you need to know that they are both willing and able to help. The writer says that God is both. He is the God who raised Jesus from the dead, so nothing is impossible to him. He is able.
But he is also willing. Jesus is the Great Shepherd, who laid down his life for us. If that is the measure of his love for us we can know that as well as being the God of peace and power, he is the God of compassion.
What’s he praying for?
He prays that God would equip them to do His will, and work in them what pleases Him. God does not promise to equip us to do our will, but his. We face a daily battle of doing what we want to do/what pleases us, and what pleases God. He will work in us to desire what he wants, and equip us to do it.
Sometimes we struggle to know ‘God’s will for our lives’. But the Bible writers are more interested in today than tomorrow, and we know God’s will for today: faithfulness in marriage, resisting temptation, being thankful. God will give us everything we need to do his will in these circumstances. It is only as we yield to his working in our character and conduct that we can come to our full potential.
What’s his ultimate aim?
It’s not that we are made to look great, but that Jesus is glorified. He is glorified when we choose him above everything else, even a safe and comfortable life.
One last word
He closes the letter by saying, ‘Grace be with you all.’ Grace means a lot to the writer. He knows that it is only through grace: what God has done for us in Jesus, and not in our own efforts that we can stand in times of turbulence, and live the kind of life that pleases God, and finish the race and live by faith.
It’s a great way to end a sermon: ‘Grace be with all of you.’