christianity – Grace Still Amazes

Daniel Interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream, part 4 (Daniel 2:42-45)

Today we will wrap up Daniel’s God-given interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The image had communicated to him the successive empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. Then we read…

42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

The ”toes of the feet” were connected to the Roman Empire. The final phase of the empire was iron mixed with soft clay in the feet (2:42). The clay represents the democratic element present in the Roman Empire. Amir Tsarfati notes that “There were times of unity, but so often one general was pitted against another, or the emperor was embattled against the Senate” (Discovering Daniel, p. 51) Even though the Ceasar’s had a lot of power, it wasn’t absolute. Efforts to weld the two, dictatorship and democracy, would fail. “Like iron, there was massive strength in the Roman Empire, but dissension, disunity, and eventually, distance corroded its power, leading to its collapse” (Amir Tsarfati, Discovering Daniel, p. 51).

A theocracy is more stable than a democracy. The reason we have a representative democracy is that we cannot, due to the depravity of man, have a righteous-rule theocracy.

When the thirteen colonies were still a part of England, Professor Alexander Tyler wrote about the fall of the Athenian republic over a thousand years ago. He said…

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”

Thus, verse 43 says…

As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. (Dan. 2:43)

The final focus on the world Gentile empires is on the ten toes. The significance of these is amplified later in Daniel’s vision of the wild beasts, the last of which had ten horns.

The final form of the fourth kingdom—Daniel did not identify it as a fifth kingdom—would not have the cohesiveness that the earlier kingdoms possessed.

John Walvoord describes it, “The final form of the [Roman] kingdom will include diverse elements whether this refers to race, political idealism, or sectional interests, and this will prevent the final form of the kingdom from having a real unity. This is, of course, borne out by the fact that the world empire at the end of the age breaks up into a gigantic civil war in which forces from the south, east, and north contend with the ruler of the Mediterranean for supremacy, as Daniel himself portrays in Daniel 11:36-45” (John F. Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Interpretation, p. 71).

“Those days” of v. 44 likely places this in the end times. The ten toes are further described in v. 44 as kings with kingdoms.

And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, (Dan. 2:44)

This final form of the Roman Empire is yet future. The Roman Empire will reemerge on the stage of history led by the dictator known as the Antichrist. Looking back in history after the dissolution of the Roman Empire, we find nothing that remotely corresponds to a tenfold Roman coalition. Some have tried to identify this coalition of kings with either the 1974 Club of Rome or the more recent European Union. [Brexit ruined that one.] However, it is more likely that this confederation will be revealed sometime in the future.

Ultimately will come the disintegration of those Gentile kingdoms (2:44-45). We see here that they will come “to an end” but the kingdom of God “shall stand forever.” Only Deity could accomplish this.

“The final phase of the Gentile world empire will embrace all the features of the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman empires and then also the ten kings will dominate all of the territory once held by these empires. Moreover, the Antichrist, for a brief period, will control the whole world. The last of the Gentile kings will inherit fully the principle of world empire that was given to Nebuchadnezzar, the first of the Gentile kings” (John Phillips, Exploring the Book of Daniel, p. 56).

In describing the overthrow of the image, Daniel told the king that its end would be “like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found” (Dan. 2:35). Verse 44 says that all these kingdoms will be broken in pieces and brought to an end.

E. B. Pusey well said, “The intense nothingness and transitoriness of man’s might in his highest estate, and so of his own also, and the might of God’s kingdom, apart from all human strength, are the chief subjects of this vision as explained to Nebuchadnezzar.”

Notice that v. 44 speaks of kings and kingdoms…

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.” (Daniel 2:44-45)

The image is seen standing in all of its parts when “the stone” strikes it and breaks it into pieces.

The stone (or rock), which is a frequent symbol [14+ times] of God and/or Jesus Christ in Scripture (cf. Ps. 18:2; Isa. 8:14; 28:16; Zech. 3:9; Matt. 21:44; 1 Pet. 2:6-8), evidently represents the coming King as well as His earthly kingdom (cf. v. 38: “You are the head of gold”). This figure of a stone pictures God both as a righteous Judge (Deut. 32:4) and as a Savior (Deut. 32:15) in Scripture.

Jesus, throughout Scripture, is identified in type as the smitten stone, which Moses struck in the desert (Exod. 17:5-6). In the New Testament Paul interprets this miraculous prophecy: “[They] all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:3-4) The smitten stone of Exodus is a picture of the smitten Christ upon the cross.

Christ also is the stumbling stone. The apostle Paul quoted the prophet Isaiah, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame” (Rom. 9:33; from Isaiah 8:14; 28:16). Jesus identified himself as the “stone” from Daniel’s interpretation in a parable about wicked tenants.

Jesus also is the special stone, the cornerstone. In Luke 20:17, he cited Psalm 118:22 (“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”; cf. Isa. 8:14; 28:6) and then said, “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him” (Luke 20:18), alluding to Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45.

Isaiah wrote, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste’” (Isaiah 28:16). This prophecy of Isaiah was more than seven hundred years before Christ was born!

It is interesting that a mere stone, in comparison to all the other precious metals that make up this image, destroys the image. Messiah’s kingdom is not represented as a diamond or other precious gem, but as an ordinary, humble stone—although big and powerful. The stone image is a reminder that God uses the weak things of the world, including Jesus Christ, to confound the mighty (1 Cor. 1:27).

“Destruction will overwhelm the final Gentile empire. That the last empire of all, the empire of Christ Himself, was likened in his dream to a stone empire, must have astonished Nebuchadnezzar. The soil of Babylon produced no stone. Most Babylonian buildings were built of highly adhesive clay and brick. A stone kingdom, a kingdom descending from on high, would certainly impress the Babylonian monarch of the different nature of the final kingdom. Similarly, the idea of a stone mountain must have been impressive to Nebuchadnezzar” (John Phillips, Exploring the Book of Daniel, p. 56).

“Though the differing metals within the image represent four chronologically successive kingdoms, the single statue suggests that these kingdoms, though diverse in their identity, actually comprise one entity, a world empire opposed to God. This explains why the entire statue is depicted as destroyed by the rock with a single blow delivered to the feet (vv. 34-35, 44b) and why this event is said to occur ‘in the times of those kings,’ that is, the kings of the four kingdoms symbolized in the vision (v. 44a)” (Robert Chisholm, Handbook on the Prophets, p. 297).

Christ’s kingdom does not come by evolution, by the gradual leavening of mankind by the gospel, but by sudden, divine intervention. Heslop writes: “Smashing is not salvation. Crushing is not conversion. Destroying is not delivering nor is pulverizing the same as purification.”

Rather, it will be imposed sovereignly upon the world by God, defeating all the Gentile kingdoms at once. The returning Christ of God, the “stone cut out…without hands,” will crush all of His foes. This kingdom will be over the whole world, the glorious millennial kingdom heralded by Isaiah and other Old Testament prophets.

It is a supernatural kingdom, “not made with hands” (Dan. 2:34). Only God creates stone. All the other kingdoms rise out of the previous one, but this final kingdom won’t emerge from any other kingdom.

It is a sudden kingdom, appearing without warning or announcement. “One day this old world that has rejected Him, made him a laughingstock among the nations, and used His name as a swear word will see Him come back riding on a white horse, and He will deal a deathblow to the nations” (David Jeremiah, Handwriting on the Wall, p. 67).

So not only is this a sudden kingdom, but a severe kingdom. As Psalm 2:9 says, He will “break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Such a destruction of the Gentile monarchy did not occur at the first advent of Christ. On the contrary, He was put to death by the sentence of an officer of the Roman Empire which was then at the zenith of its power.

Every passage that addresses the second coming of Christ speaks of it as arriving without warning (Zechariah 14:4-5; Matthew 24:29-30; Revelation 1:7).

And Jesus will reign as sovereign king from Mount Zion. Psalm 72:11 says, “All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him.” Paul tells us in Philippians 2 that “every knee shall bow” and “every tongue confess,” whether willingly or not. Zechariah 14:9 says, “The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.”

Finally, it will be a successful kingdom that endures forever. “There will be no revolutions, no political campaigns or party systems, and no decay. He will be a monarch without successor, and it will be a kingdom without end. No dictator, uprising, or political coup d’etat will oust this ruler. His kingdom will endure forever” (David Jeremiah, Handwriting on the Wall, p. 67).

So this kingdom will “stand forever” indicating that there is both a millennial kingdom and then an eternal kingdom. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:24, “Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.”

So it is obvious, from the symbolism of the rock, to the fact that this kingdom lasts forever, to the restatement of this historical progression in Revelation 7, that this is clearly the coming of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

This vision coheres with the gospel promises that Christ will ultimately reign over all (2 Sam. 11:7-16; Isa. 9:7; Luke 1:32-33; Eph. 1:20-23). This kingdom reign of Jesus dawned decisively in his first coming (Mark 1:15), and his full and uncontested reign will be perfectly completed at his second coming (Rev. 20:6). Faith in Christ’s ultimate rule over matters present and future is the basis for our abiding peace and unshakable hope amid present trials.

All of this reality should make our hearts thrill with wonder and adoration. Charles Wesley took the prophecies of Isaiah and John’s statements and wrote a hymn which is seldom sung but expresses this great wonder (vv. 1, 2, 4, 7).

Lo! He comes with clouds descending,
Once for favored sinners slain;
Thousand thousand saints attending,
Swell the triumph of His train:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
God appears on earth to reign.

Every eye shall now behold Him
Robed in dreadful majesty;
Those who set at naught and sold Him,
Pierced and nailed Him to the tree,
Deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
Shall the true Messiah see.

Now redemption, long expected,
See in solemn pomp appear;
All His saints, by man rejected,
Now shall meet Him in the air:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
See the day of God appear!

Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee,
High on Thine eternal throne;
Savior, take the power and glory,
Claim the kingdom for Thine own;
O come quickly! O come quickly! O come quickly!
Everlasting God, come down!

Tom Constable explains:

Whereas almost all expositors agree that the kingdom of God is in view, they disagree on the nature of that kingdom. They also disagree on how it will destroy the preceding kingdoms, and when this destruction will happen. Many amillenarians and postmillenarians believe that Jesus defeated the kingdoms of the world by His death on the cross. Most premillenarians believe that He will defeat the kingdoms of the world when He returns to earth.

If the stone from heaven represents the earthly kingdom of God thoroughly destroying all earthly kingdoms when Messiah returns, as seems true, then it appears inconsistent to view that destruction as beginning with Christ’s first coming. He did not destroy earthly kingdoms then. Rather, the destruction fits better Christ’s second coming.

Daniel concludes, in verse 45, by reminding Nebuchadnezzar that this dream and its interpretation came from God, so pay careful attention.

Wiersbe noted four implications of this vision: God is in control of history; human enterprises decline as time goes by; it will be difficult for things to hold together at the end of the age; and Jesus Christ will return, destroy His enemies, and establish His kingdom.

The Final Benediction, part 2 (Hebrews 13:21-25)

“Have you seen God at work lately?” is a wonderful question to ask your friends and family. One person replied, “I see Him at work as I read the Scriptures each morning; I see Him at work as He helps me face each new day; I see Him at work when I know that He has been with me every step of the way—I realize how He has helped me to face challenges while giving me joy.” I love his answer because it reflects how through God’s Word and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, God stays near to, and works in, those who love Him.”

The writer of Hebrews ends his book with this wonderful benediction. A benediction is more powerful than a prayer because it confers upon the recipient a blessing. The difference is that a prayer or a doxology is from us to God, while a benediction is from God to us. In this case it is from an inspired author of Scripture to the congregation of the Hebrews and it talks about how God is at work in our lives.

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

Verse 20 gives the foundation from which this blessing can be imparted—a God of peace, a powerful God who raised Jesus from the dead, a loving and tender shepherd who guides us and an eternal covenant which provides everything necessary for our spiritual life.

His basic sentence is “Now may the God of peace…equip you with everything good that you may do his will,” then adds by way of explaining the means, “working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

What God will do is “equip” us. The Greek word here is καταρτίζω [katartizō], a word that means “to restore, put in order, mend, make complete or usable.” Doctors used it to refer to the setting of broken bones, putting them back into a condition of health. Fishermen spoke of mending a broken net. For sailors it meant to “outfit a ship for a voyage.” To soldiers it means to “equip the troops for battle.” Paul uses it in Galatians 6:1 regarding restoring a brother—that is, putting him back in place of spiritual health and usefulness. Peter experienced this in his own life. Jesus prayed for him, saying, ““Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” That repentance allowed Peter to return to usefulness and to be the one to strengthen his brothers.

In other words, God takes our brokenness and mistakes, God mends all the cracks and crevasses so that we are once again useful to Him. He equips us for service and battle. He does all this so that He can work in us and through us that which pleases Him and accomplishes His will.

The relevance of this closing benediction for the church on troubled seas is obvious: God can put you back together so you can do his will, no matter what. Can you hear the prayer as its benediction lingered over the beleaguered congregation with its sweet, healing hope?

Warren Wiersbe asks the practical question, “How does He equip us?” and then gives several tools that the New Testament says that God uses to bring us to maturity. “He uses the Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16-17) and prayer (1 Thess. 3:13) in the fellowship of the local church (Eph. 4:11-12). He also uses individual believers to equip us and mend us (Gal. 6:1). Finally, He uses suffering to perfect His children (1 Peter 5:10), and this relates to what we learned from Hebrews 12 about chastening” (The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: NT, p. 845).

Though false teachers had “varied and strange teachings” (Heb 13:9) that differed from each other, they all had the same goal: to alter “the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 1:3). To contend against these false teachers and to promote sound doctrine and right living, Jesus gave to the church gifted leaders–apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. These leaders equip the church for ministry and help them grow into the image of Christ, so that they would no longer be children, “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Eph 4:11-14). (Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights: Hebrews, 223)

Notice here in Hebrews 13:21 that God equips us “with everything good,” everything beneficial for the accomplishment of His purpose in our lives, which is to conform us to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:28-29).

The word “good” occurs two other times in Hebrews, all in the plural, referring to all that God has accomplished for believers in Christ Jesus. In Hebrews 9:11-12, the author, contrasting the work of Old Testament priest with Christ, says,

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

It seems clear that the “good things” in verse 11 refer to all the promises of the new covenant fulfilled in Christ.

Hebrews 10:1 defines “good things” in the same way, saying, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.” The good things here also include the once for all sacrifice of Jesus (Hebrews 10:8-14).

Based on this understanding, the author of Hebrews prays that God would equip us with all good things, the precious promises and benefits of Christ in the gospel (Dieudonné Tamfu https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-to-please-a-holy-god).

The Apostle Paul, advocating that our justification occurs not through works, but through faith, nevertheless shows that God equips us to do good works in obedience to Him. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

God is the God who both shows us his will and equips us to do it. He never gives us a task without also giving us the power to accomplish it. When God sends us out, he sends us equipped with everything we need. (William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series, Hebrews, 201)

The clause “to do His will” (εἰς τὸ ποιῆσαι τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ) is explicitly the purpose. The author’s prayer is that God make us complete for the purpose of doing his will. This is why God equips us “with everything good.” That equipping has a purpose and that purpose is that we “do His will.”
Now, the act “To do God’s will” is to be like Jesus, because He came to do God’s will (Heb. 10:7). This is a lifelong process that is never complete in this life. But the point here is that the same mighty power that raised Jesus from the dead equips us to do God’s will and to live for His glory.

Sam Storms draws out these implications:

What this means is that:

You don’t have to live any longer in unforgiveness. God can equip you with every good thought and affection and determination to do his will when it comes to forgiving those who have sinned against you.

You don’t have to live in bondage to lust. God can equip you with the strength to resist the temptation to look lustfully at another person.

You don’t have to live in bitterness and anger. God can equip you with power to recognize the countless blessings you have in Christ and free you from the habit of constantly berating your spouse or your children.

You don’t have to live in the clutches of pornography. God can equip you and empower you to turn off the computer. He can equip and empower you to set your sights and affections on the beauty of Christ in place of your infatuation with the allure of sexual immorality.

You don’t have to live in constant hatred and resentment of your spouse. No matter how deep the wounds may be, no matter how often he/she has berated you, God can equip and empower you to love as Christ has loved you.

Whatever God’s will is, the promise of his covenant with you in Christ is that he can equip you with everything good so that you might live in obedience to it.

The gift of God working in us can take us by surprise; perhaps we forgive someone who wrongs us or show patience to someone we find difficult.

God equips us to do His will “by working in us that which is pleasing in His sight.” Literally, we are told in v. 21 that God equips us to “do” his will by “doing” in us what pleases him. The words translated “do” and “doing” (or “working”) are the same in Greek. We “work” because God “works”. God is at work in us. Whatever we do in God’s will, it is God doing the doing. When we “do” his will it is because he is “doing” in us what is pleasing to himself. This “working in us” is a present participle, indicating that God is always “working in us.” We may not feel it or notice it right away, but He is constantly “working in us.”

Notice that God works from the inside out. This is not just external behavior modification, but a heart that desires above all else to please God. It is not image management, but new internal motivations. Remember that the promise of the New Covenant is: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). This is much like Philippians 2:12-13, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” But more importantly we are told why: “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure,” or “giving you the desire and power to do His good pleasure.

You are secure not because you are strong, but because God is sovereign and because God is faithful to his new covenant promises. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes” (Ezekiel 36:27). All the exhortations to persevere in this book God will fulfil in those who are his.
Obedience to God’s will is His desire for our lives. It is not always easy, as Jesus proved when He struggled with God’s will at Gethsemane. Sometimes it is very costly and very difficult to do.

But our hearts now want to please God, to do what would bring Him pleasure. That is now our deepest desire. As John Piper says, “If we are able to please God — if we do his good pleasure — it is because the blood-bought grace of God has moved from mere equipping to omnipotent transforming” (https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/outfitted-and-empowered).

We know from Hebrews 11:6 that faith is what pleases God the most, believing in Him and His good promises and benefits.

We want to do what is pleasing “in his sight,” that is, in His estimation. As infants we begin life seeking above all to please ourselves, then we learn to please others. Unfortunately, we may never grow out of that desire to please others, to live in fear of what others think of us. Our greatest desire, however, should be to “play to an audience of One,” to seek to do what is “pleasing in His sight.”

Is it right and enough for God to be pleased mainly by his work in us and to commend us because of that? Yes, because he is doing so “through Jesus Christ” (Hebrews 13:21). God is just to commend us, not based on our performances, but on his performance for and in us. “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

It is only “in Christ” and “through” our union to Him that we are able to do God’s will and do what is pleasing to Him. According to the famed Greek scholar Adolf Deissman, the term “in Christ” or “in Christ Jesus” occurs some 169 times in Paul’s writings. Perhaps the most famous of Paul’s “in Christ” statements is 2 Corinthians 5:17—“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

None of the other gods work this way. If you want to have a relationship with any other god you have to do the work to please them. But the God of the Bible, through the sacrificial death of His Son, does everything needed for us to please Him and all we have to do is trust Him to do it through us. As we live out our union with Him by abiding in Jesus, then we can produce spiritual fruit (John 15:1-7).

Remember what Augustine prayed: “Command what you will, and give what you command.” We will do God’s will (obey His commands) only because He has equipped us with everything good to do that will.

God does it from beginning (justification) to end (glorification). He does this so that He will receive the “glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Our author closes this exhortation with these words:

22 I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with all of you.

Notice that he says two things about his letter to them. First, he calls it “my word of exhortation” and second, he says it is “brief.” The Greek noun paraklasis (“exhortation”) means imploration, entreaty, admonition, encouragement, consolation, comfort, and solace. In other words, he has hoped that his readers will receive and take to heart and apply to their lives what he has taught them.

This expression designates what we call a sermon (cf. Acts 13:15): a spoken exposition and application of Scripture, such as those offered in first-century synagogues or Christian congregations (Acts 13:15; 1 Tim. 4:13). Through his sermon, our author has brought exhortation, as he had urged his hearers to persevere in their trust in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation, not returning to the Jewish religious system.

His mention of Timothy in verse 23 shows that the writer composed this epistle during the lifetime of “Timothy” and after some confinement that Timothy had experienced. By this news the author shows that he too remembers those in prison (10:34; 13:3). Evidently the writer and Timothy were close associates in the Lord’s work. This is the same Timothy who was a co-worker with Paul. Our writer’s hope is to come “see you,” which was a typical hope that Paul expressed to the recipients of his epistles.

The exchange of greetings between a letter’s author and those with him, on the one hand, and its recipients, on the other, is customary in NT correspondence. Here our author gives precedence to “all your leaders,” reinforcing their authority, in case some in the congregation still fail to accord them the respect their office warrants (Heb. 13:17). He then greets “all the saints,” expressing inclusivity and reinforcing their unity (cf. Phil. 1:1; 4:21).

“Those who come from Italy,” who were with the author and asked him to convey their greetings, might be people residing in Italy. But the ESV is probably correct: with the author are believers who now sojourn as expatriates away from Italy and wish to send greetings home. Perhaps they were exiled when Emperor Claudius banned Jews from the imperial capital (AD 49), as Aquila and his wife Priscilla had been (Acts 28:2).

The closing benediction, though similar to many others in the NT, is filled with meaning because of the rich exposition of grace throughout this sermon-letter. This is a fitting end for a book that documents the passing of the Old Covenant and the institution of the New Covenant.

Our preacher has used “grace” (charis) to identify God’s undeserved favor that:

• ordained the redemptive plan in which Christ “[tasted] death” for all his brothers (2:9);
• flows from God’s throne of grace to give us timely help (4:16);
• characterizes the Spirit of God (10:19);
• epitomizes believers’ final inheritance and the means by which they reach it (12:15);
• strengthens hearts through faith in Christ’s priestly mediation (13:9).

Hebrews shows God’s grace with us in other ways. God acknowledges as sons and leads to glory (2:10) those who required purification of their consciences. This could be achieved only by the blood of Christ, shed to redeem us from the transgressions committed under the first covenant (9:13-15). Though once excluded from his presence by our defiance and defilement, we can now draw near in confident assurance of his welcome (10:19-22). We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and this gift from God makes us grateful and eager to offer worship that pleases him (12:28). Amid the dangers of our earthly pilgrimage, we have the promise of his constant presence and strong protection: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (13:5). God’s grace is indeed with us.

The Final Benediction, part 1 (Hebrews 13:20)

Do you find it difficult to do God’s will? Do the commands of the New Testament seem daunting to you? G. K. Chesterton, turn of the century British author, Roman Catholic, and journalist, once famously said: “Christianity has not so much been tried and found wanting, as it has been found difficult and left untried.”

Admittedly, forgiving our enemies, keeping ourselves holy…these are not easy things to do. Are we really expected to keep all the commands and exhortations that we find sprinkled throughout the Bible?

But the reality is that God has not left us to rely only upon our own strength and resources to be able to do what He has asked. In fact, let me quote yet another person who has saying to say about this, St. Augustine. In his spiritual autobiography, entitled The Confessions, Augustine says to God: “Command what you will, and give what you command.”

This is precisely the genius of the New Covenant. Whereas with the Mosaic Covenant there were commands but no inner Holy Spirit. Now, God has given us “everything we need for life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). God not only encourages us, but He equips us.

In Philippians 2:12-13 Paul gives us this formula for spiritual life: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

These two verses give us both sides of the equation: we work out what God is working in us. Notice verse 12 says “work out your salvation,” (not “for” your salvation) and we do this because “it is God who works in you.” And what does He do? He gives us the desire (the will) and the power (to work) so that we can live a life that is pleasing to Him.

Notice that God’s work always comes first. He takes the initiative and we respond. He acts and then we act. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). So we can get up and get to work because we have the confidence that God has already been at work in us, equipping us that we “may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight” (Heb. 13:21).

This is why our author ends this book with a benediction. A benediction is literally a “good word,” a pronouncement of blessing upon someone. There are as many as 30 benedictions scattered throughout the New Testament. The original benediction is the Aaronic blessing, found in Numbers 6:24-26.

24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Benedictions in the New Testament are brief declarations of God’s blessings upon his loved ones, and are often found at the end of epistles. They are intended to bring comfort, peace, joy, and security to those who trust in God. Many Christian worship services conclude with a benediction. Pastors have the privilege of announcing, prayerfully, divine blessings on the people of God as they scatter from the place of corporate worship.

Benedictions pack more weight than a petitioner’s requests. They confer benefit through a minister authorized to speak from and for God.

The book of Hebrews closes with one of the most exquisite and soaring of all Scriptural benedictions. Multiple millions of worshipers have been dismissed with the pastor’s upraised hand and the sonorous words that begin, “Now may the God of peace . . .”

The whole benediction reads, “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

This benediction is requesting God’s help in staying on track in the Christian life—doing God’s will and being pleasing to Him—but it based upon what God offers to us (peace) by the blood of the cross. So verse 20 gives the foundation upon which the blessing in verse 21 is requested. Their ability to continue on living for God is based upon God’s attributes of peace, power (by raising Christ from the dead), loving and tender care (as a great shepherd) and ever giving grace (through the blood of the eternal covenant). This benediction seems to draw together the major themes of Hebrews: peace, the resurrected Christ, the blood, the covenant, spiritual perfection (maturity) and God’s work in the believer.

The first foundational gift is God’s peace. How necessary this peace is. We are born enemies of God, alienated from Him because of our sin and rebellion (Rom. 5:10; Eph. 2:12, 19; 4:18), but God has “brought us near” because “ he himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:12-13). He is the one who has reconciled us to God (Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18-19). God is called “the God of peace” at least five other times in the New Testament (Romans 15:33; 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). Perhaps the frequency of this expression is attributable to the influence of the Aaronic blessing, which closes, “The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Num. 6:26). These citations, along with the opening invocation of our text, “Now may the God of peace,” reference two marvelous aspects of that peace.

First, it points to His own divine tranquility—the eternal calmness of God’s essential being. This means that God is totally at harmony within Himself and in relation to the Trinity and all He has made. God the Father is called the “God of peace” (Hebrews 13:20). God the Son, the “Prince of peace” (Isaiah 9:6). God the Holy Ghost, the “Spirit…of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

John MacArthur says, “God is at all times at perfect peace, without any discord within Himself. He is never under stress, worried, anxious, fearful, unsure, or threatened. He is always perfectly calm, tranquil, and content. There are no surprises for His omniscience, no changes for His immutability, no threats to His sovereignty, no doubts to cloud His wisdom, no sin to stain His holiness. Even His wrath is clear, controlled, calm, and confident” (1 and 2 Thessalonians, p. 313).

The Hebrew word shalom means so much more than merely an absence of conflict. It means completeness, wholeness, harmony.

Jesus Christ is the “Prince of Peace” and only through him can we find the “peace that goes beyond understanding.” (Isaiah 9:6, Philippians 4:7).

And that leads us to the second aspect of God’s peace. God can share His peace with us. He gives it to us as a gift. “My peace I give to you” Jesus says in John 14:27. In that vein, there is a distinction between “peace with God” and experiencing the “peace of God.” “Peace with God” is the objective reality that we as former enemies have become, through the cross and belief in Jesus Christ, reconciled to God and now are His friends. This “peace treaty” with God is an objective, one-time experience. Once established, it remains.

The ”peace of God” is the subjective calmness and tranquility we experience whenever we remind ourselves that God is with us, that God loves us and that God is on our side and we need to be reestablished in the “peace of God” time and time again, whenever we face new trials and difficulties. This peace is what Jesus is talking about in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” The normal fears and anxieties of life disappear when we are experiencing God’s peace. Notice that this is a peace that Jesus gives to us and leaves with us even though He would be leaving this earth. It is not a peace like the world gives—shallow and short-lived—but a peace that dwells deep within and sustains us through the storms.

“God took the initiative to establish peace with rebellious men, and He is the author of both personal peace as well as peace among men,” said Matthew Henry.

“Peace with God” precedes experiencing the “peace of God.” In other words, our status with God must change—from enemies alienated from all that He is and has for us, to friends now enabled to receive everything He has for us—before our inner peace can be experienced. All who are God’s children have “peace with God” and can experience the “peace of God” if we fully rely upon Him and His promises.

Invoking God as “the God of peace” is parallel to Jeremiah 29:11, which reads literally, “‘For I know the plans I am planning for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for shalom and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope’” (based on NASB). Significantly, this promise of shalom was given to God’s covenant people at the beginning of the Babylonian captivity when it appeared that the seas of the Gentile world had inundated God’s people for good.

Therefore, the title “the God of peace” at the end of Hebrews comes as a consciously appropriate benediction to fearful, restless hearts—“Your God is a God of peace, and he will pick up the pieces no matter what happens—he will heal your wounds and fulfill what is lacking. No storm will sink you! So hang in there!”

It is this “God of peace” that is now bestowing these precious blessings upon the Hebrew Christians and us today.

Secondly, we see that God is a powerful, life-giving God. He proved when He “brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus.” Surprisingly enough, this is the first and only mention in the book of Hebrews of the resurrection of Jesus. Yes, He is spoken of as “ever living” and having an “indestructible life,” both of which point to the fact of the resurrection, but this is the only mention of Him being raised from the dead.

Of course, Jesus Himself raised Himself up from the dead, as He says in John 10: “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (Johnn 10:17-18).

Here it is again in John 5:21-22: “As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father . . . has given all judgment to the Son.” So the Son has authority to raise from the dead whomever he will, including himself. So Jesus says in John 2:19: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” And John adds, “He was speaking about the temple of his body” (John 2:21). Destroy this body, and in three days, I will raise it up. And he did.

But God also “brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus” (cf. 1 Pet. 1:3; Acts 2:32-33; Rom. 8:11). This was the Father’s stamp of approval on all that Jesus had accomplished through the cross. Jesus said, “Paid in full; it is finished.” The Father showed that it was finished by reversing death and bringing the Innocent One back to life. The significance of this is that “The resurrection of Christ is the Amen of all His promises.” This means that everything God has promised He will now provide.
Hebrews has built its case for Jesus’ perpetual tenure as High Priest, in part, on the “power of [his] indestructible life” (Heb. 7:16), so that “he always lives to make intercession” for believers (7:25). Now, at last, our author explicitly announces Jesus’ resurrection, when God “brought [him] again from the dead.”

As he has previously, our author builds anticipation by reserving the Savior’s name for the end of the clause (in Greek word order): “who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus” (cf. 2:9; 3:1; 4:14; 7:22; 12:2, 24). Thus, the name of Jesus concludes the description of the divine subject who blesses (13:20), and reappears to conclude the blessing he confers (13:21).

“Brought again” (or “led up,” anagō) is an unusual verb for resurrection (cf. Rom. 10:7), reflecting the influence of Isaiah 63:11, which reads in the LXX, “who brought up [anabibazō] from the earth the shepherd of the sheep.” In the exodus, the shepherd was Moses (cf. Psa. 77:20) and the rescue was from the sea; now the great shepherd, Jesus, has been “led up” from the realm of the dead.
And this leads us to the third foundational truth which establishes this benediction with theological weight to carry our obedience to Christ…He is our loving and sacrificial shepherd.

The shepherd metaphor is one of the most spiritually humbling in all of God’s Word. It reveals volumes about us (the sheep) and about the Lord (our Shepherd). As to our “sheepness,” Dr. Bob Smith, long-time philosophy professor at Bethel College in Minnesota, used to humor his point home regarding our human state by insisting that the existence of sheep is prima facie evidence against evolution. Sheep are so unintelligent and obtuse and defenseless, they could not have possibly evolved—the only way they could have survived is with shepherds!

We may gripe and complain about being called sheep, but we cannot but greatly appreciate that Jesus took up the term shepherd and applied it to himself (cf. Mark 14:27). Jesus’ shepherd heart welled with compassion, for Mark tells us, “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34).

Even more, Jesus identified himself as the shepherd who would lay down his life to protect his sheep (John 10:1-18; cf. Ezek. 34:1-24; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:4). This image of Christ comes from Psalm 23, where the Lord God is the Shepherd who provides for His sheep (Ps 23:1), nourishes and refreshes them (Ps 23:2-3), and protects them from their enemies (Ps 23:5; see also Jn 10:11-15). This association between Jesus as “our Lord” and as the “great Shepherd” is a final strong affirmation of the deity of Christ. (Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights: Hebrews, 228)

But here our writer tells us that he is not only a “good shepherd”—he is also “the great shepherd of the sheep.” Why? Precisely because he is a risen Shepherd—“brought [back] again from the dead.” As the great risen Shepherd, his compassion and protection are mediated from a position of an unparalleled display of power! He, our Shepherd, is exalted at the right hand of the Father. All other shepherds pale by comparison. There is none like our “great shepherd.” Our risen Shepherd lives not only to give us life, but to tend us so that we will be sheep who bring him glory through our obedience and living a life pleasing to Him. This means that our grandest spiritual desires are never audacious and that any spiritual aspirations less than the loftiest are not grand enough. What security and what challenge the fact of our risen “great shepherd” brings to our souls.

Warren Wiersbe reminds us that “as the Good Sheperd, Jesus Christ died for the sheep (John 10:11). As the Great Shepherd, He lives for the sheep in heaven today, working on their behalf. As the Chief Shepherd, He will come for the sheep at His return (1 Pet. 5:4)” (The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: NT, p. 845). As the Good Shepherd He worked for us when He completed the great work of redemption (John 17:4). Now that He is in heaven, He is working in us to mature us in His will.

Fourthly, our God is a covenant keeping God, and sealed that covenant with the blood of His one and only Son.

Moses sprinkled the “blood of the covenant” on the Israelites at Sinai (Heb. 9:20, citing Exod. 24:8), but they broke that covenant, and Jeremiah 31:31-34 pronounced it “obsolete” (Heb. 8:13). The new covenant, which Jesus’ blood inaugurates, secures our everlasting salvation, fulfilling God’s promises to establish an “eternal covenant” with his people (2 Sam. 23:5; Isa. 55:3; 61:8; Jere. 32:40; 50:5; Ezek. 16:59-60; 37:26).

“Specifically, the foundation for our highest dreams is the everlasting, unbreakable new covenant promise earlier quoted in 8:10 where God says, “I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (cf. Jeremiah 31:31–34). The promise is nothing less than a renewed heart and a personal relationship with God through the atoning work of God the Son and the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. We have his word for it that all this is ours if we come to him!

“And this covenant, this promise, is eternal. It will never be replaced by another as it once replaced the old covenant. It was established by the blood of the ultimate Lamb of God, whose atoning death was ratified and verified by his resurrection. The writer’s friends were being encouraged to remember that whatever came, no matter how high the seas, his new covenant promise would never change or fail. The eternal covenant granted them eternal life” (R. Kent Hughes, Hebrews: An Anchor for the Soul, Volume 2, p. 244).

Every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper we remind ourselves of this eternal covenant. On the night he was betrayed Jesus broke the bread and distributed the cup as a sign of the new and eternal covenant that his blood would inaugurate and establish: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20; see 1 Cor. 11:25). How can we know with absolute certainty and assurance that God will keep his word in the new and eternal covenant to forgive our sins and be our God and never leave us or forsake us? We can know because the covenant was signed, sealed, established, and delivered on the foundation of the blood of God’s very own, dear Son Jesus Christ.

They Keep Watch Over Your Souls, part 2 (Hebrews 13:18-19)

Last week we talked about the obedience and submission that congregations owe to their spiritual leaders: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you” (Heb. 13:17).

But that is not all we owe our leaders. Verses 18-19

18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.
If we don’t pray for our leaders, they will certainly be preyed upon. Satan would like nothing more than to destroy the lives and testimonies of our spiritual leaders and he seems to be having a field day lately.

Jesus told Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32).

Peter didn’t know how vulnerable he was to Satan’s attacks and most of us are not vigilant enough to successfully avoid his deceptions and temptations. The only way that Peter survived this ordeal and didn’t end his life like Judas did, is because Jesus prayed for him. That same thing may be true for any pastor today: Unless people are praying for you, you will fall and fail. The situation is that precarious. If you don’t want to see your pastor fall, then be praying for him.

Fortunately, we know that both the Son (Romans 8:34) and the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26) are constantly interceding for us—that is one of our assurances that we will persevere to the end and be saved. But we need the intercession of other believers to help us from falling into particular sins or making grievous mistakes in ministry. We need others praying for us and to know that they are praying for us.

If Apostles needed the prayers of the churches, how much more ordinary ministers! “Brethren, pray for us.” (John Brown, Geneva Series Commentaries: Hebrews, 713) Charles Spurgeon indicated that the success of his ministry was not really due to his own giftedness or earnestness, but the prayers of his congregation.

Spurgeon was a19th-century English preacher and pastor of the New Park Street Chapel in London, England, later named the Metropolitan Tabernacle.\

The church held 5,000 people. With no sound system, it was said that his voice could be heard by all.

A group of young ministers called on him one day to see the large preaching place. After showing them his massive sanctuary, Spurgeon offered to show then his “boiler room.” The guests declined but the pastor insisted.

Spurgeon led them to the basement. They found about 100 people in prayer. “This,” Spurgeon said with a smile, “is my boiler room.” Whenever Spurgeon was asked the secret of his ministry he always replied, “My people pray for me.”

The thought occurred to me: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every church had a boiler room; an asking place in the building where people would seek the will of God.

Nothing warms a preacher’s heart more than to have a faithful member say, “Reverend, I want you to know that I pray for you.”

Thus, Mark Labberton says, “I’m convinced that the dynamic life of the congregation I serve is explained by God’s grace answering the humble prayers of ordinary believers who seek God’s blessing for all we do. That is the story of power and prayer. I am utterly dependent on the way the prayers of such saints have changed my life and ministry. I think the same is true of our whole church. We are what we are by the grace of God at work through the prayers of these saints who lean on God for our sake and for the sake of all we long to see happen in our ministry, both locally and globally” (Mark Labberton, The Dangerous Act of Worship, 129).

So our author asks his hearers to pray for him, as Paul often does as well (Rom. 15:30-32; Eph. 6:19-20; Col. 4:3-4; 1 Thess. 5:25; cf. Phil. 1:19). Paul knew that if he was not prayed for, he would be preyed upon. The world, the flesh and the devil are our constant enemies, seeking to bring us down. Again, seeing how many pastors have fallen just in the past five years is a warning to us to keep our pastors in our prayers.

The reason that our writer wanted his readers to pray for him is because “we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.” Previously the “cleansing” (katharizō) of our consciences by the blood of Christ referred to the objective result of forgiveness, which immediately removes defilement and disqualification to approach God’s presence. Now, however, a (lit.) “good [kalos] conscience” reflects the subjective transformation God’s grace produces in believers’ motivations and desires over time.

I think this first of all points back to all that he has communicated to these Hebrew Christians, saying that his conscience is clear in all that he has written—it was done with honorable intentions and for their good.

The writer’s conscience is clear because he has performed well in his spiritual duties toward his friends. His conscience has made him confident toward both men and God. Similarly, Paul could write, “For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you” (2 Corinthians 1:12). And, “By the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2). What a blessing a clear conscience is! When the conscience is clear, one can ask wholeheartedly for the prayers of all the saints.

Likely this refers to the warnings that he has given his readers. Like Ezekiel, who was a watchman for old covenant Israel, the author of Hebrews was tasked with encouraging his audience away from apostasy and with telling them what would happen if they abandoned the Lord (see Ezek. 3:16-21). Having fulfilled that role with this letter, the author and his fellow workers could rest, knowing that they had done their duty.

But I also think he is wanting their prayers so that he could continue to live with a good conscience. It not only points back to previous ministry but forward to potential ministry. He doesn’t just want to preach the gospel to them; he wants a life that’s lived in line with the gospel. He knows how important it is to practice what he preaches. He knows that he needs the gospel preached to himself every day and asks that they would pray that he could live in line with that gospel.

Paul David Tripp has written a book entitled Dangerous Calling, which is written to pastors with the realization that we can go through the routines of ministry without having a genuine, deep relationship with the God we proclaim. In other words, in the words of John Piper, we have become “professionals.” In that book Brothers, We are Not Professionals, Piper writes:

We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry … Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry. The more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our wake. For there is no professional childlikeness (Matt. 18:3); there is no professional tenderheartedness (Eph. 4:32); there is no professional panting after God (Ps. 42:1).

Professionals can stand apart from a congregation and speak dispassionately. A true pastor cannot. A true pastor gets personal. A true pastor is real before his congregation. A true pastor practices what he preaches. A true pastor knows that the most important thing he can give to his congregation is a holy life. A true pastor knows that he deeply needs the prayers of his congregation in order to live faithfully before them.

God’s leaders face temptations that most other believers do not face to the same degree, because Satan knows that, if he can undermine the leaders, many others will go down with them. If he can get them to compromise, to weaken their stand, to lessen their efforts, to become dejected and hopeless, he has caused the work of Christ great damage.

Paul did not hesitate to ask for prayer. “Pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:19). How much more do God’s ordinary ministers need the prayer of their people. (John MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur NT Commentary: Hebrews, 448). If the apostle Paul was that aware of his need for prayer, how much more the rest of us who attempt to serve the Lord! As Paul exclaimed, “Who is adequate for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:16).

Our author’s request honors his hearers, implying that they have the priestly privilege of access to God’s throne of grace (Heb. 4:14-16). He wants them to realize how vital this is for his success in ministry and in life. Maintaining a good conscience means that he can confidently stand before the judgment seat knowing that he will be rewarded for the “gold, silver and precious stones” with which he has built his ministry.

The verb “pray” is present tense, showing that our writer recognizes his need for their prayers constantly, not just occasionally. It also graciously indicates that he knew that they had already been praying for him. Notice also that he asks pray for “us.” Up until now Paul has sometimes placed himself in the same status as his readers, but he is probably referring to Timothy, who may be able to come with him when he next visits (Heb. 13:23).

Also, the fact that he asks them to pray for him indicates that not all of them had apostatized. He hardly would have asked for prayer from them if he knew that all of them were unbelievers. No, he was confident that at least some of his readers would persevere, so he turned to them for spiritual assistance. His readers, in turn, were to pray for him and his fellow workers, believing that God just might allow the author to visit them sooner. After all, we know that prayers do much in the purposes of God, and through our prayers He often works out His will (James 5:13-18).

Our writer makes one simple request, “that I may be restored to you the sooner” (v. 19). This is why he wanted them to “more earnestly” (v. 19). Like the Apostle Paul, he loved his followers so much that he longed to be with them. This shows his great affection for them. He wanted to see them face to face and have fellowship together. If they fail to pray, his return to them may be slowed or possibly never take place. But if they pray, he expects that their prayers will speed his restoration.
Some obstacle stood in Paul’s way; some difficulty blocked his path. We don’t know if it was a health problem, persecution and imprisonment or something else. Possibly some critics voiced the idea, “If he really cared for us, we would have seen his face by now!” But the author’s heart was to visit them, and so he asks them to pray.

His request shows that God is bigger than any circumstance we face, and that prayer is our means of laying hold of God’s power. Prayer is not just a polite gesture that shows brotherly concern. God has ordained prayer as one of the ways that He pours out His power and blessing on His people. Prayer shows us that we are not competent people who just need a little boost from God now and then. We are totally inadequate, unless He works, and He has chosen to work through our prayers. If more people prayed more regularly for their pastors, maybe there would be fewer church splits and fewer people leaving churches over petty matters, fewer pastors quitting. (adapted from Steve Cole’s sermon Your Duties Toward Church Leaders).

As far as the writer to the Hebrews was concerned their prayers determined if and when he is reunited with them. This shows how seriously he regarded their prayers for him and how important prayer is as a secondary cause of God’s will being enacted. God is sovereign, but prayer makes things possible that otherwise would not be possible. (John MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur NT Commentary: Hebrews, 449)

He knows that if the readers pray for him, the bond of unity between himself and the recipients of his letter is strengthened. And if they pray, they indicate that the message he conveys has been well received. (William Hendriksen & Simon J. Kistemaker, NT Commentary: Hebrews, 428)

His desire to be “restored” to them implies that he had previously ministered among them. This explains his detailed knowledge of their previous experience (Heb. 6:9-10; 10:32-34). Like other NT authors, he prefers ministry offered in person to written correspondence (Gal. 4:18-20; 3 John 1-14). He has urged them to encourage each other daily as they meet together (Heb. 3:14; 10:24-25), and he is eager to join them in that interaction. In the second cycle of closing news he will indicate that Timothy may accompany him “if he comes soon” (13:23), reemphasizing his sense of urgency to return to them “soon.”

A. W. Pink reminds us pastors: “If ministers desire the prayers of their people, then let them see to it that they are not backward in praying for those God has committed to their charge. This is an essential part of the minister’s functions. It is not sufficient that he faithfully preaches the Word: he must also fervently and frequently ask God to bless that Word unto those who have heard him. O that all who are called to the sacred office may feelingly exclaim “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you” (1 Sam. 12:23). (Arthur W. Pink, An Exposition of Hebrews, 1265-6)

If you want to hear a better sermon Sunday, then pray for your pastor throughout the week. R. Kent Hughes encourages us: “How different the modern church would be if the majority of its people prayed for its pastors and lay leadership. There would be supernatural suspensions of business-as-usual worship. There would be times of inexplicable visitations from the Holy Spirit. More lay people would come to grips with the deeper issues of life. The leadership vacuum would evaporate. There would be more conversions. (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: Hebrews, vol. 2, 239)

This passage emphasizes the mutual ministry between the pastor/preacher and the congregation. For the pastor to be able to remain faithful in his life and ministry he vitally depends upon the prayers of the people. This is the body image that Paul expounds upon and to which the author of Hebrews frequently alludes. So Philip Ryken says:

The metaphor of the church as a body is employed by the NT to represent both our union with Christ and mutual dependence: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’” (1 Cor 12:21). We need each other: “We, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Rom 12:5). We need each other’s gifts (Eph 4:11-16; 1 Cor 12-14; Rom 12). We need each other’s graces (as in the many “one anothers” found throughout the NT: love one another, be kind to one another, bear one another’s burdens, etc.). We need each other’s fellowship. So we are warned, “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together.” The writer to the Hebrews sees the public assembly as the primary place in which the mutual stimulation to “love and good deeds” takes place: “Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Heb 10:24-25). (Philip Graham Ryken, Give Praise to God A Vision for Reforming Worship, 330-1)

The simple truth is that we need each other. We are not independent titans who can conquer the world on our own, but a band of brothers who together, each fulfilling our God-given roles with the gifts God has graciously given to us, can accomplish great things together.

On one of his visits to the Continent, Charles Spurgeon met an American minister who said, “I have long wished to see you, Mr. Spurgeon, and to put one or two simple questions to you. In our country there are many opinions as to the secret of your great influence. Would you be good enough to give me your own point of view?” After a moment’s pause, Spurgeon replied, “My people pray for me” (in Iain Murray, The Forgotten Spurgeon [Banner of Truth], p. 44). Maybe we should listen to him.

Remember: Your pastor, if you won’t pray for him, he will be preyed upon. Satan would love to discourage him, to make him fall, to bring about some moral failure, because Satan knows, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and more people fall in their wake. In other words, if your pastor falls, many people will be disillusioned. Of course, to be disillusioned, that means that they had to have the illusion to begin with that their pastor was a superman who could never fall. So pray for your pastor, pray diligently, pray earnestly for him.

They Keep Watch Over Your Souls, part 1 (Hebrews 13:17)

We saw earlier in Hebrews 13 where our author encouraged his readers to “imitate the faith” of those who had taught them the Word of God, their “leaders” (Heb. 13:7). These leaders had been there to help them avoid following after “strange teachings” (Heb. 13:9) but now some of them were no longer with them. They still had leaders, however, and now in our passage today our author encourages them to “obey” and “submit” to them.

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Notice first of all, in both Hebrews 13:7 and verse 17 that this congregation had multiple leaders. A plurality of elders was the biblical norm (Acts 11:30; 14:23; 16:4; 20:17-18; 21:18; 1 Timothy 5:17; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1-5).

There are several advantages to having a plurality of leadership.

Biblical accountability. Godly fellow elders are a great means for holding the pastor accountable to live, teach, and lead faithfully. In addition, sharing authority among a number of men can keep one man from wrongly lording it over the congregation
Wisdom. There is more wisdom to be found in a multitude of counselors (Prov. 11:14; 24:6).
Balance. No one man has all the gifts that are necessary to build up the church. Having a plurality of elders serves the church by bringing men with different gifts into the church’s leadership who can complement the pastor’s strengths.
Burden sharing. Caring for the whole church is a burden God does not intend one man to bear alone. Even the most faithful, gifted pastor needs help from other godly men in order to pay careful attention to himself and to all the flock (Acts 20:28).
Sets an example for the church. Having a plurality of elders demonstrates that the work of ministry is not reserved for a select few. Rather, it provides an example of maturity for every man, particularly when some of the elders are men who work ordinary jobs and are not paid by the church.

(Most of this material has been adapted from Benjamin Merkle, 40 Questions About Elders and Deacons [Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008], pp. 183-186).

Like 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 and Hebrews 13:7, Hebrews 13:17 directly communicates the responsibility of the congregation to its leaders. By using not one, but two imperative verbs, “obey” (πείθω [peitho]) and “submit” (ὑπείκω [hypeiko]), placed before and after the expression “your leaders,” indicates intensity. “The combination of these two terms,” writes one commentator, “stresses the need for faithful, thorough adherence to the oversight offered by their leaders” (Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 708). Thus, this was an urgent issue for the inspired writer of Hebrews and indeed for every church.

The verb “obey” is not the most normal word for obedience (which is ὑπακοή [hupokoe]). This word, sometimes translated “belief” or “confidence,” emphasizes that we follow a leader because we have confidence in them. This doesn’t exclude the idea of obedience, for obedience is natural when we have confidence in someone. We believe that they have our best at heart and so we are not afraid to entrust ourselves to them and to follow their leadership.

The verb “submit” is the stronger and broader of the two terms and its use here is it only occurrence in the New Testament. Again, it is not the normal word for submission in the New Testament (which is ὑποτάσσω). It means to “yield to someone’s authority” or a “glad disposition to follow the leadership of another person.”

I love how John Piper puts it:

Hebrews 13:17 means that a church should have a bent toward trusting its leaders; you should have a disposition to be supportive in your attitudes and actions toward their goals and directions; you should want to imitate their faith; and you should have a happy inclination to comply with their instructions.

Now you can hear that these are all soft expressions: “a bent toward trusting,” “a disposition to support,” “a wanting to imitate,” “an inclination to comply.” What those phrases are meant to do is capture both sides of the Biblical truth, namely, 1) that elders are fallible and should not lord it over the flock, and 2) the flock should follow good leadership.

We live in an individualistic and anti-authority age which makes it unthinkable for some people to submit to the authority of anyone else. But even more serious, is the fact that some leaders in churches have spiritually abused the people under them. This verse does not justify spiritual abuse.

The authority of elders comes from the Word of God, not from themselves. Also, Jonathan Leeman, in his helpful book Authority: How Godly Rule Protects the Vulnerable, Strengthens Communities, and Promotes Human Flourishing, says that the authority that elders possess is not the authority of command, but the authority of counsel.

“Both authority of command and the authority of counsel should be counted as true authority because God has given its holder the moral right to issue directives that bind the conscience. The difference is, someone with an authority of command also has the right to enforce what’s commanded through the power of discipline. The authority is unilaterally efficacious. It can enforce or make something happen against the will of those being commanded. With an authority of counsel, on the other hand, the power of discipline is dramatically reduced, if not altogether eliminated. It’s not unilaterally efficacious in the same way” (Jonathan Leeman, Authority, p. 153).

Now, why don’t elders have the authority to enforce a command? It is because ultimately church discipline lies in the hands of the congregation, not the elders (Matthw 18:15-18). Elders can guide that discipline process, but the ability to enforce certain standards lies in the hands of the congregation. The authority that elders possess is not “just counsel,” but “the authority of counsel.” As they teach the congregation, they are presenting God’s will for us all, to which we should all submit and for which we all will one day be held accountable.

“The Bible is acutely aware of both good and bad authority, and it intends for us to study both. Consider the Israelite king. The king is over his kingdom. Yet he’s a good king only insofar as he puts himself under God’s law and with his fellow Israelites” (Jonathan Leeman, Authority, p. 10).
This is what Israel’s kings were supposed to do:

18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests.
19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees
20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:18-20)

Good human authority is never absolute. Good authority is always accountable. Good authority drives inside the lines that God has painted on the road! In fact, good authority is always submissive. Only God’s authority is absolute and comprehensive, being accountable only to the law of his own nature.

Alexander Strauch notes: “The effectiveness of any body of church leaders is impacted by the response of the people they lead. One angry person or a small hostile group of people can cause untold misery and ugly division within a local church. This was the case in Corinth, and it created painful division between Paul and the church (2 Cor. 2:1-11)” (Alexander Strauch, Biblical Eldership, Rev. ed., p. 275).

Abuse doesn’t just happen in one direction, from leaders to people. Just as often there is abuse from the congregation towards the pastor or elders. There are many hurting pastors as well. R. Kent Hughes, in his commentary on Hebrews, says “It is an indisputable fact–pastors as a group are one of the most abused and hurting segments of modern society.” Now that abuse could come because of something that pastor does or fails to do: laziness, ineptness, abuse of power to name a few.

Happy is the congregation when both halves of this verse are happily married—a congregation that willingly and joyfully follows and a leadership that leads in love. That loving leadership is expressed in the second half of the verse, “because they keep watch over your souls.” This reflects the shepherding imagery which was used by God to describe rulers in the Old Testament and lies beneath the understanding of the role of elders in the New Testament.

Good leaders have as their highest aspiration not power and authority, but the good of the people, especially the condition of their souls. They want to make sure that these men and women, boys and girls, are saved and sanctified, glorifying and enjoying God. They are working for the joy of their people (2 Cor. 1:24). In 2 Corinthians 1:24 Paul says, “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.”

So we follow the leadership of our elders and pastors because they have a great responsibility to shepherd our souls. They “keep watch” with great vigilance and untiring effort because we have enemies that can attack us. This was the duty of watchmen on city walls (Ezek. 33:6) and shepherds tending flocks in open country (Ezek. 34:8). Watchmen who fail to sound the alarm when enemies approach and shepherds who do not protect the flock from predators will answer to God for their negligence. All will give account to God (Rom. 4:12; Heb. 4:13; 10:21; 12:29; 1 Pet. 4:5).
Church leaders are answerable not only for themselves (1 Tim. 4:16) but also for those they lead (Acts 20:26-31; James 3:1). Spiritual leaders should be obeyed precisely because of what they do sacrificially for their people. Good elders keep themselves alert and awake, sometimes with sleepless nights. Why? Because they are responsible for the souls of the people God has allotted to their care.

“Watchfulness requires tireless effort, self-discipline and selfless concern for the welfare of others. At times all leaders literally do lose sleep over problem issues within the church. As Richard Philipps comments, ‘They lie awake at night…pondering our spiritual well-being, how they might help and support us in the faith. What better reason could there be for us gladly to follow their teaching and rule?’” (Alexander Strauch, Biblical Eldership, Rev. ed., p. 280).

There will come a day when pastor/elders will have to give an account for how well they looked after…not the finances of the church, nor the reputation of the church, nor the longevity of the church…but after the souls of the people.

When the Scripture tells us that our spiritual leaders are responsible for the welfare of our souls, this does not mean that we do not take personal responsibility for our spiritual welfare. On the contrary, what good spiritual leaders do is to equip and instruct their congregation in how to take care of themselves spiritually.

The Bible tells us that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10; cf. Rom. 14:12; 1 Cor. 3:13-15; Heb. 4:13). Although all believers will appear before “the judgment seat of Christ,” James informs us that teachers will be judged more strictly because of their greater influence and God-appointed responsibility (James 3:1). Even if we have responsibility for only one soul, we will be held accountable for taking care of that one soul. This concern should weigh heavily upon the leader and guard and guide the use of both their teaching and their authority.

Strauch mentions, “When God’s people realize that their leaders must give an account to God, they ought to be much more tolerant, understanding, and sensitive toward their leaders’ actions and decisions. All this helps explain why the members of the church owe obedience and submission to their leaders” (Alexander Strauch, Biblical Eldership, Rev. ed., p. 282)

When elders focus on taking care of people and helping them grow to maturity in Christ and the people are following that leadership gladly, then it leads to “joy and not…groaning.” Every leader knows the joy of leading someone to Christ, seeing them grow in their faith, hope and love, watching them serve Christ and seeing them lead others to Christ. John the Apostle expressed this joy to his friend Gaius: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 4). Paul calls the Philippians his “joy and crown” (Phil. 4:1). This joy, which every leader longs for (2 Cor. 2:3), is possible only when the congregation cooperates by submitting to the Scriptural instruction of God-appointed leaders.

But, when God’s people stubbornly disobey, endless complain and quarrel, or publicly attack their spiritual leaders, the joys of pastoral leadership quickly diminish and may disappear entirely. According to recent surveys, around 42% of pastors have seriously considered quitting ministry within the last year, which translates to a significant number of pastors contemplating leaving their positions, though the exact number of pastors who actually left in 2023 is not readily available due to the lack of comprehensive data on pastor turnover.

Conflict over COVID, over politics, over ethical issues, over interpretations of Scripture, you name it, it is rampant in churches today. Yet those are just the surface issues. Underneath it all are sins like pride, spiritual and emotional immaturity, change and inflexibility, abuses of power and unclear authority (https://www.bmbaonline.org/blog/2020/8/27/seven-causes-of-church-conflict).

When church members refuse to listen to their leader’s warnings of aberrant teaching, unacceptable behaviors, and disrespectful attitudes, the leaders groan in distress. The word groan expresses painful, frustrated emotion, even grief that words are unable to fully articulate (Mark 7:34; Rom. 8:23, 26).

Moses groaned many times because of the folly of the people’s complaints and blatant unbelief. At one point, the people’s complaining became so intolerable that Moses called on God to take his life: “I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness” (Num. 11:14-15).

Paul also groaned and shed many tears because of the disobedience or waywardness of some of the people in his churches. Church work is not easy.

All leaders know this pain. Phillips Brooks, one-time Episcopal Bishop of Boston, said:
To be a true minister to men is always to accept new happiness and new distress. . . . The man who gives himself to other men can never be a wholly sad man; but no more can he be a man of unclouded gladness. To him shall come with every deeper consecration a before untasted joy, but in the same cup shall be mixed a sorrow that it was beyond his power to feel before. (Phillips Brooks, The Influence of Jesus (London: H. R. Allenson, 1895), p. 91)

A heart that can know and accept such pain is a glory to God.

O give us hearts to love like Thee,
Like Thee, O Lord, to grieve
Far more for others’ sins than all
The wrongs that we receive.

When the members refuse to obey and fail to respect their leaders, the work in the church becomes burdensome. The members ought to realize that neither they nor the leaders own the church. The church belongs to Jesus Christ, to whom the readers are responsible. Should they make the work and life of the leaders difficult, they would be the losers. (William Hendriksen & Simon J. Kistemaker, NT Commentary: Hebrews, 426-7)

That is what this last statement is about: “for that would be of no advantage to you.” When church members cause leaders to groan under the burdens of a resistant or rebellious congregation, then everyone loses. In other words, it’s a spiritual disaster. While disobedience distresses the leader, it has an even more serious impact on the resistant believer. This is the final reason why church members should “obey” and “submit to” their leaders.

This is a classic understatement: it would “be of no advantage to you” really means that it would be an extreme disadvantage to you. It is a figure of speech called a litotes, which uses a milder negative statement in place of a stronger, positive one. It is the opposite of a hyperbole. The expression is designed to cause the reader to stop dead in their tracks and think real hard about the negative impact not only to the leaders, but even to themselves and to the whole church. Stated positively, it would read, “that would be disastrous to you.”

An individual who understands submission to spiritual authority is humble, full of love, unselfish, accountable and personally responsible. Conversely, a person who rejects submission to spiritual authority is prideful, full of criticism, selfish, self-ruled, and spiritually irresponsible.

To put oneself outside the teaching and watch care of God’s chosen shepherds is dangerous business. God may severely chastise the disobedient believer (1 Cor. 11:29-34), the devil may delude their minds (2 Cor. 11:3) or a bitter spirit may set in, halting all spiritual growth and Christlike maturity. So the concluding remark is, as William Lane remarks, “a sober reminder that the welfare of the community is tied to the quality of their response to their current leaders” (William Lane, Hebrews, 2:556).

This explains why some churches remain stuck as a small church, because pastors come and go based upon the poor response they receive from the congregation. Matriarchs and patriarchs actually rule the church and oppose anything the new pastor might do to change the church.
Human nature tends to view leaders with suspicion. Don’t fall into that trap. Cultivate a bent to trusting your leaders, because that will not only make their serious job easier, but it will be better for you too. You can be involved in a virtuous cycle or a vicious cycle. The virtuous cycle goes like this: happy sheep make happy shepherds, and happy shepherds make for happy sheep. Everyone wins. The vicious cycle goes like this: unhappy sheep make for unhappy shepherds, and unhappy shepherds make for unhappy sheep. Everyone loses.

As Jared Wilson puts it:

It is my goal now, for as long as God would have me simply as a sheep and not a shepherd, to be as low-maintenance as I can manage for my church. When my pastor sees me coming … I want him not to inwardly sigh or tense up or have to marshal some extra patience or energy but to relax a little, smile, and feel safe…

Good church folks love, respect, and submit to their pastors.

This does not mean idolizing them, treating them like celebrities, or becoming yes-men. It doesn’t mean becoming our pastor’s rubber stamp committee. But it does mean giving grace not just to your fellow sheep but also to your shepherds. In fact, they may need more, as the responsibilities they carry are more burdensome and they will have to give a greater account before God. Submitting to your leaders means repenting of the impulse to “yes, but” everything they say, especially if what they say isn’t sinful. In matters of differences of opinion, it means being circumspect in how we voice our own.

…How can we work toward our leaders’ joy and not their anxiety? It’s no advantage to us to be a nagging pain to our pastors. They will have to give an account for how they pastored us. And we’ll have to give an account for how well we presented ourselves to be pastored.

Stick with Jesus, part 2 (Hebrews 13:11-16)

All throughout the book of Hebrews the author has been warning, encouraging and pleading with these Jewish Christians not to abandon their faith in Jesus and return back to the Jewish religious system with its sacrifices. The passage we have before us today refers back to those sacrifices, particularly the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and the point is made that since that sacrifice happened “outside the camp” (v. 11), then we are to “go to [Jesus] outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured” (v. 13).

11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

The imagery shifts from the perennial peace offerings to the annual Day of Atonement sacrifices, when the high priest entered the Most Holy Place, carrying blood to atone first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people (9:7, 25). This annual rite has been contrasted with the self-sacrifice of Christ, who brought his own blood into the heavenly sanctuary, atoning for sins once for all (9:24-28; 10:10-14).

Now our attention is directed to what happened to the carcasses of the animals after their blood was brought into God’s presence. Whereas the meat of peace offerings could be consumed by priests and worshipers after the Lord’s best portions were consumed on the altar, on the Day of Atonement the whole bull and goat from which atoning blood had been taken were carried outside Israel’s camp and completely incinerated. They were destroyed “outside the camp,” the realm of what was unclean, unfit to be seen by the Lord, who “walks in the midst of your camp” (Deut. 23:14; cf. also Lev. 13:45-46; Num. 5:1-4).

The bodies of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, were taken outside the camp after they were judged and killed for offering up strange fire on the altar. If someone blasphemed God they were stoned outside the camp (Lev. 24:14, 23). When Miriam, the sister of Moses, was stricken with leprosy, she had to spend seven days outside the camp (Num. 12:14ff.). After the sins of the people were symbolically laid on the head of the scapegoat it had to be taken outside the camp (Lev. 16).
Eventually Jerusalem itself was considered holy ground. Everything beyond its borders was considered unholy or profane. Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified, was considered outside the city.

The road to Calvary

Golgotha site photographed in about 1870.

The association of territory “outside the camp” with defilement and banishment from God’s holy presence explains the theological significance of the fact that Jesus was crucified “outside the gate” of Jerusalem (cf. John 19:16-17). He endured God’s wrath as he bore others’ sin in his body on the tree (Matt. 27:46; Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Pet. 2:24). By bearing our guilt and absorbing its penalty, this “holy, innocent, unstained” High Priest (Heb. 7:26) endured sin’s curse (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13) and thereby “sanctified” all believers by his blood. Throughout this sermon, “sanctify” (hagiazō; Heb. 2:11; 10:10, 14), “cleanse” (katharizō; 9:14, 23), and “perfect” (teleioō; 7:19; 9:9; 101, 14) have designated the purging from defilement that now qualifies worshipers to approach God’s holy presence.

Jesus’ sacrifice sanctifies his people so that they may respond to divine grace with thankful and reverent worship (12:28), standing in God’s presence as priests and offering sacrifices pleasing to him (13:15-16).

Our author is communicating two great things: (1) All those who remained committed to the old Jewish system were excluded from the benefit of partaking of Christ’s atoning death. And, (2) Jesus’ death outside the camp means that he is accessible to anyone in the world who will come to him.
Jesus’ crucifixion outside Jerusalem represented not only his forsakenness by God but also his repudiation by the Jewish community, “his own” people (Mark 15:9-15, 29-32; John 1:11; Acts 3:13-15). Jesus bore “our reproach” (v. 13).

When he says that Jesus died “outside the city,” he means He died outside Judaism. The Lord was utterly rejected by Israel. Judaism didn’t want Him. He was taken OUTSIDE and crucified–as if He were refuse. Therefore, His death was totally outside the Jewish system; utterly removed from it. (C. S. Lovett, Lovett’s Lights on Hebrews, 331)

Jesus did faithfully prepare his disciples to endure the same rejection he had endured (Luke 6:22; John 16:2), and indeed they were rejected (John 9:22, 33; 12:42; Acts 18:5-7). To follow after Jesus is to carry one’s cross toward shameful death (Mark 8:23; Heb. 12:2). Now the recipients of this letter must be prepared to share the reproach that Jesus endured, just as Moses did long ago (Heb. 11:24-26). To join Jesus “outside the camp” may demand that one forgo access to the Jerusalem temple, acceptance in local synagogues, and acknowledgment by one’s own family (Matt. 10:35-38).
For the Christian there must be a real identification with Christ and his shame; he must enter into a genuine “fellowship of Christ’s sufferings (Phil 3:10), and be willing even, like the first martyr Stephen, to lay down his life for his Lord and Savior “outside the city” (Acts 7:58). The recipients of this letter had gone forth “outside the camp” to associate themselves with Christ and his cross; but now their resolve is weakening and they are being tempted to turn back in the hope of finding an easier and more respectable existence “inside the camp.” (Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, 580)

There was and even is today a price to be paid in following Jesus which the Jews of that age did not have to bear. But as Jesus was despised, so would be His disciples. The question is: Are we willing to pay the price?

Spurgeon said: “A sorry life your Master had, you see. All the filth in earth’s kennels was thrown at him by sacrilegious hands. No epithet was thought coarse enough; no terms hard enough; he was the song of the drunkard, and they that sat in the gate spoke against him. This was the reproach of Christ; and we are not to marvel if we bear as much. ‘Well,’ says one, ‘I will not be a Christian if I am to bear that.’ Skulk back, then, you coward, to your own damnation; but oh! Men that love God, and who seek after the eternal reward, I pray you do not shrink from this cross. You must bear it.”
Pursuing Jesus “outside the camp” comes at a price.

Yet one OT passage foreshadows the privilege now enjoyed by those who go “outside the camp” for Jesus’ sake. After Israel’s adultery with the golden calf, the Israelites’ defilement was so pervasive that Moses had to pitch the tent of meeting “outside the camp” (Exod. 33:7-11). That became the place where people went to meet with God. Because of institutional Judaism’s repudiation of the Messiah, the spheres of the holy community and the polluted wasteland have been reversed. Those unwelcome in earthly Jerusalem’s temple and expelled from synagogues have become heirs of God’s unshakable kingdom and citizens of “the city that is to come.” Admittedly, “here we [followers of Jesus] have no lasting city.” But within a few years, in AD 70, Roman troops would destroy Jerusalem and its temple on Mount Zion. That city, which the psalmists had extolled for its security (Psalm 48, 87), would lie in ruins. When compared to the promise of being welcomed into the coming city that abides forever, to be expelled from a community that has turned its back on God’s grace in Christ is no great loss.

There thus remains only one thing to do, and so the writer exhorts us: “Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (vv. 13, 14). Guthrie sees verse 13 as the crux of the conclusion, a final direct appeal to the readers to identify themselves wholly with Christ.” In other words, he says, “Christians, join Jesus in his sufferings!”

The cities of the earth—all earthly institutions—will fall apart. Only the heavenly Zion will remain. We must go, flee to him outside the camp, and willfully embrace his “reproach,” for such an act is worth doing a million times over! Thus Jesus Christ, who is “the same yesterday and today and forever,” becomes our constant meal—our food, our drink, our life—and we will receive from him grace upon grace upon grace. And because he is outside the camp, he will always be accessible. In fact, he is with us, in us, and coming to us! This understanding that he nourishes us and is accessible to us will help us stay on course.

The good news is that for those who bear His reproach, this world is the worst they will ever have it. The best is yet to come! But for cowards who turn their back on Jesus, this life is the absolute best they will ever have it.

May we not say, too, that the Son who invites us to join him “outside the camp” himself first left the “camp” of heaven, which is the true and abiding camp and to which he returned in triumph; and that he came to our unholy ground for the purpose of removing the defilement of his people and for the consecration and renewal of the whole creation, so that in the eternity of his glorious kingdom all will be one “camp,” one “city,” without blemish and without bounds, because there will no longer be any such things as unholy territory, and the harmony of heaven and earth, of God and man, will be established forevermore? (Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, 582-3)

Christ went outside the city gate and suffered. We must go after him, and to him. This means we have to relinquish all the privileges of the camp and the city for his sake. We have to leave them behind and go to him. We must cling by faith to his sacrifice and through this sanctification, in place of all the sacrifices of the law. We must own him under all that reproach and contempt that were heaped on him during his suffering outside the gate. We must not be ashamed of the cross of Christ. (John Owen, Crossway Classic Commentaries: Hebrews, 264)

It was time for Jewish Christians to declare their loyalty to Christ above any other loyalty, to choose to follow the Messiah whatever suffering that might entail, to “go out to him outside the camp.” They needed to move outside the safe confinement of their past, their traditions, and their ceremonies to live for Christ. Since Jesus was rejected by Judaism, they should reject Judaism. (Bruce Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Hebrews, 238)

First, to the Hebrews to whom this letter was addressed, they are being told that as long as they remain within old covenant Judaism they cannot eat at the altar of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. They must leave the old covenant and embrace the new covenant. If they are to share in the salvation that Christ has obtained they must renounce their trust and confidence in the sacrifices and rituals of the old covenant system and put their hope and trust in Jesus Christ who is himself the fulfillment of all that came before. They must sever themselves from the now outmoded Mosaic system and cleave unto Christ in whom that system has been fulfilled. Don’t look to the priesthood of Aaron. Don’t put your hope in the feasts and rituals of the old covenant. Put your trust entirely in him to whom all such religious practices pointed: Jesus!

Second, we are also being called to share in the reproach that Jesus endured (v. 13). Today we don’t have a literal “camp” or “city” outside of which we are to go. So the “camp” must represent or symbolize something else for us. I think it points to everything we regard as safe and secure and respectable. To go “outside the camp” is to move beyond the comfort and acceptance that this world offers us. Inside the camp, inside the city gates, is where we find familiarity and ease and affirmation and respect from this world and its value system. To follow Jesus outside the camp is to embrace and bear the shame and reproach he suffered. To join Jesus outside the camp is to willingly identify with him in his suffering and to move out among the lost and unbelieving people of this world. It’s only outside the camp that we will find the unreached people of the world.

And the only thing that makes this a reasonable thing to do is the simple but glorious truth stated in v. 14. There we read that we do this “because” here “we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (v. 14). We can joyfully embrace the reproach that Jesus himself endured because we are looking for the city to come, the heavenly Jerusalem that God has prepared for his people who trust him and put their hope in him.

Perhaps the Jews were trying to entice the Hebrew Christians back into the Jewish fold by saying, “We have Jerusalem, but you have no such glorious city!” The author says, “Oh, but we do have a city! Ours is the same city that Abraham and the patriarchs were seeking, that heavenly city that God prepared for them and us” (11:13-16). After 70 A.D. these Jews would no longer be able to claim Jerusalem for themselves.

The religious leaders clung to the city of Jerusalem and cast Jesus from it. They surely did not realize that within a short span of some forty years the city of Jerusalem and the temple they trusted in would be totally destroyed. On the Temple Mount platform there would not be one stone left standing upon another exactly according to Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:2.

This concept of a heavenly city and heavenly reward is something we’ve seen repeatedly in Hebrews. Do you recall in Hebrews 10:34 that Christians are described as having “joyfully accepted the plundering” of their property because they knew they “had a better possession and an abiding one”? They were seeking a city that is to come; a city that has foundations; the eternal and heavenly Jerusalem on the new earth. Knowing this was theirs, they gladly suffered for the sake of aiding and supporting other Christians. It was a permanent possession that could never be taken away from them.

We saw it in Hebrews 11:25-26 where Moses “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” The reward is the heavenly Jerusalem, the place of God’s eternal dwelling with his people on the new earth.

And what is to be our response to this pursuit of Christ into a life with pain and suffering?

15 Through him [Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Verse 15 says it is a life of praise to God — real, heartfelt, verbal praise — the kind that comes out of your mouth as the fruit and overflow of your heart.

In ancient days some Jewish rabbis believed that the time would come when all sacrifices would cease and instead there would be praises. Also, the First Century Jewish writer Philo spoke of a time when the best sacrifice would be the ones glorifying God with hymns. Indeed, in Psalm 50:23 it is written: “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me, to the one who orders his way righty, I will show the salvation of God.”

Scholars feel the “fruit of lips” is taken from Hosea 14:2. In the Hebrew of this verse it reads literally “the young bulls of our lips” (par-im se-fa-te-nu). Praise is indeed like a sacrifice, that costs us something.

When our author refers to this worship as a “sacrifice,” it is an analogy that we’ve seen Paul and Peter use (Romans 12:2; 1 Peter 2:9). Under the New Covenant the sacrifices are no longer physical, but spiritual—the praise of our lips to the God who saved us.

In the words of Warren Wiersbe, “The words of praise from our lips, coming from our heart, are like beautiful frit laid on the altar” (The Wiersbe Bible Commentqry: New Testament, p. 844).
So we are to offer sacrifices…sacrifices of praise. This exhortation can only rightly be exercised “through him,” that is, through Jesus. It is only because of Him and what He has done for us that we have something to praise God for.

It is praise “to God,” certainly not to ourselves. We did absolutely nothing to deserve or gain our salvation. And this praise is to be “continuous,” why? Because of all that God has done for us through Christ. As we noticed in 12:28, worship is always our most natural response to our redemption. Praise, therefore, should be our constant habit. There should hardly be a moment when our lips are not trembling with praise for how kindly and graciously and tenderly and mercifully our God has dealt with us through His Son Jesus Christ.

This praise is further clarified as “the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name,” that is praise that publicly affirms our trust in Jesus Christ, acknowledging Him as our Savior and Lord.
The second response we should have toward our redemption in Christ is to love one another, a theme that began in verse 1, but here it is spelled out in very practical terms.

16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

These works of “doing good” and “sharing what you have” would likely include the hospitality mentioned in Hebrews 13:2, as well as the ministry to prisoners in Hebrews 13:3. “Doing good” today can include a number of ministries: sharing food with the needy, transporting people to and from church or medical appointments, contributing to needy causes; perhaps just being a helpful neighbor.

Our highest aspiration as those being “conformed” to the image of Jesus, is to live a life that is “pleasing to God.” In my mind, pleasing God goes a step beyond obeying God. We obey the explicit commands or prohibitions of God, while we please God by knowing His heart well enough to know not so much what He demands, but what He desires.

When we go with Jesus to the place of his sacrifice outside the camp, we see more clearly than ever that his sacrifice for us — the sacrifice of himself, once for all for sinners (Hebrews 9:26, 28) — brings to an end all sacrifices except for two kinds: the sacrifice of praise to God (verse 15) and the sacrifice of love to people (verse 16).

Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian were killed on January, 1956, in Ecuador, moving toward the need of the Auca Indians and not toward comfort.

Shortly before their deaths on Palm Beach they sang this hymn. Elliot writes,
At the close of their prayers the five men sang one of their favorite hymns, “We Rest on Thee,” to the stirring tune of “Finlandia.” Jim and Ed had sung this hymn since college days and knew the verses by heart. On the last verse their voices rang out with deep conviction.

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender,
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise,
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor
Victors, we rest with Thee through endless days.

With that confidence, they went to Jesus outside the camp. They moved toward need, not comfort, and they died. And Jim Elliot’s credo proved true: “He is no fool to give what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” “Here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come” (Hebrews 13:14).

Stick with Jesus, part 2 (Hebrews 13:11-16)

Eventually Jerusalem itself was considered holy ground. Everything beyond its borders was considered unholy or profane. Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified, was considered outside the city.

Golgotha site photographed in about 1870.

For the Christian there must be a real identification with Christ and his shame; he must enter into a genuine “fellowship of Christ’s sufferings (Phil 3:10), and be willing even, like the first martyr Stephen, to lay down his life for his Lord and Savior “outside the city” (Acts 7:58). The recipients of this letter had gone forth “outside the camp” to associate themselves with Christ and his cross; but now their resolve is weakening and they are being tempted to turn back in the hope of finding an easier and more respectable existence “inside the camp.” (Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, 580)

And what is to be our response to this pursuit of Christ into a life with pain and suffering?

Verse 15 says it is a life of praise to God — real, heartfelt, verbal praise — the kind that comes out of your mouth as the fruit and overflow of your heart.

In the words of Warren Wiersbe, “The words of praise from our lips, coming from our heart, are like beautiful frit laid on the altar” (The Wiersbe Bible Commentqry: New Testament, p. 844).

So we are to offer sacrifices…sacrifices of praise. This exhortation can only rightly be exercised “through him,” that is, through Jesus. It is only because of Him and what He has done for us that we have something to praise God for.

This praise is further clarified as “the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name,” that is praise that publicly affirms our trust in Jesus Christ, acknowledging Him as our Savior and Lord.

The second response we should have toward our redemption in Christ is to love one another, a theme that began in verse 1, but here it is spelled out in very practical terms.

16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian were killed on January, 1956, in Ecuador, moving toward the need of the Auca Indians and not toward comfort.

Shortly before their deaths on Palm Beach they sang this hymn. Elliot writes, At the close of their prayers the five men sang one of their favorite hymns, “We Rest on Thee,” to the stirring tune of “Finlandia.” Jim and Ed had sung this hymn since college days and knew the verses by heart. On the last verse their voices rang out with deep conviction.

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender,
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise,
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor
Victors, we rest with Thee through endless days.

Stick to Jesus, part 1 (Hebrews 13:9-10)

If you are to go on a wilderness journey, you will need more than a guide or a map and compass. You will need the realization that you are entering into a hazardous world. There are many dangers to be aware of. In the Christian life, teachers are one such danger.

Our author has just expressed how his readers were to regard their former teachers: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7). Those teachers, however, would not always be around, only Jesus remains the same (Heb. 13:8).

The New Testament era, just like ours, was rife with all kinds of heresies infecting the church. Paul warns the Ephesian elders about this in Acts 20:29, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock…” We are “he sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 100:3) and need shepherds to guide us. As sheep, we are vulnerable to many dangers. False teachers are like wolves that come in and drag off the sheep into the forest never to be seen again, so our author says, “Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them” (Heb. 13:9).

The church is always at risk of being “led away” (or “washed away,” as in a river current; cf. Eph. 4:15) by “diverse and strange teachings.” During the apostolic age, some denied Christ’s incarnation (1 John 4:1-3), while others emphasized ascetic self-denial and mystical visions (Col. 2:8, 16-23).
These false teachers not only exist outside the church, but in our very midst as well. Paul warned the elders at Ephesus, “from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:30). The elders, therefore, were to “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:38). False teachers are not only out there; they are also in here. And today, with our access to podcasts and YouTube false teaching can easily enter our inboxes and our homes.

While in the Philippines this past week one of the places we visited was Faith Academy. In their fine arts center the letter “F” on the word “Faith” had broken off and they joked, tongue-in-cheek, about deconstructed faith. Unfortunately that is not a laughing matter, as progressive Christianity has infiltrated many Christian churches.

Michael Kruger (https://rts.edu/resources/what-is-progressive-christianity/) identifies these problems with progressive Christianity: (1) a low view of Christ, emphasizing only that He is a moral example for us to follow; (2) a low view of salvation, focusing on moralism (good works) and being a good person rather than confessing that we are sinners in need of a Savior; (3) downplays our fallenness and sin altogether. Also, they argue that Christ’s death on the cross as a satisfaction of God’s wrath against our sin is “cosmic sadism” and they argue against the reality of hell.

The church throughout the centuries has faced many heresies and today battles liberalism, secularism and postmodernism. These seek to “lead us away” from our purity of devotion to Christ. That is why our author firmly commands us “Do not be led away.”

We do not know exactly what this false teaching was for the Hebrew church. We do know that it was (1) diverse, (2) strange, (3) involved more than one kind of teaching (note the plural), and (4) involved foods and eating. Thus, it was some strange teaching that combined esoteric eating practices with their Christian faith, designed either to make them into Christians or become better Christians.

The ESV Study Bible explains: “The central concern appears to be doctrines about foods (9:10; Rom. 14:17; Col. 2:16-17; 1 Tim. 4:3; cf. 1 Cor. 8:13). The author argues against such doctrines by: (1) juxtaposing them with grace (which truly nourishes the heart); (2) noting that special foods are of no spiritual benefit (cf. 1 Cor. 8:8); and (3) observing that the Christian altar is better than the food of the tabernacle. This may indicate that some Jewish notions (perhaps in a syncretistic mix) are being combated. Unlike most OT offerings, the tabernacle priests could not eat the sin offering from the Day of Atonement, since it was burned outside the camp (Lev. 16:27). However, all Christians partake of the Christian altar (i.e., Jesus’ sacrifice). Some see a reference to the Lord’s Supper here, while others view this as a broader reference to the saving results of the shedding of Jesus’ blood.

One way to recognize false teaching is simply by understanding that it is “strange” (ξέναις). In other words, it lies outside the familiar teachings that had been passed down to them from the apostles (Heb. 2:3-4). Whenever someone comes up with a completely novel interpretation of Scripture that “no one else has ever discovered,” we should treat it like the Bereans did when exposed to Paul’s teaching. Even though Paul was an entrusted apostle, they still kept “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11b). This reminds us that the way to be able to spot false teachings is to so immerse ourselves in truth so that errors are easily spotted.

Haddon Robinson illustrates this truth in his book Biblical Preaching: “A Chinese boy who wanted to learn about jade went to study with a talented old teacher. This gentle man put a piece of the precious stone into his hand and told him to hold it tight. Then he began to talk of philosophy, men, women, the sun and almost everything under it. After an hour he took back the stone and sent the boy home. The procedure was repeated for several weeks. The boy became frustrated. When would he be told about the jade? He was too polite, however, to question the wisdom of his venerable teacher. Then one day, when the old man put a stone into his hands, the boy cried out instinctively, ‘That’s not jade!'”

A teaching that is “old” might be less appealing than something that is new and shiny. The fundamental reason that we should be wary of “strange” teachings is because Jesus himself never changes. He is “the same yesterday today and forever” (v. 8). If Jesus is the same and doesn’t change, then we should never embrace radical new teachings about Him that lie in opposition to what the Bible, and historical interpretation, teaches.

What the author likely has in view here in this strange teaching about foods is what the whole book has been about from the beginning, which is that certain teachers wanted these Jewish people who had been exposed to Christianity to now go back to the old ways of Judaism, including its laws about food. Is God pleased with you when you eat unclean foods? These teachers were warning them that their diet was damning them and that they needed to go back to Judaism and its food laws.
But it is actually and only through Jesus Christ alone that anyone can become clean and acceptable to God. And while we understand (even more so today) that certain foods are more healthy for us to eat than others, whether we eat red meat or are vegetarians, whether we eat salt or sugar, or use substitutes, those are all for our physical health and have nothing to do with our spiritual condition. Paul says the same in 1 Corinthians 8:8: “Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off [spiritually] if we do not eat, and no better off [spiritually] if we do.”

So we are being warned here in Hebrews 13 not to elevate issues of diet and nutrition and certain kinds of food and drink to a place where we begin to put our hope in them for our spiritual well-being and acceptance with God rather than in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The reason that these readers were to avoid being led away by these strange teachings is that
“it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them” (Heb. 13:9). It is possible that the author has in mind “the peace offerings that symbolized communion between the Lord and his people, since the meat of the sacrificed animal was shared by the Lord (blood sprinkled, fat and entrails burned), the priests, and the Israelite worshipers themselves (Lev. 3:1-17; 7:11-16). Such a fellowship meal in the OT sanctuary was rich in symbolism, but, since it conformed to “regulations for the body” (Heb. 9:10) that were temporary and external, it is no longer appropriate for new covenant believers. Now, believers under the New Covenant feed spiritually on Jesus Christ who is our Peace Offering.

It is grace which strengthens the believer’s heart, not subscription to rules and the avoidance of prohibited foods. There is no room now for material sacrifices, animal offerings, sacred meals and hallowed altars. All that is over and gone. Christians have determined to give central importance to one great aspect of their faith: Christ died for them. He was sacrificed for us and shed, not the blood of bulls, but his own blood. Those who stay within the narrow confines of Judaism and serve its tent, or tabernacle, can derive no benefit from the only sacrifice which really matters. (Raymond Brown, The Bible Speaks Today: Hebrews, 257)

Those Old Testament food offerings do not “strengthen” the heart, but rather the grace of God as expressed through the once-for-all, effective offering of Jesus Christ is what strengthens or establishes the heart.

Today, as Paul did long ago, we need to realize that all the food laws and all the sacrificial practices have been fulfilled in Christ (cf. Matt. 15:11; Mk. 7:18-23; Acts 10:15; Col. 2:16-23).

What does now “strengthen” (or “establish”: bebaioō; cf. 2:3; 6:19) the heart is God’s grace, received through faith in Jesus. By God’s grace Jesus tasted death on behalf of every believer (2:9), so that through him we can always draw near to God’s throne of grace to find grace (4:16).

Our author indicates for us how beneficial going to Jesus and His grace will be for us. He says “it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.” Because it is “good” it should be something that we want, that we desire and pursue after.

A heart “strengthened” is the opposite of one that is “carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14) or “led away” (Heb. 13:9). There is no legalism in grace; grace is all that God affords us because of what Christ did, not because of anything that we do. Christ’s efficacy is the basis for God’s grace toward us. Thus, salvation is all of God and not of us. Grace assures the believer of eternal salvation. A person who believes this is “strengthened or established by grace.”

Our author emphasizes that there are not two ways to gain spiritual strengthening and life—through Christ and through foods—when he emphasizes, “not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them” (Heb. 13:9).

Instead of going to the temple altar “We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat” (Heb. 9:10). The priests used to eat from the altar, eating certain parts of the animal sacrifices. But our author points to a better altar, a heavenly altar, one “from which those who serve the tent (the priests) have no right to eat.” Even those highly privileged in the Old Testament to eat from the earthly altar are forbidden to eat from this altar because on this altar is Jesus Christ and the only way to partake of Him is by grace through faith. Unbelieving Jews “have no right to eat” of (feed on) Christ, who was sacrificed on that cross altar.

“The old system of the tabernacle accomplishes nothing eternal, nothing spiritual, and nothing that can contribute to our salvation or sanctification. It never has in any permanent way. Christians have an altar completely distinct from the system of animal sacrifices at the tabernacle. Here “altar” is used as an image for the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Those who exchange the full atonement of the cross of Christ for the temporal, ritual cleansing of animal sacrifices thumb their noses at the Messiah” (Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights: Hebrews, 221).

“Christians had none of the visible apparatus which in those days was habitually associated with religion and worship–no sacred buildings, no altars, no sacrificing priest. Their pagan neighbors thought they had no God, and called them atheists; their Jewish neighbors, too, might criticize them for having no visible means of spiritual support” (F. F. Bruce, The New International Commentary on the NT: Hebrews, 379). So our author here wants to encourage his readers that true faith in Jesus Christ, though it has so little visible, external support (Heb. 11) it is nonetheless real and powerful and is our real strength.

For the writer, [our] altar is the cross on which Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice to God. And to the Christian the cross is a symbol that represents the completed work of redemption. As the author of Hebrews repeatedly confirms, Christ offered his sacrifice once for all (9:25, 26, 28; 10:9, 12, 14). The clause we have an altar, then, stands for the cross, which symbolizes the redemption Christ offers his people. (William Hendriksen & Simon J. Kistemaker, NT Commentary: Hebrews, 418)

Grace only goes to the humble, who know they do not deserve it and can never earn it so they instead rest in faith, they “dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. This is the spiritual law behind Proverbs 3:34, which James 4:6 quotes: “‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’” In our weakness, grace strengthens us.

In every one of Paul’s letters he opens by saying, “Grace be unto you.” And he concludes each of his letters with the same statement that we find in Hebrews 13:25 – “Grace be to you.” In other words, as you open God’s Word and read its contents, “grace” comes to you. Grace is the power of God released into your life through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. God wants your “heart” is to be “strengthened” by the power of His grace.

So we feed on Christ instead of the animal sacrifices. “We are allowed to feed on the sacrifice offered up for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole people of God. And we thus have a far higher privilege in reference to sacred food, not merely than the Israelites, but even than the priests themselves enjoyed. Such seems to me the general meaning of the passage” (John Brown, Geneva Series Commentaries: Hebrews, 697-8).

Jesus told us in John 6:51, “ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

“God knows that the greatest battle His church faces is purity of doctrine, because that is the basis of everything else. Every bad practice, every bad act, every bad standard of conduct, can be traced [back] to bad belief. The end result of the work of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, and of believers becoming unified in the faith and maturing in Christ, is that “we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Eph 4:14). A church that is not sound in doctrine is unstable and vulnerable” (John MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur NT Commentary: Hebrews, 436-7)

Posted by Melissa Taylor on FaceBook, 12/4/24

This passage is encouraging believers not to be deceived. The sad reality is that we 21st century Christians are even more easily deceived than the ancients, even though we have the completed Scriptures and two thousand years of solid theological and biblical teaching. But we are gullible and naïve, believing everything that internet tells us. We fail to test this against the Word because we know so little of the Bible or sound doctrine.

If you are faltering and your heart needs to be strengthened, don’t put your trust in any laws or principles or rules or ten steps, but reinforce your faith in Jesus Christ. Go to the Scriptures and allow God’s grace to inflame your heart and inform your mind so that your faith grows.

Jesus has fulfilled the sacrificial system of the old covenant. It does no one any good any longer to trust in those blood offerings or to eat the meat of the sacrificial animals. Most of us are not doing that, but we might be trusting in our religious faithfulness, our baptism, our perfect attendance, our spiritual disciplines. Rather, one must now come to the only altar where full forgiveness and salvation may be found: the cross of Jesus Christ. And when you come to that altar, eat all the grace you can get!

Follow the Leader, part 2 (Hebrews 13:8)

We talked last week about remembering and imitating the faith of our leaders. For the Hebrews, some, maybe most, of those leaders were now gone, likely having been martyred for their faith. The reality is for all of us that our pastors come and go, and some of them fall into sin. We’ve seen that happen far too often among pastors we have respected and loved lately.

Not only will our leaders change, but the religious landscape around us will change. All of us who are older know that our culture has gotten “worse and worse” (2 Tim. 3:13). So Jesus’ unchanging character not only encourages them in the midst of losing good leaders but also admonishes them to stay true to the faith and not follow “diverse and strange teachings” (Heb. 13:9). If Jesus does not change, we should be wary of any new teachings.

“Jesus Christ” was the center of the message that the leaders had preached to these hearers (cf. v. 7). That message and its Hero is what this writer had urged his readers not to abandon. The leaders had preached the Word of God to these readers, and that preaching culminated in Jesus Christ.

All the changes that we face is why it is so important to keep our eyes and trust on Jesus Christ. Everything, and I mean everything else changes. Some of those changes upset us. That is why it is so comforting that “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). So we need most to follow our real Leader, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the midst of this ever-changing environment, it is good to remember that there is one thing that never changes — and that is Jesus Christ! He was in the past exactly who He is in the present and precisely who He will be forever! That’s why Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”

Here, the very same Old Testament Scriptures and wording that describe God the Father’s immutableness are applied directly to Christ (cf. Psalm 102:27 and Hebrews 1:12; Isaiah 48:12 and Revelation 1:17).

The later admonition to “obey your leaders and submit to them” (13:17) may imply that some in the congregation have not transitioned well from the first generation to the present leadership. If any were troubled over the loss of those who once shepherded them, they must realize that their great shepherd is and always will be with them: “Jesus Christ is the same [ho autos] yesterday and today and forever.” The OT citations showing the Son’s divine superiority to angels at the start of this sermon included Psalm 102:25-27, in which the Son is contrasted with the created heavens and earth: “They will perish, but you remain. . . . You are the same [ho autos], and your years will have no end” (Heb. 1:10-12).

The created order’s mutability has touched his hearers’ experience in the death of their shepherds, but the divine Son, Jesus Christ, remains “the same,” unchangeable and eternal. That divine Son has become the incarnate Son, has undergone temptation and suffering and death, and has emerged triumphant “by the power of an indestructible life” (7:16) to become and remain a “priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek” (7:17). If the death of trusted human shepherds has contributed to the hearers’ weariness and faintheartedness, they must realize that they have a “great shepherd” whom God “brought again from the dead” (13:20). He “always lives to make intercession for them” (7:25) and keeps his word, promising, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” which he expressed in other words to his awestruck disciples after his resurrection: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). (ESV Expository Commentary).

Some of these readers might have experienced Jesus while he was still alive, but for most of them they had no first-hand experience with Christ. But the Jesus seated at the right hand of God is the same Jesus who walked on earth and the same Jesus who will come again for us.

Everything around us changes. We humans change most of all. Our moods sweeten or sour, our ability to work lessens as we age, we age and fall ill and eventually we die. Jesus does not. He always lives and is always the same.

Yesterday Jesus “offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death” (5:7). Today he is a high priest before the Father who is able to sympathize with our weakness because “in every respect [he] has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (4:15). And forever this same Jesus “always lives to make intercession for them” (7:25). “Our priest is eternally the same and eternally contemporary. We need not fear opinion changes or mood swings in Jesus!” (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: Hebrews, vol. 2, 228).

But what does that mean? What does it mean to say that Jesus is the “same” no matter what time or season it is? This is what theologians call “immutability.” That is, God does not change in His essence (character), His will or His plans or His promises. There is no variableness, no “shadow of turning” (James 1:17) in Christ.

“[Immutability] means that, being perfect, God cannot and does not change. In order to change, a moral being must change in either of two ways. Either he must change for the better or he must change for the worse. God cannot get better, because that would mean that He was less than perfect earlier, in which case He would not have been God. But God cannot get worse either, because in that case He would become imperfect, which He cannot be. God is and must remain perfect in all His attributes” (James Montgomery Boice, Minor Prophets, Volume 2, p. 600).

When we say that Jesus is always and ever the same and that he never changes we aren’t thinking of immutability in the way we apply that term to the Rock of Gibraltar. The Rock of Gibraltar is a very real place off the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, was known in myths and history as a solid, stable entity that could not be moved.

John MacArthur has written: “Immutability does not mean that God is static or inert, nor does it mean that He does not act distinctly in time or possess true affections. God is impassible—not in the sense that he is devoid of true feeling or has no affections but in the sense that His emotions are active and deliberate expressions of His holy dispositions, not (as is often the case with human emotions) involuntary passions by which He is driven.”

God is solid and stable, like a rock, and we can depend upon Him in any and every circumstance. But rocks don’t have sense or feelings. Jesus is alive and feels and thinks and responds to circumstances.

Jesus Christ did “become flesh” (John 1:14) but did not cease to be God. God is willing and able to be reconciled to former enemies through the cross (Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
The Greek word for the “same” emphatically states that Jesus Christ is unchangeable! What good news this is in a world where things are changing at lightning speed! Jesus Christ is the one Person we can depend on to be the same, regardless of the time or the spirit of the age. We don’t need to refigure who Jesus is, what He thinks, or what His message is, because He is the same — and everything He represents is the same — yesterday, today, and forever!

The word “yesterday” is the Greek word exthes, and it depicts all time that ever was up until this present moment. It describes the past. The word “today” is the Greek word semeron, and it means today or at this very moment or this current age. It depicts the present. But in the Bible when the words “yesterday and today” are used in one phrase, as they are used here, it also portrays continuity.
The words “yesterday and today” are an Old Testament expression to denote continuity (see Exodus 5:14; 2 Samuel 15:20). So here we find that Jesus isn’t one way in the past and another way in the present. Whoever He was in the past is exactly who He is in the present. There is continuity in Jesus Christ!

Therefore, if you discover Jesus of the past, you have also discovered Jesus of the present, and you have discovered Jesus of the future, because He is continuously the same. The word “forever” in Greek means into all the ages of the future. This phrase depicts all future time to come, including all ages that will ever be known. Hence, it describes the future.

I don’t know about you, but I am so thankful that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for all future ages! With all the sweeping changes happening in the world right now, I thank God that Jesus isn’t one of them!

Who He was in the past, in the Gospels is the same Jesus who is present with us today and will be with us forever!

There is no “before” or “after” with God, as there is with us. There’s no “He used to be like that, but now He’s like this.” There’s no such thing as “the Old Testament God” as opposed to “the New Testament God.” He was good, He is good, and He always will be good. And the same can be said about His power, His wisdom, His love, and so on.

Another way to talk about God’s immutability is that whereas you and I are always “becoming,” God is always “being.” We’re always traveling; God is already there and has always been. We can develop or deteriorate, grow or decay, progress or regress. But with God, there is no room for improvement. He has always been, and always will be, utterly and delightfully perfect in every way. One theologian puts it like this: “All that is creaturely is in [the] process of becoming. [The creature] is changeable, constantly striving, in search of rest and satisfaction, and finds this rest only in him who is pure being without becoming.”

So when we talk about Jesus never changing, we mean, first of all, that His love towards us does not change. There is no “loves me, loves me not.” Whom He loves, He loves to the end (John 13:1). His love for you doesn’t rise and fall like a thermometer. It doesn’t change toward us because we fail Him, rather His love changes us.

William E. Sangster, a Methodist leader, suggested that if you nail your heart to people, they will move and change, but if you nail your heart to Jesus, as the Bible says, He is, “the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Now, understand that God loves different people in different ways. God “loved the world” (John 3:16) and provides the possibility of salvation. God loves His own children in a different and deeper way. He also loves someone who obeys Him (John 15:14) and who is a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:6) in a different way. We could say for those who belong to Jesus Christ God’s love towards us is unconditional, or maybe better said, “contra-conditional.” He loves us even though we are sinners.

The Puritan Thomas Adams takes his love back into the past before the worlds began. He writes:
“Much comfort I must hear leave to your meditation. If God preordained a Savior for man before He had either made man, or man had marred himself—as Paul to Timothy, “He hath saved us according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:9)—then surely he meant that nothing would separate us from that eternal love in that Savior (Romans 8:29)” (Thomas Adams, The Immutable Mercy of Jesus Christ).

Secondly, God’s promises do not change. Isaiah 40:8 makes the point: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” He will always be faithful to keep His promises no matter how seemingly impossible it may be. “There is many a believer who forsakes God, but there is never a believer whom God forsakes” says Bob LaForge.

When God’s people departed from Him (in the Old Testament biblical accounts) all the more emphasis was put upon His faithfulness, so that the only hope of His wayward people lay not only in His grace and mercy but also in His faithfulness, which stands in marked contrast with the faithlessness and inconstancy of His people (Gaspar Hodge).

“God is true. His Word of Promise is sure. In all His relations with His people God is faithful. He may be safely relied upon. No one ever yet really trusted Him in vain. We find this precious truth expressed almost everywhere in the Scriptures, for His people need to know that faithfulness is an essential part of the Divine character. This is the basis of our confidence in Him” (A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God). As Spurgeon says, “God writes with a pen that never blots, speaks with a tongue that never slips, acts with a hand that never fails.”

Consider God’s faithfulness to His promises: We learn that all things do work together for good (Rom. 8:28). We learn that God will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). We learn that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:35). We learn to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We learn to trust in God’s character and not our circumstances. We learn no detail of our life is outside His loving purpose and sovereign control. We learn His solution far surpasses our most creative imagination. We learn God is often closest when we least feel His presence. We learn Hebrews 10:23 which calls us to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

Thirdly, His presence is always with us. To say that Jesus is unchanging and always the same means that there never has been a time in the past and never will be in the days ahead when his assurance to us in the Great Commission will prove false. You will recall that in Matthew 28 Jesus said, “And I will be with you, even to the end of the age.”

So here in v. 8 he tells us that we need never fear that we will wake up one day and God will be gone, vanished, having left us to ourselves. We know this will never be the case because Jesus Christ who is God is the “same” yesterday, when he first made that promise, as well as today when I need him to be near and close by to me, and in the days and weeks and years ahead when my life starts to fall apart.

When we face difficulties, we sometimes forget God’s past faithfulness. We see only the detours and the dangerous path. But look back and you will also see the joy of victory, the challenge of the climb, and the presence of your Traveling Companion who has promised never to leave you nor forsake you.

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the poem Footprints in the Sand.

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with
the Lord. Scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In
each, I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were
two sets of footprints; other times there was only one.
During the low periods of my life I could see only one set of
footprints, so I said, “You promised me, Lord, that you would
walk with me always. Why, when I have needed you most,
have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied, “The times when you have seen only one set
of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

This is the consistent reason, throughout Scripture, why we have no need to fear. After the death of Moses, God encouraged Joshua, the new leader who would lead the children of Israel into the covenanted land, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

What a precious promise.

What this means most of all for us and for our author’s first-century readers, is that everything else may change and does change, and only Christ can be depended upon. Our trust in him is therefore a confident trust, for we know that he will not, indeed cannot, change. His purposes are unfailing, his promises unassailable. It is because the God who promised us eternal life is immutable that we may rest assured that nothing, not trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword shall separate us from the love of Christ. It is because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever that neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, not even powers, height, depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39)!

No matter what lies ahead in this always-changing world with its drifting continents and fading suns—no matter what the seas may bring, we must sustain ourselves with this double-focus—remembering those who have gone before and focusing on Jesus Christ, our eternal, unchangeable contemporary. Those who truly do this will navigate the roughest seas.

Follow the Leader, part 1 (Hebrews 13:7)

Today we’re going to look at a verse in Hebrews 13 that has to do with our response to those who lead us in the church. Who has had an impact upon your life spiritually? What men or women have taught you truth that has changed your life? Who are your mentors? More than likely someone has planted seeds in your life that have helped you to become the man or woman you are today. Hebrews 13:7 encourages us to remember them and imitate them.

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

Oh how the church, and even our culture, needs leaders who faithfully speak God’s Word and live in such a way that we want to imitate their faith. Unfortunately, even in this past year we have seen pastor after pastor fall to moral failures.

How we need models. We need men and women that we can pattern our lives after. Men and women of ironclad integrity, strong faith, indomitable courage, sacrificial kindness and genuine humility.
The Bible puts a high emphasis on remembering, usually remembering things about what God has done for us and who He is. But we are also to remember our leaders, those who taught us and modeled the faith for us. We are to regularly call them to mind so that we can imitate their faith. The verb consider actually means to “look at again and again,” to “observe carefully.” (William Hendriksen & Simon J. Kistemaker, NT Commentary: Hebrews, 414)

It’s too easy to forget those who are dead and gone. Our attention span can only focus on so much these days, and the new and spectacular tends to grab our attention. Warren Wiersbe reminds us that “while we do not worship people or give them the glory, it is certainly right to honor them for their faithful work.”

Unlike the Lord, who is ever with us (Heb. 13:5-6), human leaders, just like the Old Testament priests are “prevented by death from continuing in office” (Heb. 7:23). Therefore, in addition to “remembering” those presently suffering imprisonment and abuse (13:3), the hearers must also “remember” their congregation’s original leaders, who no longer serve among them.

It is important to have guides and mentors from the past. Maybe for you these are people who have long since passed from this life, people like John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Simeon or even more recently J. I. Packer or Eugene Peterson. I would encourage you, if you cannot think of someone who has impacted your life significantly, to turn to some of these mentors from the past and learn from them.

In fact, I would encourage you to read Christian biographies. There are some compilations which feature several key Christians, like John Woodbridge’s Sketches of Faith: An Introduction to Characters from Christian History, Eric Metaxas’ Seven Men and the Secret of Their Greatness and Seven Women and the Secret of Their Greatness, and James and Marti Hefleys’ By Their Blood: Christian Martyrs of the 20th Century and Tim Chester’s Bitesize Biographies. All of John Piper’s compilations of men from the past which he calls The Swans are not Silent, seven books each covering three biographical sermons about men from the past are excellent.

Then there are individual biographies as well. I would recommend John Bunyan’s Grace Abounding, Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, Iain Murray’s Amy Carmichael. There are several biographies of C. S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, Martin Luther and John Newton that are excellent as well. All of these will encourage your faith. Tim Challies has a long list of Christian biographies on his website: https://www.challies.com/book-recommendations/biographies/

Now, the key concepts here are remembering and imitating. One of the dangers we have in our society is what is widely known as the “celebrity culture” in which pastors are often put upon pedestals and almost treated as gods. This is unhealthy. It is fine to remember them and imitate their lives, but don’t worship them.

R. Kent Hughes reminds us how this passage fits in this context. He says…

“Significantly, this is beautifully consistent with the purpose of chapter 13, which is to strengthen the little Hebrew church so it will ride out the coming storms of persecution. A church that adequately recalls its godly leaders and considers the outcome of their way of life and attempts to imitate that way of life will sail well! Remembering, considering, and imitating the virtues of departed believers is of greatest spiritual importance both to one’s family and to the broader family of the Body of Christ. Doing so will certainly help keep the boat afloat” (R. Kent Hughes, Hebrews, An Anchor for the Soul, volume 2, p. 227).

Our author points out two specific characteristics of these men. They had taught them the Word and they lived out their faith. In other words, they preached the Word, then they practiced what they preached (Ezra 7:10). First, these are men “who spoke to you the word of God.” When you recall how few copies of Scripture these first century churches possessed, you can see how highly dependent they were upon teachers of the Word. This teaching the Word is a vital part of our mentoring and discipling of others today, that we engage with them over the Scriptures. We open the Scriptures and seek to interpret its meaning just like Ezra and Nehemiah did. “They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading” (Neh. 8:8).

Likely this author wanted his readers to become so proficient with the Scriptures that, like the Bereans, they could “examin[e] the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

Relationships that impact us deeply are relationships that are built upon the truth of God’s Word. Oh, we can have relationships with people outside the faith. In fact, we should. But our spiritual lives are nourished by being around people of the Book. We need the Word of God to guide us, especially today with its emphasis on feelings.

In Paul’s final imprisonment he wrote the Pastoral Epistles. Over and over again in those three letters to Timothy and Titus Paul emphasized the importance of sound doctrine and instructing people in that sound doctrine.

Paul gives instructions for many ministries of the church, but the one he emphasizes most is the ministry of preaching and teaching the Word of God. He exhorts Timothy to “devote [himself] to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation [preaching], to teaching” (1 Tim. 4:13). The ministry of the Word is critical to faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Moreover, sitting under the Word strengthens the faith of God’s people. In 2 Timothy, Paul exhorts his younger colleague to “preach the Word . . . in season and out of season . . . for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Tim. 4:2-3).

Paul told Timothy, “and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). We are to teach the Word so that it is passed on from generation to generation.

But we are not only to listen to these men teach, we are also to watch their lives, the way that they live and (likely) the way that they died. This is so that we can imitate them. They say that more is caught than taught, meaning that the way you live preaches more powerfully than the words of your mouth.

Remember that Jesus chose twelve men “so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach” (Mark 4:13). These men learned by watching Jesus. It was not just what He taught that was vitally important, it was the way he interacted with people, cared for people, and lived His life before the Father. They saw him pray and then asked, “Teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). It was this very reality that these men had been “with Jesus” that was so obvious to the religious leaders after Pentecost. In Acts 4:13, as Peter and John are preaching before the Sanhedrin, their conclusion was “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”

Life on life is so very important. Those who disciple, don’t just depend upon some written curriculum and believe that once you have finished that you have discipled someone. They need to see how you live. That was the genius of Dawson Trotman, the founder of the Navigators. He would invite sailors into his home to see how he and Lila and his children lived together. They need to see your “way of life.”

Now, it is quite possible that our author is speaking of leaders who are no longer with them. In the past they “spoke to you the word of God,” and hearers must now recollect the “outcome of their way of life.” That “outcome” (ekbasis) was their exit from life on this earth, the completion of their pilgrimage. Whether their deaths were due to natural or accidental causes or to martyrdom, our author does not say. Although the hearers of Hebrews themselves had not yet shed blood (12:4), some of their leaders may have done so.

Scholars agree that the author here is referring to past leaders who have already died. In 13:17 & 24, he refers to current leaders. But in 13:7, they are told to consider (Greek = “to look at again and again”) the result or outcome of these past leaders’ way of life, implying that they successfully finished their course. While some of them had been martyred, it is not specifically the actual death which they were to consider and imitate, but rather the “sum total” or “achievement” of their day-to-day behavior, manifested in a whole life. Yes, they had finished their race well.

This, of course, is what our author had earlier encouraged all of them to do, to run the race so as to win. Back in Hebrews 12 he encouraged them:

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Elsewhere in the NT, congregational leaders are called “elders” or “overseers” (Acts 20:17-35; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Pet. 5:2-3). Teaching and spiritual shepherding are the ministries of such elders/overseers. The original leaders of the people reading this letter “spoke . . . the word of God,” and their successors were “keeping watch over your souls” (Heb. 13:7, 17). The first generation’s integrity and conduct were no doubt exemplary, but our author spotlights their faith as that which must be imitated (reinforcing the point of 10:26-12:3).

Now, reading this passage in its context, we realize that the dilemma these readers were facing, in addition to losing some of their leaders, there was the possibility of being “carried away by varied and strange teachings” (13:9), including returning to Judaism. So he calls them to remember the godly teachers who had spoken the word of God to them (13:7). Even though these men had now died, Jesus Christ, whom they preached, is the same yesterday, today, and forever (13:8). His grace (13:9) and His sacrificial death on the cross (13:10-12) are at the center of sound doctrine.

Jesus and His death on the cross have become our altar, which supersedes and replaces the Jewish altar in the temple. Therefore, we must turn our backs on Judaism or any other religion and hold firmly to Christ and the cross (13:13). If such faith leads to hardship, rejection, persecution, or even death, keep in mind that we are not living for rewards in this life, but for the reward He has promised us in heaven (13:14).

The fact that our heroes do sometimes fall and every leader eventually dies is what makes verse 8 so powerful. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” The reality is, even for those of us preachers and leaders who are still here, we need to point our people to Jesus. Their focus must be on Him, not us.

Warren Wiersbe relates how after announcing his resignation from a church that he had been pastoring for several years, one of the members said to him, “I don’t see how I’m going to make it without you! I depend so much on you for my spiritual help!”

His reply shocked her. He said, “Then the sooner I leave, the sooner you can start depending on the Lord. Never build your life on any servant of God. Build your life on Jesus Christ. He never changes.”

So, keep pointing to Jesus. Give him all the glory. Don’t steal the glory from God.

But all of us, as leaders, should want to finish well. Seeing men that we have known and respected crash and burn through moral failures makes this all the more urgent. We should want to be like Paul, neither coasting into the final years of our lives, nor crashing and burning, but finishing well.
Paul said at the end of his two letters to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:7-8)…

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

Paul fought, Paul finished, Paul kept the faith. Finishing well means that we deal with our sins decisively, killing sin and confessing it when we commit sin. It also means treasuring God, beholding Christ, and being filled with the Spirit — finding all our satisfaction in Him.

It made me think of Robertson McQuilkin, who served as president of Columbia International University for 22 years, died in 2016. He wrote these words before he died:

It’s sundown, Lord … I fear not death, for that grim foe betrays himself at last, thrusting me forever into life: life with you, unsoiled and free.

But I do fear … That I should end before I finish or finish, but not well. That I should stain your honor, shame your name, grieve your loving heart. Few, they tell me, finish well. . . Lord, let me get home before dark.

McQuilkin feared “the darkness of a spirit grown mean and small, fruit shriveled on the vine, bitter to the taste of my companions … the darkness of tattered gifts, rust-locked, half-spent, or ill-spent, a life that once was used of God now set aside.” He longed for fruit “lush and sweet, a joy to all who taste.” He wanted to burn brighter at the end.

“Of your grace, Father, I humbly ask. . . Let me get home before dark,” he prayed. And to that we say, “Amen.”

When we use the phrase, “finishing well,” we mean following Christ to the very end of our lives, finishing his assignments for us and hearing his “well done, good and faithful servant.” That should be our highest desire, our greatest goal in life.

Ultimately, the only thing that can keep is in the race and help us to finish well is to drink deeply of God’s grace constantly. Grace is also how we start the race. Grace is what keeps us in the race. And grace is what takes us to the end. As John Newton put it in his famous hymn, “Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”

When all is said and done, grace is the ultimate explanation for why any of us make it. We are kept by the grace of God. It is then very appropriate to pray, “Lord, give me the grace to finish well.”
Jerry Bridges identifies four practices that can help us finish well. He says…

There may be other issues that are important, but I believe these four are fundamental. They are:
 daily time of focused personal communion with God
 daily appropriation of the gospel
 daily commitment to God as a living sacrifice
 firm belief in the sovereignty and the love of God
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/four-essentials-to-finishing-well

So if you are a leader, set your nose to the grindstone and pursue those practices that will help you to finish well. The church depends upon it. Future generations of Christians depend upon it. Teach the Word well, but also live a life that is worth imitating.

If you are a Christian, look for leaders whose life you can imitate. If you cannot find one that is near you, get on the phone or go visit them. If you cannot find anyone that is alive, find a mentor among the biographies I mentioned earlier.

For the Hebrews, it was their regular recollection of the victorious witness of those persons who had first led them to Christ by faith, of their joyful living for the glory of God, and of their untroubled dying in the assured hope of resurrection, that would put away from them all thoughts of giving up their own struggle. It would encourage them to “keep on keeping on.”

And I hope it will do the same for you today.