INTRODUCTION
WHEN WAS THIS EPISTLE WRITTEN?
This Epistle was evidently written as the ancient Hebrew economy was passing away in the growing glory of the Christian Church. Perhaps Jerusalem had already fallen under the arms of Titus.
TO WHOM WAS IT ADDRESSED?
It was addressed to Hebrew Christians, who were settled in a definite locality. See Heb_13:23. The writer is not certainly known. Luther thought that it was written by Apollos, and this view has had several learned advocates. But many ascribe it to the Apostle Paul, which was the opinion of the early Fathers.
WHAT WAS THE WRITER’S PURPOSE?
The object of this noble treatise is to counsel those to whom it was addressed to bear their persecutions with equanimity, and to forego, with contentment, the external attractions of the Temple service, because of the transcendent glories of Christianity surpassing those of the Mosaic ritual. The penalties of apostasy would therefore be the more terrible as the claims of Christianity were the more compelling.
OUTLINE OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
THE NEW AND BETTER COVENANT
THE RELATION OF THE TWO COVENANTS
The Institutions of the Old Covenant Fulfilled in the Person and Work of Christ
The Greater Privileges and Responsibilities of the New Covenant
18. To what does the blood of Christ secure an entrance for us?
CHRIST’S SACRIFICE ONCE FOR ALL
Every priest stands [at his altar of service] ministering daily, offering the same sacrifices over and over, which are never able to strip away sins [that envelop and cover us];
whereas Christ, having offered the one sacrifice [the all-sufficient sacrifice of Himself] for sins for all time, SAT DOWN [signifying the completion of atonement for sin] AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD [the position of honor],
waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES ARE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. [Psa_110:1]
For by the one offering He has perfected forever and completely cleansed those who are being sanctified [bringing each believer to spiritual completion and maturity].
And the Holy Spirit also adds His testimony to us [in confirmation of this]; for after having said,
“THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL IMPRINT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL INSCRIBE THEM [producing an inward change],” He then says,
“AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS ACTS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE [no longer holding their sins against them].” [Jer_31:33-34]
Now where there is [absolute] forgiveness and complete cancellation of the penalty of these things, there is no longer any offering [to be made to atone] for sin.
The Full Assurance of Faith
Therefore, believers, since we have confidence and full freedom to enter the Holy Place [the place where God dwells] by [means of] the blood of Jesus,
by this new and living way which He initiated and opened for us through the veil [as in the Holy of Holies], that is, through His flesh,
and since we have a great and wonderful Priest [Who rules] over the house of God,
let us approach [God] with a true and sincere heart in unqualified assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us seize and hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word];
and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds,
not forsaking our meeting together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more [faithfully] as you see the day [of Christ’s return] approaching.
Comments by
F.B.Meyer
on
Hebrews 11:11-25
THE NEW AND LIVING WAY OPEN TO US
Note the contrast between the standing of the priests and the sitting of the Priest. The one indicated incompleteness, the other a finished work. All that needed to be done for our final and entire deliverance from sin was accomplished when Jesus returned to the Father. It is for us to pass in large demands and claims. The bank is full, but we must draw on it.
It is a great help, in the study of the Old Testament, to notice how explicitly the writer here attributes to the Holy Spirit the words spoken by one of the old prophets. What a comfort it is to know that God forgets our sins when we have confessed and forsaken them!
The way of prayer and faith was new, for our Lord had just opened it; living, because only those alive in Christ can tread it. The rending of the Temple veil was emblematic of the open vision of God, given through Calvary. But we must be true, believing, reliant on His death and pure through His cleansing, Joh_13:5-8.
Choose a Sermon on
Hebrews
by
Pastor Jeff Arthur.
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