Hebrews: A Word of Exhortation
Hebrews: A Word of Exhortation
As the church looks ahead to our upcoming sermon series through the book of Hebrews, I thought it would be fitting to write a short article to help prepare our congregation to receive what the Lord will teach us through it.
The book of Hebrews offers great insight as its author connects several New Testament realities to Old Testament prophecies. This is made clear in the first couple of verses in the book as the author writes, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Heb 1:1–2 ESV). Furthermore, the author states that the whole letter is a “word of exhortation” (Heb 13:22), that is, a sermon. On this point Jonathan Griffiths writes,
Griffiths is making the point here that the original audience would have received the
letter of Hebrews as a sermon. As you read the book of Hebrews, you will notice the sermonic
style in which it was written by the way the author states a biblical text (in this case from the Old Testament) and then explains its fulfillment in Christ. Hopefully, this method of teaching sounds familiar to you because it is the way we try to teach and preach the Word here at POTR. This style of preaching is known as expositional preaching, and we see a clear example of it in the book of Hebrews.
Every Sunday before one of our pastors gets up to preach, the other pastors gather around him for a time of prayer. Each one of these pre-service prayers includes a time of asking the Lord to “feed his sheep”. As pastors, we find that it is important to pray this prayer each week because we are keenly aware that the power of the sermon to bring about change in someone’s life does not reside in the messenger, but rather in the message itself as God applies it to the hearts of men (Rom 1:16–17). The undershepherds of our church want to see our people nourished, transformed, and encouraged by the “word of exhortation”.
The word exhortation simply means “the form of words (or argument) intended to incite and encourage.” ² This encouragement to act is what the author of Hebrews expects for his readers, and it is certainly what our pastors expect for our congregation each Sunday. In a preaching lecture to students at Yale university in 1879, methodist pastor Matthew Simpson aptly explains what is going on behind the scenes as a pastor preaches a sermon. He says, “"His throne is the pulpit;" he stands in Christ's stead; his message is the word of God; around him are immortal souls; the Saviour, unseen, is beside him; the Holy Spirit broods over the congregation; angels gaze upon the scene, and heaven and hell await the issue. What associations, and what vast responsibility!” ³
What an incredible picture! I love the language of brooding; like a broody hen over her eggs and chicks. The spirit of God “broods over the congregation” so as to guard, protect, and provide warmth as the Word saturates our hearts. What a means of grace sermons are to our souls. Keep this in mind as we begin to study Hebrews: A Word of Exhortation.
The book of Hebrews offers great insight as its author connects several New Testament realities to Old Testament prophecies. This is made clear in the first couple of verses in the book as the author writes, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Heb 1:1–2 ESV). Furthermore, the author states that the whole letter is a “word of exhortation” (Heb 13:22), that is, a sermon. On this point Jonathan Griffiths writes,
"Most New Testament epistles have at least some affinity with the sermonic genre in that they were generally designed to be read out to Christian congregations. But Hebrews calls itself a ‘word of exhortation’ (13:22), which was a term used in contemporary Judaism and early Christianity to refer to the sermon in a synagogue or church gathering. It is used in this way in Acts 13:14–15, where Paul and his companions are invited to preach in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch: ‘After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement [or ‘exhortation’] for the people, say it.” ’ Quite clearly, Paul (along with his companions) is being invited to deliver the Sabbath-day sermon. In a later Christian context, a fourth-century liturgy designates the sermon ‘words of exhortation’ (Apostolic Constitutions 8.5). ¹
Griffiths is making the point here that the original audience would have received the
letter of Hebrews as a sermon. As you read the book of Hebrews, you will notice the sermonic
style in which it was written by the way the author states a biblical text (in this case from the Old Testament) and then explains its fulfillment in Christ. Hopefully, this method of teaching sounds familiar to you because it is the way we try to teach and preach the Word here at POTR. This style of preaching is known as expositional preaching, and we see a clear example of it in the book of Hebrews.
Every Sunday before one of our pastors gets up to preach, the other pastors gather around him for a time of prayer. Each one of these pre-service prayers includes a time of asking the Lord to “feed his sheep”. As pastors, we find that it is important to pray this prayer each week because we are keenly aware that the power of the sermon to bring about change in someone’s life does not reside in the messenger, but rather in the message itself as God applies it to the hearts of men (Rom 1:16–17). The undershepherds of our church want to see our people nourished, transformed, and encouraged by the “word of exhortation”.
The word exhortation simply means “the form of words (or argument) intended to incite and encourage.” ² This encouragement to act is what the author of Hebrews expects for his readers, and it is certainly what our pastors expect for our congregation each Sunday. In a preaching lecture to students at Yale university in 1879, methodist pastor Matthew Simpson aptly explains what is going on behind the scenes as a pastor preaches a sermon. He says, “"His throne is the pulpit;" he stands in Christ's stead; his message is the word of God; around him are immortal souls; the Saviour, unseen, is beside him; the Holy Spirit broods over the congregation; angels gaze upon the scene, and heaven and hell await the issue. What associations, and what vast responsibility!” ³
What an incredible picture! I love the language of brooding; like a broody hen over her eggs and chicks. The spirit of God “broods over the congregation” so as to guard, protect, and provide warmth as the Word saturates our hearts. What a means of grace sermons are to our souls. Keep this in mind as we begin to study Hebrews: A Word of Exhortation.
¹ Jonathan I. Griffiths, Preaching in the New Testament: An Exegetical and Biblical-Theological Study, ed. D. A. Carson, vol. 42, New Studies in Biblical Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press; England: Apollos, 2017), 105–6.
² Noah Webster, Noah Webster’s First Edition of An American Dictionary of the English Language (Anaheim, CA: Foundation for American Christian Education, 2006), s.v. “exhort.”
³ Matthew Simpson, Lectures on Preaching: Delivered before the Theological Department of Yale College (New York: Nelson & Phillips; Cincinnati: Hitchcock & Walden, 1879), 166.
² Noah Webster, Noah Webster’s First Edition of An American Dictionary of the English Language (Anaheim, CA: Foundation for American Christian Education, 2006), s.v. “exhort.”
³ Matthew Simpson, Lectures on Preaching: Delivered before the Theological Department of Yale College (New York: Nelson & Phillips; Cincinnati: Hitchcock & Walden, 1879), 166.