DISCOVER
Hebrews

This book has been called the fifth Gospel. The four Gospels describe Christ’s ministry on earth; this one describes His ministry in heaven at God’s right hand.   

—Henrietta Mears 

Source: This content is from What the Bible Is All About, written by Henrietta Mears. Copyright © 1953, 2011 by Gospel Light. Copyright assigned to Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The big idea in the first verses of Hebrews is the big idea for the whole book of Hebrews. God has spoken by his Son, and this Son is superior to all persons, heavenly beings, institutions, rituals, and previous means of revelation and redemption.

Christ is superior to:

Angels (Hebrews 1–2)
Moses (Hebrews 3)  
Joshua (Hebrews 3–4) 
Aaron (Hebrews 5)  
Abraham (Hebrews 6)  
Melchizedek (Hebrews 7)  
The old covenant (Hebrews 8)  
The tabernacle (Hebrews 9)  
The high priest (Hebrews 10)  
The treasures of this world (Hebrews 11)  
Mount Sinai (Hebrews 12)  
The city we have here on earth (Hebrews 13) 

—Kevin DeYoung

Source: Content adapted from Taking God at His Word by Kevin DeYoung. This article first appeared on Crossway.org; used with permission.

Hebrews speaks to us with great pastoral sensitivity. It is, after all, a “word of exhortation” or encouragement. It is realistic about suffering, the fear of persecution, the danger of discouragement, the struggles we have against sin, the possibility of backsliding, the spiritual paralysis produced by the condemning voice of conscience, and the possibility that we may lack assurance. Its remedy for every spiritual disease is stated in a theology marked by great simplicity married to rich complexity: 

Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our calling, the Founder and Perfecter of our Faith (3:1; 12:2). See everything in the light of who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He continues to do today. You cannot go wrong there. 

—Sinclair Ferguson  

Source: Time to (Re)Discover Hebrews by Sinclair Ferguson © Ligonier Ministries 2023. Used by permission of Ligonier Ministries. All rights reserved.

The healing method of the writer of Hebrews, as we shall see, is to lift the Son higher and higher and higher. He is sure that the eloquence of Christ’s person will help his readers meet the challenges ahead. For him, holding up Christ is the most practical thing on earth. Indeed, Jesus, understood and exalted, eloquently informs every area of life.

There are only two kinds of people who hear God’s Word: those who are not yet his children, and those who are. True, some are nearer than others on the road to Christ. But nevertheless there are only these two categories.

To those who are not yet true children of God, I give this challenge: Read one of the Gospels through, sincerely praying the essence of Bergman’s prayer over it as you go: “Speak to me! Please speak to me!” I also challenge them to carefully study the book of Hebrews, for in it they will find life-changing thoughts that are unique to the New Testament.

I challenge those who are God’s children with the thought that Hebrews is a practical book. They may be beleaguered, perhaps even wondering if they can continue on with life. Perhaps they are looking for a manual that will help them handle stress. Hebrews is the “manual” they are looking for, because the essential answer is in the supremacy and finality of Christ.

—R. Kent Hughes

Source: Content taken from Hebrews: An Anchor for the Soul by R. Kent Hughes ©2015. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

In the broader church today, there are people who will tell you, “Look, I’ve got the latest and the best strategy to help you defeat sin in your life.” Or, “I’ve got the baptized method and inspired formula to help you succeed and achieve all that you have in your heart.” And so often, the strategy to help you resist sin is what I call a “just say no campaign.” As if somehow, it’s enough to empower your heart for you to just say no to what sin says to you and how Satan tempts you. And then you have to just grit your teeth and clench your fist and resolve in your heart and your will that you’ll never do that again—and it will last a week. Then you’ll fall again.  

The only way to experience long-term sustained victory over the pleasure that sin offers you is by being satisfied with the superior pleasure that’s found only in a relationship with Jesus Christ… 

It is only as your heart drinks deeply and daily at the well of spiritual pleasures that are found in him and him alone that you will ever find the strength, the peace, the purpose, the power to face whatever comes your way. And that is what the author of Hebrews is telling us in his own unique way—Jesus is better. Come to him. Listen to him. Rest in him. Trust in him. Enjoy him. Hope in him. He’s better.  

Folks, there is a war—it’s not between Russia and the U.S. or between Israel and Iran, or between democrats and republicans. The only war that ultimately matters is between Jesus Christ on the one side and the world, the flesh, and the devil on the other, and they are battling over the allegiance of your heart…They are battling over your love, your allegiance, your hope, your trust, your future.  

—Sam Storms  

Source: Sam Storms, quoted from his message, “Jesus Is Better!” from his series Hebrews: Jesus Is Better on Hebrews 1:1-4, preached at Bridgeway Church in 2014.

We recognize that God has spoken in various ways. Now he has spoken finally in his Son Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-2). The implication, which the book of Hebrews works out at considerable length, is that we no longer live in the age in which God reveals his will to us in these diverse ways. Now he has perfectly revealed his will to us in Jesus, and we will find his guidance enshrined in the pages of our only witness to Christ—the Holy Scriptures. 

—Sinclair Ferguson  

Source: Ferguson, Sinclair. Discovering God’s Will. Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth, 1982. Quote retrieved from Grace Quotes at gracequotes.org.

Jesus is the consummate revelation of God’s character, his will, and his purposes for us, as men and women. You want to hear the voice of God? You want to know something about the character of your heavenly Father? Look at his Son. He is the express, exact imprint of God’s nature. And when he speaks and what he has done and everything that he has accomplished, that’s the consummate revelation of God’s will for mankind.

—Sam Storms  

Source: Storms, Sam. Interview with Nancy Guthrie. Help Me Teach the Bible. Podcast audio. September 17, 2015. This podcast originally appeared here at The Gospel Coalition.

We also must not look for special experiences or extra revelation from God beyond what he has given (the Old and New Testaments). Instead, we need to go deeper into who Jesus is and what he means for humanity. We need to know the New Testament that explains God’s revelation in Jesus and its implications for the church and the world. We need to belong to a community of believers who encourage one another to hold fast to God’s definitive word through Christ and help each other grow in faith and holiness as we await our future inheritance (see Hebrews 10:24–25). Ultimately, we need to believe what God says through Jesus.

—Kevin Halloran 

Source: Halloran, Kevin. “What does ‘God has Spoken by His Son’ Mean in Hebrews 1:2?” Anchored in Christ (February 17, 2022).

I honestly believe that if you don’t understand chapter Hebrews 3:14, you will not understand, you will struggle with, you will not be able to grasp the multiple warnings that we find in this book. Because there’s a principle articulated in chapter 3:14. He says, “for we have come (past tense) to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end” (ESV).  

His point is: The way you know if someone has come to share in Christ, the way you know somebody has truly trusted Christ for salvation is if they persevere—is if they endure all the way to the end. He doesn’t say that you will come to share in Christ if you persevere unto the end, but rather your perseverance–your endurance–is the evidence that you have come to know him genuinely in the past.  

So when you keep that verse in mind… the fundamental principle is this: perseverance in faith is the proof of the authenticity of it. Without that principle in mind, you’re going to struggle with the warning passages in Hebrews.  

—Sam Storms

Source: Storms, Sam. Interview with Nancy Guthrie. Help Me Teach the Bible. Podcast audio. September 17, 2015. This podcast originally appeared here at The Gospel Coalition.

When we talk about “entering into his rest” the first thing that we realize is that this is salvific language. It means entering into the rest that we have when the burden of sins is removed by accepting by faith Christ’s substitutionary death upon the cross. So applied to God’s rest it means no more self-effort as far as salvation is concerned. It means the end of trying to please God by our feeble fleshly works. It’s receiving by grace through faith God’s favor and forgiveness.

—Britt Merrick  

Source: Britt Merrick, quoted from his message, “Entering God’s Rest” from the series Hebrews on Hebrews 4:1-11, preached at Reality Carpinteria on June 1, 2008. Used by permission of Britt Merrick.