Perhaps you have been about to hang up the phone with a friend and you remember you had two or three other things to say to them. Well, as the writer of Hebrews closes his letter to these believers, he ends with a few miscellaneous comments. But we must be careful lest we think they are unimportant or mundane because as we see in the key idea, even the closing verses of a letter from the Word of God can have great significance for our daily lives as Christians.
From the author’s closing words in this letter we discover teaching about two issues. We might not say the author is seeking to teach these things. They are intrinsic rather than being openly expressed. He has concluded his “teaching time.” But the way he closes his letter reveals his theology. Remember, everyone has a theology; everyone has their concept of God (whether right or wrong). And everyone reveals their theology just by the way they speak whether or not they are trying to teach about God. The author of Hebrews is no exception. He has a developed biblical theology and his theology comes out in how he closes his letter. So again, I say this to note, the author is not specifically teaching these things. We are gleaning them from his “Sincerely Yours.” But it is an interesting “sincerely yours” from which I see we can gain serious spiritual insight.
I. About the Teaching of the Word of God
The first issue we notice is about the teaching of the Word of God. We can note two distinct aspects about the teaching of the Word of God. We find them in verse 22. The author says, “But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.”
A. The teaching of the Word of God can be encouraging even when difficult
The first distinct aspect we notice is that the teaching of the Word of God can be encouraging even when difficult. He tells his readers, “”bear with this word of exhortation.” He says that his letter calls for the need of his readers to put up with or endure his writing. He noted in chapter 5, verse 11 that there were some things that would be difficult to explain for their ears. He told them that their ears had not been trained to wrestle with this hard material. There is no doubt that some of the issues the author dealt with were truly hard to present. I told you this as I began to speak on some of the sections throughout this letter.
There are some hard things to bear. But we need to bear up under them and receive them into our hearts. James said in his letter, “receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” When we come across difficult passages we still need to embrace them. We might not understand all the implications involved in these passages but we must embrace the truth of them nonetheless and not play the judge over them.
But we must remember that even when the Word is difficult it is still encouraging. Notice what he calls this difficult (hard to bear, need to endure) message; he calls it a word of exhortation. Exhortation encourages an individual to do right. So even when difficult, the Word of God still blesses and works in an individual to change this person for good.
B. The teaching of the Word of God is expansive
The second distinct aspect we notice is that the teaching of the Word of God is expansive. He closes verse 22 by saying, “For I have written to you briefly.” Well this is a surprise. We have here embodied in these 13 chapters, a brief exhortation! What this tells us about the Word of God is that it is exhaustive. The various subjects the author covered in this letter could have each produced a volume of its own. John at the end of his Gospel said, “there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.” The depth of Word of God is expansive. Because the teaching of the Bible focuses on God it is truly inexhaustible, for our God is infinite. He is the One who is, who was and who is to come. From everlasting to everlasting He is God.
This truth, that the Word of God is expansive, exhaustive, makes it so important for us to take time to meditate on it. It is imperative for us to take short passages of Scripture and digest them slowly. You know what happens when you try to wolf down your food, right? You get indigestion. You don’t properly benefit from that food. The same is true for the meat of the Word. If you simply breeze by what you read without time for reflection you will get spiritual indigestion. You will not benefit in the way you should from what you take in spiritually. As you read, take time to read small sections and think on them. Think about what they mean. Think about how they apply to your life and think about how to live them out. The teaching of the Word of God is expansive. We miss its full value by not disciplining ourselves to sit down and think about what we read. We miss its import in our lives if we simply speed-read it like a novel. Chew slowly upon it. Let the words go over and over in your mind and hear. Taste each syllable. Then heed what you read. The Word of God can be encouraging even when difficult and the Word of God is expansive. Take the Scripture for all its worth.
II. About Christian Commonalities
The second issue we notice in these closing verses is about Christian commonalities. There are certain items common among believers we can note.
A. Compassion was a common characteristic among believers
The first item we note is that compassion was a common characteristic among believers. In verse 23 the author says, “Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.” There is a clue in this verse that shows the common characteristic of compassion among believers. He tells the believers that they should be aware of Timothy’s release from prison. Why would they desire to know Timothy has been released from prison? Acts 12 perhaps gives us a glimpse into this situation. In this chapter we notice that Herod begins a persecution against various church leaders to please the people. When Peter was arrested the passage says in verse 5, “So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.” How fervently were they praying? In the middle of the night, when an angel released Peter he went to a believer’s home to report what had happened and found many gathered together praying for him (v. 12). Why did the author feel compelled to mention Timothy’s release? To let them know that their prayer for him had been answered. He had been delivered from the persecution against him.
Because of Christ’s love for these believers to whom the author of Hebrews was writing, the love of God through the Holy Spirit had been poured out within their hearts. They felt compassion for the hardships of other believers. They prayed for other believers. What about you? Are you expressing compassion for other believers? Are you praying for them as you ought? Are you concerned for their wellbeing? If not then ask the Lord for His compassion for others through the love of the Holy Spirit given to you.
B. Saint was a common designation among believers
The second item we note is that the term saint was a common designation among the believers. In verse 24, he says, “Greet all of your leaders and all the saints.” The author uses this term as if it were common enough. He notes two groups in the church. There were those who were leading the church and the saints. There were not “regular” church members and then saints. There were saints. How could this be? Why would they make this general designation for all believers? Let me say that the word saint, in the New Testament, was used very frequently and informally to designate those in the church. As a matter of fact as you look at the 60+ uses of the word in the New Testament you can see that it is used as a word to designate, not a special superior group in the church, but the church at large.” Listen to these verses.
Acts 9:13 “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to your saints at Jerusalem.
Acts 9:32 – Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down to the saints who lived at Lydda.
Acts 26:10-Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prison…but also…I cast my vote against them.
In Romans 1:7, Paul is addressing the church in Rome and what does he say to them? “To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints.” Is this book not for us? Was he writing to only a select group in Rome?
In 1 Corinthians 6 Paul rebukes the Corinthians for suing other believers. He encourages them to work out their differences among themselves in the church. In verse 2 Paul says, “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is to be judged BY YOU, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts?” He says that the saints would judge the world and then specifically addresses them to say that the world would be judged by them. Look up the word “saint” in a concordance and see for yourself how the term is used interchangeably with those in the church. Again, why is this? Because God has made us saints. We are, “saints by God’s calling.” God has sanctified us through His Son Jesus Christ. This is why we can call one another saint. We are not “holy ones” by our own doing. It is truly a term of humble adoration to God. When we look at one another, each of us imperfect, incomplete in the world’s eyes and yet having been sanctified through God’s grace and the righteousness of His Son, how can we but worship God in real humility?
The word, “saint” has been misused and stolen from we who trust in God’s Son only, for our salvation. We ought reclaim it. We ought to think in these biblical terms. God has made us saints by His choosing. It is not a boastful term to call one another saints. It is a term that causes us to reflect on what God has done for us in Christ. And let us live, by God’s grace, as the saints He has called us to be. And let us live in the humility of understanding that it is only by His grace He has called us saints.
C. Christ was a common bond among believers
The third item we note is that Christ was a common bond among believers. At the end of verse 24 the author says, “Those from Italy salute you.” How did it come about that a group of people in Italy had any dealings with people from another part of the world, without the availability of Internet access, long distance phone networks or plane travel? Why would people in Italy even care to recognize or be recognized by some insignificant group of people a long distance away? After all they were Italians. They were the true Roman citizens. The answer is, the bond of Christ.
Christ joins people together who would otherwise have absolutely no connection, no other common bond. And the bond that takes place is a familial bond. It is a bond of a family nature because, in Christ, God ceases to be our enemy and becomes our Father. We see in verse 23 that the author addresses Timothy as “brother Timothy.” Christianity is the great brotherhood. There is a family relationship in biblical Christianity that pulls down every other barrier and brings us together as one.
I remember the church I attended while in college. There were two men there who were best of friends and yet from all worldly perspectives they should have been enemies. This Jewish man and his Arabic counterpart had such a brotherly affection for one another because of their relationship in Christ. They would go and witness for the Lord Jesus together. What a wonderful testimony for Christ that these two men had such a bond. It was not a bond that might have been established outside of Christ. Christ is their bond. Christ is what brought them together as friends and brothers.
I don’t know if you have experienced such a thing, I know I have. But have you ever met a believer while traveling somewhere? You never met them before but there seems to be an almost instant connection because of the common faith and Holy Spirit you share.
I have a closer affinity with my church family than those in my family who do not know the Lord. We are a family because of what Christ has done for us to bring us to God. And sometimes our natural families cannot understand why we follow Christ like we do. Again, the terms brother and sister were well-worn designations for the Christian in the New Testament times.
D. Grace was a common mark among believers
Finally, the fourth item we note is that grace was a common mark among believers. In verse 25, the author closes his letter with the words, “Grace be with you all.” God’s grace is His undeserved favor that works in us to honor and serve Him.
The Christian life is all about grace. The world’s philosophy is strictly opposite to grace. If you deserve it, you will get it. God helps those who help themselves. But this isn’t the Scriptural philosophy. The Scripture makes it clear that we are unable to help ourselves. We are wholly dependent upon God. We deserve His wrath and yet He offers pardon. Grace is so great as to overcome all our sin.
And those who don’t understand biblical grace think grace is a license for people to go out and do whatever evil they wish because God will forgive them. Someone who thinks in this way is devoid of true grace. The apostle Paul recognized the arguments others would use against this theology of God’s undeserved pardon. They believed this idea of God’s free and full grace would give people free and full reign to live any way they pleased. Their reasoning said, “If God’s grace will cover our sin then if we sin more we will receive more of God’s grace. Paul preempts this faulty reasoning in Romans 6:1, “What shall we say, shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”
Contrary to the idea that grace would cause us to sin further, Paul says grace would free us to live righteously. Grace not only forgives our sin but it also, because of our new position in Christ, causes us to have died to sin so that we desire to live for God instead.
Grace produces a new kind of life in a person, not just a cleansing of their sin. Grace opens the eyes of those who were previously blind so they see what God has done for them. And this regenerated life desires to see the life of God continue to work in them. This is grace.
Grace is a common mark among believers because without understanding and having experienced God’s grace you are not a Christian. If you cannot recognize the grace of God in your life to make you a new creation then you are without His grace. And if without it then you are still in your sin, you are still under the wrath of God.
Grace, for we who believe, ought to be one of the greatest sources of our praise to God, for it reveals the depth of His love toward us who were His enemies.
When God’s grace is poured out upon His people it causes them to react in supernatural ways. The early believers received God’s grace and Luke notes in Acts 4, that God’s grace was upon them all that resulted in those believer’s who had the ability to share with those who had needs. Grace transforms lives.
Luke also mentions, in Acts 13, that Paul and Barnabas urged new believers to continue in the grace of God. We, as believers, are to maintain an attitude of humility in dependence on God so that His grace may continue to be poured out on us. For God gives grace to the humble but He hardens the proud.
So we might sum up grace to say that not only does grace save a person from their sin, it also transforms a person in the image of God. This is why it is the common mark of believers. Those who wrote the New Testament letters began them with grace and ended them with grace. They were recipients of this grace for the purpose of writing the Word of God and they expressed freely. So let us dwell upon the grace of God and praise Him for it. For His grace is as much a part of His character as it is part of His actions toward us. Is grace a common mark in your life? Does God’s grace shine through you?