HEBREWS 11:40
PIOUS PEOPLE PROCURE PERFECTED PROMISES
I. THE PANORAMA:
A. Past.
B. Present.
C. Promise.
II. THE PATTERN:
A. Person.
B. Pardon.
C. Partnership.
III. THE PERFECTION:
A. Plan.
B. Provisional.
C. Permanent.
The writer now brings this part of his writing to a close as he lists several Old Testament saints who are included in the Hero Hall of Faith Fame. He says that there were many others whom he could have listed, but time and space no doubt hindered him from writing more. Yet he wishes not to leave them out of his message concerning Faith, but wishes to group them together into one bundle and then proceed with what he was trying to teach.
In one simple verse of Scripture, he links the past saints to the present saints of his and our days and then states that God has something, “Better” for all who follow Him. He is correct in his assertion that PIOUS PEOPLE PROCURE PERFECTED PROMISES and one of these promises is the assurance that God has something better for all of His children in the world to come. From Abel to the prophets of old, the writer stipulates that God has been busy preparing something better than what they endured in this life.
In keeping with his premise, the writer to the Hebrews carefully makes a sweeping charge of the past saints, combining with the present saints and those who will come to tell them that God does not lose one of His children in His promises of making things aright with them for their years of labor for Him. From the dusty streets and paths of old Israel to the broad avenues of modern cities, all those who name the name of Jesus are promised something better in the life to come. From the barrios of Third World countries to the palatial districts of the First World nations, all who name the name of Jesus will be, indeed are, included in the promise of something better for living one’s life for God. From the lowest hovels to the finest buildings of this world, God remembers and marks His own and all the Pious People who claim the name of Jesus are en route to receive their inheritance-not in this world-but in the world to come.
As I study this verse forty of this chapter, I cannot help but see three things, three divisions to the Perfected Promise to God’s Pious People. The first thing I note is the sweeping PANORAMA of the saints this writer includes in receiving a promise from God. The second part of this verse that commands my attention has to do with a PATTERN that I notice of those who claim the name of Jesus and what is in store for them when life ebbs from their veins. Then, the last part of my sermon from this interesting verse has to do with the PERFECTION of the saints and the Perfected Promise the pious People will receive from God.
I. THE PANORAMA: The writer to the Hebrews goes to great length to include all of the saints who have embraced the gospel story both from the Old Testament, the present ones and the ones to come. As he writes these words he tells his readers that God has prepared a final salvation for all of those who follow God and they will all be included in the “Better” thing which He wishes to bestow on His followers. He also tells his readers that all will be included in one great assembling of blessing and none will be excluded.
The first group to which the writer alludes by inference has to do with the former saints, those who served God in the Past. He has just finished his chapter on the saints of yesteryear and these, along with the myriad of others who have followed God will be included in His “Better Thing” of His blessings. Old John Trapp states that this “Better Thing” is none other than Jesus Himself. If so, then the ones who died in the faith looking forward to His coming will be rewarded with His blessing of salvation-none will be excluded.
Not only does he refer to the saints of yesteryear who will be granted a “Better Thing” which includes the salvation of Jesus, but also the saints of that Present time. According to the writer to the Hebrews, the saints of his day will be on the same level of God’s graces as the ones who have gone on before. The writer wished to tell his readers that there are no degrees of saints in the service of God. The new converts to whom he was writing would be included in God’s “Better Thing” of salvation and their faith will be on the same par as the ones who preceded them.
While he sweeps THE PANORAMA of God’s saints and promises them that all will be included in this greater blessing by Him, the writer also is mindful that all who are to come after him will be accorded this “Better Thing” in Jesus and God will make sure that all are the recipients of His blessing in the future-the perfection of all who follow Him.
These notes are, of course very familiar to all of we modern day Christians. We believe that there is coming a time in the future when all of God’s Children will be made perfect in His eyes when we enter Heaven. However, if we take the time to put ourselves in the time frame of when this epistle was written, and look at these verses through the eyes of the saints of the first century, things begin to appear somewhat a bit differently. These early Christians were no doubt familiar with the saints of the Old Testament. They were aware that they had died and gone on to be with the Lord. Along with this fact, were the certainties and fears that some of the early Christians were dying either by natural causes or at the hands of their persecutors. The ones who remained, were becoming alarmed about what was in store for these departed loved ones. Were they going to be excluded from the graces of God that others were already enjoying. The writer tells his readers that there was no need to fear because everyone who claimed the name of Christ, past, present and those who would so do in the future, would all be made perfect with the Lord in His time.
II. THE PATTERN: This “Better Thing” which is promised to all the saints of God, is of course wrapped up in the Lord Jesus Christ. He will be making all of His followers perfect when each reaches Heaven. It is worth the time to stop and evaluate this “Better Thing” and its ramifications for all who follow God-the former saints, the saints who were reading this writing for the first time and those who were yet to come into the fold of salvation. The constitution or the make up of this “Better Thing” starts with the very Person of our Lord and Saviour.
What can be better than to meet Jesus as one’s Redeemer? The answer is in the negative, of course. The Christian religion is unique to say the least. In the Christian faith, our Lord says, “I died for you.” In the Moslem faith, its god says, “Die for me.” Christianity is not just a religion, it is a Relationship. This faith which the saints of the Old Testament had, looked forward to the time when God would send His Redeemer to redeem man’s lost estate. The Christian faith is a faith of continuity and it is all contained in the one Person of Christ our Lord.
This is that “Better Thing” of which the writer sees as being given to all of God’s followers-past, present and future believers in Him. The “Better Thing” is of course Jesus Christ. Wrapped up in this Person who is named as our Lord, is that which He procured on Calvary-our Pardon. The Pattern of God’s future bestowal of blessings upon His saints begins with the sacred shed blood of Jesus to purchase our Pardon. The pattern of this “Better Thing” lies in the very essence of Christ and also His efficaciously shed blood for our redemption. When people come to Him for this forgiveness and are made right with Him, this then allows one to ask for forgiveness of one’s sins and to be pardoned by this, “Better Thing” Jesus Himself.
By enjoying the Pardon of Christ now, one begins a “Better Thing” of entering into a divine Partnership with Jesus who will perfect all of us in His time. The saints of old had this union with God as they walked and waited for the appearance of the Better One. They all died in the faith waiting to be perfected by the very One they believed would come. The saints of the first century, formed a Partnership with Jesus when they accepted Him as their Saviour. All of this is meant when the writer told his readers that in the future, God would make sure that all who ever followed Him, would not be excluded from receiving that “Better Thing” which was in part a Partnership with the Messiah. This promise has a tendency to boggle our minds when we realize that we mere mortals can be made joint heirs with the “Better One” who came to die for all of our sins. Together, all of God’s saints will be made perfect with the Better Thing” Jesus Christ in His Home when he calls for each one to come unto Him.
III. THE PERFECTION: I have looked at THE PANORAMA, of the verse before us and I have tried to convey that all of those who have believed in Christ-before His coming and after His coming will be included in receiving “A Better Thing” the final perfection of the saints through the blood of Jesus and that He will not exclude any who have believed in Him. There will be a time in the future when all of God’s saints will be gathered together and the Coronation of the King of kings will commence and all will be present to crown Him as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
I also studied for a brief moment the aspect of THE PATTERN of the redemption that is guaranteed through and by this “Better Thing” Jesus, Himself. The formula for being eligible of receiving the benefits of this Jesus is to see Him as a real Person who came in a body and secured our Pardon. Once we accept Him as our Saviour and wait for the final revelation of the “Better Thing” we form a close partnership with Him here and in the world to come.
With these two main points before us, I can now look for a brief moment at that aspect of being made perfect with Him someday in the future. God always had a Plan in place for His people. Long before the saints of the Old Testament who looked down the corridors of the centuries to come and believed in His appearance as a real Person here on this Earth, God had a Plan made for our perfecting. With all of the bumps and lumps we Christians have in our soul, God already had a plan in place that through the shed blood of His Son, He would Perfect us in His time. All saints of God are included in this Plan of being made perfect before Him someday.
Not only did God have a Plan in place for our salvation and ultimate Perfection, but God had a way of sealing those who come to Him for salvation. This Design of God was Provisional and all inclusive. From the time He killed the animals in the Garden for their fur and skin to clothe Adam and Eve, God’s Plan of Perfection was Provisional for the Old Testament saints but was made Permanent for the saints of the New Testament.
In the Old Testament, the aspect of becoming a child of God was by faith-just as it has always been. The Tabernacle, the Temple, and the Synagogues, all were used to build on the Provisional aspect of Christ’s coming. However, once He came, the Old was swept away and the reality of the situation is that God’s Plan for Perfecting His saints with a “Better Thing” is now Permanent.
This was what the writer tried to convey to his readers. From start to finish, all of God’s Saints have been a part of His ongoing method of perfecting them through this “Better Thing” of Jesus, Himself. No one will be left out. When life is finally over as this Earth as we know it, when all of God’s children are Home, all of us will have the same opportunity to be made like Him. I am not certain but, I tend to agree with my old Theology professor who thought that as the eons unfold in yonder bliss, we shall learn more and more about Him. And, as we learn more and more about Him, we will have the capacity to grow in grace and to be more and more like Him.
God did and still does have a method in place to make us more like Him through the promise of this “Better Thing” who is Jesus and all that He has done for all of His children. My title bears repeating, that pious people do procure perfecting promises.
