Hebrews 11:39-40 - Homiletics

Perfection through the promise.

In discoursing upon this confessedly difficult text, we shall not discuss the various interpretations that have been given to it, but simply unfold what we ourselves humbly judge to be its meaning. Consider—

I. THE PROMISE . ( Hebrews 11:39 ) That is, the fulfillment of the promise, or the promised blessing. The apostle can refer in this expression only to the great substantive promise of the Old Testament dispensation, that of the coming of the Messiah. It is the promise of "the seed of the woman" ( Genesis 3:15 ) and the seed of Abraham ( Genesis 22:18 ); the promise of the setting up of the kingdom of heaven by the "Child born" ( Isaiah 9:6 , Isaiah 9:7 ), and of the "pouring out of God's Spirit upon all flesh" ( Joel 2:28 ).

II. THE DISADVANTAGEOUS POSITION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS IN RELATION TO IT . "These all," whose names appear in this chapter, are honorably mentioned in Scripture for their exploits and endurances as believers. The promise had been constantly made to them, and they "had seen it, and greeted it from afar" ( Hebrews 11:13 ). But:

1. They " received not the promise. " ( Hebrews 11:39 ) Successive generations of godly men hoped for the advent through the weary centuries, and passed away before the Messiah had been born, or the true sacrifice offered, or the way into the holiest made manifest, or the great gift of the Spirit bestowed. They continued to the end of their lives under the temporal and preparatory economy—the dispensation of law and ceremony and shadow.

2. They were " not made perfect. " ( Hebrews 11:40 ) Old Testament believers, while on earth, did not obtain the clear knowledge of gospel doctrine which we possess who have received "the Spirit of truth;" and they did not attain to the high level of spiritual happiness which is within our reach, now that Christ has sent us "the Comforter." And even in heaven, as this passage seems to imply, their knowledge and joy did not become full until the realization of the promise, through the finished work of the Lord Jesus. There is, of course, no warrant in Scripture for the patristic and Romish doctrine of the limbus patrum. The souls of Old Testament saints, after they departed this life, did not experience a dreamy sort of existence in some dreary under-world until the time of Christ's ascension. Abel and Abraham, Moses and David, passed at once from earth to glory. This is true; and yet it would appear, from the apostle's language in the verse before us, that these ancient heroes had to hope and wait for their perfection in knowledge and blessedness, until the death and resurrection and exaltation of the Son of God. Although safe in heaven, they continued to long and pray, as they had done on earth, for the coming of "the fullness of the time." Just as the entire humanity of the believer shall not be "made perfect" until the morning of the general resurrection, so even "the spirits of just men" ( Hebrews 12:23 ) under the Jewish economy were not "made perfect" until the accomplishment of Christ's atoning work, at the beginning of the Christian era.

III. THE CORRESPONDING ADVANTAGE ENJOYED BY NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS . God has "provided some better thing concerning us" ( Hebrews 11:40 ). That is, we have received the fulfillment of the great gospel promise. Christ has come. He has achieved our redemption. He has sent to the Church his Holy Spirit. He has given us a completed Bible. He has founded a dispensation which is evangelical and spiritual, catholic and permanent. He has opened heaven over the world; and we see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. Nor is this earthly life of higher privilege the only advantage which we possess. For at death the believer's spirit now goes at once to be with Christ—a blessing which, prior to the advent, was in some mysterious sense denied to Old Testament saints. His soul has not to wait for its beatification. Immediately after death it is "made perfect." In the presence of the glorified Christ, nothing whatever is wanting to complete its blessedness, except only the resurrection of the body.

IV. THE PERFECTION AND UNITY OF THE CHURCH SINCE THE ADVENT . ( Hebrews 11:40 ) When the promise of an accomplished salvation was fulfilled to the Church on earth, its fulfillment brought long-looked-for perfection to the Church in heaven. The coming of Christ, while it may be said to have cut the world's history in twain, was at the same time the meeting-place of the two great dispensations of religion, and of the universal Church of God. The centuries circle round the cross, and in it the Church of all ages finds its unity. The fulfillment of the promise in the earthly work of Christ raised both the Church militant and the Church triumphant to a much loftier level than either had occupied before. The ancient heroes of faith could not have attained their new position except in connection with our accession of privilege. And thus all the saints who are now gathered in heaven, whether nurtured at first in the Jewish Church or in the Christian, have alike been "made perfect," and form one undivided society. It follows, too, that believers of all nations who are presently on earth are in real union with this united society of glorified spirits. The Church militant and the Church triumphant constitute "one army of the living God."

CONCLUSION . Although "the elders" labored under great disadvantage, as regards the extent of their privileges, compared with the Christian Hebrews of the first century and with us, their confidence in the promise was vigorous and persistent, valiant and victorious. They cherished this faith while on earth, and they continued to cling to it in heaven until it became changed to sight. How shameful, then, will it be to us, if we allow our faith to decline! For God has already largely fulfilled his promise of salvation. The first advent is now matter of history. Christendom presents to our view an ever-accumulating mass of Christian evidence. Our encouragement to perseverance is much greater than any which Jewish believers enjoyed under the old covenant. How miserably infatuated, therefore, shall we be if we allow our faith and hope in the Lord Jesus and in the second advent to fail, or even to vacillate!