We do not know for sure who wrote the New Testament letter or epistle to the Hebrews. It may have been Paul....in fact I tend to believe that it was Paul....but it may not have been him. Hebrews does appear to be a sermon....as it has the marks of a sermon.....and reads like a sermon. I believe that it's a model sermon just as the Lord's Prayer is a model for prayer. Would this be important? I think that it would be.
I am often in these posts trying to lead people to ministries and theologians....and books....that would help visitors....and I would be very happy if they went to these ministries.....stayed there....and never returned to my writing....for these teachers that I recommend are infinitely more valuable to the Christian and the inquirer than I could ever be
R. C. Sproul and Ligonier Ministries is probably that which I recommend the most. R. C. went to be his Lord....December a year ago....but his extraordinary teaching is still there at ligonier.org. I have listened to the final sermon that he gave many times....this morning being the most recent. It was based on a Scripture verse from Hebrews. You can listen to this very easily by simply Googling R. C. Sproul's final sermon....it should be at the top of the list.
I have to wonder how much the average pastor has contemplated just what a sermon is to be and how it is to be constructed. Pastors in the denomination that I belong acquired their knowledge in seminary....for most others it would probably have been in a Bible college. As for me....I only know what I have experienced.....the grandest sermons that I have heard in my Christian life of 36 years....have from the pulpit exalted the Lord Jesus Christ....first.....foremost....and throughout.
It's an interesting anecdote.....and I'll add it here. He was just a city copy editor in a very small local newspaper when I knew him. He didn't have a lot of money....and had a bunch of kids....but I could tell then that he was a perfectionist in his journalism. We attended the same church.....were friends....and sat together with our families in the second pew from the front....and both of us were depleted at the end of the sermons....depleted of energy from these wonderful sermons that we heard on a weekly basis.....but depleted of energy only for a short time....as we often had to just sit there and reflect at the end of the service on these preached glories of Christ. This man is now the managing editor of a large newspaper in the East.
My hope is that pastors will come across this sermon.....maybe someone from their congregation will pass this post on to them....(hint)....and that he might consider Hebrews as possibly being a model for what he should be preaching every Lord's Day.....and also that many visitors to these posts might listen to R. C. Sproul's....final sermon....and then take advantage of this wonderful resource.
