The Forerunner
Hebrews 6:17-20
Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:…


I. There is A PLACE referred to, here. "Within the veil " is heaven, the shrine and dwelling-place of Deity. This is the goal of the believer's sanctified ambition, the very consummation of his best and holiest desires — to enter in within the veil, to gaze on the unclouded glories of Jehovah's face, and dwell forever with Him.

II. There is THE PERSON who has entered within the veil, even Jesus, by whom an entrance has been effected. To tell one of any one of my fellow-men, who has passed from earth to heaven, does not that proclaim that a way has been opened up into the holiest of all; that there is no impassable gulf, no insuperable barrier in the way, but that an entrance may in like manner be ministered to a great multitude? How much more so, that it is Jesus who has entered in! For none ever loved us like Jesus; never heart glowed and yearned like the heart of Jesus; and we may well feel assured that wherever He is, He will never forget us; and that He will be found just as willing to help us in heaven as He showed Himself to be walling to help us on earth.

III. There is THE CHARACTER HE SUSTAINS in thus entering; it is as a Forerunner for us. This character is not personal, but official and mediatorial; and therefore it exerts a pregnant influence upon all His people.

1. As a Forerunner He announces our future arrival in heaven. He makes it known that in coming up from this dim and distant region, where for a season He had dwelt, He comes as a pioneer on the march, — that His footsteps will be followed by myriads of the ransomed, so that from that day forward all heaven has been in an attitude of expectation.

2. As the Forerunner He takes possession of heaven on our behalf; for He enters in our nature and in our name.

3. As a Forerunner He bids His people welcome when they come, and presents them before His Father, and assigns them their position in the new Jerusalem. It is enough to insure to us no ordinary place in the affection and regard of the unfallen, to find that we are ushered in and welcomed there as friends of Jesus; to sustain a right relation t- Jesus is to stand right with all the upper universe of God. Above all, what a gracious reception will it insure to us from God the Father! None so dear to God as Jesus, and next to Jesus none so dear to Him as those who are His.

(Thee. Main, D. D.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:

WEB: In this way God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath;




The End of God's Oath
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