Charles Spurgeon Commentary Hebrews 11:40

"God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect." — Hebrews 11:40 (ASV)

God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

The new dispensation is necessary to complete the old, the New Testament is the complement of the Old Testament, and New Testament saints join hands with Old Testament elders. Let us all be worthy of our high pedigree; and may God grant that, if the saints of these latter days are to perfect the history of the Church of Christ, the end may not be less heroic than the beginning was! A true poem should gather force as it grows, and its waves of thought should roll in with greater power as it nears its climax; so should the mighty poem of faith's glorious history increase in depth and power as it gets nearer to its grand consummation, that God may be glorified yet more and more, through all his believing children. So may it be!

Amen.

God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

They are waiting in heaven for us; the choirs of heaven cannot be completed without you and me. Heaven's full complement, the perfect number of the divine family of love, can never be made up until we who have believed go up to join all those who have had like precious faith. By God's grace, we shall all be there so that they with us may be made perfect.

God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

For it never was God's intention that any part of His church should be able to do without the rest of it, so that those who lived before the time of Christ cannot do without us; neither can we do without them.

God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Is it not wonderful that we, who bring up the rear of the army of faith, are necessary to its completeness? It cannot be perfect without us. Yes, heaven itself will not be complete without us who are on the road to it. There would be empty seats in the holy orchestra, gaps in the sacred circle; so we who believe must all come there to make them perfect. God help us to hasten on our road, for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

God having provided some better thing for us, that they–

Even they, great as they are,–

Without us should not be made perfect.

There is something for us, whose lot is cast in these latter days, to bring, which will complete the circle and choir of the Church of Christ, for they without us could not be made perfect. The Lord grant us grace to be ready for our share in that glorious consummation, for Christ's sake. Amen.