Acknowledgments

The assignment of writing a commentary on the book of Hebrews is no small undertaking. This commentary began in the privilege of teaching and preaching the book of Hebrews, line by line, to members of Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, where my wife Mary and I were members for more than twenty years and where I gladly served as a teaching pastor. We remain so very thankful for this warm and faithful congregation. My expositional teaching on Hebrews lasted more than two years, and there is no way to exhaust the riches of any text of Scripture—and that was certainly clear as we studied Hebrews together.

Along the way, many others contributed to this project and to my ministry. Among these were an excellent team of interns in the Office of the President. They included Jeremiah Greever, Duncan Collins, Forrest Strickland, Chris Winegar, Andres Vera, John Pendleton, and Timothy Kleiser. These interns were a tremendous team, and I am thankful for every one of them. Matt Tyler and Jon Swan served as my personal librarians during this project, and they also contributed tremendous assistance. Jon Pentecost served as my media producer during this period, and I am very thankful for him. J. T. English and Thomas Hellams served as executive assistant and chief of staff in my office during these years, and both of them made a dedicated contribution to this effort—believing in it with patience and understanding.

Two others deserve special commendation. Sam Emadi, director of research, is simply the indispensable man in organizing, supervising, and orchestrating the flow of all the books, writing projects, lectures, speeches, sermons, essays, and other projects I commit myself to do. A man of great scholarship and even greater heart—to him I owe a great debt of gratitude.

Similarly, I want to thank Ryan Troglin, who really assumed responsibility for the management of this project and helped me to transform the content from sermon and teaching to a commentary that would serve the church for years to come. Without him, this project would have remained incomplete.

I am thankful for all the faithful preachers and scholars who have added to my understanding of the book of Hebrews and to the teaching faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, with whom I have been privileged to teach and lead for almost twenty-five years.

Finally, as always, my greatest debt in this life is to my wife, Mary, who has so sweetly and perceptively encouraged me in every good work, who listened to me preach and teach almost every word, who encouraged me beyond all measure, and who adds more to my life than any words can express.