Hebrews 13:22

The writer urged his readers again to accept the word of exhortation contained in this epistle rather than rejecting it. It is, after all, a brief word.

"The definite expression ’the exhortation’ is a synonymous designation for the sermon. It referred specifically to the exposition and application of the Scripture that had been read aloud to the assembled congregation. In a fourth-century description of the liturgy for the consecration of a bishop the homily is designated logous parakleseos, ’words of exhortation’ (Apost. Const. 8.5). This appears to be a fixed expression for the sermon in early Christian circles . . ." [Note: Lane, Hebrews 9-13, p. 568. See also L. Wills, "The Form of the Sermon in Hellenistic Judaism and Early Christianity," Harvard Theological Review 77 (1984):280 and footnote 10.]