He does not mean by this the worst of sinners, but saving believers to the uttermost, bringing through every difficulty those "that come unto God by him." And one winter in Capua did what the Roman legions had not succeeded in doing. The wisest man is a fool in the sight of God; and the strongest man is weak in the moment of temptation. And why? At the beginning of this passage he says: "You did not desire sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt-offerings and sin-offerings and you took no pleasure in them," and it is such offerings as these that the law prescribes. In the New Testament, patience is the quality of a person who is reliable and unshakable from his intended objective goals. In short, the word in itself may mean either; but this is no proof that it may indifferently or without adequate reason be translated both ways. They must draw near by conversion, and by taking hold of his covenant. But the apostle lets them know that if they understood their true blessing, this was the very part of it that was inseparably bound up with their present nearness to God, as set forth typically by the central and most important rite of the Jewish system. With the attribute of true patience, not only can one overcome spiritual afflictions but he can also experience these troubled times with joy. We belong to the holiest of all, and we act upon it, if we iet rightly, when we worship God; nay, when we draw near to God in prayer at all times. Can there be a doubt that Christianity is meant? The foundation is sacrifice; the Power is of the Holy Ghost. For there is seen not only the proof that the Messiah is the One whom God pronounced by an oath "a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec," but the glorious seat He has taken at the right-hand of God is now worked into this magnificent pleading. If we are ever to have fellowship with God, obedience is the only way. Every now and again the writer to the Hebrews speaks with a sternness that is almost without parallel in the New Testament. It echoes former warnings (cf. The scholarly Bloomfield, writing on the importance of patience, says: 1. Thus the first part of the chapter shows us simply what God holds out to the new man; but the epistle to the Hebrews never looks at the Christian simply in the new man, but rather as a concrete person. Now notice the law was only a shadow of the good things to come. We have many duties required of us in our Christian callings, and in our particular vocation (for the honour of God, and the service of our brethren), which we have need of patience to go through (526). Would he give up the one that was the type of the true Seed, the progenitor, and the channel of the promised blessing, yea, of the Blesser? Holy Scripture then demanded that a man should sit down at the right hand of God. It is an enduring substance, it will out-live time and run parallel with eternity; they can never spend it; their enemies can never take it from them, as they did their earthly goods. In point of fact the English translators did not know what to make of the matter; for they give sometimes one, sometimes the other, without any apparent reason for it, except to vary the phrase. Hey, you're not calling the shots! "By the which will" (not man's, which is sin, but God's) "we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.". They knew they had possessions that no man could take away, the enduring substance in heaven. He presses a conversation without covetousness, and a spirit of content, founded on our confidence in the Lord's care. Such is a main point, not ofHebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 4:1-16 only, but of the epistle. "Whereupon neither the first [covenant] was dedicated without blood. For it is deeply, deeply ingrained.So the time of the writing of the Hebrews, those who had made a profession of Christ, some of them sort going back. But the writer to the Hebrews goes on to outline our duty to others in the most practical way. Christianity. Thus the cross and heavenly glory must go together. Fully does He allow, as connected with this, that the chastening seems not joyous but grievous. "And Samuel said, has the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? The greater part of the affections of the Christian are drawn out toward our Saviour by all this scene of sin and sorrow through which we are passing on to heaven. This is just the closing practical word of the epistle to the Hebrews. To mark that as yet the veil was unrent. But the apostle takes all this difficulty by the horns, as good as telling them, that their having suffered all this was simply because it is the right road. But he offered one single sacrifice for sin and then took his seat for ever at the right hand of God, and for the future he waits until his enemies are made the footstool of his feet. The first is, that in spirit the Christian is now brought by redemption, without spot or guilt, into the presence of God. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry ( Hebrews 10:35-37 ). Shall I give my, first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin, of my soul?" [Note: Morris, pp. There remains, therefore, a sabbath-keeping for the people of God. There were some amongst those to whom the writer of the Hebrews was writing who had abandoned the habit of meeting together. Impossible to rise higher than the Highest, whence therefore the apostle descends, to consequences. Only Jesus can really cleanse a man. Paul tells us this in Colossians, chapter 2, where Christ through His death blotted out the handwriting and the ordinances that were against us, nailing them to His cross and triumphing over them in it. They must draw near in humble adorations, worshipping at his footstool. 5. It is sui generis; it is one of these masterpieces which can never be done again. None but a heavenly Priest would suffice for the counsels He has in hand. If we have to wait for the exercise at a future day, the order is as true and plain now as it ever can be. (2.) "He taketh away the first." There is no sanction here, of course, of the vulgar and outrageous error that pastors give an account of the souls of their flock. Over on your left is another door, behind which are several tigers. But soon after persecutions started through their unbelieving, hardened compatriots ( Acts 8:1-3; Acts 11:19; Acts 12:1-3; compare 1 Thessalonians 2:14 ). There was a kind of priestly tread-mill of sacrifice. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Never was there a time when men used terms with a more equivocal design than at the present moment. There remains no other sacrifice for your sins. For whom it may be is another thing, of which he will speak by-and-by. But winter came and the campaign had to be suspended. From their questions and their arguments and their criticisms he said that he had learned that "the greatest handicap the Church has is the unsatisfactory lives of professing Christians." Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because he perfectly did God's will. As they are companions, so do they test a walk with God; one is faith, the other is suffering. "And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better." It is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." That we should observe the approaching of times of trial, and be thereby quickened to greater diligence: So much the more, as you see the day approaching. This exhortation is a good summary of the whole message of Hebrews. Since such a way of access and return to God is opened, it would be the greatest ingratitude and contempt of God and Christ still to keep at a distance from him. This is the meaning of the blood carried within, and of the body burnt without. This leads into the life of faith, which was a great stumbling-block to some of these Christian Jews. And the story ended, which door?But as you see the story, you realize that we are the guilty princess, and that we rebelled against the Lord, who loved us so much that He came to prove His love by dying in our place. The hill of Zion up to this time had been the constant menace of the enemy against the people of the Lord; but in due time, when David reigned, it was wrested out of the hands of the Jebusites, and became the stronghold of Jerusalem, the city of the king. ( Hosea 6:6). with. Moffatt speaks of "the levitical drudges" who, day in day out, kept offering these sacrifices. Hebrews 10:36, NASB: For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. It is still possible for a man to think that he is a Christian and yet abandon the habit of worshipping with God's people in God's house on God's day. . For let me say this as a parting word, and I say it advisedly, because of circumstances that might well be before our hearts, no deliverance, however enjoyed, no place of death to law, world, or sin, no privilege of union with Christ, will enable a soul to dispense with the truths contained in this epistle to the Hebrews. Have you come to mock me because of the fate that I have?" Obey your leaders, and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls, as those that shall give account." There remains no more sacrifice for such sins, no other Christ to come to save such sinners; they sin against the last resort and remedy. Hence, therefore, he now introduces us "to the spirits of just men made perfect." God honoured the son for the father's sake. The reason I take to be, that the apostle meets the Jewish believer where he is, as much as possible giving credit for what was really true in the Old Testament saints, and so in the Jewish mind. If you wanted to use this verse to scare people, there are a couple of angles you could take: 1. 6:9, 10 recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 33 partly while you were made # 1 Cor. Why should His saints be carried away with questions about meats and drinks? The best that they could do was to give him a distant and spasmodic contact with God. Ye have need of patience Having so great a fight of sufferings to pass through, and they of so long continuance. Wednesday, March 1st, 2023 Peter said, "God is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness. Hence in Hebrews we never find the body of Christ as such referred to. For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. They were dead. Professors may go a great way, and after all draw back; and this drawing back from God is drawing on to perdition: the further we depart from God the nearer we approach to ruin. that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise: The doing and the receiving Paul speaks of here are in the future, and both require the Christians patience and steadfastness in obedience to the will of God. By abandoning meeting together, believers can drift away and cease to thrive. Observe, There is a kind of sanctification which persons may partake of and yet fall away: they may be distinguished by common gifts and graces, by an outward profession, by a form of godliness, a course of duties, and a set of privileges, and yet fall away finally. I speak, of course, of our entrance there only in spirit. the book of Hebrews A W Tozer preached these messages as part of a 40 sermon series shortly before his death . God has made great and precious promises to believers, and he is a faithful God, true to his word; there is no falseness nor fickleness with him, and there should be none with us. Such is the emphasis. The writer to the Hebrews quotes it differently and in the second line he has: The explanation is that he was not quoting from the original Hebrew but from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The Hebrews were Jews in Palestine who had got converted upon the preaching of the apostles. That we should consider one another, to provoke to love and to good works. Had they been taunted with having no altar, possessing nothing so holy and so glorious in its associations? Through that the way was once and for all opened up for us. Then you may bless God that He has so blessed you, and given you to know as true of yourself that which, if not so known, effectually prevents one from having the full joy and bearing the due witness as an unworldly and simple-hearted servant of Christ here below. They must first do the will of God before they receive the promise; and, after they have done the will of God, they have need of patience to wait for the time when the promise shall be fulfilled; they have need of patience to live till God calls them away. 3. "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holies by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:36 Context Crossref Greek Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. I am accepted in Jesus Christ. That is still true. "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the. We can do it by reminding others of their traditions, their privileges, their responsibilities when they are likely to forget them. because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins." "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. A man might be able to direct an enquirer to Buckingham Palace and yet be very far from having the right to take him into the presence of the Queen; but Jesus can take us the whole way. His answer is that condemnation must necessarily follow, "and so much the more because thou hast read this book." The exhortation is based on a number of considerations, among which are these: (1) We have a great high priest who has opened up the new and living way through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. Verse 36. But God took care to summon His children outside to abandon the whole system before it was destroyed. And we'll get an interesting listing of these men of faith as we move on into chapter 11, the glorious chapter on faith.And now may the Lord be with you, watch over and keep you in His love as you walk in faith in Him. It is true, He does not always call at once into the place of reproach and suffering. He first brings us into the joy and nearness of His presence. It is not mere rebelliousness against law; it is the wounding of love. Christianity does not demand the impossible; but if we were always as honest, as kind, as courageous, as courteous as we can be, life would be transformed. "Be mindful of those in bonds, as bound with them; and of those which suffer adversity." Establish yourselves, for the Lord is waiting for the full fruit of harvest. He had shown the work of Christ and His coming again in glory. I should like to ask whether (or how far) all the believers here assembled can take this as their place with simplicity. Meanwhile Christianity gives the utmost force to every type and truth of God. We hear first of Melchisedec (King of righteousness), next of Salem or peace; without father, without mother, without genealogy. Those therefore that so translate our two verses have invented a meaning for the phrase, instead of accepting its legitimate sense as attested by all the monuments of the Greek tongue; whereas the moment that we give it the meaning assigned here rightly by the better translators, that is, the sense of "testator" and "testament," all runs with perfect smoothness, and with striking aptitude. Thus the only time when he comes into notice he is acting in the double capacity here spoken of: King of righteousness as to his name, King of Salem as to his place, blessing Abraham on his return from the victory over the kings of the Gentiles in the name of the Most High God, and blessing the Most High God the possessor of heaven earth in the name of Abraham. Then he descends to a new or fresh covenant (not , as elsewhere, but ), the recently inaugurated covenant for the two houses of the ancient people. I can come into the presence of God through Him. And he sprinkled likewise with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. Hebrews 10:3,4,11-18 It is the honourable character of just men that in times of the greatest affliction they can live by faith they can live upon the assured persuasion they have of the truth of God's promises. By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having a high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart full of assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Verse 36 and through the end of this chapter conclude the fourth great exhortation of Hebrews. Grace be with you all. It is probably a bad translation. If the law could show little mercy in such a case, the grace of God views all sin as intolerable. So here he tells them to "follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man lack the grace of God." They watch as those that shall give an account. If you have and prize one alone, you have only got the half of Christianity yea, of its foundations. I have no access to God. They may enter into the gracious presence of God in his holy oracles, ordinances, providences, and covenant, and so into communion with God, where they receive communications from him, till they are prepared to enter into his glorious presence in heaven. Totally forgiven by your commitment of your life to Jesus Christ, or if you fail, then the death from which He died to save you will come and there will be no hope of any escape. For if these sacrifices could achieve that, would they not have stopped being brought because the worshipper had been once and for all brought into a state of purity and no longer had any consciousness of sin? 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