As to the outer man also, we must learn to what we are called now. Moffatt speaks of "the levitical drudges" who, day in day out, kept offering these sacrifices. It is very likely that the writer to the Hebrews did not know any Hebrew at all and therefore it is the Septuagint that he uses. The favourite thought is "development;" and so they hold a development or genesis of matter, not a creation: matter continually progressing, in various forms, until at last it has progressed into these wise men of our day. So you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.". The point to which he directs the reader is the evident and surpassing dignity of the case the unity too of the Priest and the priesthood; and this for an obvious reason. They needed to persevere, to keep on keeping on. It may then be stated summarily, in few words, unless I am greatly mistaken, that the word should always be translated "covenant" in every part of the New Testament, except in these two verses; namely, Hebrews 9:16-17. To exhort one another, to exhort ourselves and each other, to warn ourselves and one another of the sin and danger of backsliding, to put ourselves and our fellow-christians in mind of our duty, of our failures and corruptions, to watch over one another, and be jealous of ourselves and one another with a godly jealousy. That is still true. The epistle sets before us the seat of glory prepared on high; the Revelation speaks of the bride represented as a glorious golden city with figures beyond nature. 129.] They wouldn't have to offer animals once a year in the Holy of Holies. James has said, "Have patience brethren; establish your souls for the Lord is waiting for the complete fruit of harvest" ( James 5:7 ). This I take to be a general description of the scene of glory for which Abraham looked. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Remember the great reward it brings you! But whether the one or the other, all was by faith. They must draw near in humble adorations, worshipping at his footstool. A man is ill. A bottle of medicine is prescribed for him. (1.) . Up to this time man was the object of those ways; it was simply, and rightly of course, a probation. Here are Christians who were tempted to give up. It is what He carries on now. Here the meaning is the saving of one's daily life (He 10:32-39). "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in virtue of the blood of the everlasting covenant, perfect you in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight "through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for the ages of the ages. For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.". 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. 2. You've got to come on His terms, and His terms are that you come through Jesus Christ.The Old Covenant is disannulled; it's passed away. Accordingly we find everything about Moses. They made what they called the kophar for sins. The grace or principle of patience comes from God; the use and exercise of that grace is of yourselves. He is thinking of the Second Coming of Christ when things as we know them will be ended. "And unto the city of the living God, (not of dying David,) the heavenly Jerusalem" (not the earthly capital of Palestine). Certain things can be repeated; but all works of genius have a certain unrepeatable quality. If you believe in Christ at all, such is your portion nothing less. So the reason why God is waiting and delaying the coming of Jesus Christ is to give opportunity for others to come on into the kingdom. This is the point of the next chapters (He 11 and 12). Charles Wesley in his great hymn appealed to men: It was when the flesh of Christ was rent upon the Cross that men really saw God. 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. They must draw near to God, and that in a right manner. Once He came they were no longer necessary, no longer necessary to have the shadows, for we now have the substance in Jesus. Eliphaz unwillingly paid Job a great tribute. Nor does it seem so natural for any as the great apostle to inform them of his child and fellow-labourer: "Know that the brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come pretty soon, I will see you. If, therefore, when you find the word "testament" anywhere else in the authorized version, you turn it into "covenant" in my opinion you will not do amiss. Here, it is plain, we have the chief lineaments of revealed truth. Such is a main point, not ofHebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 4:1-16 only, but of the epistle. The Jew never understood his law until the light of Christ on the cross and in glory shone upon it. This was a final call; and how gracious! When Caesar was murdered he faced his assassins with almost disdainful courage. What was the necessity for a new covenant if the old one would do as well? We are still walking here below; we are in the place therefore where infirmity is felt, where Satan tempts, where we may fail through unwatchfulness. (3) The Christians who received this epistle had already endured great hardship and suffering and should not throw all that away by becoming indifferent. "For," says he, "there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof (for the law made nothing perfect)." From the description he gives of the sin of apostasy. In the time we have it is our duty to do all the good we can to all the people we can in all the ways we can. 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. It is easy to drift into a kind of selfish Christianity; but a selfish Christianity is a contradiction in terms. As a Christian I am now free, by God's will, to go in peace and assurance of His love into the holiest of all yes, now. (1.) 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. Verses 23-25. I answer, To die by mercy, by the mercy and grace which they have despised. Through that the way was once and for all opened up for us. Verses 19 to 21 tell us of the privileges we have as Christians: The way to God . Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, by a believing application of the blood of Christ to our souls. Then he adds: "And to myriads of angels, the general assembly" for such is the true way to divide the verse "and to the church of the firstborn," etc. This was the very difficulty that the Jew pleaded; but now, in point of fact, it was only what the Psalm of Messiah insisted on, the law itself bearing witness of a priest superior to any under the law. "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. He said, "You can't do that. The millennial day will see this. [Note: Thomas, p. Therefore all such recurring sacrifices only call sins to remembrance; but what the blood of Christ has done is so completely to blot them out, that God Himself says, "I will remember them no more. For we know who it was who said: "Vengeance belongs to me; it is I who will repay," and again: "The Lord will judge his people." Whether or not we still do, we must realize that no man knows when the summons to rise and go will come to him also. This is taken out of Psalms 94:1, Vengeance belongs unto me. You cannot come to God by the first covenant.There are always those who want to come to God on their terms. The Old Testament is all about Jesus Christ. Our bodies washed with pure water, that is, with the water of baptism (by which we are recorded among the disciples of Christ, members of his mystical body), or with the sanctifying virtue of the Holy Spirit, reforming and regulating our outward conversation as well as our inward frame, cleansing from the filthiness of the flesh as well as of the spirit. As he exhorts here the Jews to persevere, he mentions hope rather than faith; for as hope is born of faith, so it is fed and sustained by it to the last. 38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. They were to leave the dead to bury their dead; and they did so. "If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?" "For how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" Plug in, Turn on and Be En light ened! How could this be disputed by one who simply believed Psalms 110:1-7? To their astonishment, they found that the princess was in good shape, still tied in the center of the pit. ( Micah 6:6-8). I mean his sins now; not sin as a principle, but in fact, though it be only for faith. It's complete, the cleansing in the blood of Jesus Christ is complete, and the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. We are not told the details of what preceded the great week when God made the man and the woman. 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. It was therefore necessary that the representations of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. How much worse will be the punishment of those who have experienced the grace of God through Christ, yet deliberately reject and disown it (28-31).The writer encourages his readers not to forsake Christ, by reminding them of what they have suffered for his sake. Now the just shall live by faith: and if any man draw back, [God said] my soul shall have no pleasure in them. Another great call was, to beware "lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright." It is true, He does not always call at once into the place of reproach and suffering. Accordingly, this is an appeal to the hearts. We may remember how the dying soldier lad looked up at Florence Nightingale and murmured: "You're Christ to me.". Thank God! (3.) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works ( Hebrews 10:24 ): And so that's as we're together exhorting each other for a greater love and good works. Those who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. Such is the true sense of the passage. For, says he, "we have an altar," yea, more than that, an altar, "whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle." But the answer to this is, that there is not a single writer in the language, not sacred only but profane, who employs it in such a sense. And why? These two things, the cross on earth and glory on high, are correlative. because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins." But in our way there are many hindrances and difficulties, which not only delay us, but which would also stop our course altogether, except we had great firmness of mind to pass through them. "And Samuel said, has the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? It is given to every man to live in two worlds, this world of space and time, and the world of eternal things. The intention here was not to dwell either on the scene in which their waiting was put to the test, the wilderness, or on anything that could insinuate the settled position of Israel in the land. When first they had become Christians they had known persecution and plundering of their goods; and they had learned what it was to become involved with those under suspicion and unpopular. They could not deny it to be written in the fortieth psalm. Perseverance is one of the great unromantic virtues. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. Hebrews 10:3,4,11-18 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompence of reward. On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses he that is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. Nothing produces a shudder like sacrilege. (196) This then is the only way or means by which we can firmly and constantly advance; we shall not otherwise obey God, nor even enjoy the promised inheritance, which is here by metonymy called the promise. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God." The mighty intervention of God in grace yea, more than that, forgiveness, deliverance, victory, glory, for the people of God. Apply it to Christ's death as the testator, and nothing can be plainer or more forcible. According, to the Jews it was quite impossible, if God had once established a covenant, He could ever change; but the apostle replies that their own prophet is against their theory. In burnt offerings [the Lord said in Psalms] and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Lane entitled this warning passage "The Peril of Disloyalty to Christ." We are beset, surrounded with a world of temptations, assaulting us within and without, which we have need of patience to withstand; 3. God honoured the son for the father's sake. From this practical lessons of great value are drawn. Lastly, he points "to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better than Abel:" the assurance that the earth shall be delivered from its long sorrow and slavery. Even if the sermon be poor and the worship tawdry, the church service still gives us the chance to show to men what side we are on. 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. It may mean the worlds governed by dispensations; but still that the idea of the whole universe is in it cannot be fairly contested by competent minds. For Christ is not entered into holies made with hands, figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us.". It is Jesus Christ and him crucified for the forgiveness of sins who will save those who believe and repent, and who will return again in glory to judge the living and the dead. 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. Next, it is a " counting of the blood of the covenant an unholy thing .". You, as a Christian, ought to have the calm settled consciousness that God, looking on you, discerns not one spot or stain, but only the blood of Jesus Christ His Son that cleanses from all sin. Long before him the prophets had seen how sacrifice had degenerated and had told the people that what God wanted was not the blood and the flesh of animals but the obedience of a man's life. The writer to the Hebrews began this chapter speaking of faith in the present tense: Now faith is. What is the inference from that? The difference is very great. the Bible StudyLight org. In the pit was a post, and those victims, who were so executed, were tied to the post. The rest of the chapter brings in, accordingly, the closing scene, when the Lord comes to shake everything, and establish that blessed day. You're in no position to call the shots. But now those under the gospel who will not accept of Christ, that they may be saved by him, have no other refuge left them. The content of our hope is our complete salvation in Christ. In the volume of the book it is written of Me." Where you've already had the remission once and for all, perfected in Christ, there is no need for any further offering for sin. Behold, to, obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of, "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving; and pay your vows to, "For thou bast no delight in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt, offering, thou wouldst not be pleased. ; also Hebrews 4:14) of our hope without wavering (, agreeing with "confession"); for he is faithful that promised: and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one . And one winter in Capua did what the Roman legions had not succeeded in doing. There in the darkness a fierce battle ensued, until finally the princess could hear the death throes as the last bit of life was leaving, and then just the dripping of blood.As it became daylight, the men from the city came to take the remains of the princess and bury them. This exhortation is a good summary of the whole message of Hebrews. It often means one who arranged or disposed of property, or anything else, such as a treaty or covenant. His life is incomplete without his death; his death is incomplete without his resurrection; his resurrection is incomplete without his return to glory. In Hebrews 10:1-39 he applies the matter to the present state of the believer. But when he saw the hand of his friend Brutus raised to strike, he wrapped his head in his mantle and died. He has so absolutely swept it away for those who believe on Him, that when He comes again, them will be no question of judgment, as far as they are concerned, but only of salvation, in the sense of their being cleared from the last relic or result of sin, even for the body. It is no definition of what it is to believe, but a description of the qualities of faith. As it was God's will and the work of Christ, so the Holy Ghost is He who witnesses to the perfectness of it. to the foundations, which became apparent too, too quickly in Solomon's son. Holy Scripture then demanded that a man should sit down at the right hand of God. Faith brings God into everything. These priestesses in the temple of Aphrodite were prostitutes. First, he lived in a day when the Church had been under attack and would be under attack again. It is a truth of life that in many ways it is easier to stand adversity than to stand prosperity. 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hebrews 10:36 studylight