This, he says, must be from a father who loves his true and faulty children: others enjoy no such care. His last words were: "Why fear death? But Biden concludes with a less-than-biblical solution. Attention is drawn to the permanence of His position at the right hand of God. But the apostle goes farther, as indeed was due to truth. Publisher: Abingdon Press Publication Year: 1997 Format: Trade Paperback Language: English Item Height: 0.2in. Therefore there sprang even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and the sand which is by the seashore innumerable ( Hebrews 11:12 ). 00:02:01 Arkansas town elects youngest Black mayor in America. XI. Never was there a time when men used terms with a more equivocal design than at the present moment. So that God did not recognize Abraham's work of the flesh. This was a final call; and how gracious! This should have been a rule to him all along, but he was rather swayed by natural affection, and by general custom, which gives the double portion of honour, affection, and advantage, to the first-born. But another Jew, seeking to curry favour and to save his own life, came forward and was about to sacrifice. The lamb dying instead of the firstborn, and there we get a very beautiful picture of the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who died in our place that we might have life.And so by faith he kept the Passover. A priest, as such, could no more draw near into the presence of God in the holiest than any of the common people. Their faith was a faith of consent. Holy Scripture then demanded that a man should sit down at the right hand of God. All the saints are heirs of the same promise. It was taken by men who thought not of what they could do but of what God could do for them. There was a time when Israel was threatened by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar led by his general Holofernes. He was a miracle child. With only three hundred men Gideon won a victory over the Ammonites in days when they had terrorized Israel, a victory which went ringing down the centuries. There we read of how the children of Israel were wondrously enabled to pass through and of how the Egyptians were engulfed when they tried to do the same. Which in this particular case was forty years old. In the end he says a great thing. This opened a way for the return of Abraham's posterity into the land of promise. The heavenly country is better than any upon earth; it is better situated, better stored with every thing that is good, better secured from every thing that is evil; the employments, the enjoyments, the society, and every thing in it, are better than the best in this world. Hereby himself and his house were saved, when a whole world of sinners were perishing about them. In a home one partner became a Christian and the other did not; the children became Christians and the parents did not. The man of faith is the man whose hope is flaming bright and whose effort is intensely strenuous even in the grey days when there is nothing to do but to wait. For the Christian that is easy, for God came to the world in Jesus Christ to tell us how much he cares. When Sarah comes on the scene, her faith is spoken of that in her old age (she was plus ninety), had never had a child. If he takes to himself the title of their God, he will fully answer it, and act up to it; and he has prepared that for them in heaven which will fully answer this character and relation, so that it shall never be said, to the reproach and dishonour of God, that he has adopted a people to be his own children and then taken no care to make a suitable provision for them. If the one figured the imposed measure of man's responsibility, which can only but most justly condemn him, in the other we behold the mountain of God's grace after all was lost. And he would eat the scraps of food that were thrown to him from the rich man's table. III. For Moses to withdraw to Midian was not an act of fear; it was an act of courage. You ought to have the consciousness that there is no judgment for you with God by-and-by, however truly He, as a Father, judges you now on earth. Here observe. The secret of victorious living is to face God before we face men. She engaged them to covenant with her to show favour to her and hers, when God should show kindness to them, and that they would give her a sign, which they did, a line of scarlet, which she was to hang forth out of the window; she sent them away with prudent and friendly advice. He will have nothing more to do with sin. Lord, we believe and we trust and we know that Your Word is sure. Stevenson tells of an old byreman who spent all his days amidst the muck of the byre. (1.) And he called the name of the place Jehovah-Jireh. X. The last chapter (Hebrews 13:1-25) follows this up with some practical exhortations as to brotherly love continuing; then as to kindness to strangers, or hospitality; finally, as to pity for those in bonds. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear ( Hebrews 11:3 ). To some extent this story has fallen into disrepute. not to sin, for so God tempteth no man, but only tried his faith and obedience to purpose. It was the bringing in of the grain that you had grown, grinding it into flour, making little cakes and baking them, and offering them unto the Lord as a peace offering unto God, an offering that indicated the consecration of my service unto God. "I can never attain to that." It is true that victims were sometimes slain in ratifying a covenant, and thus were the seal of that covenant; but, first, they were not essential; and, secondly and chiefly, , the covenanter or contracting party had in no case to die in order to make the contract valid. Heaven is a great reward, surpassing not only all our deservings, but all our conceptions. Yet Rahab believed and staked her whole future on the belief--that God would make the impossible possible. The nature of it, and the honour it reflects upon all who live in the exercise of it, ver 1-3. They were not afraid of the king's commandment. The Lord will make even Babylon fall before the faith of his people, and when he has some great thing to do for them, he raises up great and strong faith in them. 22.By faith Joseph, etc. His purpose utterly failed to secure the blessing for his profane but favourite son. That he would go as far with his people as he could, though he could not go as far as he would. The blessing was: "in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth" ( Genesis 48:15-16). A woman came in with a dish of meat for the gods. (1.) Through faith he kept the passover ( Hebrews 11:28 ). "Just have enough faith and you'll never be sick. Though surrounded by the pomp of Egypt, Josephs heart still in Canaan. He emptied that part of hell. When the Lord said to him, "Through Sarah your seed be called," she started laughing. The apostle next proceeds to. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt" (Genesis 50:22-26, ESV). The blessed fruits and rewards of Noah's faith. As a supposed criminal, when the king's wrath was incensed against him for killing the Egyptian (Exodus 2:14-15), where it is said he feared, not with a fear of despondency, but of discretion, to save his life. He is evidently gone into the holiest of all in His own person. Ishmael was to be put off with earthly greatness. when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones: As Joseph was dying, he showed his faith like his father, Jacob, by calling his sons to him and telling them about the future when they would leave Egypt and return to Canaan. There was Samuel, born to his mother so late in life ( 1 Samuel 1:1-28), again and again moving alone as the only strong and faithful man of God amongst an easily frightened, discontented and rebellious people. The principle upon which his faith acted in these his motions: He endured, as seeing him that was invisible.He bore up with invincible courage under all danger, and endured all the fatigue of his employment, which was very great; and this by seeing the invisible God. For this, knowing His grace in the work of Christ for them, they do not look; on the contrary, they rest in the assurance of the perfection with which their sins are effaced by the precious blood of Christ. Here the apostle warns those that turn their back on Christ's one sacrifice. (vii) Some have seen death as an adventure. A son for whom he waited so long, whom he received in so extraordinary a manner, upon whom his heart was setto have this son offered up as a sacrifice, and that by his own hand; it was a trial that would have overset the firmest and the strongest mind that ever informed a human body. We see the dust that is being carried. This is one of the first instances that is upon record of fallen men going in to worship God; and it was a wonder of mercy that all intercourse between God and man was not cut off by the fall. He is the same unchangingly and evermore, as He has ever been. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called holy of holies; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold." In the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation, where John sees the cherubim about the throne of God, worshipping the Lord, declaring the holiness and eternal character of God. When the writer to the Hebrews cites her, the point he desires to make is this--Rahab in face of all the facts believed in the God of Israel. Abraham had faith to obey, believing that God could bring Isaac back to life. With all this Christianity is contrasted. [3.] God brings forward His choice, David, when the miserable end of Saul and Jonathan saw the Philistines triumphant, and Israel disheartened as they had scarce been beyond that moment. And others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, [as was Zechariah and also, as thought, Jeremiah] they were sawn asunder [or sawed in two] ( Hebrews 11:36-37 ), Isaiah, that marvelous prophet that we've enjoyed his revelations. In all the covenants of scripture the man that makes it has never to die for any such end. How great a temptation Moses was under. (2.) Hence he did receive him back which is a parable of the resurrection. So far, Antiochus had succeeded only in causing a division in the nation; the greater part of the Jews were unshakeably true to their faith and could not be moved. The ground of Abraham's faith, the call and promise of God. Then about 168 B.C. 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. IX. Bishop Newbigin tells of the negotiations which led to the formation of the United Church of South India. Rebecca and Jacob are not to be justified in the indirect means they used to obtain this blessing, but God will be justified in overruling even the sins of men to serve the purposes of his glory. In this passage the writer to the Hebrews is intermingling different periods of history. I know that God's word is faithful. He always keeps up the evidence of the utter inferiority of the Jewish priest, as well as of the accompanying state of things, to that of Christianity. For three years she was put away, and then Miriam prophesied: "My parents shall have another son, who shall deliver Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians." Now, the faith of Isaac thus prevailing over his unbelief, it has pleased the God of Isaac to pass by the weakness of his faith, to commend the sincerity of it, and record him among the elders, who through faith have obtained a good report. 123.]. It was by faith that Jacob, when he was dying. They do not believe that God called all things into being. The difficulties Isaac's faith struggled with. These were the actings of their faith. Observe here, [1.] 11:7 It was by faith that Noah, when he had been informed by God about things that were still unseen, reverently accepted the message and built an ark to preserve his household in safety. When we are discouraged, let us remember and take heart again. Hence, therefore, he now introduces us "to the spirits of just men made perfect." 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. In this passage the writer to the Hebrews lays down in addition the two great foundation acts of faith of the Christian life. In the first chapter we saw the seat of personal glory connected with atonement; in the eighth chapter it is the witness of His priesthood, and where it is. He ordered the Jews to eat meats which were unclean and to sacrifice to the Greek gods. And there he heard things and if I tried to describe them in human language it would be a crime" ( 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 ). Some would take this as detracting from his victory, that he gained it so late, that he did not make this choice sooner; but it is rather an enhancement of the honour of his self-denial and victory over the world that he made this choice when he had grown ripe for judgment and enjoyment, able to know what he did and why he did it. "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. And if there were any sacred book of the law found, it was destroyed; and those with whom they were found miserably perished also" (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 12: 5, 4). (iv) These men were able to go on because they were haunted by the things beyond. I feel the love of God. Testing Abraham. This is another way of putting the famous classical saying: "Whom the gods love die young." Envy leads to bitterness; bitterness to hatred; and hatred to murder. Their acknowledgment of this their condition: they were not ashamed to own it; both their lips and their lives confessed their present condition. What, then, is man's actual estate? (1.) But it is interesting, "I and the lad will go and will worship God and will come again." He sits there not merely as the proof of the perfectness with which He has purged our sins by Himself alone, but as the Priest; and accordingly it is not merely said "on high," but "in the heavens." Then, very gently, Popilius told Antiochus that Rome did not wish him to proceed with the campaign but wished him to go home. "And unto the city of the living God, (not of dying David,) the heavenly Jerusalem" (not the earthly capital of Palestine). And why? We begin with His love, and shall end in it without end. camp, bearing his reproach." So God took unseen things and made the material, seen universe in which we live, the worlds. As to the outer man also, we must learn to what we are called now. The actings of Noah's faith, and the influence it had both upon his mind and practice. Joseph's coffin, the Jews say h, was put into the river Nile; and so says Patricides i, an Arabic writer: others say it was in the buryingplace of the kings, until it was taken up and removed by Moses. There are two kinds of sacrifice to which we are now called. Be assured it is of the deepest possible moment to cherish the activity of Christ's present love and care for us, the activity of that priesthood which is the subject of this epistle. It is not seniority of birth, but grace, that makes men truly honourable. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned." This is life itself, and to the Hebrews blood always stood for life. Thus does the apostle reason on it: "For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh" (which the Jew would not contest): "how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to do religious service to the living God? "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.". I, too, will lay my brother in the ground," and he did so. And so as Isaac was with his father now, the two of them walking towards Moriah, Isaac said, "Father, here is the wood and we've got the fire, but where is the sacrifice? In a very real way we owe our Christianity to these martyrs of the times when Antiochus made his deliberate attempt to wipe out the Jewish religion. 2. What mountain in the Old Testament so much speaks of grace, of God's merciful interference for His people when all was lost? That those who obtain this favour from God must expect the envy and malice of the world. To the Hebrews Moses was the supreme figure in their history. The preservation and safe passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea, when there was no other way to escape from Pharaoh and his host, who were closely pursuing them. It is doubtless a great blessing to be joined to the visible church of God in profession and privilege, but more to be so in spirit and truth. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. Many Samaritans are believing, being baptized, being filled with the Holy Spirit. What infinite thoughts are those that God's word gives; as glorifying for Himself as elevating for our souls! Indeed we may say that the whole epistle to the Hebrews is just this: we start from the foundation of grace up to God Himself in the heavens; and thence springs the certainty that the stream of grace is not exhausted, and that undoubtedly it will issue in unceasing blessing by-and-by for the earth, and for the people of Israel above all, in the day of Jehovah. Let him learn his error. A new covenant shows that the other must have thereby become old, and therefore is decaying and ready to vanish away. We can well understand that, because when the blood flows away, life ebbs away. Thus it will be observed, at the end of all the moral and experimental dealings with the first man (manifested in Israel), we come to a deeply momentous point, as in God's ways, so in the apostle's reasoning. But whether the one or the other, all was by faith. For everyone at some time there comes something for which there seems to be no reason and which defies explanation. And if thou hast aught feed me therewith'; Or, 'Get thee gone, sojourner, from the face of honour, My brother is come as my guest, I have need of my house.'. The evidence of things not seen. A strange mystery is the simple act of faith. They didn't die and enter into the kingdom of God, but they died and went with Abraham, being comforted by the man of faith that God would indeed keep His promise and be faithful to His word. Rend. And they believed the promise of God that He would provide salvation, and they died believing that promise of God. But the Holy Ghost's testimony is not forgotten. of Samuel and of the prophets, men who, through faith, mastered kingdoms, did righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword. 2 for by it the men of old gained approval. He now supports this statement with illustrations from the Old Testament. It may well be that the only offering which a man can properly bring to God is his most precious possession. I mean his sins now; not sin as a principle, but in fact, though it be only for faith. It was said that 80,000 Jews were killed and 10,000 sold into captivity. Abraham only had one, "Go, get out of the land." In this great example observe. Notwithstanding their meanness by nature, their vileness by sin, and the poverty of their outward condition, God is not ashamed to be called their God: such is his condescension, such is his love to them; therefore let them never be ashamed of being called his people, nor of any of those that are truly so, how much soever despised in the world. A true believer is desirous, not only to be in covenant with God, but in communion with the people of God; and is willing to fare as they fare. Observe. They died in the faith of those promises; not only lived by the faith of them, but died in the full persuasion that all the promises would be fulfilled to them and theirs, Hebrews 11:13. God's arm is not shortened; his power is not grown less. 3. The story of Barak is in Judges 4:1-24; Judges 5:1-31. Share Embed Download Donate . Here the words "for us" had better be left out. Item Weight: 10.9 Oz Number of Pages: 220 Pages About this product They lashed him with whips and tied him to the wheel until he was dislocated and fractured in every limb. Yet who beforehand would have anticipated either? Though all Israel kept this passover, yet it was by Moses that God delivered the institution of it; and, though it was a great mystery, Moses by faith both delivered it to the people and kept it that night in the house where he lodged. And, finally, he sums up the superiority of Christ in this, that "they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: but he, because of his continuing for ever, hath the priesthood intransmissible." Moving ahead, the successor to Moses was Joshua. Learn here, (1.) She gained entry into the presence of Holofernes and persuaded him that she was convinced of the defeat of her people as a punishment for their sins. "Through faith he instituted the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. He reasons that, while our parents only chastise us the best way they can (for after all their judgment might not be perfect), the Father of spirits never fails. The next instance is the faith of Rahab, Hebrews 11:31. He was possessed of a true justifying righteousness; he was, and, [2.] When God told Abraham to offer up his son Isaac, Abrahams faith was tested, because Isaac was the person through whom God promised to give Abraham a multitude of descendants. The man with the wanderlust is lured on by the thought of the countries he has never yet seen. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones. The Christian answer is that the future is not uncertain because it belongs to God; and it is enough that God has commanded and that God has promised. (1) Gideon was cowardly at first; God had to coax him to to obey. "Well, if you don't know where you are going, how you going to know when you get there?" Let me emphasize that God has never given such a command, either before or after Abraham's time. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.". Then he shows us others higher than these, by a divine call "and to the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven." "I've done it! First of all, there is in this verse the glaring omission of the name of Adam, the mighty progenitor of the human race, neither he nor Eve, the mother of all living, being mentioned; and the circumstances that makes this omission so eloquent is that the author of Hebrews is embarking on a kind of roll-call of all the heroes of the past. So, he ordered all of the baby boys to be drowned in the Nile. They examined the animals in their toy ark and finally decided on a sheep with a broken leg. Lord, we thank You for the gift of faith, that you've given to each man a measure of faith. Her story is recounted in Joshua 2 and 6. (Commentary) Constable - "With all three the significant thing was their firm conviction that death cannot frustrate God's purposes. It may be observed, too, that the Holy Ghost appears but little in this epistle. That acceptance with God is a peculiar and distinguishing favour. Sprinkling on the lentils and the doorposts, interestingly enough, gives you the sprinkling in the shape of a cross. The two extremes, offensive to every lover of the vi media of religious rationalism, must be combined in Christianity and the Christian man, if he is to maintain it unimpaired and pure. They watch as those that shall give an account. lest the destroying of the firstborn should touch them. But the sacrifices they made could not put away sin. (2.) And Psalm 22 , "soul poured out to death." It was accomplished in Christ, exalted as the great Melchisedec in heaven. Hence, in Hebrews 8:1-13, the apostle draws his conclusion. He showed thereby his dependence upon God, and testified his condition here as a pilgrim with his staff, and his weariness of the world, and willingness to be at rest. For he was waiting for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. "As Isaac was three days and three nights dead in the mind of his father, so Jesus three days and three nights before His resurrection. He was put upon it after he had received the promises, that this Isaac should build up his family, that in him his seed should be called (. Before Jesus came, there was no question of it among the Jews. He has nothing more to do with sin; He will judge man who rejects Himself and slights sin. Observe, Moses was persecuted betimes, and forced to be concealed; in this he was a type of Christ, who was persecuted almost as soon as he was born, and his parents were obliged to flee with him into Egypt for his preservation. It is a great privilege to be the offspring of good parents, and often the wicked children of good parents fare the better in this world for their parents' sake, for things present are in the covenant; but they are not the best things, and no man knoweth love or hatred by having or wanting such things. If He is to be often offered, He must also often suffer. "So accounting that God was able to raise him even from the dead, "from whence also he received him in a figure." For he was afraid that the Hebrews, because they were having so many children, would become a threat to the security of Egypt. (2.) God is the God of all true believers; faith gives them an interest in God, and in all his fullness. (1.) By it he, being dead, yet speaketh. The unrent veil bore evidence on its front that man could not yet draw near into the holiest that he had no access into the presence of God. This isn't my home. Abel ran to the hills but Cain pursued him, saying: "The hills are mine." 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. Both are true; and Moses is the type of the latter, as Abraham of the former. It is a great mercy to be free from wicked laws and edicts; but, when we are not, we must use all lawful means for our security. This supposes the people of God not actually settled in the land, but still pilgrims and strangers on the earth; and the epistle to the Hebrews, we have already seen, looks emphatically and exclusively at the people of God as not yet passed out of the wilderness; never as brought into the land, though it might be on the verge; just entering, but not actually entered. Christianity turns everything to account. There was David, who had once been a shepherd lad and who, to his own and everyone else's astonishment, was anointed king in preference to all his brothers ( 1 Samuel 16:1-13). (a) In Hebrews 11:13 he calls them xenoi ( G3581) . Accordingly he became just the more the vessel of divine power to the glory of God. that is, he praised God for what he had done for him, and for the prospect he had of approaching blessedness; and he prayed for those he was leaving behind him, that religion might live in his family when he was gone. No other seat was suitable to such a One. They might have had such an opportunity. Ours should as well. He does not take them in any particular order but, as we shall see when we look at the outstanding characteristics of each, there is a line of thought which binds them all together.
Comebacks For When Someone Says You Have No Brain, Gena Charmaine Avery Wiki, Articles H
Comebacks For When Someone Says You Have No Brain, Gena Charmaine Avery Wiki, Articles H