Of Vision, -.jr^^./C (Jj>Zj Secti on ^s^./. /^ (£? No._ THE EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL TO TITUS, PHILEMON, AND THE HEBREWS. GEORGE BELL & SONS, LONDON : YORK STREET, COVENT GAEDEK NEW YORK: 6G, FIFTH AVENUE, AND BOMBAY : 53, ESPLANADE KOAD CAMBRIDGE : DEIGHTON, BELL & CO. THE EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL TITUS, PHILEMON AND THE HEBREWS WITH NOTES CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL BY THE REV. M. F. SADLER LATE RECTOR OF HONITON AND PREBENDARY OF WELLS LONDON GEORGE BELL AND SONS 1898 First published Nov., 1890. Reprinted 1892, 1896. Re-issue, 1898. INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. THE Epistle to Titus is, taking into account its shortness and the fact that there is no doctrine depending upon its sole testimony, as well attested as any one of the Apostolical epistles. It is mentioned in the Muratorian fragment in the words " Verum ad Philemonem unam, et ad Titum unam et ad Timotheum duas." (Westcott on " Canon," p. 529.) One passage is quoted twice by Irenseus, "But as many as separate from the Church, and give heed to such old wives' fables as these, are truly self-condemned, and these men Paul commands us ' after a first and second admonition to avoid.'" ("Against Heresies," I. cap. svi., 3, and also III. cap. iii., 3.) By Clement of Alexandria it is quoted at least nine times. One will suffice, "Epimenides the Cretan, whom Paul knew as a Greek prophet, whom he mentions in the Epistle to Titus, when he speaks thus, ' One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, * The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.' " (" Miscel- lanies," I. 14.) By Tertullian at least twelve times, as " To the pure all things are pure, so likewise all things to the impure are impure, but no- thing is more impure than idols." (" De Corona," 10.) There are undoubted reminiscences of the Epistle in the Apos- tolic Fathers, as in Clement of Eome, chap, ii., " Eeady to every good work ; " chap, xxvii., " Nothing is impossible for God except to lie ; " chap. Iviii., " Chose us through Him to be a peculiar people." " If the Epistles to Timothy are received as St. Paul's there is not the slightest reason for doiibting the authorship of that to Titiis. Amidst the various combinations which are found amongst those who have been sceptical on the subject of the Pastoral VI INTRODUCTION TO Epistles, tliere is no instance of the rejection of that before ns on the part of those who have accepted the other two. So far indeed as these doubts are worth considering at all, the argument is more in favour of this (the Epistle to Titus) than of either of the others. Tatian accepted the Epistle to Titus and rejected the other two. Origen mentions some who excluded 2 Tim. but kept 1 Tim. with Titus. Schleiermacher and Neander invert this process of doubt in regard to the letters addressed to Timothy, but believe that St. Paul wrote the present letter to Titus. Credner, too, believes it to be genuine, though he pronounces 1 Tim. to be a forgery and 2 Tim. a compound of two epistles." (Howson in " Diet, of the Bible.") LIFE OF TITUS. Abundant mention is made of Titus in the Epistles of St. Paul, but none whatsoever in the Acts of the Apostles. Some have made a difficulty of this even to the extent of supposing that he is one of the stated companions of St. Paul (as Timothy) under another name. But such difficulty could only have arisen from forgetting the extremely fragmentary nature of the narrative in the Acts of the Apostle ; for eight at least of the Apostles are not mentioned after the first chapter. St. John is not mentioned after the third chapter; nearly twenty years of the life of St. Peter are dismissed with a single notice in chap, xv., and years of the life of St. Paul — three particularly in Ephesus — have not a single word respecting them. The first notice of him is in Gal. ii. 1-3, and from this we gather that he was wholly of Gentile extraction, and not, like Timothy, Jewish in regard of one of his parents. So that St. Paul resisted the Judaizers who insisted on his circumcision. The other notices are in 2 Corinthians, and indicate a confidence in him and a personal affection towards him, not inferior to that which St. Paul entertained towards Timothy. It appears that fearing the effect of the severe tone of his first Epistle on the Corinthians, he had sent him to Corinth to bring him word as to how they took his censures, and his anxiety respecting this was such that he forsook for the time a most promising work at Troas (2 Cor. ii. 12), and went forward to Macedonia to meet Titus and receive his report. He did meet him and was more than comforted; THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. VH lie rejoiced exceedingly at the account which Titus gave him of the obedience, " the fear and trembling " with which he was received (vii. 13-15). But besides this Titus was entrusted with another mission of a different charactei*. He was to further the collection for the poor saints of Judsea which lay so near to St. Paul's heart. He " desired Titus that as he had begun so he would finish in them the same grace," viii. 6. From this we gather that he had initiated the matter, and he carried it out with an earnestness which left nothing to be desired on the Apostle's part. " Thanks be to God which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you. For indeed he accepted the exhortation, but being more forward, of his own accord he went unto you " (viii. 17, 18). And at the conclusion of the chapter he describes Titus as his partner and fellow-helper. Next, then, to Timothy, of all his companions and fellow-soldier=, Titus was the one in whom he had the most confidence. And lastly, when he is indignantly repudiating the slightest attempt of self-seeking in this matter of the collection, he associates Titus with himself as being both of them imbued with the same unselfish spirit. " Did I make a gain of you ? . . . I desired Titus and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you ? walked we not in the same spirit ? walked we not in the same steps ? " (2 Cor. xii. 17, 18). Then comes the present Epistle, addressed to Titus as " his own son after the common faith," and leaving him in Crete with the same commission as he had given to Timothy, to act as bishop or overseer, to ordain elders or bishops, to teach the various classes, aged men, aged women, young women, young men, servants or slaves. Towards the conclusion there is anothar slight historical notice, that Titus on the arrival of Artemas or Tychicus should join tha Apostle at Nicopolis (iii. 12), and the last allusion to this com- panion of St. Paul is to be found in his last letter, a little before his martyrdom, viz., that he had been sent on some mission to Dalmatia. 2 Tim. iv. 10. The pastoral directions in the Epistle are, in an abbreviated form, the same as those in the first Epistle to Timothy. There are, however, in the second and third chapters respectively, two doctrinal statements of the first importance, that in ii. 13 of the Divine Glory of our Lord, " The glorious Epiphany of the great Vlll INTRODUCTION TO God and Saviour of us, Jesus Christ," and in the third thero is a short epitome of the whole work of salvation. There is our natural depravity, " We ourselves were sometimes foolish, dis- obedient, deceived." Then there is the manifestation of the grace of God, " After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour . . . not by works of righteousness which we had done, but by His mercy he saved us." Then there is the instrumentality of the Sacramental system, "by the font of New Birth,'' then the "re- newing by the Holy Ghost," then our justification by grace and heirship, and then the necessity of good works to crown all. Much, then, of what is both ecclesiastical, doctrinal, and practical is compressed into the few verses of this short Epistle. It is the Bumming up of St. Paul's rule and teaching, and loving regard for his fellow workers. In it, as in all he wrote, shines forth his faith, his hope, his charity. INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. THE Epistle to Philemon is reckoned amongst St. Paul's in the Muratorian fragment, " Verum ad Philemonem unam, et ad Titum unam," &c. It is also mentioned by Tertullian as being allowed as genuine by Marcion. Eusebius also reckons it amongst the Epistles of St. Paul when he speaks of their number as fourteen, (including, of course, to make up this number, the Epistle to the Hebrews), and is quoted twice by Origen. Indeed, it is impossible to conceive on what ground an Epistle not containing a single dogmatic statement, and entirely occupied with a private personal matter, can be supposed to have been forged. The Epistle tells its own story. Philemon was a man of wealth and consideration, at Colosse. He was converted to Christianity by the ministration of the Apostle, for in pleading for Onesimus Paul reminds Philemon how he owed to him even " his own self" Philemon had a slave, Onesionus, who ran away from him, and it is not improbable, took some of his master's goods with him in his flight. This slave came in contact with the Apostle as he preached whilst he was a prisoner in Rome, and was converted, and became a Christian and a member of the Church. He appears to have been a man of talent or aptitude, for he was valuable to the Apostle as ministering to St. Paul in the bonds of the Gospel so well that in the view of the Apostle his services would have been equivalent to those of Philemon, no doubt an educated, as well as a zealous man. What this diaconia consisted in we cannot exactly say, but it cannot have well been private or domestic service, for it would hardly have been expected that Philemon would have rendered that to the Apostle ; it must have been Church service, read- X INTRODUCTION TO ing, looking up converts, preparing them for Baptism and the reception of the Eucharist, and such things. But St. Paul distinctly recognized that Onesimus, though a member of the Church, and so of Christ, was yet, according to liuman laws, the property of his master, and so he would do nothing in this matter without the full approbation of Philemon. He sends the runaway back to his master with a letter permeated with the tenderest feeling towards the offender, and the most loving courtesy to him who had rights of life and death over him, and yet without the slightest assertion of Apostolic authority, though he reixiinds him that he might have properly exercisgd such. But even in this he pleads for what is to Philemon's benefit, "without thy mind I would do nothing that thy benefit (kindness) should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly." It would scarcely be thought that Philemon shovild require pecuniary compensation for any loss which he had sustained, but to meet even that case St. Paul signs, as Lewin expresses it, a promissory note for the amount, whatever it might be : " * If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account ; I, Paul, have written it with mine own hand, I will repay thee." Hitherto he had asked for Onesimus' pardon, but he gently insinuates what he would not directly ask, that Philemon should give him h.\s, freedom ; for the following words cannot but imply this : — ' I know that thou will also do more than I say.' " (Lewin's "Life of St. Paul.") The Epistle to Philemon is a private letter, and it may be asked, indeed, it has been asked, why a letter on such a subject should have been admitted into the Sacred Canon. We answer, because of the extreme importance of the subject. It had to do with the most delicate and difficult, and we may add the most dangerous, of all the relationshix? that the Church for some centuries had to face, the relations of slaves to their masters. If the relations of Chris- tian slaves to their Christian masters required to be approached with such delicacy, what care must have been required in keeping a modus vivcndi in the case of heathen families. Now this Epistle would teach that whilst the rights of property, however harsh, were to be respected, yet that the Christian slave was to be considered and treated as a member of Christ, just as much as the Bishop himself; and if he was deprived of the enjoj-- ment of the means of grace, that the Christian community should Bubscribe to the utmost of their power to purchase his freedom. THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. SJ But there is another reason which, we say it with all reverence, was very probably in the mind of the Spirit, when He caused that tliis letter should be included in the Canon of Scripture. Tliis letter, so full of sympathy and Christian love to a penitent mem- ber of the Mystical Body, so full of delicacy and urbanity to his Christian friend and fellow-labourer, is the letter of one who is described by the Spirit as *' breathing out threatenings and slaughters against the disciples of the Lord," who described him- self as "exceedingly mad" against the followers of Jesus. What a transformation I How has the ravenous beast become a lamb ? It. is true that years had intervened, but years of heathenism would not have so transformed the persecutor. It was Divine Grace — the Spirit of Jesus. The considerations brought to bear ujion Philemon are not natural, but spiritual — no rights of man, no natural equality of mankind, but the fact that "in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, but Christ is all and in all." The Epistle to Philemon was in all probability written at the same time as that to the Colossians, as we learn from Colons, iv. 7, 9. "All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a be- loved brother and a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord . . • with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you." If he was the co-bearer of the Epistle to the Colossians he would naturally carry the letter of the Apostle to Philemon, a citizen oC ColossQ, INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. TO WHOM WAS THE EPISTLE SENT? OF the many questions wlaicli the varied phenomena of the Epistle to the Hebrews suggests, the first is that of the persons to whom it was written. There are three considerations which must be taken into account in attempting to answer this question. (1.) The first, that it was written to a Church wholly, or almost entirely, composed of Jews. There is not the least hint of the intermixture of any Gentile element, and in this it stands in con- trast with almost all the other Epistles. Every Epistle of St. Paul, as well as that of St. Peter I., recognizes that Jews and Gen- tiles were side by side in the Church.^ It is true that in the Epistle General of St. James there is no recognition of the presence of Gentiles, but the two cannot be compared. The Epistle of St. James, in its pi'ecepts, is entirely general. If we had not the allusion to the "twelve tribes" in the first verse we should not know that it was written to Jews, whereas the Epistle to the Hebrews is upon Judaism, upon the meaning of its rites and the shortcomings of its priesthood, in comparison with the fulness of the Priesthood of the Eternal Son which superseded it. It is scarcely possible, then, to suppose that, if there had been any Gentile element in the Church or Churches to which it was addressed, this element should have been altogether ignored. A great part of the trial of the Jewish Christians in any mixed Church was that they should cheerfully acknowledge the equality of all men in Christ — that in Christ Jesus there was neither Jew nor Greek, but Christ all and in all. I grant that what I am now asserting is not an absolute cer- THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. Xlil tainty. For some wise and good reason the Holy Spirit may liave led the writer to ignore altogether the presence of Gentiles in the Unity of the One Body ; hut it seems to me extremely unlikely, and that consequently, if the Epistle is addressed to some local church, as it seems to be, the place of this church must be in Jerusalem— or in some contiguous part of Palestine. Among possibilities, it may have been addressed to some isolated colonj'- of Jews, who were able to shut themselves up from all out- ward communication, even with believing Gentiles, but it is ex- tremely improbable that if such a community existed, such a document would have been addressed to it. 2. Then the Epistle seems to have been written to Jews who yet continued under the ministrations of the Jewish Priesthood. They had hitherto participated in the services of the Jewish Temple ; they were now to be deprived of this, either by the cessa- tion of these ministrations by the destruction of the temple and altar, or by excommunication on the part of the Jewish ecclesiasti- cal rulers. Now the significance of this can be best brought out by com- paring the teaching of this Epistle with that to the Galatians. In the Epistle to the Galatians the converts are warned of the danger of apostatizing from Christ through the machinations of Judaizers. But what Judaizers ? Evidently those of the Synagogues, not of the temple. Throughout the Epistle to the Galatians there is no warning whatsoever against Jewish sacerdotal pretensions. Not a word is said respecting altar, tabernacle, or temple, or veil, or sprinkling of blood, and such things. The Judaism which was a snare to them was that of the synagogue, not of the Temple. It put forth the perpetual obligation of circumcision, of the keeping of Jewish days of observance (" ye observe days, and weeks, and months, and years"), and differences between meats, whereas the Epistle to the Hebrews says little of this, and is mainly occupied with the ministrations of the High Priest, and his entrance into the most holy place with blood of others, not his own. With this it contrasts the entrance of the Great High Priest of Christians into the heavenly Holy of Holies, and our entrance into the same by " the new and living way which He hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say. His flesh." This seems as if the recipients of the Epistle were living in close proximity to the celebration of the most characteristic rites of Judaism, and that (though they S:V INTRODUCTION TO •ueie believers) the old ritual, thougb it was all fulfilled in Jesu9, exercised a strange fascination over tbem — tbey were all "zealous for tbe law," as it yet was observed in tbe temple ceremonial. These two considerations seem to prove almost beyond doubt that the Hebrew Christians who received this Epistle formed part of a Church entirely Hebrew in its membership, and living under the shadow of the Temple, or, which is practically the same, were hvmg at such a distance from Jerusalem, that they could easily attend the yearly festivals. There is another fact also which points in the same direction. The teaching of the Epistle is founded entirely on that of the Old Testament. It is the old covenant, the old law, the old figures, the old examples, the old prophecies regenerated. There is abso- lutely nothing new. Even the New Covenant is in one of the old prophets. There seems to be no special revelation, as there is in that to the Ephesians. It is the interpretation of the old, shed- ding on it a new light, quickening it with a new life, applying it afresh to altered circumstances, but the substratum is the Old Testament. Of course this is true in a sense of all Christianity — all its truths are everlasting, because all are in the eternal counsels of God. Now when we turn to the Epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians or Thessalonians, we perceive a great difference. There is the constantly recurring new phrase " in Christ Jesus." There is the new Headship of the Church, the new Body, the new ministry, the new oneness or bond of union. All this points to the fact that this Epistle is written to a Church still retaining as a Church its traditions, even to a certain extent its separation, and doing this at that time lawfully, but still the word might come, if it has not already come, " Let us go forth to Him without the camp, bearing His reproach." A Christian Jew in Corinth, or Ephesus, or Eome had not to "go out" as a Jew in Jerusalem had. From the stand-point of his countrymen, in Judea at least, he was already more than half without, and the step seems to be small, and the courage required for it insignificant, compared to what it was at Jerusalem. AUTHOESHIP. The Epistle to the Hebrews is quoted as Scripture by the first Christian Father in point of time whose work has come down to THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. XV us, viz., Clement of Rome, who wrote, as most agree, not later than A.D. 96. " By Him the Lord has willed that we should taste of immortal knowledge, who being the brightness of His majesty, is by so much greater than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For it is there written, 'Who maketh His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.' But concerning His Son the Lord thus spake, * Thou art my Son, to-day have I be- gotten thee.' " There are at least thirteen references in Clement's Epistle. He quotes three or four times the text, " Moses was faith- ful in all his house." He quotes so remarkable a place as Heb. xi. 37, "Let us be imitators also of those who in goatskins and sheep- skins went about proclaiming the coming of Christ " (xvii.). Ignatius quotes the Hebrews in his Epistle to the Trallians: •' Be ye subject to the Bishop as to the Lord, for he watches over your souls as one that shall give account to God " (cli. ii.) ; and again in the same Epistle, " Sat down at his right hand, expecting till His enemies are put under His feet ; " and to the Smyrneans he quotes the phrase of "how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy? " &c. (ch. ix.). In Justin Martyr, Dial, cvi., there seems a clear reference to Heb. ii. 11, 12, "And that he stood in the midst of his brethren the Apostles . . . and when living with them sang praises to God, as is made evident in the memoirs of the Apostle. The words are the following, 'I will declare thy name unto my brethren,'" &c. And again, the only place where our Lord is called the Apostle of the Father is in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and Justin, in Apology I., ch. xii., calls Him " the Apostle of God the Father." Again, " But your ears are shut up and your hearts are made dull. For by this statement, ' The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever,' with an oath God has shown Him on account of your unbelief to be the high priest after the order of Melchisedec " (Dial., ch. xxxiii., referring to the Hebrews vii. 17-22). Again, Heb. ix. 13, 14, " And who no longer were purified by the blood of goats and sheep, or by the ashes of an heifer." Again, Dial. Ixvii., " Likewise I said, did not the Scripture predict that God promised to dispense anew covenant besides that which was dispensed on the Mount Horeb ? This, too, he replied had been predicted. Then I said again, was not the old covenant laid on your fathers with fear and trembling, so that they could not give ear to God ? b :xvi INTRODUCTION TO He admitted it. Wbat, then, said I, God promised that there would be another covenant, not like that old covenant," &c. (Dial., ch. Ixvii., comp. Hebr, viii. 9-10, 12). Again, referring to Melchisedec, Justin says, " Melchisedec, the priest of the Most High, was uncircumcised ; to whom also Abraham, the first who received circumcision after the flesh, gave tithes, and he blessed him ; after whose order God declared by the mouth of David that he would establish the everlasting priest." (Dial, xix.) Again, Dial, cxiii., " This is he who is the King of Salem, after the order of Melchisedec, and the Eternal priest of the Most High God." And lastlj^ there seems a reference to Heb. vi. 18, in the words, " proclaiming thereby that all who through Him have fled for refuge to the Father constitute the true Israel." (Dial, cxxv.) Clement of Alexandria quotes the Epistle to the Hebrews about thirty-five times. He several times quotes the first words of the Epistle, " God also at sundry times and in divers manners," in Miscell. i. ch. iv. 5, ch. vi. 6, ch. vii. He cites i. 3, " The express image of the glory of the Father." (Miscel. vii. 10.) " We then, according to the noble Apostle, desire that every one of you show the same diligence to the full assurances of hope." (Miscell. ii. ch. xxii.) Irenseus, on the contrary, does not clearly quote the Epistle once. In a fragment found by a learned Lutheran in the Koyal Library of Turin, there is an extract in which Heb. xiii. 15, " Let us offer the sacrifice of praise, that is the fruit of the lips," is quoted, but many hold it to be doubtful. But there is a reference to a lost book of Irenasus in Eusebius, bk. v., ch. 34, which runs thus, "A book also of ' various disputes ' [was written by Irenaeus] in which he mentions the Epistle to the Hebrews." TertuUian mentions the Epistle to the Hebrews, but distinctly ascribes the authorship to Barnabas as the companion of St. Paul : *' There is extant withal an Epistle to the Hebrews under the name of Barnabas, a man sufficiently accredited by God, as being one whom Paul has stationed next to himself in the uninterrupted observance of abstinence. ' Or else, I alone and Barnabas have not we the power of working.' And of course the Epistle of Barna- bas is more generally received among the Churches than the Apocryphal Shepherd of adulterers. Warning accordingly the dis- ciples to omit all first principles, and strive rather after perfection, THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. xvii jind not lay again the foundations of repentance from the works of the dead, he says, ' For it is impossible that they who have been •once illuminated, and have tasted of the heavenly gift,' " &c. (" De Piidicitia," ch. xx.) We now come to Origen. He constantly quotes the Hebrews as ihe work of St. Paul. Thus in the the second chapter of the " De Principiis " : " The Apostle Paul says that the only begotten Son is the image of the invisible God . . . and when writing to the Hebrews lie says of Him, that He is the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person." Again (" Contra Celsum," v. 4), " We indeed acknowledge that ' the angels are ministering spirits,' and we say that ' they are sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.' " Again, " For the word is used by our Paul in writing to the Corinthians, who were Greeks, and not yet purified in morals, ' I have fed you with milk.' . . . How the same writer, knowing that there was a certain kind of noui-ishment better adapted to the soul, and that the food of these young persons who were admitted was compared to milk, continues, 'And ye are be- ■come such as have need of milk and not of strong meat.' " (Heb. v, 12, 14 ; " Against Celsus," iii. 53.) Again, " And it is in reference to this Jerusalem that the Apostle spoke ... ye are come, says he, unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God " (" Against Celsus," vii. 29). There is no quotation from the Epistle to the Hebrews in either ■Cyprian or Hippolytus. Such, then, are the references to the Epistle in the Ante-Nicene Fathers. They one and all prove its canonicity — that it had a place assigned to it in the list of books of Scripture, being fitted by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost to be appealed to as profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. But when we come to consider the authorship of this document, ■we are face to face with a very difficult problem indeed, such as forced a man like Origen to say: "Who wrote it God only knows." These doubts have principally come down to us in notices in Eusebius. The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius is in a great measure a literary history, and particularly the writer takes every I)ains to illustrate the history of the doubtful books, showing by whom they were acknowledged or quoted, and by what churches received or rejected. xviii INTRODUCTION TO In book iii., ch. iii., we read: "The Epistles of St. Paul are foiirteen, all well known and beyond doubt. It should not, how- ever, be concealed that some have set aside the Epistle to th© Hebrews, saying that it was disputed as not being one of St. Paul's Epistles ; but we shall in the proper place also subjoin what has been said by those before our time respecting this Epistle." In book vi., ch. xiv., we read respecting Clement of Alexandria: "The Epistle to the Hebrews," he asserts, "was written by St. Paul to the Hebrews in the Hebrew tongue ; but it was carefully translated by Luke, and published among the Greeks. Whence also one finds the same character of style and of phraseology in the Epistle as in the Acts." " But it is probable that the title ' Paul the Apostle ' was not prefixed to it. For as he wrote to the Hebrews who had imbibed prejudices against him, and sus- pected him, he wisely guards against diverting them from the perusal by giving his name." A little after he observes : " But now as the blessed Presbyter (PantEenus) used to say. Since the Lord_ who wa§ the Apostle of the Almighty was sent to the Hebrews, Paul by reason of his inferiority, as if sent to the Gentiles, did not subscribe himself an Apostle to the Hebrews ; both out of reverence for the Lord, and because he wrote of his abundance to the He- brews, as a herald and Apostle to the Gentiles." Again, book vi., ch. xx. : " There is, besides, a discussion which, has come down to us of Caius, a most learned man, held at Rom& in the time of Zephyrinus against Proclus, who contended for the Phrygian Heresy, in which, whilst he silences the rashness and. daring of his opponents in composing new books (of Scripture), he makes mention of only thirteen Epistles, not reckoning that to the Hebrews with the rest, as there are even to this dav some among the Eomans who do not consider it to be the work of the Apostles." And with respect to the opinion and testimony of Origen, Euse- bius gives the following extract from Origen's " Homilies on the Hebrews", (now lost): "The style of the Epistle with the title * to the Hebrews ' has not that vulgarity of diction which belongs to the Apostle, who confesses that he is but rude in speech, that is, in his phraseology. But that this Epistle is more pure Greek in the composition of its phrases, eveiyone will confess who is able to discern the differences of style. Again, it will be obvious that the- ideas of the Epistle are admirable, and not inferior to any of the books acknowledged to be Apofitolic. Everyone will confess the" THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. xix truth of this who attentively reads the Apostle's writings." To these he (Orio^en) afterwards adds: "But I would say that the thoughts are the Apostle's, but the diction and phraseology belong to someone who has recorded what the Apostle said, and as one who noted down at his leisure what his master dictated. If then any Church considers this Epistle as comiog from St. Paul, let it be commended for this, for neither did those ancient men deliver it thus without cause. But who it was who really wrote the Epistle God only knows. The account, however, that has been current before us is, according to some, that Clement, who was Bishop of Piome, wrote the Epistle ; according to others that it was written by Luke, who wrote the Gospel and the Acts." Nothing can be gatliered with any certainty from the silence respecting names of Ecclesiastical writers, such as Clement of Eome and Justin. Justin, in fact, never alludes to any New Tes- tament writer by name, but it is quite another matter when such •writers as Clement of Alexandria and Origen attempt to account for the difference of style between the Ejnstle to the Hebrews and those Epistles of St. Paul, which are undoubtedly his and his alone, by supposing that St. Paul originally wrote the Epistle in question in the Hebrew, and St. Luke translated it into Greek, and when Origen tells us that some suppose it to have been written by Clement of Eome, and that TertuUian ascribes it to Barnabas. Nobody can read together the Epistle to the Ephesians and that to the Hebrews without observing the marvellous contrast, if, as Origen says, " he is able to discern the difference of style." Whence this difference in the style of two documents commonly ascribed to the same author? The extracts in Eusebius show that this pheno- menon was observed from the first, for if observed by Clement and Origen it is tantamount to having been observed from the first, and that it was ascribed to the fact of a sort of double authorship, the one, St. Paul, furnishing the ideas, the other, whoever he was, the phraseology and language. Now one thing is to be noticed connected with this authorship, that, notwithstanding this discrepancy, the authorship is ascribed to St. Paul ; another may have written it, but from his dictation ; another may have translated, but in some real sense it is assumed to be his. Now I do not think that this discrepancy — not only in style and jihraseology, but in ideas — has been in the least exaggerated ; on XX INTRODUCTION TO the contrary, it seems to me to have not been sufficiently noticeiJ and dwelt upon. Consider the following: The High Priesthood of the Eternal Son is the theme of the Epistle to the Hebrews ; one really may say to the exclusion of every other, till we come to the eleventh chapter. There it is dropped, to be resumed again before the conclusion at xiii. 8 and following. Now the Eternal Priesthood of Christ is not once mentioned in any of the thirteen Epistles of St. Paul, or in fact in any book of the New Testament, except in this solitary Epistle, The Mediatorship of Christ is mentioned abundantly, as for in- stance in 1 Tim. ii. " There is one God, and one Mediatoi-," &c., but not under priestly forms. The Mediatorship of Christ pervades the Epistle to the Hebrews, but only under the priestly form. Even in xii, 24, where only it is specifically mentioned under the name of Mediatorship, it is *' Jesus the mediator of the Neia- Covenant,'' not as in 1 Tim. ii. : " There is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Now when we turn to the Epistles of St. Paul, especially those to the Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians, we find them pervaded with the Mediatorship of Christ, but not once in the form in which it appears in the Epistle to the Hebrews. In the acknowledged. Pauline Epistles the Mediatorship acts through the Risen and Glorified Head, who does not pass into a heavenly Holy of Holies to act there as a priest, but is exalted at once to the right hand of God, and acts there as a federal Head of the Church, a Second Adam, having all His people joined together in the Unity of His Body— a Mystical Body. Thus in Coloss. ii. 19 : " The Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God."" Thus again, Ephes. i. 23-24, and iv, 15, 16, and v. 23, 30. Also Rom. xii. 4, 5, and 1 Cor. xii. 12-27. Now this is undoubtedly the closest form which Mediatorshii> can assume — those for whom the Lord mediates are in Himsc4f as- the members of His Body ; the mediation is the conveyance of grace and nourishment from Himself as the Head to the members- of His Body, as in the most mysterious sense "in" Him. Com- pared to this idea the mediation typified by the Jewish high priest is external, but though external it is indispensable, for the mediation of the head of the mystical Body does not imply forgiveness through, the constant application of the Atoning Blood. I mean it does not THE EPISTLES TO THE HEBREWS. XXi imply it eo visibly, as it were, or so graphically as the mediation of oiir Epistle does. So that, when it is said that the Epistle to the Hebrews contains the ideas of the Apostle, as in the words of Origen, " I would say that the thoughts are the Apostle's, but the diction and phraseology belong to some one who has recorded what the Apostle said," this must be taken with some reserve, for the figure under which the mediatorship of Christ is presented to us throughout the Epistle to the Hebrews is the High Priest entering into the Holy of Holies with His own Blood ; whereas the figure under which mediation is presented to us in the thirteen Epistles of St. Paul is Christ the Head of a Mystical Body, and we in Him receiving grace, as the members of a body receive life and sensa- tion from the head. Throughout such Epistles as those to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, and Ephesians, mediation through the exalted Head of the Mystical Body is undoubtedly considered to be the highest re- sult of redemption, whereas throughout the Epistle to the Hebrews the entrance of our High Priest into the presence of God is as un- doubtedly considered to be the highest result of Redemption. Now if they were written altogether by the same autlior, i.e., St. Paul, or if the same author furnished the ideas, how is it that he has left the idea of Headship of the Mystical Body in and under Christ out of the Epistle to the Hebrews ? I desire to say it with the greatest reverence, he must have done violence to himself in so doing. For consider, the inherence of all men, Jew and Gentile, in Christ, was St. Paul's special doctrine. It was the mystery hid from ages and generations, and now made known to him and his brother Apostles and prophets (Ephes. iii. 5,6) by the Spirit. Even justification by faith was subordinate to it. How is it that it is kept out of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and apparently another re- sult of Redemption put in its place ? If St. Paul either wrote the Epistle or furnished its ideas, this exclusion must have been of set purpose. The Apostle was led by the Spirit to write to his brethren the believing seed of Abraham to convince them that they had the completion of their law in Christ. Now the gathering together in one of all things in Christ was in a manner extraneous to their law. There was no type of it at all equivalent to the type of the Lord as the Priest after the order of Melchisedec. It may have been that two such co-ordinate results of redemption as the Xxii INTRODUCTION TO entrauce of the High Priest into heaven and the gathering together of all things in Christ, could not in that age of the Church be held in their integrity hy either Hebrew or Gentile believers. So that we can reverently imagine the Apostle giving direction to one of his disciples that he should prepare a short treatise in which nothing should interfere with the Hebrew conception of the Iiigh priest entering into the Holy of Holies as the acme, as it were, of the Jewish ritual, and that he should expand and extend this so as to lead up to the great High Priest entering once into the heavenly holiest with His own Blood. This was accomplished, and the Apostle himself then added to it, as it were, a postcript (xiii. 17, to end), identifying the whole with himself, making it his own, and taking the responsibility of its teaching. Who was this to whom the Apostle entrusted this great work? TertuUian, living at the end of the second century, without hesitation fixes on Bar- nabas, indeed seems to make him the independent author. In modern times Apollos has been named. He was a Jew born in Alexandria, and so presumed to be well acquainted with the writings of Philo. He was an eloquent man, and parts of this Epistle are of surpassing eloquence. He was " mighty in the Scriptures," and the Epistle shows a remarkable aptitude in bring- ing whatever is typical of the work of Christ to bear on his great subject ; but the fatal objection to both Apollos and Barnabas is this, that they occupy far too independent a position as regards St. Paul. If either of them had written the Epistle, his name would have come down to us, for the name of the writer was evidently known to the persons to whom it was sent. But the name of Barnabas was only connected with the Epistle by one writer, TerluUian, living at a great distance, and the name of Apollos was never connected with it till the time of Luther. Besides this the Church of Alexandria would have claimed it for him as he was their countryman. The authorship or part authorship is men- tioned both by Clement of Alexandria and Origen in connection with St. Luke. Clement says that St. Paul wrote it in Hebrew, and Luke translated it into Greek ; and Origen writes that some ascribed it to Clement of Rome, and others to St. Luke. St. Luke's name seems to me to accord best with the fact that it was written under the direction of St. Paul. He did not occupy so in- dependent a position with respect to St. Paul as either Barnabas or Apollos did, and the vocabulary agrees marvellously with that of THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. XXIU ^ Luke. I will conclude with the words of two very emiuent men, the one a Protestant, the other a Catholic, both concurring in the opinion that the authorship is St. Luke's, under the direction of S't. Paul. Delitzsch concludes his notes (p. 407) with the words : " The opinion which in the course of our commentary has more and more approved itself to our mind, is simply this, that the Epistle is not written by the hand of Paul, and bears the stamp of St. Luke's more than of St. Paul's style. It breathes Paul's spirit, but it does not speak Paul's words. From verse 18 to the conclusion he quite inclines to Paul's method. And be it directly or indirectly it is Paul's own peculiar Apostolic parting blessing and salutation with which, in verse 25, his doctrinal parentage in Paul is finally sealed " (vol. ii. p. 407, Clark's " Foreign Theological Library "). In Bollinger's "First Age of the Church," we read: "The Epistle to the Hebrews, i.e., the Jewish Christians of Palestine, coincides in date with the latter years of the Apostle's life. It is clear from internal evidence that it was not written before the year 63, or after 69. It is addressed to men familiar with the Levitical service and rites of the temple, and living in its neighbourhood, so that the Jewish worship and priesthood still exercised their full influence over them. Their church had existed a long time. Their original ministers and teachers were already dead, and their death could be held up as a pattern to survivors from the unshaken constancy with wliich they died for their belief {Hebr. v. 12 ; xiii. 7). A second generation of Christians had grown up, but they were in imminent peril of falling away from Christ and returning to Judaism. Some had already forsaken public worship. There is no reference in any other Apostolical Epistle to the danger here mentioned of apostasy to Judaism, and blasphemy against Christ. This state of things had now appeared for the first time in Judaea, and especially at Jerusalem, caused apparently by the hostility of the unconverted Jews, and the fear of exclusion from the Temple worship. But it is a mistake to afiirm, as has often been done of late, that the author of the Epistle required an entire separation from the Jewish religion. He would not have done that incidentally in a couple of passing words, but would have explained his grounds at length. As long as the temple stood, no Jewish Christian was required to abjure Levitical worship. But the writer points out the supe- riority of the New to the Old Covenant, with its purely transitory xxiv INTRODUCTION TO and symbolical character, the dignity of Messiah, and the preroga- tive of the New as compared with the Old Testament revelation, and that the offering of Christ i^recludes all need of further offering for sin. The form of an Epistle only comes out towards the end of the document ; the earlier portion is more like a treatise, care- fully tracing out the chain of argument, and elaborating the sub- ject with a more systematic arrangement than is found in any- other Apostolical Epistle, not without some display of oratory. It was written originally not in Aramaic, but in Greek. It bears no AjDOstle's name, and cannot, in its present form, be the work of Paul's hand, though breathing his spirit, "We cannot indeed urge, as has often been done, the passage speaking of the salvation first proclaimed by the Loi-d being handed down to us by those that heard it as conclusive against his authorship (Heb. ii. 3). For that is said in the name of the community addressed, and it would have been very far-fetched and gratuitous for the Apostle, who in fact had not heard the preaching of Jesus directly, to insert a saving clause, ' I have indeed received an inward revelation from the Lord.' " But there are other proofs that he did not write the Epistle. The author invariably follows the Alexandrian version, even when differing completely in sense from the Hebrew (see Hebr. x. 5, especially), whereas Paul does not keep strictly to it, but much oftener translates for himself; secondly, Paul always named him- Belf at the beginning of his Epistles ; and lastly, the style is more polished, and flows more evenly and smoothly, but is less precise than Paul's, where the thoughts seem often to be struggling with the language, and the tone is less dialectical and more rhetorical, betraying a philosophical education. "Nevertheless, the tradition of the Eastern Church, followed after- wards by the Western, has recognized the Apostle Paul as the principal author of the Epistle. It was attributed to him by the Syrian and Alexandrian Churches, thoFe nearest the community it is addressed to, but the general belief was that he had not written it with his own hand, but used the services of another, either Luke or Clement. Clement of Alexandria's idea, that Luke translated the Apostle's Hebrew into Greek, is quite untenable, for the Epistle betrays clearly enough its original Greek composition, and Paul's friend or disciple must have contributed more to the author- ship than mere translation. Clement of Rome cannot be regarded THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. XXV as the writer or joint writer, for then it would be the more unin- telligible how the Epistle came to be so long rejected or ignored in the Roman Church, and the difference between this Epistle and his to the Corinthians is too great for both to be by the same author, besides that the use made in the latter of this one is further evidence against it. TertuUian's assertion that Barnabas is the writer stands quite alone. Nor is there any trace or hint in the ancient Church of the conjecture that Apollos wrote it; and as nothing more distinct is known of Apollos, it is a mere makeshift- It continues therefore to be the most probable view, that Luke wrote the Epistle under St. Paul's inspiration, and to this the most ancient tradition points." (DoUinger's "First Age of the Church," i. 109, Oxenham's translation.) The divergence between Eastern and "Western Christendom upon the authorship and canonicity of this Epistle is very remarkable. In noticing the agreement of the Eastern fathers upon this ques- tion, I have not yet aj^pealed to the testimony of Cyril of Jeru- salem. The Epistle, as almost all agree, was written to the Chris- tian Jews of Jerusalem and those Palestinian Jews that could come up to the feasts, and Cyril unhesitatingly ascribes it to St. Paul. He flourished about 340. He ascribes to St. Paul fourteen Epistles (Lecture x. 18). He takes as his text for his fifth lecture Heb. xi. 1, 2, and for his eleventh Heb. i. 1, 2 ; altogether he refers to this Epistle nearly forty times, and in a considerable number of places refers to it as written by the Apostle just as he quotes the Romans as written by the Apostle, and in several places names St. Paul as the Apostle. In the Western or Latin Church it seems not to have been re- ceived by the Church till shortly after the times of Jerome and Augustine. Though both these fathers constantly refer to it as Apostolical, they also, in referring to it, seem unwilling to pro- nounce absolutely on its authorship. A large number of quotations from Jerome implying some doubt or hesitation are given in Alford's introduction to this Eiiistle, pp. 23 to 25, second edition ; one will suffice : " Eelege ad Hebrseaos Epistolam Pauli, sive cujuscumque alterius eam esse putas, quia jam inter ecclesiasticos sit recepta." Augustine seems more confident respecting its Pauline author- ship, as is manifest from the references in the same introduction, pp. 28, 29: "Audisti exhortantem Apostolum" (Serm. Iv. 5); *' audi quod dicit Apostolus " (Serm. Ixxxii. 11). But in " Da XXVI INTRODUCTION TO Civitate Dei," xvi. 22 : " In epistola quae scribitur ad Hebraeos, qnam plures Apostoli Pauli esse dicunt, quidam vero negant." In accounting for the adverse testimony of the Western Church, it has been suggested that the Church of Cyprian's time was unwill- ing to receive itt because it was thought to favour the harsh doctrine that those who had lapsed should not be restored to Church fellow- ship, as in chap. vi. 4, 5, 6, and x. 26. If sinners who have fallen after Baptism or conversion are excluded from grace, of course they must be excluded from Church communion. That the Epistle was received as a part of Scripture in the time of one of the first Eoman bishops, a contemporary of St. Paul, is certain, and that Justin Martyr, who wrote and was probably martyred in Eome, quoted it as Scripture is equally certain, and yet Cyprian evidently considers it as not a part of the Canon. Irenaeus, a Bishop of Gaul, does not refer to it ; but it is a singular fact that as far as I can see, he never refers to our Lord's priesthood, just as St. Paul does not throughout the whole of the thirteen epistles. The matter is deeply mysterious, but nothing can upset the fact that the Eastern Church — the Church best able to judge respecting such an historical matter as the authorship, considering that if not actually written by St. Paul, it was written under his direction or his influence, or his inspiration. DATE OF WEITING. All agi'ee that it was written some time after the liberation of St. Paul after his first imprisonment, and before the destruction of Jerusalem. Wordsworth supposes it was written about a.d. 64. Howson in Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible," about 63; Alford Toetween 68 and 70 ; Westcott between 64 and 67. If it was not written under the influence or inspiration of St. Paul, it can only be fixed as written before the destruction of Jerusalem in 72. ANALYSIS OF THE EPISTLE. i. 1-3. The Sou of God equal in nature with the Father. By whom He made the worlds (aeons). The brightness of His glory. The express image of His Person (or Essence). THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. XXVll 4-12. The Son of God greater than the angels. Let all the angels of God worship Him. Of the Son He saith, Thy throne, God, is forevor and ever. Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid, &c. 13-14. The Son, supreme Kuler under the Father. The angels only ministering spirits. ii. 1-4. Our greater responsibility because of the Divine- greatness of the Son. 5. The olKovfxii'7] not under the angels, 11-14. But under the Son. Made Son of man in order that He might partake of flesh and. blood. And so taste of death for every man, and so 17-18. be a merciful and faithful High Priest. in. 1. The Apostle and High Priest of our profession. 2-6. Greater than Moses, being the Owner and Master of the house of God. iii. 7, iv. 8. Greater than Joshua, as He leads His people inta their true and eternal rest. iv. 12. The Word of God. V. 1-3. The great high priest, though the Son of God^ must be of the same nature as ourselves. 4-6. Must be chosen of God. 7, 8, 9. Must learn obedience by suffering. 10. Cannot be of the order of Aaron, but must be of the order of Melchisedec. V. 11-14. Digression respecting the danger which the vi. 1-13. Hebrews were in through their dulness, yet they needed encouragement. 20. Eesumption of the doctrine respecting Mel- chisedec. vii. 1-3. Superiority of the priesthood of Melchisedec to that of Aaron, in that he was made like unto the Son of God. 4, 5, 9. Eeceived tithes from Abraham. 6-7. Blessed Abraham as being the greater of the two. vii. 11. According to Psalm ex. another priest is to arise- after Melchisedec's order. X.wr.i INTRODUCTION TO 20, 21. Wbicli priest is made with an oatli, and so ia superior to the Aaronic priests, who are made without oath. 23. The Aaronic priests were removed by death. 28. Tlie priestliood of the Son everlasting and un- changeable, viii. 1. The sum, or principal thing. 1. "We have an high priest — set on the throne of God. 1. The minister of the true tabernacle. G, 7, 8. The Mediator of tlie New Covenant. 8. The New Covenant foretold by the prophets, ix. 1. The first covenant — its sanctuary and its fur- niture. 2. The sanctuary consisted of two parts. (1.) The Holy place, into which the priests constantly entered. (2.) The Holy of Holies, into which the High Priest alone entered once a year. 7. Not without blood. 8. Signifying the imperfection of the Atonement. 11, 12. But Christ, with His own Blood, entered once for all into the Heavenly Holy of Holies. 24. No repetition of His Sacrifice. 25. He hath put away sin to the Sacrifice of Himself, and so has not continually to ofi"er Himself. 26. Will return a second time, not as did the Jewish High Priest, but without sin unto Salvation. X. 1, 3. In the law a remembrance (or anamnesis) of sins once a year. 4. Because the blood of bulls and of goats cannot take away sins. 5, 6, 7. This can only be by the surrender of a most holy will. 7. So the great High Priest has a Body prepared for Him, in which He comes to do the will of God by surrendering it. 10. By which will, i.e., by the offering of His Body in accordance with the will of God, 14. "We are sanctified once for all. THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. xxix 21, The new and living way through the veil, i.e., His flesh. 19, 20, 21, 22. By this we must draw near. 25, 31. A second digression on the danger of Apostasy, 32. And yet ending with encouragement. 86. Need of patience. xi. 1. What is faith ? 2-40. Examples of faith overcoming tlie world. xii. 1, 2. The cloud of witnesses encourage us while we look to Jesus. 5-12. The need of chastening. 14. Follow peace and holiness. Example of Esau. 18. Ye have not come to Sinai. 22. Ye have come to Mount Zion. 25. And yet ye are not safe. Ye may refuse him that speaketh, 28. And that this be not so, hold fast grace, xiii. 1. Precepts of Holy Living. 1-4. Be loving, hospitable, sympathising, chaste, open handed, contented. 7. Eemember your former teachers. 9. Be established with grace. 10. We have an altar. 12. Jesus suffered without the gate. Let us bear His reproach, 18. The Apostle asks their prayers. 20. The Apostle's prayer for them. THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. A COMMENTARY. THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. CHAP. I. PAUL, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to tlie faith of God's elect, and » 2 Tim. ii. 25. ' the acknowledging of the truth ^ which is after & vi. 3. " ' * godliness ; 1. " Paul, a servant of God, and an Apostle of Jesus Christ." He usually styles himself the servant (or slave) of Jesus Christ ; Jiere the servant of God. " You observe," says St. Chrysostom, " how he uses these ex- pressions indifferently, sometimes calling himself the servant of God, and sometimes of Jesus Christ ; thus making no difference lietween the Father and the Son (of course as regards the dignity and perfections of their Divine Nature)." " According to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging," &c. Most commentators agree in interpreting this *' according to " (Kara), as meaning "with a view to," "in furtherance of," the faith or belief of the elect of God in the hearts of men. St. Paul was a servant of God, and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, in order tliat those chosen by God might hold the faith " once for all delivered to the saints," and realize it in all its fulness, for such seems to mean the word " acknowledging." It is the full or perfect know- ledge. Still we must remember that all truth has not only to be embraced by the soul, but to be acknowledged in the face of the world. "Which is after godliness." All parts of the truth, every aspect of it, every principle which it embodies, is designed to 4 IN HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE. [Tixua II Or, For. 2 |1 "^ In hope of eternal life, which God, ^ that ch^ iu'.";'. '" ^' cannot lie, promised " before the world began ; d Num xxiii. 3 f -Qyy^ hath in due times manifested his word 19. 2 Tim. 11. 13. through preaching, ^ which is committed unto me e Rom. xvi. 25. 2 Tim. i. 9. 1 Pet. i. 20. f 2 Tim. i. 10. ^ i -^^^ "■ *■ 2. " Before the world began." Literally, " before eternal ages." 1 Tim. 1. 11. bring us to God, and to His obedience, and so is " according to godliness." 2. " In hope of eternal life." " In hope," that is, " resting on,"' *' animated by " the hope of eternal life. " Which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.'* " That cannot lie." This has been supposed to be interjected, as it were, because of the besetting sin of the Cretians (verse 12) ; but may it not be a reminiscence of such words as " The strength of Israel will not lie nor repent " (1 Sam. sv. 29) ? " Promised before the world began." A promise implies not only a promiser, but a person to whom the promise is made. To' whom was the promise made ? Evidently to the Eternal Word — the Second Person in the Godhead in the view of His Incarnation and consequent Eeconciliation of all things to God. Note here the anxiety of the Apostle to shew that the Gospel, and what it in- volved, " the bringing of all men to God " (John xii. 32), was no new thing, but was in the counsels of the Blessed Trinity from all eternity. This was, of course, in answer to his unbelieving country- men, who rejected it because, in their eyes, it was new : whereas their Prophets, their Psalmists, their wise men, all revealed it as the purpose of God — hidden in one sense, but to be revealed in ita time. 3. " But hath in due times manifested his word through preach- ing." " In due times," after all expedients, the natural lights the law, philosophy, had been tried and been found utterly want- ing to provide a remedy, when the chosen people had most deeply revolted, and the iniquity of the Amorites, i.e., of the Gentiles^ was full, then God made known the true and only possible remedy ' — the preaching of the Gospel. " Through preaching," through heralding. Chrysostom has a fine passage noting the distinction between preaching and teaching. Chap. I] MINE OWN SON. 5 '' according to the commaudment of God our •> i Tim. i. i. . ° &ii.3. &iv. 10. feaviour ; i 2 Cor. ii. 13. 4 To ' Titus, '' 7nine own son after ' the common riu.'fi, ie, 23. faith : "G-race, mercy, and peace, from God the ii.s.'' ' "* Pather and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. '' ' '^'™- '• ^* 1 Rom. i. 12. 2 Cor. iv. 13. 2 Pet. i. 1. m Eph.i. 2. 4. "Mine own son." " My true child." Col. i. 2. " Mercy " omitted by N, C. : retained by A., K., L., and most Cursives. 1 Tim. i. 2, 2 Tim. i. 2. *' For as a herald proclaims in the theatre in the presence of aU, so also we preach ; adding nothing, but declaring the things which we have heard. For the excellence of a herald consists in pro- claiming to all what has really ha^jpened, not in adding or taking away anything. If, therefore, it is necessary to preach, it is neces- sary to do it with boldness of speech. Otherwise it is not preaching. On this account Christ did not say, ' Tell it xipon the hotisetops,' but ^preach th-pon the liousetops,' shewing by both the place and the manner what was to be done." Bishop Wordsworth has a long and able note upon " His word " as meaning the Personal Word, the Logos, to which I refer the reader, and it seems more consonant with the sentence " mani- fesied His word through preaching." " Which was committed to me," i.e., with which I was entrusted •' according to the commandment of God our Saviour." When was the commandment given ? The voice of the Father was never heard, but the word of the Son to St. Paul was " Depart, for I will tend thee far hence to the Gentiles ;" but all God's providence with respect to St. Paul, from his separation in his mother's womb onwards, was by the ordination and direction of God to bring about that he should be the Apostle of the Gentiles. 4. " To Titus, mine own son after the common faith." His own genuine son, not according to the flesh, but according to the faith, the one faith, " the faith once for all delivered to the Saints." It seems the same idea as he expresses in 1 Corinth, iv. 15 : " In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel." " Grace, mercy, and peace." The word " mercy " seems doubt- ful, as the reader will see by the critical note. Still, if it be rejected, we have to face the question how it is that St. Paul twice sends to Timothy a greeting which includes mercy, and to Titus one D I LEFT THEE IN CRETE. [TixuS, 5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest n 1 Cor. xi. 34. ° set in Order the things that are || wanting, and done'. ""' ° ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed o Acts xiv. 23. +1toq . 3 Tim. ii. 2, ''^^^ • from which mercy is omitted. None of the commentators seem to entertain the question. " Observe also how he offers the same prayers for the teacher as for the disciples and the multitude. For, indeed, he needs such prayers as much, or rather more, than they, by how much, he has greater enmities to encounter, and is more exposed to the necessity of offending God. For the higher is the dignity, the greater are the dangers of the priestly office " (Chrysostom). " From God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour." This is also one of those (we may say) innumerable places which assert the Proper Deity of the Son of God ; for how can grace and peace be invoked in the same breath from the Creator and a creature ? 5. " For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest." We learn from this that after his first imprisonment, Paul and Titus preached the Gospel in Crete, and made many converts ; in fact,, from the words "in every city," we should suppose that the island was permeated with Christianity. But the Church, though planted and rooted, was not yet organized, and St. Paul left this work to Titus whilst he himself went to other regions to lay the foimdations of Churches, or to oversee them. "We are not, however, to suppose that this under Paul and Titus, was the first planting of Christianity in Crete. On the contrary, there were among the devout men who received the witness of the Holy Ghost, "Cretes and Arabians " (Acts ii. 11), and such we may be sure would proclaim among their countrymen both the teaching of th© day of Pentecost, and the Death and Kesurrection of Jesus, which was its root ; and besides, one of the qualifications of the presbyters or bishops whom Titus was to appoint, was that they should have *' believing children," which postulates some length of time for the bringing up of children in their own faith. " That thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting.'" This is a plain proof that St. Paul did not consider that each con- gregation of Christians was independent, so that it should organize CuAP. I.] THE STEWARD OF GOD. 7 6 P If any be blameless, ** tlie husband of one p i Tim. iii. 2 &c wife, ■■ having faithful children not accused of riot q'lTim.iii. 12. or unruly. ^2^ Tim. iii. 4, 7 For a bishop must be blameless, as *the ^Matt. xxiv. . 4.5. 1 Cur. iv. steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, 1.2. itself, but each one had to receive its organization and ministry from him through Titus his delegate. 6. If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children," &c. This and the two nest verses are the reproduction of the directions given to Timothy (iii. 1): "A Bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, given to hospitality . . . not given to wine, no striker, patient, not a brawler," &c. "Having faithful children not accused of riot," &c. This refers to the children ; the children of the man who is to be appointed overseer are not only to be Christians, i.e., believers, but credi- table and respectable. Chrysostom remarks : " If he cannot keep in order those whom he has had with him from the beginning, whom he has brought up, and over whom he had power both by the laws, and by nature, how will he be able to benefit those with- out ? For if the incompetency of the father had not been great, he would not have allowed those to become bad who from the first he had under his power. For it is not possible, indeed it is not, that one should turn out ill who is brought with much care and has received great attention . . . It, occupied in the pursuit of wealth, he has made his children a secondary concern, and not bestowed much care upon them, even so he is unworthy." 7. " For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God." A steward is one who has the goods or estate of another committed to him, and the Christian minister has the truth of God and the administration of the Christian Sacraments committed to him, that he should disburse them, "Who is that faithful and wise steward whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household to give them their portion of meat in due season? (Luke xii. 42). For the exposition of this character of the Christian minister see notes on 1 Tim. iii. 1-8. " Not self-willed." He must have a deep conviction that he may be mistaken. Oliver Cromwell wrote to the Presbyterian ministers of Edinburgh: "I beseech you in the bowels of Christ, think it 8 A LOVER OF HOSPITALITY. [Tjtus. E^r'v'is" * ^^^ given to wine, no striker, " not given to filtliy iTim.iii. 3, 8. lucre : u lTiin.iii.3,8. „ -r. i n ■, • t i oh t iPet. V. 2. 8 ''But a lover or hospitality, a lover oi || good p Or'^orf" itien, sober, just, holy, temperate; things. 9 J Holding fast ' the faithful word 11 as he hath 7 2 Thes. ii. ° " 15. 2 Tim. i. 13. been taught, that he may be able *by sound doc- & ir. '9°& 'vi.°3. trine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. 2 Tim. ii. 2. II Or, 271 teich- ing. &vi. 3. 2Tim. possible you may be mistaken." And yet when a IV. 3. ch. 11. 1. j^au'g conscience unites with the word of God in assuring him that he is right in his determination, and he has the support of those who are equally honest and enlightened with himself, he must be fearless in his course of action. " Not given to wine." St. Paul could scarcely have written this if he had thought that asceticism was the true perfection of the ministerial life. " No striker." He should do all things by admonition or re- buke, but not by insolence. "What necessity, tell me, for insult ? He ought to terrify, to alarm, to penetrate the soul with the fear of hell. But he that is insulted becomes more impudent, and rather despises him that insults him. " Nothing produces con- tempt more than insult ; it disgraces the insolent person, and prevents his being respected as he ought to be." (Chrysostom.) 8. "But a lover of hospitality," &c. It is one of the questions asked of the bishop about to be consecrated whether he will show himself gentle, and be merciful for Christ's sake to poor and needy people, and to all strangers destitute of help? Sometimes incum- bents of small benefices, and very generally curates, are poor and needy people, and would be thankful for that hospitality which some bishops show abundantly and others do not. " A lover of good men." Eather, a lover of what is good. *' Sober." That is, under self-control. " Just." Not given to favouritism — doing nothing by partiality. 9. " Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught," &c. The faithful word is in all probability the form of sound words of 2 Tim. i. 13, but some suppose it to be the faithful sayings which are cited in the Epistles to Timothy. "As he hath been taught" should rather be rendered, "ac- Chap. I.] MANY UNRULY AND VAIN TALKERS. 9 10 For '' there are many unruly and vain talkers ana " de- ceivers, ^ especially they of the circumcision : ^ i Tim. i. 6. 11 Whose mouths must be stopped, "who sub- ^ Ac"x^v"i. vert whole houses, teaching thinsrs which they ° ^^^tt. xxiii. ' t> & •'14. 2Tim.iii.6. ought not, 'for filthy lucre's sake. 1 1 xim, vi. 5. corcTing to the teaching," that is, according to the original teaching of the Apostles — the principles of the faith which they impressed njion all the churches when they first founded them. " That he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince." Rather that he may be able both to exhort in the sound doctrine and to convince — rather to convict, i.e., of saying what is false — the gainsayers, that is, those who contradict the truth. Notice how so early as this men were directed back to the original teaching. Thus St. John : " Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but that which ye have heard from the beginning" (1 John ii. 7). Even in this first age anything new was considered false. St. Paul took every pains to prove, not only that he preached the original Gospel, but that he said no other things than what were written in the law and in the prophets. 10. " For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially," &c. To the bitter end they of the circumcision were the opponents of this Apostle and of his doctrine. They resented the freedom of the Gentiles, which St. Paul proclaimed every- where. They would have all men to be Jews, as narrow, as c xrnal, as much slaves to the letter as they themselves were. Such men were " vain talkers and deceivers." We can imagine how they could quote text after text of the Old Testament to uphold the permanency of the law : and yet all to no purpose, to no purposes of holiness and truth, for the spirit of both dispensations was against them. 11. "Whose mouths must be stopped." How were the mouths of these men to be stopped? By sound argument, of course, by the setting forth of the faithful word; but also, we doubt not, by authoritatively interdicting them from speaking in the Christian assemblies, by deposing them as heretics from the ministry. " Who subvert whole houses." By creeping into them and 10 REBUKE THEM SHARPLY. [Titus. 12 ^One of tliemselves, even a prophet of their own, said, BActsxvii. 28. The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. j> 2 Cor. xiii. 13 This witness is true. ^ Wherefore rebuke 10. 2 Tim. IV. 2. » ch. ii. 2. them sharj^ly, that they may be ' sound in the faith ; leading captive the silly women (2 Tim. iii. 6). The words can only refer to stealthy, creeping, underhand ways of propagating schisms. " Teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake." St. Paul, a discerner of spirits, knew the secret motives of these men, and exposed them. 12. " One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians," &c. The spirit of poetry and that of prophecy are akin, and so the Apostle quotes the Cretian Epimenides as a prophet. It is remarkable that Cicero (cited in Alford) mentions him as a prophet. " Qui concitatione quadam animi, aut soluto liberoquo motu futura prsesentiunt, ut Bai-is Boeotius, ut Epimenides Cres." (" Cicero, de Divin." i. 18.) He was born at Phtestus, and lived at Gnossus in Crete, in the sixth century before Christ. The whole line is said by Jerome to be taken from the Chresmi of Epimenides. (Speaker's Commentary.) " The Cretians are always liars." This part of the verse is quoted in Callimachus in a Hj^mn to Zeus. The Cretians had a tomb of Jupiter, as if he was mortal and had died, and Callimachus praising him as immortal naturally cited this as a proof of the falsehood of the Cretians. " Evil beasts." Eather, fierce wild beasts. " Slow bellies." Indolent and gluttonous. 13. " This witness is true," &c. "We have the character of the Cretians testified to in heathen authors, as Livy and Polybius, as being what is described by the Apostle. Several instances are cited by Alford in his Prolegomena to this Epistle. " Rebuke them sharply." Their disposition was forward, de- ceitful, and dissolute. Such characters will not be managed by mildness, therefore "rebuke them" sharply. Give them, he says, a stroke that cuts deep. " That they may be sound in the faith." CiiAP. I.] JEWISH FABLES. 11 14 '' Not givinsr heed to Jewish, fables, and ^ i Tim. i. 4. ° ° & iv. 7. 2 Tim. ' commandments of men, that turn from the iv. 4. , 1 Isa. xxix. 13. truth. Matt. XV. 9. 15 ""Unto the pure all things are pure: but „"L„Jj'gxi 39 "unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is '"J*-'^,'; o^"""- " XIV. 14, 20. nothinar pure ; but even their mind and conscience \ ^"^'■"■''^■y^- is defiled. 1 Tim. iv. 3, 4. nRom.xiv.23. 14. " Not giving heed to Jewish fables," &c. If they are sound in the faith, if they hold firmly the great truths of the Gospel — the Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection of the Son of God — they will have no taste for Rabbinical traditions, and will take no notice of such contemptible matters. Such things can only " turn from the truth " by fixing the mind upon what is false and degrading. The same with " the commandments of men." These may be the commandments respecting meats in Leviticus, from the ob- servance of which the Gentiles had been emancipated, and which when reimposed upon them were so done by mere human autho- rity, and were on the same level with any purely human precept. The observance of such commands, as much as the giving heed to traditions, turns from the truth. It is part of a decayed and vanishing system, and interferes with the obedience to a nobler and purer one. 15. "Unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are," &c. There can be no doubt but that the primary allusion here is to defilement by meats forbidden by the Judaizers. It is a parallel passage to Eom. xv. 20: "All things are pure, but it is evil for that man which eateth with offence." The defiled and unbelieving are those who are not purified by the reception of Christian truth, and whose consciences are yet under bondage to the Levitical system, and not made free by the law of Christ. Such persons are under the constant apprehension of sinning in matters of meats, drinks, washing, &c. The thorough cleansing by the Spirit, and the hearty reception of the truth of Christ, would place them in a spliere above such doubts and misgivings. But the sentiment of the Apostle is of the widest application. It is literally true that to the pure all things are pure. Things which suggest thoughts and deeds of impurity do not suggest impurity to them. Their mind's vision turns away from impurity. 12 IN WORKS THEY DENY GOD. [Titus. « 2Tini.iii.5. 16 They profess that they kuow God : but "in Jutle 4. 11. p Rom. i. 28. works they deny him, heing abominable, and dis- 11 oT, void of obedient, ^and unto every good work 1| reprobate. judgment. and is not contaminated by it : whereas to the defiled the most innocent words and things suggest sin and evil. "Even their mind and conscience is defiled." Their mind, their memory, their imagination, dwells upon what is bad. Their very conscience — the judge within them — is blunted, and has lost its power of instant decision and direction in the right path. 16. " They profess that they know God ; but in works they deny Him," &c. Some suppose that this is an allusion to the claim of the Gnostics to a superior knowledge of God, but it seems to be •capable of the widest application. All Christianity is based upon the confession of a creed of definite truth respecting God, and His Son, and His Spirit. No such profession of the lips can be of any avail unless it is lived to : and they who live evil lives deny God, and undo all the efi'ect of their profession. " Being abominable and disobedient, and to every good work reprobate." No words worse than these could be applied to the lives of the heathen : and yet this is all said of unworthy Christians. CHAP. II. » 1 Tim. i. 10. T~) UT speak thou the things which become & vi. 3. 2 Tim. w~\ t t • i. 13. ch. 1. 9. J_J " sound doctrine : 1. "But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine." " Speak thou." The " thou " is emphatic, and is contrasted with the " vain talkers and deceivers " of the last chapter. " Whatever others teach do thou teach," &c. The sound doctrine of the In- carnation and Atonement has teaching which becomes it, which is fitting to it, and this fitting doctrine is the holiness and goodness of the daily Cliristian life in the Church, in the family, and in private. Chap. II.] TEACHERS OF GOOD THINGS. 13 2 That tlie aged men be |1 sober, grave, temperate, ^ sound in faitli, in charity, in patience. II Or, vigilant.. 3 ''The aged women likewise, that tJiey he in ciTim.ii. 9, behaviour as becometh |1 holiness, not |1 false accu- }'^p*.'iii/3."4^ sers, not given to much, wine, teachers of good 11 Or, hoiy " women. things ; i Or, mnke- 4 That they may teach the young women to be lu. 3.' '™" 4. "Teach;" i.e., school, train. 2. " That the aged men be sober," &c. — i.e., to be vigilant (vi](pa\iovQ). Their mere age is not to be relied upon as putting them above the necessity of constant watchfulness. " Grave " (as^vou^). Serious, as becomes those who have one- foot in the grave. "Temperate." Eather, sober-minded and self-restrained. " Sound in faith, in charity, in patience." All these faculties of the soul or spirit are to be in healthy activity, the sound faith will strive to realize the whole Christian faith which is set before it in the Christian Kevelation, the charity will embrace all the brother- hood, the patience will receive submissively all the dispensations of God. 3. " The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness." "That they," as the revisers have it, "be I'everent in demeanour." The word " as becometh holiness " has somewhat of a priestly sound, and may properly be rendered (as Alford) " reverent in deportment." " Not false accusers." If they are not to be false accusers, i.e., slanderers, they must not be busy-bodies, or tale-bearers, or fond of gossip, for these things naturally, indeed one might almost say inevitably, lead to slander. " Not given," — the original is, not " enslaved " to much wine. "Wine, it is to be remembered, was not then so much a luxury as with us ; nor was it ever strengthened with alcohol, as with us. " Teachers of good things." Not only of Christian or Scripture truth, but of its application to all family and private life, as appears from the next verse. 4. " That they may teach the young women to be sober," that is, "to be self restrained and discreet." "Teach" is rather 14 KEEPERS AT HOME. [Titps. (1 Or, u-ise. |] sobev, ** to love their husbands, to love their J 1 Tim. V. 14. , .-, -, eiCor.xiv.34. children, i',.t\ii' it ^ '^'^ ^^ discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, ] u'?'--' V\ ^ obedient to their own husbands, '^that the word 1 Pet. 111. 1, 5. t Rom. ii. 24. of Grod be not blasphemed. 1 Oi-.dtscreet. 6 Young men likewise exhort to be || sober minded. 1 Pet!™', s!' ^^' 7 ^ In all things shewing thyself a pattern of 5. " Keepers at home." N, A., C, D., E., F., G., read, " workers at home ; " but H., K., L., P., and most Cursives read as in Rec. Text. " train," and there seems an allusion to the Sw^poviarat of the Greek cities. So Wordsworth, " This rather agrees with the sort of duties here inculcated, in which the learners must be disciplined or trained, rather than be merely taught by word of mouth." 5. "To be discreet, chaste." Again the oft repeated word, cw(p()ojv. Our " prudent " seems to come nearest to it. " Keepers at home." Some read, " workers at home," but the meaning is the same. Those who work at home are keepers of their homes. "Obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." Which it would be if the reception of Christianity loosened family ties, and was supposed to release from family obligations, and to undermine due subordination in the household. 6. "Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded," i.e., (as before) " to be self-restrained." Most of the ancient commentators refer the precept to sensual lusts. Thus Chrysostom : " Nothing is so difficult at that age as to overcome unlawful pleasures : " but may it not be capable of a wider application ? Certainlj- at the present day it requires to be applied to the whole tone of mind, and even religious behaviour of young men. The Apostle's exhor. tation should now be turned thus " Say nothing to feed their vanity. Be careful not so to address them as to make them conceited, overweening, priggish, self-asserting." Such a precejDt, so rendered, should be written over the doors of young men's Christian associations, and places where Bible-classes for the young are held. 7. " In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works." St. Paul deems it necessary not only to instruct Titus as to what he is Chap. II.] UNCORRUPTNESS, GRAVITY. 15 eood works: in doctrine shewinq uncorruptness, ''Kph.vi.24. ^ ., 1, . ., ^ ilTim.vi.3. gravity, "sincerity, k Neh.v. s>. 8 ' Sound speech, that cannot he condemned ; \ pe™j,''i3*' '' that he that is of the contrary part ^ may be ^'"^ ^ '"• '*'• •' '■ '' 12 Thess. III. ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. 14. 9 i/a^/tor^ ™ servants to be obedient unto their coi.ni.'23.' own masters, and to please them well ° in all things ; i petl'i^'is! not II answering again ; " ^p^- ■*'• -*• saytng. 7. " Sincerity " omitted by H, A., C. ; retained by K., L., and many Cursives. 8. "Of you." tt, C, D., E., F., G., K., L., P., most Cursives, Ital., Vulg., Syriac, read, " of us." A. reads "of you." to teach ; but also to remind him that he must teach it by his life. Men in the highest ecclesiastical positions seem to require to be put in mind of the obligations of the every day Christian life. " In doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity," &c. Let there be in thy teaching no taint of the errors, Judaical or Gnostical, against which thou hast to warn others. Do not attempt to meet heretics or false teachers half way. Let thy teaching also be free from anything approaching to levity or joking. Ever bear in mind the unspeakable greatness of the truths thou hast to deliver, 8. "Sound speech, that cannot be condemned." By whom? Evidently only by those who from their greater knowledge and holy Christian character have a right to judge. Critics, of course, there will always be whose judgment is generally, so far as its peremptoriness is concerned, in inverse proportion to their capa- bility of forming a right one. " That he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil," &c. Affording, as Chrysostom says, no pretext to those who are willing to censure. 9. " Exhort servants to be obedient to . . . God our Saviour in all things." This is another direction respecting servants or slaves that they are to be taught to be submissive and obedient. That there are so many declarations of the same sort is perhaps to be accounted for by the danger into which Christian slaves would fall when they learnt the absolute equality of all men in the sight of G-od, all equally the work of God's hands, all equally redeemed, and, if Christians, all equally partakers of the one Baptism, and the Body and Blood of Christ. Such would naturally ask, If w© 16 SHEWING ALL GOOD FIDELITY. [Titus. Matt. V. 16. 10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; p Rom. V. 15. ° that they may adorn the doctrine of God our 1 Pet'.' V.' 12. Saviour in all things. L?Jgeth'L- 11 ^^^ ^ ^^^ g^^^^ o^ ^0*1 II ^^^^ bringeth sal- vationtoau yatiou 1 hath appeared to all men. men, hath i ^ appcartd. q Luke iii. 6. John i. 9. 11 o • 1 J- 1 Tim. ii. 4. ^^- ^^ margmal reading. are all equal in such extraordinary benefits, ought we, the people of Christ, to be subject to the caprice of men ? To this St. Paul in effect answers, "For the Gospel's sake you must, for no greater argument could be alleged against the Gospel by the heathen than that it released slaves from their obligation to obey their masters." Not only are they to be obedient, but to shew a cheerful obe- dience ; " to please them well in all things," which would be im- possible if their service appeared forced or constrained. Thus Chrysostom : " For if (the slave) restrain not his hand or his unruly tongue, how shall the Gentile admire the doctrine that is among us ? But if they see their slave, who has been taught the philosophy of Christ, displaying more self-command than their own philosophers, and serving with all meekness and goodwill, they will in every way admire the power of the Gospel." " Not answering again," i.e., " not contradicting." The Syriac (quoted by Ellicot) seems to mean, not thwarting or setting them- selves against their masters' plain wishes or orders. 10. "Not purloining," which must have been a very common sin amongst a class (as Chrysostom tells us) not as a rule instructed in morals, and so exposed to temptation all through the day. " Shewing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine," &c. If any imagine that slaves were too harshly treated in being thus required to submit implicitly to heathen masters, it should be remembered that Christ promised by the mouth of this very Apostle that He would reckon all obedience, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the fro ward, as done to Himself: no promise can be more express than that of Ephes. vi. 8 : " With good will doing service (as the servants of Christ) as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the game shall he receive of the Lord." 11. " For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared Chap. II.] DENYING UNGODLINESS. 17 12 Teaching us ^ that, denying ungodliness ' and g.^jJJ^^.j'' 7q* worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, p'',^- 'oij- and godly, in this present world ; i Thcss. iv. 7. . » 1 Pet. iv. 2. 13 'Looking for that blessed " hope, and the Uohn ii. its' » 1 Cor. i. 7. Phil. iii.20. 2 Pet. iii. 12. u Alts xxiv. 12. "World." " Age" and "aiQn." 15. Col. i. 5, 23. eh. i. 2, & iii. 7. to all men." There is some doubt as to the rendering. The exact order of the words is, " For there hath appeared the grace of God (the grace) bringing salvation to all men." When St. Paul wrote, the grace of God had not been manifested to all. But it brought salvation within the reach of all, before it was manifested to each man. So that the translation of the latest revision is probably the correct one. " The grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men." So also Ellicott and Alford. The grace of God not only offers salvation to all men, but its first word is the assurance that Christ died as an atonement for the sins of all men. 12. " Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts," &c. This is the intent of the Gospel, this is the purpose of ihe coming of Christ. This is set forth in the Hymn of Zacharias : " That He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives." Unless this is fulfilled in us Christ has, as yet, come to us in A'ain. " We should Hve soberly, righteously, and godly, in the present world." How often do we pray for this ! " Grant, O most Merciful Father, for His sake, that we may hereafter hve a godly, righteous, and sober life." 13. " Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." " The great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ " seems, according to the Authorized, to indicate two Divine Persons — the First and Second Persons of the Trinity ; but looking to the original, and taking it with exact literalness, we should render the passage : "Looking for the blessed hope and Epiphany of the gloiy of the great God and Saviour of us, Jesus Christ," — the great God and Saviour of us being, in such case, indubitably the same Person Who is both the great God and our Saviour. Thus it was understood by the Fathers, whose ver- 18 OUR GREAT GOD AND SAVIOUR. [Titus. X Col. iii. 4. ffloi-ious ^ appearino' of the great God and our 2 Tim. iv. 1,8. '^ ^ . Heh. ix. 23. Saviour Jesus Christ : 1 Pet. i. 7. 1 John iii. 2. For examination of the " great God and Saviour of us," see below. nacular was the Greek. Thus Clement of Alexandria : " This "Word then is the Christ, the cause of both our being at first (for He was in God) and of our well-being. This very Word has now appeared as man. He alone being both — both God and Man . . . according to that inspired Apostle of the Lord. The grace of God which bringeth salvation . . . and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." ("Exhortation to the Heathen," chap, i.) Again, Hippoly tus : " In order that, maintaining the faith that is written and anticipating the things that are to be, thou mayest keep thyself void of offence, both towards God and man, looking for that blessed hope and appearing of our God and Saviour." (" Treatise on Christ and Antichrist," chap. Ixvii.) Athanasius : " The Son is called the great God " (" Treatise on the Essence of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit," quoted in "Wordsworth). Again Cbrysostom : "Looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour. "Where are those who say that the Son is inferior to the Father ? " And Theodoret: "Bat he called Christ the great God, convicting the heretics of blasphemy." But another — and almost, one may say — overwhelming reason is that the word Epiphany, or Manifestation, or Appearing, is said many times of Christ, never of the Father. "We have St. Paul him- self saying of the Father, " "Whom no man hath seen nor can see " (1 Tim. vi. 16). The Epiphany, for which the Christian is directed to look, is always that of Christ to judgment. It is true that Christ shall appear in His own glory, and in that of His Father, but the Father invests the Son with His glory, in which the Son appears, the Father Himself not appearing. It would seem, then, that there could be no doubt about the rendering; but Dean Alford has argued, principally from the use of the term God our Saviour, as applied to God the Father in the Pastoral Epistles, that the " great God" applies to the Father, and Saviour to the Son. I do not think, however, that his reasoning is conclusive, particularly when we consider that there is no Chap. 11.] ZEALOUS OF GOOD WORKS. 19 14 ''Who firave liimself for us, that he mii^ht yGai. i.4. & * ii. 20. Eph. redeem us from all iniquity, "■ and purify unto y. 2. 1 Tim. himself " a peculiar people, '' zealous of good ^ Heb. ix. u. n^n■,.^'c " Exod. XV. 16. T^Olli'S. ^ xix.5. Ueut. 15 These things speak, and <= exhort, and re- g^A^^xx^-^'is. 1 Pet. ii. 9. b Eph. ii. 10. ch. iii. 8. c 2Tim.iv. Epiphany of the Person of the Father to be expected : the Epiphany of the Son is in the glory of the whole Trinity. But, as the Dean says, whichever way it is taken, it is decisive in favour of the Godhead of Christ. If in the way of our authorized translation, then the Son of God shares fully in the Epiphany of the glory of the Father, which implies His equality with the Father, for God has emphatically said that He will not give His glory to another : and if the title, the Great God, is given to the Saviour, then it is culy what was given to Him loug before by St. Thomas, " My Lord and my God," and by Isaiah in prophecy, when he spoke of Him as " The mighty God." 14. " Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity." The redemption is twofold in its application to us. It redeems us both from the guilt and the power of iniquity. " And purify unto himself a peculiar people." A people of possession. The phrase is taken from Dent. vii. 5 : " The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be to him a peculiar people " [Xahv TTipiovcTiov), a i^eople by jDurchase peculiarly His own. This also is an incontrovertible proof of the Godliead of Jesus Christ : for by His Redemption He purchases Christians to be His peculiar people, just as the God of the Old Testament purchased the Israelites to be His purchased possession. "Zealous of good works." "Dost thoiT not see that our part is necessary, not merely work, but zealous : we should witli all alacrity, with a becoming earnestness, go forward in virtue." (Clirysostom.) 15. " These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all au- thority." " These things." That is, the Advent of Christ in glory, and His Redemption of us by the shedding of His Blood. " And exhort and rebuke " — i.e., apply them in the way of •exhortation. 20 EEADY TO EVERY GOOD WORK. [Titus. d 1 Tim. iv. 12. buke witli all authority. ^ Let no mau despise tbee. " And rebuke." Exhort all the flock to be influenced by these greatest of things — rebuke them if they come short. " Let no man despise thee." Titus being probably an older man, he omits "thy youth," which he mentions in the corre- sponding message to Timothy. CHAP. in. • Rom. xiii. 1. T^TJT them in mind ^ to be subject to princi- 1 Pet. ii. 13. H^ -,. . T 1 . h. b Col. i. 10. X palities and powers, to obey magistrates, ° to 2 Tun. ii. 21. i t , -, i Heb. xiii. 21. be ready to every good work, c Eph. iv. 31. 2 "^ To speak evil of no man, ^ to be no brawlers^ d 2 Tim. ii. . 24, 25. hut ^ gentle, shewing all ^ meekness unto all men. e Phil. iv. 5. f Eph. iv. 2. Col. iii. 12. 1. " Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates," &c. These injunctions were probably much needed both at that time and in that country. The Jews were in a state of rebellion everywhere, and the Cretians were ill-affected to their conquerors the Komans, and were always a turbulent and disaffected race. " To obey magistrates " signifies to be obedient. These jjre- cepts were for the temporal advantage of the Cretians, for what benefit could they get by rebellion against the crushing power of the Roman Empire ? " To be ready to every good work." In such a context this must mean every good work of patient submission. 2. " To speak ev 1 of no man," &c. — i.e., very probably (from the context) to take no part in seditious harangues against the powers that be. "To be no brawlers " — i.e., not to be contentious (so Revisers). *' But gentle, showing all meekness unto all men." He here Chap. III.] THE KINDNESS AND LOVE. 21 3 For ^ we ourselves also were sometimes e i Cor. ri. u. Eph. ii. 1. foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts Cpi. i. 21. & cind pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, iv. 3. and hating one another. \ '^.^' "■.,^^" o _ II Or, pity. 4 But after that ^ the kindness and 1| love of ' i Tim. ii. 3. * God our Saviour toward man appeared, & ix! Ti. & xi.' 6 ''Not bj works of righteousness which we Ep;,.ii.'4','8.9. 2 Tim. 1. 9. ' 3. " Sometimes ; " that is, " aforetime — in times past." seems to have in mind the contentious character of the Cretians — they were, according to their own proi^het-poet, " savage wild Leasts " {kuku 9ijpia, i. 12). And so for their own temporal and eternal good the Apostle would have them to be, by God's grace, the very opposite of this. 3. " For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived," &c. Whom does he allude to when he speaks of " we ourselves?" The words of the original are very emphatic. No doubt he means the unconverted Jews. The Jews in the time of our Lord were emphatically an adulterous generation. They were like the Cretians in turbulence and sedition. Josephus speaks of Jerusalem as a most wicked city. The Apostle here associates himself with his unbelieving countrymen as one of them, though personally even in his unconverted state he had " lived in all good conscience towards God." 4. " But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man," &c. " God our Saviour " here is God the Father : ♦' God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten." As the Father is the fountain of Deity, so He is the fountain of love. The Redemption by the Son is through the love of the Father. 5. " Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but bj' his mercy he saved us," &c. The Jews, and those who are Jewish minded, would come setting forth their former innocence of life, their keeping the law of the ten commandments from their youth up, as the reason why they should partake of the beneiits of Christ's Eedemption ; but supposing that men desire salvation who have not lived innocent lives, and who have not kept the law, what then ? Why then comes Salvation by Mercy. " By his WEECY he saved us." Salvation is to be of grace, so that they who 22 HE SAVED US. [Titus. have done, but accordiug to his mercy he saved us, hy have Hved evil lives may come for salvation, and not be deterred by the thought of the evil of the past. By (t^(«) the washing, or rather font, or bath, or laver, the word Xovrpov signifying not the act of washing, but the bath or font in which the person is washed, and so certifies that this place does- not allude to an internal or subjective act of God upon the mind or will only, but to an act of God that cannot be dissociated or dis- joined from an outward visible Xovrpov or font or bath. This happens to be the only j)lace where St. Paul uses the word new birth or regeneration, and he associates it with an outward application of water, which takes place at the very beginning of the Christian career. But is it not too much to say even of an. ordinance or Sacrament ordained by Christ Himself that God " saves us by it ? " No ; because the Apostle supposes that it is- with Titus as with the Corinthians : " I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say." St. Paul was not so insensate as to say, or Titus to believe, that Baptism redeems us, or that it turns a bad man into a good one, or that those once baptized will never fall away ; but what he means is that God the all- wise uses the time- of Baptism, or the hand of the baptizer, or the formula, embodying- the name of the ever-blessed Trinity, as the means by which He first applies Eedemption. The doctrine of Baptismal Eegeneration, or of engrafting into the Body of Christ by Baptism, is perfectly consistent with com- mon sense, and is in accordance with what every one of us does- in everyday life. Suppose that a man desires to engage a servant, he gives to that man at the time he engages him everytbing- needful to the man to enable him to fulfil his service : but sup- posing that the servant required some sort of extra strength or help, and the master who desired to engage him was able to giva him such internal strength or help, surely he would do so. What would be the use of putting a man into a position of trust, and giving him instruments or tools to enable him to fulfil the service of trust if he had no strength to do so ? Now this is the theory or idea of Baptismal Piegeneration. God, if His word is to be be- lieved, desires the services (to say nothing higher) of all men. Of all men, that is, to whom by His providence He brings the messago- Chap. III.] THE FONT OF NEW BIRTH. 23 'the wasliiuff of reffeueratiou, and renewing of ' John iii. 3,5. ~ ^ Eph. V. 2ii. the Holy Ghost ; 1 Pet. iii. 21. of salvation. The lowest idea of Baptism is that it implies an en- gagement to serve God, and in the first age of the Church followed immediately upon the reception of the Gospel message, because the message of Salvation could only come to any man by the providence of God, and the mere fact of its coming to any man was to assure him that he must no longer serve God's enemy, but must now henceforth serve God. But this is not all. Suppose that a man was deshous of engaging a servant, who on account of parentage, or from misconduct of his parents or of himself, was under a disability. Surely 1/ the engager of the servant was ahle he would remove the disability at once, at the first. Now this God, according to the Church view, does in Baptism, because Baptism is the beginning, the door — in fact, that beginning of all be- ginnings, the Birth. But (and we must now face objections) is it possible that God should, as the Apostle says, save us by such a thing as Baptism ? is it not too simple, too common, too little thought of? It seems a mere nothing. Well, that depends upon whether God is a God Who chooses things which are not to bring to nought things that are. But what, after all, is Baptism ? Is it the act of a registrar, or of a policeman, or of a justice of the peace, or even of the head of the family ? No ; it is the act of the minister, or quasi-minister of an institution, of which it is much too little to say that it is unique in this world. There can be no similar institution in the universe, for in this world only did the Son of God become Incarnate, that He might found in it the Church, which He hath purchased with His Blood. Baptism is a part of an institution which the Eternal Son of God came to establish, which He established in order that men might be so united to Him as to be members of a Body, of which He is the Head, against which the gates of Hell are not to prevail — that is, it is to last till His Second Coming. Is there any difficulty to a believing mind in thinking that at the time when a mortal enters such an institution he should be gifted with grace to fulfil its obligations ? But we are pertinaciously reminded that the Baptism spoken of in the New Testament is that of Adults. To this we answer, it must 24 HE SHED ON US ABUNDANTLY. [Titus. s^^'jo't'i'irjs' ^ " ^l^ich lie shed on iis f abundantly through John i. iH. Jesus Christ our Saviour : Acts 11. 33. & ' X. 45. Rom. V. 5. t Gr. richly. be SO in any place where the church is a missionary body which has not won the society of the country to its behef ; but wlien this is the case we ask, Does the Saviour desire that children should be brouf^ht up in his service, or only embrace it at some future time of life? There can be but one answer to this question. Every word which the Saviour says of little children would lead us to believe that He values their spiritual well-being, and looks for their services qui:e as much as much as He does for those of believing adults. The only answer worth anything which can be alleged against all this is Calvinism. Calvinism teaches that God does not desire the services of all men — only of a very small number ; and so Baptism, in the vast majority of instances, is no sign of God's good-will, no call to serve Him, and so consequently is not accompanied with any grace for the due use of which the person baptized can be held responsible. We have no reason then to restrict, or fritter away, the meaning of this place. It teaches the same doctrine as Eomans vi, that we are mystically and sacramentally buried with Christ by our Baptism into His Death, that " like as Christ was raised again from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." "And renewing of the Holy Ghost." The washing, or bath of regeneration, takes place once for all : the renewing of the Holy Ghost is a constant daily work in those who retain the grace of their Baptism or in those in whom it is revived after they have fallen from it. Thus, in the Collect for Christmas Day, *' Grant that we, being regenerate and made thy children by adoption and grace may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit;" and so in the Epistle to the Ephesians, " That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceit- ful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind" (iv. 22). 6. " Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour." The first outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost was a very abundant one. It was the fulfilment, at least in its beginning, of one which was prophecied of as very abundant : " I will pour out my Spirit ni^on all flesh " (Joel ii. 28). The Chap. III.] JUSTIFIED BY HIS GRACE. 25 7 ° That being justified by liis grace, ° we should » Rom. iii. 24. be made heirs ^ according to the hope of eternal ch. ii. 11. ,.„ o Rom.viii.23, lite. 21. 8 '^ This is a faithful saying, and these things I •* '^^- '• ^• ' ^ ". q 1 Tim. 1. 15. will that thou affirm constantly, that they which ch. i. 9. have believed in God might be careful '' to main- ch.u.' 14. 8. "Constantly." Revisers translate this " confidently." Vulg., " conflrmare." Apostles in the Acts and in their Epistles always speak and write on the supposition that the Holy Ghost is poured out plentifully rather than sparingly ; and their great anxiety seems to be that men may retain the grace and live to it and not grieve the Spirit — and their anxiety never is that they may receive Him as for the first time. " Through Jesus Christ our Savioiir." This may either mean that Christ on the day of Pentecost sent Him forth from the throne of God according to His promise. " The Holy Ghost whom I will send unto you from the Father," or it may mean simply "for the sake of." The former is preferable. 7. " That being justified by his grace," &c. That is, being both considered and made rigliteous. Justification is the being grafted into Christ so as to be made partakers of His life. It is a matter of the bestowal of life, rather than of imputation (see my notes on Eom. viii. 3, 4 ; Gal. iii, 21 ; and Excursus on Justification at the end of volume of notes on Romans). " Heirs according to the hope of eternal life." " Heirs." The object of the mercy according to which God saved us by the wash- ing and renewing and consequent justification was that we should be heirs of an eternal inheritance, but as we are not put into present possession of this inheritance we are made heirs according to the liope of it. Before we can enter upon it there is need of patience, (Rom. viii. 20-25), and of unweariness (Gal. vi. 9). 8. " This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm," &c. This " faithful saying " is that which he had just enunciated, that the kindness and love of God our Saviour saved us according to His mercy by the bath of New Birth, and the renewal of the Holy Ghost. This is not to be kept in the background, or only mentioned now and then, but to be affirmed constantly 2G AVOID FOOLISH QUESTIONS. [Titds. tain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. 8 1 Tim. i. 4. 9 But ' avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, 2 Tim. ii. 2a. . , . . ch. i. 14. and contentions, and strivings about the law ; ' ^ '"^- "■ ^- t £qj, they are unprofitable and vain. in order that they who have once believed may be careful to main- tain good works. This seems to contradict the opinion, so often asserted, that they who have believed will of necessity do good works. According to the Apostle it is not so. The connection between belief and good works is often, but by no means always maintained. Believers have constantly to be reminded of the first truths of Eedemption, and how the holding of these first truths puts them under every obligation to maintain good works : but the good works do not follow necessarily. Look at all the Epistles of this great Apostle, how they set forth the loftiest views of Justification and Election and being "in Christ," and yet the latter part of almost every Epistle is occupied with enforcing the lowliest duties. " These things are good and profitable unto men." 9. " But avoid questions, and genealogies, and contentions," &c. ." These," i.e., the practical application of the great truths, are profit- able, " but avoid foolish questions." Such as that with which a certain lawyer approached the Saviour: "Master, which is the great commandment of the law." Since all the law comes from God, it is trifling to ask which is greatest, since all have to be received and obeyed. The mere asking such questions shews that those who asked them had no just per- ception of the law. " And genealogies." " Genealogias intelUgit Judseorum et Judaizantium, qui a puero ita hisce student ut ab exordio Adam usque Zorobabel omnium generationes ita memoriter velociterque percurrant, ut eos suum putes nomen referre, iuquit Hieron." (Cornelius k Lapide.) " Strivings about the law." Strivings in most cases to mak© void its application to themselves, as in Matth. xv. 1-9. 10. A man that is an heretick after the first and second admoni- tion reject .... condemned of himself." A heretic, in the language Chap. Ill] AN HERETIC. 27 10 A man that is an heretick " after the first « 2 Cor. xiu. 2. ^ T 1 -x- V • J- ^ Matt, xviii. and second admonition reject : 17. Rom. xvi. 11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, e.u. 2'Thn!'' and sinneth, ^ being condemned of himself. 10. ^' ^ "'"'"^ y Acts xiii. 46. 10. " An heretic." Not so much a holder of false doctrine as a malier of divisions, but the two seem inseparable. of the New Testament, does not signify a man holding false opinions, so much as a man who chooses for himself some sect or party to which he attaches himself. It consequently means schismatic rather than heretic. The Pharisees were an liipeaiQ not so much because of the falsehood of what they held as because they separated themselves from the body of the Jews in order that they might, as they thought, be more strictly holy. The heretic in this place would mean the sectary, the man who separated himself from the Catholic Body and attached himself to a body more or less ex- ternal to it. " After the first and second admonition reject." There can be no doubt that this " reject" means to reject or cut off from the body over which Titus presided. It is not, of course, addressed to Titus as an individual that he should eschew the company of the erring person — but as the highest Church officer of Crete acting for tlie Apostle who had himself in very fearful terms formally excommuni- cated heretics (1 Tim. i. 20). 11. " Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself." In that age the mei-e fact of separating from the main Christian body was self-condemnation. It was not merely setting his own opinion above that of the Churcli, but allowing his own private opinion to undo as far as possible the unity of that Body. For the sake of maintaining his own idea in some point he set at naught the express desire and prayer of Christ that His Church should be one (John xvii. 21). It is plain that we cannot apply this in our time to separation from any national branch of the Catholic Church in the same way as the Apostle did in his time ; for the Church was then in manifest connection with the Apostolic fellowship, and the sin of separation was wholly on the side of the separating body, whereas in this day the cause of the schism may be, in part at least, on the side of tho 28 ARTEMAS OR TYCHICUS. [Titus. 12 "When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or ^ Tychicus, « Acts XX. 4. be diliarent to come unto me to NicoiDolis : for I 2 Tim. iv. 12. . '■ have determined there to winter. a^Actsxvui. ]^3 Bj-ijig Zenas the lawyer and ^Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting Tinto them. original body, as many of the highest Churchmen of our own day Lave confessed. 12. " When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be dili- gent to come," &c. This place shews us that St. Paul yet retained the apostolic oversight of the churches in his own hands. Titus was not as yet to remain permanently in Crete, but to rejoin the Apostle after he had sent either Artemas or Tychicus to him to take his place in the oversight of the Cretian Church. Artemas is the shortened form of Artemidorus. He is not mentioned else- where in the New Testament. Tychicus is mentioned frequently, as in Acts xx. 4 ; Ephes. vi. 21 ; Col. iv. 7. From 2 Tim. iv. 12 we learn that he was sent to Ephesus, no doubt to take the place of Timothy, whom St. Paul wanted to be with him. " Nicopolis." It is uncertain where this was, as there were three oities of the name. Probably a city of Macedonia or Epirus. We find from 2 Tim. iv. that Titus was gone, no doubt by the Apostle's direction, to Dalmatia, and Nicopolis would be on his way from Crete to Dalmatia. 13. " Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey dili- gently." Zenas contracted from Zenodorus. The word "lawyer " may either signify that though of Greek extraction he may have .been an advocate in the Pioman courts, or that he was a Jew who was formerly one learned in the Jewish law, and so was useful in opposing the teachers of the Jewish law, who would impose it on the Gentiles. I should think the former by far the more probable con- jecture. "Apollos." Tliis man, eloquent and learned in the scriptures, was apparently one of St. Paul's staff, and at his beck and call. Titus was to bring him to the Apostle as one who could command his services. " That nothing be wanting unto them." 14. "And let our's also learn to maintain good works for neces- Chap. III.] ALL WITH ME SALUTE THEE. 25 14 And. let our's also leani '' to || maintain good works for necessary uses, tliat tliey be '^ not unfruitful. ^ ver. 8. 15 All that are with me salute thee. Greet hon'e'st'fr'ades, them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you , „ ' '^' ^**'oo J c Horn. XV, 28» all. Amen. Phn.j. n & IV. I, . Cul. 1. T[ It was written to Titus, ordained the first ^'^- ^ ^'''- '• ^• Bishop of the church of the Cretians, from Nicopolis of Macedonia. Bary uses," &c. It has been conjectured, and with some degree of probability, that this injunction was given in order that the Christians in communion with Paul and Titus (our's) should be Hberal in contributing to the expenses of the journey of Zenas and Apollos ; and certainly St. Paul would not lay the burden of a journey in which " nothing was to be wanting" on Titus alone. The reader will remember how Gains, to whom St. John wrote his third Epistle, is commended for " doing faithfully what he did to the brethren and to sti'angers," and " bringing them forward on their journey after a godly sort." 15. "All that are with me salute thee. Greet (or salute) them that love us in the faith." One with us in holding the one faith in a clear conscience. If any are not in faith, i.e., not holding to the faith, they are heretics, are dividing the Church, or are factious. They are not to have part in the salutation until they repent. " Grace be with you all." Grace is invoked upon all without restriction, because all, especially those who are declining from faith and love, need it. THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. PAUL, *a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, » Eph. iii. i. & iv. 1. 2 Tim. ^ and fellow-labourer, i. 8. rer. 9. 2 And to our beloved Apphia, and " Archippus ^ co'i''iv" 17^' ^ our f ellowsoldier, and to ^ the church in thy ^ Phil. ii. 25. -, e Rom. xvi. 5. house : i cor. xvi. 19. 2. "Our beloved Apphia." So K., L., most Cursives, Syriac ; but X, A., D., E., F., G., P., 17, 31, &c., read, " our sister." 1. " Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ." He does not style himself, as in most other Epistles, Apostle, because, in the request he is about to make respecting Onesimus, he sets aside all Apostolical authority in order that Philemon's kindness might not be " of necessity, but willingly." But he styles himself " prisoner," one in bonds, that one in bonds on behalf of the whole Church might the better intercede for one in private bonds, for one in bonds in an ordinary household. " Philemon our dearly beloved and fellow-labourer." Probably he was one of St. Paul's band of fellow-labourers who at times brought him accounts of the neighbouring churches, as did Tychicus and Epaphras. 2. "And to our beloved Apphia." Some of the leading MSS. Vulgate, &c., read " to our sister." Apphia was most probably the wife of Pliilemon. Bishop Lightfoot supposes, from local inscrip- tions, that it was a Colossian rather than a Roman name. "Aud Archippus our fellowsoldier." Mentioned in Coloss. iv. 17, " Say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord that thou fulfil it." " And to the church in thy house." This does not mean the members of his private family who might be Christians, but to the D 34 THY LOVE AND FAITH. lI'ihi-emox. 3 ^G-race to you, and peace, from God our Father and f Eph. i. 2. the Lord Jesus Christ. B Eph. i. 16. 4^1 thank my God, makinar mention of thee iThess. 1.2. , . -^ 2 Thess. i. 3. alwavs lu my prayers, h Eph. i. 15. 5 '> Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints ; 6 That the communication of thy faith may I Phil. i. 9, 11. become effectual ' by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. 6. " In yon." So N, F., G., P., many Cursives, f, g ; bnt A., C, T)., E., K., L., about fifty Cursives, read, " in us." Church assembling in one of the larger rooms in his house, which he devoted to the use of the Christians for their public assemblies. 3. " Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." "We gather from this that he began all his letters, whether public or private, with this invocation. 4. " I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers." What a list of persons for whom he daily entreated God must St. Paul have had ! If he thus prayed especially for this convert in the comparatively small city of Colosse, what numbers must he have mentioned in Corinth, in Ephesus, in Philippi, in Thessalonica ? And notice how in these supplications for private persons he mentions thanksgivings. He remembers not only their wants, but the blessings already bestowed upon them. 5. " Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord," &c. The " faith " is generally explained as referring to the Lord, the " love " to the saints. But sui-ely the Lord must not be ex- cluded from the love of Philemon. Faith may be exercised towards the saints, for Philemon might have faith in the genuine- ness of the work of Christ within them, and in their persevering to the end. " Hearing of thy love." Wordsworth with great probability supposes that he had heard of it from Epaphras who was of Colosse but was then at Eome. 6. " That the communication of thy faith may become effec- tual," &c. There is some doubt respecting the allusion in the word " communication." It is the same word as is translated Philemon.] THE BOWELS OF THE SAINTS. 35 7 For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, be- cause the bowels of the saints ''are refreshed 1= 2cor.rii.13. , , , , 2Tini. i. 16. by thee, brother. ver. 20. 8 Wherefore, ' though I might be much bold in 1 1 Thess. ii. 6. Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, 9 Yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, . 7. " We have." So K., L., most Cursives, Syriac ; but .V, A., C, F., G., P., 17, 73, 74, SO, 137, f, g, Vulg., Copt., Arm., read, " 1 had." *' fellowship " in Acts ii. 42, and in 2 Cor. xiii, 14, '* Fellowship of the Holy Ghost," and in 1 Cor. x. 16, " The communion (or participa- tion) of the Blood and Body of Christ." It may mean that the im- parting to others of their faith (when they see the fruits of it) may he effectual, &c. ; or "communication" may be taken as meaning •proacli unto ; " and this surpass- ing splendour is what the Lord alludes to when He speaks of Him- self coming in " His own glory, and that of His Father, and of the Holy Angels." Such ineffable brightness the Lord manifested at His Transfiguration, and when He appeared to St. Paul, and when He was seen by St. John. But if the moral attributes of God are a part of His glory, then the life of Jesus, and indeed His whole redeeming Work, is the shining forth of the glory of God ; and if God's Almighty Power is part of His glory, then Jesus in His wonderful works which He did is the shining forth of it, as he said respecting the raising of Lazarus, " Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe thou shouldest see the glory of God?'' (John xi. 40). If it is the glory of God to create, then when the Son of God made the worlds He was the splendour of the glory of God. The brightness of His glory is expressed by the "light of light," " lumen de lumine," (puiQ k (pwroc of our Creed. The Father is the Fountain of Light. He is called by St. James, " The Father of lights ; " and the Son is the shining forth of the light in which the hidden Deity is discerned. (" In Thy light shall we see light,"' Ps. xxxvi. 9.) Chap. I.] BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER. 49 all thiuars by the word, of his power, '' when he ^ <-^- ^i'- 27. * •' r ' & IX. 12. 14,26. "The express image of his person," rather, " the express imapie of his essence or substance." St. Paul speaks of Christ as the "image of the invisible God," but here the Apostle speaks of a something far more like God. God is supposed to impress His hidden Deity with all its attributes on a substance which will receive the impression, as the wax of a seal will, and render the exact like- ness to him who looks on it. Nothing can be more perfect than the resemblance of the impression of the seal on the wax to that which impresses it, and this is employed to denote the exact repro- duction of all that is in the Father in that Son on Whom He has stamped His likeness. " Of his person." " Person " does not here mean the outward person, but the innermost essence : hypostasis means something put under, or existing under something. Hence it signifies the very substance or essence of a thing, that unseen reality of which the outward foi-m is the expression. If it be lawful then to say so, the Son is not the image or manifestation of the attributes of God, but of God Himself, the secret essence of which his attributes are the manifestations. It denotes the closest resemblance conceivable. It answers to the Logos or Word ; for as the Word reveals the innermost thoughts of the man, so the Word, or Son of God, reveals all that is in God to His creatures. " And upholding all things by the word of his power." " Up- holding all things." Thus Coloss. i. 17, " He is before all things, and by him all things consist," i.e., hold together, are continued. "Upholding" is properly "bearing all things," not merely sus- taining them, but bearing them on in their progress to the accomplishment of the Divine purpose. So Westcott. In the Clementine Liturgy there is a suggestive passage : " Thou, eternal God, didst make all things by Him, and by Him too dispensest Thy providence over them ; for by the Same that thou broughtest all things into being, by Him Thou continuest all things in well being." " By the word of his power." As the word of the Father is all powerful so is that of the Son, but it is to be noticed that the term •' word " is not the same as that in John i. 1. It denotes rather, x: 50 BETTER THAN THE ANGELS. [Hebrews. Lad by himself purged our sins, ' sat down on the right hand I Ps. ex. 1. of the Maiesty on high ; Eph. i. 20. J / , ch. viii. 1.& 4 Being made so much better than the angels, X. 12. & xii. 2. . . 1 Pet. iii. 22. as '' he hath by inheritance obtained a more excel- Phii! ii.'g, lb. lent name than they. 5 For unto which of the angels said he at any S. "Purged'—" made purification of;" " purgationem peci'aforum faeiem," Vulg. the command. " The choice of the term as distinguished from Xoyoc, marks, so to speak, the particular action of providence." (Westcott.) " When he had by himself purged our sins." " By Himself," i.e., "not by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own Biood." " Purged," rather "made purification of" — a much more sacer- dotal expression. He once for all made the sacrificial purification or atonement which He through His ministers afterwards applies. " Sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High." Majesty embodies the ideas of greatness and mightiness. Its application now to supreme rulers has somewhat obscured its meaning as applied to the Father. " On the right hand." From all eternity He was in the bosom of the Father ; and having assumed our human nature, a nature under the conditions of time and space, at a certain moment He took His seat at the right hand of God, i.e., in the highest and most honourable place in the Universe. In answer to His own prayer He was then glorified by His Father " with the glory which He had with Him before the world was." He is visible in heaven now as the Lord of all things, of the angelic hosts — " angels, and authorities, and powers being made subject unto him." 4. " Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance," &c. The name of angels, signifying messengers, is an honourable name, but it is that of mere servants, whereas Jesus, both as to His Divine and human Nature, inherited the name of Son. An anticipation of verse 14, " Are they not all, (even the highest of them), ministering spirits? " 5. " For unto which of the angels said he at any time ? " It is plain from this that no reference to the temporal David in this Chaf. r.] THOU ART MY SON. 51 time, ' Thou art my Son, this day have I beerotten ' Ps "• 7. • T -n 1 • T-i Actsxiii.33. ihee ? And again, "' I will be to nim a Father, ch. v. 5. and he shall be to me a Son? h."! ch"r.x'xii. 10. & xx^iii. 6. Ps. Ixxxix. 26, Terse for a moment crossed the Apostolic mind. He looked upon the words as applicable solely to the spiritual Da%id, David's gi'eater Son. "This day have I begotten thee." This is applied by the Apostle •in Acts xiii. 33 to the Kesurrection of Christ, because His Resur- rection from the dead was, as it were. His new Birth. He received then Life from the dead, a new Life. " In that He died He died iinto sin once, but in that He liveth (with His Resurrection Life) He liveth unto God " (Rom. vi. 10). " This day." This word " day " has been explained with refe- rence to His Eternal Generation, as the day of Eternity — the •everlasting " now " in which God dwells. The Son is not begotten in time which passes away, but in eternity which abides. We can liave no conception of this, because we are under the conditions of time and space, which God is not under. So far as regards our Lord's human nature, we should have understood the words " This day have I begotten thee " of what is related in Luke i. 35, but the words of the inspired Apostle are express in referring it to the Resurrection of the Lord. "And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?" God said this apparently of Solomon, but really of the greater than Solomon (ii. Sam. vii. 14, also Ps. Ixxxix. 26, 27). But it was said of Solomon only as the type of the Messiah. It was only very partially true in him. It was not fulfilled in him. Solomon, the wisest of men, the greatest of the Kings of Israel, failed miserably in his high mission, and what was said to him passes to that Son of his who did not fail in His mission. Of Him only was it true in the highest sense ; but what we have now to do with is that it was said to no angel. Whatever might be the sense of God's love ^'ouchsafed to the angelic natures it never reached this. It was said only to Him of Whom it could be absolutely and eternally true. 6. "And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him." ■There is nothing corresponding to this in the Hebrew Old Testa- 52 LET THE ANGELS WORSHIP HIM. [Hebrews, H Or, When he 6 \\ And again, wlien he bringeth in "the first "uoLvliCsd. begotten into the world, he saith, °And let all the Rev.'i/i' angels of God worship him. o Dent, xxxii. 43, LXX. Ps. xcvii. 7. 1 Pet. ■ iii. 22. 6. " And afrain, when he bringeth in ; " or, " he again (a second time) bringeth in ; * but no good sense can be made of this translation, though it is grammatically prel'erable. ment, but in the Septuagint at the beginning of Deut. xxxii. 43 we have the words inserted " Eejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let the angels of God worship him," but the context in either the Hebrew or in the Septuagint does not seem in the least degree Messianic. On this account it has been supposed that the Apostle quotes Ps. xcvii. 7, " Confounded be all they that worship carved images and that delight in vain gods, worship him all ye gods," all the former part of the Psalm referring to a manifestation of the glory of Jehovah which can only be fulfilled in His Son, Who alone of the Persons of the Trinity will be actually manifested, and here the Septuagint instead of " all ye gods," reads " worship him all his angels." It is possible that the writer may have had in his mind both these passages, and, as some suggest, feeling the diffi- culty of citing a place which was not in the Hebrew, may have supplemented it by the Greek of Ps. xcvii. But what is meant by " And again when he bringeth in the first- begotten into the world " ? Here we have to notice that the proper rendering is "when he again bringeth in," the "again" to be taken with "bringeth in," and is referred to the second coming^ when undoubtedly the angels of God will form His retinue ; and so, no doubt, will bow down to Him ; but this, though great names may be cited in its favour, seems extremely unsatisfactory. The words, "bringing in the first-begotten into the world," seems cer- tainly to refer to His Incarnation or Birth, and seems unsuitable to His coming for Judgment, when God will not bring Him, but when He will come from God out of Heaven ; and the term " first- begotten" is never associated with Christ as the Judge, and seems- only capable of being appliei to the Incarnation or the Resurrection. On the whole I cannot but thmk that we must look to the fulfilment of this assertion in Luke ii., when at the coming in of the Holy Child into the habitable world, or oiKovnivT], the angels appeared. €iiAP. L] HIS ANGELS SPIRITS. 53 7 And t of the angels he saith, ^ AVlio maketli his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. ^ ^'■- ""*"• P Ps. civ. 4. as a vast multitude, and sang " glory to God in the Highest." This appears upon the whole by far the least objectionable explana- tion, the term " God" being equally as applicable in the believer's mind (and the Epistle was written for believers) to the Son as to the Father. 7. " And of the angels he saith. Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flaming fire." The word translated " angel " /'^K?'?) ^^^ that translated "spirit" (H^'^) have different meanings, or rather each of them has a gradation of meaning ; the £rst signifies " messengers," thus in 1 Sam. si. 3, " Give us seven days that we may send messengers," &c., and in 2 Sam. xi. 19; ** And (Joab) charged the messenger, saying." Then it rises in meaning so as to be applied almost exclusively to the angels as messengers of God. All that we know about the angels is simply that they are God's messengers, though of course they are His messengers, not merely to utter verbal messages, but to assist the people of God in time of need. And so the word translated "spirit" (-^ ') has a lower and higher meaning — its lowest being breath, or air, or wind, and its highest being the Spirit of God Himself (Psalm li. 11, 12 Isaiah Ixiii. 10, 11). It is not improbable that in the Psalm as originally composed, both words have the lower meaning, " Who maketh his messengers winds," because the whole psalm is a hymn glorifying God for His operations in nature ; but if we are to render the word '^^?7'? as signifying an intelligence, then we must perforce translate it by *' spirit," if we would not fall into the absurdity of asserting that the glorious creatures who ministered to the Lord and were present at His sepulchre, were mere wind or air. " And his ministers a flame of fire." This is parallel to the first clause, and like the first clause it cannot degrade these glorious intelligences into mere unconscious elements, such as fire is, but must imply something respecting their attributes or properties, as, for instance, that they have the penetrating, the enlightening, the jiurifying, or if need be, the consuming properties of fire. Or may 54 THY THRONE, GOD. [Hebrews.. q Ps. xiv. 6. 7. 8 But unto the Son he saith, " Thy throne, O' it not signify what St. Paul alludes to when he speaks of " angels of light," or when his enemies beheld St. Stephen, they saw his face illuminated as it had been the face of an angel, i.e., resplendent^ or when St. Peter was delivered from prison by an angel, it is said " a light shined in the p)rison ? " ^ 8. " But unto the Son, he saith. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever," There can be no reasonable doubt of the correctness of this translation, as it appears in our authorized. God (Elohim,. 'O 9f6c) is in the vocative, as is required by the sense. There can be no reason for translating it otherwise, except a dogmatic one- on the side of Socinianism. Throughout the Book of Psalms- (Septuagint) the nominative, as far as I can find, is always used for the vocative, nor is there a single instance of the vocative of Bioe (©«) being used. It is understood as a vocative in the Chaldee Targum, " Thy beauty, King Messiah, is more excellent than that of the sons of men ; the spirit of prophecy is given unto thy life, therefore Jehovah had blessed thee for ever. The throne of Thy glory, O Jehovah, standeth for ever and ever: a righteous- sceptre is the sceptre of Thy kingdom. Because that Thou hast loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore Jehovah Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness more abundantly than thy fellows." The fact that the Targumist substitutes Jehovah for God in verse 7, shows that however he understood the place, he did not understand the word " God " in a lower sense, as- if it meant either judge or angel. The ancient Greek translator, Aquila, renders the Hebrew by G£{. Justin Martyr, in his dialogue with Trypho, quotes this- 1 We can scarcely understand how any one can uphold the idea that angels should be made winds, i.e. made into winds, or made of wind, and yet a very learned commentator on this Epistle quotes with apparent approval the opinion of a Jewish theologian (?) that "angels were supposed to live only as they ministered." In a remarkable passage of Shemuth R. the angels are represented as "new every morning." "The angels are- renewed every morning, and after they have praised God they return to the stream of tire out of which they came." Again, another, Ebrard, is somewhat more cautious: "The angels, at least a class of them, are regarded as Jovajuei; of God, i.e. as personal creatures furnished with peculiar powers, through whom God works wonders in the- kingdom of nature, and whom He accordingly makes to be storm, winds, and flames of fire, iu as lar as he lets them, so to speak, incorporate themselves with these element* and operations of nature." The reader will notice that there is "great virtue" in the- author's " as far as " and " so to speak." Chap. I.] THE SCEPTKE OF THY KINGDOM. 55 God, is for ever and ever : a sceptre of f righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. t Qr.right- . ness, or, 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated straigktness. passage as said to the Son : " It is not on this ground solely I said that it must be admitted absolutely that some other one is called Lord by the Holy Spirit besides Him Who is considered Maker of all things, not solely by Moses, but also by David. For there is vpritten by him, ' The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool,' as I have already quoted, and again in other words, ' Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever. A sceptre of equity,' " &c. Again, the writer of the Epistle is now occupied with proving that the Loi'd has a super-angelic nature, which, of course, can be only the Divine, and if any of the expedients for translating the quotation so that it should not be spoken of and to the Divine Son Himself, such as " God is thy throne," or "thy throne is the throne of God," are possible, his intention in quoting the passage would be frustrated, for God is the support of the throne of every righteous ruler. Instead of making the Son higher than the angels, it would make Him no better than a virtuous human monarch. And again, as Alford remarks, "It would not suit the decorum or spirit of the passage." " A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." Eighteousness, literally straightness. Compare another Messianic Psalm, Ixxii., " He shall judge thy people with righteousness ; " Isaiah xi. 5, " Eighteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins ; " and Jer. xxiii. 5, " The righteous Branch." It seems as if the Messiah was contrasted with all other kings, as the only one absolutely and perfectly righteous. 9. " Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity ; there- fore God," &c. This is said of the Messiah as man. When He became man He became a creature of God, so that God was hence- forth not only His Father, but His God (" I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God"). As man, not merely as the Supreme God, he loved righteousness and hated iniquity, and so God rewarded Him as He has promised to reward us, if we love righteousness and hate iniquity. He thus shares in our reward, and so in all respects He is One with us. 56 GOD, EVEN THY GOD. [IlEnRKws. iniquity ; therefore Grod, even thy Grod, ^ hath anointed thee r isa. ixi. 1. Avith the oil of gladness above thy fellows. X. 38. " ' 10 And, * Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid ^^ s. en. . ^-j^^ foundation of the earth ; and the heavens are the works of thine hands : " Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness," &c. Some would render this, "O God, thy God," making the first Bfoc vocative, as in verse 6, but it is doubtful. The Targum translates as in our version, the first " God" as the nominative. Wliat is '* the oil of gladness ? " Undoubtedly that Spirit of God by which the righteous are enabled to rejoice in God. When did God thus anoint Him? Not at His Baptism, for then He was anointed to suffer, but on the day of His Triumph, when all suffering was over for ever. He Himself recognizes this joy, and assures us that, if we continue His, we shall partake of it, when in the parable He promises to say to those who have made their calling and election sure, " Well done, thou good and faith- ful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord " (Matth. xxv. 21). " Above thy fellows." Applied to a supposed earthly monarch, this may mean " Thy fellow monarch," but as applied to the Christ, it may have the widest application. Thy fellows, i.e. fellow-men ; thy fellows, those whom the King calls not servants, but friends. 10. "And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the founda- tion of the earth," &c. It is somewhat difficult to decide on what grounds the Apostolic writer quotes the first verse of this Psalm as addressed to the Son, as the whole seems addressed to the God of Israel, i.e., as is supposed, to the Father, and there is no introduc- tion of a Divine Person of Whom or to Whom it can be said, "God, even thy God, hath anointed thee." There is one ground which has not, as far as I have seen, been sufficiently considered, which is this. It was a rooted principle in the mind of the Apostolic writer, that God created the worlds by His Son. This is asserted almost at the very beginning of the Epistle, " By whom also he made the worlds." Whom then would the writer have in his thoughts when he made the second allusion to creation, " Thou, Lord in the beginning . . • the heavens are the works," &c. ? No doubt CiiAP. T] THOU REMAINEST. 57 11 'They sliall perish: but thou remainest ; ' isa. xxxiv. 4. ■' ^ ' ' & h. 6. Matt. and they all sliall wax old as doth a erarment: xxiv.;'5. 2 Pet. •' ° ' in. 7, 10. Rev, xxi. 1. the AVord, the Eternal Son. We are not to suppose that so be- lieving a writer could hold such an idea loosely, asserting it in the most absolute way in one verse, and then dropping it at a few verses afterwards. We do not sufficiently realize what is neces- sarily implied in the fact that Jesus, the Son of God, is the Word by Whom all things were made. It necessarily carries with it a reference to the Eternal Word in every place, either in the Old Testament or in the New in which reference is made to creation. In the act of creation, the Father can never be contemplated without the Son, as the Apostle says, " One God the Father, from whom are all things, and we unto him. And one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom (Si ov) are all things " (1 Cor. viii. 6). Such asser- tions as John i. 3, can never be as if they were unwritten. They attribute to One Who was known amongst men as Jesus, and sub- mitted even to death upon the Cross, in order that He might suffer the extremity of human shame and weakness, a pre-existent Nature which was One with the Divine Nature, and in and by which Nature He manifested the power and wisdom of God by creating all things. And precisely the same reasoning applies to the word Saviour. The God of Israel seems far more jealous that no one should share the name of Saviour with Him, than He is that no one should be called a creator besides Himself. And yet the New Testament is written to reveal to us that Christ is the Saviour. How can we reconcile the two Testaments ? In this way only, that God saves us by His Son. The Son only became Incarnate, but it was by the will, the power, the desire, the self- abnegation of the Father, that He saved us by His Death and Resurrection. So that when we read in Isaiah xliii., " I am the Lord thy God, the Holy one of Israel, thy Saviour ; " or in Hosea xiii. 4, " Thou shalt know no God but me, for there is no Saviour besides me," the true believer who has any grasp whatsoever of the Catholic Faith applies the saying to the Father and to the Son — not indifferently, by any means, but simultaneously, as it were, the Father as the supreme Decreer, the Bringer about, the Sender of Salvation, and the Son as the Agent of it. If it be asked, can we believe that the citation of "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast 58 TIIOU ART THE SAME. [Hebrews. 12 And as a vesture slialt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed : but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail, u Ps ex. 1. 23 But to which of the angels said he at any Matt. xxu. 44. ci J Mark xii. 36. time, " Sit on my rmht hand, until I make thine Luke XX. 42. •' o ih. X. 12. enemies thy footstool ? 12. " And as a vesture shalt thoa fold them up." So A., B., K., L., M., P., most Cursives, Syriac, Copt., Arm.; but N, D., d, e, f, Vulg., read, "shalt thou chauge them." laid," &c., would be understood by the Hebrews as referring to the Son, we reply that that depends upon how they were taught. If they were taught the truth that "by His Son God made the worlds'* very sparingly, very infrequently, very reservedly, it is probable that they would not ; but if they were taught it as a fundamental principle, that what the Father did in the past eternity He did by His Son, then they would assuredly see in such a citation only what was natural. And there is another reason also why the Apostolic writer should cite this place as referring to the Second Person, and that is, that it is so emphatic a declaration of His unchangeableness. The reader will remember how full this Epistle is of the unchangeable- ness of the work of Christ. " Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec," v. 6, vi. 20 ; vii. 3, " abideth a priest con- tinually ; " vii. 16, " after the power of an endless life ; " vii. 24, "This man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood ; " 25, " He ever liveth ; " 28, " The Son who is conse- crated for ever more," viii. 7, x. 12, 13, 14 ; and above all, xiii. 8» " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." Again, " Here we have no continuing city ; " xiii. 20 ; again, " the ever- lasting covenant," xiii. 20. We see, then, how to a believing gene- ration the citation of the place as fully applicable to the Eternal Son, would present no difficulty whatsoever. " As a vesture shalt thou fold them up." In the Hebrew it is " As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall bt changed," which agrees better with the parallelism. 13. " But to which of the angels said he at any time. Sit on my right hand?" The whole verse reads, " The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on," &c. The Person of whom this verse was said Chap. I.] MINISTERING SPIRITS. 59 14 ''Are tliey not all ministering spirits, sent ^ xxxiiT"***^' 24. Ps. xxxiv. . 7. & xci. 11. & eiii. 20, 21. Dan. iii. 28. & was, as our Saviour implies by his question, David's vii. lo. & x. u. Lord in the highest sense of Lord, as David's Master Luke'i. 19. & " and Possessor; compare Eev. xxii., " I am the root xii^^^&e ^"'^ and the offspring of David." xxvii.23. We may also infer from this first verse that the whole Psalm was said to no mere creature. If such words as, " Sit thou on my right hand," were never said to any angel, neither could they have been said to any king — not to David — neither could they have been said to Solomon, nor to any earthly sovereign whatsoever. 14. " Are they not all ministering spirits ? " Spirits must here mean spiritual or incorporeal beings, and rules the meaning of spirits in verse 7. " Ministering," XsirovpyiKa, " liturgical." The words, Xsirovoybs and XeiTovpyia and Xeirovpytlv throughout this Epistle, have to do with divine service in the sense of worship. Thus x. 11, "Every priest standeth daily ministering ; " also viii. 6, " Now he hath ob- tained a more excellent ministry " (that is, than that of the Jewish high priest) ; and ix. 21, " The vessels of the ministry," &c. The word then seems to look to those functions of the angels which are described in the book of Revelation, standing at the altar, offering incense, and such things. So that, taking the first half of the verse alone, it would seem to refer to what is usually called divine ser- vice, and the latter part of the verse is not at all against this, for the words " to minister" is not the same as in the first clause, and signifies a different sort of service (diaconia), and is applied to the assistance of the faithful in their conflicts and difficulties, so that the verse may be paraphrazed: " Are they not all liturgizing spirits — spirits who when in heaven are employed in the worship of heaven, but are sent at times from that exalted worship for pur- poses of ministry on the behalf of those who shall be heirs of salvation." The angels of God are constantly described as ministering to the Son of God in His human nature. They ministered to Him after His temptation. One strengthened Him to support Him in His agony. They roll away the stone from the sepulchre. And as they minister to Him, so do they to the members of His Body, the Church. Even respecting little children, He says, " In heaven GO HEIRS OF SALVATION. [ITebrf.ws. y Rom.viii.i7. forth to minister for them who shall be ^ heirs of Tit.iii.7. Jam. u. 5. 1 Pet. iii. 7. salvation ? their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven " (Matt, xviii. 10). And their ministrations continue unto this day. Those who refuse to accept any account, however well authenticated, of a special intervention from a higher sphere, on the express ground that there can be no higher sphere, no intel- ligences above the human, no powers above those which man can see or feel or handle, have to explain away an enormous number of facts which can only be accounted for by the asstunp- tion that there is a supreme Will and Intellect, and that there are gradations of beings between that Supreme Being and us who can act upon us, or for us, or perhaps against us, according to His "Will or Permission. T CHAP. II. ■HEEEFOEE we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which Ave have heard, lest at any time t Gr. run out we shouM f let them slip. OS leaking vessels. 1. " Let them slip." " Be diverted from them," Alford ; " perefluamns," Vulg. See below. 1. " Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things," &c. "Heard," that is, as verse 3 shows, the things heard in the preaching of the Lord Jesus and His immediate followers. " Lest at any time we should let them slip." The word for "slip" {napapniHofiev) seems to mean to drift past the point we aim at. The metaphor is taken from ships which from the flux or reflux of the waves, or from the winds, are often hindered from reaching the port. Revisers translate "lest haply we should drift away from them." So Westcott, "Lest we be diverted from them." Alford, " miss them." CuAP. II.] HOW SHALL WE ESCAPE? 61 2 For if the word * spoken by ansjels was sted- » Deut. xxxiii. fast, aud every transgression and disobedience n. Acts vii. I'eceived a ]ust recompence or reward ; b Num. xv.ao,. 3 "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great & xvirs^/sjis! & xxviL 2i5. c c'h. X. 28, 29^ & xii. i!5. 2. " For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast," " Sted- fast," i.e., abiding firm, and therefore not to be disobeyed with im- punity. " The word spoken by angels." There was a tradition among the Jews, which receives its confirmation from at least two other passages in the New Testament besides this (Acts vii. 53, Gal. iii. 19), that the law was in some sort given by the hands of angels, or through their intervention. There is no mention of this in the account of the giving of the law in Exodus, but there is a signifi- cant allusion to the attendance of angels at the giving of the law in Deut. xxxiii. 23, " Yea, he loved the people : all his saints are in thy hand, and they sat down at thy feet." As Ebrard shows, the saints or holy ones are clearly to be distinguished from the people or tribes of Israel, and are the angels. So also in Psalm Ixviii., "The chariots of God are twenty thousands, even thousands of angels : the Lord is among them as in Sinai, as in the Holy Place." These references may be said to make up what is wanting in the account in Exodus, and to bear out what is taught us by this place and the other two before cited. " And every transgression and disobedience received a just re- compense," &c. The historical parts of the books of Moses are full of the speedy vengeance executed on the people in the wilderness after every act of disobedience, till all the males above twenty-one who came out of Egypt were cut off. Thus in 1 Cor. x. 6-10, they who lusted, they who committed idolatry, they who committed fornication (in idolatrous worship), they who tempted the Lord, they who murmured, were all summarily cut off. 3. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" " How shall we escape ? " The certainty of the temporal judg- ment which followed close upon every transgression in the case of the Israelites, was a certain assurance of the vengeance which in another world would overtake those who had been careless about the claims of Jesus, the Son of God, upon their hearts and lives. 62 GOD BEARING THEM WITNESS. [Hebrews. d Matt. iv. 17. salvation; ''which at the first be^an to be spoken Mark i. 14. ' ^ ^ ch. i. 2. by the Lord, and was ^ confirmed unto us by them f Mtkxi2o. tliat heard Mm ; ^^^'^j^'j'"- ^^f^ 4 ' God also bearing them witness, ^ both with XV. 18, 19. 1 Cor. ii. 4. C Acts ii. 22, 4.3. " So great salvation." Great in its Author "Who is the Son of God incarnate ; awfully great in the means by which it was purchased, even the Blood-shedding and Death of the Lord of glory ; great in its proclamation, even by the power of the Holy Ghost ; great in its issue, even the renewal of body and soul, so that the redeemed should be equal to the angels, and be the sons of God for ever. " Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord." This is translated by Wordsworth, " Which having received the beginning of its utterance thi'ough Him Who is the Lord." It did not come through angels or even through prophets, but through the Lord Himself. "Never man spake like this man." Such was the im- pression made by the words of the Lord uj^on His enemies ; and He says Himself, " If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin " (John xv. 22). " Was confirmed unto us by them that heard him." Compare, " He (the Holy Spirit) shall bring all things unto your remem- brance, whatsoever I have said unto you" ( John xiv. 26). The Oospels are the accounts of the life, words, and acts of Christ, and were written by them that heard Him. St. Matthew heard Him ; St. Peter heard Him, and speaks to the Church through St. Mark; St. John heard Him. St. Luke bears witness to the fact that they •delivered them to the Church who, " from the beginning were eye- witnesses and ministers of the word," and that he himself had had perfect understanding of all things from the very first (Luke i. 2,3). " God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders," &c. Eather " God also bearing co-witness," or " bearing witness together with them." Compare, " The Spirit of truth which pro- ceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me, and ye also shall hear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning" (John XV. 27). God never would have sent them to bear witness to a salvation wrought by One Who was to all outward seeming a mere Jew, and yet His own Son incarnate, crucified, risen, and CnAP. II.] GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST. 63 signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and || ^ gifts of the Holy Ghost, ' according to his own will ? II Or. distri- 1111 -1 butions. 5 For unto the angels hath he not put m sub- h i cor. xii. 4, jection ^ the world to come, whereof we speak. /j. ; j ^ g k ch. vi. 5. 2 Pet. iii. 13. ascended, unless He had accompanied such a word with assurances direct from Himself of its truth, and these assurances were "signs and wonders," whicli must direct attention to tlie speaker's message if he performed such things. The salvation which the first preachers proclaimed was salvation through a crucified Jew, Who after He liad risen again did not show Himself to the world, but only to a very select few, which few were His witnesses to the world : but witnesses of what ? Not to the truth of certain platitudes re- specting virtue, but to the fact that the Unseen God was only to be approached through this crucified Jew ; that His Death was the propitiatory sacrifice for all sins, and His Eesurrection the pledge from God Himself that His Life could henceforth be com- municated to us for the etea-nal life of soul and body. In order that men might be brought to listen to such a message {I mean at the first), it must be witnessed to by signs (mj/jeioie). The raising of a dead body, for instance, ws a sign that the truth of the message was attested by the Lord of life and death. " Wonders " (ripaaiv) which rivetted attention, and which could not be explained on any merely natural principles, i.e., by any known laws of nature. " And with divers miracles," rather " with divers powers," such as the power of speaking intelligently in tongues which men had never learnt, and whicli men would require months, perhaps years to master ; or of prox^hesying, i.e., declaring that things would come to pass which no foresight would enable the utterers to foretell. "And gifts of the Holy Ghost," rather distributions (compare 1 Cor. xii. 11). " One and the self-same spirit dividing to every man severally as he will." 5. " For unto (the) angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come," &c. There are many intimations in Scripture that in old time the kingdoms of the world were put under the guardianship of angels. Thus, Daniel x. 13, a mightj^ angel is represented as saying, " The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days : but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes came to G-4 WHAT IS MAN ? [Hebee^s. 6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, 'What is J Job vii. 17. man, that thou art mindful of him ? or the sou Ps. viii. 4, &c. & cxiiv. -.i. of man, that thou visitest him ? vhiie'infcrior '^ Tliou madcst him II a little lower than the help me," &c. ; again, " there is none that holdeth with me in these things but Michael your prince," x. 21, also xii. 1, " Michael shall stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people." In the Septuagint of Deut. xxxii. 8, we read "When the most High divided the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God." And very likely the writer of this Epistle had this in his mind rather than the Hebrew text as we have it now. So that in a sense, and to an extent we know not, the angels administered the providence of God over the kingdoms of this world, but it was not to be so in the kingdom of the Messiah, for that is the meaning of the " world to come," and so he proceeds : — 6. " But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man. that thou," &c. One in a certain place, i.e., David in the eighth Psalm, the Psalm which the Lord quoted when the Pharisees would have Him reprove the children for crying Hosanna to Him in the temple. " What is man, that thou art mindful of him and the Son of man," &c. The Apostolic writer only quotes what is necessary for his purpose. The exclamation, " what is man that thou art mindful of him," is really called forth by the thought of the vast host of the heavenly bodies which in their immensity reduce this world to a mere speck, and its inhabitants seem beneath Divine notice. 7. " Thou madest him a little lower than the angels." This is the Septuagint translation of a place in the Hebrew, the strict ren- dering of which is, "Thou madest him to want but little of God," but inasmuch as it cannot be predicated of any finite creature that he " wants but little of God " when the infinite distance of the finite from the infinite is realized, the Hebrew word God (Elohim) is translated both in our authorized and in the Septuagint and the Targum by " angels," following the necessary lower rendering of Exod. xxi. 6, where " his master shall bring him before the judges,"' Chap. II.] ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION. 65 angels ; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands : 8 ™ Thou hast put all things in subiection °> Matt.xxviii. ^ . ° . ■* . 18. 1 Cor. XV. under his feet. For in that he put all in subjec- 27. Eph. i. 22. tion under him, he left nothing that is not put is the translation of " shall bring him before the Eloliim (or God)." Man is in his origin lower than the angels, for he has a gross corporeal frame, whereas the angels have an ethereal one. He is more subject to the conditions of space than the angels, for he can with difficulty move from one place to another, whereas the angels can fly with the speed of lightning. He is at present under tlie dominion of sexual desires, whereas Christ promises that the chil- dren of the Resurrection shall neither marry nor be given in mar- riage, but be equal to the angels. "Thou crownedst him with glory and honour." This seems to refer not to man considered as in the first Adam, but to man con- sidered as in the Second. The words " Thou madest him a little lower than the angels," may be taken as indicating the very exalted nature of man or the contrary. When said with reference to the Son of God, as they are here, they set forth His humiliation — the King of heaven and of angels submits to take an inferior nature, lower than the angels. " And didst set him over the works of thy hands." This is not found in the Hebrew of the Eighth Psalm, but nevertheless it is true, for at the creation of man God said to him, " Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing thatmoveth," &c. (Gen. i. 28.) 8. " Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet." Thou hast set man, in the Person of Jesus, at thy right hand, not only over the creatures of earth, but " far above all principality and power and might and dominion," &c. (Ephes. . 21.) " For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left," &c. The reasoning of the Apostolic writer requires the fullest sense to be given to this " all." St. Peter, in preaching to Cornelius, speaks of Jesus Christ as Lord of all, evidently in the most absolute sense. 66 CROWNED WITH GLORY. [Hebrews. "1 Cor. XV. 25. 1111(161111111. But HOW " we see not yet all things Phil. ii. 7,8,9. , T 1 • 1 Or, hy. put under mm. P Acts ii. 33. g 'Qw.i we see Jesus, ° wlio was made a little q John iii. 16. & xii. 32. lower tlian the ancjels I! for the sufferins: of death, Rom. V. 18. & . , T IT 1 T 1 1 viii. 32. 2 Cor. p crowned with glory and honour ; that he by the ii". 6.' ijohn' grace of God should taste death ""for every m.an. ii.2. Rev.v. 9. ^ 9. For the difference in rendering the latter part see below. " But now we see not yet all things put under him." We see not yet all things put under man. His dominion over the greater part of the creatures is but imperfect and partial. Some escape him, others resist or defy him. Out of immense numbers he can tame very few to his purposes. The dominion assured to the race is not theirs. But there is a pledge that it will be theirs in due time, for the writer proceeds : 9. " But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels." By assuming our lower nature He became as we are for a time, a little lower than the angels. A difference is made by some (as Bishop Wordsworth) between the " we see " (optSynev) as signifying the seeing with the outward eye, and " we see " (/SXeVo/ifv), the seeing by faith. " For the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour." The first clause, " for the suffering of death," may be taken either with the preceding, "made a little lower than the angels," or with the succeeding, *' crowned with glory and honour." If with the preceding, then it means that he was made of a nature which, being subject to death, was lower than that of the angels who are immortal ; or if with the latter, then He was crowned with glory and honour because of, or in reward of, His suffering of death. Both are perfectly true. The latter accords best with Phil. ii. 8. " Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the Death of the Cross, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him," &c. " That he by the grace of God should." The " that " (ottwc) cannot depend upon "crowned with glory and honour" because his exaltation was subsequent to His tasting death, and was the reward of it. He tasted death for every man at His Crucifixion; but there is a sense in which His subsequent exaltation was inseparable from His tasting death for every man, for by His exaltation alone He began Chap. II.] FOR WHOM — BY WHOM. 67 10 '■ For it became him, ^ for wliom are all ' Luke xxiv. 46. tilings, and by whom are all things, in bringing > Rom. xi. 36. 10. " In bringing; " or, "having brought." to apply the merits of His Death and the power of His Eesurrection to every man who would receive it ; and inasmuch as the Atone- ment was on behalf of every man, every man had an interest in it. As St. John says, " He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world " (1 John ii, 2). 10. 'For it became him,for whom are all things and by whom are," &c. "Him for whom and by whom," &c. God the Father, by Whose council and decree every part of the redeeming work of God the Son was brought about. " By whom are all things." The " by " (^i ov), denoting instrumentality, is usually said of God the Son, *' by "Whom also He made the worlds ; " but the Fathers notice that being here said of God the Father, no idea of inferiority can be at- tached to it as if the Son was a mere subordinate agent. " In bringing many sons unto glory." This may be rendered in ■"having brought," and if so, it seems to refer to the saints of the old dispensation, all of whom were perfected more or less through suffering. Thus in this Epistle again, vi. 12, *' Followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises," evidently alluding to the worthies of the old covenant ; and if thus taken, its meaning is in remarkable accordance with the words, "it became him," it was fitting for him if He perfected the elder saints through sufferings, to make the captain of their salvation perfect also through the same. To this, however, it is objected, as by Alford, that it could not well be said of the saints of the older covenant, that they were brought to glory, seeing that it is said in this very epistle, that they without us should not be made perfect, and it can scarcely be said that Christ was the captain of their sal- vation — seeing that he was not yet revealed. Alford considers that it refers to the whole process of bringing sons to glory, and suggests as the nearest rendering, " It became him .... bringing as be did many sons unto glory, to make the captain," &c. But the diflficulty is not removed by this. It is inherent in the past form of ayayovra. The remarks of Cornelius k Lapide seem most satisfactory, " Loquitur autem Apostolus maxime de Sanctis qui ante Christum vixerunt, jamque defuncti erant in statu salutis, et 68 PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERINGS. [Hebrews. t Acta iii. 15. many sons unto glory, to make * the captain of xii. 2. " ' their salvation " perfect through, sufferings. 32. "ch.^v'.'k 11 For ^ both he that sanctifieth and they who » ch. X. 10, 14. certa spe glorise ; tantum enim expectabant qui morte sua coelum et aditum ad gloriam aperiret : hi enim jam quasi adducti ad gloriam^ unumque pedem in ccelo habere videbantur." But it may be asked^ how could One Who was the express image of the Person of God be made perfect p Simply, we answer, in His human nature. In the nature which He had assumed, He required to be perfected as & Mediator, and this could only be through His partaking of the temptations and trials, the sorrows and sufferings, even unto death^ of those on whose behalf He came to mediate. " The captain of their salvation." The same word which in Acts iii. 11 is translated "the Prince of Life." " The leader," perhaps, would suit best if we could intimately associate with it the idea of *' author " and of " sovereign prince " combined. "Captain" has rather to do witn the leading of those saved, and does not sufficiently embrace the authorship or beginning. The idea seems to be that the Author or Beginner of salvation by His Incarnation is perfected by His sufferings to be the Mediator Who applies It. 11. " For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified' are all of one." The work of sanctification is generally assigned to the Holy Spirit, as in the Catechism. But inasmuch as the Holy Spirit sanctifies in Christ, and by the application of His life,. and we are sanctified by being members of Christ, Christ is here said to be " He who sanctifieth." In 1 Cor. i. 30, Christ is said. to be made unto us, "Wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctifica- tion, and redemption." " They who are sanctified." That is, the members of the mysti- cal Body are all of one — " of," in the sense of " from," out of."' Not, of course, after the same manner of derivation. " The Son is- of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten," and men. His brethren, are from the Father, as aU creatures are. " To- us there is one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we in. (or for) Him " (1 Cor. viii. 6), but it is most probable that the- phrase " all of one " is not applied to the members of the Church, as having the same derivation from God, but as deriving from hira their true spiritual nature by Eegeneration, as it is written iru Chap. II.] ALL OF ONE. 69 are sanctified ^ are all of one : for which cause * he ^ ■*''*^ ^"'- ^^• « Matt, xxviii. is not ashamed to call them brethren, lo. John xx. 17. Rom. viii. 12 Saying, * I will declare thy name tmto my 29. » Ps. xxii. 22, 25. 11. "Of one." "From one." John i. 13, " Born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of man, but of God." " For which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." The most remarkable instance of this is when the Lord said to Mary Magdalene, " Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I a'^cend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God "(John XX. 17). " He is not ashamed." Notwithstanding the infinite difference between His origin and theirs. He being the Son of God by nature, they being the sons of God by creation. Notwithstanding also the amazing difference between His human generation and theirs — He ibeing conceived by the Holy Ghost, and so without sin ; they being by nature bom in sin, yet " He is not ashamed to call them brethren." 12. " Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst," &c. This is a quotation from the 22nd Psalm, which is allowed by both Jews, i.e., the ancient ones, and Christians to be the utterance of Christ on the Cross. It is ascribed in the title to David ; but there are many expression in it which it seems impos- sible to apply to David, as particularlj* verses 16 and 17 : " They pierced my hands and my feet, I may tell all my bones. They look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." No sufferings of David which we read of at all correspond to this. Bishop Westcott writes : " The Psalm itself, which probably dates from the time of David's persecution by Saul, describes the course by which the anointed of the Lord made his way to the throne, or more generally, the establishment of the righteous kingdom of God through suffering." But surely it is very difficult to treat the sufferings in the cave of Adullam as in any way typifying the Sufferings Which redeemed the world. We must apply to David in composing this Psalm the words of St. Peter, " Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified before- hand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 70 I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN HIM. [Hebrews. "brethren, in the midst of the chvirch will I sing praise unto- thee. b Ps. xviii. 2. 13 And again, '' I will put my trust in him. And c isa. viii. 18. again, " Behold I and the children '^ which God &x^■i,^^•? tath given me. 11. 12. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves but unto us. they did minister the things which are now reported uuto you by them that have preached the Gospel," &c. (1 Pet. i. 11). Alford has- some admirable remai-ks on this Psalm, as cited by the Apostohe writer, " No word prompted by the Holy Ghost had reference to the utterer only. All Israel was a type ; all spiritual Israel set forth the coming Man, the quickening Spirit : all the groanings of God's suffering people prefigured, and found their fullest meaning in His groans Who was the chief in suffering. The maxim cannot be too firmly held, nor too widely applied, that all the Old Testa- ment utterances of the Spirit anticipate Christ ; just as all Hia new Testament utterances set forth and expand Christ : that Christ is everywhere involved in the Old Testament as He is everywhere evolved in the New." We must put the highest possible meaning upon this verse. Christ makes known the Name of God as Father. He manifested it in all His preaching. He manifested it particularly to His chosen ones, inasmuch as Ho said to His Father, ' I have manifested Thy Name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world ' (John xiii. 6). H© manifested it, we may be sure, when He preached in the unseen world, and He now manifests it in His Church by His Spirit. " In the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto thee." It is true, literally true, that He leads the praises of His Chm'ch. He is the Priest in every Eucharist — the Church's great act of thanks- giving. " Where two or three are gathered together in His nam© there is He in the midst of them " as the receiver of their prayers and the Inspirer of their devotions. 13. " And again, I will put my trust in him." These words are to be found in I^ aiah viii. 17, Sept., also in P?alm xviii. 3, verbatim as they are to be found in 2 Sam. xxii. 3. Here the Messiah is repre- sented as having the same trust in God as His Father as aU God's children have. The words are those of David, but He speaks them typically as the utterance of His Antitype and Descendant. Chap. II.] THROUGH DEATH. 71 14 Forasmuch then as the children are partaters of flesh and blood, he '^ also himself likewise took part of • John i. u. Rom. viii. 3. the same ; that through death he might destroy I'h'i. ii. 7. him that had the power of death, that is, the 55 coi7i'i5' devil; 2Ti„>.i:i6. • " And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me." The Apostolic writer here uses a part of a passage in Isaiah taken out of its context, but he has a right, if one may say it, so to do, for the whole verse is, in its fullest signification, peculiarly appropriate to the Lord, and those made the children of God by the power of His word. Isaiah had two sons given to him which were intended by God, though we cannot say how, to be signs of prophetic import to the Jews of his day. But much more were the spiritual children of Christ, the Apostles and others, "for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts." The Apostles, and those whom they converted on the day of Pentecost, were as men raised from the dead. The Apostles, in their message, their miraculous powers, and in the character of goodness and holiness and self-denial which they formed in their converts were " for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts." It is true that the Apostle only uses that part of the prophetic utterance in verse 18 which serves his purpose of shewing that the Lord claims those who believe in Him to be His brethren, but as the whole prophecy is in its fulness applicable to Christ alone, he is quite entitled to use any part of it which sets forth any truth concerning Christ. 14. " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood," &c. Partaking of flesh and blood, no doubt, here includes the idea of mortality. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Before this can take place they must pass through death, and so the Lord took our mortal nature, and in it became obedient unto death. "He also himself likewise took part of the same." " Likewise," i.e., " in like manner." He was born like other men, of the blessed Virgin — of her substance, though through His Divine conception He took it without sin. "That through death he might destroy liim that had the power," &c. Through death He won immortality. "Him that had the power of death." Inasmuch as Satan 72 SUBJECT TO BONDAGE. [IIebrems. g Lube i. 74. 15 And deliver tliem who ^throuffh fear of Rom. viii. 15. ..... - . 2 Tim. i. 7. death were all their hfetime subject to bondage. brought sin into the world, he brought death by sin. He does not wield the power to kill whom he pleases. Death comes upon men in what is called the natural course, but Satan has power to niake use of it, as the next verse tells us, to keep men in bondage. Death, and the uncertainty of things after death, the dread of ex- tinction, or the dread of punishment on account of sin for which they knew no real atonement, was a hard bondage. Men might brave it, and conceal it, but it was, nevertheless, a terrible bondage. Even a very good man, like Hezekiah, could say, " I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave : I am deprived of the residue of my years. . . . Like a crane or a swallow, BO did I chatter, I did mourn as a dove. . . . The grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee . . . the living, the living, he shall praise thee as I do this day." "Destroy him that had the power of death." "Destroy" is rather " bring to nought him that had the power," &c. ; but how can this be said, seeing that Satan yet exists ? This word, " destroy him that had the power of death," refers to the power which the devil Lad over men through death as the consequence of sin. Death was once the king of terrors. Death instead of being annihilation or destruction, is now the gate of life. The Apostle, and all who believe in the same Christ as the Apostle, can Bay, " Death, where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy victory ? " We can now look upon the grave as the gate of a joyful resurrection. For Christ hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel. If we truly believe, death can never be used by Satan as a means of keeping us alienated from God ; it is rather the call of God to free us from a state in which it is possible to fall from God to a state in which we cannot fall from God, but shall be for ever with the Lord. 15. " And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime," &c. This cannot mean that we Christians are forbidden to have a certain awe of death. For what is death ? It is to pass out of the visible world into the invisible — out of a world with which we are familiar, into one of which we know nothing — out of a state which has become natural to us, into one of which we can form no conception as to how we shall exist in it. Above all, it is TiiAP. II.] LIKE UNTO HIS BRETHREN. 73 16 For verily f he took not on him the nature lOr.hetnketk of angels ; but he took on him the seed of nngeis, tut of the seed of Abraham. Abniham he 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him ^ to h phii. ii. 7. be made like unto his brethren, that he might be ' a ' '''^- V}^' " & V. 1, 2. to pass through a judgment — not the judgment of the Great Day, but one in which we shall be sealed to the award to be passed upon us at that Day. It is, as one has well said, " To close our eyes upon weeping friends, and to open them upon the angels of God." How did the Lord Himself regard it ? " Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." We are delivered then from the bondage of its fear. It has lost its sting, but it has not lost its mystery. It is said of those who have been brought to its very gates, and have been respited for a season, that their whole life with all its circumstances, has been brought before them as in a moment. Is this nothing ? 16. " For verily he took not on him the nature of angels ; but he took on him the seed of Abraham." "He took not on him." Properly, he doth not lay hold of angels, i.e., to lift them up ; but he lays hold on the seed of Abraham, that through it He might lift up mankind. In order to lay hold of us He must become incar- nate, and in becoming incarnate He must take hold of some race, and He took hold of that which God at the first had " planted a noble vine, wholly a right seed." It is objected that tTrtXa^/Sarsrai is a present and the Incarnation is past, and so it cannot refer to It ; but surely this cannot be urged, because Christ took the nature of man that He might con- tinuously assist us. Every act by which He now applies His grace is a laying hold of some sinner or other in the way of helping him, but He helps them through His human Nature, which He could not have done unless He had assumed it. The beginning of help was the Incarnation, and the continuance of help is through the same (John vi.). 17. " Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made hke unto bis brethren." The stress is to be laid on the words "in all things." It was not enough that He should partake of the flesh and blood of which the children partook — it was not enough that He should simply lay hold of the seed of Abraham. He 74 A FAITHFUL HIGH PRIEST. [Hkbrews. merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaming to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. is to raise up His brethi'en, by acting on their behalf as a merciful and faithful High Priest, and on this account He must be in all things Hkened unto His brethren ; for His action as Higb Priest is not a mere external action on behalf of a nation or people taken in the mass, as it were, but it is on behalf of each and every individual, and is of such a sort that He must know their whole internal state, if there is to be a perfect reconciliation of their whole soul and spirit; in fact, of all that is within them, to God. To this end He must be able to enter into all their difficulties — to know and take account of their most secret sins ; or else the reconciliation would be like that of the Jewish High Priest — superficial and external only. In this respect human priests, as ministers of reconciliation, are faint types of Him. In order that they may fulfil their mission judiciously in the matter of the application of the recon- ciling word to consciences, they must have great powers of sympathy, as well as impartiality. And so must, and so has, He Who is the Priest of priests : Who is with every faithful priest in His ministrations ; so that the inferior and merely human priest in dealing with souls is strictly and merely His instrument. To this end amongst these " all things " must above all be reckoned sufferings and temptations. He must have sounded the profoundest depths of our sufferings ; and so He has. No one of His brethren can say that he has suffered more than the Son of God. " That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest." " Merci- ful." This seems to mean one who is not hard or unsympathizing, but the contrary. " Faithful." This seems to mean dealing faith- fully — not salving over a wound which ought to be probed, but dealing faithfully with the sinner, faithfully both in respect of keeping promises, and faithfully in the matter of needful reproof and correction. " To make reconciliation for the sins of the people." The con- text seems to bid us look not so much to the one act of reconcilia- tion upon the Cross, as the continued application of that act in the reconciling of indivirlual consciences to God. 18. " For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able," &c. This seems the best translation. If in all things He was made like unto His brethren, He must have been made h-ka- Chap. III.] HE IS ABLE TO SUCCOUR. 75 18 ^ For in that lie liimself hatli suffered being ^ ch. iv. 15, ° 16. &. V. 3. tempted, lie is able to succour them that are &vii. 25. tempted. unto them in endnring temptation ; for that is the universal lot of mankind. In enduring temptation His holy Soul must have suffered intensely, far more than we suffer when we endure temp- tation, so that He has sounded all the depths oftemptation or trial, and from His knowledge of it is able to succour us, no matter how severe and seemingly overwhelming the assault of the tempter.^ And how does He apply His help ? In many ways. He infuses strength into us. He renews our wills, so that we will the things of God far more than we will the things of the world and the flesh. He provides the way of escape, and gives us grace to avail our- selves of it. He reminds us of His love in dying for us. He brings to bear upon us that part of the word of God which is the sword of the Spirit most fitting to drive back the particular enemy which assaults us. CHAP. in. "\T rHEEEFOEE, holy brethren, partakers of "the hea- VV a Rom. i. 7. 1 Cor. i. 2. Eph. iv. 1. 1. " "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the hea- fxhe" ' ^^' ,i. u. venly calling, consider," &c. " Wherefore," from all 2 Tim. i. 9. . 2 Pet i 10 that I have said before of God having spoken to us by His Son, the shining forth of His Glory, the express image of His Essence ; "Whom the angels are to worship — to "Whom God says, " Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever," under "Whose feet God has put all things — "Who, notwithstanding these infinitely great things said of Him was yet as the archegos of our Salva- tion, made perfect through sufferings, "Who to this intent partook 1 It is impossible to suppose that that meaning can be true which would limit the assisting power of the Great High Priest ; as, for instance, if we should render this place, "in that which" or "in the things which" he snfiered being tempted, he is able to snceonr them that are similarly tempted ; He must be able to succour all the tempted. His experience must cover the whole region oftemptation. 76 THE APOSTLE AND HIGH PRIEST. [Hebrews. ■ch^ii™i7'^&^' '^snly calling, consider ''the Apostle and High V' ^*o^ !• ^" Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus : & VI. 20. & ^ ' ' viii. 1. & ix. 11. &x. 21. ■of our flesh and blood — "Who took not hold of angels to assist them, but took hold of the seed of Abraham, Who was in all things made like unto us that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest — because of all this, " consider Him." " Holy brethren." Holy, because dedicated to God, and par- takers of His Spirit. All professing Chi-istians are, in the view of the Apostle, ayiot. Bishop Wordsworth, however, thinks that the expression looks to the holiness of the Jewish people as an holy nation, as well as to the Christian standing of the converts. The bulk of them were not holy in the modern use of the term. " Partakers of the heavenly calling." There is no article before calling, but it must mean the calling, for they were not partakers of one calling out of many. " The called according to God's pur- pose." "Whom he did predestinate, them he also called." The calUng is heavenly, because it comes from heaven, and calls us to lead the life of heaven, and at last to attain to the kingdom of heaven. " Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession." The term Apostle is not usually applied to the Lord, but it underlies every place in which God is said to send {aTroareWtiv) His Son. Thus, John iii. 17: " God sent not His Son into the world to con- demn the world." He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. " As my Father sent me, so send I you " (John iii. 17, 34 ; XX. 21). The words Apostle and High Priest are here combined because of the mention of Moses in the following verses, Moses being especially the Apostle of God, because He was sent by God to the children of Israel ("I am hath sent me unto you"), and because he was the priest of God to consecrate Aaron himself to the Priesthood. " Consider . . . who was faithful." Attention is first directed to the faithfulness of Christ to His Father ; but then the Apostolic writer proceeds to the glory of Christ as the Son being greater than that of Moses the Servant. "Of our profession." Notice that He is not the Apostle and High Priest of our religion, but of our profession — or, rather, of our confession — that which we in common, or as one man, hold Chap. III.] FAITHFUL IN ALL HIS HOUSE. IT 2 Who was faithful to him that f appointed t Gr. made, him, as also '^ Moses was faithful in all his house, c Num. xii. 7. ver. 5. 2. " In all his house." So N, A., C, D., E., K., L., M., P., all Cursives, &c. ; but B.» Copt., and Sah. omit " all." and acknowledge to be our belief. The joining together of Chris- tians in one common profession or confession was not an accident, but of the very essence of Christianity. As there is one Lord, so there is one faith — the faith of Christ Incarnate, Crucified, Eisen, and Ascended. He would especially remind the Hebrew Chris- tians of their profession of Christ, because it was their bond of union as co-religionists. The unbelieving part of their nation held to the unity — the being and attributes of God ; but their confes- sion was the Divine Nature and Eedeeming work of the Son of God. 2. "Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful." Christ always set Himself forth as under His Father in the dispensation which He inaugurated. " I came not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me " (John v. 30 ; vi. 38). " Not my will, but thine be done " (Matth. xxvi. 39). " To Him that appointed Him " — i.e., made Him to be Apostle and High Priest, by sending Him and consecratiug Him. "All things are of God " (2 Cor. v. 18). "As also Moses was faithful in all his house." "Faithful," &c. This is a quotation from Numb. xii. 6. The Lord in reproving Aaron and Miriam for their rebellion against Moses places Moses far above all other prophets. " If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house," &c. " His house " — that is, God's house. This, as we shall see, is important. Both the Jewish and the Christian dispensations are- called houses of God. Thus, respecting the Jewish, God said, " I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel" (Deut. xxxv. 34). "Here will I dwell, for I have a delight therein " (Pr. cxxxii. 11,. 14) ; and, respecting the Christian, the Holy Ghost said, " Ye are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit" (Ephes. ii. 22). But the union of Christ with His Church is far closer than the- 78 HE THAT BUILT ALL THINGS IS GOD. [Hebrews. 3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than ;ech. vi. 12. Moses, inasmuch as ^ he who hath builded the tt. xvi. 18. house hath more honour than the house. 4 For every house is builded by some man ; e Eph. li. 10. & lii. 9. ch. but ^ he that built all things is Grod 1.2. ^ head of the house to the house or household. The Church and Christ form parts of one great Divine organizatiop, for Christ is the Head of the Church in the sense that the whole body, through its connection with Him, receives life from Him (Coloss. ii. 19). 3. " For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses," &c. Moses was held in the highest honour by the ancient people of God ; but when Christ came, He was not only honoured, but worshipped. He received worship. He was constantly ad- dressed in terms which of right can be only applied to the supreme God ; and He did not reprove those who so honoured Him, but received it as His due. He suffered Himself to be called '* Lord " and " God," and praised the man who did so as one who believed, and this for the simple reason that He was the Builder, the Constitutor, the Euler of the house ef God. " He who builded the house hath more honour than the house." Moses, great though he was, was but a part of tbe house or house- hold ; and so the Eternal Son, Who built Moses into the house, and constituted him for a time the head of the household, was of in- finitely greater account than the stone which He took and set in its place in the house, or the servant whom He put over His other domestics. The Builder or Constitutor of the house has, of course, more honour than all the house j)ut together : much more is He more honourable than any part of it. 4. " For every house is builded by some man ; but he that built all things is God." This is a vei*y unequivocal declaration of the Godhead of the Son : for the Son is He that built and constituted the house in question. It did not come into being of itself — no house can ; but He that built it is God — not the Father, but the Son, by Whom (i. 2) God made the worlds, the ages, and so im- portant a creation in these ages as the older dispensation cannot have come into being without Him. Chap. III.] CHRIST AS A SOX. 79 5 ^ And Moses verily was faithful in all his ^ ver. 2. house, as ^ a servant, ^ for a testimony of those Num! xii.'?. * things which were to be spoken after ; jo'sh.'i'."2.V 6 But Christ as * a son over his own house ; l"'^^^^ ^viii ■^ whose house are we, 4f we hold fast the confidence ^^ ^^' ^^■ and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. k 1 cor. iii. le. &vi.l9. 2 Cor. tI. Iti. Eph.ii. 21,22. 1 Tim. 6. " Firm unto the end " omitted by G. only. 11' 15. 1 Pet. 11. 5. 1 ver. 14. 5. "And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, Matt. x. 22. & as a servant, for a testimony." He was faithful over ^"2 J>ji i*23i that part of the great family of God over whom he cb. ri. 11. & was set ; but his faithfulness to God was especially manifested in this, that he did not set forth his own dispensation as final ; on the contrary, he proclaimed its temporary character when he said, " The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee — of thy brethren, like unto me : unto him shall ye hearken." In this he was a testimony "of those things which were to be spoken after" by the Lord Himself. Eespecting this his testimony, the Lord Jesus witnesses, " Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me" (John v. 46). 6. " But Christ as a son over his own house ; whose house are we," &c. How is it said that He is faithful as a Son over His own house ? Is not the house the house of God His Father ? Yes ; hut He is appointed the heir of all things (i. 2). " All things are delivered unto him of His Father." "All power is given to him in heaven and in earth." " God hath put all things under his feet " (Matth. xi. 27; xxviii. 18; Ephes. i. 22). " Whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the re- joicing," &c. Here our continuing in the house of God is made to depend, not only on Christ's faithfulness, but upon ours. We have to hold fast the confidence — rather, "the boldness." How will this be shown ? By our boldness in coming to the throne of grace in prayer. We are to hold fast "the rejoicing of the hope." How will this be shown ? By having within us as a constant abiding principle the evidence of things not seen (xi. 1).^ 1 Bishop Westcott translates "the boast of onr hope," and writes, "This exultation is here regarded in its definite concrete form (^xav/Jifxa, boast), and not as finding peiSoual expression (xauj^ijo-if, boasting). 80 HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS. [Hebrews, 7 Wherefore (as ""tlie Holy Ghost saith, °To day if ye m 2 sam.xxiii. -will hear his voice, 2. Acts i. 16. n ver. 15. 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation^ s. xcv. . ^ ^j^^ ^^^ ^£ temptation in the wilderness : " Firm unto the end." The Hebrews to whom this was written were under persecution which put them in daily jeopardy of their hves. The end with them would be the end of life, or, perhaps, the end when the Son of Man should come. 7. " "Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day if ye will hear his voice." He now applies the warnings with which the 95th Psalm closes to the Hebrew Christians. The place is parallel to 1 Cor. X. 6, &c., where the Israelites are taken to be a type ot Christians in the Apostle's day. And the things which happened to them, the punishments inflicted on them, are said to be written for *' our admonition." " As the Holy Ghost saith." Here the Book of Psalms is appealed to as the words of the Holy Ghost. Thus the Lord had asked respecting the words of Ps. ex., "Why doth David in Spirit — i.e., by inspiration of the Spirit — call him Lord ? " To day if ye wiU hear his voice." The Psalm was written long after the sojourn in the "Wilderness, and yet the Psalmist makes it of ever present application. " His voice." If we take into full account chap. ii. verses 2, 3, we shall acknowledge that this is the voice of the Son. 8. " Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation." The provocation alluded to is described in Exod. xvii., where the people, when they came to Eephidim, murmured because there was no water; the Lord was there daily showering down upon them the manna and the quails, and yet they had so little confidence, so little hope of the ultimate possession of the land of Canaan — so little affected by the wonders of the passage of the Ked Sea — that they said to Moses, ""Wherefore is this, that thou bast brought us out of the land of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst." And it is said that Moses called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, " Is the Lord amongst us or not ? " Now this was the very temptation to which the Hebrew Chris- Chap. III.] YOUR FATHERS TEMPTED MB. 81 9 Wlien your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart ; and they have not known my ways. tians were exposed. Is the Lord amongst us in very deed, are we his house ? Does He dwell in us His Church, or does He make no difference between ourselves and our unconverted or un- believing brethren ? If such thoughts found lodgment in their minds they would assuredly not hold fast their confidence and re- joicing, and the firmer they believed in the presence of Christ amongst them, the more confidence they would have in a glorious issue. In the Hebrew, the names which Moses gave to the scene of the temptation form part of the text, "As Meribah, as the day of Massah in the desert ? " It was the first great trial which over- took the Israelites, and its point was, Is the Lord present with us in any peculiar special supernatural mode of presence or not ? 9. " When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years." In the Hebrew text, and in the Septuagint, the words, " forty years," seem to be taken with the next verse, " Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said." By the Apostolic writer they are rather connected with the Israelites seeing the marvellous works for forty years, and the bulk of the nation not converted by them. Almost all commen- tators draw attention to the fact that as the Israelites saw the works of God forty years, so the Jewish nation saw the works wrought by the Apostles for about the same time, and yet were finally rejected because of unbelief. 10. " Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always," &c. " I was grieved," the word expresses more than being grieved ; it rather expresses loathing and abhorrence. " They have not known my ways." If any generation that ever lived on the face of the earth knew God's ways they did : and yet in the better and deeper sense they saw them not. They did not recognize or realize either the mercies or the judgments of God. Their stupidity and unbelief seems more marvellous than the wonders by which they were sustained, or the miraculous judg* ments by which they perished. G 82 I SWARE IN MY WRATH. [Hebrews. 11 So I sware in my wrath, f They shall not enter into t Gr. If they my rest.) shall enter. *-ir.minnii i i i- 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be m any or you an evil heart of unbolief, in departing from the Hving God. 11. " So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest," The writer has occasion afterwards to draw attention to God's confirming His promise by an oath. If He confirmed His threatening by an oath, much more His promise. " They shall not enter into my rest." Literally, "if they shall enter into my rest," — the Hebrew form of an oath. The full form is given in such a place as 1 Kings xix. 2, " So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them." The full form when God takes such an oath as this would be, " I am not God, I am not the God of Abraham, if they shah enter," &c. What is the rest? No doubt the land of Canaan. Thus Deut. iii. 20 and Joshua i. 13. But the land of Canaan is typical of the full and perfect kingdom of God, which will be given to the faithful at the coming of the Lord. When in their glorified bodies they will be safe from the assaults of sin, and they will have a place and sphere fitted to be the habitation of such renewed and glorified frames. 12. " Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief," &c. Reference seems to be made to the com- plaint of Almighty God in Deut. v. 29 : "0 that there were such an heart in them that they would fear me, and keep all my com- mandments always," &c. Notice how the Apostle says, " Lest there be in any of you." Rebellions such as these of the children of Israel must have their origin in some particular heart or other. Some leader will put himself forward and speak out, and when this is done the evil will be contagious, and the little leaven will leaven the whole lump. "In departing from the living God," literally in apostatizing from, in standing away from Him, in taking the side contrary to His s de. " From the living God." The cause of Christ is that of the living God. " He is the Son of the living God " (Matth. xvi. IG) ; " He has in Himself hfe from the living God " (John v. 26) ; " I €hap. III.] EXHORT ONE ANOTHER DAILY. 83 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To ■day ; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitful- ness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, ° if we ° ler. 6. hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end ; am he that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive for ever- more " (Rev. i. 18). 13. " But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day." It is incumbent upon Christians not to leave the duty of exhorta- tion to ministers, but each one to remind his neighbour of his duty. There is a special blessing pronounced by the Lord upon such Christian intercourse ; thus Malachi iii. 16 : " Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord," &c. " To day " practically means the day of grace of each person, the day or time of his continuance in life, in the Church, within reach of the sound of exhortation and reproof. Such an application of the word " To-day " could not have been unless the day of grace was now. ("Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.") " Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." This has been explained in the case of the Hebrew Christians, Lest any of you be led away by the specious sophisms and plausible reasonings of the unbelieving Jews ; but it must not be narrowed in this way. All sin is deceitful, because it hardens that within us which is our great defence against all moral and spiritual deceit, the conscience. 14. " For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the be- ginning of our confidence," &c. The Israelites might be said to be partakers of the rest of Canaan as soon as they passed the Red Sea, and were safe in the wilderness. In God's intention they were already in possession, for He by inspiration taught them to sing (Exod. XV. 17), " Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, Lord, which tliou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the sanctuary, Lord, which thy hands have established." And so every baptised Christian has assigned to him, by virtue of his Sacramental Death and Eesur- 84 SOME DID PROVOKE. [Hebrews. 15 While it is said, ^To day if ye will hear his voice^ p ver. 7. harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, q Num.xiv.2, 16 Tor some, when they had heard, did pro- 4 11 24 30 Deut. i. 34, 36, voke : howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by- Moses. rection with Christ, typified by the passage of the EecT Sea, a part in Christ's etei'nal kingdom, but he has to make his calUng and election sure, he has to work out his salvation, he has to " endure to the end," he has to " continue in God's goodness." Just, then^ as the Israelites were sure of the possession of Canaan, so far as God was concerned, so we are assured of life everlasting ; but a& God did not annihilate the free will of the Israelites, which will because it was evil, prevented them from attaining to their rest, so He has not annihilated our free-will ; we have to hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. If the Israelites had con- tinued in the confidence which the song of Moses expressed, they would have quickly been in possession of their inheritance ; but they did not, and the Apostolic writer cites their case as an example (1 Cor. x. 1-10). Such a place as this should teach us to pray to God very earnestly that He would make us to will and to*' do of His good pleasure ; that He would renew our wills, that He- would make us " willing in this day of His power." 15. " While it is said. To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." There is a difficulty as to what preceding verse- this is to be connected with. Very probably it must follow " Ex- hort one another . . . lest any of you," &c., and would then signify, " since it is said," or " in that it is said." "To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not." The emphasis may be laid on the words, Iv rif XtyeaOai, as denoting the present time. In its being now said by God, To-day if ye will hear. The Psalm was not written for the Jews only, but for us. It is, in fact, written for all who have a day of grace. "To-day, whilst your day of grace lasts, if ye will hear his voice." Heb. xii. 25- is an exactly parallel exhortation. 16. " For some, when they had heard, did provoke : howbeit not all." Almost all expositors seem agreed in taking these two sen- tences interrogatively, " Who then when they had heard, did pro- voke ? " " Was it not all that came out of Egypt by Moses ? " Chap. TIT.] THEM THAT BELIEVED NOT ? 85 1 7 But with wliom was lie grieved forty years ? was it not witli them that had sinned, '' whose carcases fell '' Num. xiv. 22, 29, &1-. & m the wilderness r xxvi. 65. Ps. 18 And Ho whom sware he that they should x 5. Judes. ' not enter into his rest, but to them that believed 30 ""euri not? ''•''■ This removes the difficulty which is felt in applying the words, *'not all," to Caleb and Joshua only; but it is to be remembered that all who were under age, all the young men, women, and children who were under twenty, who must have been in number far more than those above that age, did not perish with the rebels in the rebellions in the wilderness. 17. " But with whom was he grieved forty years? " Was it not with them that murmured, not believing that God was among them ? With them that rebelled in the matter of Korah, not be- lieving that God had instituted the priesthood and would uphold what He had ordained ? With them that joined in the idolatrous rites of the Moabites, not believing that God was a jealous God, and would not be worshipped as if He was one of " Gods many and Lords many " ? 18. " And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but," &c. The provocation on accormt of which God swore that that evil generation should not enter into His rest, was not a sin of idolatry, or of fornication, or of lust, but of sheer unbelief. We have the account very fully related in Num. xiii. and xiv.: Twelve spies were sent out, ten of whona brought an evil report that the people were giants, the cities great, and walled up to heaven, and that they were unable to go up against the people of the land. The children of Israel listened to the cowardly spies, and forgot the passage of the Red Sea, and the manna, and the water out of the rock ; and said, " Let us make us a captain, and let us return into Egypt." Then it was that the Lord sware in his wrath " that they should not enter into his rest." They had faith when they came out of Egj^pt, for the Psalmist witnesses, " Then believed they his word, and sang praises unto him," but this did not last. " They thought scorn of that pleasant land, and gave no credence unto his word." The root, then, of their sin was unbelief, and its fruit was disobedience. They sinned because they believed 86 BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF. [Hebrews. 19 'So we see that they could not enter in because of t ch. iv. 6. vmbelief. not. And so it would be with the Hebrew Christians. They had the clearest prophecies from the lips of Christ Himself, that th& city and nation to which they belonged would perish through its unbelief. They had had forty years of the preaching of the Apostles themselves, forty years of miracles, not only of miracles wrought by the Apostles, but power to perform miracles given by the Apostles. They had the Spirit of God, as St. Stephen witnessed,, remonstrating with them, and yet they would not believe, and s» " the wrath was come upon them to the uttermost." CHAP. IV. LET *tis therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into liis rest, any of you should seem to come a ch. xii. 15. short of it. 19, iv. 1. " So we see that they could not enter in because of un- belief. Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you," &c. This is the conclusion of what has gone before. They perished singly and individually through various sins, but they were excluded from entering into rest because of unbelief. Let us therefore fear, for they are our types, our ensamples, "lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest. . . ." The promise is not limited to the Israelites. AIJ men whom God has called to join in the spiritual warfare have a pro- mise that, if they will endure in the faith and love of God, they shall enter into rest. We then have a promise of rest — of a better rest than that which was promised to them. But this promise is not absolute, just as theirs was not absolute. It is conditional,, and the condition is that we abide in the faith — in the faith which, while it is i-ealized, pm-ifies the heart, and makes our will one with God's will. " Should seem to come short of it." Why " seem " ? Should CiiAP. IV.] NOT MIXED WITH FAITH. 87 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them : but f the word preached did not profit t Gr. the word 1 • ■ 1 • 1 o ■ ^ • 1 of henrinij. them, II not bemg mixed with faith m them that n or, becnuse 1 T . , they u-ere not heard it. ,(,„>«/ 6y faith to. 2. Not being mixed." See below. we not have expected simply " come short of it " P The answer ig twofold. First, we can never pronounce respecting any individual believer, that he has actually come short, because we cannot read the heart, and God may see some faith where we in our rash- ness pronounce that there is none. And, secondly, it is a bad thing even to seem to come short. To seem to come short is to set a bad example of holding slackly or loosely that which we should hold firmly, and adorn with our lives. 2. " For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them." •'Unto us was the gospel preached." This is a very misleading translation, for it implies that the same Gospel was preached to them as to us — i.e., the Gospel of the Incarnation, of the Life, of the Death, and of the Resurrection of the Son of God ; but it was not. Their Gospel — that is, their good tidings, for that is the meaning of the term Gospel — was the possession of the land of Canaan, and prosperity in it if they were obedient: our Gospel is the promise of forgiveness of sins and eternal life of body and soul in the heavenly Jerusalem. The best translation is that of the Eevisers : " For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us even as they also had." " But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith," &c. The particular reading of the word " being mixed " (avyKiKpanivog) which we adopt will considerably modify the mean- ing. If we adopt that of the Received Text (participle in the nominative), then it means that the word which they heard was not in them mixed with faith. The bare hearing was not sufficient, it must be received and amalgamated, as it were, by faith. And this they did not furnish. But a very large number of authorities take " being mixed " in the accusative plural, (TvyKCKpafitvovg, agreeing with " them," and understand it as signifying " the word did not profit them since they were not mixed or united by faith with them that efi'ectually heard it — i.e., with Joshua, Caleb, and others who had true faith." 88 WE WHICH HAVE BELIEVED. [Hebrews b ch. iii. 14. 3 *" For we ■which have believed do enter into ch.liLu. " rest, as he said, ''As T have sworn in my wi-ath. Bishop Wordsworth has some admirable remarks : " They ought all to have been tempered together by faith and charity, into one harmonious body, but only a few hearkened to the word — emphati- cally the word of hearing, because all were bound to hearken to it. The others were not tempered with them, but rebelled against Moses and Aaron, and were ready to stone Caleb and Joshua, who did hearken unto the word (Numb. siv. 10), ' Therefore the word spoken did not profit them.' " " No more will the word now spoken by Christ profit you, unless you comply with the conditions He requires of you. He has said, 'He that hath ears to hear let him hear' (Matth. xi. 15), and • Take heed how ye hear ' (Luke viii. 18). His word will not be profitable to you unless you are blended together in faith with those who have hearkened to Christ's word, and who believe on Him, and have been incorporated into His Church, and who dwell together as fellow-members in unity in His mystical Body, of which He has tempered all the members together as one man in Himself," 3. " For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn," &c. In order fully to enter into the meaning of this and the following verses we must consider that the argument leads up to verse 9 : " There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God." There are four or five " rests " spoken of in the Bible : (1.) There was first the rest of God after the works of creation (Gen. ii. 2), " God rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." (2.) There was the rest which God promised to the children of Israel after their bondage in Egypt, and after their wanderings in the wilderness. They — i.e., those that believed, and those who were under twenty years old when they came out of Egypt — were put into possession of this rest (the rest of the land of Canaan) by Joshua. (3.) But four hundred years after Joshua had put them in posses- sion of the rest of Canaan David was inspired to write a Psalm which treated the " rest " as yet future, and capable of being for- feited, if they did not keep their hearts tender towards God, and loyal to Him. Now it will be needful to consider the question Chap. IV.] I HAVE SWORN IN MY WRATH. 89 if they shall enter into my rest : although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on whether David (or the Psalmist who wrote Ps. xcv.) meant eternal blessedness alone wheu he applied the words, " So I sware in my wrath they shall not enter," &c. I scarcely think so, for the times which succeeded those of Joshua — the times of the Judges, of Barak, Gideon, Jephtha, Samson, Eli, Saul — could scarcely be called times of rest. They were during the greater part of these times by no means in quiet possession of their own land ; and when the Ninevites carried away the ten tribes, they ceased to enjoy the rest of Canaan ; and when the king of Babylon carried away Judah and Jerusalem captive, he certainly for the time put an end to the rest of the remainder of the people of God in Canaan. (4.) But another rest is proclaimed, and by the voice of God Himself. " Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take mj^ yoke upon you, and learn of me . . . and ye shall find rest unto your souls." This rest must be insisted upon, for it is not only the earnest, but the beginning of the rest of heaven. "Without having something of this rest, we cannot hope to enjoy the rest of heaven. (5.) And, lastly, the writer of this Epistle asserts that the rest is yet future, when he says, " There remaineth therefore " — at this time — " a rest for the people of God." "VVe shall now examine singly verses 3 to 9. 3. " For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world." This must be understood thus. We who have believed do enter into rest : we now enter into a present rest, which is plain from the fact that after the works of God in creation were finished and He had rested on the seventh day. He yet swore centuries after this that unbelievers should not enter into His rest, which most assuredly implies that believers do enter into God's rest, whatever that rest be. 4, 5. " For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise. And God did rest ..." And in this place also, If they shall enter," &c. Here we have the idea repeated. In Gen. ii. 2, God 90 SOME MUST ENTER IN. [Hebrews. this wise, '^ And God did rest the seventh day from all his d Gen. ii. 2. WOrlvS. Exod. XX. 11, & xxxi. 17. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must \ Or The gospel ^nter therein, ^and they to whom 1| it was first ^preached preached entered not in because of unbelief : 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time ; as it is said^ f Ps. xcv. 7. ^To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, II That is. 8 Eor if II Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. is said to have rested ; and, in Psalm xcv., to have sworn that unbelievers should not enter into His rest. What, then, is the rest ? 6. " Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of un- belief." From this it seems that the rest must be the possession of Canaan, from which the people who disbelieved were excluded, and into which the people who obeyed were led by .Joshua after all the rebels had been weeded out. But this is not so. The conclu- sion is not yet reached, for — 7. " Again, he limiteth " (rather, " defineth a certain day " Kevisers), " saying, To-day, after so long a time." This was said " in David " — that is, by one who lived some centuries after the time of Joshua ; so that the conclusion mentioned in the next ven e but one is absolutely certain. 8. " For if Joshua had given them rest, then woiild he not after- ward" (after Josbua's time) "have spoken of another day" — in which if they believed they might enter into rest, and in which if they believed not they would be excluded from God's rest. Now the times — the centuries which succeeded that of Joshua — reached to the times of the Messiah, and afterwards. During this time they had scarcely for two centuries quiet pos- session of their own land, and this because of their unbelief. The CuAP. IV.] THERE REMAINETH A REST. 91 9 There remaineth therefore a || rest to the people ol ri ^ I Or. /;ecpii,g ^Oa. ofasabbatk. Lord during this long period was constantly excluding first one generation and then another from His rest. And so the inspired writer, but a short time before the final catastrophe, says in the Holy Ghost,— 9. "There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God.'^ Now this was said in view of the fact that a very short time after the Apostolic author writes this verse God would take away from the whole nation the place of earthly rest which He had given to their fathers. For eighteen hundred years and more they would be in a state of unrest, because they resisted tbe Holy Ghost when He witnessed to them that the Man Whom they had crucified was the Messiah. There would be no rest remaining to them till they turned to the Lord, and looked on Him Whom they had pierced, and this they have not done yet. Was there, then, a rest remaining to them ? Yes, certainly — the rest of redemption, which the Lord assured to all who would come to Him when He said, " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." This rest was the deep, calm, unutterable peace — "the peace of God which passeth all understanding ; " and this was the assurance and foretaste of that eternal rest which they should enjoy for ever in the presence of God in that place — if place it can be called — of which the land of Canaan was a very feeble type. It is to be remarked that the word for " rest " is not the same as in the previous verses. ThereitisKatapausis,here it is Sabbatismos, which signifies a " Sabbath rest " — the cessation from work peculiar to the Sabbath. This difference is made, no doubt, to distinguish the spiritual rest into which the people of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, now enter, from the temporal or earthly rest, into which they were introduced by Joshua. The rest, so far as it is entered into in this world, is spiritual and unworldly. Bishop Wordsworth argues from this verse, which asserts that there yet remains a Sabbath-keeping to the people of God, that Christians are bound to have one day in seven as a day of rest; but it seems dangerous to base it on such an inference as this ; rather the words of the Lord, " the Sabbath was made for man," seem authoritatively to assign him a weekly cessation from toil — a 92 HE HATH CEASED AS GOD DID. [Hebrews. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. weeldy portion of time in which to recruit his strength, whereas *' the rest tliat remaineth " is that which Cln'ist gives to be enjoyed every day in this world, and to have its completion in the eternal world. 10. " For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased," &c. This follows up the idea that the rest which remains is not 8uch as Joshua gave, but is Sabbatical. It is a rest in which he who enjoys it hath ceased from his own works. Now what can these works be from which a man ceases when he enters into Christ's rest? If we take Heb. vi., " repentance from dead works," as our guide, we should think that they must be sinful works, but this seems contrary to the spirit of the whole passage. But again, "own " works may be the same as own righteousness when a man ceases to rely upon them for purposes of justification. But this also seems foreign to the purpose of the Epistle, in which there is no contention against legality as in other epistles where Gentile converts are warned against Judaizing. It has, therefore, been supposed that the verse refers to the completion of the rest in the future state. Thus in Eev. xiv. 13, " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them." Thus Theodoret, " For as the God of the universe, when on the sixth day he had completed the whole creation, on the seventh day ceased to create ; so also they who have departed this life and have passed into that beyond the grave, are freed from their present labours," Alford, however, and some others, interpret " he that is entered into his rest," of Christ. He rested from His work of redemption as did God from His own proper works of creation, and therefore from the fact of our forerunner having entered into this Sabbatism, it is reserved for us, the people of God, to enter into it with, and because of, Him. Thus as Ebrard says, " Jesus is placed in the liveliest contrast to Joshua who had not brought God's people to their (true and final) rest, and is designated as, ' That one who entered into God's rest.' " 11. "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any Chap. IV.] LET US LABOUR THEREFORE. 93 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall ^ after the same example of || un- jg'^'jg'''" ^■' belief. II Or. disobe- dience. 12 For the word of God is ^ quick, and powerful, i, i,,u. xUx. 2. Jer. xxiii. 29. 2 Cor. X. 4, 5. 1 Pet. i. 23. man," &c. That rest is not given once for all the moment a man believes — believes that he is saved, or that Christ died for him in particular — but it has to be diligently sought {(rTrovSdtjwixiv), and has to be worked out (Phil. ii. 12). We have rather to give diligence to make our calling and election sure (2 Peter i. 10). " Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." 1 Corinth, s. 11, is so exactly parallel that the two places might be quoted to show that if the Epistles have not the same author, yet that the same mind made itself felt in both. Unbelief may be rendered " disobedience," but in the case cited the unbelief and disobedience were inseparable. 12. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than," &c. Is this Word which is hving and powerful, the Word — the Logos — Who became Incarnate, or is it the word spoken by Moses or David, or even by our Lord ? I cannot resist the reasons which lead us to believe that it is the Personal Logos, for personal attributes are ascribed to It which cannot be ascribed to a thing. In the first place, the two verses 12 and 13 evidently refer to one Being, which is " Him with Whom we have to do," particularly Him with Whom we have to do in the way of judgment, for He is criticos— criticos of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and this because he is " piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit," so that there is one reference, and only one, all through the passage, and the last clause ("Him with Whom we have to do") teaches us that this Entity is personal. The word of God considered as the preached or written word is not living and powerful in itself. It is the instrument of a Personality Who is living and powerful. It is nothing without Him Who inspires it and works by it. This is one of the first truths which the true child of God learns. He has heard the word numberless times, and it has not evinced itself living and powerful, but rather a dead letter, but at last it comes with life and power, because He Who is Life and Power comes with it and works by it. 94 TWO-EDGED SWORD. [Hebrews. I Prov. V. 4. and ' sharper than any ^ two-edged sword, piercing i Eph. yi. 17. Uev. i. 16. & ii. 16. They who refuse to see a reference to the Second Person of the Trinity, bring forward such arguments as, " The first obvious ob- jection is that this mode of expression is confined to St. John among the New Testament writers;" but this is begging the ques- tion, for here is a writer whose name the objectors to wliom we allude — Alford and others — profess not to know, who applies it to the Son. Why should it be held to be the sole property of St. John ? If there had been overwhelming evidence that this Epistle was written by St. Paul, then it might have been urged with some degree of likelihood that as St. Paul constantly speaks of the Divine relations of Christ to His Father on the one side and to Christians on the other,^ and never uses the term Logos, it is un- likely that he would use it in this single place. But these objectors urge that St. Paul was not the author of this Epistle in the same sense in which he was the author of other epistles, and as un- doubtedly the Epistle or treatise now before us was written for the benefit of Hebrews, it was oaly likely that he should allude to that remarkable development of Jewish doctrine in which God is said to have a Word, a Meymera whom He constantly commissions to act as Mediator between Himself and His people. I give several instances from Targums and Jewish writers in a note.^ There is a very remarkable passage in Philo which it is very difficult to sup- pose could have been absent from the mind of the author of this Epistle when he wrote this place. Commenting on Gen. xv. 10, *' And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst and laid each piece one against another," Philo says, " He does not add who did it in order that you may understand that it is the 1 See Excnrsns on Christology of St. Paul at the end of my volume on Romans. 2 Ihus Onkelos on Gen. iii. 8, "And they heard the voice of the Word /Nnn''n\ of the Lord God." Also Exod. xiv. 31, "And they believed the Word of the Lord" (NHO'DV Dent, xviii. 16, "I will not proceed further, the voice of the Word of the Lord my God." Also Jonathan ben Uzziel on Judges vi. 12, "The Word /^}<"IQ''0\ of the Lord be to thy help." And on Isaiah ix. 7, "By the Word" (N^n''!3^ Again on Joel ii. 23, "And exult, ye sons of Zion, and rejoice in the Word of the Lord your God " /NlD'TiV Many other instances are to be found in Schaafs "Opus Aramaeum," page 10 of Lexicon at the end, from which I have selected the above. Chap. IV.] DIVIDING ASUNDER. 95 €ven to tiie dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the nndemonstrable God Who cuts asunder the constituent parts of all bodies and objects that appear to be coherent and united, by the "Word that penetrates all things. Which being whetted to the keenest possible edge, never ceases to pierce all things that can be appreciated by the senses. But because it reaches even to the minutest particles, even to those which are termed indivisible, the above-mentioned penetrating Word suffices to divide things which can be aj^preciated by reason alone, into untold and indescribable portions. . . . For the Divine Word has pierced and divided all things in nature. Even our own mind never ceases to divide what objects or bodies it may have apprehended into an infinite and un- appreciable number of particles. But this happens on account of the resemblance to the Father and Maker of all things." Quoted in Kev. J. B. McCaul's " Commentary on the Hebrews," p. 45. It seems impossible, then, from internal considerations, and from the known opinions of the Jews, both of the Rabbinical and Alexandrian schools, to resist the conclusion that the Word here is the Personal Word. So it was understood by the fathers. Theodoret, " Nothing can he hid from that incorruptible Judge. For He knows all things perfectly, even the motions of their thoughts." And Athanasius, *' And again, saying all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him with Whom is our account, he signifies that He is other than all of them. From hence it is that He judges, but each of all things generate is bound to give account to Him." " Discourse II. Against the Arians," Oxford translation, p. 383. " The word of God is living and powerful." " I am he thatliveth and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of hell and of death " (Eev. i. 18). " And sharper than any two-edged sword." *' All the Churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts ; and I will give unto everyone of you according to your works " (Rev. ii. 23). " Piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit." He searches us through and through, and sees in a moment whether any thought in our mind proceeds from the animal soul which is earthly and sensual, because of the body of flesh with which it is 96 A DISCERNER. [Hebrews. joints and marrow, and is ^ a discerner of tlie tliouglits and 1 1 Cor. xiv. intents of tlie heart. m'ps.xxxiii. 13 "Neither is there any creature that is not &c-xrxix.''i"i.' manifest in his sight: but all things are nated ^■^; , . „ " and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we n Job XXVI. 6. J- •' & xxxiv. 21. have to do. Prov. XV. 11. in concert, or from the spirit which is in communion with the Spirit of God. " And of the joints and marrow." The whole body, as well as the soul or spirit, is known by Him as to its every particle. If He is to be a perfect Saviour, He must discern how the body acts on and is reacted upon by the soul ; for many sins, or at least temp- tations, arise from the connection between the soul and the body. " I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be unapproved (dSoKifioe).'" (1 Cor. ix.) Some, however, consider that " piercing, even to the dividing asunder ... of the joints and marrow," is to be taken spiritually; but the difficulty of this seems to be that it would be no addition to the piercing power of the Divine Word that it should divide the joints and marrow after it had divided between soul and spirit ; the piercing to the dividing of soul and spirit being so infinitely greater. "And is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." This seems to imply the discernment of a person, not that of a speech or book merely. 13. " Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight." Not only man, but every creature of God is manifest in His sight, showing that the meaning of Aoyoc is far beyond a revela- tion. It is the Revealer in the Eevelation, Who discriminates and judges by means of the Eevelation, whatsoever form it takes^ whether of a written or a spoken word. " But all things are naked and opened before the eyes of him with wliom we have to do." Almost all commentators seem to be agreed in giving to the very difficult word " opened " (rfT-|oax»A«^/*f''«) the sense of " laid open ; " so Westcott, Alford (lying open), and the Bevisers ; " opened even to the back-bone," Wordsworth : " with whom we have to do, to whom we have to give account," West- cott ; " with whom is our reckoning," Wordsworth. Chaf. IV.] A GREAT HIGH PRIEST. 97 14 Seeing tlien that we have " a great high priest, ^ that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of Grod, <> ch.iii. i. •1 let us hold fast our profession. & ix.' i2!'24.' q ch. X. 23, r Isa. liii not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; ch. ii. is 15 For ''we have not an high priest which can- ° ^ r Isa. liii. 3. 14. " Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed," &c. The writer had been speaking of a heart-searching judge, not of a sympathising priest; how is it that he passes so rapidly to the idea of the priest ? I think because in the high priest the functions of scrutinizer and priest, i.e., sympathizing priest, were united. Thus Ezekiel, whose directions respecting the priest evidently contain much that had been held and taught long before his time, says, " And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean " (xliv. 23). Thus Wordsworth: "This mention of the high priesthood of Christ seems to have been suggested to the writer by tlie metaphor just employed by him concerning the judicial inquisition of victims to be offered to God . . . Christ is our High Priest and offers us. But as our priest He also examines us, He anatomizes us as victims ; He proves our hearts and reins ; He scrutinizes our inward parts, our joints, and marrow, our thoughts, affections, motives, and designs." " That is passed into the heavens," rather, that is passed through the heaven, "far above all principality and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come" (Ephes. i. 21). "Jesus the Son of God," infinitely greater in person and func- tions than Jesus the son of Ntm. " Let us hold fast our profession." Because He is the Apostle and high Priest of our profession (iii. 1). " Let us hold fast our profession," for it is by holding fast our profession, clinging to it, realizing it, adorning it, that we hold fast to Him. 15. " For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched," &c. The Apostolic writer here drops any explicit reference to the Lord as an Apostle, or Captain of salvation, as Joshua, and during the remainder of the Epistle confines himself to the prieethood of the Lord. He is henceforth not so much the prophet or the king, but the " Priest on the Throne" (Zech. vi. 13). H 98 TEMPTED YET WITHOUT SIN. [Hebrews. • Lukexxii.28. but ' was in all points tempted like as we are, ' yet » 2 Cor. V. 21. -.1 , • ch.vii.26. Without sm. iJoh'niii"'5. 16 "Let ns therefore come boldly unto the " Eph. ii. 18. k iii. 12. ch. X. 19, 21, 22. The Epistle is written to the Hebrews, and so the idea of the kingdom of Christ is not so much the headship over a body, as it is in the Epistles written to the Gentiles, but rather the old theo- cracy restored, the ruler and priest in one : but the Priest not a common priest, not even a common high priest, but One Whose priestly functions are mainly exercised through sympathy — enter- ing into the sins and follies, and temptations and trials, and sorrows and perplexities, and dangers of each one with a perfectness to which the Hebrew high priest, in the execution of his office, pre- sents scarcely any parallel — at least no account of such a marvellous individualizing of his functions has come down to us. " But was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." This is a great wonder, an unspeakable mystery that He should be in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. For our temptations are accompanied with sin, in that our secret will yields long before the overt act. We allow the thoughts to dwell in our minds. We take a pleasure in them, and we have often to confess with shame that there has been some sin in the suffering of temp- tation. We have not resisted manfully. We have not fought a good fight, but a half-hearted one. Now we have to lay hold on the Lord's sinlessness in temptations under which we have suc- cumbed, or half-succumbed, and we have to lay hold at the same time of His sympathy, for the two go together. It is His sinless- ness which perfects His sympathy. If He had yielded in the least it would have destroyed His power of sympathy, but He is a per- fectly sympathising Mediator because He is a perfectly sinless One. This I have more fully entered into in the note on ch. ii. 17, 18. 16, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may," &c. Boldly, of course, does not mean irreverently, or familiarly, not remembering the difference between God and our- selves, but it means with the utmost confidence, remembering that in the matter of the removal of sin God is far more willing to de- liver us than we are to be delivered. For what is redemption in all its parts appointed and ordained by CiiAP. v.] GRACE TO HELP. 99 throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. God but for the destruction of sin? so what can give us more confidence in coming to God than the thought that we come to Him for the completion in our case of that for which He gave us His Son to be at once our Victim and our Priest ? " And find grace to help in time of need." That we may find strength to resist, that we may be enabled resolutely to turn our heads another way, that when the way of escape is shown us we may instantly avail ourselves of it and be delivered, that we may without a moment's delay remember and plead the promises of X)ivine help. CHAP. V. FOE eveiy high priest taken from among men • ch. viii. s. * is ordained for men ^ in things pertaining ^ '^^- "• ^^" 1. "For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men." " Every high priest taken from among men." The high priest of the Jews, the highest functionary of the only true religion then existing in the world, was taken not from the angelic host, but from men. In some respects the discharge of his duties might have been more dignified and perfect if he had been taken from amongst angels, but it would have lacked the all-important element of sympathy. " Taken from among men " signifies " being taken from among men." It was the first condition that he should be always taken from among his brethren. *' Is ordained for men in things pertaining to God." " Ordained" or " appointed." If the choice is by the Will of God and by His special sanction, then he is ordained, and any outward form of setting apart will follow in due course. It is a question whether Caiaphas, being the son-in-law and not the son of the high priest^ could have been the strictly legal high priest, seeing that the ofl&ce was by God's appointment hereditary. 100 COMPASSION ON THE IGNORANT. [Hebrews.. c i-h. riii. 3, 4. to God, '^ that lie may offer both erifts and sacrifices^ & ix. 9. & X. . *' ° 11. ^h. ii. lo. & author of eternal salvation unto all them that ^'' '^'^' obey him ; nature which suffered and submitted, the highest place in the universe. He was heard, so that the most righteous and most merciful Will of God should he glorified by His Sufferings and Death. He was heard, so that His Death should be terminated by His most glorious Eesurrection and His Ascension, and by His having all things put under His feet, and made Head over all things to the Cliurch. 8. " Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience," &c. Though He were Son — the Eternal Word, the pre-existent Wisdom — "yet learned He obedience." The Son of God, if one may so say, became perfectly Incarnate. He took all the sinless condi- tions of our nature. Both His Body and Soul passed through various stages tUl they were perfected. He passed through one stage of partial knowledge or wisdom to another and a higher. As we do. He learnt wisdom by experience ; and above all He learnt the wisdom most important for Him in the exercise of His function of Mediating High Priest by experience, and the last and perfecting lesson was His Passion and Death. He had in numberless ways to mediate for His brethren in matters both of life and death. He learnt life, and at last He learnt death. He learnt not only its pains, and its fears, but He learnt what His brethren have to submit to in the prospect of it, as well as in the suffering of it. 9. " And being made perfect, he became the autiior of eternal salvation." And being, or having been, made perfect, perfected in sympathy, and therefore " through sufferings " (ii. 10), " He became the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him." Not to those who believe in Him merely, but to those whose faith lives by works. (James ii. 17.) He is not only the captain or dpxj;yoe to a multitude or army, but by His mediatorial action He works salvation in each one — iu each one who yields himself to be worked upon by Him. There «an be no salvation except by obedience. The faith by which we 106 YE ARE DULL OF HEARING. [Hebrews, 10 Called of God an High Priest * after the order of « ver. 6. ch. Melchisedec. vi. 20. "Johnxvi.i2. 11 Of whom "we have many things to say, X Mj'^J"xiii,' and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are ' dull o£ ^^' heariner. come to Christ is a belief in Him as a Saviour from the power as well as the consequences of sin. Faith exacts obedience, or how can there be such a thing as the obedience of faith? So that in a very wide and deep sense faith is obedience, and faith is consum- mated by obedience, for the purpose of all God's relations to us, ia that we should submit to God, which is obedience. 10. " Called of God an High Priest of the order of Melchisedec."' The word '* called " is not the same as that in verse 4, but rather means " addressed by God." The address of God to His Son " Thou art a priest for ever " rather ratifies a previous call. 11. " Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing." " Of whom." This rela- tive may refer either to Melchisedec, or to Christ, a priest of the order of Melchisedec. In all probability the latter, because tho writer blames the Hebrews for their want of spiritual perception. There would have been little need of spiritual perception to under- stand the two or three brief notices of Melchisedec to be found in the Old Testament, but the relation of Christ to His people as their eternal priest after the order of Melchisedec requires the highest powers of apprehension of heavenly truths. "We have many things to say." Eather "much discourse." The whole of the seventh chapter is occupied with this unique priesthood of Christ, and the contrast between the priesthoods of Aaron and of Melchisedec. " Hard to be uttered." Properly, " hard to be understood — hard of interpretation," Revisers. " Seeing ye are dull of hearing," " Seeing ye are become dull of hearing." They were not originally dull, but became so by want of interest in the wonderful revelations of God. " In saying,. ' Seeing ye are become dull of hearing,' he shows plainly that formerly they were sound in health, and were strong and fervent in zeal, which he also afterwards testifies respecting them." (Chrysostom.) Chap. V.] THE FIRST PRINCIPLES. 107 12 For when for tlie time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which he ^ the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become ^ <=''•''■'• .^.: such as have need of ^ milk, and not of strong 2, 3. meat. 12. " Strong meat ; " rather, " solid food." 12. " For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one," &c. " For the time," considering the time ye have have been under instruction, ye ought to be teachers. " Ye ought to be able to teach others," whereas ye have need that one teach you — that is — remind you of first principles, even the elements, the A B C of the oracles of God. What are these elements or first principles of the oracles of God ? In Eom. x. the oracles of God signify the Old Testament revelation, but this can hardly be the meaning here, for by the revelation of the Son of God, and the instruction, first by His own words, then by those that heard Him (ii. 3), a knowledge of God and of His Will had been communicated to these Hebrew Christians, compared to which the revelations of God in the Old Testament, great though they were, were in- significant. " And are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat." The milk signifies the first principles, the meat denotes the higher teaching of the deeper mysteries. With regard to the teaching of this Epistle, the milk — the first principles — is only cursorily referred to in vi. 3 ; the meat denotes the doctrine of the eternal priesthood of Christ as a priest after a very difi"erent order to that of Aaron. " The strong meat " should rather be rendered " solid food." It has been supposed and asserted that the milk was the teach- ing respecting the Lord's humanity, and the meat that which had to do with His Divine Nature ; but this is scarcely possible. The simplest teaching respecting the Lord was that He was the Son of God in a very different way to which other good and holy men were sons of God. The first teaching never could have been Humanitarianism, for it would suggest such enormous difficulties as how a mere man was to be the object of trust, and belief, and Divine worship ? The simplest questions which the neophyte 108 HE IS A BABE. [Hebrews. -t Gr. hnth no 13 For eveiT one that useth milk f is unskilful experience. . -\ p • t p i • !> 1 Cor. xiii. m the word of righteousness : for he is * a babe. i:ph!iv?i4. ■ 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are J o^ "r^cj II ^^ ^^ ^^®' ^^^^ those who by reason || of use 1 Cor. ii. 6. Eph. iv. 13. Phil. iii. 15. I' t )r, of an habit, or, per- cQ^j^di ask could onlv be intelligently answered on the Jection. •' o ^ assumption of His full participation in the Divine Nature. 13. " For every one that useth milk is unskilful the word of righteousness: for he is a babe." "Every one that useth milk," i.e., every one that confines himself to mere rudiments, and declines to proceed further, on the plea that if he does, he will have to face mysteries, and consider matters which are beyond his natural understanding — such an one is (as the Revisers render it) *' without experience " in the word of righteousness. He ought to have some experience of its depth, whereas he confines himself to paddhng amongst its shallows. The word of Christ, whether uttered by Himself or by His inspired servants, was all of righ- teousness, all tended to righteousness, all was designed to make men holier and better than they could be made by the law. " For he is a babe." " Thou seest that there is another infancy. Thou seest that there is another full age. Let us become of full age in this sense. It is in the power even of those that are children and young persons to arrive at i\\&iftdl age. For it is not of nature, but of virtue (John vii. 17)." Chrysostom. 14. "But strong meat belongeth unto them that are of full age," &c. By far the best exposition of this view seems to me to be that of Chrysostom : " He is not speaking now concerning life (i.e., ordinary human life) when he says, to discern good and evil, for this is possible and easy for every man to know, but concerning doctrines that are wholesome and sublime, and those that are corrupted and low. The babe knows not how to distinguish the bad and the good food. Oftentimes, at least, it puts even dirt into its mouth, and takes what is hurtful ; and it does all things with- out discernment : but not so that which is of ' full age.' Such (babes) are they who listen to all things without distinction, and give up their ears indiscriminately, which seems to me to imply iblame on these (Hebrews) also, as being lightly carried about Chap. VI.] LET US GO ON TO PERFECTION. 109' have their senses exercised ^ to discern both srood •> isa. vii. i.i. ° ICor.ii. 14. 15. aiid evil. (Epbes. iv. 14), and now giving themselves up to these, now to- those. Which he also hinted at near the end of the Epistle sayings ' Be not carried aside by diverse and strange doctrines.' This is the meaning of ' To discern good and evil.' ' For the mouth tasteth food, but the soul trieth words ' (Job xxxiv. 3)." " By reason of use." By reason of using them properly, by reason of habit. CHAP. VI. HEREFOEE, ^ leaving lithe principles of » Phii. iii. 12. • J? /-n • 1 13,U.i-h V.I2. the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto n or, the word perfection; not laying again the foundation of l/clristT^"'^ T 1. " Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ. '*^ Revisers translate this, "Wherefore let us cease to speak of the first principles of Christ." Margin, "The word of the beginning of Christ." What does he allude to? Some think that it is the application of the prophecies of the Old Testament to Christ, but it seems better to take it of the six foundations which he enume- rates in the latter part of this verse, and in the next. " Let us for the present leave the consideration of these and proceed to the higher doctrines, which are the superstructure." " Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works," &c. It is very remarkable that this is the only list which we have in the New Testament of the fundamental or initial doc- trines of Christ which were taught to the converts when they first believed and were baptized. I mean the doctrines of Chr stianity as distinguished from its creed. Constantly in the Epistles of St. Paul have we allusions to the creed, as in Eom. i. 1-4, 1 Cor. xv. 1, 10, but nowhere except in this place to the fundamental doctrines wliich are the outcome of the creed. On this account it will be well to examine them in full. " Etpeutance from dead works." Eepentance is a change of 110 FAITH TOWARDS GOD. [Hebrews. »> eh. ix. 14. repentance '' from dead works, and of faith towards God, mind or heart with respect to sin and to God. It is of necessity the first principle, the first step in the Christian Hfe. It was the first thing wliich our Lord's forerunner preached in order to prepare the way for Him. It was the first thing which the Lord Himself preached (Mark i. 15). It was the first thing which St. Peter preached on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 38). It was the first thing which St. Paul preached (Acts xxvi. 20). But what is repentance from dead works ? What are dead works ? We should have thought that there could have been but one opinion. Repentance from evil works ; from deadly sins ; from enmity to God, and such things. Many orthodox divines, however, as Bishop Wordsworth, explain these dead works as works done before justification. But is this possible ? Suppose that a heathen or a Jew before Baptism keeps himself from adultery or fornication, and when tempted to lie tells the truth, or when tempted to defraud continues honest, is he to repent of this ? We should say certainly not. But are not such things as these done before the inspiration of God's Spirit? We cannot say with any certainty in any one single case that they are. For that Holy Spirit " bloweth where he listeth." If all good comes from God, then those heathen of whom the Apostle speaks as shewing the works of the law written in their hearts, do what is pleasing to God through His Spirit, though they have never heard of Christ. There can be no doubt then but that the dead works are the works of the flesh, adultery, fornication, unclean ness, lasciviousness, and the remainder of the black list of evil things enumerated by the Apostle (Gal. v. 19), of which he says they that do such things " shall not inherit the Kingdom of God." " And of faith towards God." Inasmuch as the principles here enumerated are the principles of the doctrine of Christ, this faith cannot be a faith in God apart from Christ, which a Jew might have before he was converted. It must be faith in God as the Father of Christ, and the Sender of His Son into the world to save ns. All Christian faith must ultimately rest on God the Father as the Fountain of Deity ; thus the Lord says, " He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life " {John V. 24). €iup. VI.] THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISM. Ill 2 ' Of the doctrine of baptisms, ^ and of laying " Acts xix. i, 5. d Acts viii. 14, 15, Iti. 17. St xix. 6. In Titus iii. also, belief in God is assumed to be Christian faith, though Christ is not mentioned. " He that cometh to God must believe that He is," and he that cometh to the God of the Gospel must believe that He is the God revealed in the Gospel, the Father of One only Son, Who is His proper Son ('iSiog) ; and on account of His having this Son He is essentially the Father. This second of the " first principles " of course includes all which is naturally and inseparably joined with faith, as trust and hope and ■confession with the lips and prayer and belief in the Scriptures. 2. " Of the doctrine of Baptisms." This also must be Chris- tian, for there was no doctrine that we know of connected with Jewish lustrations, and the Baptism of John had long ceased, whereas with Christian Baptism the highest doctrine was asso- ciated, as that it was a new birth of water and of the Spirit unto the kingdom of God (John iii. 5), that it was the means by which the Holy Spirit grafted men into the Body of Christ, and that it "was a Sacramental Death, Burial and Eesurrection with Christ. There is a question, however, how it was that the Apostolic writer used the plural, " the doctrine of baptisms " for surely there is but one Baptism — " One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism" (Ephes.iv. 5) ? Yarious reasons have been given for this : one that he spoke of Baptisms because each administration of the Sacrament was a separate Baptism — another that he included the Jewish Baptism •of Proselytes and John's Baptism. But may not the reason be something of this sort : The value of Christian Baptism is brought out and intensified by comparing it with those of the Jews, and that of John. John the Baptist in particular lays much stress npon the difference between His Baptism and that of the Lord. ■" I indeed baptize you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire (Matth. iii. 11.) The practical doctrine of Baptism is that at the very outset of our Christian career, when we are made members of Christ we are gifted with all grace suffi- cient to enable us to fulfil our place in the mystical body, but this grace has constantly to be realized by an act of faith, to be stirred up and to be continued in. (See notes on Eom. vi. 1-12 ; Coloss. ii. 12 ; and Titus iii. 5). " And of laying on of hands." There are two " layings on of 112 LAYING ON OF HANDS. [Hebrews; e Acts xvii. 31, on of hands, ^ and of resurrection of the dead, 32. 1 Acts xxiv. 25. ' and of eternal judgment. Rom. ii. 16. hands " mentioned in the New Testament. One for what we call confii-mation (Acts viii. 17 ; xix. 6). In each of these cases it is expressly said that through it God gave the Holy Ghost. The other " Laying on of hands " is at Ordination, for we read, " I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in, thee by tlie laying on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind " (2 Tim. i. 6, 7 ; also 1 Tim. iv. 14, v. 22 ; Acts vi. 6, xiii. 2, 3, 4). The doctrine of the laying on of hands is this, that God has sent the Holy Spirit once for all on the day of Pentecost, and that He has left a power in His Church of transmitting the Spirit of God by laying on of hands. Many sincere Christians object to this. They have persuaded themselves that the only means of grace which God accompanies with His Spirit is the listening to preach- ing, and the reading of Scripture : but the word of God gives us no warrant so to restrict His power. St. Timothy had from a child known the Scriptures, but St. Paul twice reminded him that h& had received that gift of the Spirit which had made him a minister of Christ, through the " Laying on of hands." The Samaritans had believed the word of the Gospel through preaching, but the Apostles did not judge this to be sufficient, but sent two of their number to- lay hands on those converts, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. The doctrine of the laying on of hands carries with it the whole- Church system, which is this : the same God Who for certain purposes of grace, accompanies the preaching of the Gospel with the enlightening and comforting influences of His Spirit, for certain other and kindred purposes of grace is pleased to accompany the " Laying on of hands " with gifts of the same Spirit. It is God's will that His people should not be merely instructed as if they were so many separate units, but that they should be knit together in a Body, which Body or Organization is that fellowship of the Apostles which took its beginning on the day of Pentecost itself, and which in so far as it is an outward and visible fellowship has been transmitted to us by the " Laying on of hands," and by that alone;: which " laying on of hands " was ordained that men should have: Chap. VI.] RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 113 through it such gifts of the Holy Spirit as are necessary for the right exercise of the Christian ministry. But this " laying on of hands " is not only conferred in Ordination on ministers, but in Confirmation on all Christians who have received Holy Baptism, in order to strengthen the whole number of the Baptized who receive it worthily with the ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, " And of resurrection of tlie dead." The fifth principle or founda- tion is the Resurrection of the dead. That the Resurrection is a primary truth is abundantly clear from Scripture ; Jesus calls Himself the Resurrection and the Life. The Apostle's preaching was described as the preaching of " Jesus and the Resm-rection " (Acts xvii. 18). When St. Paul preached the Gospel at Athens, no motives of worldly prudence hindered him from preaching the Resurrection of the body, though he must have foreseen that of all Christian truths, it was most likely to excite the ridicule of the sceptical Athenians. Again, the Resurrection of our bodies is so intimately connected with that of Christ's Body, that " if the dead rise not, then Christ Himself is not raised." So the truth of our Religion stands or falls with the truth of the Resurrection, for the Apostle says, " If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain: ye are yet in your sins" (1 Cor. XV. 17). Now why should the Resurrection of the Body be of such importance as to be accounted a first principle in a spiritual system ? I answer, because without it there is no full redemption — no redemption of the whole man. The whole man, body, soul, and spirit, is redeemed, that the whole man may be renewed in the likeness of our Redeemer. Our souls are now renewed after the likeness of His Holy Soul, and our bodies are hereafter to be renewed after the likeness of His glorious Body. So that unless the body be redeemed from corruption, Redemption itself is maimed and incomplete ; and so, in the view of the Apostle, they who say that the Resurrection is past, overthrow the faith (2 Tim. ii. 18), and contrariwise " they who have the firstfruits of the Spirit wait for the adoption, that is, the Redemption of their bodies " (Rom. viii. 23). The Redemption and consequent Resurrection of the body is the Christian form of the future state. As in this life, so in the next we shall not be ghosts or unembodied spirits, not un- clothed, but clothed upon: mortality, the mortality of these corrup- tible bodies, being swallowed up of life. "And of eternal judgment." Rather, perhaps, of an eternal I 114 THIS WILL WE DO. [Hebrews. 1 Cor' iv.''l'/^' ^ ^^^ *^^^ ^11 ^® ^^' ^^^ ^^^ permit. 3. "And this will we do." So H, B., K., L., most Cursives, d, e, f, Vulg. ; but A., C., D., L., P., thirty-five Cursives, &c., read, "And this let us do." award, the result of the Judgment. The last of these six principles is " eternal judgment," that is, that the Son of God will, on a par- ticular day appointed by God, Himself proceed to judge all men for the deeds done in their bodies. He will then finally separate between the righteous and the wicked. The reward which He will assign to those who have done good will be in exact proportion to what they have done (Luke xix. 16-19; 2 Cor. v. 10; Gal. vi. 7-11). And the punishment of the wicked will also be in exact proportion to the evil which they have done, or the good which they have neglected to do.^ This sentence will be most divinely just, and so the Judge will take into account every circumstance which can possibly modify it. Every degree of light, whether of nature or of grace, every influence of education, or example: all opportunities improved or wasted : strength of temptation, national character, hereditary prejudices or influence, even disease of mind or body influencing the will — all will be taken into full account ; for God is a righteous Judge. This judgment will embrace the whole universe of intelligent creatures — men, angels, devils: none will be exempt. The Apostle who laboured more abundantly than all, and the sinner saved so as by fire alike will stand before the judg- ment-seat of Christ. But not from this place only (Heb. vi. 2), do we infer that eternal judgment is a principle or foundation. The judgment is set forth in every part of God's Word. It is so universally set forth as taking account of all persons, and all events ; as taking cognizance of all thoughts, all words, all works ; that no matter how few the first principles or foundations of our religion may be reduced to, eternal judgment must be one of them. 3. " And this will we do, if God permit." That is, if God permit, we wUl leave the enforcement of these lower truths and proceed to consider "perfection," the highest truth which the Christian religion reveals — in the case of this Epistle, the High Priesthood of our Lord. 1 Luke xii, 47, 48; xix. 16, 17; Rom. ii. 6, 7, 8; 1 Cor. iii. 8; xv. 58; 2 Cor. ix. 6; G»l.vi.7; Eph.vi.8; Phil. iy. 17 ; Col. iii. 24, 25; Rev.xx.13; and very many inor«. Chap. VI.] ONCE ENLIGHTENED. 115 4 For ^ it is impossible for those ' who were ^J^^^H; ^''o^.^* ■once enUffhtened, and have tasted of '' the hea- ^ Pet. ij. 20, '-' 21. 1 John V. 16. 1 ch. X. 32. k John iv. 10. & vi. 32. Eph, ii. 8. 4. " For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened," &.C. The sequence is difficult. What is the significance of the *'for"p Upon the whole the best statement of the connection seems to be this : " Let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance, for if you have apostatized, or fallen from Christ, and now deny Him, after having practically learned repentance and faith, and been enlightened, and been made par- takers of the heavenly gift, &c., then the preaching of first prin- ciples is thrown away upon you. "We must not lose time with dealing with you. We must rather lay ourselves out to teach those who are willing to progress in divine knowledge. In your present state the inculcation of repentance as a first principle and faith as following on it, would be mere empty words. We must leave you in God's hands, and teach those who desire to grow in the Divine Life. If you had never learnt these principles, then it would be our duty to evangelize you in them as we should the heathen ; but you have known them, and known them practically, and rejected them, so we must pass you by, and give to others the ■exalted truths for which you have made yourselves unfit." We now must consider, by itself, each clause of this fearful place. " Those who were once enlightened." The Fathers almost universally understand this of Baptism, which they called the Illumination : and no doubt, in the early Church, Baptism was accompanied with an accession of light and knowledge such as vindicated the application of such a term to it.^ The candidates • There is a well-known passage in Cyprian describing the change wrought in him at the time of his own baptism, which is worth transcribing: " For as I myself was held in bonds by the innumerable errors of my previous life, from which I did not believe that I could by possibility be delivered. So I was disposed to acquiesce in my clinging vices ; and because I despaired of better things, I useJ to indulge my sins as if they were actual parts of me, and indigenous to me. But after that, by the help of the water of new birth, the staius of former years had been washed away, and a light from above serene and pure had been infused into my reconciled heart — after that, by the agency of the Spirit breathed from heaven, a second birth had restored me to a new man — then in a wondrous manner doubtful things began at once to assure themselves to me, hidden •things to be revealed, dark things to be enlightened; what before had seemed difficult 116 THE GOOD WORD OF GOD. [Hebrews, 1 Gal. iii. 2, 5. venlj gift, aud ^ were made partakers of the Holjr Grhost, 5 And liave tasted the good word of God, and m ch. ii. 5. the powers of " the world to come. were not, as far as we can gather, instructed in high truths, but only in mere rudiments. They only learnt the creed on the very eve of their Baptism. They were not allowed to use the Lord's Prayer till they received Baptism. So that, on the comparatively low ground of human instruction, it might well be called an en- lightenment. But when we add to this the universal faith of those ages in the supernatural agency of God in the Sacraments, we may well believe that, " according to their faith," it was done to them^ and a miracle of enlightening and sanctifying grace accompanied the administration. "And have tasted of the heavenly gift." Chrysostom explains- this of forgiveness. " And were made partakers of the Holy Ghost." Either through the laying on of hands, or by a direct act of God. They partook of the Holy Ghost, not merely so as to be endued with supernatural gifts, but so as to be purified and sanctified by His indwelling. 5. "And have tasted the good word of God." That is, have; tasted its sweetness and its excellence ; as the Psalmist sings,. " More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold j: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb." This is an advance upon what has gone before. It is one of the highest works of the Spirit to bring the Scriptures, which He Himself has inspired, to- bear upon the heart, to unfold to the spirit the wonders which they contain, so that reading or hearing which, if performed at all, was- an irksome duty, is now a delight. " And the powers of the world to come." There are those in whom heaven is begun upon earth. " How powerful in it will be redemption and freedom from all evil and misery, what joy and happiness, what power God will manifest in His blessed ones, in. began to suggest a means of accomplishment ; what had before been thought impossible, to be capable ul being achieved ; so that I was enabled to acknowledge that what pre- viously having been born of the flesh had been living in the practice of sin, and was of the earth, earthly, had now begun to be born of God, and was animated by the Spirit of holiness." C!nAF. VI.] IF THEY SHALL FALL AWAY. 117 6 If tbey shall fall away, to renew them again unto re- pentance ; ° seeing they crucify to themselves the ° ch. x. 29. Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 6. " If they shall fall away." " And having fallen away." their glory, honour, and immortality, in their eternal life, in their vision and fruition of God." (Cornelius ^ Lapide.) 6. " If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repen- iance." Eevisers translate thus : " And then (after these blessed ■experiences), fell away, to renew them again unto repentance." The all-important question is, what is this falling away? The word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It must mean one of two things — falling into, or committing some sin, as fornica- tion or theft, or it must mean utter apostasy. It cannot mean the former, for the grossest sins are supposed to be pardonable if men repent, and submit to the discipline of the Church. A grosser case of sin cannot well be imagined than that of the incestuous Corinthian, and yet the Apostle not only absolves him (2 Cor. ii. 10), but earnestly asks his brother Christians to " com- fort him, lest, perhaps, such an one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow " (7). And at the end of the same Epistle (xii. 21), " Lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewaU many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasci- viousness which they have committed." Both St. James and St. John also assume that baptized or enlightened Christians will commit sins which need forgiveness. (James v. 14-16 ; 1 John i. 8-10 ; ii. 1.) The Apostolic writer must, then, of necessity, have in his mind utter apostasy, and this is evident from the parallel expression in X. 29 : hath " trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing." The case of the apostate Jew was far worse than that of the apostate heathen, because a middle course was, by the nature of things, not possible to him. An apostate Jew, by the very fact oi his apostasy, must have acknowledged that our Lord was an impostor, Who worked His miracles by the power of Satan, and that He was justly condemned and justly crucified. Now, when a Jew 118 DRINKETH IN THE RAIN. [Hebrews. 7 For tlie earth, which drinketh in the rain that cometh. oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them || by I Or, for. whom it is dressed, °receiveth blessing from God : o Ps. Ixv. 10. p isa. V. 6. 8 ^ But that which beareth thorns and briers i» thus fell away, there seems to have been, humanly speaking, nO' possibility of repentance. He had knowingly and willingly cut away from under himself the only ground which made repentance available. I say, humanly speaking, because all things are possi- ble to God, and this raises the question whether the writer of the Epistle is speaking absolutely, as if, under no circumstances, could such an apostate be reclaimed, or that his repentance was a case of such dif&culty that it must be regarded as practically impossible. I dare not say which. One thing is certain, that the writer did not consider those to whom he wrote as absolutely free from all danger of such a fall. Their faith, their Christianity, was in a declining^ state, and we know not to what depths a soul on the decline will sink. The Apostolic writer bids us have a wholesome fear of the lowest. The Jew, then, by his apostasy, as far as man could do, crucified the Son of God afresh, for after acknowledging Him to be the Messiah, he turned round and proclaimed Him an impostor. This place, of course, cuts at the roots of the necessary final per- severance of a soul once in grace, as held by Calvinists. 7, 8. " For the earth which drinketh in the rain which cometh oft upon it, &c uigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." In this illustration the reception by the land of the rain which, cometh upon it, is the leading feature, and the action of the hus- bandmen (" meet for them by whom it is dressed ''), is in the back- ground. By this the Apostolic writer would emphasize the fact that those whom he so solemnly warns had not only received labour from the spiritual husbandmen, but grace from heaven. The same grace descends alike on the ground which produces useful produce, and that which produces what is noxious. Notice also that the ground is supposed to have received what descends from heaven with some degree of avidity ("the earth which drinketh in the rain "), receiveth blessing from God. (Compare Matth. xiii. 20.) God blessed the ground and all which lived upon it after He had made it, and it was after Adam had sinned that He pronounced the Chap. VI.] WHOSE END IS TO BE BURNED. 119 rejected, and is nigL. unto cursing ; whose end is to be burned. 9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. curse. (" Cursed is the ground for thy sake ; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.") The earth is the soil, the rain is heavenly grace ; especially, if not altogether, the grace of the Holy Spirit ; the " oft " coming of the rain is the abundance of grace ("which he shed on us abun- dantly," Titus iii. 6) ; the dressing is the labour of the ministers and stewards of God's mysteries ; the herbs " meet for them by whom it is dressed," are the good fruit which true Christians bear to the glory of God, and the benefit of their fellow- creatures ; the briars and thorns are evil deeds, or neglect of grace to produce good works ; the blessing includes all good gifts from God, particularly greater fruitfulness in good works ; the rejection is the final rejection. " Nigh unto cursing," why does the apostolic writer say " nigh " unto cursing, instead of cursed ? Does he mean to imply that the curse is not yet pronounced, but is on the point of being pronounced, but there is space left for repentance ? We hope so. Chrysostom says, " Oh 1 how great consolation is there in this word ! For he said ' nigh unto a curse,' not a ' curse.' Now he that hath not yet fallen into a curse, but is come to be near thereto, may also come to be afar off from it (by repentance)." " Whose end is to be burned." " If a man abide not in me " (and all grace is given to us that we may abide in Him) " if a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a brand and is withered, and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." (John XV. 6.) 9. " But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things," &c. ; " better " than that they should fall away into apostasy. " Things that accompany salvation." Joined to, laying hold of salvation. They who are in the way of attaining salvation are those who are advancing instead of declining in the Divine Life, they receive the rain of the heavenly grace and receive it not in vain, but bear fruit to God. 120 GOD IS NOT UNRIGHTEOUS. [Hebrews. qpiov. xiv.3i. 10 ^For *■ God is not unrighteous to forset Matt. X. 42. ° ^^ & XXV. 40. « your work and labour of love, -whicli ye have John xiii. 20. -^ . •' , ' Rom. ill. 4. shewed toward his name, in that ye have *ininis- s 1 Th^ess. i^'s.' tered to the saints, and do minister. ' Rom. XV. 25. 2 Cor. viii. 4. & ix. 1, 12. 2 Tim. i. 18. 10. "And labour of love." " Labour " omitted by N, A, B., C, D., E., P., nine or ten Cursives, d, e, f, Vulg., Syriuc, &c. ; but retained by E., L., most Cursives, Copt. " Though we thus speak." We speak thus because we would be on the safe side, with respect to you. There is a spirit of declen- sion among many of our countrymen, and you may be drawn into it. 10. " For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and (labour of) love." God has very distinctly promised to reward all good works of benevolence and self-denial. Our Lord Himself goes as far as possible in this way when he says, " Whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward" (Matth. x. 42). And our Lord in Matth. xxv. makes the final judgment itself turn upon the doing of deeds of benevolence or the doing them not. " Come ye blessed, I was an hungered and ye gave me meat." God exhibits His righteousness, not only in taking vengeance, as some seem to think, but in rewarding that which he has promised to reward, and there is nothing which he has so unreservedly promised to reward as benevolence and kindly deeds. " Which ye have shewed towards His Name, in that ye have ministered," &c. What they did must have been because they be- lieved in the Name of God as set forth in His Son Jesus Christ " I have declared unto them Thy Name, and will declare it," (John xvii. 26), and for this reason, that their love and kindliness was especially manifested to the saints in those parts, ministering to their wants and persevering in doing so. These saints, of course, were Christians, and on that account were worked for and loved by the Hebrew believers. It has been thought by some that these Hebrew Christians thus commended were converted Jews of Eome, who had, along with the Gentiles, sent contributions to the poor saints in Judea, and there Chap. VI, THAT YE BE NOT SLOTHFUL. 121 11 And we desire that "every one of you do shew the same diligence "to the full assurance of hope "eh. ui. 6, il unto the end : 12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience ^ inherit the ^ '^^- *• 38. promises. is a certain likeness in language and thought to Eom. xv. 15, but there is very great difficulty in pronouncing to what Jews this Epistle was written. 11. " And we desire that every one of you do shew the same," &:c. *'We desire." It is our personal wish and desire, because we know what more abundant happiness ye will enjoy in eternity. "Every one of you do shew." The Apostles and Apostolic writers never lose sight of the fact that though the Church is One Body, it is made up of individuals ; and that on the holiness and goodness of individuals depends the welfare of the whole mystical body. The love and services of each are necessary to the perfect well-being of the whole. " To the full assurance of hope." In the word rendered full assurance (7r\»jpo0opia) there is not, as far as I can see, any thing of the modern idea of assurance. It is rather the " fulness of hope," but, of course, the fuller the hope is, the more confidence a soul has of fruition. " Unto the end." " He that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved " (Matth. x. 22, sxiv. 13). "'Hope,' he means, carries us through: it recovers us again. Be not wearied out, do not despair, lest your hope should be in vain. For he that worketh that which is good hopeth also that which is good, and never at any time despairs of himself." (Chrysostom.) 12. " That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith," &c. " Slothful," that is, " sluggish," " supine." " But followers of them who through faith," &c. In a short time he will give them the examples of many of the chief of their fore- fathers who through faith inherited the promises, and a faith which sheweditsreality and strength by its endurance. SoRom. ii. 7: "To them who by patient continuance in well doing look for glory, honour, and immortality." 13. " For when God made promise to Abraham, because he 122 HE SWARE BY HIMSELF. [Hebrews. 13 For when Grod made promise to Abraham, because he- Jen. xxii. 16, could swear by no greater, Ps. ev. 9 JO' ;kei.'75." ' 14 Saying, Surely bles and multiplying I will multiply thee. « Gen. xxii. 16, could swear by no greater, ^ he sware by himself, 17. Ps. ev. 9 ./ o ' ^ J Luke i. 75." ' 14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee^ could," &e. God sware to Abraham, not when He first called him,, but when he had in intention offered up Isaac. The oath was not that he should have a seed, that was given him long before — but that in that son He would most surely bless Abraham, and most surely multiply his seed — and in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed, i.e., in the Messiah. It was in this very juncture in all probability that Abraham was enabled in prophetic vision to see Christ's day — to see it and be glad. But this would not be a sufficient fulfilment. Abraham never really died. God was the God of Abraham — after his body was buried — and God is the God of the living. In his place in Paradise God made him ta know the Incarnation and Birth of Christ. In some way unknown to us God made him to see it, and he saw it, and was glad. (See my note on John viii. 56.) There is a remarkable Eabbinical commentary on this oath of God. In Esod. xxxii. 13, we have Moses pleading with God, *' Eemember Abraham, Isaac and Israel thy servants, to whom thou hast sworn ('_n) by thine own self." What does '^ denote ? Eabbi Eleazer answered, Moses spake thus to the Holy One, " Blessed be the Lord of the world, if thou hadst sworn by the very heavens and the earth, then I should have said : as the heavens and the earth shall perish, so also thy oath. But now thou hast sworn to them by Thy great Name which lives and endures for ever, so also shall thy oath endure for ever, and evermore." (Berachoth, fol. 32, i. quoted in McCaul on Hebrews, p. 64.) 14. " Saying, surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee." This could not be fulfilled in the few remain- ing prosperous years of Abraham's life. It must look to the eternal fulfilment beginning in paradise, continued in the ages when God shewed him the development of His designs respecting His Son, and accomplished when Abraham saw the Lord exalted, and all things put under His feet. 15. "And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." He had patiently to endure both to obtain the fulfilment CuAP. VI.] MEN SWEAR BY THE GREATER. 123 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men verily swear by the greater : and * an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. » Ex. xxii. u. 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to b ch. xi. 9. shew unto ^ the heirs of promise " the immutability <= Rom. xi. 29. t Gr. inter- posed hinisel by an oath. of his counsel, t confirmed it by an oath : posed Zml'eif 16. "For men verily." "Verily" (;u.£v) omitted by K, A., B., D., E., P; retained by C, K., L., most Cursives, Copt., ^th. of God's promise of a son, and also that through him in that son the human race should be blessed. What years of patient waiting are embodied in his complaint, " Lord God, what wilt thou give me seeing I go childless and the steward (or heir) of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus," and what intensity of patience must have been his during the three days journey to the Land of Moriah, to the mount of sacrifice. 16. " For men verily swear by the greater." Thus Joseph swore by the life of Pharaoh, Gen. xlii. 16. " And an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife." Eather, perhaps, as Eevisers render it, " and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation." Here is very probably an allusion to the law respecting disputes which is laid down in Exod» xxii. 7-11 : " If a man dehver unto bis neighbour an ass or an ox, and it die or be hurt, no man seeing it : Then shall an oath of the Lord be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods : and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good." 17. "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs," &c. " Wherein," in which respect of oaths for confir- mation. "Willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise," &c. Almighty God, therefore, condescending to Abraham, and conforming Himself to human usage with regard to oaths, called as it were Himself to witness, and so came between Abraham and Himself with an oath for greater assurance to Abraham. But it was not for Abraham's sake alone, but for all who should inherit his faith — for such were the heirs of promise. The word " confirm " 124 AN ANCHOR OF THE SOUL. [Hebrews. 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was im- possible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope "^set •d ch. xii. 1. before us : 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the e Lev. xvi. 15. soul, both surc and stedf ast, ^ and which entereth ch. ix. 7. into that within the veil : is strictly " mediated, interposed an oath." It was a promise, the ful- filment of which they would have to expect or wait for during long centuries, and bo God, compassionating human infirmity, interposed with this oath in addition to his promise. 18. " That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God," &c. "Two immutable things," the promise and the oath. The promise was such in form as what God constantly gives. The oath was superadded because, as I said, of the long centuries in which the heirs of promise had to wait for its perfect fulfilment. " We might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge," &c. " Strong consolation," translated by Revisers, by Westcottand by Alford, "strong encouragement." " Who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." The " hope set before us " is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in whom all the promises of God are assured to us. We have, however, to lay hold of Him, and tliis can only be by a con- tinuous act of faith in His Incarnation, Death, Resurrection, and Real Abiding Presence in His Church ; so that, though apparently absent, He is really present according to His promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." This Jesus, Who is our Hope when He is laid hold of, communi- cates hope to us, and the firmer we lay hold of Him, the firmer our hope. 19. " Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul." The hope which each Christian has within him is the anchor, but instead of being cast below into the depths of the sea, as the anchor of earth is, it is cast above — into heaven, where Jesus is, and lays firm hold upon Him. The point of the simile or allusion is tliat, as the anchor of the storm-tossed mariner enters into the unseen depths, and finding a ground on which it can fasten holds the ship firm, Chap. VII.] THE FORERUNNER. 125 20 ^ Whither the forerunner is for us entered, ^ A- iv. i4. & viii. 1. & even Jesus, ^ made an high priest for ever after ix. 2i. the order of Melchisedec. v.*6!Vo!' I'l- xi. i. Matt. i. 3. of Juda ; of which tribe Moses spake nothing Luke iii. 33. . , ^ ^ ^ ° Rom. i. 3. concerning priesthood. Rev. v. 5. 11, "And not be called." Rather, " be reckoned." " "What further need was there that another priest should rise ? " &c. The writer alludes to the fact that during the time of the law, in which time the llOtli Psalm was written, the Messiah is ad- dressed as a Priest of the Order of Melchisedec, and not of Aaron. The whole Psalm is addressed to one of superhuman power and greatness. God says to him, " Sit thou on my right hand." The centre of his dominion is the Holy City itself. " His people, in the day of his power, offer him free-will offerings with a holy worship." If he be a priest, then, after what order or pattern is he ? Not of that of Aaron, but of that of Melchisedec. It is plain, then, that the Priesthood of Aaron is not the highest of priesthoods, neither is it final, nor eternal, and the priesthood whicli is assigned to the Son of God is for ever and ever. 12. " For the priesthood being changed, there is made of neces- sity a change," &c. The Priesthood of the Eternal Son is a Priest- hood of grace. He pardons tlirough the grace of His Atonement. He pours forth His Spirit, the Spirit of grace ; consequently, the rites which He ordains are not mere outward signs, but sacraments — things totally unknown under the Law — outward visible signs of inward spiritual grace. Old things under Him pass away — all things become new. 13, 14. " For he of whom these things are spoken .... nothing concerning priesthood." The Messiah spoken of in prophecy was to be of the tribe of Judah, for He was to be the Son of David, and of this tribe nothing was spoken concerning Priesthood, and when 13G THE POWER OF AN ENDLESS LIFE. [IlEBRr^ws. 15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the siiniHtude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal command- ment, but after the power of an endless life. one of tlio good kings of this line ventured to perform a priestly office he was struck with leprosy, and till the day of his death lived as an excommunicated person. 15, 16. " And it is yet far more evident : for that after the simi- litude of Melchisedec." It is far more evident even than tbe fact that our Lord traces His descent from Judali, that another prirst ariseth after the order of Melchisedec. This I take to mean that though we are certain of the descent of Christ from Judah, because of the accuracy of the genealogies, yet there is a very direct word of God in Psalm 110, that Messiah is a priest after the order of Melchisedec. 16. " Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment." The law of a carnal commandment is supposed to be the law or rule of a fleshly descent, for that was the law after which the sons of Levi obtained the priesthood. Others refer it to the whole legal dispensation, which, though St. Paul calls it spiritual (Rom vii,), was. compared to the Gospel, carnal. " But after the power of an endless (indissoluble) life." Westcott well says, " Other priests were made priests in virtue of a special ordinance. He was made priest in virtue of His inherent nature." And so also, apparently, Chrysostom. " Because he lives by his own power." But there is a remarkable analogy, not sufficiently noticed, be- tween the idea here and that in Gal. iii. 21 : " For if a law had been given which could have given life, verily righteousness shoiild have been by the law." And Rom. viii. 3, " What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh . . . that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us," &c. Christ now exercises His Priesthood through His Life, by imparting to those who sincerely avail them- selves of His priesthood His very Life, the Life which is inherent, not only in His Spirit, but in His glorified Flesh. He exercises, at God's right hand, the power of an endless life, not merely exercising that power externally to Himself, as it were, but communicating Chap. YII.] A PRIEST FOR EVER. 137 17 For he testifietli, 'Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. ' Ps- '•"• *• eh. V. 6, iO. 18 For there is verily a disannulling of the & vi. 20. commandment goins' before for ^ the weakness '' ^°"^- ■''"'• 3. ° ° Gal. iv. 9. and unprofitableness thereof. 17. " He testifleth." •• It is testified," n, A., B., D., F., P., five or six Cursives, Sah., Copt., Syriac ; but C, K., L., most Cursives, Arm., JiLth., read, " he testifieth." His Life to us so that the power of His Life should be within us, because His Life itself is within us. 17. " For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." Eather, " it is testified of Him." The emphasis in the quotation is to be laid on the " for ever." He is made after tba power of a life which endures for ever. 18. " For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going hefore for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof." Wlien waa this " disannulling of the commandment going before ? " No doubt when Christ completed His Sacrifice, and its acceptance on God's part was shown by His Eesurrection from the dead. After that God, for a short time, suffered the continuance of the Jewish sacrifices in condescension to the infirmities of His people among the Jews, but when this Epistle was written it was on the eve of vanishing away. " For the weakness and unprofitableness thereof." It was weak "through the flep' " (Rom. viii. 3). It was unprofitable becaure it did not prodvice ihe fruits which it seemed from its holy nature calculated to produce: and this because, being mere unassisted command, it brought no life with it. (Gal. iii. 21). This place (verses 15-18) is of extreme importance, because here the doctrine of the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians meet and coalesce. According to Galatians iii. 21, the law could not produce righteous- ness because it could give no life, and according to Rom. viii. 1-4, it was weak through the flesh, and so One must come Who could give life and therefore strength to counteract its weakness, and here the weakness and unprofitableness is done away with because of the power of the Endless life of the Priest after the order of Melchisedec. 19. " For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of 138 NOT WITHOUT AN OATH. [Hebrews, 1 Acts xiii. 39. 19 For 'the law made nothiner perfect, 11 but Rum. iii. 20, ° ^ ' " ai, 28. &viii. the bringing m or "a better hope did; by the 3. Gal. ii. 16. . ^ t ch. ix. 9. which " we draw nigh unto God. the\'r■'''• "^^ 21 (For those priests were made 11 without an n Rom. V. 2. , , . . , Eph. ii. 18. & oath ; but this with an oath by him that said iii. 12. ch. iv. 16. & X. 19. » Or, without Swearing of an oath. 19. For translation of this see below. The Revisers translate, " There is a disannulling of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness (for the law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope." a better hope," This, and the latter part of the last verse should be rendered thus : " There is a disannulling of the commandment going before, for the law made nothing perfect, and there is also the bringing in of a better hope." These two things are side by side, as it were : the disannulling of the law, and the bringing in of a better hope. " Bringing in," a bringing in therefore (" super-introduction," Wordsworth,) of a better hope. The law was not abolished till a new and better thing, containing far greater hopeful promise, had taken its place. " By which we draw nigh unto God." The Law made nothing perfect. Something else was required to perfect the worshipper^ and this was the bringing of the better Hope. Must not this hop© (as Mr. Blunt suggests) be understood of the Personal Hope, the Lord Jesus Christ Who is our hope (1 Tim. i. 1) ? " For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain " (Acts xxviii. 20j. By this hope, by Him, we are made perfect. We get as near to God spiritually and sacramentally as creatures can come. (Heb. x. 20). 20. " And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest." A clause has to be supplied here. It may be as in the Authorized, " He was made priest," or " inasmuch as not without an oath it was done," i.e., the better hope was brought in. Both in the end are the same. For the bringing in of a better hope entirely depends upon the infinite greatness of the Priesthood. 21. " For those priests were made without an oath ; but this with an oath." The Aaronic priests were constituted priests by Chap. Vir.] AN UNCHANGEABLE PRIESTHOOD. 139 unto liim, ° The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec :) » Ps. ex. 4. 22 By so much. ^ was Jesus made a surety of a p ih. vui. e. '' "^ & ix. 15. & xii. better testament. 24. 23 And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death : 24 But this vian, because he continueth ever, l,2l'J^''^^^ hath II an unchangeable priesthood. fj^\\°^^ *" 21. "After the order of Melchisedec." So A., D., E., K., L., P., most Cursives, d, e, Copt., Syriac ; but omitted by N, B., C, Vulg., &c. God indirectly through the M ediatorship of Moses, but the High Priest of our profession by God himself with an oatli in the words, " The Lord swear and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever." 22. " By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testa- ment." "Testament" should here be rendered "covenant;" for it is the same word, and evidently stands for the same thing as in viii. 6, " The mediator of a better covenant." " By so much," by the fact that He was constituted by God Himself priest with an oath which the Aaronic priests were not. " Better," inasmuch as it made perfect those who availed them- selves of it, which the Aaronic covenant did not (verse 19). 23. " And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered," &c. "And they too were constituted priests many in numbers" (Eevisers). That is, not only were there more priests than one at a time, for the sons of Aaron, though they did not exercise the one great characteristic function of the High Priesthood on the great day of atonement, assisted their father in the highest ministra- tion : but there was a perpetual succession of high priests, for as each one soon passed away in death another had to be consecrated to supply his place. Now this constant succession of high priests must have interfered with the faith with which the Jews regarded the functions of their oflSce. Where the reconciling person was so often changed, there could not well be faith in the permanency of the reconciliation. 24. " But this man, because he conlinueth ever, hath an un- changeable priesthood." Not so much an unchangeable priesthood 140 SAVE TO THE UTTERMOST. [Hebrews. J Or, ever- 25 Wherefore he is able also to save them 11 to ^nore. q Rom.Tiii.34. the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing i-h i'x"'24.^' he ever liveth ' to make intercession for them, 1 John ii. I. ■^ ch. iv. 15. 26 For such an high priest became us, '^who is as a priesthood that doth not pass away, i.e., to another. I have noticed before (p. 58) how throughout this Epistle the idea of £xity and permanence attaches to Christ and His work. 25. " Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come." " To the uttermost." This may mean that no matter to what length sin goes he is able to subdue it and destroy it: or it may have regard to time, and is contrasted with the transient function of the Aaronic priest. Perhaps both ideas are combined. " That come unto God through him." They come to God pleading His Intercession. They come unto God through prayer and especially through the Eucharist in which they in an especial manner plead His Death — setting it forth till He comes. '* Seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." It is •quite supposable that if a Jew in the old times came to God through some particular high priest, that high priest might be cut off by death, before the spiritual work was accomplished, but it cannot be so with the Great High Priest. Owing to His perpetuity. His end- less Life, He can bring the particular salvation of each soul to per- fection. This place teaches us that the salvation of a soul is the work of God the Father through Christ, just as the creation of the world was the work of God through Christ. No Person in the Godhead does anything by Himself apart from the Others. "I can do nothing by myself." "He (the Holy Spirit) shall not speak of Himself." The work in each soul depends on the interces- sion of Christ working (humanly speaking) on the will of tho Father. 26. " For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harm- less," &c. "Became us," was fitting for us, answers our deepest needs. We are unholy, malicious, defiled, we participate with om fellow-sinners in their sin, we are of the earth, earthy. The High- priest that befits our state must be holy, because we have to be made holy. Any sympathy, even the least which He might have with sin, would prevent H'm cleansing us from it. He must be harmless (afcaicof) because we are fuU of malice and envy, and Chap. VIL] HOLY, HARMLESS, UNDEFILED. 141 holy, liarmless, uiidefiled, separate from sinners, ' and made- liierlier than the heavens : » Eph. i. 20. " . . . & i^- 10. ch. 27 Who ueedeth not daily, as those high priests, viii. 1. to offer up sacrifice, * first for his own sins, " and xvi^V, u". ch.. V. 3. & ix. 7. Lev. XV.. 1.5.^ He must pnt out all His power to fill us with His own loving Sj^irit. He is undefiled, in order that whilst He loves us He may abhor our defilement and assist us to the uttermost in cleansing us from it. He must be separate from sinners, because we are- involved not only in our own sins, but more or less in the sin of those around us. Christ asserted most strongly His separation from sinners when He asked, "Which of you couTinceth me of sin ?" And though He was tempted like as we are, yet it was with- out sin. " And made higher than the heavens." In this He is in contrast with the highest human priest who entered into the holy places made with hands, whereas He, our Mediator, enters into heaven itself; and so we have " an Advocate with the Father," as near to. Him as possible — on His Throne — on His right Hand. 27. " "Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins," &c. A very considerable difficulty has been made respecting the reconciliation of this place with Levit. vi. 20, From this latter place it has been gathered that the sin offering for the high priest was made only once in his life, on the day when he was anointed ; but the writer of the Epistle certainly implies that it was a daily offering ; and there seems to be no doubt of it if we take into consideration the word perpetual^ Cl\!pr)V generally rendered continually, "This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the Lord in the day when he is anointed, the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat-offering perpetually (or continually), half of it in the morning, and half of it thereof at night." It is on the face of it exceedingly unlikely that so important a matter of atonement as. the perpetual cleansing of the high priest should be confined to the presentation of the least and cheapest of all the offerings once in his life. No doubt the daily mincha was a memorial of th© more important sacrifice mentioned in Levit. ix. 7, and xvi. 6. " First for his own sins, and then for the people's." In Levit. xvi» 142 THIS HE DID ONCE. [Hebrews. then for the people's : for " this he did once, when he offered ^ Horn. vi. 10. up himself. <.-h. ix. 12, 28. ch. ix. s, 12, ■^ 24. uian. c ch. ix. n. 1. "Now of the things which we have spoken," &c. " Now on the things which we are sajing the chief point is this." 1. " Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum." Eather, this is the principal. This passage does not contain the summing up of all that precedes, but its chief point. We have such an High Priest : so transcendentally great a One as sat down on the right Hand of the Majesty on high. This refers to Psalm ex., "Sit thou on my right hand." The human high priest stood trembling once a year in the presence of the Schechinah. The Divine Priest is on His Throne at the right Hand of God. " A priest ■on his throne " (Zech. vi. 13). 2. "A minister of the sanctuary." A minister (leitourgos), i.e., a minister who performs a liturgy or public service in some respects answering to that performed by the priests, His types. " Of the sanctuary," i.e., following the meaning of the word in ix. 8. " The holiest of all, the holy of holies." Christ is the minister of that heavenly thing or place, which answers in sacred- 11 ess and dignity to that of the earthly holy of holies. "And of the true tabernacle." "True" here is in opposition not to false, but to typical. The true tabernacle is the reality, of which the earthly tabernacle is the representation. " Which the Lord pitched, and not man." We shall have to examine a little further on whether this tabernacle be the *' pattern " showed to Moses on the Mount, or whether it be a higher and more transcendental thing, nearer to the divine reality. 144 SOMEWHAT ALSO TO OFFER. [PIebrews. 3 For ''every High Priest is ordained to offer gifts and d ch. T. 1. sacrifices : wherefore ^ it is of necessity that this ch. L.14. ' man have somewhat also to offer. 4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a fOr, they are Priest, Seeing that 11 there are Priests that offer gifts according to the law : 4. " For if." K, A., B., D., 17, 73, 80, 13, d, e, f, Vnlg., read, " Nay if." E., K., L., most Cursives, "for if." "There are Priests." So K., L., most Cursives, Syriac ; bnt N, A., B., D., E., P., d, e, f, Vulg., Copt., read, " tiiere are those that offer." Whether the one or the other, it was the direct creation of God^ not made with hands, bnt pitched, or set up by God Himself. 3. " For every High Priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacri- fices." This is the essence of the priestly office, and by consequence, that of the High Priest, not to preach, or teach, or govern, or even to lead the devotions of his fellow-worshippers, but to offer gifts and sacrifices ; gifts, i.e., unbloody sacrifices, as the mincha — sacri- fices, i.e., slain animals. " Wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also^ to offer." What has He to offer ? Evidently Himself, but in Him- self His Church, His people, with all their prayers, their offerings, their good deeds, their self-denials. 4. "For if he were on earth, he should not be a Priest, seeing that there," &c. The succession of Aaronic priests and their sacri- fices were by God's own appointment, and He did not supersede and abolish them till He had raised up an infinitely better one to fill their place, or rather, to do what they could not do, to make perfect reconciliation. In this He respected not the priests, but His own appointment. He must be served by Priests. The cessation of the Levitical priesthood seems to me to be most emphatically illustrated by the rending of tlie veil at the moment of the completion of the all-sufficient sacrifice. Then the entrance into the holiest was made manifest. Then, when the symbol of exclusion was done away with, there was no need of a priest to enter in as the repre- ^entative of his brethren ; all, if they understood the significance of what God then accomplished, could enter. But of this more, hereafter. Of course, as Bishop Wordsworth says, He would not have beeru Chap. VIII.] ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN. 145 5 Who serve unto the example and * shadow of heavenly thinpfs, as Moses was admonished of God when *■ coi. w. 17. . ch. ix. 23. & he was about to make the tabernacle : ^ for, See, x. 1. saith he, that thou make all things according to 40. ^''xxwl'ab. the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. Num.'viii! 4. Acts vii. 44. 5. "Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things." " Who serve that which is the copy and shadow," &c. a priest in the Jewish sense of the word, for they could only imagine priests who were to be the sacrificers of victims. " The Apostle says this by way of self-defence, in order that he may show to the Hebrews that he does not disparage the Levitical Law, but rather regards it with veneration, as being a figure of heavenly things. Hence he admits that it would have been superfluous to call Christ a priest if He were on earth, inasmuch as there are still priests who discharge the priestly functions according to the Levitical Law." (Theodoret.) 5. "Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things." Serve, i.e., serve after the manner of divine service, " serve liturgically." "After the example." Sketch, dim outline, shadow, " Of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God . . . shewed thee in the mount." A question of some importance must be shortly considered. We find that Moses was oracularly warned (/cfxpr;/taVt(Trai) twice that he should make all according to the pattern shewed to him in the mount. On both these occasions the warning was given, not respecting the general outlines of the tabernacle, but respecting its details, even to the minutest parti- culars. Thus in Exod. xxv. 40 : " Thou shalt make the tongs thereof, and the snuflf dishes thereof shall be of pure gold. And look that thou make them after their pattern which was shewed thee in the mount," and in chap, xxvi, 30 : " And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end. And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars , . . according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount." Now was this pattern, which Moses was bid to copy so exactly, the heavenly things themselves, the greater and more perfect tabernacle which some, following Plato, call the ideal tabernacle, li 140 A MORE EXCELLENT MINISTRY. [Hebrews. 6 But now '' hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, b 2 Cor. iii. «, bv liow much also he is the mediator of a better 8,9. c-h.vii.22. "' tOr, testament. \\ Covenant, which was established upon better promisoi!. i eh.vii.ii, 18. 7 ' For if that first covena??^ had been faultlcss, then should no place have been sought for the second. the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not men, or was it this transcendental tabernacle translated, as it were, into a shape capable of being minutelj' copied, and so brought within reach of the intellects of the poor semi-barbarous people just emancipated from the Egyptian brick-kilns ? I think it must have been the latter. The heavenly tabernacle, parts of which St. John saw in his Apocalyptic visions, whether real or ideal, must have been infinitely beyond the power of the Israelites to copy, or to conceive of even in any worthy adequate way ; and a small outline, as it were, an viroSd-yfia, was placed before Moses, of whose details he could easily retain the memory. That which was shewed to Moses must have been as true a representation as the mind of man could take in of the eternal and transcendental realities ; and it taught him how these eternal things could be represented in the forms of time and sense. 6. " But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much," &c. The ministry which was superseded was good for the time before the Incarnation, for every thing ordained by God for the service of man is good ; though in the fulness of time it may be succeeded by a better. " By how much also he is the Mediator of a better covenant." " A better covenant," that is a covenant of grace rather than of works. " Established upon better promises." These better promises will be found in the words of Jeremiah prophesying of it, which immediately succeed. 7. *' For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place," &c. It was faulty, not on the score of unholiness or un worthi- ness, but on the score of deficiency. It could not give life, for, as the apostle says (Gal. iii. 21), " If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law " — i.e., by that law. €hap. VIII.] FINDING FAULT WITH THEM. 147 8 For finding fault with them, he saith, ^ Behold, the days ■come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new "^ Jer. xxxi. 31, .32, 33, 34. ■covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah : 9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the daj when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt ; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 8. •' For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold the days ■come," &c. "With the people who disobeyed the law, not with the law itself. " The days come," &c. This is taken from the Septuagint ot Jeremiah xxxi. 31, 34, which chapter is numbered xxxviii. in the Septuagint. The Lord speaks by the prophet to reassure the people of Israel who should return from the captivity of His continued blessing and 23rotection, but the fulfilment of the promise was in the far future. The new life — the law written not on tables of stone, but on the heart — could not be given till the new Nature was given in the Person of the Second Adam, the New Man. " With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." This looks to the time prophecied of in Ezekiel : " I will raake them one nation in the land upon the mountain of Israel : and one king shall be king to them all : and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more " (Ezek. :xxxvii. 21, 22). 9. " Not according to the covenant ... in the day when I took lihem." " In the day" must not be pressed literally, but signifies ■" the time." The covenant was made on the 50th day after the Exodus. The ratification is described in Exod. xxiv. 62 : " And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord . . . and he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people, and they said, All that the Lord hath said we will do," &c. "And I regarded them not," in the Hebrew " I was married to them." The Hebrew seems to agree best with the sense, when the people of Israel declined from God, God did not apparently disre- 148 I WILL BE TO THEM A GOD. [Hebrews- 10 For 'this is the covenant that I will make with the I ch. X. 16. house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord ;. t Gr give. J yf[\\ f put my laws into their mind, and write- m'zJcTwii.8 II ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^' liearts : and " I will be to them a. God, and they shall be to me a people : i> isa. liv. 13. 11 And "they shall not teach every man his 1 John ii. 27. ncighbour, and every man his brother, saying. 11. "His neighbour." Bather, "his fellow citizen" (t>iv ttoXiVjiv). So X, A., B., C, E., K., L., most Cursives ; but P. only among Uncials, and Vulg. and some Cursives read,. " neighbour." gard them, but punished them till he brought them to repentance.. No way of i*econciUng the two versions seems satisfactory. 10. " For tliis is the covenant that I will make ... I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts," &c. This is not strictly a covenant so much as a bestowal of grace without the least word respecting any requirement on the part of those who came under the covenant. No stipulation whatsoever is spoken of. It is simply " receive and live." He who comes to partake of this covenant has simply to believe in the promises of God, and is then admitted into the covenant, and at his admission has grace given to him to enable him to live hereafter as a member of" Clirist. If he fails to do so it is because he fails to live to, to realize^ to continue in, to stir up, the grace of his initiation. " I will be to them a God." I will be to them all that can be com- prehended under the Name " God " — I will be their Father, their- Protector, their Instructor, their Leader and Guide, their Redeemer^ their Sanctifier, and their Life-Giver. " They shall be to me a people." They shall be my chosen, my- children, my heirs, my Church. 11. "And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother," &c. This does not mean that under the New Covenant there shall be no teaching or instruction, for respecting the times of this New Covenant Isaiah prophecies :: " Thy teachers shall not be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see tby teachers " (xxx. 20), but it means tbat the knowledge of God in the Christian faith shall be readily received and acted upon in the life. bome (jupRtions suggest themselves on the above propbecy. We €iiAP. VIII.] ALL SHALL KNOW ME. 149 Know tlie Lord : for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. are now living, or suppose that we are living, under this new ■Covenant. We believe that it commenced at Pentecost, and has continued unto this time. Is it true of Christendom, of baptized and professing Christendom, at this day ? Has it been true or, to any great extent, true, of any period in any Christian country of which we have any knowledge ? Under the idea that this beautiful picture has never had any real existence, some have thought that it has only been true of a very select few — a Church consisting only of the true elect, an invisible Church composed altogether of true Christians and none else. But the terms of the prophecy altogether forbid any such a mode of explanation. It points to a general state of things. " I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah ; I will put my laws in their mind, they shall all know me from the least to the greatest " — to limit this to one man in, say, ten or twenty in the visible Church seems on the face of it, in utter disregard of the express language of the prophecy. Some, consequently, have explained it as if the fulfilment was yet future, that it principally refers to the ingathering of the whole Jewish people, but undoubtedly the Apostolic writer treats it as if it referred to the Covenant then administered by the Son of God. It may help us to the true understanding of all this to remember that the Church of Christ in the day of Pentecost actually com- menced with the state of goodness and holiness here described. Acts ii. 40 pictures a state of things exactly answering to the estab- lishment in the whole Christian body of this new and better cove- nant. The Epistles to the Thessalonians seem to describe a similar diffusion of the Spirit in the Church. So do the Epistles to the Ephesians and Philippians. If we take knowledge into account, so does the beginning of the Epistle to the Corinthians : " In every thing ye are enriched by him in all knowledge and in all utterance." The Epistle of St. John assures those who received it that " they have an unction from the Holy One, and they know all things." The possession of the New Covenant — the writing of the law in the heart — does not imply sinlessness. It does not make declen- sion from God impossible. It does not mean that the old nature is eradicated, or that the flesh is wholly subdued to the spirit : but 150 READY TO VANISH AWAY. [Hebrews. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, ° and Rom. xi. 21. their sins and their iniquities will I remembei ch. X. 17. no more. p 2 Cor. V. 17. 13 Pin that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. 13. "And their iniquities" omitted by N, B., f, Vulg., Copt., Syriac, -Eth. ; but re- tained by A., D., E., K., L., P., and most Cursives. if we are to do what may be unlawful, i.e., to judge of the state of Churches or bodies of men, it seems to demand an immense difle- rence between professing Christians and unconverted heathen or unbelievers, and those who have been able to compare Christian and heathen society tell us that there is this difference. A man of great piety and intelligence assured me that between Christians attached to what he conceived to be a superstitious form of worship and the heathen around them there seemed an impassable gulf. I have heard from Bishop Horden of the great lone land of whole tribes of Eed Indians, once the most degraded and murderous of mankind, living as close to the teaching of the Gospel as seems possible on this side of eternity. I have read of whole tribes of Australian savages being made saints of God. The literal meaning of this prophecy is to be held to, uud it i? in our power to revive it by prayer and faith, but this faith must be faith in the presence of Christ in His Church. 12. " For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins," &c. Let the reader note that in this prophecy the Sanctifi- cation, i.e., the writing of the law on the heart, is put first ; and the Justification, or what answers to it, afterwards. 13. " In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old." When God pronounces anything of man or thing, it takes- place. The Eevisers, with singular awkwardness, translate " that which decayelh and waxeth old" by "that which becometh old and waxeth aged." Surely " the old is better." CnAP. IX.] A WORLDLY SANCTUARY. 151 CHA.P. IX. THEN" yerily the first covenant had also |1 ordinances of divine service, and * a worldly sanctuary. i o.-, cere- 2 '' For thc-e was a tabernacle made ; the first, a Exod. xxv. s. b Exud.xxvi.l. 1. " A worldly sanctuary." " The worldly sanctuary " (its). Having in the last chaj^ter demonstrated the greatness of the priesthood of Christ above that of Aaron, and tlie superiority of the New Covenant compared to the old, he now proceeds to speak of the infinitely higher nature of the offering which He presented to God and the perfection of the cleansing by which the people of God were purified from sin. 1. " Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divino service." " Then verily," translated by Eevisers " now even." " The first covenant." Covenant is not expressed; so we have to choose between covenant and tabernacle. " Ordinances of divine service." That is, things ordered by God as right and fitting for His service or worship. "And a worldly sanctuary," i.e., a sanctuary made of materials found in this world, and having its place amongst the things of time and sense — in contrast with the sanctuary above. 2. " For there was a tabernacle made ; the first, wherein was the candlestick." It may be well here to notice that it is not the temple, hut the tabernacle whose arrangement and furniture the apostolic writer contrasts with those of the heavenly One. Why should this be? Was it because the ordering of the tabernacle was more directly from God ? But sm-ely Solomon himself was inspired with wisdom for the accomplishment of this work. May it not rather be explained thus : the tabernacle was ordered by God as to its minutest details, but the temple was only permitted? The terms on which it was permitted were very reserved, as if God gave the permission somewhat reluctantly. Solomon was suffered to build the temple, but God significantly reminded his father that diiring the time of the existence of the tabernacle, nearly 500 years, He had not said a word to any of the judges or rulers respecting 152 c ExoH. xxvi. 35. & xl. 4. d Exod. XXV. 31. • Exod. XXV. 23, 30. Lev. xxiv. 5, 6. O Or, koly. f Exod. xxvi. 31, 33. & xl. 3, 21. ch. vi. 19. THE HOLIEST OF ALL. [Hebrews. "'wherein was ''the candlestick, and ^ the table, and the shewbread ; which is called || the sanc- tuary. 3 ^And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all ; the erection of a more permanent habitation : " In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar ? " (2 Saml. vii. 7.) One of the chief significances of the tabernacle was its want of fixity. It betokened a presence whicli was not permanent, which depended upon the loyalty of the people to the one true God, and on this account, as well as because in its details it was more true to the original idea, the apostolic writer chose it as the text of his remarks. " The first." That is, the outer one. " Wherein was the candlestick." This was the seven-branched lamp stand described in Exod. xxv. 31. It may signify the seven- fold, i.e., the most perfect light of God's presence. In Eevel. iv. 5, the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne are the seven Spirits of God, i.e., the Spirit of God in His seven-fold illuminating energy. " And the table and the shewbread." This must have been the table on which the two rows of the loaves of the shewbread were placed. This seems to betoken that God would feed His people who came near to Him. The bread, i.e., the twelve loaves, were considered to be the offering of the people. They were brought near to God, and by this nearness they became hallowed. The shewbread in the Hebrew means " bread of the presence," because it was exhibited on the table just in front of the veil which concealed the mercy seat. '• Which is called the Sanctuary," i.e., the Holy Place, literally "holies" ("'yw). 3. " And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all." The first veil was that between the Holy Place and the court where the altar was situated. It is described, Exod. Chap. IX.l THE GOLDEN CENSER. 153 4 Wliieli had the ffolden ceuser, and ^the ark s Exod.xw. 1 . , , , ■ 1 1 1 !"• 'SxxM. 33. of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, ^ xi. 3, 21. wherein was ''the golden pot that had manna, 33,34°'""' and ' Aaron's rod that budded, and '' the tables of ' ^'"■"•'^^^••10. k Exo(i. XXV. the covenant : 16, ?i &xxxiv. 2f". &xl.2ii. Dear. X. 2, 5. 1 Kin. viii. 9, sxxvi. 37. The second veil, which was more costly and v/jo. ornamented with the figures of cherubim, was between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. This was the veil which was rent at the moment when the Lord expired. 4. " Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant." There is very considerable difficulty here. Some suppose that it was the altar of incense which was before the inner veil alongside of the candlestick and the table of shewbread ; but it seems im- possible to suppose that not even by mistake or inadvertence could this altar of incense be said to be in the Holy of Holies, for tiie most Holy Place could only be entered on one day in the year, and this altar of incense was used twice a day. It is very probable that there was a censer of pure gold which was kept in the Holy of Holies and only used there when the High Priest entered. The reader will find in McCaul on the Epistle to the Hebrews, pages 111-112, ample evidence from Rabbinical writers that they recog- nized that there was a golden censer for incense devoted exclusively to the ceremonial of the great day of atonement, a censer of silver being used on all other occasions. " And the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold." "Whether thei-e was any ark in the temple of Herod is more than doubtful. It is mentioned by Josephus that when Pompey intruded into the Holy of Holies, he found it quite empty. He saw without the candlestick, and the table, and the pouring vessels, but not a word about that which was incomparably the most sacred thing of all. " Wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod," &c. It is expressly said that at the dedication of Solomon's temple *' there was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt " (1 Kings, viii. 9). " And the tables of the covenant." Such were the glories of the 154 THE CHERUBIMS OF GLORY. [Hebrews. 5 And ' over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the 1 Exod. XXV. mereyseat : of which we cannot now speak par- is, 22. Lev. . r 1 xvi. 2. 1 Kin. ticularly. 6 Now when these things were thus ordained. first covenant at its first establishment. They had all disappeared ages before the Epistle was written, and yet the Apostolic writer recounts them, for it is his desire to describe the cii-cumstautials of the first covenant when it was at its best, in its pristine glory, not when it was in a decaying state. It may enter into the minds of some, how was it that these relics of a glorious past were not preserved by the providence of God ? but if it had been so, they would have been mere antiquities — mere curiosities. For what would the pot of manna haA^e signified when the Living Bread was given at the altar of the Church — what the rod of Aaron's succession after the Lord had said respecting the Apostles, " As my Father sent me, so send I you " — what the tables written on stone when the spiritual law was written by the Holy Ghost Himself on the fleshly tables of every Christian's heart ? 5. " And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy Beat." In all the visions of the manifestation of the presence of God these winged creatures are represented as very near to Him. Thus, in Isaiah vi. (where, however, they are called the seraphim), and in Ezekiel i. and in Eevel. iv. If then the presence of God was supposed to be manifested in any local sanctuary, repre- sentations of these, his immediate attendants, were very fitting. Prideaux quotes a Rabbinical book which says, "the author of the book Cozri justly says that the ark, with the mercy seat and cherubims, were the foundation, root, heart and marrow of the whole temple and all the Levitical worship therein performed." (Quoted in McCaul, p. 119.) " Of which we cannot now speak particularly." That is, we cannot describe them minutely. Some suppose that he means that he cannot speak at any length respecting their typical mean- ing. So Chrysostom, " In these words he hints that there was not merely what was seen, but that they were also a sort of figures with hidden meaning." 6. "Now when these things were thus ordained, the Priests went always," &c. The priests entered every day into the Holy Chap. IX.] NOT WITHOUT BLOOD. 155 "the Priests went always into the first tabernacle, accom- plishing the service of God. ^ ^"^d^ Tii^' 7 But into the second went the High Priest li. alone " once every year, not without blood, "which lo. Lev. xvi. he ottered for himself, and for the errors of the si. ;er.'2.->.' people : I'll. V. 3. & vii. 21. Place to trim the seven-branched candlestick, to oflfer incense oq the altar of incense, and once a week to put new loaves on the talile of sbewbread. 7. " But into the second went the High Priest alone once every year." Into the second, i.e. the Holy of Holies. " The High Priest alone." Not only did he enter into the Holy of Holies by himself, but it was expressly ordained that " no one was to be in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make atonement" (Levit. xvi. 17). " Once every year." This more properly means on one day in the year, for on that day the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies twice at least ; later Rabbinical traditions say four times in all. " Not without blood." First he had to offer the blood of a, bullock for himself (Levit. xvi. 14), and then that of a goat, the blood of each of which he had to bring with the veil, " and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat." " Which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people." " Errors," apparently sins of ignorance. But the words of Levit. xvi. are not confined to these. " He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the chhdren of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins." It is remarkable, however, that in the accounts of the sin-offer- ings and trespass-offerings in Levit. iv. and v., only sins of ignorance, or committed in ignorance, seem to be recognized as within the scope of such offerings. There seems to be no atone- ment by sacrifice contemplated for idolatrj'-, or breaches of the sixth and seventh commandments. This is alluded to by St. Paul in Acts xiii. 39. Calvin has a good remark : " No sin is free from error or igno- rance ; for however knowingly or ignorantly any one may sin, yet it must be that he is blinded by his lust, so that he does not judge. 156 NOT YET MADE MANIFEST. [Hebrkws. 8 PTlie Holy G-host this signifying, that ""the way into pch. X. 19, 20. the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing : 9 Which ivas a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, "■Gal 111 21. fthat could not make him that did the service en. vii. IS, 19. & X. 1, 11. perfect, as pertaining to the conscience : rightly, or rather he forgets himself and God ; for men never de- liberately rush headlong into ruin, but being entangled in the deception of Satan, they lose the power of judging rightly." 8. "The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all," &c. " The holiest of all " signifies or typifies the Yery presence of God Himself — God perfectly reconciled. A de- scription of this " holiest " is given us in images taken from out- ward and visible things in Rev. iv. The entrance into its earthly type was made manifest by the rending of the veil at the moment of the Lord's Death. The fact that the Holiest of all was concealed hehind a veil, signified that there was a something between God and His chosen people which hindered their free access to Him, which thing was not removed till the Son of God had completed His Sacrifice. " The first tabernacle was yet standing." Literally, " had stand- ing," or as Bishop Westcott paraphrases, " Whilst the first taber- nacle still has an appointed place, answering to a Divine Order." The first tabernacle here signifies not the mere tent, but the whole Levitical system of which it was the sphere. 9. "Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered," &c. " Figure," literally " parable." " For the time then ju-esent," rather, " for the time now present." Though the new state of things was already revealed, and had been for some time, yet God at this time had not altogether set aside the old dis- pensation, but permitted its continuance among the converted Jews. The Jew when he worshipped God in the temple according to the Mosaic ritual, worshipped in a place the very structure of which betokened imperfection in the relations of the worshippers to the God Whom they worshipped. If the veil which hid the Chap. IX.] CARNAL ORDINANCES. 157 10 Which stood only in ^ meats and drinks, and ' Lev. xi. 3. . . *-^ol. ii. Ui. * divers washings, "and carnal |1 ordinances, im- t Num. xix. 7.. posed on them until the time of reformation. u^.:„h.ii. 1.5 Col. li. 20. ch. vii. 1(3. II Or, rites, or,. cerenwines. 10. " And carnal ordinances." " And " omitted by X, A., D., P., eight Cursives, d, e,. Sah., Copt., Syr., Arm.,