It is by this way of "the will" that we have been purified through the once and for all offering of the body of Christ. As Paul points out, Christians need patience that they may do the will of God and that they "might receive the promise." He beholds them with great displeasure; they are an offence to him. It may then be stated summarily, in few words, unless I am greatly mistaken, that the word should always be translated "covenant" in every part of the New Testament, except in these two verses; namely, Hebrews 9:16-17. It is true that victims were sometimes slain in ratifying a covenant, and thus were the seal of that covenant; but, first, they were not essential; and, secondly and chiefly, , the covenanter or contracting party had in no case to die in order to make the contract valid. (3.) (1.) Let us next apply the word "covenant" here, and you will soon see the insuperable difficulties into which you are plunged. And we'll get an interesting listing of these men of faith as we move on into chapter 11, the glorious chapter on faith.And now may the Lord be with you, watch over and keep you in His love as you walk in faith in Him. He is not simply a saint who lived a lovely life; not simply a martyr who died an heroic death; not simply a risen figure who returned to company with his friends. For the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is complete. (Compare Acts 15:22.) Hebrews 10:19-25 is an encouraging bridge between two major sections of the book of Hebrews. ( Micah 6:6-8). All within the kingdom rejoiced.In the meantime, the princess had again been incarcerated because the court's judgment had not been executed. ( Heb 10:29) The Mosaic covenant was ratified with blood; and with that blood both the tabernacle with all its vessels, and the people who worshipped before it, were sanctified, and set apart as holy to the Lord. Indeed, at no time will its order be more apparent than at present; for I think there can be little doubt to any unbiassed Christian who enters with intelligence into the Old Testament prophecies, that there is yet to be an earthly sanctuary, and, consequently, earthly priests and sacrifices for Israel in their own land; that the sons of Zadok, as Ezekiel lets us know, will perpetuate the line at the time when the Lord shall be owned to be there, in the person of the true David their King, blessing His people long distressed but now joyful on earth. In truth, the substratum was the same, and therefore it was not only quite lawful so to call it, but if he had not, the design would have been marred. But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions ( Hebrews 10:32 ); Remember what you went through in the beginning of your faith. Christians must be on their guard and persistent in prayer if they are to endure firmly to the end ( Luke 21:36 ; Colossians 4:2 ). Because of Jesus the barrier of sin is for ever taken away. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works ( Hebrews 10:24 ): And so that's as we're together exhorting each other for a greater love and good works. There it was in the Psalms. Baptizing by the disciples - This was done apparently under the direction of Christ ( John 3:26; 4:2 ). By His one offering we have been perfected forever. Let us hold fast the profession of our hope [for so it should be] without wavering (for he is faithful that promised); and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Before that he served as director and teacher at Calvary Chapel Bible College, Germany, following more than 20 years of pastoral ministry. This is talking to the Jew who is wavering in his faith in Jesus Christ and who is seeking to go back to the priest with a sin offering. All things here are but shadows. Many are the troubles of the righteous. "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? In order that in this body, He might become the perfect, complete sacrifice for man. This leads into the life of faith, which was a great stumbling-block to some of these Christian Jews. Sinful man cannot be one with a holy God.Paul, writing to the Corinthians, who lived in that city that was so debauched, that the word Corinthian became a synonym for a totally debauched person. Earlier verses completed a long, detailed explanation of why the new covenant is superior to the old covenant. A priest, as such, could no more draw near into the presence of God in the holiest than any of the common people. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." As in chapter 6 he declares that he is persuaded better things of them, than that they would abandon the Holy Ghost; so here he expected better things than that they would thus dishonour the sacrifice of Christ In that case, he says, God was not unrighteous to forget their work and labour of love; in this case, he lets them know that he had not forgotten the way in which they had suffered for Christ. We shall find another use before we have done, which I hope to notice in its place. "Remember the things that you endured because of your faith in Jesus Christ.". In their names and reputations (Hebrews 10:33; Hebrews 10:33), by many reproaches. Once again the writer to the Hebrews is drawing a series of implicit contrasts between the sacrifice that Jesus offered and the animal sacrifices that the priests offer. This then is the monument for such as we are. "And, as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. Accordingly we find everything about Moses. What fellowship hath light with darkness? (ii) Jesus is the High Priest over God's house in the heavens. The reference is therefore plain and sure. If one lives by faith during times of duress, then he will receive reward from God. For another thing, the life and death of Jesus was an act of perfect obedience and, therefore, the only perfect sacrifice. He is "minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not of man." (2) Willful sin shall certainly result in eternal destruction. 10:1-10 Because the law is only a pale shadow of the blessings which are to come and not a real image of these things, it can never really fit for the fellowship of God those who seek to draw near to his presence with the sacrifices which have to be brought year by year and which go on for ever. Christ Himself could not add to the perfectness of that sacrifice by which He has put away sin. And of what did Christianity speak? . Of how much worse punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant [this new covenant], wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite to the Spirit of grace? But let not the Gentile boast, no less unbelieving no less arrogant, against true Christianity. We may remember how the dying soldier lad looked up at Florence Nightingale and murmured: "You're Christ to me.". They were afflicted in themselves. Hebrews 10:36, NASB: For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. It only covered their sins. 30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. I have no access to God. He that possesses the one must not eschew the other. But although it will be the shaking of all things, not of earth only but also heaven, yet, marvellous to say, such confidence of heart does grace give, that this, which may be regarded as the most awful threat, turns into a blessed promise. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus ( Hebrews 10:19 ), I can enter in where He entered in, right in to the presence of the Father. For not merely did David receive from Jehovah that throne, but never were the people of God lifted out of such a state of distress and desolation, and placed on such a height of firm and stable triumph as under that one man's reign. Over on your left is another door, behind which are several tigers. . The grace or principle of patience comes from God; the use and exercise of that grace is of yourselves. And then, in the centre of all, we have God Himself. For we know who it was who said: "Vengeance belongs to me; it is I who will repay," and again: "The Lord will judge his people." He is showing us the efficacy of Christ's death. The burnt offerings were offerings of consecration where I would consecrate my life to God. And, finally, he sums up the superiority of Christ in this, that "they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: but he, because of his continuing for ever, hath the priesthood intransmissible." Compare alsoEphesians 2:1-22; Ephesians 2:1-22. Holy Scripture then demanded that a man should sit down at the right hand of God. D. The Danger of Willful Sinning (The Fourth Warning) 10:19-39. "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.". "Conscience of sins" means a dread of God's judging one because of his sins. Peter said, "God is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness. But how? Moffatt speaks of "the levitical drudges" who, day in day out, kept offering these sacrifices. From the methods of divine justice with those who despised Moses's law, that is, sinned presumptuously, despising his authority, his threatenings and his power. Hebrews 6:10-12). For Jesus was the Messiah that God had promised in their scriptures. It is quite legitimate to employ it in an fortiori way, as the apostle does in Ephesians 6:1-24. Here it is the proof of the perpetual efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ. 7. He only removes obstructions, and maintains our communion with Himself; surely this ought to settle every question for the believer. Have you come to mock me because of the fate that I have?" But they are completely gone; and therefore at God's right-hand sits down He who is its witness. Then by accident he discovered who it was who had laid information against him--it was his own son. He draws attention to the well-known rites of the atonement day; at any rate, if not of that day exclusively, wherever there was a beast the body of which was burnt without the camp, and the blood carried within the veil. He presses them to persevere, from that recompense of reward that waited for all faithful Christians (Hebrews 10:35; Hebrews 10:35): Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. (iii) Sin is the insult to the Holy Spirit. The cleansing of our heart occurs when we receive our pardon and we are deemed pure by God. For, says he, "we have an altar," yea, more than that, an altar, "whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle." . By doing this they would do Gods will and eventually receive what He promised, namely, an eternal reward (Hebrews 1:14; Hebrews 3:14; Hebrews 9:15; Matthew 6:19). Now there are two doors, two things that can be done for your sins. Then comes forth the wondrous counsel that was settled before either the sin of man, or the promises to the fathers, or the law which subsequently put man to the test. Nothing produces a shudder like sacrilege. This would be a day of dispersion and temptation to the chosen remnant. For if he were on earth, he should not even be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve the representation and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was oracularly told when about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern that was shown to thee in the mountain. These things stand alone. does not express eternity (which would be , or some such form of words) but "for continuance." of God, rather than burnt offerings." [Note: Lane, Hebrews 9-13, p. It meant that a man was taking something dear to him and giving it to God to show his love. We must bear in mind that Melchisedec was a man like any other. At the end of his course there was a still heavier tax on him. 19 Therefore, brothers,[ a] since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance . There is an appointed time for both, and beyond that time he will not tarry, Habakkuk 2:3. Not of course that one denies that He has His own proper place, for all is perfect as to each person of the Trinity and all else, but never to this end. He sat down there as of His own right and title, but nevertheless making a part of His divine glory to be witnessed in, as indeed His person was necessary to make His blood efficacious to the purging of our sins. Thank God! These evidently are the elders of olden times. The millennial day will see this. The motive or reason enforcing this duty: He is faithful that hath promised. (1.) For you had compassion of me and in my bonds, and you took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and an enduring substance ( Hebrews 10:34 ). Both are true; and Moses is the type of the latter, as Abraham of the former. that good portion which shall not be taken away from those who cleave to the Crucified, who is now exalted in heaven? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will repay, saith the Lord. 26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. "There was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is called holy. In short, there is. Have done the will of God By keeping the faith, and patiently suffering for it. They were the only ones that used the Hebrew language. Stevenson said that he so believed in the ultimate decency of things that if he woke up in hell he would still believe in it; and we must have a grip on the faith that nothing can loosen. Paul writes about the peace one has with God through His grace: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Reason is ever drawing conclusions; God is, and reveals what is. Matthew 1-10 Matthew 11-28 Mark Luke John 1-7 John 8-21 Acts Romans 1, 2 Corinthians Galatians-Ephesians Philippians-Colossians-1, 2 Thessalonians 1, 2 Timothy-Titus-Philemon Hebrews James-1, 2 Peter 1,2,3 John-Jude Revelation 1-5 Revelation 6-22 . He awaits the final subjugation of his enemies; in the end there must come a universe in which he is supreme. At the beginning of this passage he says: "You did not desire sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt-offerings and sin-offerings and you took no pleasure in them," and it is such offerings as these that the law prescribes. ( Hebrews 12:1) Application of the demonstrations of enduring faith in Hebrews 11 . Here ye must be workers together with God. When it says that Abraham looked for the city, it means a blessed and ordered scene of glory on high, which eclipsed the Holy Land before his eyes. Actually, he is saying we should gather together all the more as we see the day of the Lord approaching. God is the searcher of hearts, and he requires truth in the inward parts. This was a final call; and how gracious! Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me ( Hebrews 10:5 ): Now this is a quotation from Psalm 46 . And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called holy of holies; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold." To what then are we come? But having looked up to Him who is above all, he speaks of the highest group next to God in His judicial character, namely, the Old Testament saints. But in our way there are many hindrances and difficulties, which not only delay us, but which would also stop our course altogether, except we had great firmness of mind to pass through them. He doesn't have to do it every day. A. (4.) Oh how happy is the man to whom God does not impute iniquity." "God, I'll do this for You if You'll do this, this and this." It is also founded on one of their own prophets. So, taketh away the first that He might establish the second. Nor is it pleasant to nature. Its members must be loyal or nothing. Nothing but absolute establishment of heart in God's grace could have gazed on a destroyed universe, and yet call it a "promise." If by five o'clock this evening you do not go to the door on your right and enter that door declaring to all within the kingdom that from now on you will be a faithful and devoted wife, then the door on your left will be opened and the death which he almost died to save you from will come upon you, and this time without any hope of escape. So the three things: he's trodden under foot the Son of God, counted the blood of Christ as nothing, and has done despite to the Spirit of grace. He saw his error at last, and put his seal on God's original appointment of the matter. For one thing, the sacrifice of Jesus perfectly shows the love of God In that life of service and in that death of love, there stands fully displayed the heart of God. And during the night the tigers, drawn by the scent of human flesh, would come and devour the victims. For by one offering and for all time he perfectly gave us that cleansing we need to enter into the presence of God. On the other hand, the priests, Aaron's family, among the sons of Levi, "have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham." He is describing, then, the indwelling of Christ by the Spirit, the recognition of an indwelling Christ who offers to clothe himself with our personality and is prepared to live his life over again in our circumstances, right where we are. The apostle argues that, just as the blood of the beast was brought into the holiest of all, while the body of the same animal was taken outside the camp and burnt, so this too must be made good in our portion. We are not come to Sinai, the mountain that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and a voice more terrible than that of the elements. A man might be able to direct an enquirer to Buckingham Palace and yet be very far from having the right to take him into the presence of the Queen; but Jesus can take us the whole way. For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. These priestesses in the temple of Aphrodite were prostitutes. When first they had become Christians they had known persecution and plundering of their goods; and they had learned what it was to become involved with those under suspicion and unpopular. He uses in the most skilful manner the change of the priest, in order to bring along with it a change of the law, the whole Levitical system passing away "but [there is] the bringing in of a better hope." That the word ( ) in this connection means "testator" appears to me beyond just question. He who has promised is faithful. The hill of Zion up to this time had been the constant menace of the enemy against the people of the Lord; but in due time, when David reigned, it was wrested out of the hands of the Jebusites, and became the stronghold of Jerusalem, the city of the king. On the other hand, if the medicine is ineffective, every time he looks at the bottle he will be reminded that he is ill and that the recommended cure was useless. ], Now was not the time to discard that confidence in a better reward (cf. 28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? It is with care that he picks his words. It is probably a bad translation. Then turning to the princess he said, "Over on your right there is a door, and behind that door there stands your husband, the prince, the one that you betrayed. How easily we even forget that we are not Jews but Christians! Barrie somewhere wrote to Cynthia Asquith: "Your first instinct is always to telegraph to Jones the nice thing Brown said about him to Robinson. They had met that situation with gallantry and with honour; and now, when they were in danger of drifting away, the writer to the Hebrews reminds them of their former loyalty. Thus the Pentateuch and the Psalms bore their double testimony to a Priest superior to the Aaronic. You can have Cooper's Town and everything else. . [5.] Please feel free to link to pages on this site, but do not copy articles without authors' permission. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? We hear first of Melchisedec (King of righteousness), next of Salem or peace; without father, without mother, without genealogy. He says that these things are a pale shadow. (2.) It is not so much the power but the love of God which must conquer in the end. Accordingly he now turns to set forth the contrast between the weakness and the unavailingness of the Jewish sacrifices, which, in point of fact, only and always brought up sins again, instead of putting them away as does the sacrifice of Christ. 39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp." The apostle earnestly insists on them both. There is nothing capricious about the usage. He shows them how necessary a grace the grace of patience is in our present state (Hebrews 10:36; Hebrews 10:36): You have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God you might receive the promise; that is, this promised reward. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompence of reward. ." Thus the only time when he comes into notice he is acting in the double capacity here spoken of: King of righteousness as to his name, King of Salem as to his place, blessing Abraham on his return from the victory over the kings of the Gentiles in the name of the Most High God, and blessing the Most High God the possessor of heaven earth in the name of Abraham. This is a different way of looking at His session there. Carefully observe that it is the tabernacle, never the temple. If He is to be often offered, He must also often suffer. In these consists our double present association by faith, while on the earth. "By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king." Looking at Jesus, we can say: "That is what God is like." Christ has gone into the presence of God," having obtained eternal redemption." 6. And I sit down and eat with God the peace offering. And again, pointing not to our faithfulness, but the faithfulness of God. But these things were ineffective to remove the real pollution of sin. Christ is doing nothing there to take away sin; nor when He comes again will He touch the question of sin, because it is a finished work. And one winter in Capua did what the Roman legions had not succeeded in doing. So the encouragement is to hold fast the profession; don't waiver. and made it still more manifest and heinous. Every morning and every evening a male lamb of one year old, without spot and blemish, was offered as a burnt-offering. The content of our hope is our complete salvation in Christ. He could know nothing of the mystery of the church, Christ's body, nor of her bridal hopes; but he did look for what is called here the "heavenly Jerusalem," that city "whose maker and builder is God." What was the necessity for a new covenant if the old one would do as well? We have just the fact of their passing through the Red sea, and no more; as we have the fall of Jericho, and no more. You took no pleasure in whole burnt-offerings and in sin-offerings. It is so deeply a part of their tradition that they guard it fiercely. He ends by asking what happens if men disregard the offer of Jesus Christ. He is labouring for this, and with divine skill accomplishes it, by the testimonies of their own law and prophets. Our bodies washed with pure water, that is, with the water of baptism (by which we are recorded among the disciples of Christ, members of his mystical body), or with the sanctifying virtue of the Holy Spirit, reforming and regulating our outward conversation as well as our inward frame, cleansing from the filthiness of the flesh as well as of the spirit. Hebrews 10:23-25 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. "The worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen" which would not be the case if it was only a dispensation "were not made of things which do appear. The word he uses is eikon ( G1504) , which means a complete representation, a detailed reproduction. 2Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been David has been happy to be part of the Blue Letter Bible . No other seat was suitable to such a One. We are brought, then, washed from our sins, to God, and, according to this epistle, into the holiest of all, where He displays Himself. The father of the faithful was the one first called out by promise. We have the church, but even when the expression "church" occurs, it is the church altogether vaguely, as inHebrews 2:12; Hebrews 2:12, or viewed in the units that compose it not at all in its unity. The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. Of how much worse punishment, do you think, that man will be deemed worthy who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, who has failed to regard the blood of the new covenant, with which he was made fit for God's presence, as a sacred thing, and who has insulted the Spirit through whom God's grace comes to us?