PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews
James Barmby [1822-1897] · 397,008 words · 427 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 121
searching and resietless now. True, it is e.s expressing, by recurrence to the figure of through the Hypostatic Word that the God- a sword, the thoroughness of the division of head has ever operated, of old as well as so~ nnd spirit. Further, the division spoken now, being God's etemal utterance of him- of IS surely no…
1,113 wordsSECTION 122The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 122
that of" joints" is its proper and more usulll qne et dist.inctissimns visui pntent." Me.ny one), regards these and the "me.rrow" as (Elsner, Wolf, Baumgarten, Kuinoel Bret- C'orresponding respectively to the ,i,u;,c¾, e.nd schneider, Bleek, De Wette, etc., foliowing the v,,rvµa: the "1ux¾, being understood e.s Perizon…
1,033 wordsSECTION 123The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 123
is connected logically with tho participial "passed. through." There may p-0asi'bly (a.a clause as a resumption of the whole pre- some thmk) be an intention of contrasting ceding argument. Certainly the idea of him with Joshua. ('l'TJ<roiir, ver. 8), who won the participial clause is the prominent one the entrance into…
1,093 wordsSECTION 124The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 124
lu-ra11p@6,i I{ li.u8,v,las, though ho now lives jeot of the Divine and human in Obrist, h owclµ,oa e,oii" (2 Cor. xiii. 4). The latter The following thoughts may, however, aid part of the verse corresponds in meaning solution. That Christ, in his humau ne.ture, with eh. ii. 18, but with further delineation partook …
951 wordsSECTION 125The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 125
the substratum and basis of all peace and rest-the pledge of an ultimate and satisfactory purpose in creation" (Dr. Sapbir). II. THE BEST OF Goo PROMISED To MAN. This "promise" (ver, 1) is the result of God's fatherly love. For man, although he has fallen from his rest, is still the child ?f God, belo~ed in spite of…
858 wordsSECTION 126The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 126
character. Rather it is an eye which detects the true spiritual condition of every one upon w)iom it gazes. That awful eye never closes. It reads the most secret thoughts and desires of the soul, and pronounces judgment upon the impenitent for doom. Even the manner in which a man treats the promises and threatenings…
1,121 wordsSECTION 127The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 127
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 1.-Fear of failin_q to realize the promised rest. "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left," etc. Let us notice- I. THE GREAT PROMISE. "A promise being left of entering into his rest." Lnter in the chapter (vers. 6-9) the writer shows from the Old Testament thnt such a. pro…
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of sin. Thus, as regards the guilt and bondage and punishment of sin, they who believe in the Saviour "do enter into rest.n !I. REST FROM THE PRESSURE OF TEMPORAL ANXIETIES IS ATTAINED BY FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. There is much of mental disquietude and distress amongst men as to the possibilities of their physi…
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Ver. 9.-Rest a future portion of the Christian believer. "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." We have already spoken of the rest which is the present privilege of the Christian: "\Ve which have believed do enter into that rest." Ilut that does not satisfy all our desire and aspiration. We crave a…
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hie fe.ce." 11 They are before the throne of God ; and they serve him day anrl night in hie temple." 'I'. .Aquinas speaks of this service e.s videre, amare, et laudare. But it must not be limited to these exercises. Enough for us to know that there will be services for us to render-continuous services, blessed services…
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ctc, The Word of God is frequently compared to a sword. "The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." And to a two-edged sword. "Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword." "As it is from the mouth that man's word proceeds ; eo this sword, not ~;elded in the hand, but proceeding from the mouth of the Son of …
751 wordsSECTION 132The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 132
of God; not only n11ked, stripped of all covering and concealment but also laid prostrate in their exposure before his eye." He transl11tes, "lying open'unto." Ebrard adopts the interpretation, "to bend any one's neck backwards, and thereby to lay bare the throat; hence in general, to lay bare." Others interpret it to …
790 wordsSECTION 133The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 133
Ver. 16.-The Ohristi,an's approach to the throne of grace. " Let ·us therefore come boldly unto the throne," etc. Onr text suggests the following observations:- I.. MAN'S OREA: ?-.~ED Is MEROY. " That we may receive mercy" is our great reqmrement. 'l'h1s will be obvious if we reflect for a moment on our position in …
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Vers, 1-11.-The more terrible result of apostasy from Cfhrist seen in the better rest to which Christ leads. Still dealing with the superiority of Christ to Moses. Having shown the possibility of departing from Christ as they did from Moses, he goes on to show thnt, since Christ was greater than Moses, the evil of depa…
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Divine fellowship _will be the true sabbath-kceping. 3.. It will be rest fo holy service, Sabba_th d!,YS to !us _People are days of sacred work. Som heaven" they serve him day and night. One kmd of work over, but another taken up, and only in this work will our_ spirit r~st. D~ing nothing rests the body, but the heart …
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doings. There may be no outward departure, but inner backslidin"0 ; and if so, the Word discovers and judges it. II. FnoM TllE SIN OF APOSTASY OUR HIGH PRIEST IS ABLE TO DELIVER us. How delightful to be able to turn from the preceding to this: " Having a great etc. " ! From the fears excited we are bidden to look up t…
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sal:ntion have a Diviner hope, and are taught to look for a Divine and eternal rest, which shall embrace more blessedness than we can at present imagine. It stands in happy contn:ist _to the toil of daily life and the sight of imperfection in ourselves and others. It signifies rest from the stern duties of the mortific…
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this Divine thought. There remains, after all these illustrations of the promise of rest, aomething yet to come. This is the method of Divine wisdom and mercy to go from one stage of revelation to a higher, until the types and facts of the past find their completeness and perfection in the blessings of the gospel "Howb…
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Vers. 14-16.-Steadfastness. I. TnEBE IS HEBE ENOOUR.AGEMENT TO STEADFASTNESS FROM THE DIGNITY AND SPHERE OF OUR LORD'S MINISTRY. He is called the great High Priest, who stands in exalted contrast to Aaron and all his successors in the important duty of representing the people before God and representing God to the p…
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angels, all creation, all providence with its wide range and marvellous machinery, all the agencies of the Church and the gift of the Divine Spirit, are under his uuidance. h is the throne of grace, and stands in contrast to the awfulness of Sinai, and the solitary chamber of the holy of holies, into which the high pri…
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doubtless did mean to be docile, obedient, an<l patient; and a few at least must have l1een in real accord with Jehovah's aim. But what availed a few, if the bulk of the people sat before Jehovah in carnal indifference? If we would profit by the greater gospel to us- I. WE MUST BELIEVE IT TO BE TRUE. This very thia…
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mttted that we look to the sunset and think of rest from t0?,1, But let us also tak8 pride in the work we have to do, thinking that some day, by the Spirit of God working in us, the workmanship will be complete. God will have his particular sabbatism in us; and we, complete in Christ, shall get our sabbatism with God.-…
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~~ere it_ was, a _real ac~nowledgment, quite enough out of which t.o make a striking 1l,ustra.t1on of him who 1s the real great High Prlest~esus, the Son of God. He also has passed through and gone behind a veil, the veil that separates the seen from the unseen, What a thought of tbe unseen, that It is God's true ho…
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cer~inonial by which might be set forth, by the best means attainable at the time, s~mething as to w:bat a priest, an offering and an approach to God, ought to be. The very defects of the priest taken from among men emphasize the need of something immeasurably better. Sinful men should be able to sympathize with sinful…
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The intention of vel'I!. 1-10 being 88 e.nd bloody offerings of the Lo.w (of. Ps. xl. 6, above explained, it is e. mistake to suppose "Sacrifice and offering (Bvulav Kai ,rpocrq>opft11 any contrast intended here between the LXX.) thou didst not desire;" Dan. ix. 27, Bua-la Kai cr1ro111i~ : and also J er. xvii. 26. To …
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from priests having themselves infirmity, (Ps. ii. 7; ex. 4) must be taken together for yet he had, in hie human nature, experienced the proof required. The first (commented what it WIIB: "He w11e orncifled I~ ur1B,11,las" on under eh. i. 5) shows the LoRD's appoint- (2 Cor. xiii. 4); " Himself took our infirmi- ment…
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Vers. 7, 8.-Who in the days of his 11.esh, pioit locum Gethsemane'•; (B~ngel). What, when he had offered up (rnther, when he then, ns seen in the light of these verses, was o.ffaed up) prayers and snpplioations to him the D'.leaning of the "prayer and tiUpplioa- that wa.s able to save him. from death, &nd tions'" in th…
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of it, after this troubling of his human soul. Co.lrin, Hammond, Jo.ckeon), U:Hforsb.ncl ,i,- The mystery sunounding the whole subject 71.a$ela BB meaning, not the felLr felt, but of the Divine and hume.n in Christ remains the thing feared: "nb eo quod timebat" still. What was said with rege.rd to it (Calvin). The obje…
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ordinl\rv son learning obedience to his tr6a, .,;;, tµd.,.,o.. See nlso Gesenius on the father "through suffering. Recurring now Hebrew word o•NSt:1. Hence, and in view of to the question raised under ver. 3, whether the drift of the passage before us, Jaokson the high priest's obligation to offer in the very decidedl…
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subject itself admits a lengthy exposition) as to l!llggest the necessity of their being and hard of interpretation, seeing ye are learnt anew. The writer does not, in fact, beoome (not, as in A.V., "ye are") dull of as he goes on, require them to be learnt hearing. Tt.eir dulness is the reason of the anew: for he bids…
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HOilULETICS. Vers. 1-10.-The high priesthood of Ohrist. In these verses the author proceeds with his disLussion of the priestly character and work of the Lord Jesus, as typified by the Aaronical priesthood. I. WHAT A HIGH PRIEST IS. The office is a most honourable one; it is referred to in ver. 4 as "the honour." …
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Vere. 11-14.-A sharp reprooffor ignorance, The apostle, having used the expres- sion," after the order of Melchizedek,". remembers that his readers will not bo likely ro understand it without careful explanation. So he pauses in his argument to chide them for their backwardness in religious knowledge, I. THE .'rBOTHS …
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 2.-An essential qualification for S'IJ,(X(Jsiful ministry. "Who can have com- passion on the ignorant," etc. According to our reading of the New Testament, the Christian ministry is not a priesthood except in the sense that, being Christians, ministers belong to that "holy priesthood…
1,144 wordsSECTION 154The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 154
prayers and supplications," etc. (vcr. 7). Notice: 1. The Being to whom lie addressed liis prayer. "Unto him that was able to save him from death," i.e. to the great Sovereig_n of both life and death; "the God in whose hand our breath is," who "giveth to all hfe and breath and all things, . • . in whom we live and m…
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Ver. 9.-Salvation-its Author and its recipients. "And being made perfect, he became the Author," etc. The subject of the writer in this part of his Epistle is the high priesthood of Jesus Christ. In treating this subject he dwells upon the suffering~ of Christ in his priestly office, and a certain perfection which resu…
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salvation is owing to Jesus Christ. The ministry of providence, of religious ordinances, and of good men, may assist us in availing ourselves of this salvation ; but they cannot save us; they are not "the cause of salvation." Our salvation originated in the infinite love of God. "God so loved the world,'' etc. Our s…
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Such spiritual dulness is not a misfortune, but a sin. It is an evidence of opportuni- ties of progress neglected, of responsibilities unacknowledged or unfulfilled, and, it may be, of sins indulged in. Pnrity of heart and the power of perceivin" spiritual truth are closely related. Slowness of spiritual apprehensio…
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lienediction. "Sacrifices for sins" equivalent to, those of men to God; that is, he was chnr~ed to ~~nnge the concerns of his brethren with the ~ost High, holding an inter- mediate pos1t1on. What was the necessity for such an intermediary? 1. J~ was a wi:tness to tlu~ si11Julness of man. One tribe was set apart for …
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the double qualification for this is shown-a qualification God ward anrl manward; he must be appointed by God, and able to sympathize with man. Both these are shown to be true of Christ, and that he is, therefore, officially "perfect" (vers. 9, 10). J. THE NECESSITY THAT THE HIGH PRIEST SHOULD DAVE PERSONAL ACQUAINTAN…
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Ver. 11-ch. vi. 3.-The evil of inability to apprehend the deeper truths about Christ. 'l'his begins a parenthesis continued to end of eh. vi. 'l'he writer has come to the chief illnstmtion of his great theme-the pre-eminence of the Lord Jesus; but he has hardly entered on this section before he feels himself unable …
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IIL THE NECESSITY FOB THE REMOVAL OF THESE HINDRANCES OP SPIRITUAL MATURITY JB TO BE ATTAINED. 1. For (Jhrist, as revealed in the Word, is spiritual nourishment. The truth about Christ is "milk" and "strong meat." Christ is the essence of Scripture, and he is "the Bread of life." What nourishing food is to the body, t…
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Vera. 11-14.-D!Llness of spiritual perception. I. THERE JS A REPROOF FOB THESE BELIEVERS BECAUSE THEY CANNOT HEAR, AND THEREFORE CANNOT TEAOH, THE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL. They had become, through slackness , and yielding both to the attractions of the temple-worship llild the opposition of their countrymen, unable to …
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Vera. 1-f!.-Gethsemane. Here we have Gethsemane, apart from external circum- stances-the treachery of Judas, the apathy, ignorance, and drowsiness of the disciples. 'l'he one thing of supreme importance is set before us, even the struggle and suffering in the heart of Jesus himself. Note- I. THE ELEMENTS OF THE SUFFER…
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Vers. 12-14.-The powers of the full-grown Christian. Here is the close analogy between the natural life and the spiritual. I. 'l'HE PROORESS OF TllE NATURAL LIFE. At birth the babe finds food provided for it, without effort, without thought-food exactly suited to its infantile state, and which it makes use of by a kin…
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ad,anoed ~uhjcct of discourse), es well BS of "the works of the Ll\w," as set forth by the eemrst warnings that follow against St. Paul, is not likely to have been intended. falling back, sC'em to neccssit.o.te the second The faith spoken of is not faith in Christ, of the above \"~ewe of the meaning of this but simp…
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e.n elementary conception WM level to even "those who have been once baptized:" an babes in Ohrist, fresh from Jewish training; inward spiritual illumination is pie.inly fully understood, they form the basis of the pointed to; and it would not have been said whole structure of the highest Christian of Simon Magus that …
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There o.re o!.hor passages in which Christians hub, but to the disciples themselves, after a nre regarded as already in the dawn of the warniug to them against" the leaven of the future daybreak, and irradiated by the Pharisees," and against being moved by the <'oming glory. The falling away (1ra.pa.1r•• fear of men…
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of pregno.nt clauses o.n intention of express- thistles, which is, not to be garnned, but to ing the very reverse of e. mere apparent o.nd bo burnt (cf. 2 Sam. xxiii. 6, "The sons of delusive experience of so.ving gr,1ce. The Delia! shall be all of them as thorns thrust depth of the experience is, in fact, o. measur…
1,137 wordsSECTION 169The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 169
<'eption) do show the so.me diligence unto the (" having pf\tiently endured," A.V.) cor• full a_s~urance (or simply fulness; for the responds witil ~,~ µarrpoBufdas in ver. 12, meanmg of 1r>..11poc/>opla., cf. eh. x. 22; 1 and expresses esecntio.Ily the same idea. Thess. i. 5 ; Col. ii. 2) of hope even to the The ao…
1,038 wordsSECTION 170The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 170
ran," is strikingly displayed in Abruham's tered for us, become e. High Priest tor ever recorded life. e.tter the order of Melchizedek. Our hope Vere. 16-20.-P'or men swear by the (/ll..,,./s), regarded in ver. 18 objectively, as- greater: and of every dispute of theirs (liter- sumes hero a subjective sense: it is our…
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them. Rather, we 11re to leave them as a tree leaves its root, and yet never lets it go; as a full-grown man leaves slops for solid food, and yet does not abjure the use of milk; as a building leaves its " foundation" (ver. 1), and yet rests its whole weight upon it. When the foundation-principles are once securely …
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to carry our Christian profession without earnestness, and to do our Christian work without energy. 2. "Show the same diligence." (Ver. 11.) The Hebrews had bestirred themselves in bestowing sympathy and succour upon their afflicted brethren, and the apostle longs to see them equally energetic in other departments of …
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It was hope that bu_oyed up poor Columbus, and that inspired the lion-hearted Living- stone. But, as ancient seamen called the strongest anchor of their ships "the sacred anchor," and res~rved it as "the last hope" for times when the vessel was in real peril; so, go~pel hoJ?e 1s the sacred anchor of every good man.. An…
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his faith is reckoned for righteousness" (Rom. iv. 5). It is faith in God as revealed in Jesus Christ. And !IS by repentance the Christian abandons the dead works of the Law as a reason for his accept!lnce with God, so by this faith he enters into vital and savirw relation to the living God. 3. " The teaching of bap…
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Vers. 4-6.-The relapse for which there is no restoration. "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened," etc. Let us honestly and earnestly endeavour to lay aside our theological prepossessions, and to apprehend and set forth the meaning of this solemn portion of sacred Scripture. We have in the text- …
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from an ea:alled spiritual oonditi<m. We have noticed the advanced clcvelopment o( Christian character and the Cull enjoyment of Christian privileges sketched by the writer; and now he speaks of falling away from these great and gracious experiences. 'l'he higher the exaltation attained, the more terrible will be the i…
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Saints mny be in_ secular voyerty. Lazarus the 1aint wn11 ~n affiicted beirgar; the man l'rho was not a s:imt was ' rich, clothed in purple and fine !men, and fared sumptuously every dRy ." "Did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith?" etc. (Ja!I. ii. 5). 'l'he pereons addressed in our…
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Vor. 12.-Imitating the inheritors of the promiseR. "That ye be n0t slothfnl, but followers of them," etc. Great is our ignorance as to the life and condition of those who have left tbie world. '!'he ancient heathens speculated as to the state and circum- stances of the departed. 'l'he Old Testament Scriptures afforded…
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in the work of the Lord," et<,. (1 Cor. xv. 68). Are any of you imitators of those who inherit th~1 threatenings? Change your course; for your way is evil and the end terrible. Come thou with us, and we will do thee good," otc.-W. J. Vers. 1!1, 20.-The anchor of the soul. "Which hope we have as an anchor of the ~cu…
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Vers. 4-10.-The danger of apostasy arising from immature apprehension of Christian truth. Continuation of the parenthetical clause on the evil of inability to apprehend the deeper truths about Christ. Whatever this passage means, it contains nothing to discourage the true believer. 1. Because of the plain declarations …
545 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.