The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 185

retain their force and application to all who are his children by a living faith. "The Word of the Lord endureth for ever, And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached ~mto us." The patriarch was the heir of the world, a trustee for the future generations ~f believers. 'fhe oath is still valid, and the promise is made by Ono who cannot lie, and whos~ self-sufficiency and omnipotence raise him above the temptation and possibility of decept10n. The oath in human affairs is final, and is an end of all strife; and, to remove all doubt., Jehovah condescends to adopt a human form of appeal, to assure believers of the immornble ground of confidence which they possess and enjoy. 'l'he freeness of the promise tends to confirm the confidence of the righteous; for it is the unexpected, unextorted utterance of Divine love to cheer and inspire believers in their way to heaven. Both furnish strong consolation, which is adequate to disarm all earthly BOrrows and assaults of their terror, and recalls th<:¥le cheering images of the Divine love which ancient psalmists often introduce in their exultation and gratitude after deliver- ance from adversaries, and with cheerful hope of future safety; for "lie that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge ,and my Fortress : my God ; in him will I trust" (Ps. xci. 1, 2). III. THE POWER AND COID-'ECTIONS OF CHRISTIAN HOPE. It is not unnatural to imagine that the writer may have thought of the wild and stormy ocean, from whose waves and turbulence the mariner hastens to a port of safety, and then drops his anchor in the calm waters of the haven. The anchor descends below and grasps the solid earth, and holds the vessel fast amid the raging of the wind and the darkness of the sky. It resembles hope in its retentive capacity, which, amid winds of doctrine, failure of somo who go back and walk no more with Christ, temptations from the world, the flesh, and the devil, keeps the believer from leaving his position and surrendering his profession of the gospel. The thought of the anchor is qualified by the connection of our hope with heaven, which our Lord has entered. It attaches itself to him who has entered as the Forerunner. Here we note a striking and glorious difference between the high priest of the temple and the office of the Redeemer. The Aaronic high priest had no one with him in the holiest of all, and stood and ministered in awful solitude before God. Our Lord is the Forerunner, and awaits the arrival of his followers. Ho is the Captain of salvation, who will bring many t ,: 7S into glory; for he is a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, who, as a sublime type of the Lord Jesus, is presented to our considera- tion in the following chapter.-B. Vers. 1-3.-Pressingforward to the md. It is obvious that the two leading words of this passage are those respectively rendered "principles" and "perfection." They indicate the beginning and the end. Every right dpx1) looks forward, as a matter of course, to a .,.,>,,,u/.,.71s: and every true .,.,11.,ulr71s, when looked into, reveals a. right dpxfi- Ilence we have- L THE RIGHT STABTING-POINT. Presuming that perfection is wanted, we must start rightly; and there is here indicated, somewhat in detail, what that right start is. True, there is to us some obscurity in the detail. We cannot be sure of the exact meaning of each of the expressions, but of the great general drift there can be no doubt. The Hebrew had been for centuries in expectation of the Christ. The beginning of the Christ was really an immemorial thing. The Anointed of God, bringing in his train all good things, had been proclaimed by Divine messengers and accepted by the people. And here in these details, called a foundation, are set forth the acts showing the accept- nnce of the Christ. Note how these details can be classified. There is what we turn from, and what we turn toward. In the proclamation of the Christ a summons to repentance was always implied. Turn away from dead works. Works of the hand, and not of the heart, were superstitious externalities. But if a. man is to turn away effectively from useless endeavours, he must have some definite point to which to turn. And so there is the mention of,trust in God as well as repentance. These are the two really important points in considecing the start of a man's connection with Christ. Promptly, decidedly, and from the heart, he must forsake dead works; and in the same spirit he must trust in the living God. lL THE CONTINUAL AD!!. Completeness as an actual thing must ever he before the mind. "Onward and upward" is tho burden of the New Testament everywhere. OH, VI, 1--20.] THE EPISTLE 'l'O THE HEBREWS. li9