I. WE HAVE TO 0ONSIDEB ONE ANOTHER, i.e. we must look well into the character, the habits, the position, the abilities, the needs of all whom we have sufficient oppor• tunity to estimate. We must get an honest and adequate view. We must not expect too much from them, neither must we let them off with too little. This knowledge is to be gained by real consideration, not by hearsay, not hastily, not casually. We must get below the surface. Such a consideration as this may have many results. II. THE BPEOIAL AIM HERE TO BE KEPT IN VIEW. " To provoke unto love and to good works." There is a large meaning in this expression. First of all it means that when we look at the needs of others, especially of fellow-Christians, when we look into t~ose needs, seeing how deep, how abiding, how discomposing they are, we shall be stirred up to a very passion of love for the needy and a consequent doing of good works for their relief. And, moreover, when the consideration is what it ought to be, there will be wisdom, proportion, true economy, adjustment of means to ends, in the good works. But also those whom we consider must be stirred up to have love in their own hearts and good works in their hands. III. A PEOULIAB PERIL. That of living in isolation. Living the Christian life in isolation. People will not act so in the needs, duties, and pleasures of common life. They will gather together in twos or threes, or any number that may be necessary. But their religion they keep to themselves. '!.'hey do not understand how much they can be helped by mutual edification. Not that the writer supposes this tendency can be universal. He expressly points out that it is the habit of some. Such do not understand their obligations anJ their needs; their latent ability to comfort others on the one hand, or their latent weakness, their certain need of comfort, on the other. IV. THE MEANS OF THIS MUTUAL EDIFI0ATION. "Exhorting one another." Real exhortation is to be made by virtue of the Holy Spirit working in him who exhorts. It must not have its sole origin in experiences and energies of the natural man. An exhortation which shall be truly a good work must come from a spiritual man. He only discerns the reality of spiritual truth; he only can communicate it with the requisite force. V. A SPECIAL MOTIVE. The day of the Lord's coming is approaching. This day, as we know from ample evidence, was believed to be very near by the primitive Christians. 'l'hey did right in so believing, for their Lord wanted them to be ever ready. And in any case the prnctical equivalent of that day is not far off from each Christian in his earthly life. His opportunity to show love and do good works will soon be over.-Y. Ver. 31.-Falling into the hands of the living God. I. As ILLUSTRATED IN msTORY. 'l'he whole passage, vers. 26-31, is a very serious one to read, insisting as it does on the reality of Divine retribution upon those guilty of neglect and disobedience. It was evidently necessary, however, to deal with this point and thus make the comparisou between the old and the new covenant complete. How will God deal with those who wilfully neglect the ample and gracious provisions of the new covenant? The first element in the answer is given by inquiring how be dealt with despisers of the old covenant-despisers of Moses as Jehovah's deputy and messenger. A great deal bangs on the word wilfully. Jehovah has always been long-suffering with ignorance and thoughtlessness. But when men rise like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, with the purposes of rebellion and self-assertion strong in their heart, knowing what they are doing, and doing it deliberately and defiantly, then God has to be equally assertive of his rightful authority and the rightful authority of whomsoever he makes his repre- sentative. The Jew did not que:ition that it was a right thing that the despiser of Moses' Law should die without fail under two or three witnesses. Of conrse we must guard against arguing back from great catastrophes to great sins. What w~ are bound to do is to recognize the plaiu asserted connection between some great sins and the consequences th11,t followed. And in every case, to every individual, the consequences are real; only iu some cases the consequences have been made terribly conspicuous by way of warning. II. As CONTRASTED WITII THE IMPOTENCE OF OTHER HANDS INTO WHICII WE MAY l'.ALL. Jehovah, the living God, is here contrasted with lifeless idols. Jehovah, the 2!14 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. (err. x. 1-39.
God who· makes unfailing, righteous, potent judp;ments, a.s 00ntrn~ted with idolatrous priests who have no power except by working on the superstitious fears of men. Attachment to Mosaic institutions had hardened into something little better than idolatry. The living God had become a mere name, the centre of a mechanical ritual. l\fen stood in terror of their own traditional delusions. Or they stood in terror of one another lik~ those parents of the blind man, who feared t~ey _would be put out of the Bynagogue if they acknowledged Jesus as the Christ. It 1s right that men should be afraid. but how often are they afraid of the wrong things I 'l'o fall into the hands of men must have a dreadful look at first, but when the position is fully estimated it is a mere trifle. The really fearful thing is to fall into the hands of the living God. He is something very different from an empty superstition or a living man. III. As COID.'ECTED WITH THE IMMENSE SIN OF WILFULLY REJECTING JESUS, 'fhe writer allows us to be under no mistake as to what he means. Whosoever can truly say that he does not trample underfoot the Son of God, does not reckon the blood of the covenant an unholy tbiag, does not do despite to the Spirit of grace,-such a one is free. In the first days of breaking away from Judaism, when all the malevolence and bitter- ness of the worst sort of Jews came into play, there would be more occasion of warnin" of this sort than now. Aad even with regard to such men there is another side to b~ considered. Paul was once bitter and malevolent enough, but he put in the plea that what he did he did ignorantly, in unbelief. God only can judge the heart of a man enough to say how far his rejection is really deliberate, in the face of light and knowledge.-Y.