The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 325

darkness, with a coronal of epiritnal light. The apostle's design in this chapter le to convince bis readers that in trusting Christ, and daring and bearing all things for him, ther are exercising the very same principle that made "the elders" of the Jewish nation the men they were. The apostle stops at the time of the Maccabees. But it ~s for us to remember that the exploits and endurances of faith have been as great- Ill some respects greeter (John xiv. 12)-in New Testament times than in the ages before Christ. We are prone to draw oftentimes too sharp A line between what we call " sacred hi8tory" and "profane history," and we sometimes forget that the living God is as really present in the one as in the other. Reflect then, in closing, upon the triumphs of faith: (1) 111 the first century. E.g. John the Baptist; the multitudes whom Christ healed; the holy women who ministered to him; the apostles after Pentecost. Think of the faith of (2) the world's explorers and colonizers. Columbus, the Pilgrim Fathers of New Engl:mrl, Livingstone, etc. (3) Our men of science. Newton, Kepler, Faraday, etc. (4) The reformers. Wickliffe, Luther, Knox, Wesley, Chalmers, Howard, William Lloyd Garrison, etc. (5) Ths missionaries. Columba, Xavier, Williams, Martyn, Patteson, Moffat, Alexander Duff, etc. (6) The martyrs. Polycarp, Huss, Tyndale, Savone.rola, Bunyan, the Covenanters of Scotland, etc. (7) God's "hidden ones." E.g. the business ma.n who will rather lose his trade than soil his conscience; the Bible-woman, working amid squalor and vice in the back lanes of our cities; the dying believer, showing amid the pains of dissolution a beautiful resignation to the Divine will. There are multitudes living just now in obscurity, "of whom the world is not worthy," and of whom, until time shall have run its course, the world will never know. Vers. 39, 4-0.-Perfection through ~ promve. In discoursing upon this confessedly difficult text, we shall not diecuss the various interpretations that have been given to it, but simply unfold what we ourselves humbly judge to be its meaning. Consider- !. Tm: PROMISE. (Ver. 39.) That is, the fulfilment of the promise, or the promised blessing. The apostle can refer in this expression only to the great substantive promise of the Old Testament dispensation, that of the coming of the Messiah. It is the promise of" the seed of the woman" (Gen. iii. 15) and the seed of Abraham (Gen. x.xii. 18); the promise of the setting up of the kingdom of heaven by the" Child born" (Isa. ix. 6, 7), and of the "pouring out of God's Spirit upon all flesh" (Joel ii 28). I!. THE DlliADVANTAGEOUB POSITION OF THE OLn TESTAMENT SAINTS IN RELATION TO IT. " These all," whoee names appear in this chapter, are honourably mentioned in Scripture for their exploits and endurances as believers. The promise had been con- stantly made to them, and they "had seen it, and greeted it from afar" ( ver. 13). But : L Tll£Y "rueived not the promise." (Ver. 39.) Successive generations of godly men hoped for the advent through the weary centuries, and passed away before the Messiah had been born, or the true sacrifice offered, or the way into the holiest made manifest, or the great gift of the Spirit bestowed. 'l'hey continued to the end of their lives under the temporal and preparatory economy-the dispensation of law and cere- mony and shadow. 2. They were "not made perfect." (Ver. 40.) Old Testament believers, while on earth, did not obtain the clear knowledge of gospel doctrine which we posse~~ who have received " the Spirit of truth; " and they did not attain to the Ligh level of spiritual happiness which is within our reach, uow that Christ has sent us "the Comforter." And even in heaven, as this passage seems to imply, their know- ledge and joy did not become full until the realization of the p~omise! through the :finished work of the Lord Jesus. 'l'here is, of course, no warrant ID Scripture for the patristic and Romish doctrine of the limb-us patrum. The souls of Old Testament saints, aft.er they departed this life, did not experience a dreamy sort of existence in some dreary under-world until the time of Christ's ascension. Abel and Abraham, Moses and David, passed at once from earth to glory. This is true; and yet it would appear, from the apostle's language in the verse before us, that these ancient heroes had to hope and wait for their perfection in knowledge and blessedness, until the death and resurrection and exaltation of the Son of God. Although safe in heaven, they continued tu long and pray, as they had done on earth, for the coming of " the fulnetis of tLe time." Just as the entire humanity of the believer shall not be "made perfect" until the morning of the general resurrection, so even "the spirits of just men" (eh.- Ofl, XI. 1-40.] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 317