The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 350

and oversight, of spiril.tuil forgiveness and help, et.o. These promises encoura"'ed their hopes1 nnd mised t?e tone a?d charac~er of their li~es. 2, Fulfilment~ of Divine p,·omises. Many ot the blessmgs promised to the samts of the earlier dispensation were received ond enjoyed by t.hem. They "obtained promises" (vcr. 33) • i.e. they obtained certnin promised ble~sings. A glance at the names mentioned iu this chHpter will at once show that this was the case. Abraham received the promised son; ,Jacob was blessed in his worldly circumstances, purified and ennobled in his character and brought to the goal of his pilgrimage in a good old age, in peace and in ho;iour. Joseph was wonderfully preserved, guided, exalted, etc. 3. Divine commendations. They "obtained a good report through faith." They "had witness borne to them through their faith." Each one mentioned or referred to in this chapter was commended for some distinguishing excellence, and every one for faith. Abel "had witness borne to him that he was righteous," etc. ~ver. 4). Enoch "had witness borne to him that he had been well-pleasing unto God' (ver. 6). They had within themselves the witness of a. good conscience; they enjoyed the smile of the Most High ; and in his holy Word God has expressed his approbation of their character and conduct. II. 'l'HE DETTER PORTION REALIZED BY NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS. The heroes and heroines of faith who arc mentioned or referred to in this chapter "received not the promise, Goel having provirled some better thing for us." The promise which they received not, and the better thing provided for ns, we take to be the actual fulfilment of the promise of the Messiah, and the blesse,lness of the gospel age. "Blessed arc your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not." Onr portion is a. better thing: 1. Because the realization of any genuine good is better than the antici- pation of it. 2. Because of the clearer revelation of redemptive truth. " God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, bath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son" (cb. i. 1-4). "He that bath seen me bath seen the Father." He embodied the will of the Father in his character and words and works. Ile revealed the heart of the Father toward us his sinful and snffering children. 3. Because of the greater fulness and power of redemptive influence. .Atonement for sin is now accomplished. The mighty influences of the love of God in the sacrifice of Christ are now brought to bear upon us. Our 1estrainls from sin nre more pathetic and powerful than were theirs of the earlier dispensation; our incentives to righteousness and reverence and Jove are more exalted and constraining than theirs. Ill. THE BEST BLESSmGB IN WHICH DOTH THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS ARE SHARERS. "That apart from us they should not be made perfect." This perfection is the holiness and blessedness of the faints in light. "The writer implies," says Alford, "as indeed eh. x. 14 seems to testify, that the advent and work of Christ has changed the estate of the Old Testament fathers and saints iuto greater and perfect bliss; an inference which is forced on us by many other places in Scripture. So that their perfection was dependent on our perfection : their anrl our perfection was all brought in at the same time when Christ 'by one offering perfecteu for ever them that are sanctified.' So that the result with regard to them is, that their spirits from the time when Christ descended into Hades and ascended up into heaven, enjoy heavenly blessedness, and are waiting, with all who have followed their glorified High Priest within the veil, for the resurrection of their bodies, the regeneration, the reuovation of all things." '!'hen all God's people of all ages and of all lands shall enter into the joy of their one Lord, and participate in the blessedness and glory unspeakable and eternal.-W. J. Ver. 1.-Faith in its relatioo to the future and the unseen. I. FAITH IN ITS RELATIO:-. TO THE FUTURE. 1. Nothing is more to be desired than a hopeful O'utlook towards the future. 'l'he future may be regarded doubtfully, fearfully, or even despairin?;ly; on the other hand the question rises if it he not possible to regam the future with a hope which shall become a rluty. Doubtless there are many who d," look hopefully forward, but they are hopeful 8imply because of a disposition constit11t1onally sanguine. They mav even m::ke a brightness where there is nothing in the circumstance:. to wammt  THE EPISTLE 'TO THE llEDHEWS. [cH. ln. 1-40