The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 375

i;piritunl rulers or the Church, the expr<>ssion, "looking carefully," in ver, 15, reminds us that the ordinary members also ought to exercise the office of a bishop over one nnother. 'l'he communion of our Churches would be purer, were this duty of mutual ~piritual care more clearly understood and better practised than it is. Indeed, we cannot place too much stress on this point, a.a one main purpose and function of our Church life. No spiritual work is more restful and rewarding, than that which a Christian man does in connection vvith the particular congregation to which ho belongs. III. Oun DUTY TO OUR GoD. (Vers. 14, 16, 17.) We must be" pure" as ,veil as "peaceable." The peace that we follow after must be "by righteousness;" for "without boline~s uo man shall see the Lord." This is one of the most solemn sayings of the Bible. How short and simple it is; but how pointed and powerful I It fall& 11pon the ear with a sharp sound of authority. It reverberates within the conscience like the echoes of thunder among the hills. God is pure and holy; therefore only the consecrated and sanctified can see him. Sanctification must be" followed after," i.o. pursued earnestly. We must labour to cleanse ourselves from our carnality and impurity by washing in Jesus' blood, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, by the use of the means of grace, and by living always as in the presence of God. Notice "·hat the writer says in particular of the man who strives after this" sanctification." 1. He will not be a sensualist. (Ver. 16.) He will not only avoid acts of gross immorality; he will hate every filthy thought. How dreadful for any one to sit down at the Lord's table, as a professed disciple of Christ, who is in the habit of visiting also the disgustin!!; haunts of secret vice I 2. Neither will he be a "profane person." (V crs. 16, 17.) "Profane" means common, secular, worldly; and such a person loves only the things of sense and time, and bas no appreciation of what is spiritual. Esau was such a man. He cared nothing for the blessings of the covenant, or for the hopes which centred in the promised seed of Abraham. Hence his guilty folly in bartering away his birthright for a mess of lentils. The apostle, in one or two forcible expressions, depicts the consequences of this act of profanity. All Esau's subsequent regrets were unavailing. On the second occasion, when his younger brother circumvented him, his father Isaac refused to recall the blessing which he had just pronounced; for Isaac realized that in blessing Jacob he had unwittingly been the mouthpiece of a Divine oracle. Esau, therefore, was in this matter God-rejected. He failed to induce his father to change his mind. And he found no means of undoing his own first act of folly. "Now," says the apostle in effect to the Hebrew Christians," beware of pro- fanity like Esau's. You belong to God's 'firstborn' nation; and the gospel of the Lord Jesus is for 'the Jew :first.' Take care that you do not forfeit your rights of spiritual primogeniture. Should you forsake the new and final covenant, for any con- :;ideration whatever, you will make as bad a bargain as Esau did." CoNCLUBION. Esau's character and life are a beacon still, to warn us also back from the whirlpool of apostasy. He was a man of a very ordinary type. 'l.'here are many such all around, who for the savoury meat of sensuous pleasure will barter away their birthright of spiritnal opportunity, and at last irrevocably sell their souls. May Divine grace preserve us from cultivating the character of which thes_e words _are :i,n a1,equate epitome-" A profane person, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright ! Vers. 18-24.-Sinai -ind Zion. This grand passa.ge, extending to the end of the chapter, forms a magnificent flnak to the lengthened general exhortation to constancy, beginning at eh. L 19, which occupies so important a place in the Epistle. The verses before us exhibit a highly wrought and impressive contrast between the Mosaic and the Christian dispensations. Mount Sinai is the emblem of the one, Mount Zion of the other. Aud Zion is incomparably superior to Sinai, in the privileges and blessings which flow from it. I. A PICTUDE OF THE OLD REVELATION AT SINAI. (Vera. 18-21.) 'l'he nature of the dispensation inaugura.ted there was reflected in the character of the scene on occasion of the giving of the Law, '!'he old economy was: 1. Sensuous. Sinai was "a mount that might be touched" (ver. 18); i.e. a tangible, palpable, physical moun- t:;in. '!'he expression suggests the ceremonialism which was so prominent a feature of fne Mosaic dispenoatiou. 'l'he scene at Sinai was spectacular; and Judaism, in like manner, was a rel1~on of externals. Its teaching was elemental, because elementary. OJI, XII, 1-29.] 'l'llE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.