The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 387

or his father's God or of his father. And when he was defrnurlcd of that blessing l,y his brother, he sought for it with a most pathetic earnestness (Gen. xxvii. 30-40). 2. Deep distress because of the loss of the forfeited blessing. Our text mentions tho "tee.re" of his great sorrow. " He cried with a great and exceed in.,. bitter cry and so.id unto his fo.ther, Bless me, even me also, 0 my father . . . . Ha~t thou but one blessing, my fo.ther? bless me, even me also, 0 my father. And Esau lifterl up his voice, o.nd wept." 3. Earnest desire and deep distress which were of no avail for the recovery of the forfeited blessing. " He was rejected : for he found no place of repentance," We do not understand by this either that Esau was unable to chan"e his father's mind, or tho.t he could not himself rP,pent of his sins; but, as Alford expresses it, " that he found no way open to reverse what had been done: the sin had been com- mitted and the consequence entailed, irrevocably. He might change, but the penalty could not, from the very no.ture of the circumstances, be taken off. So that repentance, in its full sense, had no place. And such is the meaning of the ' place of repentance,' wherever occurring. We do not mea.n by it o.n opportunity to repent in a man's own bosom, to be sorry for what he has done, for this may be under any circumstances, and this might have been with Esau; but we mean a chance, 1,y repenting, to repair." There is o.n awful permanence in deeds. '!'hey cannot be undone. Words once spoken o.re beyond recall. Opportunities once lost are lost for ever. Others ma.y, perhaps, be granted; but those are irrevocably gone. Let us learn : 1. To curb strong impulses by reason and by conscience. 2. To maintain the proper relation between the present and temporary, and the future an(l abiding. 3. J.'o l,eep the sensuous subordinate to the spiritual. This brings us to the practical point of the writer of the Epistle. Let us not forsake what is right and true to escape from any present difficulty or loss or pain, or .to secure any present pleasure. Let us not turn away from Christ to escape the cross.-W. J. Vers. 18-24..-The exalted privi1eges of sincere Ohristians. "For ye are not como unto the mount that might be touched," etc. 'l'his paragraph exhibits a striking contrast between Sinai and Zion-the Mosaic and the Christian dispensations. The chief points of the contrast seem to be these: 1. The sensuous at Sinai is contrasted with the spiritual at Zion. At Sinai the manifestations were palpable, visible, audible (vers. 18, 19) ; at Zion they were heavenly, and to some extent invisible and inaudible. The former appealed chiefly to the senses, the latter to the soul. 2. The rigorous at Sinai is contrasted with the gracious at Zion. The former mountain was palpable, but no one of the people might draw near unto it, and if even a beast touched it it was to be stoned. The whole of the proceedings were awful and terrible. The revelation was of Law. Love was there, for love was the fountain of the Law; but Law, solemn and inflexible, and not love, was conspicuous. But at Zion, love and not Law was con- spicuous. "The Law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." In the Christian dispensation grace is unmistakably clear and prominent. Here the voices are musical, the utterances are inviting. 3. The repel/ant at Sinai is contrasted, with the attractive at Zion. At the giving of the Law, "they that heanl intreated that no word more should be spoken unto them. . . . And so fearful was the appearance that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake." But in this later dispensation men are drawn by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. To the sincere soul Christianity is bright, o.lluring, and blessed. Let us now consider the exalted privileges of sincere Christians ns set forth in our text. J. 'l'HEY ARE MEMDERS 011' A DISTINGUISHED SOCIETY. "Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." We do not apply these words to heaven, but to the Church upon earth, the kingdom of Christ here and now; because (1) in the sacred Scriptures Mount Zion is not set forth as the antithesis of heaven, but of the Christian Church (Gal. iv. 24-26); and (2) the text affirms that Christians "are come unto Mount Zion," etc. It is the statement of a. present fact., and not a future prospect. Mark the characteristics of this distinguished society. 1. It is spiritual in its constitution. "The heavenly Jerusalem." The qualification fur admission into this society is spiritual, not carnal; a thing of character, not of circum- stances; not physical descent from Abraham, but moral approximation to Christ. It~ wo1·ship is not rcslriclcd by local limitations, or by conventional and artificial rules;  382 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.