In the end they tore him apart on the catapult and flayed him alive. There we have those that compose the church, in allusion to Christ, contrasted with the position of Israel as a nation, because of the nearness which they possess by the grace of Christ known on high. (3.) In the first chapter we saw the seat of personal glory connected with atonement; in the eighth chapter it is the witness of His priesthood, and where it is. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned." He only recognized that work of the spirit, the son of promise, Isaac. One thing links these three examples of faith together. I'm just a transient here. Second, there is this strange and eerie thought that Cain had discovered a new sin. Mattathias and his sons and those like-minded took to the hills; and once again the phrases used to describe their life there were in the mind of the writer to the Hebrews and he has echoes of them over and over again. The next instance is the faith of Rahab, 1. Who this Rahab was. Up to this time man was the object of those ways; it was simply, and rightly of course, a probation. There is something very convincing in a life of strict holiness and regard to God; it commends itself to every man's conscience in the sight of God, and they are judged by it. Dwelt translates the ancient Greek word paroikos, describing a "resident alien" one who lives at a certain place, but doesn't have permanent status there. This is, as is well known, the special characteristic of the millennium. [4.] Preacher of righteousness . And he would eat the scraps of food that were thrown to him from the rich man's table. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. Here were two persons, brethren, both of whom went in to worship God, and yet there was a vast difference. When he reached the promised land, he was never allowed to possess it. No doubt, natural affection could not but move them; but there was something further. His faith influenced his practice. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, they were in want, they were oppressed, they were maltreated--the world was not worthy of them--they wandered in desert places and on the mountains, they lived in caves and in holes of the earth. And almost all things are according to the law purged with blood; and without shedding, of blood is no remission. Observe the due regard that Abraham had to this heavenly city: he looked for it; he believed there was such a state; he waited for it, and in the mean time he conversed in it by faith; he had exalted and rejoicing hopes, that in God's time and way he should be brought safely to it. not to sin, for so God tempteth no man, but only tried his faith and obedience to purpose. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. She gained entry into the presence of Holofernes and persuaded him that she was convinced of the defeat of her people as a punishment for their sins. The man who goes out into the unknown and keeps going on will in the end arrive at God. Nothing can be more admirable than this reserve of God. When Abraham was born a very vivid star appeared in the sky and seemed to obliterate the others. The battle which Abraham fought, the first recorded one in scripture, is the type of the last battle of this age. He'll send the Savior. God was pleased in this extraordinary manner to slight and dismantle it, in order to magnify himself, to terrify the Canaanites, to strengthen the faith of the Israelites, and to exclude all boasting. Clement of Alexandria said: "We have no fatherland on earth." We know they exist, but yet, they are invisible. 1. IX. He knew that in Isaac his seed was to be called. But they are completely gone; and therefore at God's right-hand sits down He who is its witness. There was but one such Priest. And Joseph saw Ephraims children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Josephs knees. In view of this, Amram and Jochebed decided to make a little ark and to entrust their child to it on the waters of the Nile. On first hearing of the promises of God, the human reaction often is that this is far too good to be true. And their relation to their leaders he puts forward in various forms. I ask my brethren here if they are looking to God strenuously, earnestly, for themselves and for their children, not to allow but to oppose as their adversary every thing that tends to weaken either of these truths, which are our highest privilege and our truest glory as Christians here below. And where thou art a stranger thou must not open thy mouth. It is not the hope which looks forward with wistful longing; it is the hope which looks forward with utter conviction. They had never known so great and frequent and constant trial. I'm convicted of truths, though I may not have seen them, I'm convicted of their existence. (2.) His blood must be sprinkled; it must be applied to those who have the saving benefit of it. Accordingly, this is an appeal to the hearts. It is human to fear to miss the chance; but it is great to wait for the time of God--even when it seems like throwing a chance away. . God first said to Abraham, "Get out of this place, out of the land of your fathers, and go unto a land that I will show you." The supports of Abraham's faith (; Hebrews 11:10): He looked for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Death merely took him into God's nearer presence. I know God will do it. Search Results by Book. (2.) As the writer to the Hebrews put it, we must believe that God is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Thus the cross and heavenly glory must go together. The writer to the Hebrews is saving: "See! Abraham would ask them how old they were and they would answer perhaps fifty or sixty years of age. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. God on his part rewarded them, but rejected those who showed no faith (4-7; cf. (2.) He gave his promise to never leave us. But works cannot produce faith, nor can they substitute for faith. Then we hear of the practical use of all. It is believing in God that is the most important, not my works; they follow. The Romans will do the last sad offices. Here's a man that declares he pleased God. 1. The means prescribed to God to bring down the walls of Jericho. Christ is doing nothing there to take away sin; nor when He comes again will He touch the question of sin, because it is a finished work. He was possessed of a true justifying righteousness; he was, and, [2.] Indeed, at no time will its order be more apparent than at present; for I think there can be little doubt to any unbiassed Christian who enters with intelligence into the Old Testament prophecies, that there is yet to be an earthly sanctuary, and, consequently, earthly priests and sacrifices for Israel in their own land; that the sons of Zadok, as Ezekiel lets us know, will perpetuate the line at the time when the Lord shall be owned to be there, in the person of the true David their King, blessing His people long distressed but now joyful on earth. 3. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen ( Hebrews 11:1 ). He is "minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not of man." The departing of the children of Israel ( ). How Canaan is called the land of promise, because yet only promised, not possessed. Would he give up the one that was the type of the true Seed, the progenitor, and the channel of the promised blessing, yea, of the Blesser? Again he insists upon the honour and purity of the marriage tie, and the abhorrence that God has for those that despise and corrupt it, and the sure judgment which will come upon them. "Everyone doth think his own Religion rightest," he said, "both Jews and Moors and Pagans; and how if all our Faith and Christ and Scriptures should be but a 'Think so' too?" They expected little from the world. They were stoned; they were sawn asunder; they underwent every kind of trial; they died by the murder of the sword. Steven was stoned to death. This, however, does not mean the church, but rather the future seat of general heavenly bliss for the glorified saints. And the Lord said, "I will bless Ishmael and make of him a nation, but Sarah is going to bear a child, and through Sarah shall thy seed be called" ( Genesis 17:18-21 ). The incident from the life of Joseph comes from Genesis 50:22-26. [1.] For those who knew the scriptures well in their Greek version, phrase after phrase would ring a bell in the mind. But God took care to summon His children outside to abandon the whole system before it was destroyed. The faith of the parents of Moses, which is cited from ; Exodus 2:3, &c. Here observe, 1. God is able to raise the dead, to raise dead bodies, and to raise dead souls. They embraced them. Second, we will remember that, even when it may not look like it, somehow God is in control. Works will logically automatically follow my faith. A woman's weakness had become strength to save her country. God then has provided some better thing for us. If Abraham had ever so many sons, this was the only son who could convey to all nations the promised blessing. To what, then, is the allusion to the sanctuary applied? The Lord forbid that anything should enfeeble our sense of the value and necessity of such daily grace, There may be that which calls for confusion of face in us, but there is unceasing ground also for thanksgiving and praise, however much we have to humble ourselves in the sight of God. It is to be noted that to dwell in a foreign land was a humiliating thing in ancient days; to the foreigner in any country a certain stigma attached. Hold it. He acted in this matter with some reluctance. Then, having finished this part of the subject, the apostle turns to another characteristic in believers the mighty power of faith which knows how to draw on God, and breaks through all difficulties. (2.) See Matthew 2:19; Matthew 9:18; Luke 7:2, etc. Hebrews 11:22 New International Version 22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. But the bodies of those beasts were burnt without the camp: my place, so far as I in the body am concerned, is one of shame and suffering in this world. Thus does the apostle reason on it: "For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh" (which the Jew would not contest): "how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to do religious service to the living God? With all this Christianity is contrasted. [2.] Those whose names are mentioned, and the particular exercise and actings of whose faith are specified. Yet who beforehand would have anticipated either? God said that He was going to cause it to rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. I'm afraid I have been. The idea being of God asking Abraham to give the most cherished possession that he had to Him. He made mention by faith of the departing of the children of Israel, that the time should come when they should be delivered out of Egypt; and he did this both that he might caution them against the thoughts of settling in Egypt, which was now a place of plenty and ease to them; and also that he might keep them from sinking under the calamities and distresses which he foresaw were coming upon them there; and he does it to comfort himself, that though he should not live to see their deliverance, yet he could die in the faith of it. 01/11/23. As they are companions, so do they test a walk with God; one is faith, the other is suffering. And so he journeyed through the land. They had looked for advance and triumph and peace and prosperity everywhere; on the contrary, they had come into reproach and shame, partly in their own persons, partly as becoming the companions of others who so suffered. Such a sight of God will enable believers to endure to the end whatever they may meet with in the way. Hence He crowns the noble army of witnesses with Christ Himself. We see the leaves that are blowing. That, from the beginning, there has been a remarkable difference between the worshippers. The great artist or composer is driven by the thought of the performance he has never yet given and the wonder he has never yet produced. Observe, [1.] To take it seemed impossible. That which to us alone is impossible is always possible with him. (iv) Noah was righteous through faith. He had beyond all mere men known sorrow and rejection in Israel; yet he himself not only mounted the throne of Jehovah, but raised up His people to. But this trial was greater than all; he was commanded to offer up his son Isaac. "By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.". At the same time he exhorts the believers as to their chiefs, that is, those who guided them spiritually. 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