WHAT WE HAVE COME TO (5)
[p. 187] WHAT WE HAVE COME TO (5)
Hebrews 12: 24; Exodus 24: 3 - 15
SMcC Exodus 24, part of it, is suggested because it brings before us, as few chapters do in the Old Testament, the greatness of the Mediator. We shall bear in mind, of course, that it stands in relation to the old covenant and we are dealing with it as a matter of type. The verse we have read in Hebrews 12, which finishes the things that we have come to, alludes to Jesus the Mediator, the Mediator of a new covenant. It is a touching allusion, which should affect every heart that loves Christ, that among the things that we have come to, we should have this closing reference to Jesus. Not to the Lord Jesus, but to Jesus, His personal name, the name that He uses Himself in the end of the book of Revelation, “I Jesus”. This verse points to His particular glory in mediatorship. There are many glories, of course, which attach to Christ and which faith delights to take account of, and this is one of them. As we have already had it in our meetings, this includes more than the assembly. Rightly speaking, the covenant is not linked with the assembly; it belongs to Israel. The saints of the assembly, of course, come into the gain of the spirit of it as suggested in the Corinthian epistles, so that this is a more inclusive expression here, but our attention is focussed not so much on the new covenant itself, but on Jesus the Mediator of it and the blood of sprinkling. We are thus reminded of the sacrificial basis on which things are going forward and effectuated. We are not to forget that; it is put here among the things that we have come to, although it is the blood of sprinkling that is referred to. The personal reference in verse 24 to Jesus, I think, should touch our hearts.
JMcK As coming to Jesus, it is not only a matter of coming to Him as such, but as the One who is [p. 188] Mediator of the new covenant. The spirit of the covenant and what it suggests are available for us. The Mediator is Jesus Himself.
SMcC That is right. We are brought into touch with the Person who is, and has been able, to establish the conditions on which persons can be set up in relation with God on the basis of established righteousness. It would involve that persons in liberty with God have a sense that certain things that stood out in moral history have been resolved and the persons set up in liberty with God. We have come to the Person that is able to do that.
ASB It does not say the new covenant, but a new covenant. Would you help us in that?
SMcC Well, I think there is something interesting in that, because the point would be more the character of the thing. It is not to focus our attention on the official side, but on the character, a new covenant.
ANW Have we not been helped in the matter of the new covenant in connection with the Supper in that regard? We used to dwell very much on the new covenant, but it seems the matter has been greatly enhanced by the emphasis on the words “in my blood”, bringing before us the Person, as you say. It is the Person that is the great matter.
SMcC Exactly, rather than the covenant itself. So here the Person is the great matter. Notice it does not say the Mediator, it is “Jesus, mediator of a new covenant”. The attention is drawn to the Person and His ability to operate and to work out matters involved in the new covenant.
AGL Would it help to have a word on the difference between the 20th of Exodus and chapter 24?
SMcC Well, it is interesting to see the liberty that there is in Exodus 24. We find the youths mentioned, the thought of the sprinkling of the blood brought in, and then the elders and Moses and [p. 189] Aaron going up and eating and drinking in the presence of God, the God of Israel. There seems to be suggested in Exodus 24 the liberty that we do not have in chapter 20.
AGL In chapter 20 we have in type what we have not come to, the thundering and the lightning and Moses drawing near to the obscurity where God was. Here you have an easier and happier setting; they draw near to God Himself. Would the matter of the Hebrew servant coming in between the two chapters account for the two different views?
SMcC I was just thinking of that. Exodus 21, which comes in between Exodus 20 and 24, points in type to Christ coming in on the principle of love and establishing the conditions in which in liberty we are set before God.
CCT Would this great thought as to the Person be very stimulating to all of us? We have had God, Judge of all, and now we have Jesus, the Man. Would it help us in our movements here?
SMcC It would. It points to the great mediatorial feature in the system, something that we cannot forget or lose sight of. The thought of the mediatorship, although it is applied here in regard to a new covenant, brings into our minds the special place that Christ has in regard to this great extended realm of things to which we have come. There is a distinctive glory, I suppose, about each of the Persons of the Deity. There is something about Jesus that is distinctive, as, for instance, it was He who died for us. The Father did not die for us, nor did the Spirit die for us. We are to take account of what is specific to certain Persons in that relation. This verse reminds us of the specific glory of Christ in mediatorship.
ASB As Jehovah the Saviour, He is the Mediator, is He not? His hand is on God and men, so that both sides are involved [p. 190] in mediatorship.
SMcC Very good. It comes up in Matthew’s gospel, “Thou shalt call his name Jesus”. It is interesting and bears on the whole gospel for it is the great administrative gospel. It is helpful to see that we have come to a Person who holds in His hand the solution of the moral question, because the new covenant, as we think of it, bears on the moral question, “Their sins and their lawlessnesses I will never remember any more”, Hebrews 10: 17.
VCL Did Paul arrive early at some understanding of this? “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest”. As soon as he is converted he preached Jesus, “that he is the Son of God”.
SMcC I am sure he did. Reference was made at the opening of these meetings to the need of many to be brought into the joy of what christianity means, the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Spirit. Well, that is an important thing. We have come to mount Zion, the new principle which involves the extension of mercy towards us, setting us up in proper relations with God on that ground. But this final touch coming in after the thoughts of the city, heavenly Jerusalem, and the universal gathering, the myriads of angels, and God the Judge of all, and the spirits of just men, this thought of Jesus the Mediator brings us to a fuller side in regard to the matter.
EGMcA It has been said that every time a covenant has been brought in, it is in regard to some need. What would this covenant convey as to our need at this time in regard to divine things?
SMcC It is well to bear in mind that the epistle is written to Jewish believers and they are accustomed to Jewish terminology. The covenant as they would understand it bears upon their liberation, their being set free, set up in happy relations with God. These Jewish believers would understand how God has established conditions on an unalterable basis, the basis of redemption, by which persons can be in [p. 191] relation with Himself. The need would be in the persons, especially having the service of God in mind as this epistle has. We should be free and on happy and easy terms with God on the basis of what has been effected from the divine side.
EGMcA Is that the reason for the word ‘new’, a different one from the old — altogether new?
SMcC It is important to keep that in mind. The marginal note to the word ‘new’ signifies what is fresh and youthful in contrast to what is fading away. The apostle speaks of it in this epistle and there is somewhat of an analogy in Exodus 24 in the reference to the youths.
EGMcA Their mediator, Moses could not bring them into what God had for them.
SMcC Therefore, as we said at the outset, we are dealing in Exodus 24 with an old covenant, but it is permissible to use it as a type. Certain things are set out typically in that chapter which bring out the liberty of certain relations with God in certain settings.
JMcK In regard to the footnote, would what is fresh and youthful affect the minds and hearts of those who come to Jesus, coming in the sense of that instead of the arduous and burdensome way of the first covenant which they were unable to fulfil?
SMcC That is a great matter, and it is especially important, in view of the service of God, that our souls should be rightly affected by the glory of mediatorship in Jesus so that we should all have a good start, we may say, in assembly service, in the service of God. We can all start together and we can start on a common basis. This is one of the things that we have come to, Jesus Mediator of a new covenant, to the Person who is able in every way to set us free from every darkening influence, everything that would engender bondage, everything that would make us ill at ease in [p. 192] the divine presence.
FHLC Is the blood alluded to here connected with the old system for the reason you just gave us in regard of the epistle itself?
SMcC I think so. It is Jewish terminology; they would understand all these expressions. When Paul is writing to the gentiles, he uses a different means of expressing himself, but the thing in principle is there.
AGL Is there confirmation in all that you have been saying in Matthew’s gospel? The Lord in referring to the covenant speaks of His blood being “shed for many for remission of sins”, this dealing with the whole moral question.
SMcC I think that is right. Matthew would link in that way with what we have here. It is especially important that persons should be free for the service of God, because these things that we have come to are all to help us in regard of the truth, arriving at an understanding of what is in the divine mind so that we should be happy and free in our relations with God, especially in His service.
JK We had previously in connection with mount Sinai that if a beast touched the mountain it was to be stoned, whereas, in connection with Jesus, there is that which comes within our range. He is so accessible in that way.
SMcC I think that is the point. The very name Jesus would bring up the thought of accessibility.
ANW Are we not, in this verse and in the verse speaking of God, coming to the kernel of the constitution before a Jewish mind? I think that would help in going back over the meetings. To God and to Jesus — are we not touching the kernel of the whole constitution in that way?
SMcC I believe we are. Divine Persons are related to this range of things. It is not only ideas or thoughts to which we have come, but we have come to divine Persons, and divine Persons, of [p. 193] course, in a relative way; God, the Judge of all, and Jesus, Mediator of a new covenant.
WHC The eighth chapter speaks of what He is going to do in another dispensation, “And they shall not teach each his fellow-citizen, and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord; because all shall know me in themselves, from the little one among them unto the great among them”. Is that what we are to arrive at?
SMcC Well, that would be the point. The great end in the covenant is that persons should know God. It is linked with the house of Israel. We come into the spirit of the thing, of course, in 2 Corinthians 3.
TLS All the arrangements of service are in His hands. The Mediator has to do with all service. Does mediatorship refer especially to the service in this passage or does it include more?
SMcC It has in mind that persons have come to these things which we have been speaking of in the course of our inquiry into the truth. The covenant does not stand related to mountains, cattle, or angels, but it stands related to a people secured by divine power on the basis of delivering grace and brought to God Himself. It stands in relation to these, but the stress is on Jesus the Mediator of a new covenant.
CCT So that, by seeing the Person and the place He has as Mediator, I am set free and I seek my place of freedom.
SMcC I think so. We need help in regard to our links with Christ, especially as to being free. It is not just a matter in the service of God of using the terms that are proper to the position, but our souls should be free; we should be constitutionally free, and I believe this would help us, Jesus, Mediator of a new covenant. Many things could be referred to in connection with Jesus, but this particular feature, Mediator of a new covenant, stands out [p. 194] here.
JMcK Is there not a peculiar effect on our souls as we take the Lord’s supper, especially as we consider the place the cup has in it? Paul says he received from the Lord that “This cup is the new covenant in my blood”, bringing peculiarly before us the Person of Jesus Himself.
ANW Hebrews 10: 19 reaches the top-note. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus”. Liberty is there.
SMcC It is an important matter that we should be set up in a sense, as Mr. Wigram says, of ‘Not a cloud above — not a spot within’. As we have to do with God, with Jesus, and with the Spirit, in the service of God, we are lifted out of what would hinder or mar our liberty in the service.
WMcK We were speaking about the service of the Spirit augmenting the priestly service of Christ. Does the Spirit also augment the service of Christ as Mediator?
SMcC I believe He does. We might read chapter 10: 15, “And the Holy Spirit also bears us witness of it; for after what was said: This is the covenant which I will establish towards them after those days, saith the Lord: Giving my laws into their hearts, I will write them also in their understandings; and their sins and their lawlessnesses I will never remember any more”. We can see how the blessed Spirit augments the great service of Christ in relation to our liberty in serving or worshipping God.
EFC Do we not get a similar thought in 2 Corinthians 3 as the apostle speaks of having such confidence toward God and of the Spirit of the living God? Would that not involve the freedom and liberty that we have in approach?
SMcC Well it does, and bearing on this thought of augmenting we have, for instance, verses 17 and 18 of 2 Corinthians 3. “Now the Lord is the Spirit,
[p. 195] but where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit”, or the ‘Lord Spirit’. That shows us how the blessed Spirit is augmenting the great service of Christ, intimately bound up with and adding His touch to the service and ministry of Christ so that we should be free and in liberty in divine service.
HB We can be at home in the conditions of transparency and clearness of Exodus 24: 10.
SMcC That is it. Nothing to resolve, no issues to face; they have all been faced. We are in the place of the “form of heaven for clearness”, as it says.
ASB In Matthew you were reminding us, with regard to the remnant, that He gave Himself a ransom. In 1 Timothy 2, we have “For God is one, and the mediator of God and men one, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all”, extending the character of the thing to our day, showing that we are never beyond the mediatorial position, the moral question having been dealt with.
SMcC I am sure there is something in that. It behoves us to keep in mind the glory of Christ in this relation. It is so easy to lose sight of it, Jesus Mediator of a new covenant; it involves His work, what He has done and what He does, and we are not to forget that. It seems as if the writer has been saying we have had these six different things before us, but, before he finishes, he reminds us of Jesus in this way, Mediator of a new covenant, and it should touch our souls.
EGMcA In the old covenant there were many restrictions called for and commanded, and there were many things outlined, but in this passage there are none of those set forth in the new covenant, but we come to know all the good, the grace, the liberty,
[p. 196] and the love by coming to the One who is the Mediator of it. So we are enlarged in it as coming to the Man Himself.
SMcC Exactly. As this epistle brings Him before us, and as we take account of the greatness of the Person, in contrast to all others, who has been able to effectuate the work that He has? It is a great matter and we were reminded in London by our beloved brother, not with us today, in a way which affected all our hearts, that we have always to keep in mind that redemption underlies the effectuation of the purpose of God.
VCL This morning we were reminded of the night of the Lord’s betrayal, a night never to be forgotten by any one of us. Is not that a part of what is to affect our feelings as to how great this Person is?
SMcC Exactly. The verse seems to have in mind that we should not forget the Person. There are many things that we could think of in relation to Him, but now our thoughts are challenged in this verse in this matter, “Mediator of a new covenant”. He has been able to establish the conditions in which our hearts may be free in the presence of God.
EGMcA He is also able to maintain it.
SMcC A good thing, to maintain it. There is a good deal of cloudiness among us, but the thing to keep in mind is the greatness of the truth, that we have come to, “Jesus, mediator of a new covenant”.
EFC The greatness of Jesus is seen in Moses in type in verse 2 of chapter 24. It says, “Let Moses alone come near Jehovah; but they shall not come near; neither shall the people go up with him”. It is a matter of the uniqueness of Moses.
SMcC I am sure that is in mind, because the chapter brings out in type the greatness of the mediator as few chapters do. Exodus 24 has been alluded to as one of the greatest chapters in the Pentateuch,
[p. 197] and its greatness stands in the ability of the mediator to go where no one else could go; we are reminded of that in the Person of Jesus. He can go where none other can go.
EFC It is through Him that we have such confidence towards God.
SMcC Exactly. The importance of our position in that way is related to this Person in His mediatorial capacity in this verse.
JVC Is that also set out in that we see Jesus crowned with glory and honour, by the grace of God tasting death for everything?
SMcC Well, that is an allusion to His death bearing on things as well as persons. The covenant is particularly linked with persons.
JWH There seems to be something simple about the way the initial service starts here in the youths. Is that the effect of the new covenant in its simplicity upon us?
SMcC It is a great matter that spiritual youthfulness among us should be in the liberty suggested in this section. It says in verse 5, “And he sent the youths”. That is, they are under the hand of the mediator. The mediator is stressed in this chapter in what is referred to and they are under the hand, in type, of Jesus the Mediator. It is a wonderful thing to be under His hand, available and subject in that way.
CCT They had ability also, “And he sent the youths of the children of Israel, and they offered up burnt-offerings”. They were useful in this service now because they were free.
SMcC They were. The remarkable thing is that Moses should think of them and bring them into this position involving glory, because this chapter involves glory, and the bringing of the youths into it suggests that the work of God in this setting is to fill out its part and place in the service [p. 198] of God.
ASC As having come to Jesus Mediator of a new covenant, we find One who is able to sustain us in our affections to the carrying through of all that is being wrought in our souls. To Moses, the people said, All that the Lord has said will we do, but there was not that in them which could hold their hearts and affections to it.
ABm In Exodus 24 we have the suggestion of freshness and liberty in the youths. We get in 2 Corinthians 3, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord”. There is freshness and liberty.
SMcC The matter of freshness should have a great place in the service of God and that is the point in this chapter. 2 Corinthians 3 has especially in mind our freedom and liberty in the service of God, the Lord Jesus and the Lord Spirit particularly operating with that in mind.
JMcK How do we come to Jesus in this sense? Is it an individual or a collective matter? It is rather suggestive that Exodus 24 is the whole assembly of the children of Israel. Can I arrive at this apart from coming to the Lord’s supper, remembering Himself, and bearing consciously in our spirits all that He has gone through to establish this for us and to open up the service of God?
SMcC Well, I am sure the verse in Hebrews 12 is a general statement of the things that we have come to, not specific as to time, when we have come to Jesus.
ANW It is not that we should come to it or that we might come to it, or how we come to it, but that “ye have come”. “Ye have come to mount Zion” and to all the other items in the constitution. It is for us to solve what is involved in coming to them.
SMcC That is it. So that allusion was made to America, the capital, and the constitution. Some of [p. 199] us have come to it and we have come to all that is in it. The question as to whether we have the enjoyment of the different features of it is another matter, but the fact is that we have come to it, we are in the presence of it, and it is operating towards us. The great thing is for us to be in the happiness and joy and blessedness of what it means.
EFC Would you say our participation in the service of God would show whether we have come to it experimentally, or not?
SMcC Well, I would say that. It would show whether our souls are in the liberty of these great things, the great system of things alluded to here.
JMcK I think perhaps the young, as well as all of us, would get distinct help from that. If I have not taken my place at the Lord’s supper, I cannot take the ground of having come to Jesus Mediator of a better covenant. Is not the light and joy of it in our souls brought out by being with Christ and moving on to the service of God?
SMcC Our practical enjoyment of it will show itself. It says, “Ye have come to mount Zion”, in verse 22, “and to Jesus, mediator”. It is not a matter of state in the saints. It is a matter of what we have come to, what belongs to the system, but whether we have the enjoyment of it is another matter. I may be at the Lord’s supper and yet not in the state or enjoyment of it.
JMcK This matter is basic. The understanding of that in our souls, all that we come to, and the greatness of it as administered by Christ would greatly help us.
SMcC I am sure that is right, and so reference was made at the beginning of our meetings to many who may still be in distress and darkness of soul. What we have been getting of the truth is to help us into the liberty and joy of what christianity really is.
[p. 200] ABM'N Does the acceptance of this blessed truth give us the whole matter in our souls at once?
SMcC Well, I think we need to have our eyes open to what is toward us in this setting. We have come to it and these things are toward us; whether we are getting the gain of them is another matter.
ABM'N Light in contrast to the darkness.
JK Was it not said at the beginning there is that which we have not come to and that which we have come to? This is the positive result.
SMcC Exactly. The bearing of these things towards us, as having come to them, is in mind. I do not think the point in the writer’s mind is that it bears on some and not on others. It bears on all. Whether we are getting the full gain of what mount Zion means, or the city means, or the myriads of angels, or God Judge of all, is something that we have to look into.
CCT Was not that the exercise of our beloved brother as to these meetings, that we might understand and come into the joy of these matters?
SMcC That is it. We are all in the system and the Lord is helping us to get into the truth and know its bearing upon us.
AGL Would chapter 11, the great faith chapter, help us? It says, “Faith is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. This great unseen world is referred to.
SMcC Well, that is it. The man of the world does not see these things to which we have come. This is all part of the great unseen realm of things, but seen by faith and known to faith.
ETP Your reference to state is helpful; if I understand you correctly, it is not a question of attainment, but what God has arrived at for us.
SMcC That is the point and we have come to it. The question is whether by the Spirit we are enjoying [p. 201] what is involved in it, as come to it, is another matter, but one thing that should help us in regard to the service of God is that we all have a common basis to start on and that is a great thing to bear in mind.
EGMcA Would this particular reference to “Jesus, mediator of a new covenant” be the culminating thought in the apostle’s mind? He supports us as coming to these things and brings us into the practical good of them. We are not left simply standing as having come to something, but have the support of the Mediator, the support of the system.
SMcC That is it, so that we shall be sustained in right relations with God, because Exodus 24 has in mind happy sustained relations with God. The blood of sprinkling brings up the great matter of what covers the position.
ASB John 3 was referred to at the outset, “Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God”, but John 9, which is the answer to it, says the man came seeing. The Lord presents Himself to him in that position.
SMcC That would bring up the matter of whether we really see what is involved in what we have come to. We are there, we have come to it. The question is whether we see it, that has been in mind in searching out the truth these days.
ASB You are emphasising being observant.
ANW We should not overlook the statement in verse 22. The apostle does not say ‘we’ have come to mount Zion. The statement is, “Ye have come to mount Zion”. In that way it is not only a matter of instruction for them, but also for us today.
SMcC It might have said, ‘we’ have come to it, but that might be apostolic or linked with the apostle, but it distinctly says, “Ye have come to mount Zion”, whereas in Corinthians you remember how he makes a distinction in regard of certain things, “But we have the mind of Christ”. He does not say ‘but ye have the mind of Christ’. It is very important that we should see these differences.
EFC Would you say the greatness of the blood of Jesus, to which this no doubt alludes, would be unique in the sense that Jesus was a divine Person? That is why the blood is so great.
SMcC Exactly. The blood of sprinkling, an interesting matter. Exodus 24 amplifies the thought of sprinkling, speaks of the people being sprinkled. “And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant that Jehovah has made with you concerning all these words”. It is a remarkable statement; we have a lot of blood in the chapter, as you will note, and it is good to be reminded of the place the blood has, not only its bearing on the book, but also its bearing on the people.
AGL What is the thought of sprinkling as over against the thought of His blood being poured out? Our hearts are sprinkled in Hebrews 10. Would that be an application?
SMcC It would involve all that as entering into the matter of our clearance in this system of things. In Exodus 24, the liberty of verses 9, 10, and 11, involving the side of ennoblement and happy relations in that setting with God, serves to amplify the thoughts in mind in Hebrews 12.
TLS Seeing seems to be stressed in Exodus 24.
ANW The great contrast is seen also because Hebrews 12 is the Mediator, whereas Exodus 24 is the blood.
SMcC That is it. When we think of Exodus 24, we think of it by way of contrast. When we come to Hebrews 12, Jesus is not only the Mediator, but He also supplied the means on the basis of which the people could be set up in right relations [p. 203] with God.
ASC Would you help us on the thought of “speaking better than Abel”? Of Abel God said to Cain, “Thy brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground”, Genesis 4: 10.
SMcC Well, I think the point is that the blood in this setting is not crying for vengeance. We have come to “Jesus, mediator of a new covenant; and to the blood of sprinkling, speaking better than Abel”. The grace of the position is emphasised in this setting; it is not a matter of vengeance or judgment, but it is towards us in all the conditions of grace and blessing which are in mind in this section.
EGMcA This section, in regard to the sprinkling of blood, brings us into favour with God rather than bringing in distance.
SMcC It does. Bearing in mind that Cain is a Jewish type, and bears on the Jewish position, it is all the more interesting that the blood speaks better than that of Abel.
CCT Is verse 11 of chapter 24 the outcome of the sprinkling? Having freedom, “They saw God, and ate and drank”.
SMcC What a delightful position of such nearness to God and in such complacency! Of course, the position is not perfect here; when we come to christianity how different the position is!
CCT That is a type of our freedom. We are able to sit down restfully to eat and drink of the things of God.
WMcK Does the thought of expansion enter into the matter of speaking in Hebrews 12? Moses spoke all the words of Jehovah. There is great room for response and feeling in the matter of the covenant.
SMcC Well, it is very interesting. So there is room for the opening out of the truth. The volume of blood in this section should affect our hearts as should the opening out of the truth. The blood in [p. 204] this connection would have a salutary effect on our minds, precluding lightness in attending these meetings. The blood in its bearing upon us and the teaching connected with it would help us in our souls.
ANW The last two verses have the sense of favour, “Wherefore let us, receiving a kingdom not to be shaken, have grace, by which let us serve God acceptably with reverence and fear. For also our God is a consuming fire”.
SMcC We are to bear that in mind, over against all that obtains. What Abel had to face comes into mind in this connection. We have the blood of sprinkling, speaking better than Abel. That is a remarkable thing because Abel is the great witness to righteousness.
AGL “Having died, he yet speaks”, Hebrews 11: 4.
AH I would like to ask about the order in John 3, “Except any one be born anew”, and then “Born of water and of Spirit”, and then entering into the kingdom. We need help to see what we have come to and then to enter into it livingly.
SMcC I think so, so that the moral process is individual in the last verse you referred to — the moral bearing of the truth upon us. It is a great thing to see, in finishing the things to which we have come, this touching allusion to Jesus in His mediatorship and the blood of sprinkling. We are not to forget that, in all the glory of what has been mentioned before.
WHC Why is there such a warning following this wonderful passage we have been reading? “See that ye refuse not him that speaks”. “For also our God is a consuming fire”.
SMcC It is a solemn matter to refuse divine speaking. This letter makes a lot of it. We do not sufficiently realise the authority of the speaking that we have been under the last two days. It does not dawn on us so greatly as it should. The authority of [p. 205] the speaking from heaven, coming as it does through a distinctive vessel, is to impress us as we are in the presence of it. To take issue with it or to refuse it is a serious matter. You see persons who think nothing of taking issue with such speaking.
ASB “Insulted the Spirit of grace”, is a serious charge (Hebrews 10: 29).
SMcC A solemn matter. You hear of persons who think nothing of challenging a servant as to his ministry, what he is bringing forward; they forget the authority of the speaking, what lies behind it, and the seriousness of taking issue with it. Of course, we search the Scriptures to find out if things are so, but the great matter in this epistle is to see the authority that lies behind the speaking, for, in this epistle, the refusal of it is apostasy.