The confidence of one who believes in Messianic prophecy is that all things are as good as subjected to the Christ because God has declared this as his design. What we see is greatly short of subjection, and the subjected part we fail to see; we cannot rest our eyes upon it properly, because their attention is distracted by the sight of so much defiance, rebellion, and attempt at self-government in the far greater part of what ought to be subject to Christ. All the more need to find in what we may see the assurance and promise of the unseen. We do see - for that is what the words amount to - a humanized, a dying, and a risen Christ. "Crowned with glory and honor" is but a periphrasis for the resurrection, an indication of one of the things God did in raising his Son Jesus.

I. WHAT WE SEE SHOWS US THE POWER WHICH CAN PRODUCE THE DESIRED UNSEEN. God, in saying that all things shall be subjected to Christ, asserts authority. But by the course of his Son Jesus on earth he also manifested power. He took as it were a small section of time and space, and there gave us gracious illustration of what he is ever doing, some of it in the realm of the seen, but much more in that of the unseen. What power there is in the Incarnation! For obvious reasons the Incarnation is mostly connected with thoughts of God's condescension, and the lowly-heartedness of Jesus himself. But these considerations must not blind us to the Incarnation as an illustration of God's power. There is a mysterious power in making Jesus lower than the angels, and if it be true that there is a causal connection between sin and death as a painful experience, then some peculiar power must be involved in bringing the sinless Jesus in contact with the pain of death. Then, of course, there is the instance of power, most impressive and most cheering to us, in the raising of Jesus from the dead. If only we can really believe that God has power over the grave, we shall believe in his final conquest of all that can hurt his people.

II. WHAT WE SEE SHOWS US THE PURPOSE EVER WORKING TOWARDS THE DESIRED UNSEEN. The grace of God is manifest as well as the power of God. Jesus not only died; he tasted of death for every one - for every one who could benefit by the tasting of it. He tasted of it that by his resurrection he might show it was not the remediless poison men reckoned it to be. In his love he tasted death, as much as to say to men, "Fear not." We have the Divine purposes in words, but those words are only the more perfect expressions of what we might infer from the works. It is true that "through the ages one increasing purpose runs" - a purpose much higher than that any individual man might form, or the combination of any men.

III. WHAT WE SEE SHOWS US PATIENCE WAITING FOP, THE DESIRED UNSEEN. Great is the patience of God - a contrast to our impatience, our haste, our discontent, if we cannot get immediate results. The fullness of time has to be waited for before the Christ can enter the world; the fullness of manhood has to be waited for till he can begin to teach. Jesus himself must have his own time of sufficient seed-sowing before he can go to Jerusalem for the final scene, belay, procrastination, postponement, is what God cannot tolerate where there ought to be decision, but for great steps to be taken in his own mighty plans he can wait the proper time. If we do not yet see all things subjected to Jesus, if indeed the struggle seems often quite the other way, then there is all the more need for us to look at the career of Jesus from Bethlehem to Calvary as an illustration of how God can wait. In making up the cup which Jesus drank, many ingredients had to be waited for. - Y.

I. "WE SEE NOT YET ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION TO MAN." "Not yet"; but we are to see it. It has to come, this sway of man over "things," over all things — over the material forces of the world, the powers that largely affect, if they do not actually make, life and progress. The key of the energies of the universe hangs at his girdle, and he will one day "be so learned in love" as to know how to use it to open all the doors of all the mansions of nature, and make their treasures supplements to, and continuations of, the spiritual creation. It has to come, this rule of the Spirit over sense and sin and Satan, over all that touches the invisible essence that constitutes the true man, and therefore over Satan, who works through "things" to deceive the nations and destroy souls. This supremacy is the final goal of humanity.

II. "NOT UNTO ANGELS HAS GOD SUBJECTED THE COMING WORLD." Angels filled and crowded Hebrew thought for a long time, as God's "mighty ones," the swift-winged messengers who delighted to do His will; agents of deliverance, as for the imprisoned Peter, and of punishment, as for Sennacherib. But not to these "men in lighter habit clad" had God subjected the coming world of manhood, the advancing goodness and perfecting character and service of the sons of God. Not to them, but to men like ourselves, who have to do with sheep and oxen and the beasts of the field, with cotton and calicoes, with science and art; whose life is as "fragile as the dewdrop on its perilous way from a tree's summit." and yet so strong that it destroys itself by sin; men "made a little lower than God, and crowned with the glory" of a present participation in His nature, and therefore by and by to be invested with the "honour" of sharing His rule.

III. BUT IF TO MAN, TO WHAT IS THIS SCEPTRE OF DOMINION FINALLY GRANTED? To all and sundry, and to them all alike, simply as men, or to particular races or one race of men? To whom is the ultimate leadership of the world to be given? God is no respecter of persons or of nations. Colour of skin is nothing to Him. Geography does not determine His choices. The conquering race is the godly race, of any colour, or country, or time. It is the "new man, which is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of Him that created him; where there cannot be" — it is ruled out for evermore" where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian," African, Hindoo, Chinaman, Briton; " but Christ is all and in all." It is the manhood of "kind hearts," not-f "coronets," of "simple faith," and not of "Norman blood."

IV. Though eighteen centuries have elapsed since that forecast of the destiny of man was quoted, endorsed, and explained by the writer to the Hebrews, amid the wreck and overthrow of Judaism, WE HAVE, ALAS! TO ADOPT THE WRITER'S LAMENT, AND SAY, AS WE LOOK ON MAN AND HIS WORLD TO-DAY, "NOT YET WE SEE ALL THINGS SUBJECTED UNTO HIM'." Indeed, his mastery "of things," though advanced and advancing, is woefully incomplete. He is only slowly learning that he is a spirit, and is for large breadths of his time and in wide areas of his life the slave of " things." The animal is in command. Prometheus is still bound. "The mystery of waste" and suffering and wrong confronts us day and night with its terrible menace, and the self-multiplying and intensifying power of sin drives us to carry our despair into our facts, until there is neither faith nor hope left in us, and, like the Hebrews, "we fall away from the living God," and find it impossible "to hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end."

V. But surely that is not all we see! There is more, much more. On this earth and amongst men — "WE SEE JESUS"; and though, in seeing Him, our first glimpse may only confirm the impression that man has not yet fully entered on his inheritance; yet the deeper look assures us that he is on his way to it, has already been anointed with the oil of joy above his predecessors and contemporaries, and, though suffering, is really ascending by suffering to the throne from which He shall rule for evermore. That sight explains the ages' long delay; the dissolution and disappearance of the ancient and illustrious Jewish religion, and is the indefeasible pledge and guarantee that the sovereignty of man shall yet be realised, and all things be put under His feet. Seeing Jesus, we see these four paths to the sovereignty of the Christian race, and of the Christian religion through that race; the path of history, of Divine revelation, of saintly character, and of self-suppressing enthusiasm for the welfare of the world.

1. The past rules. It is alive; for many people more alive than the present. In Jesus that past is interpreted; its religious yearning and hope, effort and failure, explained; its programme in law and prophecy filled out; its long and painful discipline vindicated. Now, the case being so, I maintain that the experience the world has had of Christianity forms a piece of logic of irresistible cogency; an argument compact, four-square, fixed deep and for ever in the solid fastnesses of fact, in favour of the success of our present endeavour to save the world by the gospel of Christ; that indeed, as Christ in the conscience is the stronghold of missions, so Christ in the experience of men of like passions and hopes, faiths and fears with ourselves, all through the ages, is an unimpeachable voucher for the triumph of the missionary enterprise; a witness that cannot be denied that the movement is a living, saving, and conquering one, and destined to end in nothing short of the universal establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth.

2. Ideas rule. Thinkers make and mould the ages. Religious revolutions are effected by ideas. In Jesus we see the simplest and highest thought on the highest and most absorbingly vital themes: God and salvation, sin and forgiveness, duty and holiness. Great is the truth as it is in Jesus, and it shall prevail through and over Moses and Isaiah, over Buddha and Mahomet, and make all men free and good. We know the gospel to be the light and conquering message for India and the world. Judging man according to the spiritual necessities of his nature, we are sure this is the only message he can abidingly accept. Treating him, not simply as a keen intellectual thinker, eager to frame a definition of the Divine, and reduce his notions of the Godhead to the cramping boundaries of a four-page catechism — not as a clever and ingenious artist flinging the pictures of his fancy on the canvas, and creating things of perennial beauty and joy — not as a cleverly-constructed money-making machine, but as a man with a fevered restlessness born of sin, and an irrepressible aspiration for righteousness and goodness born of the God that is in him; taking him thus, I declare that no message can soothe him but Christ's, no medicine heal but the great Physician's, no good satisfy but that which make him a partaker of the Divine nature, and enables him to escape the corruption that is in the world by lust.

3. This is a moral world; and no rule lasts that is not based on holy character. It is not enough to have the right message; we need also the right method, the method that has conquered from the beginning. Jesus Christ wrote no books. He made men, filled them with His Spirit. and trained them in His service, and trusted the founding of His kingdom to them. All the great epochs of revived life and extended power in the history of the Church have been introduced by men of signal goodness, of massive power, of radiant holiness, of unusual faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When Dr. Judson went amongst the poor and benighted Karens, and passed through their villages and jungles, he was called by the natives "Jesus Christ's man"! That is it. Nothing can resist that power. A Woolwich steam-hammer is not better adapted for making iron-plated ships than Christ in men as a living experience, and at work in the rescue of the perishing, is fitted for the regeneration of the world.

4. The earliest sovereignty we know is that of love. No monarchy is so sure as a mother's, none so inward and lasting. "Love never fails." It is the p-wet that keeps your Christian man fresh, earnest, eager, real, enthusiastic, and hopeful; sustains him at high-pressure in spite of defeat; gives him the power of content, and the victory of joy in his work through, instead of obtaining the common rewards of labour, he suffer the heaped-up scorns and bitter hates of men. David Hume is reported to have said, "Fifty years hence, where will your Christianity be?" Well, where is it? Contrast the dominion of Jesus at this hour, and in the days when the great sceptic spoke. Note our Lord's conquest since that taunt was flung at His chariot! Where has He not gone? Into what province has He not penetrated? What evils has He not attacked? Assuredly our survey of the past warrants the largest hopefulness and the strongest faith. Now, "Fifty years hence," we may ask, "where will Christianity not be?"

VI. Disraeli said, "THE YOUNG DO THE REAL WORK OF THE WORLD." Ruskin writes, "The most beautiful works of all art were done in youth." Rome was founded by Romulus before he was twenty. Lord Shaftesbury began his fight with social misery in the freshness of his young manhood. William Lloyd Garrison girt himself with the sword of freedom whilst the hot blood of youth was coursing through his veins. Moffat and Livingstone, Comber and Hannington, and an exceeding great army of missionaries said, like young Isaiah in response to God's summons, "Here am I, send me." The messenger of the Highest, John the Baptist, finished his work as a young man, and the Christ whom he pioneered was six months his junior. Wherefore, seeing that you are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, shirk no task, seize every opportunity of helping the needy, and run with patience the race of missionary service, "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of the faith." Hear Carey's wish, and help to realise it. "I hope," said he, in 1793, "the Society will go on and increase, and that the multitudes of heathen in the world may hear the glorious words of truth. Africa is but a little way from India, Madagascar but a little way further; South America, and all the numerous and large islands in the Indian and China Seas, I hope will not be passed over. A large field opens on every side, millions of perishing heathens are pleading... with every heart that loves God, and with all the ,hutches of the living God." Heed that prophetic message, and give to the work of saving the world a daily, d finite, and large place in the thought and prayer and work of your life!

(J. Clifford, D. D.)

One of our celebrated astronomers is said to have taught himself the rudiments of his starry science when lying on the hill-side, keeping his father's sheep. Perhaps the grand psalm to which these words refer had a similar origin, and may have come from the early days of the shepherd king, when, like those others of a later day, he abode in the field of Bethlehem, keeping watch over his flock by night. The magnificence of the Eastern heaven,, with their "larger constellations burning," filled his soul with two opposite thoughts — man's smallness and man's greatness. I suppose that in a mind apt to pensive reflections, alive to moral truths, and responsive to the impressions of God's great universe, the unscientific contemplation of any of the grander forms of nature produces that double effect. Thus David felt man's littleness. And yet — and yet, bigness is not greatness, and duration is not life, and the creature that knows God is highest. So the consciousness of man's separation from, and superiority to, these silent stars, springs up strong and victorious over the other thought. These great lights are not rulers, but servants; we are more than they, because we have spirits which link us with God. The text, then, brings before us a threefold sight.

I. LOOK AT THE SIGHT AROUND US. "We see not yet all things put under man." Where are the men of whom any portion of the Psalmist's words is true? Look at them — are these the men of whom be sings? Visited by God! crowned with glory and honour! having dominion over the works of His hands! Is this irony in fact? Let consciousness speak. Look at ourselves. If that plan be God's thought of man, the plan that He hangs up for us His workmen to build by, what a wretched thing my copy of it has turned out to bet Is this a picture of me? How seldom I am conscious of the visits of God; how full I am of weaknesses and imperfections — the solemn voice within me tells me at intervals when I listen to its tones. On my brow there gleams no diadem; from in life, alas! there shines at the best but a fitful splendour of purity, all striped with solid masses of blackness. And as for dominion over creatures, how superficial my rule over them, how real their rule over me! I can make machinery, and bid the lightning do my errands, and carry messages, the burden of which is mostly money, or power, or sorrow. But all these, and the whole set of things like thorn, are not ruling over God's creation. That congests in using all for God, and for our own growth in wisdom, strength, and goodness; and be only is master of all things who is servant of God. If so. what are most of us but servants, not lords, of earth and its goods? And so against all the theories of the desperate, school, and against all our own despondent thoughts, we have to oppose the sunny hopes which come from such words as those of our text. Looking around us, we have indeed to acknowledge with plaintive emphasis," we see not yet all things put under Him" — but, looking up, we have to add with triumphant confidence that we speak of a fact which has a real bearing on our hopes for men — "we see Jesus."

II. So, secondly, LOOK UPWARDS TO JESUS. Christ is the power to conform us to Himself, as well as the pattern of what we may be. He and none lower, He and none beside, is the pattern man. Not the great conqueror, nor the great statesman, nor the great thinker, but the great love, the perfectly good — is the man as God meant him to be. But turn now to the contemplation of Christ in the heavens, "crowned with glory and honour," as the true type of man. What does Scripture teach us to see in the exalted Lord?

1. It sets before us, first, a perpetual manhood. Grasp firmly the essential, perpetual manhood of Jesus Christ, and then to see Him crowned with glory and honour gives the triumphant answer to the despairing question that rises often to the lips of every one who knows the facts of life, "Wherefore hast Thou make all men in vain? "

2. Again, we see in Jesus, exalted in the heavens, a corporeal manhood. Heaven is a place as well as a state; and, however, for the present, the souls that sleep in Jeans may have to "wait for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body," and, being unclothed, may be wrapped about with Him, and rest in His bosom, yet the perfect men who shall one day stand before the Lord, shall have body, and soul, and spirit — like Him who is a man for ever, and for ever wears a human frame.

3. Further, we see in Jesus transfigured manhood. For Him, as for us, flesh here means weakness and dishonour. For us, though not for Him, flesh means corruption and death. For Him, as for us, that natural body, which was adequate to the needs and adapted to the material constitution of this earth, must be changed into the spiritual body correspondent to the conditions of that kingdom of God which flesh and blood cannot enter. For us, through Him, the body of humiliation shall be changed into likeness of the body of His glory. We see Jesus, and in Him manhood transfigured and perfected.

4. Finally, we see in Jesus sovereign manhood. He directs the history of the world, and presides among the nations. He is the prince of all the kings of the earth. He wields the forces of nature, He directs the march of providence, He is Lord of the unseen worlds, and holds the keys of death and the grave. "The government is upon His shoulders," and upon Him hangs "all the glory of His Father's house."

III. Finally, LOOK FORWARD. Christ is the measure of man's capacities. He is the true pattern of human nature. Christ Is the prophecy and pledge of man's dominion. It were a poor consolation to point to Christ and say, "Look what man has become, and may become," unless we could also say, "A real and living oneness exists between Him and all who cleave to Him, so that their characters are changed, their natures cleansed, their future altered, their immortal beauty secured." He is more than pattern, He is power; more than specimen, He is source; more than example, He is redeemer. He has been made in the likeness of sinful flesh, that we may be in the likeness of His body of glory. He has been made "sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." The fact we know, the contents of the fact we wait to prove. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." Enough, that we shall reign with Him, and that in the kingdom of the heavens dominion means service, and the least is the greatest. Nearness to God, knowledge of His heart and will, likeness to Christ, determine superiority among pure and spiritual beings.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Did you ever know the power of a picture, the portrait of some beloved friend, over the life and the heart? Did you ever hang the portrait of some cherished darling in the household room — a departed friend, a mother, a wife, a husband, or a child — some friend especially related to your sympathies and affections? And have you not noticed and felt what a character that portrait gives to the room? If the memory is especially prized, how the eye turns to it as it enters the room, and how the eye out of the portrait seems to follow you, not so much spectrally as spiritually, while in the room! That portrait will quiet the heart when it is in its state of fever, heat, and impulse. Mighty over the heart is the portrait, of the loved departed friend. But what is that compared with the power of the portrait of Jesus hung up in the human soul? For is not the soul, too, a mighty chamber — a room through which the powers and faculties wander and stray? There are some men whose souls are exchanges, money markets, or shops; but holy souls hang up within, the charmed and charming portrait of Jesus, and the, the spirit of the portrait turns the chamber into a palace — say rather into a dear household room. "We see Jesus."

I. THE WHOLE OF THIS EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS IS A TRIBUTE OF HOMAGE TO THE DIVINISED HUMANITY OF OUR LORD. How richly it abounds in "strong consolations" to believing souls, founded on the sympathy of His nature and character! How it meets our human necessities! For, while it is true that we could not do without the strength of the eternal Divinity of our Lord, we feel it to be no less true that we could not do without the tenderness of His humanity; and this is the relation which, throughout the whole of this Epistle, is put by the apostle with such forcible beauty — "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest" (Hebrews 4:14-16; again, Hebrews 7:24-26: again, in that magnificent peroration to the whole, Hebrews 11:1-3).

II. AND THIS CONSOLATION PRESSED OUT OF THE SIGHT OF JESUS ARISES FROM THE VARIETIES OF HIS POWER, It is very beautiful to divide His character in His relation to us as it has been divided by Scripture, and by the experience of Christians of all ages into Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Priest, and Jesus the King. And we receive Him in this order. We see Jesus the Prophet in all the actions of His life as He went about doing good. "Rabbi, I know Thou art a teacher sent from God." "We see Jesus." He is our Priest" Harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." At once Priest and Sacrifice. "On Him is laid the iniquity of us all." I see Him standing vested in the beauties of His own holiness — nor have I any desire to own a righteousness which is nut His; it is not less happy than safe to hide in the foldings of His robe, and to feel that in His purity there is power — power to make "the scarlet crime whiter then snow." "We see Jesus" as our King. It is our privilege and pride to see Him moving among and over the affairs of the world, "walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks," and proclaiming, "I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." Thus everywhere, and in all ages, Jesus is power. Oh! what a chronicle is ,flat, the history of things and deeds wrought in "the name of Jesus." All beings know Jesus. "Jesus we know, and Paul we know, hut who are ye?" There is power in the name of Jesus. There is power in the vision of Jesus. The value of all Christian service is there. The value of all worship rendered is in this: "We see Jesus."

III. THE EVER-PRESENT POSSESSIVENESS OF THE TEXT, "We See JESUS" — "JESUS CHRIST, THE SAME YESTERDAY, TO-DAY, AND FOR EVER." "We See Jesus," says Paul, perhaps, in prison at Rome. There is something very striking in the contempt expressed by Festus on the trial of Paul: "one Jesus" I said he. Ah, how little a person to poor Festus seemed "one Jesus"; but this "one Festus" has quite passed away from the world's knowledge, and his name would not be known, his shadow would not be seen if it were not for this "one Jesus" saving it from utter obscurity. Names are the signs of things, and the name of Jesus has survived all shocks; it has passed almost unchanged into all languages. All else seems to perish, it never; like a conservative element it leavens all languages with. out losing its own identity.

(E. Paxton Hood.)

I. WHY FAITH IS COMPARED TO THE SIGHT. IS not sight, in many respects, the noblest of all the senses? To be deprived of any of our senses is a great loss, but perhaps the greatest deprivation of all is the loss of sight. They who lose sight lose the noblest of human faculties.

1. For observe that sight is marvelously quick. How wondrously fast and far it travels! We know not where heaven may be, but faith takes us there in contemplation in a single moment. We cannot tell when the Lord may come; it may not be for centuries yet, but faith steps over the distance in a moment, and sees Him coming in the clouds of heaven, and hears the trump of resurrection. It would be very difficult, indeed it would be impossible for us to travel backward in any other chariot than that of faith, for it is faith which helps us to see the creation of the world, when the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy. Faith takes us to Calvary's summit, and we stand and see our Saviour as plainly as did His mother when she stood sorrowfully at the cross-foot.

2. Is not faith like sight, too, for its largeness? What a faculty faith has for grasping everything, for it layeth hold upon the past, the present, and the future. It pierceth through most intricate things, and seeth God producing good out of all the tortuous circumstances of providence. And what is more, faith does what the eye cannot do — it sees the infinite; it beholds the invisible; it looks upon that which eve hath not seen, which ear hath not heard.

3. Is not faith wondrously like sight from its power to affect the mind and enable a man to realise a thing? If it is real faith, it makes the Christian man in dealing with God feel towards God as though he saw Him; it gives him the same awe, and yet the same joyous confidence which he would have if he were capable of actually beholding the Lord. Faith, when it takes a stand at the foot of the cross, makes us hate sin and love the Saviour just as much as though we had seen our sins placed to Christ's account, and had seen the nails driven through His hands and feet, and seen the bloody scourges as they made the sacred drops of blood to fall.

II. FAITH, THE SIGHT OF THE SOUL, IS HERE SPOKEN OF AS A CONTINUOUS THING. "We see Jesus." It does not say, "We can see Jesus" — that is true enough: the spiritual eye can see the Saviour; nor does it say, "We have seen Him"; that also is a delightful fact, we have seen the Lord, and we bays rejoiced in seeing Him; nor does the text say, "We shall see Him," though this is our pride and our hope, that "when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is"; but the text says, "We see Jesus"; we do see Him now and continually. This is the common habit of the Christian; it is the element of his spiritual life; it is his most delightful occupation; it is his constant practice. "We see Jesus." I am afraid some of us forget this.

1. For instance, we see Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we being sinners still. And is it not a delightful thing always to feel one's ,elf a sinner, and always to stand looking to Christ as one's Saviour, thus beholding Him evermore?

2. Should not this, also, be the mode of our life in another respect? We are now disciples. Being saved from our former conversation, we are now become the disciples of the Lord Jesus; and ought we not, as disciples, to be constantly with our Master? Ought not this to be the motto of our life, "We see Jesus "? Let us carry Christ on our heart, still thinking of Jesus, seeing Him at all times.

3. Would it not also be very much for our comfort if we were ,o see Jesus always as our Friend in our sojourn here? We should never be alone if we could see Jesus; or at least, if we were it would be a blessed solitude. We should never feel deserted if we could see Jesus; we should have the best of helpers. I know not if we should feel weak if we always saw Him, for He would be our strength and our song, He would become our salvation.

4. Would it not be much better for us if we were to see Jesus as our Forerunner? If our faith could see Jesus as making our bed in our sickness, and then standing by our side in the last solemn article, to conduct us safely through the iron gates, should we not then look upon death in a very different light?

5. If we see Jesus, being always with us, from morn till eve, in life and in death, what noble Christians it will make us! Now we shall not get angry with each other so quickly. We shall see Jesus; and we cannot be angry when that dear loving face is in view. And when we have been affronted, we shall be very ready to forgive when we see Jesus. Who can hate his brother when he sees that face, that tender face, more marred than that of any man? When we see Jesus, do you think we shall get worldly?

III. SOMETIMES OUR FAITH, LIKE OUR SIGHT, IS NOT QUITE CLEAR. Everything that has life has variations. A block of wood is not affected by the weather, but a living man is. You may drive a stake into the ground, and it will feel no influence of spring, summer, autumn, or winter; but if the stake be alive, and you drive it into the soil where there is moisture, it will soon begin to sprout, and you will be able to tell when spring and winter are coming by the changes that take place in the living tree. Life is full of these changes; do not wonder, then, if you experience them.

IV. FAITH, LIKE SIGHT, HAS GREAT GROWTH. Our children, in a certain sense, see as truly when they are a day old as when they are grown up to be twenty years old; but we must not suppose that they see as accurately, for they do not. I think observations would teach us that little children see all things as on a level surface, and that distant objects seem to them to be near, for they have not yet received experience enough to judge of the relative position of things. That is an acquired knowledge, and no doubt very early acquired, but still it is learned as a matter of mental experience. And let me say, though you may not have noticed it, all our measures of distance by the eye are matters which have to be gained by habit and observation. When I first went to Switzerland, with a friend, from Lucerne we saw a mountain in the distance which we were going to climb. I pointed out a place where we should stop half-way up, and I said, "We shall be there in about four hours and a half." "Four hours and a half!" my friend said, "I'd undertake to walk it in ten minutes." "No, not you." "Well, but half an hour!" He looked again and said, "Anybody could get there in half an hour!" It seemed no distance at all. And yet when we came to toil up, the four hours and a half turned into five or six before we reached the place. Our eyes were not accustomed to mountains, and we were not able to measure them; and it is only by considerable experience that you get to understand what a mountain is, and how a long distance appears. You are altogether deceived, and do not know the position of things till you become wiser. And it is just so with faith. Faith in the Christian when he first gets it, is true and saving; but it is not in proportion. Let us ask, then, of the Lord, that He will increase our faith till the mental eye shall become clear and bright, and we shall be made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, to be with Christ, and to see Him as He is. If you have but little faith, remember that that will save you. The little diamond is as much a diamond as the Koh-i-noor. So little faith is as truly the faith of God's elect as the greatest faith. If you do but see Jesus, though it be but by the corner of your eye, yet if you see Him, you shall be saved; and though you may not see as much of Christ as advanced saints do, yet if you see enough of Him to trust Him, to rely on Him entirely, your sins which are many are forgiven, and you shall yet receive grace for grace, until you shall see Him in His glory.

V. IT IS AT ALL TIMES A VERY SIMPLE THING TO LOOK. If there be life in a look, glory be to God for such a provision, because it is available for each one of us! Sinner, if thou wouldst be saved, there is nothing for thee to think upon but Christ. Do thy sins trouble thee? Go to Him, and trust in Him, and the moment thou lookest to Him thou art saved. "Oh," says one, "but I cannot do that; my faith is so weak." Well, when I walk about and see a beautiful sight, very seldom do I think about my own sight; my mind is occupied with the sight, and so let it be with you. Never mind that eye; think more about the vision to be seen. Think of Christ. It would be a pitiful thing if, when there were some great procession in the streets, all you thought about was your own eye; you would see but very little. Think less about your faith, and more about Jesus.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

I. Regard the glorious sight of Jesus as a COMPENSATION. We do not yet see Him acknowledged as King of kings by all mankind, and this causes us great sorrow. "But," saith the apostle, "we see Jesus," and this sight compensates for all others, for we see Him now, no longer made a little lower than the angels, and tasting the bitterness of death, but " crowned with glory and honour." We see Him no more after the flesh, in shame and anguish; far more ravishing is the sight, for we see His work accomplished, His victory complete, His empire secure. He sits as a priest upon the throne at the right hand of God, from hence forth expecting till His enemies are made His footstool.

1. This is a Divine compensation for the tarrying of His visible kingdom, because it is the major part of it. The main battle is won.

2. The compensation is all the greater because our Lord's enthronement is the pledge of all the rest. The putting of all things under Him, which as yet we see not, is guaranteed to us by what we do see. This is the antidote to all depression of spirit, the stimulus to hopeful perseverance, the assurance of joy unspeakable.

II. Nor is this sight a mere compensation for others which as yet are denied us, it is in itself the cause of present EXULTATION. This is true in so many ways that time would rail us to attempt to enumerate them.

1. "We see Jesus," and in Him we see our former unhappy condition for ever ended. We were fallen in Adam, but we see in Jesus our ruin retrieved by the second Adam. We weep as we confess our transgressions, but we see Jesus. and sing for joy of heart, since He hath finished transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness.

2. The same is sweetly true of the present, for we see our present condition to be thrice blessed by virtue of our union with Him.

3. We see self, and blush and are ashamed and dismayed; "but we see Jesus," and His joy is in us, and our joy is full. What a vision is this for you, when you see Jesus, and see yourself complete in Him, perfect in Christ Jesus?

4. Such a sight effectually clears our earthly future of all apprehension. It is true we may yet be sorely tempted, and the battle may go hard with us, but we see Jesus triumphant, and by this sign we grasp the victory.

III. "We see Jesus" with gladdest EXPECTATION.

1. His glorious person is to us the picture and the pledge of what we shall be; for "it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is."

2. Nor may we alone derive comfort as to our future from His person, we may also be made glad by a hope as to His place. Where we see Jesus to be, there shall we also be. His heaven is our heaven. His prayer secures that we shall be with Him, where He is, that we may behold His glory.

3. The glory of Jesus strikes the eye at once, and thus we are made to exult in His position, for it, too, is ours. He will give to us to sit upon His throne, even as He sits upon the Father's throne. He hath made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign for ever and ever.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

The apostle had before called Christ the Son of God, the first begotten, God, Lord, which are titles proper to His Divine nature. But here he speaketh of His excellency as man, and thereupon giveth Him that title which setteth out the distinct reason why, being God, He assumed man's nature: namely, that He might be a fit and able Saviour of man. Fit, as He was man; able, as He was God. Well may this title Jesus, in regard of the signification of it, be given unto Christ. For —

1. He was a true Saviour (Hebrews 8:2), not a typical Saviour, as Joshua and other like saviours (Nehemiah 9:27).

2. He was a most free Saviour. According to His mercy He saved us (Titus 3:5). Not for price (1 Peter 1:18).

3. He was an all-sufficient Saviour. He satisfieth Divine justice, endured the infinite curse of the law, overcame death, hell, and him that had the power of them (ver. 14; Revelation 1:18).

4. He was an universal Saviour. The Saviour of all that ale or shall be saved (1 Timothy 4:10).

5. He was a total Saviour. He sayeth soul and body (1 Corinthians 15:20).

6. He was an everlasting Saviour. He brings all that believe in Him to everlasting life. As He is, so He was from the beginning, and ever will continue so (Hebrews 13:8; Revelation 13:8; Hebrews 7:24).

7. He was a perfect Saviour (Hebrews 7:25). He leaves nothing simply in the case of salvation for any other to do.

8. He is the only Saviour (Acts 4:12: Isaiah 63:5).On these grounds it becomes us —

1. To consider the need that we have of a Saviour. This will make us inquire how we may be saved (Acts 16:30).

2. To fly to Christ for salvation. He invites all so to do (John 7:37). He casts away none that come unto Him (John 6:37).

3. To trust on Him (Acts 16:31; 1 Timothy 4:10).

4. To rejoice in Him (Luke 1:47).

5. To bless God for Him (Luke 1:68).

6. To serve Him who sayeth us (Luke 1:74, 75).

7. To do all in His name (Colossians 3:17).

(W. Gouge.)

In the history of Moravion missions we read of a missionary who undertook to make known the unsearchable riches of Christ to the suffering, despised, and down-trodden slaves of the West Indies. So cruelly we, re they treated, so hard were they worked, so mercilessly were they flogged, that their spirits rankled with bitterest hostility to the more favoured race which doomed them to this hopeless condition. Under these unhappy circumstances the missionary could not get a hearing. It was a grave problem how to reach their hearts, win their sympathies, and thus fulfil the purposes of his mission. At last he saw a way to overcome the difficulty. How? By selling himself into servitude. He because a slave, he shared the same fare, and endured the same privations as his dusky brethren. Thus he won his way to their hearts. Even so, it was needful that God should show sympathy by stooping to our low estate, and making Himself one with us. So Christ the Eternal Word was born in helplessness like us, He hungered and thirsted like us, He toiled and suffered like us, He was tempted and tried like us, He wept and prayed like us.

(F. Marts.)

That He might be in a condition to suffer death, this Sun of Righteousness went ten degrees backward, not only below His Father (John 14:28), but below the angels; for man (as man) is inferior t,, the angels.

(J. Trapp.)

It is Jesus, Son of Mary, Child of man, whose appearance we hail; not now, as in chap. 1., the Son of God, resplendent in His Father's glory with His holy angels, sustaining creation by His word. The writer is approaching the Redeemer's person from the opposite side, and adopting quite a different line of reflection from that with which the Epistle commenced. He will afterwards unite both conceptions in his definition of "our great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God." We must allow him to work out his argument in his own way. Here is a Man, then, in whom humanity is lifted from the dust, and once more grows conscious of its primal dignity. The advent of Jesus raises immeasurably our conception of the possibilities of human nature, and supplies a new and magnificent answer to the old question, "What is man?" Prophecy is outdone by what we see in Jesus of man's greatness as the object of the Divine regard. And this Leader of our salvation is "forerunner" of His brethren's exaltation, both in earth and heaven. On every ground we find ours, lees compelled to refer the predicate "crowned with glory and honour," to the earthly life and human relationship of our Saviour. Surely it is in this environment that we see Jesus. We to-day "see Jesus" in the story of the Four, as the readers of Ibis letter saw Him in the living words of His eye-witnesses and ministers. And "we see Him for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour." No words could more fitly express the strange blending of glory and suffering visible throughout the earthly course of Jesus, — glory ever leading on to suffering, and finding in death its climax and hidden purpose. If man's ideal greatness is the starting-point of the writer's thought, the death of the cross is always its centre. The former, for sinful (Hebrews 1:3) and death-bound man, can only win its realisation through the latter. Jesus is crowned for death. Willingly would Israel have given Him in life the Messiah's crown. They could not understand why One so high in the grace of God, so rich in kingly qualities and powers, did not take the last remaining step and mount to David's throne. Their fury against Him at the last was in the breasts of many who cried, "Away with Him!" the rage of a bitter disappointment. They did not see that the higher He was raised in favour with God and men, the nearer and the more needful became His death. It is enough to refer to the scene of the transfiguration, and of the royal entry into Jerusalem, to show the profound connection which existed alike in the mind of Jesus, in the purpose of God, and in the sequence of history between Christ's human glorification and His sacrificial death.

(G. G. Findlay.)

— The plain meaning of the text seems to be that Jesus was crowned with glory and honour with reference to the suffering of death, in order that by the grace or favour of God He might taste death for men. This rendering makes the crowning antecedent to death, a fact occurring in the earthly life of Jesus, an exaltation in the humiliation, a higher even in the lower, a glory consummated in heaven b,t begun even on earth. If I am met with the sceptical question, With what glory and honour can the man Jesus be said to have been crowned on earth? I reply, With just such glory and honour as are spoken of in the third and fifth chapters of this same Epistle: with the glory of a Moses and the honour of an Aaron; the glory of being the leader of the people out of Egypt into the promised land, that is, of being the "Captain of Salvation"; the honour of being the High Priest of men, procuring for them, through the sacrifice of Himself, life and blessedness. The glory and honour spoken of as conferred by Jesus may thus quite well be those connected with His appointment to the honourable and glorious office of Apostle and High Priest of our profession. This, accordingly, is the thought I find in this text: Jesus, "crowned for death," by being appointed to an office whereby His death, instead of being a mere personal experience of the common l-t, became a death for others, and a humiliation, was transmuted into a signal mark of Divine favour. This crowning had a twofold aspect and relation; a subjective and an objective side, a relation to the will of Christ and a relation to the will of God. It would not have been complete unless there had been both an act of self-devotion on the part of Christ and an act of sovereign appointment on the part of God. The subjective aspect is in abeyance here, though it is not forgotten in the Epistle; it receives full recognition in those places where it is taught that Christ's priestly offering was Himself. Here it is the objective Godward aspect that is emphasised, as appears from the remarkable expression, "by the grace of God," and from the line of thought contained in the following verse, to be hereafter considered. There was a subjective grace in Christ which made Him willing to sacrifice His individual life for the good of the whole, but there was also conferred on Him by His Father the signal favour that His life, freely given in self-sacrifice, had universal significance and value. Kindred to this famous text, understood as explained, is Christ's beatitude pronouncing the persecuted for righteousness happy; Paul's statement to the Philippian Church, "Unto you it is given as a favour (ἐχαρίσθη) in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake"; and Peter's declaration to the strangers scattered abroad, "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth on you." Kindred also in import are all the texts in which Christ speaks of His approaching passion as His glorification, a mode of viewing the Passion very common in the Johannine report of our Lord's sayings. I only add to these citations a mere reference to the voices from heaven pronouncing Jesus God's beloved Son when He manifested at the Jordan and on the Mount of Transfiguration His willingness to endure suffering in connection with His Messianic vocation, and in connection therewith to the reflection occurring in the Second Epistle of Peter relating to the latter event, "He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." With these Divine voices stand in contrast the voices from hell uttered by Satan in the temptation. The God sent voices say in effect, "Thou art My beloved Son because Thou devotest Thyself to the arduous career of a Saviour, and I show My favour unto Thee by solemnly setting Thee apart to Thy high and holy office." The Satanic voices say, "Thou art the Son of God, it seems; use Thy privilege, then, for Thine own advantage." God shows His grace unto His Son by appointing Him to an office in which He will have an opportunity of doing a signal service to men at a great cost of suffering to Himself. Satan cannot conceive of Jesus being the Son of God at unless sonship carry along with it exemption from all arduous tasks and irksome hardships, provocations, and pains. God puts a stamp of Divinity on self-sacrifice, Satan associates Divinity with selfishness. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the crowning, as I conceive it, is an idea familiar to the New Testament writers. The only question that may legitimately be asked is, whether the thought I find in the text is relevant to the connection of thought in the passage, and serviceable to the purpose of the Epistle, that of instructing in Christian truth readers who needed to be again taught the merest elements of the Christian faith. To this question I can have little hesitation in giving an affirmative answer. Was it not desirable to show to men who stumbled at the humiliating circumstances of Christ's earthly lot. that there was not merely a glory coming after the humiliation, compensating for it, but a glory in the humiliation itself? This ethical instruction was much more urgently needed than a merely theological instruction as to the purpose and effect of Christ's exaltation to heaven, viz., that it made His death already endured have universal significance and value. The exaltation needed no apology, it spoke for itself; what was needed was to remove the stigma from the state of humiliation, and such, I cannot but think, is one of the leading aims of the Epistle. The blinded Jew said, "How dishonourable and shameful that death of Jesus; how hard to believe that He who endured it could be Messiah and God's well-beloved Son!" The writer replies, "Not disgrace, but grace, favour, honour, and glory do I see there; this career of suffering as one which it was honorable for Christ to pass through, and to which it well became the sovereign Lord to subject His Son. For while to taste death in itself was a humiliation to the Son of God, to taste it for others was indeed most glorious." It is a recommendation of the interpretation here advocated, that under it the crowning is not subsequent to the being made lower than angels, but, as in the Psalm, contemporaneous with it. It scarcely requires to be added that the glory in the humiliation is not exclusive of the glory after it. The full thesis of the Epistle on this theme is: "First lower, then higher; nay, a higher in the lower."

(A. B. Bruce, D. D.)

Who is it that, "for the suffering of death, is crowned with glory and honour"? Undoubtedly the Being in whom existed the wonderful union of the human and the Divine natures. It was not solely the Divinity of the Son returning to its pristine abode. That was never "made lower than the angels." That being incapable of passion, never tasted " he suffering of death." Of the place and state, to which our Redeemer is exalted, we can form no adequate conceptions. Here let us pause and reflect; what glory to the fallen nature of man, that the Eternal Son should assume it, even to dwell in it on earth, and say of its humble offspring, "My brethren are these"! How immeasurably great, then, its honour and advancement when He is exalted in it to the right hand of the Father; "angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him"! While we perceive that it was in our nature our Saviour passed into His glory, our advancement hereby will be more impressive if we consider that in entering upon His joy He "opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers." What surer pledge of our inheritance in heaven can we have than the exaltation of Him, in our nature, to the possession of "all power in heaven and in earth"? But of this interesting and stupendous event of the Ascension, where are the evidences? How shall we believe that this great thing hath been done for us; this thing so wonderful, and of such amazing consequences?

1. Behold, I bring to you the types which "at sundry times, and in divers manners," God vouchsafed to give of what He would accomplish in the great Redeemer. See Enoch translated to heaven under the Patriarchal dispensation, and Elijah under the Mosaic. See the leaders of Israel, after the sojourning of the people in the wilderness, conducting them through the flood of Jordan to the Canaan of rest and felicity. See the high priest passing through the vail into the holy of holies, after baying made the great expiation with the blood of the sacrifice, there to appear in the presence of God in behalf of the people.

2. Again: I bring to you that venerable evidence which the Almighty hath so often employed in the service of truth — prophecy (see Daniel 7:13, 14; Psalm 24:7; Psalm 68:13). What is this but prophecy on one side of the event, as history on the other, giving evidence to times past, present, and future, of the ascension of men's Saviour into heaven?

3. This brings me to observe that we have the historical evidence of those who were eye-witnesses of the fact. These were not a few men; they were the whole company of the apostles; these were men worthy of all credit, for they were eminently honest, consistent, scrupulous, explicit, and unvarying.(1) Our first emotion upon contemplating the ascension of our Lord is amazement. The lustre of His virtue in life, and His sublime equanimity in death, transport us with the perfectibility of our nature.(2) But from amazement at this precious part of the Christian dispensation let us rouse ourselves to consider our obligations to respect a nature which God has so highly exalted and destined for such n-bin felicity. Are we members of a body of which the Son of God is the head, and shall we not fear to pollute so illustrious a fellowship? Have we a representative in the inmost presence chamber of heaven, and shall we sink into a mean commerce with vice or debase, by folly and wickedness, the nature He has exalted?(3) We may further observe the wisdom and propriety of raising our affections, and directing our pursuits, to the great realities of the future existence.

(Bp. Dehon.)

It was long ago predicted that the Lord Jesus should reign in Zion. Of the greatness of His power, of the glory of His majesty, of the extension of His kingdom, of the perpetuity of His government, prophets spake and poets sang. They saw the days of the exalted Messiah afar off, and were glad.

I. THE REGAL CHARACTER OF OUR EXALTED LORD. Much of the happiness of a nation, especially if the authority of a monarch be absolute and his will is the law, depends upon his intellectual and moral character. Let this sentiment be applied with all reverence and humility to our exalted Redeemer, and we shall instantly exclaim, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord of the people, whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance." To sway the sceptre of universal dominion, the King of Zion possesses every perfection in an eminent degree.

1. "In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." At one comprehensive glance He beholds every creature and every event, past, present, and to come, and can either permit or prevent, excite or restrain, according to the counsel of His unerring will.

2. He is also the Lord of all power and might, whose kingdom cannot be moved, and whose dominions are the unlimited expanse of universal nature.

3. His goodness is equal to His greatness, and forms a material part of it. How unnumbered are its manifestations, how numerous and various its recipients. "The Lord is good to all. and His tender mercies are over all His works."

4. And what shall we say of His grace and love? What king has ever been so ill-required by his ungrateful subjects? And yet, instead of laying righteousness to the line, and truth to the plummet, instead of exerting His authority, and putting forth the thunder of His power in the execution of His justice, and the fulfilment of His threatenings, He laid down His life for us.

5. Nor can we forget His mercy. What crimes it has pardoned, what insults it has endured.

6. And is He not the faithful, compassionate, and unchangeable friend of His people? How near are they to His heart! How tenderly does He pity their afflictions, and sympathise with their sorrows!

7. And who has not been impressed with the Lord's condescension? Although He is "the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity," He is nigh unto all that call upon Him in truth. "He dwells with the humble."

II. THE KINGDOM OVER WHICH HE PRESIDES. In one sense the entire universe is His vast domain, comprehending the numerous worlds which shine in yonder firmament. But we speak now not of His essential government, but rather of His mediatorial authority, as our Redeemer and Saviour, who, having purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. This is a spiritual, not a temporal, jurisdiction, unless it be so far as the latter is subservient to the former. It is a religious dominion i, the soul and among the society of good men, which our Lord came from heaven to establish, and which appears when the enmity of the carnal mind is subdued, and when "grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life" in the conversion of sinners, and in the establishment of the saints upon their holy faith. In this spiritual and restricted sense the regal authority of our Lord includes the church on earth, composed of all His devoted followers of every period of time, of every part of the world, of every name and denomination, of every age and condition — and the church in heaven, constituted of "the spirits of just men made perfect." To govern this spiritual empire "our Lord hath established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over all." Upon that throne He sits, receiving the homage of angels, archangels, and glorified spirits, accepting the prayers and praises of His saints on earth; supplying all our wants, guarding, guiding, and governing His people, both in their individual, domestic, and religious capacity; extending and upholding His cause in the world by the agency of His Spirit, His providence, and His servants; and overruling all the movements of nature, all the revolutions of nations, all the occurrences of individuals, families, and churches, for His own glory, for the welfare of the soul, for the success of His gospel, for the subjugation of sin and Satan, and for the accomplishment of His purposes which are all in verity and faithfulness.

III. HIS CORONATION.

1. The period selected for Jesus to be "crowned with glory and honour " was the termination of His Messiahship upon earth and His ascension to haven.

2. But how shall we describe the diadem which He wears? It is not a wreath of laurels, it is not a garland of flowers which encircled the brow of the heroes of antiquity; nor does it resemble the crowns worn by the monarchs of modern times. These, though costly and splendid, are but corruptible and fading, composed only of burnished metal and polished stones extracted from the recesses of the earth which we tread beneath our feet, whereas the Redeemer's crown is a beautiful circle of celestial light, a concentration of luminous beams above the brightness of the sun, a crown of glory which fadeth not away.

3. A part of the ceremony of coronation consists of anointing the monarch with holy oil. In concert with this ancient usage, we read prophetically of Jesus being " anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows"; in allusion to His mediatorial superiority, and to the unmeasured unction of the Holy Ghost, which descended upon Him, for "God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him."

4. How exalted is His throne: the seat of happiness and glory (see Isaiah 6:1-3; Revelation 4:2-4).

5. How untarnished is His sceptre, emphatically called "a right sceptre," rightly obtained and rightly employed, the rod of universal authority, the staff of mercy surmounted by the dove, and held forth to encourage our approach.

6. Much has been said of the attire of kings at their coronation, but Christ's are not formed of the frail and lowly produce of the ermine and the silkworm, nor adorned with glittering stars of burnished metal; nor made by human art, nor assailable by the moth or the rust, nor likely to survive the wearer: no, Christ's robes are vestments of unsullied purity and uncreated light.

7. The last particular to be noticed is the attendants — the spectators of His glory.They are described as a number that no man can enumerate. In improving this subject —

1. Let us join the hallelujahs of the heavenly best, and hail the exaltation and coronation of our Lord.

2. Let us recollect the peculiar privileges of His subjects. They are "fellow citizens of the saints and of the household of God." As such they have a share in their Lord's affection, they have constant access to His throne, to His house, to His table; He protects them, He communes with them, supplies their wants, and will make them happy.

3. Let us not forget the duty of His people. It is incumbent on us, if we sustain this honourable appellation, to be very observant of His commands, to be very zealous for His honour, and for the extension of His kingdom upon the earth, and to be very devoted to His fear.

4. What shall we say of the enemies of our Lord the King? What I has He enemies? Is it possible that the Son of God can have a foe? Can He be opposed who laid down His life for us? Yes, there are thousands of adversaries averse to the peaceful and holy reign of the Redeemer. Who are they? I see them, not merely the ranks of avowed infidels and scoffers, but in the character of drunkards, sabbath-breakers, swearers, liars, the lewd, lovers of pleasure more than of God, self-righteous Pharisees, and the like. Oh, throw aside the weapons of)our rebellion, come as penitents to His footstool.

(W. B. Leach.)

This crown of Jesus is no glittering gilt rim; this glory is no glare and splendour of a palace, and the honour is no mere courtliness of courtiers and subordinates and pomp of a heavenly state. The great break into cries of praise to Him because He is greater; the grand, because He had done more grandly than they all. Now come with me and let us understand what is Divine glory and honour. Come with me to a great hall in London. It is the anniversary of Homes and Refuges for Boys. Sweeping circles of seats rise on the platform one above another, all full of boys. Before the platform is the hill crossed by multitudes of seats, all filled, crowded with people. In the centre, f the great circles of the boys wonder, and right in the front of the platform, is a little table, behind the table is a chair, and in it sits a peer of the realm. My story begins at the moment when the prizes are given. Now fancy the scene. The earl rises. The table is piled up with articles, and certain boys approach one by one. First comes the winner of the prize for punctuality. Then comes the prize for writing. Its winner advances to the front and receives it. Next came the thrift prize for the boy who had spent the least of his pocket money, and saved the most in his box. His thrift might have been the act of self-denial, but I fear it had in it some element of meanness, for the cheers hast a little of their swing. Others came, and as each carried off his prize hands and voices fell to clapping and shouting, and hearts seemed to bound and sing. Then the next boy came. Suddenly all the joy went out of the place as light goes when the gas is put out. And there was a dead silence. To everybody it seemed as if something was going to happen What was the matter? What we saw was a little figure standing at one end of the table, evidently timid, and screwing up his courage, for he was very pale, and had put out his fingers on to the edge of the table, as it would seem to steady himself. The earl said, "I have now the honour — "and he paused, and drew himself up. as if making room for a great swell of feeling, at the same time lifting something up from the table almost reverently (it was a little box). He opened it, and took into his hand a small round medal. The earl continued in a subdued tone, "This boy has saved life!" That boy? A something went right through the place. The audience could restrain itself no longer, and broke out in tumultuous cheers again and again, hands and feet and voice. Handkerchiefs were waved, and hundreds of strong men were in tears. Meanwhile the earl was pinning a medal on the child's jacket, and the child himself was lifting the hand he had put out to the table, and drawing the backer it across his eyes. He could save life, it seemed, but he could not stand praise, and he quietly sidled away. But his comrades behind thee chair would not allow that. They gave great cries of ,"hurrahs," which quivered with feelings that had been in no shouts before, standing on the seats, and looking over one another's heads. And the boys who had won the writing-desks and accordions, as he went by, put them down and clapped him on the back. He had undoubtedly done better than they all. Now those lads felt something of the grand sacred feeling with which all heaven casts down its crowns, and shouts the supreme triumphant glory of Jesus; for that boy had in him some of the glory sacred with the sanctity of God, and which all creatures were made to do homage to, the glory which is the especial glory of the Saviour of the world.

(B. Waugh.)

The ancient story runs that when Roman ambassadors paid a visit of ceremony to Ptolemy, king of Egypt, he presented each of his visitors with a crown of gold. But on the morrow the crowns were found on the beads of the various statues of the king which adorned the royal city. The ambassadors thus at once refused personal reward and did honour to the monarch. The dearest joy we have is to put the crown of our ministry on the head of Jesus. The best event that can befall heaven's promised crown will be that it be accepted of Him.

(W. B. Haynes.)

I. Let us consider that the Lord TASTED death. A man may die in a moment, and then he does not taste death. Men may die in a moment of excitement, and, as extremes meet, almost m unconsciousness, or with calmness and intrepidity, with lion-like courage, as many a warrior; but that is not tasting death. The death of our Lord Jesus Christ was a slow and painful death; He was "roasted with fire," as was prefigured by the Paschal Lamb. Moreover He came, as no other finite creature can come. into contact with death. He tasted death; all that was in death was concentrated in that cup which the Lord Jesus Christ emptied on the Cross. Daring His lifetime He felt a burden, sorrow, grief; He saw the sins and sorrows of the people; He had compassion, and wept. There is no substitution and expiation in the garden — the anticipation of the substitution was the cause of His agony; but on the Cross He paid the penalty for the sins of men in His own death. But what was it that He tasted in death? Death is the curse which sin brings, the penalty of the broken law, the manifestation of the power of the devil, the expression of the wrath of God; and in all these aspects the Lord Jesus Christ came into contact with death, and tasted it to the very last.

II. And notice, He tasted death by the grace of God FOR EVERY ONE. We speak about the pardon of sins. We are pardoned, but all our sins have been punished. All our sins were laid upon Jesus, every one was punished. "God condemned sin in the flesh." He executed judgment upon air our sins, for every one of us, for all the children of God. For each of them Jesus tasted death. Here there is not merely the forgiveness of sin, but there is the actual putting away of all our sins; and the apostle explains to us that this great and marvellous mystery of the death of Jesus as our substitute, bearing our sins, bearing our curse, enduring the penalty of our sins, and overcoming all our enemies (that is the law, and Satan, and death), that this is in order manifest unto us the fulness of the perfection of God.

(A. Saphir.)

I. THE HUMILIATION OF JESUS CHRIST. —

1. Presupposes that, in one respect, He was higher then the angels. He is so, as the Son of God (Hebrews 1:5, 6).

2. He was made a little lower than the angels as to His condition: a man, a servant (Isaiah 42:1); possessed a true body and a reasonable soul: was the child born (Isaiah 9:6; John 1:14; Galatians 4:4); and but for a little while, living thirty-three years in the form of a servant: and was three days subject to the power of the grave.

3. And this "for the suffering of death." The Godhead could not suffer, hence "made lower than the angels"; made man, in both parts, body and soul, that He might suffer in both for man. This He has done, and His sufferings were great; for —(1) His sufferings were universal, affecting every part of His frame; all His members and senses.(2) They were continual; every moment on the rack till He died.(3) They were without help, without comfort. And as He suffered in His body, so He suffered in His soul. He suffered —

(a)The wrath of God, which was awfully impressed on His soul.

(b)It was pure wrath, not any contrary mixture to allay it: no comfort from heaven or earth. "He spared Him not" (Romans 8:32; Isaiah 63:8).(4) It was the whole of His wrath. It was poured out upon Him to the last drop (Revelation 19:15). And He suffered to "death"; "tasted death," that is, actually died. His death was —(i) Violent, not natural, through old age, but in the prime of life. He was "cut off" (Isaiah 53:8). He is said to "suffer death," and to be "put to death" (1 Peter 3:18).(ii) Painful. It was many deaths contrived in one. The Cross was a rack as well as a gibbet. He was "poured out as water, and His bones were out of joint" (Psalm 22:14-18).(iii) Shameful. Inflicted only on the basest and vilest of men; upon slaves; and thus He was numbered with transgressors (Isaiah 53:12).(iv) Cursed. Hence He is said to be a curse for us; "cursed is every one," &c. (Galatians 3:18, referring to Deuteronomy 21:23).(v) Lingering. Not despatched at once, or after a few minutes' Suffering; but endured hours of the most excruciating agony all the time He hung upon the Cross (Luke 23:33).(vi) And all this suffering for "every man"; He being the propitiation for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1).

II. THE REWARD OF HIS MERIT AS IT RESPECTS HIMSELF. "Crowned," &c.

1. This was done in His resurrection from the dead, in which He was declared to be the Son of God, &c. (Romans 1:3, 4).

2. In His ascension: this was glorious and honourable (Psalm 47:5, 6; Ephesians 4:8).

3. In His being set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3): has obtained a name above every name (Philippians 2:9); all power in heaven and earth is committed to Him (Matthew 28:18; Isaiah 9:6; John 5:22, 23).

III. THE GRAND SOURCE AND SPRING OF THE WHOLE; the "grace of God." Our salvation is wholly owing to the free mercy and grace of God in Christ Jesus: not to any deserving of ours. It is altogether the effect of Divine love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9, 10). It is in the way of mere grace and favour —

1. That Jesus humbled Himself to death for us (2 Corinthians 8:9).

2. That we are caned to repentance, faith, holiness, and usefulness in the world, and in the Church (Galatians 1:15).

3. That we are enabled to believe, in order to our salvation (Acts 18:27).

4. That we are pardoned and justified according to the "riches of His grace" (Romans 3:24; Ephesians 1:7).

5. That we are finally saved, and put into possession of the heavenly inheritance (Ephesians 2:5; Zechariah 4:7).To conclude:

1. Let us cherish humbling and contrite views of ourselves, on account of our sins, which led Jesus to endure such dreadful sufferings on our account (Zechariah 12:10).

2. While we entertain the most adoring thoughts of His love to us, let us yield to Him the most entire obedience and love (1 John 4:19).

(J. Hannam.)

God, in Christ, forgives sin, and restores the prodigal. In our country at the present time, it is the lot of a favoured few to possess the franchise, or in ether words, the freedom of being recognised citizens of our empire: but Jesus Christ tasted death to give the franchise of heaven's freedom to every man. He tasted death to make every man a citizen of the Heavenly Jerusalem.

1. Jesus Christ tasted death to give every man THE FRANCHISE OF PARDON. It is the pardon of all sin — full pardon. A young man in an office stole his master's money, and injured his business very consider. ably; and the youth, being convicted, was brought before his employer, when he said, "Oh, sir, do forgive me'" The master replied, "Well, I will forgive you as much as I can." But our good Father has no need to say He forgives us as much as He can. He has power of love to forgive us fully, and blots out our sin from His memory as if it had never happened.

II. Jesus Christ by the grace of God tasted death to extend to every man THE FRANCHISE OF NOBILITY. We say of the ancient aristocracy of our land that they possess the blue blood of nobility. The blood of Christ, when spoken of in the New Testament, often means the life power of our Saviour. He tasted death that every man might receive His life-force. What a splendid position, what a glorious inheritance! And "for every man"! You, perhaps, may say, "It is impossible for every man to become noble!" An ignorant person may tell a gardener that it is impossible to make a red rose grow on that white rose bush; but in two years afterwards, when the gardener has grafted a slip into it, the red rose appears. People may say that it is impossible to make a red rose grow upon a white rose bush. The gardener replies, "Impossible it is done; it is there! " If you wish to prove whether Christ's words be true or not, try them by the test of yourself. Believe, and do, what Christ tells you; and if you do not become noble. if you do not possess the spirit of godliness, then believe, but not till then, that true nobility is impossible.

III. Jesus also tasted death to give every man THE FRANCHISE OF PRIESTHOOD. Jesus has given every man the right of a free access unto God. Jesus Christ has tasted death in order that the sun of our Father's love might shine direct upon the heart of every man.

IV. Jesus Christ has tasted death to give us THE FRANCHISE OF ROYALTY. We are joint-heirs with Christ of the Kingdom of God. It is a common saying when we see anybody very cheerful, "He is as happy as a king." Jesus has tasted death that every man might be happy as only kings unto God can be. He has given us all that is necessary for our enjoyment. Christ has given us power to act kingly.

(W. Birch.)

Have you ever remarked how the greatest efforts of the world's genius seem to bare been called out by the recognition of this tasting death for every man? Shall I speak of poetry? There are times — I do not know whether it is an: improper thing to say — but there are times, it seems to me, that the exquisite music of Milton touches the deeper springs of my spiritual life. I turn to " Paradise Regained " again and again. It puts me into a meditative mood as I see the features of the life of the Redeemer steadily unfolding; they seem, too, by their exquisite simplicity of utterance, to put me to a quiet and calm mood. True, the poet does not hold the views that I hold about Jesus. True, he seems to mar much that he has to say by his Unitarian conception. Nevertheless, as I come under the spell of his words it seems to me that the very noblest and best that was ever called forth even from Milton was called forth as he stands before this Cross of the Redeemer. I would turn to the one that might be called the German Milton, I mean Klopstotk As I have read his "Messias" I have seen how the best he could write has been invoked from him as he comes face to face with the Cross where Jesus is tasting death for every man. He represents for us those three crosses on the hillside. We see the soldier as he rises forth with his spear to pierce the side; we hear the clank of the armour as the soldiers go away after their deed is done; our eyes fall upon the circle of the weeping women, and then for a season one is left alone with the three crosses; and then as I read these words of Klopstock's again, there is in them the highest poetry; and I am perfectly sure of this, that the highest and best thing that Klopstock did, he did as his eye fell upon this Cross of the Redeemer. And of painting is not the same thing true? Will not great picture after great picture rise before your minds? Perhaps some of you may have heard that touching story in the plains of Lombardy. You step a little out of the ordinary track to a common monastery by the roadside, and there you find it has its little portion of history. You turn within, and you are shown a somewhat faded picture of the crucifixion, and its story is more interesting than the picture. A monk, towards the close of his life, had come to feel that he had a gift of painting, and an order comes to him from his Superior, that after baying embellished cell after cell of his brethren, he should paint a crucifixion for the altar. "No," he says, "it is beyond my faculty." However, the order is supreme, and he obeys. He feels it impossible to get the sort of face that he requires, and he finishes the altar-picture — finishes it in unusual form, leaving the face out. In the interval the man becomes seized with epilepsy; so terrible is the thought upon him that one night he was found in the chapel with the picture unfinished, and in the morning he lay dead, and the face looks out there from the canvas. Do you not see how, by the very presence of this great thought of the death of Jesus, man is laid under a tremendous spell? Should I speak of music? You know Bach's Passion music, decidedly the grandest thing that Bach himself ever wrote. I shall never forget hearing Handel's "Messiah" for the first time. And to-day is not the same fact true that the one thing that, exercises a spell over humanity in connection with our preaching is this tasting death for every man? For a little season it may be that the great truth of the Atonement has been receding from public view. But I am perfectly sure that in the heart of men there is nothing that it finds so effective about this gospel as this truth of tasting death for every man. It must come to the front, we shall see a further coronation of Jesus as the world recognises that He tasted death for every man. The ground of His kingship is His tasting of death.

(A. Cave, D. D.)

Thus the tasting of death was no dishonour, but an honour to Christ. By it He brought many to eternal life: for all that He is above the angels and all other creatures whatsoever. Christ hath tasted of death before us, therefore let not us that be Christians be too much afraid of death. There is a potion brought to a sick patient which the eye loathes and the mouth distastes. The poor sick man is loath to drink of it, the physician takes it into his hand, tastes of it before his eyes; by that he is encouraged to receive it; so is it with us, death is a sour cup which nature abhorreth; we are all unwilling naturally to drink of it; but for so much as Christ our loving and heavenly Physician hath tasted of it beforehand, let us not be afraid of it. The godliest men in the world cannot but in some measure fear death; Christ feared it: yet let this be as sugar to sweeten this bitter cup to us; Christ tasted of it and overcame it, so shall we do by His virtue and power. Oh, the wonderful and unspeakable love of Christ I as if a company of traitors were going to the scaffold to be executed; the king's son should step forth to die for them; what an admirable thing were that! We, by nature, are enemies to God, traitors to His majesty: the S,,n of the King of kings comes from heaven and dies for us. Is not this to be admired of us all? scarce will any die for a righteous man; we were unholy, unrighteous, defiled with the scab of sin in soul and body, yet the Lord Jesus died for us. Life is sweet: who will die for his friend; but will any die for his enemy?

(W. Jones, D. D.)

1. It is said, He tasted of death; we need not play the critic in the explication of the word "taste"; for the plain meaning is, that He suffered death; and by this is signified all His sufferings, which were many and bitter; the principle and consummation whereof was death, wherein they all ended, and without which there had been no expiation.

2. He suffered death for every man; not that every man should absolutely enjoy the ultimate benefit thereof, for every one doth not: yet every man, as a sinner, hath some benefit by it, because the immediate effect of this death was, that every man's sin in respect of this death is remissable, and every man savable, because Christ by it made God propitious and placable, in that He had punished man's sin in Him, and laid on Him the iniquities of us all. And the reason why every man is not actually justified and saved, is not for want of sufficient propitiation, but upon another account.

3. That which moved God to transfer the punishment due to our sins upon Christ, His only begotten Son, was His grace and free love. The end, therefore, why Christ was made lower than the angels was, that He being man and mortal, yet holy and innocent without sin, might suffer death, that our sins might be expiated, Divine justice satisfied, and a way made for mercy to save us.

(G. Lawson.)

Tasting death! .A bitter draught indeed! When Socrates, the wise and good, dwelling amidst the immoralities of Athens, was cruelly condemned to death, he conversed cheerfully with his weeping friends; during the gray and misty hours of morn, concerning the glorious hopes which even he, a poor benighted pagan, had of the soul's long life, and of coming bliss; and then, with untrembling hand, he took the cup of poisonous hemlock, and drank, and died. The figurative language of the text is borrowed from this common mode of execution in an, lent times. But we read of another who "tasted death," in comparison with whose simple grandeur, Socrates, and all the philosophers and sages who have ever lived, must hide their diminished heads — the incarnate Son of God, who, out of pity and compassion for our condemned and suffering race, of His own free-will and goodness, "tasted death for every man." How can any sinner remain unmoved at the contemplation of such a spectacle? "Who tasted death for every man!" Will all, then, be saved? A benevolent individual builds a large and comfortable abode for the poor, and the sick, and the helpless, and freely invites everybody who needs to go in at the open gate. The offer of assistance is quite as extensive as the wants of the suffering. But, suppose that some should be too proud to accept of this free mercy, and others should express a doubt whether the physician in the hospital could do any more than might be accomplished by their own silly quackeries at home, will the benefits of the good man's liberality be enjoyed by the proud and the unbelieving? No more will those be saved who do not go to Christ, even though He has died for all. We must love Him for His goodness, and gladly obey His commandments, if we hope for a share in the blessings purchased by His precious death.

(J. N. Norton, D. D.)

The supreme thought in these chapters is the superiority of Jesus Christ. Jesus the Mediator is greater than any angel of the old covenant who had acted as mediator, The angels serve, and serve Jesus. They worship, and worship Jesus Jesus is the King of the new age; the angels are only ministering servants in the age.

I. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE WORDS " THEY TASTED DEATH FOR EVERY MAN"? The more we think of the Atonement, the more we see its greatness. We are only spelling out the A B C of its meaning. But the thinking man finds out, in every region besides that of religion, his incapacity of thought. Yet incapacity is no plea or reason for giving up thinking. Though the ocean be infinite in depth, yet I will dredge. One thought of Christ stands out prominently in this generation: that He is to us a new life. There may be a danger of accentuating this thought to the exclusion of the "tasting of death."

1. Death is the penalty of human sin.

2. The penalty of death is pronounced by the pre-existent Christ. The whole Trinity assure us that death is the penalty of sin.

3. Death is more than decease — more than shuffling off this mortal coil. The Biblical idea of death is an evolution of penalty. It begins when the soul turns away from God; it intensifies as the tragic life unfolds, till we come to decease; then it follows on where we cannot interpret — face to face with the second death.

4. The real cause of the penalty — the centre of it — is the withdrawal from man of the Spirit of God. Man chooses to sin, and He whose ermine must not be sullied removes far from him. This eternal withdrawal of God is the second death. In the light of this truth think of Jesus' death. He tasted to the full the bitterness of the penalty — withdrawal of His Father's face. For a time there is a chasm between God the Father and God the Son: "Why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

II. THIS TASTING OF DEATH HAS BECOME CHRIST'S TITLE TO KINGSHIP. "Crowned with glory and honour." The coronation of Jesus is a royal progress — not a clime nor a century but brings its tribute to Him whose claim is that He tasted death for every man. Literature, music, painting, all crown Him. It is a march of victory. If we would see His coming in power before He comes in glory, this truth must be brought to the front — that He tasted death — and thus we shall see Him crowned with glory and honour. In these days we see the coronation of Jesus going on apace. I rejoice in the spirit of the times. What if we lose our hold on a creed here and there, we need neither star nor moon when the Sun is up. Better anything than stagnation; and on all sides this question raises itself: "What think ye of Christ?" Let us rejoice that God is calling out from this age a new reverence for Jesus, and by and by we shall hear from it the verdict, "I find no fault in this man," until it advances to "My Lord and my God."

(Principal Cave.)

It is not like a banquet, accommodated to the tastes and wants of so many and no more. Like a masterpiece of music, its virtues are independent of numbers.

(D. Thamas, D. D.)

We are limited by our creeds; like a beetle crawling on a cabbage leaf and thinking it is the whole world.

(Proctor's Gems of Thought.)

The apostles understood their commissions to be general and indiscriminate for "every creature": so they received it from Him who laid the foundation of such an extensive ministration by tasting death for every man. Accordingly, they went forth on their commission, to preach the gospel to "all the world." They did not square their message by any human system of theology, nor measure their language to the lines of Procrustean creeds. They employed a dialect that traverses the length and breadth of the world. They did not tremble for such an unreserved exhibition of the ark and the mercy-seat. They could not bring themselves to stint the remedy which was prepared and intended to restore a dying world; nor would they cramp the bow which God had lighted up in the storm that threatened all mankind.

(Dr. T. W. Jenkyn.)

So 1 Timothy 1:14: The grace of God not simply abundant, but "exceedingly abundant." If sin flowed like a bottomless pit, an abyss never satisfied, then grace — a stronger and a fuller current, exceeding it in measure — prevailing like the waters of the Flood until the very tops of the highest mountains were covered; it fills a greater sea than the sea of iniquity; more than enough to pardon the sins of the world or of other worlds. This is the salvation which God's free grace hath brought unto all men.

(Proctor's Gems of Thought.)

He "endured the Cross," it is written, "despising the shame"; and can we do less? Nay, can we complain in the midst of our troubles? When Guatimozin, the Mexican emperor, was tortured by the Spaniards, he bore the torment with more than human fortitude. One of his fellow-sufferers of weaker constitution turned his eyes upon the prince and uttered a cry of anguish. "Thinkest thou," said Guatimozin, "that I am laid upon a bed of roses?" "Silenced by this reproof," says the historian, "the sufferer stifled his complaints, and expired in an act of obedience to his sovereign."

"He tasted death for every man." "He gave Himself a ransom for all." "He is a propitiation for the sins of the whole world." That all are not saved is no objection. It is suggested by a popular expositor that in material nature much goodness seems wasted. Rain and dew descend upon flinty rocks and sterile sands; floods of genial light come tiding down every morning from the sun on scenes where no human foot has trod; flowers bloom in beauty and emit their fragrance, trees rise in majesty and throw away their clustering fruit, on spots where as yet there has never been a man. Wealth sufficient to enrich whole nations is buried beneath the mountains and the seas, while millions are in want. Medicine for half the ills of life is shut up in minerals and plants, whole generations die without knowing of the remedy which nature has provided. It is no objection, therefore, to the universality of the Atonement, that all are not benefited by it. Its benefits one day will be universally enjoyed. There are men coming after us who shall live in those solitary wastes, enjoy the beauty and the light which now seem wasted, appropriate the fruits, the wealth, and the medicine, which for ages have been of no avail. It will be even so with the death of Christ. There ,re men coming after us that shall participate of the blessings of that Atonement, which generations have either ignorantly rejected or wickedly despised.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

HebrewsJerusalemAccount, Already, Angels, Behold, Crown, Crowned, Death, Glory, God's, Grace, Honor, Honour, Human, Inferior, Less, Lower, Messengers, Namely, Order, Suffered, Suffering, Taste, Undergo, Wearing1. We ought to be obedient to Christ Jesus;
5. and that because he condescended to take our nature upon himself;
14. as it was necessary.

Hebrews 2:9

     1045   God, glory of
     1055   God, grace and mercy
     1193   glory, revelation of
     2024   Christ, glory of
     2033   Christ, humanity
     2530   Christ, death of
     5187   taste
     5853   experience, of life
     5878   honour
     6512   salvation, necessity and basis
     6617   atonement, in NT
     6668   grace, and Christ
     6752   substitution
     8369   worthiness
     9311   resurrection, of Christ

Hebrews 2:6-9

     2221   Christ, Son of Man

Hebrews 2:7-9

     2336   Christ, exaltation

Hebrews 2:9-10

     2570   Christ, suffering

September 22. "We See not yet all Things Put under Him, but we See Jesus" (Heb. Ii. 8, 9).
"We see not yet all things put under Him, but we see Jesus" (Heb. ii. 8, 9). How true this is to us all! How many things there are that seem to be stronger than we are, but blessed be His name! they are all in subjection under Him, and we see Jesus crowned above them all; and Jesus is our Head, our representative, our other self, and where He is we shall surely be. Therefore when we fail to see anything that God has promised, and that we have claimed in our experience, let us look up and see it realized …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Note B. On the Word for Holiness.
The proper meaning of the Hebrew word for holy, kadosh, is matter of uncertainty. It may come from a root signifying to shine. (So Gesenius, Oehler, Fuerst, and formerly Delitzsch, on Heb. ii. 11.) Or from another denoting new and bright (Diestel), or an Arabic form meaning to cut, to separate. (So Delitzsch now, on Ps. xxii. 4.) Whatever the root be, the chief idea appears to be not only separate or set apart, for which the Hebrew has entirely different words, but that by which a thing that is …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

Men Chosen --Fallen Angels Rejected
But now we wish to draw your attention to two instances of God's doing as he pleases in the fashioning of the works of his hands--the case of angels, and in the case of men. Angels were the elder born. God created them, and it pleased him to give unto them a free will to do as they pleased; to choose the good or to prefer the evil, even as he did to man: he gave them this stipulation--that if they should prefer the good, then their station in heaven should be for ever fixed and firm; but if they …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Destroyer Destroyed
There is something fearful in death. It is frightful even to him that hath the most of faith. It is only the gildings of death, the afterwards, the heaven, the harp, the glory, that maketh death bearable even to the Christian. Death in itself must ever be an unutterably fearful thing to the sons of men. And oh! what ruin doth it work! It darkens the windows of the eyes; it pulls down the polished pillars of the divine architecture of the body; it turns the inhabitant the soul, out of its door, and …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

Christ --Perfect through Sufferings
Our text invites us to the consideration of three particulars: first, that Christ is a perfect Savior; secondly, that he became so through suffering; and thirdly, that his being made perfect through suffering will ennoble and dignify the whole work of grace. "It became him"--it seemed fitting--that in bringing many sons unto glory he should make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." I. To begin, then, first of all with the joyous thought, so well known to you all, but so necessary …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 8: 1863

A God in Pain
(Good Friday.) HEBREWS ii. 9, 50. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. What are we met together to think of this day? God in pain: God sorrowing; God dying for man, as far as God …
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

Christ's Work of Destruction and Deliverance. Rev. John H. James.
"That through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."--HEBREWS ii. 14, 15. There is a special and ordained connection between the incarnation and the death of our blessed Lord. Other men die in due course after they are born; he was born just that he might die. He came "not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give" his "life a ransom for many." It is therefore …
Knowles King—The Wesleyan Methodist Pulpit in Malvern

The Song of Christ
T. S. M. Heb. ii. 12 There sounds a glorious music As though all the Heavens rejoice; There is One who singeth, and wondrous Is the gladness of His voice. A joy of surpassing sweetness, Of love no speech can tell; I hear, and my heart is broken, For the Voice I know full well. That Voice that has called me ever, Called through the years of sin; At my door beseeching and knocking "Let Me, even Me, come in." And now in His joy He singeth, In His joy He singeth of me, And all the Heavens make music …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Communion Broken --Restoration
Cant. ii. 8-iii.5 "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest happly we drift away from them."--Heb. ii. 1 (R.V.). At the close of the first section we left the bride satisfied and at rest in the arms of her Beloved, who had charged the daughters of Jerusalem not to stir up nor awaken His love until she please. We might suppose that a union so complete, a satisfaction so full, would never be interrupted by failure on the part of the happy bride. But, alas, …
J. Hudson Taylor—Union and Communion

The Unbeliever's Unhappy Condition
This morning, with the burden of the Lord upon us, we shall speak upon the words of the text. Our first point shall be a discovery of the guilty one, "he that believeth not the Son." Next, we shall consider his offense; it lies in "not believing the Son;" thirdly, we shall lay bare the sinful causes which create this unbelief; and, fourthly, we shall show the terrible result of not believing in the Son: "he shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." May the Spirit help us in all. I. …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Guiltless and Without Sin.
"For such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens."--Heb. vii. 26. Throughout the ages the Church has confessed that Christ took upon Himself real human nature from the virgin Mary, not as it was before the fall, but such as it had become, by and after the fall. This is clearly stated in Heb. ii. 14, 17: "Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself took part of the same . . . . Wherefore in …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Son and the Angels.
HEBREWS i. 4-ii. 18. The most dangerous and persistent error against which the theologians of the New Testament had to contend was the doctrine of emanations. The persistence of this error lay in its affinity with the Christian conception of mediation between God and men; its danger sprang from its complete inconsistency with the Christian idea of the person and work of the Mediator. For the Hebrew conception of God, as the "I AM," tended more and more in the lapse of ages to sever Him from all …
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

The Jordan: the Decisive Start. Matthew 3:13-17. Mark 1:9-1Luke
3:21-22. The Anvil of Experience: knowledge only through experience--the Fourth, Daniel 3:25.--three Hebrews, Daniel 3.--Babylonian premier, Daniel 6:16-23.--George Mueller--Jesus made perfect through experience, Hebrews 2:10. 5:8, 9. 7:28, l.c.--all our experiences, Hebrews 2:14-18. Philippians 2:7. Hebrews 4:15, except through sin, Hebrews 4:15, l.c. 7:26. 2 Corinthians 5:21, f.c. 1 Peter 2:22. 1 John 3:5, l.c.--Jesus' suffering, Philippians 2:6-8. Hebrews 2:9, 17, 18. 4:15. His obedience, Luke …
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

"For what the Law could not Do, in that it was Weak through the Flesh, God Sending his Own Son in the Likeness of Sinful Flesh,
Rom. viii. 3.--"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh." For what purpose do we meet thus together? I would we knew it,--then it might be to some better purpose. In all other things we are rational, and do nothing of moment without some end and purpose. But, alas! in this matter of greatest moment, our going about divine ordinances, we have scarce any distinct or deliberate …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Circumcision, Temple Service, and Naming of Jesus.
(the Temple at Jerusalem, b.c. 4) ^C Luke II. 21-39. ^c 21 And when eight days [Gen. xvii. 12] were fulfilled for circumcising him [The rite was doubtless performed by Joseph. By this rite Jesus was "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. ii. 16, 17); that is, he became a member of the covenant nation, and became a debtor to the law--Gal. v. 3] , his name was called JESUS [see Luke i. 59], which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. [Luke i. 31.] 22 And when the days of their …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Child Jesus Brought from Egypt to Nazareth.
(Egypt and Nazareth, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 19-23; ^C Luke II. 39. ^a 19 But when Herod was dead [He died in the thirty-seventh year of his reign and the seventieth of his life. A frightful inward burning consumed him, and the stench of his sickness was such that his attendants could not stay near him. So horrible was his condition that he even endeavored to end it by suicide], behold, an angel of the Lord [word did not come by the infant Jesus; he was "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. ii. 17), …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Letter iv. You Reply to the Conclusion of My Letter: "What have we to do with Routiniers?...
My dear friend, You reply to the conclusion of my Letter: "What have we to do with routiniers? Quid mihi cum homunculis putata putide reputantibus? Let nothings count for nothing, and the dead bury the dead! Who but such ever understood the tenet in this sense?" In what sense then, I rejoin, do others understand it? If, with exception of the passages already excepted, namely, the recorded words of God--concerning which no Christian can have doubt or scruple,--the tenet in this sense be inapplicable …
Samuel Taylor Coleridge—Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit etc

"And for Sin Condemned Sin in the Flesh. "
Rom. viii. 3.--"And for sin condemned sin in the flesh." The great and wonderful actions of great and excellent persons must needs have some great ends answerable to them. Wisdom will teach them not to do strange things, but for some rare purposes, for it were a folly and madness to do great things to compass some small and petty end, as unsuitable as that a mountain should travail to bring forth a mouse. Truly we must conceive, that it must needs be some honourable and high business, that brought …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

How Christ is to be Made Use Of, as the Way, for Sanctification in General.
Having shown how a poor soul, lying under the burden of sin and wrath, is to make use of Jesus Christ for righteousness and justification, and so to make use of him, go out to him, and apply him, as "he is made of God to us righteousness," 1 Cor. i. 30, and that but briefly. This whole great business being more fully and satisfactorily handled, in that forementioned great, though small treatise, viz. "The Christian's Great Interest," we shall now come and show, how a believer or a justified soul …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Christianity
WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? WHAT is Christianity? The question seems a belated one. It never was more pertinent than now. Its pertinency rests upon two facts. First: the modern drift in Christianity and its absolute failure. Second: the phenomenal triumph of primitive Christianity. The modern drift is antagonistic to doctrine and repudiates the miraculous. It sets aside the virgin birth, has no toleration for atonement by sacrificial death, and positively refuses to accept the bodily resurrection of our …
I. M. Haldeman—Christ, Christianity and the Bible

The Essay which Brings up the Rear in this Very Guilty Volume is from The...
The Essay which brings up the rear in this very guilty volume is from the pen of the "Rev. Benjamin Jowett, M.A., [Fellow and Tutor of Balliol College, and] Regius Professor of Greek in the University of Oxford,"--"a gentleman whose high personal character and general respectability seem to give a weight to his words, which assuredly they do not carry of themselves [143] ." His performance is entitled "On the Interpretation of Scripture:" being, in reality, nothing else but a laborious denial of …
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

Jesus Makes a Preaching Tour through Galilee.
^A Matt. IV. 23-25; ^B Mark I. 35-39; ^C Luke IV. 42-44. ^b 35 And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose up went out [i. e., from the house of Simon Peter], and departed into a desert place, and there prayed. [Though Palestine was densely populated, its people were all gathered into towns, so that it was usually easy to find solitude outside the city limits. A ravine near Capernaum, called the Vale of Doves, would afford such solitude. Jesus taught (Matt. vi. 6) and practiced solitary …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Characters and Names of Messiah
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. S uch was the triumphant exultation of the Old Testament Church! Their noblest hopes were founded upon the promise of MESSIAH; their most sublime songs were derived from the prospect of His Advent. By faith, which is the substance of things hoped for, they considered the gracious declarations …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

How Christ is to be Made Use of as Our Life, in Case of Heartlessness and Fainting through Discouragements.
There is another evil and distemper which believers are subject to, and that is a case of fainting through manifold discouragements, which make them so heartless that they can do nothing; yea, and to sit up, as if they were dead. The question then is, how such a soul shall make use of Christ as in the end it may be freed from that fit of fainting, and win over those discouragements: for satisfaction to which we shall, 1. Name some of those discouragements which occasion this. 2. Show what Christ …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

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