There is no escape for disobedience and unbelief, because we have to do with the omniscience of God. The conception of vs. 12 and 13 is of a victim appointed for sacrifice and thrown upon its back, that the keen edge of the knife may do its work more readily. The divine scrutiny is still sharper. There is so much of the soul in what we do, that is, of our opinions and activities. God distinguishes between these and those promptings of his Spirit which are really important and influential. Only what is born of the Spirit will stand the test of eternity!

Shall we not fail in that scrutiny? Will he not de teet in us that evil heart of unbelief? We need not fear; because our High Priest has passed the veil that hides the invisible and eternal and has entered the divine presence. ‘‘Mercy and grace to help in time of need!’’ These will meet our supreme needs—mercy for our sins, grace for our helplessness and frailty.

Hebrews 5:1-10. Having to act for men, our High Priest must be man, acquainted with human conditions; having to do with God, he must be appointed by God. Is there one of us that is not conscious of liability to ignorance and wandering? We all evermore need the high priesthood of Jesus.

The Aaronic priests must needs make atonement for themselves, but our Lord was without sin. See Lev. 4:3. Verse 5 has reference to his resurrection and ascension. See Rom. 1:4; Acts 13:33. His priestly service dates from the completion of his mediatorial work on the Cross. No scene in our Lord’s life fulfills v. 7 like that of the Garden, when it seemed impossible for the human body to hold out under the stress of his anguish. He feared that he would succumb before he reached Calvary. He had to yield obedience unto death in order to learn what obedience really means. Thus as to his humanity he became perfected; and if only we believe and obey, he will effect a perfect deliverance for us from all evil. There is no sin so strong, no need so intricate, that he cannot cope with it.

Hebrews 5:11—6:8. The teacher has to suit his pace to his scholars. How much we miss because we are such inapt pupils! Milk is food which has passed through another’s digestion. Many cannot get their spiritual nutrition direct from God’s Word, but have to live on what others have obtained and have passed on in speech or book. Seek a first-hand acquaintance with the things of God. We grow by feeding and exercise.

We must leave the first principles, as a builder leaves the foundation; he is never so much on it as when farthest above it. The third and fourth principles, v. 2, are the Jewish equivalents of the first and second, v. 1. Notice the R.V. marginal reading for seeing in v. 6—‘‘the while.’’ So long as men continue to tread

ihe love of God under foot, they cannot repent and be restored. The failure, as with unproductive soil, is not on account of a failure of heaven, but because the soil is hard and obdurate. If we are unproductive, it is due to our own hard-heartedness,

Hebrews 6:9-20. The keynote of this passage is patient continuance. -We should seek not only faith but its accompaniments. It is not enough to manifest faith, hope and love, but to continue to do so unto the end. Notice that the two conditions on which the promises are inherited are faith and patience.

These truths are enforced by the example of Abraham. He believed God and patiently endured. Your prayers cannot be lost, as ships at sea; they will make harbor at last, laden with golden freight. God’s promise and oath are a double door, behind which they who have fled for refuge are safe—a double window beyond which all noise dies down. The allusion is either to the cities of refuge, or to a ship safely riding out the storm. Hope is sure, because the anchor has fastened in a sure ground; steadfast, because its cable will not snap in the strain; and entering, etc., because it unites us to the unseen. Jesus has taken our anchor into the inner harbor, and has dropped it down into the clear, still water there.