Ques. When did the Lord offer Himself as in Heb. 10:5-95Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. (Hebrews 10:5‑9)? J. T. G.
Ans. He offered Himself in God's counsels, before the world began. (Psa. 40:77Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, (Psalm 40:7); 1 Peter 1:2020Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, (1 Peter 1:20).) Then in time He yielded Himself up. In Gethsemane He took the cup from His Father's hand, and went on, yielded Himself up to His enemies, and made atonement to God, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God. (Heb. 9:1414How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14).) In the type (Exodus 12), the lamb was selected on the tenth day, and slain on the fourteenth day. "Foreknown before the foundation of the world. Manifested in these last times for you." 1 Peter 1:2020Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, (1 Peter 1:20)
A. D.
Ans. The Hebrew Epistle looks at the Christians as journeying on through the wilderness to their heavenly home, and the writer seems to see that some were in danger of going back to Judaism. Some had grown dull of hearing, and had become such as had need of milk, and not of strong food. (Heb. 5:11, 1211Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 12For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. (Hebrews 5:11‑12).) So they are exhorted to hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end (3:6, 14). Among other warnings, we find some in this 10th chapter; and the 25th verse continues an exhortation to hold fast the confession of the hope without wavering (for He fs faithful who has promised), and to consider one another to provoke unto love and good works, by doing them. And not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together; for the "ourselves" are those who know redemption, those who are sanctified by Christ's one offering; for it is by this means they are built up, and strengthened in their faith. And with Christ in the midst, to see Him, and have their hearts filled with joy.
The manner of some seemed to be to stay away, and indeed, we need this exhortation, for some seem to look on going to the assembling of ourselves together as a matter of choice; they come when they please, and stay away as they please.
With the Hebrews, this was dangerous ground, for all falling away in this Epistle is really apostasy from Christ. Self-will in any of us is sad, indeed, so we, too, need to exhort one another, especially as we think of the day soon coming when all our ways will be manifested, whether we are doing our own will or the will of God.
A Letter to Our Many Readers: It is with much sorrow of heart that we have to announce the removal of our beloved Brother Armet, the editor of this paper, to be with the Lord on the 9th day of June, 1923, after a brief illness.
On the morning of May the 29th he had a severe chill, and pneumonia at once developed in both lungs, and his heart being weak, and being in a run-down condition on account of his untiring service for the blessed Lord, he was not able to survive the attack.
He was a faithful and beloved brother, untiring in his zeal for the spread of the truth, and one who spent himself and all he had to promote the interests of the One he loved so well. His loss will be greatly felt, but even in this we feel that the Lord would have us lean more confidingly upon Himself, and give us to prove that we have a resource there that will never fail us.
In a very little while we shall hear that shout in the air (1 Thess. 4; 1 Cor. 15) and, together with all the redeemed, we shall meet in His presence to part no more. Those cold and motionless forms of our departed loved ones shall then spring forth into life immortal at the bidding of Him who is "The Resurrection and the Life," and through one eternal day our hearts will go out in untiring praise to the One who went into death and the grave for us, but who is alive again for evermore, and who lives as our Intercessor on the throne of God.
If it is the Lord's will, we hope to continue the paper until the end of the term at least, and await further developments. E. B. H.