Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift… One of the popular names for Messiah among the Jews was, "The coming one." "He that should come " we have rendered it in our version. In like manner, the entire order of things, here and hereafter, which the Messiah was to introduce, they called "The world to come." "The powers of the world to come, "were the Divine energies, truths, and influences brought into operation by the Lord Jesus Christ. I. SINLESSNESS IS ONE OF "THE POWERS OF THE WORLD COME." None of the woe of evil is there. Above, purity is unimpeded and its joy suffers no eclipse. II. AN UNSUFFERING AND DEATHLESS FUTURE IS ONE OF "THE POWERS OF THE WORLD TO COME." Before we reach that world, the burdens of this will have been laid down. There activity will no more fatigue. None shall sit down and brood over anxious thought and wearing toil which have left only failure and wreck behind. III. ETERNITY IS ONE OF "THE POWERS OF THE WORLD TO COME." 1. Eternity is the name for all that is great. Eternity is the realm of all things vast and wonderful. So, whatever a godly man does for eternity, must be great. Whatever in the Christian life pertains to eternity, partakes of its grandeur and sublimity. The Son of God filled earthly duties with heavenly motives, and linked the fleeting moment and the transitory deed to the grandeur of eternity. 2. But to the eternal world, as well, we ascribe stability. It is the realm where all things abide, No abandoned palaces are there, no prostrate temples. No flower weeps upon a grave, no verdure fringes the rents of gaping tombs. 3. Eternity is not only inseparable from greatness and stability, but it is the theatre of progress. There souls ever grow. Intellect, heart, character, knowledge, love, power, never halt. IV. GOD IS THE GREAT "POWER OF THE WORLD TO COME." What has been the most ardent aspiration of the righteous in every age? Has it not always been, to see God? to stand in His presence? to realise His contact with the soul? Lessons: — 1. You must have strong faith in " the world to come," if its realities are to be "powers" to your souls. It is not an easy attainment. It demands industrious culture. 2. One great end of the life, sufferings, resurrection, and ascension of our blessed Lord, was to make the verities of "the world to come" "powers" to the mind and conduct of men. All the tender memories of Gethsemane and Calvary centre in His risen and living person, to allure the affections and uplift the aspirations of the holy to the skies. 3. Oh, ye who are heated in the chase for riches and honour, worldly fame and earthly enjoyment, walk out to the hallowed lights of eternity, as men at eventide cool their feverish pulses beneath the heavens when the hot sun has gone down and the stars shine forth. Act with an awakened consciousness of your immortality, live for eternity, realise the everlasting years which stretch before you. Among the ruins of Petra there are temples and mansions excavated in the faces of the rocks. Some, massive in their proportions and elaborate in embellishment, are unfinished. What an exquisite perfection the artificer would have given to his work, if informed beforehand that the monuments of his skill would survive all these long centuries, and be numbered among the wonders of the world! Christian men and women, let your souls be aglow with the inspiration and ardour of working for eternity, and, when this is over and the hour of rest shall come, going home to meet the approbation of your God. (H. Batchelor, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, |
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