LESSON III.—SABBATH, OCTOBER 20, 1900.
THE PROMISE OF THE INHERITANCE SURE.
15 "BRETHREN, I speak after the manner of men: tho it be but a man's covenant, yet when it hath been confirmed, no one 16 maketh it void, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy Seed, which is Christ. 17 Now this I say: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God, the law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, doth not disannul, so as to make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God hath granted it to Abraham by promise." NOTE.—All the suggestive hints, and instruction as to careful study and review, that have accompanied all the preceding lessons, apply here. It is absolutely essential that you know all the preceding part of this Epistle, in order that you may well understand what follows. Study and think. But do not mistake speculation for thinking. Do not try to make a meaning out of what is written, but fix your minds upon the sentences until the meaning that is in them reveals itself. The mental discipline to be obtained in studying such a portion of Scripture as this until you have mastered it, is worth more than can be computed. That, however, is only a secondary matter, after all. The great gain to us is the knowledge of God and His salvation. In the Scripture God takes us into His confidence, and reveals to us His secrets. (1) When a covenant made by man is confirmed, how sure is it?—"No one maketh it void, or addeth thereto." (2) To whom were the promises made?—"To Abraham and his seed." (3) By whom were the promises made? (4) How explicit was the promise?—"He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy Seed." (5) Who is the seed to whom the promise was made?—"And to thy Seed, which is Christ." (6) Is there more than one seed to whom the promise was made?—"He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy Seed, which is Christ." (7) Of whom is Christ the Seed?—"To Abraham and his Seed were the promises made; . . . and to thy Seed, which is Christ." (8) Who are joined in the promises?—"Abraham and his Seed." (9) Then when Christ receives the promises here referred to, who must share them with Him? (10) Since even a man's covenant, once confirmed, can not be made void, or added to, what of God's covenant?—"The covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law . . . can not disannul." (11) How long after the confirming of the covenant did the law come in?—"Four hundred and thirty years after." (12) Could the giving of the law make any change in the covenant already made with Abraham?—"Tho it be but a man's covenant, yet when it hath been confirmed, no one maketh it void, or addeth thereto." Likewise, "the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can not disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect." (13) What would be the result of the disannulling of the covenant, if such a thing were possible?—It would "make the promise of none effect." (14) What, then, is the covenant which God made and confirmed? (15) What would be the case if the inheritance were by the law?—"It would be 'no more of promise.'" (16) How did God give it to Abraham?—"God gave it to Abraham by promise." (17) What was it that God gave to Abraham by promise?—"The inheritance." (18) Then to what did the promises made to Abraham and his seed have reference?—"God gave it [the inheritance] to Abraham by promise." (19) To whom besides Abraham was the inheritance promised?—"And to thy Seed, which is Christ." 1. SINCE even a man's covenant can not be in any way changed after it has been confirmed, it follows that the same thing must be most emphatically the case with a covenant confirmed by God, "who can not lie." 2. CHRIST is the Seed of Abraham, and the only Seed to whom the promise was made. He is both spiritual and literal. He is a real, literal, personal being, and He is spiritual, even a "quickening Spirit." 3. IN verse 17 we see the conclusion of verse 15. A man's covenant once confirmed can not be changed; so the covenant which God made with Abraham, can not be made void or altered in any way by the entering of the law four hundred and thirty years afterward. 4. VERSE 17 is a reversed sentence, the object coming first instead of last, and therefore some people have difficulty in reading it correctly. The verse simply states that the law can not make the promise void, and disannul the covenant that was made and confirmed by God four hundred and thirty years before. 5. NOTE that the covenant and the promise are the same. To disannul the covenant is to make the promise of none effect. We see this when we pay attention to the connection between verses 15 and 16, and also between 17 and 18. Do not go to Webster or to any other dictionary for a definition of "covenant," when God's covenant is in question. Go instead to the Bible. Dictionaries do not make language; their purpose is only to show how it is used; the dictionary makers have not considered the Bible usage in this case. It is so rare for men to promise anything without expecting an equivalent, that it has been taken for granted that it is the same with God; and so we have a covenant defined as "a mutual agreement of two or more persons," etc. But "who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counselor? or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things." Rom. 11: 34-36. God promises freely; our part is simply to accept. 6. DO NOT forget that Abraham is one of the leading characters in this chapter. It is the covenant made with him that is here referred to. Carefully avoid the error of reading any one verse as tho it stood alone, having no connection with what precedes and follows. In studying one verse, do not forget what you have learned from preceding verses. 7. IN this lesson we learn what "the promise of the Spirit" is. It is the inheritance. This is made clear by verse 18. That which God promised to Abraham and his seed was the inheritance. See Gen. 17: 2-8. This covenant was confirmed by the oath of God. See Heb. 6: 13-18 and Gen. 22: 16-18. The gift of the Spirit is the pledge of the inheritance. Eph. 1: 13, 14.