No more an altar of sacrifice, but a table of communion,[660] is where we share the presence of Him in whom we have life, by the blood of the everlasting covenant. To question the sufficiency of the “one sacrifice” which Christ made, “once for all,”[661] of his body and his blood, as a means of the believer’s inter-union with God, is to count the blood of the covenant an unholy, or a common, thing, and is to do despite unto the Spirit of grace.[662] “Wherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ?[663] Seeing that we [believers together in Christ], who are many, are one bread, one body: for we all partake of the one bread.”[664] “Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep with [or, by; or, by means of] the blood of the eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus, make you perfect [complete] to do his will, working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.”[665] FOOTNOTES: [425] Gen. 4 : 2-5. [426] Heb. 11 : 4. [427] Ruth 1 : 14. [428] Gen. 4 : 10, 11. [429] “For it must be observed, that by the outpouring of the blood, the life which was in it was not destroyed, though it was separated from the organism which before it had quickened: Gen. 4 : 10; comp. Heb. 12 : 24 (παρὰ τὸν Ἅβελ); Apoc. 6 : 10” (Westcott’s _Epistles of St. John_, p. 34). [430] See pages 143-147, _supra_. [431] See pages 110-113, _supra_. [432] Gen. 8 : 20. [433] Exod. 24 : 5, 6; 29 : 15-25; Lev. 1 : 1-6, 10-12, 14, 15; 8 : 18, 19, etc. See also pages 102, 106-109, _supra_. [434] See _Speaker’s Commentary_, in loco. [435] Gen. 9 : 3-6. [436] “A man might not use another’s life for the support of his physical life” (Westcott’s _Epistles of St. John_, p. 34). [437] See Acts 15 : 2-29; also 21 : 18-25. [438] Those, indeed, who would put the dictum of the Church of Rome above the explicit commands of the Bible, can claim that that Church has affirmed the mere temporary nature of this obligation, which the Bible makes perpetual. But apart from this, there seems to be no show of justification for the abrogation, or the suspension, of the command. [439] James 2 : 23. [440] Isaiah 41 : 8. [441] 2 Chron. 20 : 7. [442] The only instance in which it might _seem_ that there was an exception to this statement, is Exodus 33 : 11, where it is said, “The Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” But here the Hebrew word is _re’a_ (רֵעַ) with the idea of “a companion,” or “a neighbor”; while the word applied to Abraham is _ohebh_ (אֹהֵב), “a loving one.” [443] See Appendix, _infra_, p. 322. [444] Gen. 17 : 2. [445] Gen. 17 : 7-9. [446] Gen. 17 : 10, 11. [447] See page 174 f., _supra_. [448] Gen. 17 : 13.