By way of illustrating what we feel this reference to revelation means we draw

attention to the case of Abraham as given in Heb. 11: In verse 8 there is a summary of

Gen. 12:, but in verse 10 there is given something which does not find a place in Genesis,

"for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God". This

city is further spoken of in verse 16, and the fact that it is linked with a heavenly country

shows that the New Jerusalem is intended. There is no hint of this in all the passages that

speak of Abraham in the O.T. Such doctrines as are to do with sin and salvation, and

such prophecies as are of a fundamental character, these are written so plainly that the

simplest may understand. There are other lines of truth that are not found upon the

surface, and are not discovered by lexicons and concordances; God Himself must reveal

them, not that He will give a revelation outside of His written Word, but that the Word

itself contains teaching, like the Hope (Eph. 1: 18) and the Prize (Phil. 3: 15) that are

perceived by those who are initiated into the mysteries of the Word.

The apostle, however, does not leave the subject here, for to many, if not to all of us,

such teaching unconnected by other and more practical things might lead us into many

harmful vagaries, he therefore brings us back to the practical walk by using the little word

plen, rendered "nevertheless". This word is often used when the writer would somewhat

abruptly terminate one line of thought, and bring us back to the main issue; for instance,

in Phil. 1: 18 he comes to the point by saying, "What then, notwithstanding (plen) every

way. . . . Christ is preached", and in 4: 14, after having spoken of his independence

of all human aid, he immediately adds, "notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye had

fellowship with me in my afflictions". So after having spoken of the revelation which

God alone could give, the apostle immediately continues, "nevertheless, whereto we have

already attained, to the same let us walk" (the rest of the verse is omitted from the best

Greek MSS.).

The sense of this passage will be more clear when we have realized the meaning of the

word rendered "attained". It is the word translated "prevent" in I Thess. 4: 15, and it

means "to come, or do, before another, to be beforehand with, to overtake, outstrip, to

come first" (Dr. Bullinger). Construed with epi (Matt. 12: 28; Luke 11: 20) the passage

is rendered by Erasmus Schmidt, "the kingdom of God is come to you sooner than you

expected". The apostle's argument seems to be something like this, "The line of teaching

I have been giving you is indeed high and wonderful; you will have to depend more and

more upon the direct revelation of God Himself teaching you through His Word as to the

mind, the mark and the prize. Nevertheless, do not be misled into the error of thinking

that such independence means carelessness as to your daily walk, the fact is, your walk

must be more carefully watched than ever. By entering your name as one who is going to

run for this prize, you have professed before your fellow-believers to have indeed

advanced beyond the many in your understanding, see to it, I beseech you, that your walk

keeps pace with your attainments. Remember, the further you have advanced, the more

you have outstripped your brother, the nearer your walk should approach to the perfect

example of Christ as given in chapter 2:, and to the pattern set by such of His followers

as Timothy (2: 19-22), Epaphroditus (2: 25-30), or Paul (3: 4-14): the more you claim to

have outstripped others, the more must you manifest that mind of Christ who, though He

was rich, yet for our sakes became poor: the more must you imitate Timothy's lack of