e
distribution of the Spirit lends force to the proof, by pointing to the
direct, personal action of God in this great concern.

But the warning is based, not simply on the fact of a revelation, but on
the greatness of the Revealer. The Law was given through angels, and the
Law was not transgressed with impunity. How, then, shall we escape God's
anger if we contemptuously neglect a salvation so great that no one less
than the Son could have wrought or revealed it?

Observe the emphatic notions. Salvation is contrasted with law. It is a
greater sin to despise God's free, merciful offer of eternal life than
to transgress the commandments of His justice. There may be emphasis
also on the certainty of the proof. The word spoken by angels was firmly
assured, and, because no man could shelter under the plea that the
heavenly authority of the message was doubtful, disobedience met with
unsparing retribution. But the Gospel is proved to be of God by still
more abundant evidence,--the personal testimony of the Lord Jesus, the
witness of those who heard Him, and the cumulative argument of gifts and
miracles. While these truths are emphatic, more important than all is
the fact that the Son is the Giver of this salvation. The thought seems
to be that God is jealous for the honour of His Son. Our Lord Himself
teaches this, and the form which it assumes in His parable implies that
He speaks, not as a speculative moralist, but as One Who knows God's
heart: "Last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will
reverence my son." But when Christ asks His hearers what the lord of the
vineyard will do unto those wicked husbandmen, the manner of their reply
shows that they only half understand His meaning or else pretend not to
see the point of His question. They acknowledge the husbandmen's
wickedness, but profess that it consists largely in not rendering to
the owner the fruits in their season, as if, forsooth, their wickedness
in killing their master's son had not thrust their dishonesty quite out
of sight.[15] The Apostle, too, appeals to his readers,[16] evidently in
the belief that they would at once feel the force of his argument,
whether trampling under foot the Son of God did not deserve sorer
punishment than despising the law of Moses. Christ and the Apostle speak
in the spirit of the second Psalm: "Thou art My Son. Ask of Me, and I
shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the earth for T