'B6Z775 T^. • • • J ;. 10;1 section EXPOSITORY LECTURES THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. By REV. A. SAPHIR, B.A. First Series, Chapters i. to vii., crown 8vo, cloth extra, 6s. 6d. " Singularly independent in his line of thinking, and unconventional in his way of expressing his thoughts, the author has succeeded in throwing much and varied light upon the high argument of the apostle. The book is a rare outcome of sanc- tified genius. Readers of it will mark many a favourite passage as they pass along, and return to dwell on it."— Daily Review. EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. SECOND SERIES. CHAPTERS VIII.-XIII. ADOLPH SAPHIR, AUTHOR OF LECTURES ON THE LOKd'S PRAYER," " CHRIST AND THE SCRIPTURES, ETC. ETC. LONDON: JOHN F. SHAW AND CO.; 48, PATERNOSTER ROW. nPHE more urgent duties of the ministry have obliged me to delay the publication of this volume, which appears a few months later than was promised. My aim has been not so much to enter Into a minute analysis of the text, as to reproduce the argument, and to help the reader to enter Into the spirit and tone of the epistle. This portion of Scripture bears very forcibly on many questions of the day ; but my desire was rather to dwell on the positive and unchanging doctrines of revelation, believing that the only real preservative against error Is the spiritual per- ception and enjoyment of the truth as It Is In Jesus. Though conscious of Its numerous faults and imperfections, I commend the book to the divine blessing, and to the Indulgent kindness of the reader. A. S. Trinity Presbyterian Church, NoTTiNG Hill, W., December, 1875. CONTENTS. LECTURE I. ' Page THE CROWNING POINT : CHRIST THE HIGH PRIEST IN HEAVEN . I LECTURE IL THE TRUE TABERNACLE . . . . . -31 LECTURE in. THE BLESSINGS OF THE NEW COVENANT . . . . 55 LECTURE IV. WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH . , . . - 1^ LECTURE V. THE FIRST TABERNACLE ...... lOO LECTURE VL CHRIST ENTERED IN BY HIS OWN BLOOD .... 123 LECTURE Vn. THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW TESTAMENT . . . I48 LECTURE VIIL "lo, I come" . . . . . . .167 LECTURE IX. "according to the good pleasure of HIS will" . . 186 LECTURE X. OUR PERFECTION ....... 204 LECTURE XI. FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE ...... 2I9 vlii Contents. LECTURE XII. Page WARNING AGAINST APOSTASY ..... 237 LECTURE XIII. FAITH AND THINGS HOPED FOR AND UNSEEN . . .257 LECTURE XIV. FAITH IN GOD THE CREATOR ..... 273 LECTURE XV. ABEL, ENOCH, NOAH ...... 289 LECTURE XVI. THE PATRIARCHS ....... 3O4 LECTURE XVII. MOSES . - . . . . . . . 321 LECTURE XVIII. FROM THE JUDGES TO THE MACCABEES : THE BETTER THING FORESEEN FOR US ..... . 337 LECTURE XIX. THE EXEMPLAR OF FAITH ...... 352 LECTURE XX. "WHOM THE LORD LOVETH HE CHASTENETH " . . -371 LECTURE XXI. PEACE AND HOLINESS ...... 388 LECTURE XXII. MOUNT SINAI AND MOUNT ZION ..... 405 LECTURE XXIII. EXHORTATIONS AND BENEDICTIONS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL . 423 LECTURE XXIV. EXHORTATIONS AND BENEDICTIONS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL — CONTINUED ....... 439 THOUGHTS ON THE QUESTION : WHO WROTE THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS? . . . . . . .451 EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. LECTURE I. THE CROWNING POINT: CHRIST THE HIGH PRIEST IN HEAVEN. Hebrews viii. i. JESUS is our High Priest in heaven. This is the crowning-point in which all the previous teaching of our epistle culminates. It is the sum- mary of the apostle's preceding argument, in the sense that it is the highest and central-point to- wards which his exposition had constantly tended, and in which all the truths which he had deduced from Scripture are manifested in the clearest and most convincing light. "We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens." This crowning-point may be perceived already in the very commencement of the epistle ; for there the apostle declares, that God has spoken II. B 2 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. to us in His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, and by whom also He made the worlds ; and that Jesus, after having by Himself purged our sins, took His position, according to the pro- phetic word, at the right hand of God, where He is now in royal power and dignity. If as Son Jesus is at the right hand of God, then it follows of necessity that the whole dispensation connected with the priesthood of Aaron and the first sanc- tuary has vanished, and that, no longer on earth, but in the Holy of Holies is now the true and eternal High Priest, the Minister of the new and better covenant. Here is the solution of all the difficulties which perplexed the Hebrews ; here the only safety and consolation amidst the persecutions and temptations which pressed sorely upon them living in the midst of the Jews, who were still cleaving to that which was vanishing away. The Lord Jesus is our High Priest in heaven. These simple but majestic and weighty words sum up the teaching of the first eight chapters of our epistle. This is the crowning-point of the apostle's profound and massive argument, Jesus, who suffered and died, is consecrated the priest for ever after the order of Melchlsedec, after the power of an endless life. He is the minister of the heavenly sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. The apostle seems to a superficial reader to inter- rupt frequently the thread of his argument, when VI 11.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 3 out of the abundant love, sorrow, and solicitude of his heart he addresses solemn warnings and exhor- tations to the Hebrews, but he never for a single moment loses sight of that luminous centre of doctrine and consolation, Christ, the Priest in heaven ; his constant aim is to direct the minds and the hearts of the Hebrews to that perfection which in the glorified Saviour is given to all believers. In the very first verses he sounds the key-note, describing Jesus as the Son, and de- claring His royal priesthood. The eternal glory of the Son, His divine power in creation. His central position in the future Inheritance, His supremacy over the angels, His session at the right hand of God — all these great truths are brought before us, to show how perfect Is the royal priesthood of Him who is on the throne. His true and real humanity, the mystery of His Incarnation, is brought before us in the second chapter and for the same purpose ; He was made like unto His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest. When in the third chapter the Lord Jesus is contrasted with Moses, it is to show that Jesus, the High Priest, is the perfect Mediator, that He, the Son, Is greater than Moses, the servant. Our responsi- bility is Indeed greater than that of Israel in the wilderness, yet while it becomes us In our earthly pilgrimage to take heed, to fear, and to labour in 4 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. order to enter into rest, and while the Word of God is given unto us, that it may judge and discern the thoughts and intents of the heart, we have more abundant reason to hold fast our profession, beholding Jesus, the great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, boldly we draw near to the throne of grace, for He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. (Chap, iv.) And after showing how Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of priesthood, being chosen from among men and called of God, and how in the garden of Gethse- mane He entered into the lowest depth of human weakness and obtained the victory in the severest test of faith, he reminds the Hebrews that Jesus, being made perfect, both by the obedience which He learned by the things He suffered, and by His resurrection and ascension, was addressed by God an Hieh Priest after the order of Melchisedec. (Chap. V.) Thus he has reached the long-desired and much-loved summit, but before he describes the glorious sanctuary, which opens here to our view his heart fails him by reason of the weak and infantine condition into which the Hebrews had lapsed, and by a most solemn and piercing, yet affectionate exhortation, he entreats them to go on unto perfection, that Is unto that which is within the veil, to behold Him who by His death became the High Priest after the order of Mel- chisedec. VIII.] The Epistle to the Heb7'ews. 5 What Is implied in this mysterious and com- prehensive word, uttered by David when he was in the Spirit, and uttered by him as the solemn declaration and oath of the Most High, is explained in chapter vii. and again in this chapter, in con- nection with the new and everlasting covenant in which we stand. For if the priesthood is changed, there is of necessity also a change of the dis- pensation. And this according to God's counsel. For even Jeremiah, six centuries before the advent of our Lord, had announced that the Lord would make a new covenant with the house of Judah and Israel. The High Priest is in heaven, the covenant is new and eternal, and therefore the sanctuary must likewise be in heaven. And to this latter point our attention is now turned. The old dispensation had a priesthood and an earthly tabernacle. The new dispensation has a high priest and a heavenly sanctuary, and the worship of believers — all of whom are priests — is in spirit and in substance, that is, in heaven itself, in the holy of holies. In no other portion of the new covenant Scrip- tures is the High Priesthood of the Lord Jesus explained. Hence in this precious and most essential epistle, more than in any other book, stress is laid upon the ascension rather than the resurrection, and upon the fact that Jesus is in 6 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. heaven. In the book of Revelation also (between which and our epistle are many interesting and instructive points of resemblance and connection) heaven is brought before us ; but there it is in connection with the royal dignity and power of our glorified Redeemer. There we behold Jesus, the Lamb that was slain, in the midst of the throne. From Him proceed all the manifesta- tions of the Creator -power and government of God ; and all the developments of history, as well as its ultimate consummation, are represented as having their central source in the Son of God, who died once, and who liveth now for evermore. But in our epistle heaven is viewed as the sanc- tuary, w^here the High Priest intercedes for us, and whence He bestows upon us all the benedic- tions of the new covenant in virtue of the blood, by which He entered into the holy of holies. It has been noticed by attentive readers of the Scriptures that in this epistle, concerning whose authorship there is much difficulty, the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus is not brought for- ward prominently, as it is in all Pauline epistles. This remark is perfectly correct, and of great importance. Let me remind you that in all the epistles of the apostle Paul, as well as in most apostolic epistles, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead holds a very prominent position. In this epistle it is mentioned but once, in that beau- VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 7 tiful passage where the apostle speaks of the God of peace who brought again (or rather brought up, i.e. to heaven, di/ayaya>i/) from the grave the great Shepherd of the flock. And here also the reference to the resurrection is more, as leading to the ascension and consummation of His exal- tation. In all other epistles, where the apostle speaks of man's justification, of man's renewal, and of the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is not the ascension but the resurrection which is represented as the great crisis, and as the founda- tion. He, who was delivered for our offences, was raised again for our justification. If we believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from dead, we shall be saved. Thus Paul teaches in his epistle *to the Romans. " Now is Christ risen from the dead," is his triumphant exclamation in his epistle to the Corinthians, and therefore our faith is not vain, and we are no longer in our sins. Together with Christ — thus he explains to the Ephesians other aspects of this central truth, we, who were dead in trespasses and sins, were quickened, and as the first-born from the dead, Christ is the Head of the Church, is the teaching of the epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians. * How important is the place assigned in them to the resurrection of our Lord in connection with the new life of * Rom. iv. 25; X. 9; I Cor. xv. ; Eph. i. 20; Eph. ii. ; Col. i. 18; Phil. iii. 10, 8 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. the believer. As risen with Christ, he Is to seek the things that are above, and In the description of the apostle's spiritual experience, we find that his great and constant desire was to know "the power of Christ's resurrection." The question naturally arises : '* Why Is it that In the Epistle to the Hebrews the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is comparatively put Into the background, and all the emphasis is laid upon the ascension .^ " The answer is simple. The object of the Epistle to the Hebrews was to comfort and also to exhort the Jews, whose faith was sorely tried because they were excluded from the services of the temple In Jerusalem ; to confirm unto them the great truth, that they had the reality and the substance of those things which were only tem- porary and signs, and that the real sanctuary was not upon earth but high In the heavens, and that Jesus had gone to be the minister of the holy things, and of the true or substantial tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. Hence all the emphasis must be laid upon this, that Jesus, the Son of God, in human nature, by virtue of the blood which- was shed upon Golgotha, has entered above all heavens into the real and true heaven, and on the throne of God, according to the prediction of the iioth Psalm, Is a priest now after the order of Melchisedec. VIII.] The Epistle to the Heb7^ews. 9 But in order to understand more fully what is meant by heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ is now exercising the office of High Priest, let us see with what great clearness the doctrine of the ascension of the Lord Jesus is brought for- ward throughout the whole of the new covenant Scriptures. Before the incarnation, the true sanctuary was not yet made manifest ; but when the Word of God was made flesh He tabernacled in the midst of us, and we beheld the glory of the Only-be- gotten. Israel was taught that God, who made the heavens and the earth, was omnipresent, and yet combined with this spiritual conception of the omnipresence of God was the revelation of a heavenly sanctuary, of an eternal throne, of a special locality, in which the presence and the glory of God were manifested, unto which the prayers and offerings of His people ascend, and from which divine blessings and powers descend.'"' With the advent of the Son of God commenced the full manifestation of heaven. At His birth the angels sang. Glory to God in the highest; for the incarnation of Jesus was the unfolding and the accomplishment of that eternal counsel, in which the glory of God shines forth most brightly. The announcement of Jesus to the first disci- ples, whom He gathered, was : From henceforth * Compare next Lecture. lo The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. shall ye see the heavens opened. The kingdom of heaven is come, was the declaration of the Prophet of Galilee. He speaks of the kingdom of heaven and the reward in heaven to the poor in spirit, unto whom He unfolds the blessedness and the character of His kino-dom and riorhteous- o o ness. And in that solemn and decisive moment, in which Jesus, the Son of God, the heavenly- High Priest, is brought before the representative of the Aaronic priesthood and the old Levitical dispensation. His testimony is, " From henceforth shall ye see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power." Now let us look upon the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ as it is narrated or testified in the Gospels. I begin with the gospel in which the ascension, as an actual event, is not mentioned — the Gospel of John. The apostle, who dwells so emphatically on the divinity of the Lord Jesus, gives us no account of the ascension. Though not narrated, however, it is frequently alluded to ; as in a simi- lar manner the institution of the Lord's Supper is never mentioned by this evangelist, though his gospel is full of references to, and expositions of, that eating and drinking of which the Lord's Supper is the outward representation and blessed seal. Let us collect now the testimony of this gospel concerning the ascension. Jesus says to yiii.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 1 1 Nathanael, " Ye shall see the heavens open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man," the great Mediator between heaven and earth. He says to Nicodemus, " No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." Jesus here explains, that He had come down from heaven in order to go back again into heaven, to be the source of regeneration and life. Again, in the Saviour's arguments with the Jews, when they are astonished and offended at His words, especially at His declaration that He is the Bread come down from heaven, and that we are to live by Him, the Lord asks, '' Doth this offend you ? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before .'^" ''' Did He not refer to His ascen- sion when He said to the unbelieving Jews, ''Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me : and where I am, thither ye cannot come " 1 1 Or when on that most solemn last night He spoke to His dis- ciples '' plainly " — " I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world : again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father":^ — of His Father's house and its many mansions, of the place He was going to prepare for us, of His return unto glory, and not merely to the apostles, but be- fore them to His heavenly Father. Lastly, what ^ John vi. 62. t John vii. 34, X John xvi. 28. 12 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. fuller announcement of the ascension than His gracious and majestic words to Mary Magdalene : " Touch me not ; for I am not yet ascended to my Father : but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father ; and to my God, and your God." '■' When we con- sider these passages, which belong to every por- tion of this gospel, from its commencement to its conclusion, which consist of the Saviour's own words, addressed to inquirers, to opponents, to disciples, and to the Father ; when we consider the manner in which the Lord connects in these passages His ascension with His pre-mundane glory, with His eternal relation to the Father, and with His mediatorial work, we feel that al- though the ascension of our Lord is not narrated by the Apostle John, it is taught by him in the most profound, radical, and comprehensive manner. In the Gospel of Mark, which narrates the in- cidents of the life of Christ in the most terse and graphic style, the ascension of the Lord Jesus is mentioned in one verse, in which everything that is necessary is comprehended ; namely, that He was taken away from the earth, and that He took His position at the right hand of the Majesty on high. In the Gospel of Luke the ascension is narrated most fully and circumstantially. Both the place — * John XX. 17. VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 13 Bethany, the mount of OHves — and the manner of His ascension are mentioned. ''Jesus lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And while He blessed them. He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." The beloved physi- cian, unto whom it was given to write the gospel of the Son of man, thus describes the ascension of our Lord with most instructive and touching detail. In his account we hear the loving voice and see the pierced hands of our blessed Saviour. In the Gospel of Matthew the ascension is not narrated. It is distinctly implied in Christ's reply to the adjuration of the high priest : " Tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him. Thou hast said : nevertheless I say unto you. Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."''' In this gospel Jesus is chiefly represented as the Messiah, the King of the Jews. The great object is to show that Jesus, though rejected and crucified by His people, is the theocratic Lord ; that the stone re- jected by the builders is the corner-stone. Hence the conclusion, while implying the ascension in the words, '' All power is given unto m.e in heaven and earth," points to the consummation of this age, to the restoration of Israel, and the Messianic reign. Thus we have the most spiritual and theological * Matt. xxvi. 63, 64. 14 The Epistle to the Heb7'ews. [chap. account of the ascension in the Gospel of John ; the most concise and terse statement in the Gospel of Mark ; the most circumstantial and, if I may say so, human description, entering into the affec- tions of our Lord, in the Gospel of the physician Luke ; and a statement of the ascension of Christ, with special reference to His theocratic position as the Messiah and King of the Jews, in the Gospel of Matthew. Now pass we on to that which is, as it were, the neck, the connecting-link, between the gospels and the epistles and Revelation — the Acts of the .Apostles, written by the evangelist Luke, the friend and companion of the apostle Paul. We have in the first chapter of the book of Acts another account of the ascension, and from a different point of view. Let us only bring to the reading of the Scripture a reverential spirit, taking for granted that the men that wrote it, even apart from the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, were men who approached their high task with the greatest solemnity and concentration of mind, whose every expression in the description of the grand events they narrate was based upon deep thought, and who always kept a specific and im- portant purpose in view. In the book of Acts the evangelist Luke wishes to describe to us how the root of that tree that was now to be developed was not on earth, but in VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 15 heaven. Therefore he shows unto us how, when Jesus parted with His disciples, they asked Him, '' Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel ?" It is not, as it is generally explained, a question of ignorance, or a question of prejudice, but a question of true spiritual insight into the Word of God. They had been taught by our blessed Saviour after His resurrection that it was from not understanding the whole Scripture that they expected the glory of the Messiah to be revealed without or before His sufferings. It was impossible for Christ to enter into glory, unless first He died upon the cross. But now that He had died, that He had offered the sacrifice, and that His glorified humanity had come forth from the grave, what hindered Him to establish the king- dom of Israel ? Why should not now the prophe- cies be immediately fulfilled ? If the apostles had asked Jesus the question before His crucifixion, "Wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel.-^" the Lord Jesus would have told them, that now it behoved Him to suffer. But now that He had suffered the question of the disciples was a perfectly correct one ; nor does Jesus in any way contradict them, but His answer confirms the kingdom. He only tells them that it is delayed, it is postponed : there is a new development. The river has taken a new turn unforeseen by Israel. 1 6 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. Now Is the time of the Church, consisting both of Jews and Gentiles in one body. Its charac- teristic Is not rule, but testimony ; not power, but suffering ; not Israel as a nation, and other nations, converted as such; but from among Israel and all the nations a peculiar people, unacknow- ledged and unloved by the world, witnesses who are to wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus from heaven. It is In the Acts, and not in the Gospel of Luke, where it would not be in accord- ance with the scope of the whole book, that the ascension is related from this point of view. Jesus is King of Israel. He is not forgetting the earth, or the promises, which God had given to the fathers, of which He is the minister unto the circumcision. But In the meanwhile the apostles must be witnesses in Judaea, and in Galilee, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost ends of the earth. And finally, this Jesus shall so come in like man- ner, the angels declare, as ye have seen Him go up into heaven. The first chapter having thus explained the relation of the ascended Lord to Israel, and the earthly promise, and the nature of the intermediate Church dispensation, which does not set aside or take the position of a substitute of the earthly promise of the Christocracy, the rest of the book narrates the acts, not so much of the apostles, as of the Lord Jesus, the glorified Head of the vni.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 17 Church. It is to the ascended Lord that Peter attributes the gift of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. It is of Jesus in heaven, and of His return thence to fulfil the promises spoken of by all God's holy prophets since the world began (for Enoch, the seventh from Adam, spoke of the coming of the Lord with His saints), that the apostle of the circumcision testifies, after the first miracle in Jerusalem. It is to the ascended Lord Jesus that the prayer of the proto-martyr is directed. The ascended Jesus appears unto Saul of Tarsus, and calls him to be His disciple and His apostle to the Gentiles. The Lord from heaven appears throughout this book as the Head and Ruler of the Church ; He guides and blesses His messengers ; He opens the heart of Lydia ; He comforts and encourages the fainting heart of the apostle Paul in Corinth ; His hand is with the evangelists, so that many believe. '"'" The whole life, strength, and victory of the Church are derived from Jesus, seated at the right hand of God, who is in this book called emphatically Lord. Let us glance now at the Pauline Epistles. In the teaching of this apostle we naturally expect that the ascension should hold a prominent position; for it was as the ascended Lord of glory that Jesus first appeared unto him, and thus we find in all his epistles the triumphant conclusion, the glorious * Chap. ii. 33 ; iii. 20 ; vii. 56 ; ix. 5 ; xvi. 14, &c. II. C 1 8 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. consummation, of Christ's life and work on earth. He who was God manifest in the flesh was after His death "received up into glory."* In the Epistle to the Philippians we can see more clearly and fully than in any other portion of Scripture the peculiarity of the apostle's inward life. There is no more vivid and accurate portrait of his spiritual individuality. In other epistles we learn more of his conflicts both before and after his conversion (Romans and Corinthians) ; here the features of his spiritual countenance are, as it were, in repose, and we behold them in their most real and their most beautiful and placid character. And throughout this epistle we see that Christ in heaven was the apostle's constant thought, strength, joy, and aim. His experience was different from that of the twelve disciples. In their case there was gradual development. They knew Jesus of Nazareth as their Master and Teacher, as the Prophet of Galilee, as their Friend. Even after recognizing in Him the Messiah, they did not understand the mystery of His sufferings. After three years' discipleship Philip asked, " Show us the Father." The risen Jesus taught them the whole counsel of God, and at Pentecost they entered into the full enjoyment of light. Not so with Paul. Jesus, the Lord from heaven, appeared unto him, and beholding Him, he * I Tim. iii. i6. VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 19 entered into a new region, a new life. Here he beheld God's righteousness ; here he beheld per- fection In glory ; here he beheld the source of life and strength ; here he beheld joy, which no circumstances could cloud, and the hope of the consummation of blessedness. What Is earth now to him ? What his former righteousness and all the national distinctions In which he used to trust ? What are all things compared with the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus ?* " To me to live Is Christ," " Rejoice In the Lord.'' I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." '' Our citizenship is In heaven, from whence we look for the Lord." *' Christ In heaven," this Is his aim and hope ; to be like Him, even in His glorious body, this Is the per- fection, heavenly In its character, for which at the return of the Lord he awaits In hope. In the Epistle to the Romans, and In kindred epistles, the object of the apostle Paul is to lead the sinner to God. He begins with man in his present condition. He shows the depth of the fall, the guilt of sin, the helplessness of the flesh ; then the propitiation that was made by Christ, the death of the Lord Jesus, the resurrec- tion, and the consequent gift of the Holy Ghost. He goes from earth upwards. Such Is not the method of the apostle John. He always goes ^ Phil. iii. 20 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. from heaven earthwards. He begins with God — the Hfe that was with God from the beginning", the Word that was with God, and is now mani- fested to us. The apostle Paul begins with man, Jew or Gentile — the sinner guilty and condemned, dead and helpless. Now from this point of view the death and resurrection of Christ must needs form the centre. There all lines meet, as in the central nextis. Yet the end must always be Christ enthroned in heaven — Christ at the right hand of God. Thus, in answer to the question, " Who is he that condemneth V his answer culminates in the heavenly exaltation of our Lord. '' It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."* In the Epistles to the Corinthians the apostle's testimony is of Christ, the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, and he brings before us the glorious hope, " As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly." t He describes the attitude of the believer, living in the spirit and liberty of the New Testament, as with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord ; for the Lord Christ, exalted in heaven. Is that SpIrit.J Look again at his experimental and prophetic ■^ Rom. viii. 34. Compare also the expression, "Who is over all" (ix. 5) ; and the striking passage, Rom. x. 6. t I Cor. XV. 48. % 2 Cor. iii. VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 21 epistles. We have already referred to the Epistle to the Philippians, as a comment on the words : ''Our citizenship is in heaven."* To the Thes- salonians he writes more fully about our waiting for the Son of God from heaven, and of the de- scent of the Lord Himself to gather His saints.f In his Epistles to Timothy he concludes his ex- ulting and rhythmical summary of Christian truth, " Received into glory," the first link of the golden chain being God manifest in the flesh. \ Again, in the Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians, which we may call Christological, re- ferring chiefly to the person of Christ, the ascen- sion of the Lord holds a very prominent position. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, although Christ is not spoken of as High Priest, yet His exalta- tion at the right hand of God is represented in the same manner as in our epistle. From the very outset the apostle speaks of all spiritual blessings as in heavenly places in Christ, and of the Lord as exalted by the Father far above all princi- pality and power, and might, and dominion at His own right hand in the heavenlies, in order to be the head over all things to the Church. In like manner he connects in the fourth chapter Christ's rule over, union with, and gifts to the Church, with His ascension ''far above all heavens, that He might fill all things." As in the Hebrews, * Phil. iiL 20. t I Thess. i. and iv. X i Tim. iii. i6. 2 2 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. Christ as High Priest is shown to be in heaven, so here Christ, the Head and Bridegroom of the Church, the Centre and Heir of all things. The Epistle to the Colossians contains the same teach- ing, and with some new aspects and applications. Here the apostle connects the pre-eminence of Christ, as the first-begotten of the dead and as the Head of the Church, with His eternal glory as the Word by whom all things were made. He shows that being risen and exalted with Christ we have been transplanted out of the region of law and earthly elements (touch not, taste not, handle not), out of the region of shadows and types, into the liberty and substance of heavenly realities; hence His exhortation, "Seek the things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God."* How very striking and close the resemblance is here with the teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Thus we find in all (the other) Pauline writings the same importance attached to the culminating part of Christ's first advent — His ascension into heaven, t * Compare Col. i. 15 with Heb. i. 1-3. t Peter, who was an eye-witness of the ascension (as he was likewise one of the three favoured disciples who were with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, and thus saw the Son of man coming in His kingdom ; compare Matt. xvi. 28 with 2 Peter i 16), declared with joyous emphasis the heavenly exaltation and power of the Lord both in his addresses to the Jews (Acts passim), and in his epistles. " He is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebi^ews. 23 It is because the Son of man, who came down from heaven, hath ascended up into heaven, it is because Jesus is at the right hand of God, that He is the true and perfect mediator between God and man. Him we in common with all believers invoke. Him we adore as Lord; to Him, as ex- alted by the Father, pertaineth the name above every name, and the homage of the whole crea- ture-world; unto Him, as the Lord in heaven, all celestial and earthly power is given, and all angelic orders are obedient to His command. From His throne in heaven He gives repentance and the remission of sins ; from thence He gives unto His Church all needful gifts, even as He at first sent forth the Holy Ghost, because He had been exalted by the right hand of God. From heaven He shall descend and gather His saints, changing their vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto His glorious body ; from heaven He worketh now, and will work, until He hath subdued all things unto Himself. Christ in heaven — this sums up all our faith. Here is our righteousness, and our standing before God ; here our storehouse of inexhaust- ible blessings, and of unsearchable riches ; here God ; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him." " God raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory." (i Peter iii. 22 ; i 21.) The book of Revelation is from beginning to end a testimony of the ascended Lord. 24 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. our armoury, whence we obtain the weapons of our warfare ; here is our citizenship, and the hope of our glory. What is meant by the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens ? In the first chapter the apostle had used the similar expres- sion, "the right hand of the Majesty," and with evident reference to the prophecy of the iioth Psalm. The expression does not denote the omnipresence of God ; as the creed correctly and significantly says, " SItteth at the right hand of the Y^^xki^x Almighty I' Jesus is now on the throne of omnipotence. He ascended into the eternal, highest, and uncreated heaven. The term denotes the rank of equality which our Lord takes in His glory. He has entered into the participation of the sovereign authority. The right hand is the place of affection, as well as of honour and dignity." Christ is on the right hand of the Father, being His beloved Son, in whom He manifests His glory. The right hand is also the symbol of sovereign power and rule. Christ is Lord over all. Great is the mystery of the Incarnation — the * So we are told in the 45th Psalm that the bride is to stand at the right hand of the King. As the apostle explains in the epistle to the Corinthians, in accordance with this, the husband is the head of the woman ; Christ is the head of the Church ; God is the head of Christ. The husband is the head of the wife ; God is the head of Christ. The wife is the glory of the husband; Christ is the glory of God. VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 25 Son of God in human nature, both before and after His exaltation. It was not the human nature of Christ that suffered upon the cross, but the Son of God in human nature. It is not the human nature that is glorified at the right hand of the Father ; but the Son of God in human nature, who humbled Himself, is now exalted above all heavens. Unto Him all power is given ; the government of all things is upon His shoulder; Jesus rules now. In the book of Revelation His royal dignity is unveiled. There we behold the First-begotten of the dead possessing the keys of hell and of death ; the Lamb, who alone can open the book ; the Governor, the Lord ; who overrules and directs all events ; who controls all storms and tempests, and unto whose kingdom all developments of history, and all conflicts and movements among angels and among the nations on earth must serve ; who shall finally be revealed, acknowledged, and obeyed as King of kings, and Lord of lords. The royal aspect of the word, '' Sit thou at my right hand," is explained in the Apocalypse, where we behold the Lamb in the midst of the throne ; in our epistle, the priestly aspect of the word is unfolded. Heaven being the locality of Christ's priest- hood, it must needs be perfect, eternal, spiritual, and substantial. What are the things in which Christ is now occupied as a priest ? In one respect 26 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. He rests, because He finished His work upon the earth, and therefore He is described as sitting down on His Father's throne; His is now the perfect and peaceful rest of victory, for He has overcome. But, on the other hand. His is now a constant priestly activity. Every single indi- vidual that is brought unto God, is brought through His intercession ; and day by day Christ is occupied with all His children who are upon earth, bestowing upon them the benefits which He has purchased with His blood, sustaining their spiritual life, and overruling all things for their good. If Christ is in heaven, we must lift up our eyes and hearts to heaven. There are things above. The things above are the spiritual blessings in heavenly places. * " Seek those things which are above ;"t faith and love, hope and patience, meek- ness, righteousness, and strength. The things above are also the future things for which we wait, seeing that our inheritance is not here upon earth. All that is pertaining unto the inheritance " incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away," belongs unto those things which Christ has now to minister in the tabernacle which God has made, and not man. \ Our transfigured body, our perfectly enlightened mind, our soul entirely filled ■* Eph. i. 3. t Col. iii. i. X Compare i Peter i. VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 27 with the love of God, all the strength and gifts for government (for we shall be called to reign with Christ upon the earth), all those powers and blessings which we have now only by faith and in germ, are in the heavenly places with Christ, who shall bring them to us when He comes again at the command of the Father. Let us pause here to examine the character of our faith and of our walk in the light of this truth. Our High Priest is in Heaven. The New Covenant Scripture explains to us that there are two kingdoms, two realms, two atmospheres or methods of life. The one shall pass away, and the other shall remain for ever. The one is the world and the earth in its present condition ; the other is heavenly, and shall abide for evermore. The one belongs to the first creation, and the power of sin and death ; the other belongs to the second creation, to the power of redemption and life through righteousness. To believe is to see the things which are unseen and eternal. It is to behold the land that is afar off, and to take possession of it.^'* It is to enter into the kingdom t prepared for us from the foundation of the world, existing at present, and ready to be manifested at the appearing of our Lord. It is to cherish the lively, animating, and purifying hope of the in- * " Faith is the discovery and conquest of a new country." — J. MiJLLER. t Matt. XXV. 34. 28 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. herltance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, even the heavenly kingdom.'"' It is to be trans- planted into this unseen and yet most real world of blessing and of power. It is to mind no longer earthly things,! and to have the affections set upon the things above. It is to be intrusted with the true riches. J Such is the nature of faith. § It is to prefer spiritual things to carnal ; eternal things to temporal ; real things to things which are mere shadows. " Lay not up for yourselves treasure on earth ; but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven." Hence, the whole aim and purpose of our ex- istence here below, all our endeavour, all our works, all our diligence, ought to be given to this one thing, the kingdom of God, which remains for ever. So, while we are occupied with earthly duties, our great object should always be to lay up treasure for ourselves in heaven ; to have our affections set upon the things which are above, that thus we may learn Christ in the occupa- tions and discipline of our present life ; to be filled with the mind which was in Christ Jesus, who humbled Himself, and obeyed the Father in love ; to be heavenly-minded, as they who have a lively * I Peter i. 4 ; Col. i. 12 ; 2 Tim. iv. 18. t ra eirLyeia ^popovyres. (Phil. iii. 1 9.) X kx-neivbv. (Luke xvi. 11.) § Heb. xi. I ; 2 Cor. iv. 18. vrii.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 29 hope, and whose citizenship is in heaven. Such is the Christian Hfe — other-worldly, heavenly. A spurious or superficial conversion dwells rather on the peace of God than on the God of peace, contemplates the cross of Christ and not the Christ of the cross, rejoices prematurely in deliverance from punishment, instead of cleaving in repentance and faith to Jesus, who delivers us from this present evil world, and raises us unto newness of life ; heavenly in its character and hope. Wretched and fatal self-deception, to imagine that after a worldly, selfish, self-centred life upon earth we shall be transplanted into the kingdom of glory, into a blessedness of which we have had no foretaste, into an inheritance of which we have received no earnest in the gift of the indwelling Spirit. Jesus, who died on the cross, is now in heaven; it is only from heaven that the blessings of redemption, forgiveness, and the eternal love of God, are now bestowed by Him ; He never delivers from the wrath to come without drawing us unto Himself, without separa- ting us by His cross from the dominion of sin and the tyranny of self, without sending into our hearts the Spirit, as the Spirit of life. If our life is now hid with Christ in God, then, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we also shall appear with Him in glory. Our citizenship is in heaven, and Jesus, whom we now love and serve, will come to receive us unto Himself. 30 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [vm. From the lowest depth of sin and guilt, of weakness and fear, look up to heaven, and behold there the great High Priest. It is because He finished the transgression, and made an end of sins, and made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness, that Jesus is on the throne of God. Behold in Him the forgiveness of sin, righteousness everlasting, per- fect access to the Father, the fountain of renewing grace, of upholding strength, and of endless bless- edness. Only believe ! Our works and merit are of no avail. Into this height none can ascend. Jesus, who went to the Father, is the way. Faith beholds the great High Priest who died for sin- ners on the cross, and who as the sinner's right- eousness is now before God ; faith beholds Jesus at the right hand of the Majesty on high ; and faith can rest, and worship, and say, '' The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is my God and my Father." LECTURE II. THE TRUE TABERNACLE. Hebrews viii. i, 2. T T Is the locality where the great High Priest ^ now exercises His functions which the apostle emphasizes. Here the contrast is not so much that of law and gospel, of grace and works, as in other epistles ; the contrast is between the earthly and temporary and the heavenly and eternal. In spirit and reality, the Levitical dispensation ter- minated when the veil of the temple was rent in twain ; actually and in outward appearance, it continued till the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple declared unto all the world that the times of the old dispensation had come to an end. While the temple was still in existence, it was difficult for the Hebrews to understand the heavenly character of their calling and worship. It seemed to them that faith in the Messiah ex- cluded them from the blessings and privileges of Messiah's nation. Levitical services in the earthly sanctuary still continued. Where was the place of believing Hebrews ? The apostle shows that 32 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. Jesus Is High Priest In heaven, and that therefore ours is a heavenly sanctuary, where all Is substance, and possessed of an eternal vitality and glory. All this Is Implied in the fundamental fact that Jesus Is the Christ, the Son of the living God. The Lord said of Peter's confession that on this rock the church is built ; but even Peter did not fully understand for some time the truths which necessarily follow from faith in the Christ, the Son of God. The Priesthood of the Son must needs be heavenly and eternal. It cannot be connected with the old covenant ; but it is inseparably con- nected with the new, in which divine love and life are truly bestowed through the righteousness of grace, and in which forgiven and renewed sinners worship the Father in spirit and in truth. It must break down the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile ; for through the exalted Saviour the Spirit is given, by whom both have the same access to the Father. Hence the apostle returns at the end of the seventh chapter to the key-note struck at first — Jesus the Son. If our High Priest Is Jesus, God and man in one person, the only mediator, the sanctuary in which we worship is above. He is the minister'" of the true tabernade, which the Lord pitched, and not ^ \€iTovpybs — compare Isa. Ixi. 6 ; Jer. xxxiii. 21 ; Neh. x. 40 — an expression used for the service of the priests in the sanctuary, especially as connected with the sacrifices and offerings. viii.i The Epistle to the Hebrews. 33 man. This tabernacle is contrasted with the taber- nacle in the wilderness. It is ''true," in the sense in which Jesus says, " I am the true vine ; that is, the real and substantial vine, of which the outward and visible vines are merely emblems. In the second place, this tabernacle was made, not with hands, and not through the mediation of human beings, as was the tabernacle in the wilder- ness ; but it was made by God Himself. And, in the third place, this tabernacle is not a tent in the wilderness, but it is an abiding place in the hea- venlies, there to be for ever. The tabernacle is one of the most important and instructive types. Here is such a variety of truths, here is such a fulness and manifoldness of spiritual teaching, that our great difficulty is to combine all the various lessons and aspects which it presents. Now, the tabernacle has no fewer than three meanings. In the first place, the tabernacle is a type, a visible illustration, of that heavenly place in which God has His dwelling. In the second place, the tabernacle is a type of Jesus Christ, who is the meeting-place between God and man. And, in the third place, the tabernacle is a type of Christ in the Church — of the communion of Jesus with all believers.* * The analogy between the tabernacle and man, or rather the II. D 34 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. Moses, when he went up into the mount, after the glory of the Lord had appeared unto him and unto the elders, received from God a wonderful individual believer, has struck Luther. He calls the outer court the body, the holy place the soul, and the most holy the spirit. As the passage is in itself interesting and instructive, I add a translation. Speaking of the Magjiificat (Luke i. 46), Luther says : " Scripture divides man into three parts, as the apostle writes (i Thess. v. 23), ' The God of peace sanctify you wholly ; that your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved unblameable.' And each of these three, as well as the whole man, is divided in another manner into two, spirit and flesh, which is a division, not of human nature, but of its condition. That is, each of the three may be either good or bad, spiritual or carnal, of which subject we do not treat here. The spirit is the highest and noblest in man, whereby he is able to grasp incomprehensible, invisible, eternal things ; and it is, in short, the dwelling-place of faith, and of God's word, of which David speaks (Ps, li. 12), put into my inmost being a right spirit. (Compare Ps. Ixxviii. 37.) The second is the soul ; that is, the same spirit accord- ing to its natural aspect, in so far as it animates the body, and is often called in scripture life ; for the spirit can live without the body, but not the body without the spirit. This soul, we notice, lives and works constantly even in our sleep, and can perceive and under- stand, not spiritual things, but the things of reason ; for reason is the light in this house, and the soul cannot be free from error unless the spirit illumines and rules it with faith or the higher light. . . . The third is the body with its members, the works of which are only exercise and habit, according to the knowledge of the soul, and the faith of the spirit. . . . Now of this I shall show a simili- tude from Scripture. Moses made a tabernacle with three distinct parts. (Exod. xxvi. 33, 34.) The first, satictiwi sanctorum, where God dwelt, and in which there was no light. The second, sanctum, in which stood the candlestick with seven branches. The third was called atrium, or court, that was without, and in the open daylight. Which is a picture of the Christian. His spirit is satictum sanc- torum, God's dwelling-place, in faith without sight ; for he believes what he cannot see, or feel, or comprehend. His soul is sanctum, in which are seven lights, reason, discernment, knowledge, and understanding of outward things. His body is atrium, this is open VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 35 revelation.'" There was shown unto him — in what manner it is impossible for us to conceive — a pattern of the heavenly places ; not the heavenly realities themselves, but he beheld, most likely in a vision, the model of heavenly places, the picture of heavenly realities. And according to that model he was instructed to give the orders in the framing of the tabernacle, and to execute the design ; so that the tabernacle in the wilderness was to be a faithful representation of what he had seen, as far as it is possible to represent heavenly and spiritual realities by outward and visible things. Surely when God showed unto Moses the pattern of heavenly things. He showed unto him also the great m'ystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh, by whom there would be brought about not merely a reconciliation, but also the indwelling of God in the hearts of His people ; and as Abra- and patent to all, and every one can see what he does, and how he lives." No doubt this analogy is correct. (Compare on the dis- tinction—soul and spirit, i Cor. ii.) What is true of the whole Church, is true of each individual member ; but to find in this the purport of the tabernacle chiefly or exclusively is erroneous and untenable. ^ It is stated four times in the book of Exodus that the taber- nacle was built after the pattern shown in the mount. (Exod. xxv. 9, 40 ; xxvi. 30 ; xxvii. 8.) To this Stephen also alludes. (Acts vii. 44.) In like manner the temple was built according to divine direction, as we read (i Chron. xxviii. 11) that "David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses, . . . and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit." (Compare Heb. ix. 8, where, speaking of the high priest's yearly entrance into the Holy of Holies, it is said, " The Holy Ghost this signifying.") 36 The Epistle to the Hebreivs. [chap. ham saw the day of Christ, and rejoiced and was glad in it — as Isaiah, when he heard the trisagion of the seraphim, beheld the glory of the Lord, even of the Christ,'"* — so there can be no doubt that, when Moses the man of God was on the mount, there was revealed unto him the mystery of the counsel of God, the incarnation, and the mediatorial work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The tabernacle presented wonderful truths f to Israel. In the sacrifices and ordinances of the tabernacle God declared unto His people the for- giveness of their sins ; He brought them near unto Himself through expiation and mediation ; He healed their diseases and comforted their hearts. But the ultimate object in all this was to reveal Himself, to manifest His divine perfection, to show forth His glory. In all the gifts of pardon, and in all the privileges of approach unto God, the Lord revealed the perfection and manifold glory of Himself. Here Israel beheld the glory of the Redeemer-God. Everywhere the twofold object was accomplished, the need of sinful, guilty, and failing man was supplied, and in this very grace the character and glory of Jehovah was revealed. Thus, as in Christ crucified we possess all we need, and behold all the thoughts and purposes of God, * John xii. t Psalm cxix. 18: " Wondrous things." (Compare Lectures V. and VI.) VIII.] The Epistle to tJie Hebrews, 37 so in the tabernacle the believing Israelite, receiving pardon and help, was taught to exclaim, "Who is a God like unto Thee ? " The tabernacle was a symbol of God's dwelling. There is a sanctuary, wherein is the especial resi- dence and manifestation of the glorious presence of God. Solomon, although he confesses that the heaven of heavens cannot contain God, yet prays that the Lord may hear in heaven His dwelling- place.* Jeremiah testifies, "A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary."! The visions of Isaiah and of Ezekiel also bring before us the heavens opened and the likeness of a throne, and the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord ; the likeness as the appear- ance of a man above upon the throne, J Of this heavenly locality David speaks, when he asks, Who shall abide in thy tabernacle ^ who shall dwell in thy holy hill?§ In the book of Revelation we receive still further confirmation of this truth. " And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of the covenant ;" and again, '' And after that I looked^ and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened." |J As in the tabernacle there was a distinction between the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, so we read * 2 Chron. vi. t Jer. xvii. 12. + Ezek. i. 26, 2Sidi passi7n. § Psalm xxiv. 3. |1 Rev. xi. 19 ; xv. 5. 38 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. of the throne of God and of the temple of the Redeemed, of mount Zion and of the heavenly Jerusalem. Almost all expressions which are em- ployed in describing the significance of the taber- nacle, are also used in reference to heaven. As in heaven so in the tabernacle God has His dwell- ing, and manifests His grace and glory. The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. His manifesta- tion in the tabernacle is generally called glory. God, the King, has His palace in the midst of His people. His palace is the sanctuary. The throne, from which He issues His royal law and the declaration of His sovereign grace, is between the cherubim, a symbol of the heavenly throne of divine majesty. "The temple of thy holiness" is the name both of the earthly and the heavenly sanctuary. "' God, who dwells in heaven, and from His heavenly throne dispenses all blessings, manifests Himself on earth and holds communion with His people, and the place or sanctuary chosen for this purpose is a symbol of heaven, and there subsists a real connection between the celestial archetype and the earthly image. When Jacob awoke out of his sleep, in which the Lord appeared unto him, he said, " This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." In the sublime prayer of dedication, Solomon constantly * Psalm V. 7 ; Habakkuk ii. 20. VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 39 expresses the same thought : '* That thine eyes may be open toward this house, even toward tJie place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servants, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place!' But the tabernacle is, secondly, a type of the Lord Jesus Himself. For it is in Him that God dwells with us ; in Him dwells the fulness of God- head bodily, that we dwelling in Him should have communion with the Father. See the fulfilment of the type in the first place in the Incarnation. " A body hast thou prepared for me." He was born of the Virgin Mary, con- ceived of the Holy Ghost. God, and not man, built this tabernacle. He dwelt in the midst of us even as the tabernacle was in the midst -of the people. And as that tent, although It was made of materials which were common and earthly, was irradiated and sanctified by the indwelling glory of the Lord, so although He was born of the Virgin Mary, and was in every respect like unto His brethren, and was found in fashion as a man, yet is the humanity of Jesus called that holy thing, for it is the tabernacle in which was beheld the glory of the Only-begotten. In the second chapter of the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus explains unto us how He is not merely the tabernacle, but the temple that was 40 The Epistle to the Hebrews, cchap. to endure for ever. This temple had first to be broken, Jesus had to die, but it was to be built again on the third day by His resurrec- tion. This is still more fully explained, when it is said that the veil of the temple was rent in twain. As the apostle teaches us, this refers to the crucifixion of our Lord, the veil of His flesh was then rent. For then heaven was not merely revealed, but the way of access was opened to all sinners who believe in Jesus. Nay, more than this. Jesus Himself went thereby into the holy of holies. And now we behold Him at the right hand of God, the true tabernacle, in which all believers worship, even in the very presence of God, before the throne, which is now a throne of grace. Thus do we dwell in Him, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead; and thus has the Father brought us into His very presence, even in His Son, in a way which could not be ade- quately symbolized. It was by a gradual develop- ment that Jesus became the true tabernacle. First, by His incarnation. The tabernacle was pitched of God, and not of man. The Holy Ghost came upon the Virgin Mary, and the power of the Highest overshadowed her. Then Jesus, in His holy humanity, in His perfect walk of obedience, in His words and works, manifested the Father: God was with Him ; the Father was in Hhn ; the VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 41 glory of the Only-begotten shone through His body of humiliation. Then, by His death on the cross, the holy place became, as it were, the holy of holies ; the veil being rent, all that separated God from sinners was removed according to righteousness. Then, by His resurrection and ascension, He actually entered in — as our repre- sentative— for us, and, so to say, with us. It is difficult to combine all the aspects of Christ, who is Sanctuary, Priest, Sacrifice ; but the more we dwell on Him as the One who is all, the more fully are our hearts established. Behold Him, then, as the tabernacle, where all sacred things are laid up. All that was in the taber- nacle is in Him. He is the true Light, the true Bread of the countenance, the true Incense of intercession, with which our prayers and offerings come before God. All spiritual blessings in hea- venly places are in Christ.* But the tabernacle has yet a third aspect. There God and His people meet. The ark of the covenant was not merely the throne where God manifested Himself in His holiness, but it was also the throne of relationship with His ■^ " All the utensils of holy worship of old, all means of sacred light and purification, were placed and laid up in the tabernacle. And these were all patterns of the heavenly things themselves, which are all laid up in Christ, the true tabernacle. They are all inclosed in Him, and it will be in vain to seek for them else- where."— Owen, Hebrews, vol. iii. p. 666. 42 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. people. In all the offerings and sacrifices God was manifested, just as regards sin, merciful as regards the sinner ; there also God and the sinner met. So throughout the tabernacle there was the manifes- tation of God, in order to bring Israel into com- munion with Himself. In the tabernacle man's fellowship with God was symbolized through manifold mediations, sacrifices, and offerings. But in Jesus we have the perfect and eternal fulfil- ment. In Him God and the sinner meet ; in Him God and the believer dwell and have communion. In and from Jesus we have received the Spirit. God now dwells in His saints by His Spirit, whereby they become an holy temple unto Him. We are builded together in Him (Christ) for an habitation of God through the Spirit. "^^ We are, according to the testimony of another apostle, a spiritual house, in which sacrifices and offerings of thanksgiving and obedience are continually brought unto God. In this chosen Temple God has His rest and His joy. This is the glorious gospel : God in Christ, we in Christ, Christ in us. Thus we have seen that the tabernacle was a picture of heaven, a type of Christ Jesus, and of Christ Jesus in the saints. And therefore, when Jesus Christ comes again with His saints, it will be said, ''Lo, the tabernacle of God with men." True, * Eph. ii. 21, 22. VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 43 there is a locality where Christ and His saints have their abode. But the glory and substance of that heavenly place is the Lord Jesus, one with the saints. In thinking of the throne of God and of heaven, we must avoid a phantomising hyper-spiritualism, and on the other hand a carnal and materialistic view. Heaven is not a state merely, but a place ; yet in our present condition it is not possible for us to form a conception of that spiritual, sub- stantial, and eternal abode which God has pre- pared for them that love Him. It is sufficient for us to receive the Scripture statements, and to rejoice in the descriptions given- in the prophetic books, and especially in the Apocalypse, of the glorious home, of the beautiful and eternal city, in which the Lamb and His Bride shall dwell. It is enough for us to believe the word of Jesus, so simple and sweet : "In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you."* * T^TTOJ/. Is it merely figurative language which the apostles use when they speak of the city of the living God, and proclaim what they beheld in the Spirit ? One day John stood on the mount of Olives, and beheld the city of Jerusalem at his feet, while the Lord ascended into the heights above. Again, on the Lord's-day, he was in the Spirit ; an angel led him to a high mountain, and he beheld another Jerusalem descending from heaven. He numbered the gates of this holy city, and measured its walls ; he recognized in the Lamb the temple and the light of the city. All this does not sound hke mere imagery and similitude. Let us not exchange the green pas- tures thus revealed to our eyes for the vague abstraction of a colour- less existence. There is a higher world in the strictest sense of the word ; and into this world, His home, the Saviour returned when He ascended.— Steinmeyer. 44 'rhe Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. It is in heaven, and in heaven only, that the Lord exercises His priesthood. '' For if Jesus were on earth He would not be a priest at all." As our Lord belonged to the tribe of Judah, and not to the tribe of Levi, it would have been impossible for Him to exercise the functions connected with the Aaronic priesthood. How forcible a demonstration to the Jews, who saw the priests of Levi performing their daily office in the temple at Jerusalem. Godly Israelites might even in those days be taught by the image and pattern of heavenly realities ; but those Israelites, who had recognized in Jesus the Messiah, were now to walk in the clear bright- ness of the gospel light, and in the fulness of the day to perceive the temporary and fragmentary character of the Levitical dispensation. But as with the Jews, so with us all, the great difficulty is, to realise the spiritual and heavenly character of worship. To lift up our eyes and hearts to heaven, to feel the power and the reality of things unseen, to hold communion from the heart, as mans holy of holies, with God Himself in His holy of holies — this is, indeed, the gift and grace of God, and blessed are all whom He chooses and causes to approach.* * " The glory and worship of the temple was that which the Jews would by no means part withal. They chose rather to reject Christ and the gospel, than to part with the temple, and its outward pompous worship. And it is almost incredible how the vain mind viiL] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 45 Now of the holy things,* the spiritual and heavenly blessings, and of the true tabernacle, Jesus is the minister or priest. He is ministering before God and towards God on our behalf; He of man is addicted unto an outward beauty and splendour in religious worship. Take it away, and with the most you destroy all religion itself : as if there were no beauty but in painting, no evidence of health, or vigour of body. The Christians of old suffered in nothing more from the prejudice of the whole world, Jews and Gentiles, than in this, that they had a religion without temples, altars, images, or any solemnity of worship. And in latter ages men ceased not, until they had brought into Chris- tianity itself a worship vying for external order, ceremony, pomp, and painting, with whatever was in the tabernacle or temple of old, coming short of it principally in this, that that was of God's institution for a time, this of the invention of weak, superstitious, and foolish men. Thus is it in the church of Rome. And a hard thing it is to raise the minds of men, unto a satisfaction in things merely spiritual and heavenly. They suppose they cannot make a worse change, nor more to their disadvantage, than to part with what is a present object and entertainment unto their senses, fancies, carnal affections, and superstitions, for that which they can have no benefit by, nor satisfaction in, but only in the exercise of faith and love, inclining us to that within the veil. Hence is there at this day so great a contest in the world about tabernacles and temples, modes of worship and ceremonies, which men have found out in the room of those which they cannot deny but God would have removed. For so they judge that He will be satisfied with their carnal ordinances in the church, when the time is come that He would bear His own no longer. But unto them that believe, Christ is precious. This true Tabernacle, with His ministration, in their estimation far excels all the old pompous ceremonies and services of divine institution, much more, all the superstitious obser- vances of human invention." — Owett. * The expression rdv ayiuv is here neuter, and does not refer to holy persons, or tho3e sanctified by Jesus. It seems to refer to holy things, those things which are essentially connected with the heavenly sanctuary, both the offering which Christ presents to the Father, and the blessings which He sends down to the Church. 46 7he Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. is continually bestowing upon us the blessings of the new covenant. There was no approach unto God without continual respect unto sacrifice and oblation. However excellent the person of the high priest, it was an absolute necessity, that He should have somewhat to offer. And thus our great High Priest had somewhat to present unto the Father when He entered into heaven. The sacrifice, we know, was offered when Jesus died upon the cross. What was typified on the day of atonement, found its fulfilment on Golgotha. Jesus died outside the camp.'^ His precious blood was shed on the accursed tree.f But as was already understood in the type, the blood of Jesus, though shed on earth, pertains to the heavenly sanctuary. Jesus presents Himself, the victim, before the Father, and enters by His own blood into the holy of holies. This is the only perfect and efficacious oblation. This is the only true and real propitiation or atonement made for our sins. Jesus Himself could not save us, or bring us unto God without this sacrifice ; it was necessary that He should bring Himself, the victim and substi- tute, before the throne of God. But now the High Priest, by virtue of the one ■**• Matt, xxvii. 32, 33 ; John xix. 17, 18. (Compare also Acts vii. 58 ; Heb. xiii. 12.) t Compare the important declaration of Deut. xxi. 23. There is a reference to the manner of Christ's death in His word, John xii. 32. He was to be " lifted up from the earth." VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 47 sacrifice, is in heaven. There can be only one temple. There was only one ark in the days of Noah, one tabernacle in the wilderness, one tem- ple in Jerusalem. The forgiving, merciful, and glorious presence of Jehovah is manifested now in the throne on which Jesus is exalted. Now that the Antitype is in heaven, and the living reality of every act of the ritual is fulfilled, and that abidingly, the earthly type has no longer divine right and sanction to exist. Before the coming of Jesus, the shadows symbolized truth to believing worshippers. After the coming of Jesus it must fade and vanish before the sub- stance. If this is true of the Levitical priesthood, which was of divine appointment, how much more fear- ful is the assumption of any priestly title, position, and function during the new dispensation. All Christians are priests. To imitate a revival of that which God Himself has set aside by a fulfil- ment perfect and glorious, is audacious, and full of peril to the souls of men. It is not even the shadow of a substance ; but the unauthorised shadow of a departed shade. The one sacri- fice and oblation has been offered on Golgotha, and presented to the Father by the ascended Saviour, once for all ; * and now believers are a * How true and obvious is Owen's remark : " If any one else can offer the body of Christ, he also is the minister of the true taber- 48 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. kingdom of priests, drawing near in full assurance of faith. The apostle Paul connects "the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises." (Rom. ix.) These go together, and the character of one link deter- mines that of the rest. In the first dispensa- tion, of which Moses was the mediator and Aaron the priest, the service was connected with an earthly tabernacle, and the promises also possessed an earthly and temporal character. How much more glorious is the new dispensation, where all is substance, and not shadow ; heavenly and eternal, and not earthly and temporal ! Here one Person is Mediator- Priest ; the law is written on the heart ; the service is in spirit and in truth ; the promise is life eternal. True, the contrast between the old and the new would be viewed in a false light, if we forgot that in the old dispensation spiritual reality and blessings were presented, and were actually embraced in faith by the people of God. The law had a positive or evangelical aspect ; although herein also it was elementary and transitory, it acted as a guardian and a tutor ; as the snow is not merely an indication of w^inter, and a contrast to the bright and genial sunshine, and the refreshing verdure of summer, nacle. For the Lord Christ did no more. He did but offer Himself, and they that can offer Him do put themselves in His place." viii.i The Epistle to the Hebrews. 49 but is also a beneficent protection, cherishing and preparing the soil for the approaching bless- ings from above. But now the winter is past, the fulness has come. The sanctuary being changed, thedispensation and covenant are likewise changed. The new covenant is now revealed, of which Jesus is both Surety and Mediator. In a previous chap- ter the apostle had inferred, from the superior ex- cellence of the Priest after the order of Melchisedec, the superiority of the covenant, of which He is Mediator. He calls Jesus the Surety of a better testament. The expression reminds us that the Lord Jesus gave unto the Father all that divine righteousness and holiness demanded, that He gave to man every pledge and assurance of our full and everlasting salvation. In the Lord Jesus, who sanctified Himself for our sakes, the Father possesses all believers ; in Him all believers are brought into communion with divine love and life. The expression, '' Mediator," used here is more comprehensive.* The mediator and surety of the old covenant was Moses, and not Aaron. Yet since the first covenant also could not be instituted without sacrifice, Moses acted as priest ; the priestly dignity and functions were afterwards transferred to Aaron. But now is Jesus the true and eternal ■^ It occurs only in two other Pauline passages. The somewhat obscure passage, Gal. iii. 20, and i Tim. ii. 5. II. E 50 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. Mediator- Priest ; not a servant like Moses, but the Son. True mediation is accomplished now because the Mediator as the Son is in the heavenly sanctuary at the right hand of God, and because from thence He sends the Spirit into our hearts. This newcovenant is based upon better promises. The expression "established" means formally estab- lished as by a law. It reminds us that here all is arranged, fixed, and secured by inviolable sanc- tions. The '' everlasting covenant is ordered in all things, and sure;"* it is based upon immovable foundations ; it is according to the eternal purpose of God and to the divine and unchanging perfec- tions. The promises are better, because they are now clearly and directly spiritual and eternal. For- giveness of sin, the knowledge of God, communion with God, His indwelling in our hearts, the inherit- ance reserved in heaven, such are the promises and gifts of the new covenant. The promises are better because they are unconditional, secured by the great Mediator and High Priest. They are better because they were given to Christ before the world began, and are according to the infinite love which the Father has to His only Son, in whom He hath chosen us. The promises are better because in the new dispensation the blessing comprehends all, Jews and Gentiles, and unites all * 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 51 believers as a royal priesthood, who have access unto the Father by one Spirit. There is a wonderful simplicity in the new covenant revelation. The true light which now shineth does indeed possess an exceeding greater brightness than that of the old dispensation ; and yet everything is full of simplicity^ directness, and peaceful calm. When we contrast the old and the new, then we become conscious of the wonderful transparency, simplicity, condensation of divine teaching which we possess. Our little children possess in the words Jesus, Lamb of God, trust in the Saviour, in the simple gospel declarations and promises, that which the old saints had to combine laboriously from the necessarily frag- mentary types and teachings, and could only see darkly. We look to Jesus for everything ; we have and receive all from Him. Our sins and infirmities, our trials and sorrows, so bind us to the grace of Jesus, and to His High Priestly ministrations, that we are constantly with Him, and experience the power of His blood, and the sustaining influence of His love. Jesus in heaven, at the right hand of God, the Lamb in the midst of the throne — this sums up all our faith, all our love, all our hope. // is the crozujting point. Looking back in the light of fulfilment on the history of God's dealings with mankind and with Israel, on the long and marvellous, the manifold 52 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. and complicated, yet harmonious events, ordi- nances, types and predictions, in which the wisdom and love of God vailed, and at the same time re- vealed, the central mystery of redemption, we are impressed with a sense of the magnitude and the glory of the new revelation in Christ Jesus, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for us. We do not merely, like aged Simeon, rejoice in beholding the salvation which God hath pre- pared before all nations, but the salvation which He purposed in Himself from all eternity, to the praise of the glory of His grace. How wonderful is the love of God, that from all eternity this was the secret, cherished purpose of His will — that He should manifest Himself in Christ Jesus, and bring poor, guilty, and helpless sinners nigh unto Himself, that they should dwell in Him, and that He should dwell in them. How wonderful is the grace of God — that purpose of grace which was in God before the foundations of the world were laid, according to which He has given unto us eternal life in Christ Jesus, that not in creation, that not in the perfection and purity of angelic beings, who never fell, but that in the redemption, and sanctification, and glorification of sinners there should be made manifest the fulness of God. See then how everything leads you unto the VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 53 ultimate love of God. Conceive In an enlarged manner, and with an assured and blessed con- fidence, that all the thoughts of God concerning you are thoughts of peace. You cannot think too highly of the love of God. You cannot exagger- ate how Important you are In God's estimation, how precious your salvation Is unto Him, how great Is His joy and His delight In His people, how culminating Is that position which He has given unto Christ as the head of the church, and how this is the one thought In God from everlast- ing to everlasting, so that In Christ Jesus and the church there should be summed up in one all things visible and invisible, whether they be in heaven or on earth. God loved us and chose us in Christ Jesus that we should be to the praise of the glory of His grace. '' The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens ;" and what is His throne but Christ Jesus, who is the tabernacle, and in whom we are also become the habitation of God. Learn, in the second place, the wonderful grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Minister of the sanctuary. He is still going on with His service. His thoughts. His prayers, His affec- tions. His energies, are all engaged now with regard to His people who are still upon the earth. He has ascended into the holiest, into the region of perfection and glory ; but not to forget us who are still in the wilderness. As He loved His 54 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [\^iii. own even to the end, He loves them now, and throughout all the ages ; and He will come again to receive us to Himself. He is the same lovine, serving Jesus as He was on earth, the minister of holy things even now. In the fulness of His love, power, and glory, our exalted Lord, the Son of God, the man Christ Jesus, is ministering continually on behalf of and unto the saints. Thirdly. Learn here the true character of worship. This is more fully explained in the subsequent chapters of the Epistle. But from what we have seen, it is evident that it is only by faith we can worship, for only by faith we can discern the heavenly and spiritual realities here set forth. '''^ The heavenly sanctuary is the only place of worship. We are brought into the very presence of God in heaven, we draw near in the one great High Priest, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins through His blood. Such are now the elements of worship, and only faith can realize and appropriate these gracious truths and gifts. Believers only can worship ; they worship in spirit and in truth. * " The fundamental and essential contrast between the former and the latter things is, that the discernment by faith of things in- visible is now the alone condition of true worship." — A. Prideaux. LECTURE III. THE BLESSINGS OF THE NEW COVENANT. Hebrews viii. 6-13. " I ^HE Lord Jesus Christ, as our High Priest in •^ heaven, is the Mediator of the new covenant or dispensation, which is based upon better pro- mises. New as contrasted with old means in Scripture that which is perfect and abiding. The old vanishes, the new remains. God gives us a new heart that we may love and praise Him for ever. If any man is in Christ, he is a new crea- ture. Old things have passed away, all things have become new. " Behold, I make all things new," saith the Lord ; I will create new heavens and a new earth ; and in the new creation all is eternal, perfect, possessed of vitality, beauty, and strength, which can never fade. The old covenant was temporary and imperfect. God findeth fault with it ; for although the law was holy, just, and good, yet by reason of Israel's sin neither righteousness nor life could come through it. And as the purposes of divine love could not 56 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. be attained by the old covenant, so the character of God, as the God of grace, could not be fully revealed therein. Hence the promise of a new covenant, which in itself proves the imperfection and insufficiency of the old ; and this new covenant is represented as a contrast, unlike the old ; it is new, that is, perfect, everlasting. God is pleased with it because it shows forth the glory of Jehovah as the God of salvation. Let us remember that this covenant, announced by the prophet Jeremiah, is to be made first with the house of Judah and the house of Israel. It is a spiritual covenant, yet a national one. To Israel pertain the covenants, both of law and of grace. This is taught by Scripture throughout, and most clearly in the chapters in which this precious pro- mise of the Messianic covenant is contained. No one can read this section of the prophetic w^ord * and entertain the slightest doubt that literal Israel, the seed of Abraham, and their restoration in their own land, form the subject of divine promise. The prophet Jeremiah, called in early youth by God to announce unto his people the impending judgments on account of their ingratitude and impenitence, seems little fitted, by his natural disposition and temperament, to be the bearer of a message so awful and stern. A character eminently sensitive and tender, shrinking from * Jeremiah xxx.-xxxiii. VIII.] I he Epistle to the Hebi^ezvs. 57 conflict, almost feminine In his delicacy, was chosen by God to testify against the whole land, the kings of Judah, and the princes thereof, and against the priests, and against the people of the land. The Lord chose this gentle and timid child (Jer. i. 6) to be as a defenced city and an Iron pillar and brazen walls against the whole nation. The prophet's heart was overwhelmed with grief; his eyes were filled with tears. His soul was dis- tracted ; his heart was faint within him, when he would comfort himself against sorrow. The mes- sage, that Israel's sin and Iniquity had so abounded that judgment was inevitable, filled him with an- guish. How solemn and touching are the suppli- cations which he pours out before God ! While he was thus consumed by zeal for Jehovah and sorrowful love for his people, he had to experience constant and cruel opposition, hatred, and scorn. His life was continually in jeopardy. Persecution, Ignominy, and reproach were heaped upon him. Driven to the utmost verge of despair, he ex- claimed, " I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name." But the Word was in him as a burning fire shut up In his bones. He was faithful to God ; and with a breaking heart testified against the nation and her false prophets. During forty years Jeremiah stood firm, a solitary witness among a rebellious and godless nation of adversaries and persecutors, led astray and forti 58 The Epistle to the Hebi^ews. [chap. fied in their opposition by false prophets. He endured insuh and mockery ; he was beaten and imprisoned. And when the armies of Babylon proved the divine character of his mission and the truth of his predictions, the lofty height to which God had raised him did not separate him from his nation, his previous sufferings did not embitter his heart or blunt his sympathy and affection. He sat down on the ground as a mourner, and his lamentations over Jerusalem are to this very day the expression of the grief of desolate and banished Israel. Is he not a type of our Lord ? Were the people, who said that Jesus was Jeremiah, not uttering a truth, which was then daily unfolding ? For as Jeremiah announced the first destruction, so Jesus, in the days of Pharisees and scribes, predicted the second destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus wept when He beheld the city. And Jesus is greater than Jeremiah. For in the Spirit Jeremiah called Him Lord. Yet were the tears of Jeremiah in the Spirit of the Christ, who said, " If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now are they hid from thine eyes." It is in the night of adversity that the Lord sends forth bright stars of consoling hope. When the darkest clouds of woe were gathering above Jerusalem, and the prophet himself was in the VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 59 lowest depths of sorrow, God gave to him the most glorious prophecies of Judah's great re- demption and future blessedness. The advent and reign of Messiah, the Lord our righteousness, the royal dominion and priesthood of Israel's .Re- deemer, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the renewal and restoration of God's chosen people, the days of unbroken prosperity and blessedness — all the golden Messianic future was predicted '' in the last days of Jerusalem, when the magnificent fabric of its temple was about to sink into the dust, and its walls and palaces were about to be thrown prostrate on the ground." * Thus, while Jeremiah announced the judgments of God, he was sustained and comforted by the promises of ultimate restoration and glory. Israel, the chosen nation of God, could not frustrate the purpose of God's grace by their unfaithfulness. God's promise unto Abraham rested upon no con- dition ; it rested only on the electing, sovereign, free, and eternal love of God. '' The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Israel's sin abounds unto judgment, and even (temporary) national death ; but Jehovah's grace abounds unto resurrection -life, unto restoration and everlasting blessing. Jeremiah predicts the national restora- tion of Judah and Israel. In most emphatic words the Lord declares, that as the ordinances of * Wordsworth. 6o The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. the sun, and moon, and of the stars shall not depart from before Him, the seed of Israel shall not cease from being a nation before Him. The prophet describes the prosperity of the cities of Judah, once desolate, and the melody and joy of the streets of Jerusalem, once filled with sorrow and lamentation. But this national and external restoration and prosperity are inseparably connected with Israel's spiritual and inward renewal. It is the new cove- nant of grace in the Messiah, even King David, which brings life, strength, and joy to the chosen people. As the promise was of grace, to Abraham and to Abraham's seed, so the fulfilment of the promise is not through the old covenant, of which Moses is mediator, but in the new and eternal Messianic dispensation. In like manner prophesied Ezeklel at the river Chebar among the captives of Babylon. He also beholds Israel restored; dwelling in their own land, in prosperity and gladness ; the temple built in a new and glorious manner, and Jerusalem the city of the great king, whence the glory of Jehovah shall never depart again ; for she shall be called Jehovah- Shammah (the Lord is there). For Israel restored and glorified is Israel pardoned, cleansed, and re- newed. The blessing is both spiritual and national ; the heart within and the land without ; thus do all prophets testify, and thus the apostle of the VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 6i Gentiles explains to us in the light of the inter- mediate church-dispensation the counsel of God. Israel had once the land without the Spirit ; Israel now has neither the land nor the spiritual knowledge of God and His love ; but the time is coming' when Israel shall possess the land, and receive the Holy Ghost from the Lord, whose feet shall stand upon the mount of Olives ; in the liberty of the new covenant they shall worship and serve the Lord their God. Apply this truth to the condition of the Hebrews, whom the apostle was addressing. The law of Moses, the old covenant, was vanishing ; but the Messianic promises never were connected with the legal dispensation ; they are rooted in the promise to Abraham ; they are fulfilled in the covenant of grace. The relation of law to gospel as regards our justification, and also as regards the rule of life and conduct, is a different question, which is fully solved in the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians, and in the Apostolic Council at Jeru- salem. The question which troubled the minds and hearts of the Hebrews was their relation to the Levitical priesthood, and to the old dispensation. The temple was still in Jerusalem, and the Levi- tical ordinances appointed by Moses were still being observed. Although the Sun had risen, the moon had not yet disappeared. It was waning ; it was ready to vanish away. Now it became an 62 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. urgent necessity for the Hebrew Christians to understand that Christ was the true and eternal High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary, and that the new and everlasting covevant with Judah and Israel was connected with the gospel promise, and not with the law. God Himself hath made the first covenant old by promising the new. And now that Christ had entered into the holy of holies by His own blood, the old covenant had passed away ; and yet the promises of God to His chosen people remain firm and unchanged. This is the very question which unbelieving Israel has not been able to solve during the last eighteen centuries. The temple of Jerusalem has been destroyed ; the Levitical economy has been taken away ; Israel has neither high priest, nor sacrifice, nor altar ; it is without temple, and it is, strictly speaking, outside covenant. Where is the old covenant ? The sanctuary, with its ordi- nances of divine service, was intimately connected with the old covenant, with the Levitical dispen- sation. It has vanished. During all these cen- turies Israel has not been able to account for their strange condition. When Moses was on mount Sinai, and the people, in their unbelief and im- patience, asked Aaron to make unto them gods which should go before them, they added : " For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become VOL] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 63 of him." In like manner Israel, since the destruc- tion of Jerusalem, cannot understand the dealings of God. They know not what has become of Moses, the old covenant. It is impossible for them to keep its ordinances. And in this darkness they have formed to themselves a religion of their own traditions and reasonings,'^' human and un- authorized substitutes for the divinely- appointed ordinances of the Mosaic dispensation. How clear is the light shining from the cross of Jesus and from the heavenly sanctuary, where the Mediator of the new covenant is now enthroned. Moses himself and the prophets testified that communion with God in light and peace, that spiritual life and strength could only come by grace, not through the works of the law, not out of man's unrenewed heart. The history of Israel abund- * Modern Judaism (both rabbinical and rationalistic) is not able to account for the cessation of sacrifices and the Levitical dispen- sation. The former acknowledges that in the destruction of the temple and the present condition of Israel without high priest and offerings, divine judgment on the nation's sin is expressed : the idea of atonement through a vicarious sacrifice is not quite extinct, as appears in the rite of the cock performed on the eve of the day of atonement, though devoid of all Scriptural authority. Rationalistic Judaism has departed still further from the truth. Rejecting the idea of substitution and expiation in connection with sacrifices, it regards the present condition of Israel as a more spiritual develop- ment, misinterpreting the protests of David and the prophets against a mere external view of the ceremonial law. (Ps. xl. 7 ; Hos. vi. 6 ; Jer. vii. 21-23.) The old has indeed vanished; but accord'ng to the will of God, because the true light now shineth, because the substance has come in Christ. 64 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. antly showed that the law was not able to fill them with the knowledge and the love of God ; for they remained a disobedient and idolatrous people, they understood not God's character and ways, and continued not in His precepts.* The purpose of electing grace can only be fulfilled in the gift of Jesus and of the Holy Ghost. The new covenant alone Is the complete manifestation of God Himself It alone Is everlasting, because it alone is the fulfilment of God's eternal counsel, according to which divine love and power accom- plish the whole work of His people's salvation. Thus the apostle confirms and comforts his brethren, who were perplexed and tempted by the outward splendour of the temple, and the out- * In reviewing the history of Israel before the exile, it is most melancholy to notice that the periods of obedience and godliness are comparatively few ; they are rather exceptional brief glimpses of light than the normal condition of the chosen people. The forty years in the wilderness, the age under the Judges and the Kings, are on the whole periods of darkness. There was always a remnant according to the election of grace, the seven thousand, who had not bowed the knee unto Baal ; but idolatry and heathenish abominations co-existed beside the true worship and the testimony of the prophets. The reign of David and Solomon is a bright exception. The law of Moses, with its stern denunciation of idolatry, with its loving and generous consideration of the poor and its requirements of liberality and devotedness, was rarely carried out, as is evident from the prophetic expostulations. Since the Baby- lonian exile Israel has not fallen into idolatry, but into an external and superficial view of the law, into dead formalism and self- righteousness. How true then, in the light of history, is the asser- tion of the prophet Jeremiah and of the apostle Paul, that Israel has not continued in the first covenant. VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 65 ward insignificance of the Christian assembHes. Theirs was the worship In spirit and in truth ; they had received the better promises of the new covenant. For now they knew the will of God, not in the form of an outward commandment, but in the power of the indwelHng Spirit ; not en- graven on tables of stone, but written on the renewed heart. Now the knowledge of God, a knowledge full of light and certainty, given directly by God Himself, was the privilege of each be- liever ; they were a congregation of prophets and priests, to whom God revealed Himself, and who could draw near to Him in worship ; and these unspeakable privileges are based upon the perfect and absolute forgiveness and remission of sin through the precious blood of Christ. How great is the contrast between the old and the new covenant! In the one God demands of sinful man : " Thou shalt." In the other God pro- mises : *' I will." The one is conditional ; the other is the manifestation of God's free grace, and of God's unlimited power. In the one the promise is neutralized by the disobedience of man ; in the other all the promises of God are Yea in Christ, and Amen in Christ. In the new covenant Christ is all ; He Is the Alpha and Omega ; all things are of God, and all things are sure and stedfast. The blessings of the new covenant are all II. F 66 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. based upon the forgiveness of sin. God pro- mises to put His laws into our minds, and write them in our hearts, and to be to us a God, because He is merciful to our unrighteousness, and will remember our sins and iniquities no more. The forgiveness of sin is not merely the beginning, but it is the foundation, the source ; it is, so to say, the mother of all divine blessings. For as long as sin is upon the conscience, and man is not able to draw near unto God, he is separated from the only source of life and blessedness. In the forgiveness of sin God gives Himself, and all things that pertain to life and godliness. Hence David, in enumerating the benefits God hath be- stowed on him, commenced with this fundamental one, " Who forgiveth all thine iniquities." Sin is removed, and we are brought nigh to God, and thus enter into the possession of all spiritual blessings. If we look at this most elementary and simple truth, the first which little children are taught,* we find it contains the germ of all truths. Hence all our progress in the divine life, and all the consolations of the Christian pilgrim, are rooted in this primary doctrine of forgiveness through faith in Jesus. To know God is the sum and substance of all blessings, both in this life and in that which is to come. Now, although the law manifests to a certain * I John ii. 12. viii] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 6^ extent the holiness and truth, the justice and un- changeableness, the goodness and bounty of God, the law does not reveal God Himself, the depth of His sovereign and eternal love, the purpose which He purposed in Himself before the foun- dation of the world was laid. When in Christ we receive the forgiveness of sin, we behold God. Here is also the source and the commencement, the root and strength of our love to God. '' We love Him, because He first loved us." We love much, because much is forgiven unto us. We are now a kingdom of priests unto God, becatise Christ loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood. When the doctrine of forgiveness in its fulness and freeness is scripturally set forth, it re- quires no supplemental cautions, restrictions, and additions ; for it is the central truth from which all doctrines radiate. The new obedience, the spiritual worship,* the fight and victory of faith, the knowledge and fear and love of God, have their starting-point in the pardon of sin. And this is the new covenant blessing. True, the servants of God always knew this blessing. '; Of the divine righteousness both the law and the prophets testify. David describeth this blessed- ness. The sacrifices typified, faith looked forward to the great atonement. But now that Christ has * Compare Ps. cxxx. 4. : " With Thee is forgiveness of sin, that Thou mayest be worshipped." 68 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. come, and that He died once for all, we receive forgiveness in a full and perfect manner : there is no more remembrance of sins ; no repetition of sacrifice is needed ; no yearly recurrence of the day of atonement ; in Christ we have redemption in His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. How precious is this emphatic declaration, " Their sins and their transgressions will I re- member no more." Our sins are removed and buried in the depths of the sea, and this according to divine holiness, justice, and truth. Here is the righteousness of God. " The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation ; for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." * Between God and us, there is now no longer sin ; Jesus, and Jesus only, fills our view. It is in giving this perfect pardon that God renews the heart, and writes in it His laws. We must needs contrast law and gospel. Yet let us not forget that the law from the very outset showed its temporary and negative character, pointed beyond and away from itself; sighed, as it were, after Him, who by fulfilling would take it away, and by taking it away would fulfil it in us, and in fulfilling it in us, raise us to the still greater height of the new love ! Oh that My people had a heart to obey My commandment ! was the language of God in the ancient days. I ■*^ Rom. i. 1 6, 17. viii] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 69 will circumcise their hearts, was His promise. The law testified, that fallen man could not keep It ; that written on tables of stone it only condemned, that It had no power to inscribe itself on the hard, unrenewed heart of man. The law commands love, and love never can come out of law. The fulfilment of the law presupposes life and spirit ; and by the law dead souls can never be quick- ened. As the Apostle Paul fully explains in the Epistle to the Galatlans, the Holy Ghost is re- ceived through the preaching of the gospel, the new covenant, the forgiveness of sins. Now the grace of God, which bringeth salva- tion, hath appeared, and teacheth us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. The law of God Is fulfilled In the believer, in the spiritual man, who trusts in Jesus. Of this renewal of the heart and gift of the Holy Ghost the prophet Ezeklel also testifies.* May we not say that the whole of the Old Testa- ment points (both as a contrast and a preparation) to this : Jesus saves His people from their sins ; for He comes with water and with blood and with the Spirit : He Is Righteousness and Life. All spiritual life flows from Jesus as our Saviour. When we believe in Jesus we are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. His precious blood is not merely our peace, but our strength ; and our strength * Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27. 70 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. because it Is our peace. Justification and sancti- fication emanate from this One Source. When Israel is brought In repentance and faith to the Lord, then shall be fulfilled the gracious purpose of God, which under the law was frus- trated through Israel's sin and disobedience. Although God was a Husband unto them, they brake His covenant. But now, forgiven and renewed, Israel will be in actual reality, and not merely in position, God's people, and Jehovah will be their God. This is the most exalted and com- prehensive blessing which was ever promised. Jehovah is not ashamed to be called their God. He identifies Himself with His people. All His glorious perfections are revealed in His relation to them. In them is fulfilled the good pleasure of His will. And because He is God to them. Source of Light and Life, they are His people. Not merely chosen and appointed ; not merely called and treated collectively as God's people ; but in reality, according to truth, according to their individual character and experience, the people in whom God's name is revealed, who show forth His praise, who walk in His ways and obey His will. For of Him shall their fruit be found ; God working in them both to will and to do, they shall abound in the fruits of righteousness to the glory of His grace. For then each one individually shall know VI II.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 71 the Lord. *' God is known in Judah," said the Psalmist. God had indeed revealed Himself unto His people. He had taught them and given unto them His Word. In their marvellous history, in the divine messages sent by Moses and the prophets, in the types and ordinances, in the Judges and Kings, God had revealed unto His people His name. His character and will, and His great desire was that they should know Him. How touching is the complaint of Jehovah, that after all the signs which they had seen, and after a'l His mighty works of redeeming and guiding love, and after all the words of light and of grace which He had sent them, His people did not know Him! So long had He been with them, and erring in their hearts, they did not know His ways!* What could be more grievous to the fatherly heart of God, yearning to be known, trusted, and loved ? What gives us a sadder picture of the fall of man, of the alienation of the human heart from God, of our utter incapacity to understand and to receive divine things, than the fact that Israel did not know the revealed God, who taught and blessed them constantly, abundandy, and with most tender compassion ? But when the Holy Ghost shall be poured out upon them, they shall all know Jehovah, from the least to the greatest ; though one shall encourage and exhort the other, yet * Isa. i. ; Ps. xcv. 72 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. they shall not need to teach and to say to their neighbour, Know the Lord. In the Church this promise is already fulfilled.* Although the apostle John distinguishes between little children, young men, and fathers, he writes unto the whole congregation of believers : '' Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things." f It is true that he sends unto them an epistle, rich in doctrine and exhortation, but, as he expresses it, in full harmony with our passage, " I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it." " The anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you." '' They shall be all taught of God." This promise, uttered by the prophet Isaiah,]: is regarded by our Saviour as the promise uttered by all prophets ;§ for it is the great Messianic blessing, the promise of the Father. From Jesus, the Anointed, all Christians re- * " And how do I know thee .'' I know thee in thee ! I do not know thee as thou art in thyself, but as thou art to me, and that not without thee, but in thee, because thou art the Hght, which hath enlightened me. For what thou art to thyself is known only to thee ; what thou art to me, according to thy grace, is known also unto me ; I know, because thou art my God." — Aiigustifie's Soliloquia. t I John ii. 20. Compare the apostle Paul's words (i Thess. iv. 9) : " But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you : for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another." Likewise 2 Peter i. 12. X Isa. liv. 13. § John vi. 45, eV roi% Tr/Jo^Tjratj. VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 73 ceive the Holy Ghost ; they have, according to their name, the unction from above. Hence they possess the Teacher who guides into all truth. Knowledge is within them. There is within them a well of living water. They are not dependent on external instruction. There is given unto them the Paraclete, who always reveals the things that are freely given unto us of God. The spiritual man knows all things — all the things of the Spirit, all that pertains to life and godliness. True, he does not know all things actually, or in any given moment ; but he knows them potentially. There is within him the light which can see, the mind which can receive all truth. It is for this reason that apostles and teachers give instruction. They teach the God-taught ; they present spirit-revealed realities to the spiritual. Human erudition, mental acuteness or profundity, are of no avail here. The youngest and most illiterate, the least gifted and most uncultivated, may possess the wisdom which is from above. And this knowledge, God- given, is full of assurance ; it possesses the nature of light, of conviction, of absolute certainty. We know that our Redeemer liveth ; we know whom we have believed ; we know that we are born of God, and that all things work together for good unto them that love Him ; we know the things that are freely given to us of God. Every Chris- tian knows himself individually, and that because 74 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. he is taught of God ; he relies not on the testi- mony of man ; his faith stands in the power of God. This personal knowledge of God is the secret of our spiritual life. It is our safeguard against error, and against sin. It is the great and the constant gift of God, the fruit of Christ's redemp- tion. We now see and know God and His Son ; we know Jesus, because Jesus always knows His sheep, revealing Himself unto them, and giving them guidance and life. This knowledge is no- thing less than walking with God, walking in the light, praying without ceasing. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. In much dark- ness, amid many difficulties, and in constant war- fare we yet walk in the light of His countenance, until at last we shall see Him as He is, and know even as we are known. How great is the blessedness of all who are in the new, the everlasting covenant ; in the cove- nant of grace and life, in which God Himself is revealed, and in which all things are of God. Here Christ is to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Our transgres- sions are pardoned, yea, there is no more remem- brance of sin. The heart is renewed, and the Holy Ghost is given as an indwelling Spirit. God works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. We are in constant and filial VIII.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 75 communion with Him. He Is our God, and we are His people ; He Is our Father, and we are His children. And all these blessings have their root and commencement, their vitality and perma- nence In the redemption, accomplished on Gol- gotha, they are dispensed from the heavenly sanctuary by the Mediator, who was the Paschal Lamb on the cross. Little children and fathers, young converts and experienced Christians, always hear the voice of Jesus : This is the New Testa- 7nent in my blood. Hallelujah ! I believe ! Now no longer on my soul All the debt of sin is lying ; One great Friend has paid the whole. Icebound fields of legal labour I have left with all their toil ; While the fruits of love are growing From a new and genial soil. LECTURE IV. WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH. Hebrews ix. 1-5. {Introductory Remarks.) 'T^HE nature of spiritual worship, even after it -*- has been revealed in Scripture, is very rarely understood. Apart from revelation, we do not find anywhere traces of spiritual worship. " Think of the reli- gions of antiquity. Where do we seek and find the sanctuary of true, deep, manifold, and eloquent prayer ? where the language and grammar, where the scale of all notes of supplication, typical for all humanity and all the ages ? where, except in the assemblies of the worshippers of Jehovah, in the courts of that service which knew no image of the Unseen, in that temple where God, in His sub- lime, spiritual presence and reality, transcends all human thought, who for centuries since, and through all coming ages, fills and guides the hearts of all believers." =•' Only Israel and the * Nitzsch. CHAP. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. jj Church possess the knowledge of God ; the most cultivated and learned nations were not able to rise to a pure, spiritual, and exalted conception of divinity. And the spirituality, as well as the ex- clusiveness of true worship, Jewish and Christian, have at first a repulsive effect on the natural man. The Greeks and Romans were not merely astonished at, but felt irritated by the worship of Christians, who without image and altar, without priests and vestments, appeared to them to be a^cot, men without gods, influenced by what they deemed a strange superstition, the mysterious power of which they could not comprehend, when they saw how it enabled Christians to rejoice in suffering, and to meet with calm courage and hopefulness the tortures of death. It was enig- matic, and the absence of all visible symbol, of all idols and altars, still more bewildered them. When they beheld how faith in the unseen Lord was a real and mighty power in the hearts and lives of men and women, filling them with earnestness, zeal, hope, and joy, how it lifted them above the sinful pleasures of the world, the love of money, the fever of ambition, the frivolity and emptiness of a selfish life, how it enabled them to bear calmly and patiently the trials, and sufferings, and persecutions which they had to endure, and to face the cruel and excruciating death to which they were condemned, not merely with yS The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. equanimity, but with the fortitude of heroes, and the radiant joy of virgins going forth to meet the Bridegroom — their astonishment was boundless. They called it a mania, a demoniac possession, a mysterious moral epidemic, which had broken out and threatened to undermine the commonwealth. Of truth, of a real, living, and loving God, they knew nothing. They felt annoyed, that the small and insignificant Jewish nation would not adopt their gods and customs, would keep aloof from their temples, feasts, and banquets. It is narrated, that when Pompey had conquered Jerusalem, and without reverence penetrated into the interior of the temple, he proceeded into the holy of holies. There, a feeling of awe seized him, and he left all things untouched. Since that time, the Roman author says, it is known that the Jews worship something empty and vague, that cannot be seen. While the Greeks, proud of their culture and in- telligence, looked down in contempt upon all other nations, and also upon Israel, the Romans, proud of their power, judged of the gods of nations by the amount of victories achieved under their protec- tion. You may know, remarks Cicero, what is the power of the Jews and their God, by the circum- stance that their land has been subjugated and divided. Having no knowledge of objective truth, re- garding all religions as equally legitimate ex- IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 79 pressions of national traditions, sentiments, and modes of thought, they were quite wilHng to worship, in whatever country they happened to be, according to the prevaiHng usage. To add Christ also to the number of their gods and heroes would have been quite in accordance with their thought. Hence they could not understand the nature of that faith and worship which had for its object the true and living, the only God, and which could not be added to or mingled with any other faith and worship. Israel and the Church claim to possess the truth, to know, love, and serve the only true and living God. Therefore they must be hated by all who do not submit themselves to the heavenly revelation. Philoso- phers of every age, both before and since the advent, can tolerate every system of moral and spiritual thought and worship. They can find something good, noble, and elevating in every religion ; but they cannot tolerate the one only God-revealed truth in Christ Jesus.* The adop- tion of the Christian name and of Christian terminology is very superficial. Only a short * Man delights in the activity of his mental faculties, in fearless and free speculation, making his own mind the idol, even in inquir- ing after God and His service. Lessing said, " Did the Almighty, holding in His right hand truth, and in His left search after truth, deign to proffer me the onp I might prefer, in all humihty, but without hesitation, I could request search after truth." This is the very opposite spirit of the Jewish and Christian. God hath spoken. (Heb. i. 1-3.) 8o The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. time may be required to complete that process of development, or rather chemical separation, which is at present dividing true spiritual Chris- tians, who believe God's word, and the world, who reject the counsel of God, in His incarnate Son and His cross. And again it will be seen, that of a truth against God's holy child Jesus, Pontius Pilate and the heathen and unbelieving Jews have risen, denying God and His Anointed; for Christ is against the world, and the world against Christ. Modern Paganism (often using Christian terminology) only conceals this fact. Jesus claims to be the truth, absolute, exhaustive, ultimate ; He claims to be, not one of many ways, not the best" of all ways, but the way — the only, exclusive, divine way of access unto the light, love, and life of God. If He was not exclusive. He would be like the others, only giving guesses at truth, and not its revelation ; He cannot but assert His absolute and exclusive Mediatorship. It is this exclusiveness of Jesus (like the abso- lute and jealous denunciation of Jehovah against all idolatry) which is met by the bitter, though often latent and unconscious, enmity of the world. He that is not for Jesus is against Him. All they that attempt, without Him, to enter into the fold are thieves and robbers. Jesus is the truth, and in Him alone we draw near to the Father. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 8i Apart from Revelation, men have not the idea of God as Lord, Spirit, Father. And even after the light of Scripture has appeared, God is to many only an abstract word, by which they desig- nate a complex of perfections, rather than a real living, loving, ever-present Lord, to whom we speak and of whom we ask the blessings we need. How different from this vague life and colourless abstraction, without will and love, this incompre- hensible All and Nothing is the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. To Him we can pray. Without revelation prayer is regarded not so much as asking God in order to receive from Him, but as an exercise of mind which elevates, ennobles, and comforts. It is a monologue. Wor- ship is viewed as a representation of our ideas of divine attributes and perfections, not the recog- nition of God, as through revelation we know Him in His relation to us. See how God reveals to the poor sin-con- vinced soul — to the humblest, the most ignorant, the most guilty — what the wise and righteous of the world can neither discover nor attain. A sinful, thoughtless, frivolous woman, living in the dark- ness of an ungodly life, and belonging to a race possessing only dim and imperfect knowledge of divine truth, had been drawn into conversation by a mysterious stranger, who beginning with the lowly II. G 82 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. request of a favour had brought before her in words (whose meaning she scarcely comprehended, but which roused deep longings within her soul), the misery and emptiness of the world, the ex- istence and blessedness of a higher spiritual and divine life ; and He who at first spoke as a weary traveller had gradually presented Himself as the mysterious Mediator and Dispenser of a divine and transcendent gift. But the heart and the con- science, the deepest centre of her being, had not been touched yet. Jesus then reveals Himself as the Searcher of Hearts, the Lord and Judge, who knoweth secret things. He brings before her the guilty past. The arrow is sent forth by a strong yet gentle hand ; its purpose is to wound and to heal. The woman exclaims : I perceive thou art a prophet; that is, a seer, a messenger of God, one entrusted with a divine message. Brought thus unto the presence of God, realizing God, as only the sin-convinced conscience and heart do, she immediately wishes to please, worship, serve that Supreme Lord. The question she now addresses to the Saviour is not a skilful evasion of a painful and humili- ating subject ; it proceeds from the depths of a wounded heart ; it is the question of repentance and profound desire after God. If God is He must be worshipped. Hitherto theological dis- putes had no interest for her, but noAv she thirsts Tx.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 83 after God, the living God, and longs to come unto Him in true worship. It was to this poor and sinful Samaritan woman that Jesus explained, in that solemn, lonely hour, the profound truths of spiritual worship. He reminds her, first of all, that the question of wor- ship is not to be decided by man, but by God. Human thought, sentiment, traditions, cannot have authority in this highest and most sacred matter. The Samaritans, as all other nations left to themselves, have no knowledge of worship, because they know not God. True worship can only be found on the territory of revelation. In Israel God had revealed Himself, and His revela- tion of Himself was as the God of salvation. Because salvation is of the Jews, with them also was found true worship. True, it was for a long time under a limited, preparatory, symbolical dis pensation, but at the same time real and spiritual, and the germ of the universal and free worship which has been brought in through the fulfilment in Christ Jesus. Spirituality is not an inherent subjective quality, it is the reflection of the person worshipped ; as the God so the worshipper. The words of the Saviour, " Ye worship ye know not what," have a far more extensive application than to Samaritans. The most cultivated and refined men cannot, by their risason, intuition, or learning, find God ; and their 84 The Epistle to the Hebreivs. [chap. conception of the supreme, ethereal and ideal as it may be, is not spiritual but carnal. But Israel knew Jehovah as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; as the God who had appeared unto their fathers with condescending, familiar, loving favour, guiding and comforting, blessing and helping, the God who had chosen them, and who had redeemed them out of Egypt to be His peculiar people, and to show forth His praise. They were called to the knowledge and service of God, that through them light and salvation should be brought to all Gentiles, even to the uttermost ends of the earth. And we await still the fulfill- ment of the immutable promises connected with the Abrahamic covenant when, from Israel as a centre, the light of God's salvation shall shine forth unto all nations, and all the ends of the earth shall worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The dispensation of the law came in as an intermediate and preparatory one. One great object was to show forth by types the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, and the character of true worship. There are only two chapters of Scrip- ture to narrate the creation of the world ; but no fewer than sixteen chapters of the inspired record are devoted to the description of the tabernacle. It has been remarked, that God took only six days in the work of creation, but spent forty days with Moses in directing him to make the tabernacle. IX. J The Epistle to the Hebrews. 85 The work of grace is more glorious than the work of creation. Three times the book of Exodus gives a full account of all the parts of the tabernacle. First, when the command is given to build it ; then again, when its preparation is narrated ; and a third time, after it was actually erected. For the tabernacle shows forth the redemption in Christ ; and the whole world was created that the glory of God should be manifested in Christ and the Church. And Scripture, by thus attaching a far greater importance to the description of the tabernacle than to the narrative of the world's creation, teaches us to contemplate the things that are unseen, to fix our thoughts and affections on the eternal and heavenly world, to lift our eyes to those heights whence descend the light and love of our blessed God. Scripture teaches us that the tabernacle was built according to the divine revelation given unto Moses. 1 1 was according to the pattern of heavenly things beheld by him on the mount. The idea of the structure in its grand outlines, as well as the arrangements of the detail, were not of human origin. They are not to be traced to the inge- nuity of Moses, or to the model of heathen sanc- tuaries. All things were of God, everywhere the Holy Ghost did symbolize. The tabernacle was to the believing Israelite full of symbols, showing the grace of their Redeemer God, and shadowing 86 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. forth the manifold mercy of God, who forgives and sanctifies His people, who brings them Into His presence, bestows upon them His blessing, and enables them to worship and serve Him with thankful and rejoicing hearts. And to us who read these chapters In the light of fulfillment, they are full of gospel instruction and comfort ; unfold- ing the varied treasures of grace, the many aspects of Christ and His work, and of the experience of His saints.''' The people offered with exceeding liberality and willingness of heart all the material needed for the building, and the skill and genius of en- lightened workmen prepared the various portions of the structure and the vessels. Thus according to the condescending wisdom and goodness of God, the affections and energies of His people were enlisted, and they were workers together with Him of whom and by whom are all things. * We find here, to use Owen's words, such an evidence of divine wisdom and goodness, as gives them beauty, desirableness, and usefulness, unto their proper end. There is that in them, which unto an enlightened mind will distinguish them for ever from the most plausible inventions of men, advanced in the imitation of them. Only a diligent inquiry into them is expected from us. (Ps. cxi. 2, 3.) When men have slight considerations of any of God's institutions, when they come unto them without a sense that there is divine wisdom in them, that which becomes him from whom they are, it is no wonder if their glory be hid from them. But when we diligently and humbly inquire into any of the ways of God, to find out the characters of His divine excellencies that are upon them, we shall obtain a satisfying view of His glory. (Hosea vi. 3.) IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 87 When afterwards the temple was built, and the tabernacle of the wilderness was changed into a permanent and stationary house on mount Zion, the palace of the great King, whose chosen city- is Jerusalem, the affection and reverence of the nation clung to it with great intensity. From the very excess of superstition and formalism into which this feeling degenerated, we can infer its original strength. And indeed, though we find in David and Solomon the most spiritual and ele- vated conceptions of the divine omnipresence, and of the true nature of prayer and sacrifice ; though in all the prophetic writings we meet with constant warnings against a merely outward service, and a constant reference to inward purity and to the adoration and obedience of the heart, yet the temple, where God revealed His presence and His glory, where His beautiful ordinances were observed, and the most solemn transactions took place between Jehovah and His people through the appointed mediation of priests and high priest, was necessarily most sacred and endeared to every true Israelite. How touching is the description in the book of Ezra of the laying of the founda- tion at the rebuilding of the temple : '' But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice ; and 88 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. many shouted aloud for joy : so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people : for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off." The position of Israel at the time of our Lord was one of great solemnity. It was the most solemn crisis in Israel's history. The Lord whom they sought (some really, and others only in profession) came suddenly to His temple. Jesus came as a minister of the circumcision to fulfill the promises made unto the fathers. He came first as a prophet, preaching repentance ; for the kingdom of God was at hand. He came to gather them. He was the last as well as the greatest messenger sent unto Jerusalem. But they did not reverence the Son. They under- stood not the time of their visitation. Jesus with tears predicted judgment on the beloved city, the city of the great King. "For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee ; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another : because thou knewest not the time of thy visita- tion." And of the temple He said, '' There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." rx] The Epistle to the Hebreius. 89 But between the announcement and the execu- tion of the judgment forty years intervened. The Lord is slow to anger; He is long-suffering, and gracious. He delays judgment to gather in a remnant, and to show to the whole world the righteousness and the mercifulness of all His dealings. How important and solemn, how wide- reaching in their influence, are these forty years of the patience of God, of the further probation of Israel ! Israel had hated Jesus ''without cause," and with cruel hands nailed Him to the accursed tree ; yet Jesus on the cross prayed, " Father, for- give them ; for they know not what they do." Israel had committed the great and culminating sin ; they had rejected the Lord of glory, the Son of the Most High, yet God hath not cast away His people. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance, and the everlasting covenant shall yet be made with them, when everlasting joy and glory shall be given unto the children of Abraham. And as a pledge of this ultimate favour, in answer to the prayer of the dying Saviour, and through the preaching of the apostle Peter, three thousand were converted on the day of Pentecost, and many thousands (tens of thou- sands) were added unto the number of disciples. The apostle Peter preached to the men of Israel. He addressed the whole nation, delivering unto them as a nation the message that God had sent 90 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. Jesus unto them first. He called upon them to turn unto the Lord, in order that the fulness of divine blessing might come upon them according to the promise. In the same patriotic spirit as the prophets, with the most tender regard for the national privileges and customs, the apostles ad- dressed themselves unto the nation, preaching the first and second advent of Israel's Messiah and King. The apostle of the Gentiles also came as a Jew to the Jews, as under the law to those who were under the law, and in all his addresses to his people breathes the same fervent national con- sciousness ; he declared the hope of the promise made of God unto the fathers. But, alas ! the nation resisted the counsel of God, and took no heed to the voice of the Holy Ghost, speaking to them with such clearness and love through the apostles. They counted them- selves unworthy of eternal life. God, in the abundance of His love and wisdom, made Israel's unbeHef the occasion of sending the gospel to the Gentiles. Still the period of mercy to Israel was prolonged. The testimony was still sent to them. The doctrine of the Church, as the body, con- sisting of both Jews and Gentiles, was now fully revealed ; the apostle Peter, who opened the door to the Gentiles in the baptism of Cornelius, and the apostle Paul, who was specially led to the uncircumcision ; the Council of Jerusalem, with IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 91 reference to the relation of the Gentiles to the law of Moses ; and finally, the full and explicit teaching of the Pauline Epistles ; — all this unveiled what had been hitherto hid, the intermediate position of the Church, when Israel as a nation was to be set aside. From the very com- mencement, In the parables and warnings of the Saviour, In the experience of Peter and John after Pentecost, In the first persecution of the saints. In the martyrdom of Stephen, In the oppo- sition against the apostle Paul, the dark clouds were gathering, and the wrath to the uttermost was approaching. Meanwhile, It was most difficult for many Jewish Christians to understand the true character of the transition period, and to enter into the spirit of the new era, which in reality had already commenced, though not actually and formally. If It Is difficult at present for the Church to remem- ber that they have not taken the place of Israel, If, as the apostle anticipated, the Church in many ages has become Ignorant of the " mystery," that all Israel shall be saved, that Jesus shall reign as king over His chosen people, when all the bless- ings promised to Abraham and through all the prophets will be fulfilled, can we wonder that the Hebrews could not readily understand the cha- racter of the Church dispensation, while they were still, and with apostolic sanction, observing the law of Moses ? 92 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. We learn from the book of Acts, and this very epistle, how much the believing Jews suffered from their countrymen. Their goods were con- fiscated ; they had to suffer imprisonment ; some were put to death ; they were banished from what was most sacred and precious to them. Israel, as a nation, would not submit to the righteousness of God. They became obdurate in self-conceit, self- righteousness, and formalism. They rested with a false security in their mechanical obedience of legal enactments, and in the possession of the temple services. They were without fear, while the terrible judgment was approaching. Destruction came suddenly, unexpectedly. Even to the last moment the inhabitants of Jerusalem expected divine deliverance. They had not heard the loving voice of Him who said, ''Ye daughters of Jeru- salem, weep not for me ; " they understood not the fearful words which they had uttered, when they cried : ''His blood be upon us, and upon our children." This is, indeed, the tragedy of history. It is most melancholy to notice the enthusiasm, the intense and tenacious trust, which moved them to resist the invincible might of Romie. They could not believe that God would give up His beloved city, and the place of His sanctuary. They hoped and trusted against all hope. But the hour of God's righteous judgment had come. Jerusalem IX.] The Epistle to the Hebi^ews, 93 was destroyed ; their house was left unto them desolate.* Extremely solemn and awful is this catastrophe as the end of centuries of the most marvellous revelations and dealings of divine love, wisdom, and power. God, who revealed His truth by His Spirit to His chosen saints among Jews and Gentiles, has manifested to the whole world His counsel by the solemn judgment which de- scended on Jerusalem. Amid all the vicissitudes and struggles of the covenant-people, the sanc- tuary and the Levitical service continued ; only once it had been interrupted during the Baby- lonian captivity. During the centuries that Israel had to live under the Roman yoke, though no * The character of Roman conquest and rule is most graphically symbolized in the prophetic vision (Dan. ii.) " Strong as iron : for- asmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things." The Greco-Macedonian monarchy was characterized by the presence of poetical and ide^l conceptions ; but in Rome we see an embodiment of force. State policy, and the cold haughtiness of violence and power, must have been very hard to bear. No wonder Tacitus speaks of the hostile hatred (hostile odium) of the Jews against the Romans, who regarded them with great indignation and contempt, because the Jewish God could not be conquered as the other gods. This small nation would not yield to Roman idolatry. In the whole of Asia, as Caligula complained, there was not a single temple, a single city or province of the empire, which had refused to admit his statue, and to honour him as a divinity, except in Judaea. The last struggles of Jerusalem show a most extraordinar)' strength and energy. Never was conflict so unequal, as the Emperor Titus points out to the two captive leaders of the Jews (according to Josephus, whose want of patriotism and Jewish spirit is very melan- choly), when neither the Germans, so renowned for their physical 94 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. Son of David sat upon the throne, the temple stood in glory, and Israel rejoiced in the beauty of its stones and in the splendour of its services. But since the rejection of Jesus, no human power has been able to restore this visible sanctuary and the sacrifices and priestly ordinances. God had spoken to His people by the voice of apostles. At last He spoke by the voice of Judgment. The destruction of the temple and the removal of the whole Levitical dispensation teaches, by actual historical demonstration, truth which the epistles set forth doctrinally. It is an anachronism to speak now of priests in the sense of sacerdotal mediators. It is an anachronism to speak of sym- bolic worship, of ordinances, which are figures and shadows of spiritual realities. The Levitical dis- vigour, nor Britannia, guarded by the ocean, nor Carthage, with all its courage, and with all the skill of its generals, could successfully resist the power of Rome. He did not know of their trust in Jehovah, and in His word, which, notwithstanding their grievous apostacy, and amidst fearful perversions and fanatic zeal, still lodged ill their hearts. Hence their unparalleled sufferings, and the agoniz- ing grief with which the destruction of the beloved city and the temple filled their hearts, could not extinguish the hope of a future resto- ration and glory. Rabbi Akiba was walking with some friends about Jerusalem. They saw nothing but deb?is, and caves of wild beasts. A fox was bounding past them. The friends of Akiba are grieved ; he himself laughs. How can you laugh when unclean animals inhabit the sacred soil ! This is why I laugh ; as sure as the word is fulfilled, uttered by Jeremiah (xxvi. i8): "Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest," that which was spoken of by the prophet Zechariah will also come to pass. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 95 pensation was given only to Israel, and to Israel only, for a certain period of their history. Since the destruction of Jerusalem, Israel is without high priest, without sacrifice, without temple. God Himself has removed the shadow, because the substance is come. God Himself has by severe judgment taken away the earthly, elementary, and fragmentary, that Israel may turn to the heavenly, eternal, and perfect. But unto the Gentiles God nevei^ gave an Aaronic priesthood, an earthly tabernacle, a sym- bolical service. From the very commencement He taught them, as Jesus taught the woman of Samaria, that now all places are alike sacred, that the element in which God is worshipped is spirit and truth, that believers are children who call Zech. viii. 4 : " Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age." The destruction of Jerusalem is not like the fall of Troy, of Babylon, of Carthage. Even while the divine judgment is on Israel, and Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles, the Scripture entrusted to their guardianship, and the gospel which first was preached among them, goes forth among all nations, gaining the affection and prayers of multitudes for their conversion and restoration, while under the special care of God they are preserved until the appointed time of her favour is come, and God shall visit and rebuild her in great mercy. But the 'judgment is yet awaiting Rome, who passed unrighteous sentence against that Just and Holy One, and delivered Him up to be crucified, who destroyed the holy city, and scattered the chosen people, who for many centuries shed the blood of the martyrs, and who is still the centre of the most God-dishonouring perversion of His truth. 96 The Epistle to the Hebrews. chap. upon the Father, that they are a royal priesthood, who through Jesus are brought nigh unto God, who enter into the holy of holies which is above." As the apostle says so frequently to the Hebrews, "We have," we do possess the reality and substance of those things of which the unbelieving Jews boast, so may we say in these days of priestly pre- tension and false views of the Christian ministry and worship. We have, blessed be God, the true sanctuary, the new and consecrated way into the ■^ While the temple stood, Jesus and the apostles honoured the temple. The Lord said unto the leper, " Show thyself unto the priest." He and His apostles went daily into the temple. After His resurrection, and while the gospel was being preached unto Israel, the temple services and ordinances may have been blessed to souls, as images and prophecies of the heavenly realities. But any imitation of the Levitical dispensation in the present day must needs be contrary to God's mind, and obscure the clear revelation in Christ Jesus. The expression "priest," in the sense of lepev%, applied to a Christian minister, can in no wise be defended. The expression "consecration," as applied to buildings, ought also to be given up, and with the expression every remnant of the old leaven, which attaches some kind of " sanctity " to any place. Sacred places there are none now. We never read of the apostolic Christians going to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, or to Golgotha, where He died, or to the garden, where He rose, or to the mount of Olives, where He ascended, or to the temple- chamber, in which the Pentecostal gift was received. " Where two or three are gathered together," there, because, and ivheji they are gathered together in the name of Jesus ; wherever we worship in spirit and truth, there and theti we may say, How dreadful is this place ! This view does not in the least affect the necessity and the desirability of having spacious, suitable, and attractive buildings set apart for the meetings of God's people and the preaching of the gospel. Here is a proper field for Christian liberality and also for architectural skill. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 97 holy of holies, we have access by one Spirit through the blood of Jesus unto the Father. We have the real presence, even Jesus, dwelling in our hearts by faith ; Jesus, where two or three are gathered in His name; Jesus making Himself known in the breaking of bread ; Jesus speaking by the Holy Ghost through the Word read and preached. Where two or three are gathered together in His name, there it is not merely as if He was in the midst of them, but He Himself is with them in truth and reality, in Spirit and in power, in love and in blessing. If any man love Him, the Father and the Son will come and take up their abode with him. Jesus is our Immanuel in the heart, in the assembly, in the world. We have Christ, and in Him we have all. How difficult is it to rise from the spirit of Paganism to the clear and bright atmosphere of the gospel ! How much inclined are men to wel- come everything which does not reveal to them their true condition, and bring them into the very presence of God. Priesthood, vestments, conse- crated buildings, symbols, and observances — all place Christ at a great distance, and cover the true, sinful, and guilty state of the heart which has not been brought nigh by the blood of Christ. Look again at the woman of Samaria. Ignorant, guilty, degraded as she was, Jesus brought her at once into the presence of the living, loving II. H 98 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. Redeemer-God. He revealed unto her the fulness of divine love. He revealed Himself as the giver of the living water. As a free gift He declared to her salvation. The sinner believes, and as a child He is brought by Jesus unto the Father. High above all space, high above all created heavens, before the very throne of God, is the sanctuary in which we worship. Jesus pre- sents us to the Father. We are beloved children, clothed with white robes, the garments of salvation and the robes of righteousness, we are priests unto God. There is one expression in the teaching on wor- ship, which the Lord gave unto the woman of Samaria, which in its simplicity and height ex- ceeds the teaching of our epistle. Jesus said, " The Father seeketh such to worship Him." The doctrine of adoption or sonship is rather implied* than developed in this epistle. In it God is never called our Father, f or the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our epistle rather prepares for the higher and yet simpler view, which presents to us God as our Father in Christ Jesus, and believers as His adopted and beloved children. In this * Heb. ii. 11. t Hebrews xii. 9 is no exception. Only one who fully saw the doctrine of adoption could have written this epistle ; for although from the aim and scope of the epistle it does not move, as it were, in this highest plane, yet is all the teaching harmonious with the full New Testament doctrine. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 99 present dispensation the Father seeketh worship- pers, and it is in childi^eji that He seeketh wor- shippers. Now we understand the full meaning of Christ's blessed and sweet word : After this manner shall ye pray, " Our Father, which art in heaven;" for the Holy Ghost, whom the ascended Saviour hath sent into our hearts, teaches and enables us to cry, in the Spirit of adoption, Abba ! The shadow has vanished ; unto us the true light shineth ; but Israel is still in darkness, and the world without the knowledge of God. But the day is approaching when Israel shall seek the Lord and their King David ; when the idols shall be utterly abolished, and the Lord alone be ex- alted. Meanwhile, let us, who are gathered out of the world, and who invoke the Name of the revealed Lord, worship In Spirit, having no con- fidence In the flesh, but rejoicing in Christ Jesus. LECTURE V. THE FIRST TABERNACLE. Hebrews ix. 1-5. nPHE apostle had shown (vill. 13) that the -^ old covenant was ready to vanish away ; yet he is anxious to show that it was given of God, and for the appointed time full of blessing and in- struction. It also possessed ordinances of divine service ; that is, the divine service connected with it was given of God, instituted and sanctioned as a law among Israel. But the sanctuary was " worldly," that is, visible and tangible, according to this present world, and built with materials belonging to this earthly creation." * The force of dLKaido/xara is, like the Hebrew judgments, ordi- nances, statutes in Deuteronomy. The service \va.s jure diviiio. The antithesis to worldly {KoafiiKov) is heavenly, uncreated, eternal. Thus in the epistle to the Galatians, the apostle, speaking of the legal parenthetical dispensation, says we were then in bondage under the elements of the world ; and in the epistle to the Colos- sians, he contrasts with the rudiments of the world the heavenly position of the believer who has died with Christ, and " is no longer living in the world " (Gal. iv. 2, Col. ii. 20), but seeking the things above. Of the temporary character of the Jewish service, we have ver>' striking indications in the prophets. Thus we read in the prophet Jeremiah (iii. 16) : " And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiphed and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. loi But now we worship in the heavenly sanctuary. By the destruction of the Temple, God declared unto the whole world, in the solemn language of judgment, what He had before revealed by His Spirit to His saints. They knew the mystery of the church : that during the times of the Gentiles, while Israel, on account of unbelief, is set aside as the theocratic and central nation, God gathers to Christ a people from among Jews and Gentiles, who, united in one body by one Spirit, and through the mediation of the High Priest, have access unto the Father. They possess the sub- stance, the body, the fulness of which Israel had shadows, pictures, and manifold and imperfect emblems. Through the death of Christ, and by the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, the new covenant saints have entered into the true worship of sons. Jesus is the perfect mediator ; He per- fectly accomplishes mediation ; He brings us nigh they shall say no more. The ark of the covenant of the Lord : neither shall it come to mind : neither shall they remember it ; neither shall they visit it ; neither shall that be done any more." It was already noticed by ancient Jews, that the sacrifices, described by Ezekiel in connection with the new temple in Jerusalem, are different from those ordained by Moses. The cleansing of the sanctuary at the commencement of the year, is substituted for the atonement at the end of seven months. " The defective and im- perfect form of the old law gives place to a higher and more com- plete order." — Hdvernick. Everything is simplified ; the passover and the feast of tabernacles are the two characteristic festivals of the new condition ; redemption and the rest and enjoyment of harvest. I02 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. unto God by His Blood, He brings God nigh unto us by His Spirit. There is no room in the Church-dispensation for anything Hke the Levitical priesthood and sym- boHsm. We who beheve in Jesus, who honour the adorable Lord as the one Mediator between God and man, regard with profound sorrow, dismay, and abhorrence the antlchrlstian attempt to introduce priestly mediation between Christ and His people. Christ is the only Prophet, and of Him, and none else, the Father says to us, " Hear ye Him." Christ Is the only High Priest ; and because He is on the throne of God, we are to come boldly, even out of the depth of our sin and weakness ; we ascend above angels and prin- cipalities Into the highest heaven, and find there help in time of need. Jesus Is King, and has all power In heaven and on earth ; and by the Holy Ghost He energises in every saint who cleaves to Him. It is true, that In the old dispensation there were symbols. They were not man-Invented, but God-given, they descended from heaven ; they derived their authority from God ; they origin- ated in the divine mind ; they were framed by Him, who seeth the end from the beginning, and who In the most elementary and partial revelation has regard to the harmony and organic unity of the whole. Again, these symbols were to teach, to signify, to Illustrate spiritual truths. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 103 The divine word, the teaching of the prophets, and the very instinct of the godly, continually pointed away from the symbol to the reality, to the heavenly sanctuary, to the worship of the broken and the contrite heart. And last of all, they were known to be temporary, the star and moonlight to guide and cheer the faithful who waited for the sunrise, the promised redemp- tion. What has Israel's symbolism — God-given, inspired, spiritual, heart-searching, and Christ-un- folding— to do with the inventions and institutions of men, substituted for the Word of God, and placed, not to illustrate, but to obscure the truth as it is in Jesus ? Has the Church of Rome been, like the law, a schoolmaster to lead men unto Christ, to deepen the knowledge of sin, to exalt the holiness of God, to magnify His boundless grace, to point to the Lamb of God, and to the one perfect and all-sufficient Sacrifice ? What a marvellous confusion of Jewish, Pagan, and Christian elements do we see here ! Jewish things which have waxed old, and vanished away ; preparatory and imperfect elements which the apostle does not scruple to call beggarly now that the fulness has come — revived without divine authority, and changed and perverted to suit cir- cumstances for which they were never intended. Pagan things, appealing to the deep-seated and time-confirmed love of idolatry, and of sensuous 104 T^^^ Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap! and mere outward performances ; the Babylonian worship of the Queen of Heaven ; the interces- sion of saints and angels, the mechanical repetition of formulas, the superstitious regard of places, seasons, and relics. Burled among these elements are some relics of Christian truth, without which this ingenious fabric could not have existed so long, and Influenced so many minds — a truth which in the merciful condescension of God Is blessed to sustain the life of His chosen ones in the mystical Babylon. This so-called Church, vast and imposing, opens its door wide, except to those who honour the Scriptures, and who magnify the Lord Jesus. It can forgive sins, and grant pardons and indulgences, extending the astounding assumption of jurisdiction even beyond the grave ; yet it cannot bring peace to the wounded conscience, and renewal to the aching heart, because It never fully and simply declares the efficacy of the blood of Jesus, by which we obtain perfect remission, and the power of the Holy Ghost, who joins us to Christ. This com munity speaks of sacrifice, of altars, of priest- hood, and stands between the people and the sanctuary above, the only High Priest, who by His sacrifice has entered for us into the holy of holies. And In our day this great apostasy has reached a point which we would fain regard as its culminating point, when it places the Virgin Mary IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 105 by the side of the Lord Jesus as sinless and pure, and when it arrogates for man infahible authority over the heritage of God. But I have referred to this great perversion of truth, to this apostasy, which exerts such a potent fascination, in order to remind you by contrast of the sImpHcity of the Gospel.* They who believe in Jesus are, a royal priest- hood, a chosen generation, the people who are God's peculiar portion ; all whom Jesus loves, and whom He has washed from their sins in His own blood, are made by Him kings and priests unto God and His Father. So we are taught by the apostles Peter and John.f And in our epistle we are reminded of the heavenly calling and the spiritual worship of all believers who consider with believing and simple hearts the great Apostle and High Priest of their profession. God prepared the present dispensation of reality and substance by one of types and shadows. Among the high and august privileges of Israel * The true character of the Church of Rome was well described by Martin Luther in these forcible words : " The Church of Rome is built not upon the rock of the divine word, but on the sand of human reasoning." It is a rationalistic church. The only method to fortify young minds against Rome's fascinating errors, is to instruct them fully in the truths of God's word. The blood of atonement and the indwelling Spirit are the two great and precious gifts by which we obtain perfect peace, and knowing these two truths we shall not look for an outward infallible authority. t I Pet. ii. 5-9 ; Rev. i. 5, 6. io6 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. which the apostle Paul enumerates In his epistle to the Romans, and which culminate In the trans- cendent fact, which is also their root, " Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who Is God over all," he mentions also the service, includ- ing in this expression all the divine institutions concerning worship which were given unto the people through Moses. The people whom God, had chosen and redeemed were separated to be a holy nation, to draw near unto Jehovah, and to worship Him. This was the great purpose of election and redemption. Hence the God- appointed service is as important as '' the adop- tion, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law." The word service Is apt to convey an erroneous Impression, because In the nominal church the character of spiritual worship has been so frequently and during protracted periods misunderstood. The service which God appointed In Israel must not be compared with ritual Imposed by human authority, and arranged according to man's Ingenuity or aesthetic feeling. In the tabernacle, which Moses built according to the pattern of heavenly things, shown unto him of God, everything, down to the minutest detail of number and colour, was of divine authority, and full of meaning. The Holy Ghost Himself teaches here by signs. When the apostle, after enumerating the vessels of the sanctuary, adds IX.] The Epistle to the Hebreivs. 107 that he cannot now speak of them particularly,'^ he thereby establishes, or rather confirms, the truth, well known to the Hebrews, that every- thing in the tabernacle was of divine appoint- ment, and was symbolic of spiritual realities. If we understand the nature of worship, we also see that the method of worship must be given and appointed of God. Man neither knows whom or how to worship. Even the chosen and redeemed people need to be taught how to wor- ship ; and herein is only a fuller revelation of the character of God Himself. Genesis is the funda- mental book, the book of election ; Exodus is the book of redemption ; Leviticus the book of wor- ship. The inference which the Puritan Divines drew from the second commandment — *' Thou shalt not make to thyself any image ;" viz., that it prohibited all methods and ceremonies in the worship of God invented and appointed by man, was not merely perfectly correct, but touched the very vital and sensitive point to which the super- stition of centuries had become dead and obtuse. * This expression plainly indicates, that although the apostle hastens to the consideration of the most important and central truth of which he is treating here, he could enter into a minute exposition of the various parts of the tabernacle. Hence the endeavour to find the typical meaning of those portions of the tabernacle which are not explained in the New Testament is per- fectly legitimate, even as there are many more types and Messianic passages than those referred to and expounded by evangelists and apostles. io8 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. God taught Israel worship. The fulfilment of the types is in Christ ; and now there is no other worship but worship of the forgiven and renewed believers, who through the great High Priest are before God, and know and love Him as Father. Let us consider now the earthly tabernacle, as we are here reminded of it. The saints of old, whose souls thirsted for the living God, who could find no happiness and rest in the things of time and sense, whose hearts could not be filled with mere form, found in the ordinances of God's house their greatest delight. *' How amiable are thy tabernacles. Lord God of hosts ! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord : my heart and my fiesh crieth out for the living God." And in still stronger words : '' One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple." And we, who live in the bright light of the gospel, shall also find it good to be here, and to contemplate the divinely- appointed images of the spiritual blessings in heavenly places. " The Holy Ghost explains to us in the New Testament the highest mys- teries of eternal redemption by words which are taken from these types, and says to us, ' Know the Lord,' by unfolding to us the Person, the Sacrifice, the High Priesthood of Christ, pre- IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 109 figured more profoundly and completely by the types than in the prophecies, properly so called." * *' Types were institutions intended to deepen, expand, and ennoble the circle of thoughts and desires, and thus heighten the moral and spiritual wants, as well as the intelligence and suscepti- bility of the chosen people." f Tyndal says : " These similitudes open Christ, and the secrets of God hid in Christ, and have more virtue and power with them than bare words, and lead a man's understanding further into the pith and marrow and spiritual understanding of the thing than all the words that can be imagined." The apostle does not give a full description of the tabernacle. He makes no mention of the outer court, of the brazen altar, of the golden altar of incense, and other important parts. He hastens to point out that the way into the holiest was not then made manifest. His object is not to explain the meaning of the tabernacle, but to show how the tabernacle itself pointed beyond the earthly and temporary symbol. God reveals Himself unto Israel as holy. Holi- ness, according to the Old Testament, is not so much one of the divine attributes, such as good- ness, power, grace ; but rather means the unity of * Stier. t From Dr. A. Bonar's excellect introduction on the nature of the book, Co7n)?ie?it. oti Leviticus. no The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. all divine attributes, the very nature of God in His covenant relation to Israel. We bless His holy name, and mean thereby His forgiving grace, His healing mercy, His renewing power, His faith- fulness and loving-kindness.* All His mighty wonders, and all the marvels of His guidance and rule, are to show forth His holiness. As in the new covenant we say God is love, so the Israelites said God is holy. Because God is holy, His people, whom He has chosen, are by this very fact holy. There is no other holiness but that which is rooted in divine election. But this people, chosen and redeemed, called holy, is in its actual condition ignorant, guilty, and polluted ; in reality it is distant from God, and therefore God brings them nigh unto Himself. For this purpose the priesthood is chosen and the tabernacle is built. God dwells in heaven, and therefore heaven is holy. The expression, God dwells in heaven, was well understood by Israel to refer to the manifes- tation of His glory, and not to any local limitation of His infinite and incomprehensible Majesty. The heaven of heavens, they acknowledged, can- not contain Him, yet is the throne of God in heaven ; there His glory is beheld, and His presence adored. Now as there is in heaven the * Psalm ciii. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 1 1 1 holy of holies, where God Himself is, and the heavens the holy place where God's angels are ; so in the earthly tabernacle the holy of holies and the holy place are the two places where the presence, the glory, and the gracious blessing of the covenant God are vouchsafed to Israel. God condescends to reveal Himself there, and to give the blessings of His forgiving and sanctifying grace. In the holy of holies was no light. " The Lord said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.'""* We read that clouds and darkness are about God, and yet we know that He is light, and covereth Himself with light as with a garment. But the light in which God dwelleth is dark by excess of brightness. No man can approach unto it. No man hath seen God at any time. "Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself," is the exclamation of even His worshippers, who know Him as the Holy One of Israel. Yet this God, who is infinite and incomprehensible, dwelling in light and glory ineffable, is the Holy God, whose love delights to draw His chosen people unto Himself, and to enrich them with the inexhaustible riches of His grace. From the throne of God shines forth the revelation of God. He who is the brightness of God's glory, the image of the invisible God, is sent forth, and we behold light in God's light. As God, who is light, * I Kings viii. 12. 1 1 2 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. said on the first day, ''Let there be light : and there was Hght," so He hath given us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. How peaceful and gentle is this light. They that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death can bear and welcome it ; it is the tender mercy of God, whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us. Yet how perfect and infinite is this light. For he that hath seen Jesus hath seen the Father. Christ is the brightness of the Father's glory; not in that He is less glorious than the Father, less unsearchable and inexhaus- tible, for no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, but that men can behold the glory of the Only- begotten ; for the Word was made flesh, and tabernacled with us. Of this light the candlestick, which stood in the holy place, was the significant emblem. Here we behold Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, the light of the world ; the Lord, upon whom was the Spirit of the Lord, anointing Him, to declare salvation unto the broken-hearted ; the Messiah, who came in the sevenfold plenitude of the Holy Ghost, and who was continually revealing the Father. The light of the holy of holies, which was unapproachable, the glory of the Most High, was beheld when Jesus lived on earth, when He, who was in the bosom of the Father, came to reveal Him. But as He manifested the Father, IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 1 1 3 so He also revealed the perfection of humanity ; He was filled with the Spirit, and always walked in the Spirit. It is as Immanuel that He is the candlestick. He came to be a mediator, to reveal God, and to bring the light of God in our hearts. He is the light of the world in such a way, that sinful men, becoming one with Him, are also the light of the world. He is able to say unto His disciples : '' Let your light so shine before men ! " Our light, and yet His light, even as the branches have life, but no other life than that which the True Vine gives them. Hence in the book of Revelation we behold seven golden candlesticks, the seven churches. Christ the Lord walks in the midst of them ; nay, He is the light within them. And although in that which is spiritual every part forms a complete and individual whole, yet are the seven one ; even as every believer may be viewed as a temple, yet is there only one temple, one spiritual house, even Christ's, who is one with all His saints. Wonderful light, so clear and simple that little children behold it, and rejoice ; so peaceful and consoling that they who cry out of the depths salute it as the dawn of sweetest hope ; so perfect and infinite that the more we contemplate it the more we desire "to know Him," and long for the day when He shall appear, and we shall know even as we are known ; so high above us and so II. I 114 ^^^^ Epistle to the Hebi^ews. tchap. deep within us, even In the very central seat of vision, transfiguring and transforming us, nay, shining out of us Into the dark world of sin and misery. '' I will dwell In the thick darkness," salth God ; for He Is God, and through all the ages all His angels and saints shall worship Him, vailing their faces and adoring His awful majesty ; but He Is the Holy One who delights In mercy, in giving, In shining forth Into our hearts. In filling heaven and earth with His glory. In Jesus Christ we have and are light. Oh that the waves of light out of the heavenly sanctuary would descend con- tinually Into our souls with sanctifying, gladdening, and transforming power ! But In the holy place stood also the table and the shew-bread. Jesus Christ Is the light of life. Life and light ; these mysterious highest blessings are inseparably connected. In Christ, as the eternal uncreated Word, was life, and the life Is the light of men.* The Word Is only another name for light ; It Is the manifestation, the ex- pression of that which is hidden. We behold, we hear God In the Son of His love. The Lord brings to us both life and light. There can be no spiritual light proceeding from God without life. To know Him and Jesus Christ is life eternal. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And there is no spiritual * John i. 3. IX.'] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 1 1 5 life without light. With God is the fountain of life, and in His light do we see light. Bread is the symbol of life. Bread is the peculiar food of humanity. It grows out of the earth, and is the result of human labour and diligence. It is of all nourishment the most important, essential, and precious. When we combine the symbolism of earthly bread with the symbolism of the manna which God sent to the Jews in the desert, we are prepared to understand the deep teaching of our Lord who presents Him- self as the living Bread, the Bread that comes down from heaven, the Bread of life. He is the Son heaven-given, the Child earth-born, the Life and the Giver of life ; and through His death on the cross He became bread for all poor sinners, whose faith in Him can be so fitly compared with eating, satisfying their hunger after righteousness, and in their emptiness grasping and rejoicing in the fulness of God's redemption. The shew-bread, or bread of presence, set before God was a type of Jesus, as the delight of His heavenly Father, who was always well pleased in Him, and satisfied with His love and obedience. The number twelve shows that for each tribe which the High Priest bore on His breast-plate, there was bread and abundance ; for Jesus came that we might have life, and that abundantly. The priests, even all Christians, feed now on the true 1 1 6 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. bread in the presence of God. And as in the candlestick we behold in the first place Christ, the true light ; and in the second place Christ in the Church, the light of the world ; so may we also behold in the twelve loaves a reference to Christ in His people. Jesus was the corn of wheat that died. Jesus was the sheaf of the first-fruits, which, on the morrow after the Sabbath, on the first day of the week, was waved before the Lord ; and fifty days after His resurrection the Holy Ghost descended, and the disciples were filled with the Spirit. Then was the Church born, then the two loaves of fine flour were presented unto the Lord ; for we are the first-fruits of His creatures. And thus we read also that Jesus, entering the heart, sups with us and we with Him. The apostle does not mention the golden altar of incense symbolizing the intercession of our adorable Lord, and the presentation of our peti- tions by Him unto the Father. The candlestick, the table, and the golden altar — light, life, and acceptable worship, are inseparably connected. Christ Jesus, God and man, is the true Light, the true, substantial, living, and life-giving Bread, the true Intercessor. Yet so perfect is His mystical union with His believing people, according to the love of the Father, and by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, that we also are seven golden candle- sticks, children of light, and light-bearers ; that we IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 1 1 7 also are an acceptable offering unto the Lord ; and that the prayers of saints ascend as incense unto the heavenly throne. To us it is given to understand the full meaning of these divine symbols, to behold in the one Lord Jesus Christ the manifold wisdom of God, to re- ceive in the one unspeakable gift all the gifts of eternal blessedness. The brightness of gospel light brings us to the simplicity which is in Christ Jesus. Knowing Him, who is all, we contemplate with delight each single type, that so we may grow in adoring knowledge, and be increasingly established in the comforting and sanctifying truth. Let us, then, look also with reverence into the most holy, which was separated by a veil, itself a type, from the first tabernacle. The apostle enumerates seven things as be- longing to it — types of seven divine and heavenly realities : (i) The golden censer; (2) The ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold ; (3) The golden pot that had manna ; (4) Aaron's rod that budded ; (5) The tables of the covenant ; (6) The cherubims of glory ; (7) The mercy-seat."^ The apostle does not explain the meaning of these things, but he simply refers to them. His wish therefore is merely to remind us of the manifold symbols by which the solemn realities of the ■* In the sanctuary we noticed three things, in the most holy- seven. T 1 8 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. heavenly sanctuary were signified by the Holy Ghost. 1. In the book of Exodus (xxx. 34-38) we read a full description of the Incense, which was regarded as most holy. The golden censer con- taining It brings before us the Intercession of our Lord at the right hand of God ; this Is the only perfect prevailing mediation, fragrant and delightful unto the Father, whereby all our sin-defiled and imperfect petitions, praises, and gifts are well- pleasing unto the Most High. 2. The ark of the covenant, sometimes called simply the ark, or the ark of testimony ; or In the last passage where it occurs, " The holy ark," with (3) The golden pot that had manna ; (4) Aaron's rod that budded ; and (5) The tables of the covenant. The ark was a symbol that God was present among His people, that His covenant blessing was resting upon them. It was the most sacred and glorious instrument of the sanctuary ; yea, the whole sanctuary was built for no other end, but to be as it were a house and habitation for the ark.* Hence sanctificatlon proceeded unto all the other parts of It ; for, as Solomon observed, the places were holy whereunto the ark of God came.t The nations took it to be the Gods that the Israelites worshipped. | "God gave this * Exod. xxvi. 33. t 2 Chron. viii. ii. J i Sam. iv. 8. IX.1 The Epistle to the Hebi^ews. 1 1 9 ark that it might be a representation of Christ, and He took it away to increase the desire and expectation of the Church after Him and for Him. And as it was the glory of God to hide and cover the mysterious counsels of His will under the Old Testament, whence this ark was so hidden from the eyes of all men, so under the New Testament, it is His glory to reveal and make them open in Jesus Christ."'-' It contained originally (and the apostle is not here giving an account of the actual condition of the temple, but of the original and perfect design) the manna, or the symbol of the heaven -descended, real, spiritual, and therefore hidden bread, f which they who overcome shall know and taste perfectly in the Paradise of God. It contained also the rod of Aaron that budded, whereby God confirmed the election of Aaron and his sons to be priests unto Him. This is a beautiful and striking type of Him who is Priest according to the power of an endless life, of Him who was dead, and, behold. He liveth for ever- more, of the Rod out of the stem of Jesse, of the Man whose name is the Branch, and who shall be a Priest upon His throne.]: It contained also the tables of the covenant, in which God had written His holy law. These tables testified against Israel's sin and hardness of heart. And at first * 2 Cor. iii. 1 8.— Owen. t Rev. ii. X Isaiah xi. i ; Zecli. iii. 8 ; vi. 12, 13. I20 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap; slo^ht it seems strangfe and alarminof that in the ark of merciful covenant-presence, besides the manna and the symbol of resurrection-life and unfading youth, we should behold the accusing and con- demning witness of the broken law. But the law which condemns us is and ever remains holy, just, and good ; and the God who justifies us is none other than the just God. Not merely is the pro- pitiation, the covering and atoning blood, sprinkled upon the mercy-seat, but the law of God was magnified and fulfilled by Christ ; as is written in the psalm, '' Thy law is within my heart."* Our Advocate with the Father is Jesus Christ the righteous. Then there were the cherubim of glory. There is no reason why we should view the cherubim as mere personifications either of divine powers or the Church. We read of them as of other celestial beings, as of the seraphim who stand before God's throne, and as of the angels or messengers whom God sends forth to do His commandments, and to minister unto the heirs of salvation. We read of them as guarding the entrance into the garden of Eden after man's fall. Afterwards in the Psalms, as the chariot of the Lord, and in the visions of Ezekiel, they appear as the representatives of creation and the medi- ators and agents of divine life-power in the world.f * Psalm xl. 8. f Ps. xviii. lo ; Ezek. i. 4, etc. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 121 In the book of Revelation also we read of them as the living beings. We may In a general way call them angels, as the apostle Peter does with evident reference to the mercy-seat. These high angelic creatures — thus mysteriously connected with the divine world-rule — behold with eager and adoring desire the glory of God In Christ Jesus, God in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, the eternal counsel of divine love fulfilled in the redemption through the blood of the Lamb. Thus the apostle teaches us, that by the church the manifold wisdom of God Is shown unto the princi- palities and powers in heavenly places. And In harmony with this sublime truth is the song of the heavenly host on Bethlehem's plains, " Glory to God in the highest," and the majestic ascription of praise to the Lamb, which the myriads of angels offer in the vision of the apostle John, and to which the four living beings respond, Amen. And what shall we say of the mercy -seat ? Even in the holy of holies, when we have con- templated so many symbols of the most solemn character, we pause in reverential silence as we are brought to this highest manifestation of the divine presence of holiness and love. Here we behold the propitiation through faith in the blood of the Son of God ; the atonement which, while it covers our sins, manifests the glory of God, and reveals to us and to all angels the depths of divine 122 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [ix. wisdom, grace, truth, the marvellous union of all His glorious perfections : God is love. Have we come to the blood-besprinkled mercy- seat ? What other position can we take than either remain outside, far from God and strangers to His love, or enter by faith, now that the veil is rent, into the holy of holies ? If it is true that Jesus is the way, and that no man cometh to the Father, but by Him, can we approach, can we pray, can we adore in any other way than in and by Jesus ? in any other place than in the heavenly sanctuary ? We cannot go back by the works of the law into the garden of Eden. The cherub with the flaming sword guards the entrance. But even the cherubim will adore with children of Eve, guilty and fallen, when in repentance and trust we look unto the Lord our righteousness, the Lamb in the midst of the throne! A bond of more thrilling tenderness binds Jesus to us sinful men than to the angels. LECTURE VI. CHRIST ENTERED IN BY HIS OWN BLOOD. Hebrews ix. 7-14. nPHE apostle, having briefly referred to the •*■ glory of the first tabernacle, contrasts now the entrance of the high priest into the holy of holies on the day of atonement and the typical sacrifice, which sanctified to the purifying of the flesh with the entrance of our Lord Into heaven Itself by His own blood, and the real and spiritual purification connected with Christ's one oblation. The type was necessarily Imperfect ; the fulfilment Is per- fect. The former consisted of many parts. There is a multiplicity of sacrifices, and yet, even when combined, there is still imperfection. The latter possesses a marvellous simplicity, for Christ Is the one sacrifice, by whom all the purposes of God, as to our redemption, and sanctlficatlon, and future glory, are fulfilled. In the type, the purifica- tion was legal, ceremonial, provisional — It admitted the worshipper to the services of the worldly sanc- tuary ; in the fulfilment, the conscience is purged, 124 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. and we have access, continuous and for ever, unto the throne of God. In the type, the very sanctuary itself required to be cleansed by expiatory sprink- lings, the sins of priests and worshippers in their relationship to the sanctuary needed atonement, and through this purification the continuance of typical sacrificial communion with God was secured ; in the fulfilment, through the blood of Christ, heaven itself is the sanctuary in which we worship, and as Christ is there for ever, our acceptance and worship know no interruption or cessation. Thus the type itself, witnessing throughout of its imper- fection, points to the glorious fulfilment. The way into the holiest, access to the very presence of God, was not yet made manifest. While the priests went always into the holy place, accomplishing the service of God, kindling the lamps, laying shew-bread every Sabbath-day upon the table, and offering incense on the golden altar, they were not allowed to enter into the holy of holies. Even the high priest could not enter, except once a year, on the day of atonement — that solemn and awful day, on which, divested of his golden and glorious robes, without the mitre, the embroidered vest, and the breast-plates, he entered in the garments of humility, offering for himself and for the errors of the people. Even on that day the high priest's entrance into the holy of holies was imperfect ; for he was by no means to IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 1 2 5 see clearly the ark of the covenant with the mercy- seat ; the cloud of incense was to be a covering, lest he die." But now Christ is come, and now begins the dispensation, not again of the first tent, or of the holy place, but of that symbolized by the Most Holy — of the heavenly sanctuary itself — of the worship in Spirit and in truth — of entrance into the holy of holies, where the great High Priest is enthroned at the right hand of the Father. What a contrast to the Levitical dispensation ! Even in the first tent, or part of the tabernacle, the relation of the people with God was through the priesthood. The sacrifice, by which alone access could be given to sinful men, according to divine holiness, had not yet been offered ; hence the conscience of the worshipper was not perfect, * This then was perfectly evident, that the Jewish dispensation was characterized by the holy place, and that access into the "most holy" was as yet not revealed and given to the chosen people. The whole structure of the tabernacle, and the whole arrangement of services, made this clear to every single-hearted and conscientious Israelite. He must have known, and was con- tinually reminded, that the most holy place with the mercy-seat was hid in deepest mystery; that it was as yet veiled and inac- cessible ; that the blood of goats and calves could not really take away sins ; and that the imperfection of these sacrifices was mani- fest both because they had to be repeated, and because the veil remained, which separated even the priests from the mercy-seat. The God-fearing Israelite must have felt that meats and drinks, and divers washings and carnal ordinances, were only figurative, preparatory — an intermediate education as well as promise and pledge of the times of reformation, of fulfilment and substance. 126 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. and his service was not in liberty. But now, through the death of Christ, beHevers are brought from the first tabernacle and priestly mediation into the true archetype of the earthly holy of holies, into the heavenly sanctuary itself, having the conscience perfect according to divine right- eousness, and in the spirit of liberty, in the know- ledge of the infinite love of God. Hence, there is a real and great difference between believers in the new covenant dispen- sation and in the old. It is true that there was at all times only one way of salvation, only one right- eousness through faith in the divinely-appointed Substitute provided by God for guilty sinners. But the difference between the condition of believers before the death of Christ and those after is indi- cated fully in this and the succeeding chapter, in harmony with the whole Pauline teaching.* The law made nothing perfect. But, as the apostle triumphantly continues, Messiah is come, the high priest of good things to come ; that is, of eternal blessings which shall be fully revealed and bestowed in the ages to come, but the substance of which is ours already, even spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. He Himself is the true tabernacle. Conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, He is called from His very infancy that holy Thing * Rom. iii. 25. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 127 or Sanctuary. This Body the Father prepared ; He built it by the Holy Ghost to be the tabernacle of divine glory. The Word was made flesh, taber- nacled with us, and we beheld the Son's glory. He was the Light of the world, the golden can- dlestick ; He was the Bread of the countenance, and from His pure humanity, as well as His filial divinity (inseparably united), ascended the true incense unto God, even as afterwards He inter- cedes in the holy of holies. But while on earth Jesus is only the Holy Place; not yet has He entered into the very presence of God, into heaven itself. Before He can ascend to His God and our God, to His Father and our Father, He must die ; His flesh is the veil, and the veil must be rent. True, His flesh also is without sin. Blessed be God, in Him was nothing but Spirit and life. He came in the weakness and in the likeness of sinful flesh, for thus it was necessary in order to bring us unto God. He learned obedience. He submitted His human will to the Father's, and in all His walk, trial, and suffering He was holy, harmless, and undefiled. But, as the apostle explains it, because man was without righteousness, inasmuch as the law could not be fulfilled in us, through the sinful weakness of the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and by a sacrifice for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. When Jesus died on the cross, 128 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. then God condemned sin. When the body of Christ was broken, then God judged sin — executed sentence on it — and in the true and real sense destroyed it for evermore. Notice how careful the apostle is to remind us in this very passage of Christ's divinity.* Who is this man on the cross in the weakness of sinful flesh ? Who is this man in whose sacrifice of Himself God the Judge condemns sin ? He is God's own Son, eternal, infinite, all-glorious. Wonderful veil rent by God Himself! But now is Christ no longer the Holy Place, but the Most Holy, the Holy of Holies. See Him on the right hand of God ; see now the throne of God a throne of grace; with His own blood He entered, and the manifestation of God between the cheru- bim is now God reconciled to us in Christ Jesus, our Father and covenant God. Jesus, who glori- fied the law, manifesting it in His person and life, and fulfilling and exhausting both its precepts and its curse, is the ark wherein the tables of the law were hid ; He Himself is the mercy-seat, the propitiation, revealing the holy love of God with such brightness and perfection that angels desire to look into this mystery. He has the hidden manna by which He sustains our inner life on earth, and shall communicate to us in eternity renewed strength ; and He is the rod, which, * Rom. viii. 3. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 129 though cut off and given over unto death, budded forth in resurrection-power, and is Hving for ever- more; thus proving Him to be the true Priest after the power of an indissoluble life. The veil is rent ; Christ died on the cross ; we see the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. The darkness is past ; no cloud of in- cense conceals the mystery ; Christ has no veil on His face when for us He appears in the presence of God ; and we also with open face behold the Father. The whole throne of God is irradiated now by the sweet and peaceful light of mercy, for the Lamb who found an eternal redemption is at the right hand of God. The Father Himself loveth us ; God the just and holy One hath accepted us in the Beloved. Here is what no symbol could prefigure. ' Jesus, both Sacrifice and Priest, has fulfilled Aaronic types, and reigns after the order of Melchisedec, while presenting us continually unto the Father, is always sympathizing with us in our infirmities and temptations, and supplying all needful strength unto us in our earthly pilgrim- age and conflict. But let us reverently consider the way by which Jesus entered, and the position which is thereby given unto all believers of God. We notice two expressions. He entered in once by His own II. K 130 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us, and, the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unto God. Not without awe and trembling, and yet with deep and solemn joy, ought a Christian to speak of the precious blood of Christ. Here is the very heart, the inmost sanctuary of our faith. Marvel not, brethren, that this doctrine is at all times, both to wise Greeks and self-righteous Jews, the stumbling-block and the rock of offence. But where man's reason can see no wisdom, where the unrenewed mind doubts, cavils, and mocks, the saints of God adore, and expect to adore for ever. Here is indeed the centre of all divine revela- tions. With increasing clearness this mystery shines through the whole Scripture. Do we not see it in the better sacrifice of Abel ? Do we not behold it on the door-posts of Israel, on the memorable night of the passover ? Does it not meet us on every page of Leviticus ? Do we not hear it in the solemn and emphatic declaration : " Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin ? " Does it not shine forth in all the ordi- nances of the tabernacle ? Can we not discover it in the words of Isaiah, when he speaks of Messiah pouring out His life ? and in the words of Zecha- riah, "They shall look unto me, whom they pierced"? Jesus the Lord declared "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 131 blood, ye have no life In you ; " and on the last evening said, " This is the new testament in my blood ; this is my blood, shed for the remission of sins." In like manner all the apostolic epistles assign peculiar importance as to the death of the Lord, so especially to the shedding of His pre- cious blood ; and in the culminating book of Scripture, the Apocalypse, the doctrine is asserted with peculiar solemnity. The beloved disciple ascribes glory and honour unto Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us a kingdom of priests unto God and His Father; and all the heavenly doxologies, the voice of celestial angels and saints, ascribe redemption to the blood of Christ ; to the blood they ascribe the righteousness of the saints, as well as their triumph over sin and evil. On no subject is the apostolic teaching so emphatic, so lucid, so abundant. This truth filled their hearts, and was their central thought. By the blood of Christ we who were far off were made nigh ; by His blood we are justified ; Christ suffered that He might sanctify us by His blood; we possess (and that for ever) redemption through His blood ; His blood cleanseth us from all sin, and the Church has been purchased with this precious price.* * Eph. ii. 13 ; Rom. v. 9 ; Heb. xiii. 12 ; Eph. i. 7 ; i John i. 7 ; Acts XX. 28 ; Rev. i. 5 ; v. 9, etc. 132 The Epistle to the Hebi^ews. [chap. As the types teach us, the great object of the death of Christ was, that His blood might be shed. By His own blood He entered into the holy place. And as in no single sacrifice could be adequately represented the power and efficacy of His precious blood, the apostle mentions here, not merely the blood of bulls and of goats, but also the ashes of an heifer. By the former the high priest, the priests, and the people were ceremonially purified, their iniquities and transgressions being removed, and the sanctuary cleansed for continued worship. By the other was symbolised the cleansing and vivifying power of Christ's blood, keeping us during our pilgrimage in this wilderness of sin and defilement.'" But while these types could "^ The ashes of an heifer. It was to take away the defilement of death. The institution is recorded in the book of Numbers as relating to the provision God makes for His people in their wilder- ness journey. As no blood of the slain victim was " incorruptible," it was necessary, in order to show the cleansing by blood from defilement through contact with death, to have as it were the essential principle of blood presented in a permanent and avail- able form. The red heifer, which had never been under the yoke, symbolises life in its most vigorous, perfect, and fruitful form. She was slain without the camp. (Heb. xiii. 11 ; Num. xix. 3, 4.) She was wholly burnt, flesh, skin, and blood, the priest casting cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet into the fire. The ashes of the burnt heifer, put into flowing water, were then sprinkled with hyssop for ceremonial purification. It is also important to notice that it was not Aaron or the high priest himself to whom the red heifer was given, but to his son or successor. The high priest was to be separate from death. Here also we see the imperfection of the type. Our victim is the Lord of life, who by the eternal Spirit offered Him- IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 133 not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience, but were given in the mercy of God for an intermediate period, and to bring in a better hope, the blood of Christ, by which He entered into the holy of holies, brings unto us eternal redemption and heavenly perfec- tion. Here the sanctification (dyta^a v. 13) is real. We are separated from God the Holy One by sin, from God the living One by death. In order to bring us into communion with God, and to purge our consciences, we have to be delivered both from the guilt of sin and the defilement and self and rose in the power of an endless life. Christ is the fulfilment. For the blood of Christ is not merely, so to speak, the key unlock- ing the holy of holies to Him as our High Priest and Redeemer, it is not merely our ransom by which we are delivered out of bondage, and, freed from the curse, are brought nigh unto God ; but it also separates us from death and sin. It is incorruptible, always cleans- ing and vivifying ; through this blood we are separated from this evil world, and overcome ; by this blood we keep our garments white. (John vi. 53; Rev. vii. 14.) What had necessarily to be separated in the types, is here in unity and perfection. Likewise, what really and potentially is given to us when we are first brought into the state of reconciliation and access, of justification and sanc- tification, is in our actual experience continually repeated. We have been cleansed and sanctified once and for ever ; the same blood, remembered and believed in, cleanseth us continually. The difference between this continuous cleansing and the first (according to John xiii.) must never be forgotten, or we fall into a legal condition, going back from the holy of holies into the holy place. But, on the other hand, we must not forget the living character of the blood, which by the Spirit is continually applied to us, and by which we have peace, renewal of the sense of pardon, and strength for service, (i Peter i. 2.) 134 T^^^^ Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. power of death. Now of the types which purified unto the (typical) service, the blood of Jesus is the antitype. By the blood of Christ we are brought into the presence of the holy and living God. This is our sanctification, in which we are separated and cleansed unto the worship and ser- vice of God. We are separated from the world of sin and death, from dead works ; by which we must understand everything which is not the manifestation of a divinely- given and wrought life ; because nothing is fit to be brought before and unto the living God unless it be living, or spiritual, or proceeding from communion with the living One. But if we ask. Why is this blood so precious, so efficacious, so all - prevailing ? the answer is, Not merely because it is innocent, pure, and sin- less, the life of a perfect and holy Man laid down voluntarily, the blood of One who had perfectly fulfilled the law of God, but because Jesus through the eternal Spirit offered Him.self ; that is, Jesus who died was God, eternal, infinite, and according to the eternal counsel of the triune Godhead He laid down His life. To Him the Father had given to have life in Himself. He is the Lord of glory — Spirit.* The Scriptures always remind us of the Godhead when they speak of the death of Jesus. The Son of God loved me, and gave * I Cor. ii. 8 ; 2 Cor. iii. 17. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 135 Himself for me. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. God purchased the Church with His own blood.. He, who died, is the Son of God in human nature. And as in Him the divine nature and the human nature are one Person, so His blood, which in His infinite love He shed on the cross, is of eternal and unspeakable value, and possesses divine power to redeem, sanctify, cleanse. The Son of God became man, and His holy life was poured out for us and shed forth in His blood; for He ''offered Himself with- out spot to God." That freedom from all blemish which the ceremonial law prefigured in the sacri- fices, was fulfilled in absolute perfection in the Lamb of God.* It was not merely short-sighted men who could not convince Him of sin ; it was not merely the testimony of Judas, who betrayed Him, and of Pontius Pilate, who pronounced the unjust sentence, and of the centurion, who stood by the cross, that Jesus was innocent, and that there was no fault in Him ; it was not merely the testimony of the demons, who called Him the Holy One of God. Here we have the testimony of God. Christ was the Servant, and the Elect in whom the Father delighted. And when He offered Himself as the perfectly pure and spot- less Lamb, in this His act of highest obedience as Man, He possessed all the perfection and value of His divine person ; for He offered Himself by 136 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap the eternal Spirit, which expression refers not so much to the Holy Ghost as to His Sonship and union with the Father, to the eternal purpose and will of the Godhead. God was In Christ reconciling. The purpose of Christ In offering Himself was in divine as well as human perfection. His sacrifice therefore possesses the character of eternal, abso- lute perfection, absolute efficacy, and everlasting value. * We who believe that Christ has entered by His own blood into the holy of holies have thereby received a fourfold assurance : 1. Christ has obtained for us eternal redemption. 2. We have access to God. 3. Our consciences are purged by the blood of Christ to serve the living God. 4. The things to come are secured to us by Him, who is the heir, and In whom even now all spiritual blessings in heavenly places are ours. I. The redemption which Christ has obtained Is eternal. The apostle uses the expression " found " redemption.} So Abraham answered the question of Isaac, God has provided the Lamb for the * The expression in verse 12 is very emphatic — Sta rov 15l6v aXixaros (through the blood of His own). "Through the eternal Spirit." Compare vii. 16 — "The power of an endless life." His divine and everlasting Spirit concurred with the Father's counsel of love. This point is more fully explained in chapter x. t " Found for Himself (lit.) as a thing of insuperable difficulty to all, save divine omnipotence, self-devoting zeal and love to find." — Dr. Brown. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebreivs, 137 offering ; so in the book of Job the messenger or angel, the interpreter or mediator, one above a thousand, reveals to afflicted and sin-convinced man God's righteousness, and saith, " Deliver him from going down to the pit : I have found a ransom." Marvellous redemption, in which all divine attributes working together are revealed, so that glory is to God in the highest, and perfect peace on earth to the men of His good pleasure. God only could provide our ransom. (Ps. xlix. 6-9.) The expression brings before us in a human way the wonderful wisdom of God, wherein He has abounded toward us, the marvellous plan of redemption, which, high above all created thought, originating in the divine mind, brought together mercy and truth, justice and grace in harmonious unity, and made the dark object of sin the occasion of the brightest manifestation of divine glory. Thus the Lord commends His own wisdom, and in the prophets frequently stirs up our sluggish mind to regard with wonder and astonishment His great salvation. Christ's precious blood can never lose its power, till all the chosen saints of God are gathered unto glory. It is a real redemption from the guilt and power of sin, from the curse of the law, from the wrath of God, from the bondage of Satan, and from the second death ; an eternal redemption, because sin is for- given ; Satan, death, and hell are vanquished ; 138 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. everlasting righteousness is brought in ; we are saved for evermore. Jesus has redeemed us. By dying in our stead, by bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, by satisfying all the claims which a holy God had against us, by being made a sin-offering and a curse for us, the Lord delivered us from our bondage and captivity. His blood was the ransom. Because we are redeemed according to divine righteousness, death has no sting ; we are no longer through fear of death sub- ject to bondage. Sin has no more dominion over us, for the death of Christ has set us free to the service and obedience of God. The wrath of God abideth no longer on us, for the atoning blood speaks now only of mercy and everlasting love. Satan can no longer lay anything to the charge of God's elect. He found redemption where man would never have thought of it. He found it after His in- carnation and path of obedience in the death of the cross, in the darkness of agony, and He brought it forth in brightness and beauty, glory and strength, by His resurrection from the dead. 2. We have now access to God ; we are brought into the very presence of God ; we enter into the holy of holies. The veil no longer conceals the counsel of God's wonderful love ; sin in the flesh no longer separates us from the presence of the Most High. Very awful, and yet most blessed IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 139 and sweet, is this assurance. God is very near to each one of us. Though we see Him not, yet is He nearer than the very air we breathe; for our very being and living and moving is in Him. He is very near unto us, and all our thoughts and desires are open before Him, who is the searcher of hearts. Yet, although such is the exceeding nearness of God to us, we are at an exceeding great distance from God. Who can measure the distance of the prodigal in the far country from the father's house ? But we can describe that distance by one syllable, short though terrible — sin. Now He by whom alone sin can be for- given and removed is nowhere else but on the throne of God — on His right hand. With Him is forgiveness of sin. In heaven is my right- eousness ; in the throne of God, and nowhere else, my hope, my comfort, and my trust. He who has found and saved me, lost and guilty sheep ; He who by His death has redeemed me, has taken me on His shoulder. He is no longer here. As He died unto sin once, I seek Him no longer among the dead. He is ascended. Rejoicing has He gone home, and called His friends together to rejoice over the sheep now with Him in the land of peace. Hence there is no other place for me but heaven itself. Every- where else I see only sin and condemnation. Where can I pray or approach God without a Mediator, 140 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. without the blood, without the High Priest ? But the blood of Jesus, the Mediator of the new cove- nant, the interceding High Priest Jesus, is in heaven itself. Then I also must pray and worship there. I have no other hiding-place but Christ in heaven. You who have come to Jesus, who have looked unto Him and were healed, you stand now on the other side of the cross, within the veil, in the holy of holies. You have obtained mercy. God forgave all your sins, and clothed you with Christ. In this state into which God has brought you there can henceforth be no change. Your knowledge and enjoyment of it may vary and grow, your faithfulness and service fluctuate, your experience may rise and fall ; but you are always children of God, forgiven, beloved, compassed about with divine mercy, and embraced in the very love which the Father has to Jesus. We are not like the Jewish priests, who, under the former tabernacle stayed outside the unrent veil, and never came into the presence of God ; not like the believer in the old dispensation, who offered continually sacrifices, which were needed on account of his repeated sins, but which were shadows, and only procured a ceremonial cleansing in hope of the future expiation. We have been pardoned, redeemed, made righteous once for all ; God beholds us in Christ His Son ; IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 141 we are always before God by reason of that sacrifice which has put away sin, and by reason of the presence of the Lord, whom the Father calls My Son, and who is not ashamed to call us brethren. If the blood of the passover-lamb pro- tected the Israelites in Egypt, and secured to them perfect safety, if the blood sprinkled on the mercy-seat in the holy of holies covered Israel's transgressions of the divine law, how much more does the precious blood of Christ, by which He entered into heaven itself, and with which He there appears before God for us, cleanse us from all sin, so that we are accounted by Him holy and without blame ? For (3) to you has been given, what the old covenant saints did not possess, perfection — the absolution and remission of sins. Your conscience has been purged and made free ; once for all God has received you in Christ Jesus, has pardoned and accepted you, has invested you with everlasting righteousness. You have no conscience any longer of sin. There is no guilt on you. There is no condemnation. You have been acquitted judicially. That which in the eternal counsel was decreed for you, that which by the death and resurrection of Jesus was obtained for you, was actually and per- fectly given unto you when the grace of God was exceeding abundant unto you, with faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. Our con- 142 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. science pronounces us just and accepted, even as God pronounces us just and accepted, and that for the same reason. The same blood which was sprinkled on the mercy -seat has touched and purged our consciences. We know that we have been made the righteousness of God in Him ; we know that according to all the perfections of God we are forgiven and saved. No longer, therefore, is our conscience burdened or defiled by the know- ledge of alienation from God, and the fear of His displeasure. But are there many such heavenly worshippers in the liberty and power of the new covenant ? While we mourn over Israel's blindness, and the veil on their hearts, are we with open face be- holding the glory of the Lord ? Among the people who listen to the gospel, are there not many who hear and speak constantly of divine mercy and pardon, and yet never come to a full, decided, and conscious reception of the grace of God ? They believe that those who are justified by faith have peace, but they themselves have no peace. As the Jews of old had continually to offer sacrifices, so they repeat continually the same petitions for pardon and acceptance, and with the same indistinct and vague consciousness as to their acceptance. The Jews were not in the full light, but it was not owing to their unbelief; but now that the true light shineth, why are souls in IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 143 gloom and uncertainty ; now that the summer is come, why is the heart dreary without sunshine and melody ? It is because the conscience has not been set free by the blood of Christ. In that myste- rious judgment -chamber, where busy thoughts, like subtle and eager pleaders, accuse and excuse one another, a voice, whose authority we cannot dispute, declares us guilty, and the testimony of God, which is greater than our conscience, reveals to us more fully our sin and condemnation. But when we are convinced of our sin, and utter ruin and helplessness, God is revealed as a just God, and the justifier of the guilty, who believe in Jesus ; the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, reveals to us the holy and perfect way in which all iniquity is pardoned and all transgres- sion removed. And as that blood avails in heaven, so it delivers the conscience from the burden of guilt, and from the burden of all our own miserable attempts at pleasing God and lulling: our fears : dead works which like a dead weight only increase our wretchedness. Now we truly turn from sin unto God. In Christ Jesus God and the sinner meet ; both behold the blood of the Lord Jesus, and in the high sanctuary above and in the inmost sanctuary of the con- science there \s peace. And now if Jesus says to thee, '' Be of good 144 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. cheer ; thy sins are forgiven thee," then be of good cheer, and rest In the love of God. See how In all the epistles addressed to God's children forgiveness of sin, redemption, acceptance In Christ, are fun- damental blessings and gifts, which all believers are supposed to have received by faith, and once for all. Yet the conscience thus purged Is more sensi- tive. We know now more of our sinfulness ; for we behold sin In the light of God's love. What then ? Of sin we have no conscience ; but of our sinfulness and constant sinning we have. We confess our sins ; we pray, " Forgive us our tres- passes ;" w^e mourn over our unfaithfulness ; we behold and abhor our vlleness ; we have no con- fidence In the flesh. But we confess to the Father as children ; we confess before the throne of grace, and in the hearing of the merciful and compas- sionate High Priest. We learn the deepest and most self-abasing lesson ; to go with sin and un- worthlness to infinite Love, to boundless com- passion, to never-failing mercy, to the Father who loves us, to the Lord who always intercedes for us. We have been washed once for all when we came to Jesus. We need now to have our feet washed. Peter either refuses to have his feet washed by Jesus (false humility), or wishes Jesus to wash not merely his feet, but also his hands and his head (unbelief and false humility again) ; but when after IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 145 wards he understood the ways of God, he strengthened his brethren. For in his epistle he teaches them, that if we forget that we have been purged from our sins we become unfruitful and blind : the knowledge of our perfect and complete acceptance is the strength of obedience. For with the conscience troubled and defiled, man has only dead works. There is no life in his feelings, prayers, words, or actions ; for is he not separate from the fountain of life ? But, as Martin Luther delighted to say — for what we are always experiencing, we must express always — ^where there is forgiveness of sin, there is life and all blessedness. We do not obtain forgiveness by good works, but through the forgiveness of sin come good works. First remove sin from the conscience, and it will also be dethroned in the heart. There are three classes of men. The worst, those who do not feel sin as a burden on their conscience, but cherish it as an idol in the heart. Oh what a discovery in the eternal world, that the burden is intolerable, and that the idol is an everlasting tor- ment ! Then there are men who try to cleanse the heart, and to lead a pure life, and hope thereby to remove the burden of guilt on the conscience. Who can help loving such ? But not so can you obtain either a peaceful conscience or a God- loving heart. Christ is God s righteousness for II. L 146 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. man. First the conscience is delivered, and thus the heart is renewed ; and out of the renewed heart flows Hving obedience. '' To serve the living God." It is by a constantly- exercised faith in and by the power of the blood of Christ, that we now serve the living God. Being made free from sin, by the death of Christ, we became the servants of righteousness, servants to God, and have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.* Dead works cannot please a living God ; but we walk now in newness of life, serving Him with gladness of heart, f The living God — it is said emphatically ; for only the believer realizes God as living, present, sending down con- tinually the influence of His grace. Men speak of going to heaven. Go to heaven now ! Not death, but faith, will take you there. Jesus is in heaven, the Son of man, who came to seek and to save that which was lost. Look up to heaven, all ye ends of the earth, poor, guilty, * Rom. vi. 22. t The character of the New Testament obedience is hberty. As it proceeds from the love of a forgiven and renewed heart, and as it is in the power of the indwelhng Spirit, it does not stand in need of outward regulations and legal enactments. We are to reverence, and diligently to study all the instruction and precepts of God's Word. But how different are these from that kind of devotional and ascetic help of our day, which seeks to regulate the inner life, by prescribing prayers for different hours, &c. Such things keep the soul, if not in bondage, in an infantine condition of weakness. Contrast with this : " Enoch walked with God ; " " The joy of the Lord is your strength ; " " Follow Me." IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 147 needy ones. Believe It, you will see there a Father, a Saviour, the Mediator of the new and eternal covenant, the blood of atonement ; you will see a throne, and adore ; a throne of grace, and you will rejoice. Thus you will in truth and reality belong to heaven. You will be able to say even in the present time, " My citizenship is In heaven ;" for Christ Is your High Priest and Lord at the right hand of God, and He ministers even now ''good things," spiritual and heavenly blessings, of which the full and perfect manifestation will be the inheritance at His second coming. Thus all depends on the character of worship. Opposed to the condition of the self-righteous or careless world, and contrasted with the condition of the Old Testament dispensation of figure, which never led believers beyond the first tabernacle or holy place, is the new covenant worship in Spirit and truth. It is with a conscience purged from sin ; It is in the very presence of God ; It is through the mediation of the one High Priest ; it is in virtue of that same blood, in which alone is eternal redemption. In this worship only are we free, in heavenly places, and separated and delivered from this evil world. LECTURE VII. THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Hebrews ix. 15-28. 'T^HE scope of the apostle's argument, from -^ verses 15-28, is as follows : Christ entered with the price of an eternal redemption into the presence of God. The first effect of His entrance is, that our conscience is purged from dead works to serve the living God. {v. 14.) The second effect is, that thereby Christ has become the Mediator of the New Testament, in order that the called might receive the pro- mise of eternal inheritance, {v. 15.) The death of Christ was necessary to establish this testament ; for even the first covenant was '' not without blood." And this blood was applied to the book and the people ; to the tabernacle and the vessels of the ministry ; and to " almost all things," in order to continue the approach of Israel and their service, {vv. 19, 21, 23.) The antitype or fulfilment in the New Testament is, that our conscience has been purged ; the heavenly sane- IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 149 tuary has been purified with better sacrifice ; and after the One and perfect offering which Jesus brought once for all, no repetition of the sacrifice is possible or needed. Christ has abolished sin, and we wait now for His second coming in glory. Jesus by His death has become the Mediator of the New Testament. It is because Jesus died that He now dispenses the gifts which He has purchased. The New Testament is in His hand. He Is the Mediator, bringing us as true worship- pers, unto God ; and bringing the inheritance, with all its blessings and gifts, unto us. There is perhaps no word with which we are more familiar, and which is more frequently used by us than the word ''covenant" or ''testament." We are in the habit of calling the sacred books of Israel and of the church, the books of the Old and New Testament. And in that precious ordi- nance of the Saviour, which according to His will is to be the joy of His disciples, as well as their testimony to the world until He come, we hear constantly the solemn words : " This cup is the New Testament in my blood." Words which are frequently used are not neces- sarily correctly understood or rightly valued. And then our very familiarity with them is the source of danger. For the incorrect or inadequate idea, which we connect with the expression, becomes 150 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. deeply fixed in our minds, and the fundamental misconception brings forth abundant and widely- ramified error. For these very familiar and con- stantly-recurring words express mother-ideas of primary importance. Our only safety is a constant and diligent study of Scripture, and a conscientious adherence to the principle, that Scripture thoughts and words are to be explained and judged on Scripture territory according to the Scripture circle of truth, and the Scripture mode of viewing and expressing things. If we apply this canon to the subject before us, we shall find that the ordinary conception of a covenant as a mutual agreement is not identical with the Biblical use of the word, and also that there is an intimate connection between the idea of an inheritance bequeathed through death, or a testament and the Scripture view of covenant. Now the first and primary idea of covenant and testament is a disposition and order of things, made of God, and shown forth in a promise or institution. For instance, we read that God established a covenant with Noah.'"' Here is a divine promise, unconditional and immutable, based upon His sovereign grace; an order of things which it pleased Him to establish, and whereof He gave a double assurance, His word and the rainbow, seal and pledge of the covenant of His * Gen. vi. ix. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 151 grace. Again the Lord made a covenant with Abraham. He promised to be the God of Abra- ham and of his seed ; to give unto them the land ; to give unto them the seed, in whom all families of the earth will be blessed. This covenant is also unconditional and unchangeable, it is not a mutual agreement, it does not depend on man s faithful and complete fulfilment of stipulated con- ditions. And as it originates entirely in the pur- pose of eternal wisdom and love, it is impossible that it can ever be changed or frustrated. Nothing that happens in time, and subsequent to the an- nouncement of the covenant, can in any way in- terfere with its fulfilment. Neither the law, given four hundred years after, nor the awful sin of Israel in rejecting their Lord and Messiah, can alter God's covenant of grace. " The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." The Abrahamic covenant had also a twofold assurance and mani- festation— the word of promise, and the ordinance of circumcision. In this covenant the testament-nature is already apparent ; for here is an inheritance, and, as the apostle explains to us,* it was by promise, and given unto the one seed, Christ. The Abrahamic covenant, he also teaches us, was confirmed by God in Christ, And the meaning of this is evident now in the light of fulfilment. The * Gal. iii. 152 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. covenant with Abraham was also a testament, and, as all testaments are, connected with death. It promised an inheritance, but an inheritance which could become ours only by the death of Jesus, in whom alone there is redemption for sinful and guilty men. But in order to bring out fully the character of the covenant of grace, the intermediate dispensation of the law was given. And here it is difficult to see both the contrast, sharp and distinct, between the old covenant and the new testament, and also to recognize the bond of connection between them ; there is the anti- thesis, law and grace ; there is the contrast, shadow and truth ; but there is something which bound these two aspects together in the actual history and experience of God's ancient people. For the promise given to Abraham, and not to Moses, was not superseded or forgotten in the giving of the law. When God dealt with Israel in the wilderness. He gave them the promise that they should be a peculiar treasure unto Him above all people ; " for all the earth is mine ;" and that they should possess the land as an inheritance.*"' Based upon this promise, and corresponding with the divine election and favour, is the law which God gave to His people. As He had chosen and redeemed them, so they were to be a holy people, and to walk before Him, even as in the * Exod. xix. 5, 6; xxiii. 30; Deut. xv. 4. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 153 Ten Commandments the gospel of election and redemption came first. *' I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of Egypt." Hence this covenant or dispensation, although it was a cove- nant, not of grace and divine gifts and enablings, but of works, was connected with and based upon redemption, and it was dedicated, as the apostle emphatically says, not without blood. Both the book, or record of the covenant,"^ and all the people, were sprinkled with the blood of typical sacrifices.! For without blood is no remission of sins, and the promises of God can only be obtained through atonement. But we know that this is a figure of the one great sacrifice, and that there- fore all the promises and blessings under the old dispensation, underlying and sustaining it, were through the prospective death of the true Mediator. When therefore the spiritual Israelite was convinced by the law of sin, both as guilt and as a condition of impurity and strengthless- ness, he was comforted by the promise of the inheritance, which always was of grace, uncon- * "The book of the covenant," mentioned Exod. xxiv. 7, in which Moses wrote the first fundamental group of laws. (Exod. xxi.-xxiii.) t " The blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop." Water, scarlet wool, and hyssop are mentioned in connection with the purification of those who had come into contact with death (Num. xix.) ; also of the lepers. (Lev. xiv. 4-7.) Compare also the passover (Exod. xii. 22), and the prayer of David, " Purge me with hyssop." (Ps. li. 7.) 154 ^'^^ Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. ditional and sure, and in a righteous and holy manner through expiation. Through the blood sprinkled by Moses on the book and people, and afterwards on the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry, they were set apart unto the holy God. The tabernacle was itself established as an ordinance of mercy in the midst of a people who had been guilty of grievous transgression," and the very tabernacle required to be purified by blood before the Lord could meet there with His people. How evident is the meaning of these earthly things now, when we see the fulfilment in the heavenly and eternal things ! Jesus desired with desire to eat the passover with His disciples. It was on that night that He took the cup and blessed it, and said, " This is the cup of the new testament in my blood." He as the true Sacrifice — fulfilment of all the varied types — was offered for us on Golgotha. Through His death the inheritance is obtained for us ; it is of grace, and it is reserved for us in heaven, while we live even now in the enjoyment of its power and blessedness. The testator is, properly speak- ing, God ; for we are God's heirs ; but it is God in Christ, even as in the death of Christ for sinners we behold God's love. Jesus is the Heir. This is the Scripture teaching. The Lord Himself in * Exod. xxxii. ixo The Epistle to the Hebrews, 155 the parable presents the last Prophet sent by God into the vineyard as high above all the servants ; He is the one Son, the Only-begotten of the Father. And even His enemies draw the correct inference, that He is the Heir.'' This is the Son whom the Father loved from all eternity, and unto whom He hath given all things. f This is He by whom the world was made, and who was appointed Heir of all things. We are joint-heirs with Christ, and the inheritance is blood-bought. But, as the types prefigure, this precious blood belongs to the heavenly sanctuary. It does not belong to earth, even as it does not open the way to an earthly temple and secure earthly blessings. It is precious, incorruptible. I Jesus entered with His own blood into the holy of holies. And here is the antitype of the earthly tabernacle being sprinkled with blood. Heaven is now opened to believers ; the most holy place is anointed with the blood of atonement.§ Our sins no longer ascend to heaven. The adversary can no longer accuse us before the throne of God. The Father, having made peace through * Mark xii. 7. t Heb. i. 3. X Compare in i Peter i. the incorruptible inheritance, the in- corruptible price of redemption, and the incorruptible seed of regeneration. The whole covenant refers to Jesus ; yea, He Him- self is the covenant ; for thus it is written of Him : " I will give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles." (Isa. xlii. 6.) § Dan. ix. 24. 156 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. the blood of Christ's cross, hath reconciled all things unto Himself, "whether they be things In earth, or things in heaven."* So great and real is the efficacy of the precious blood of Christ. The Saviour, who by His own blood entered into heaven Itself, to appear In the presence of God for us, Is the Mediator of the New Testa- ment ; as the First-born He has entered into the inheritance, and He now dispenses to us the very blessings which through His death He has pur- chased for us. 1. Jesus has put away sin, once for all, by the sacrifice of Himself. All that stood In the way of the infinite love of God flowing into our hearts has been removed, and that for ever, unto all who believe in Jesus. In that He died. He died unto sin once for all ; and we who believe in Him are delivered out of the region of sin, of defilement, and of death. 2. The blessed Lord having entered in by His blood, we also have ascended with Him. This is implied by the apostle's saying that Christ appears now in heaven for tcs. In a different but har- monious light the same truth Is taught In the epistle to the Epheslans. The apostles were filled with amazement when Jesus was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight; the men of Galilee stood gazing up into heaven. But when * Col. i. 20. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 157 the full Import of the ascension was disclosed to them, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. The beloved disciple regretted no more that he could no longer lean on the bosom of the divine Master. The apostles no longer felt that Jesus had left them, and had gone alone Into the heavenly home ; for they knew that they had ascended with Him, that they had died with Him, had been burled together with Him, had risen together with Him, and were seated together with Him In heavenly places."^' 3. Hence with Increasing clearness it became evident that believers are always before the Father as accepted worshippers ; that in the archetype, of which the tabernacle was a picture, there was no division of the holy place and the most holy, but that all believers, as priests, are in the most holy, because Jesus Christ, the High Priest, Is there " for them," and one with them. All these truths are presented to our view and sealed to our faith in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. We notice three very strange and sad ways in which this ordinance has been misunder- stood and misused. In the first place, though it was intended to illustrate and confirm the strong and sweet bond which unites all the disciples of * The " together with " Christ begins at the crucifixion. Not the incarnation, not the prophetic Hfe and work on earth, but the cross is the point where the Shepherd finds the lost sheep, and the two are joined. 158 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. the One Master, it has been the occasion of dividing and separating brethren, and of substi- tuting other bonds, not so fundamental, not so comprehensive, not so profound as the one which Christ alone acknowledges, that vital faith in Him which manifests itself in love. Secondly, whereas the Lord's Supper was de- signed, by a simple illustration, to show forth spiritual mysteries, the Lord's Supper itself has been asserted to be a mystery which it is difficult to comprehend, or when comprehended to explain to others. Now, the union of Christ and the believer is indeed a mystery. Great is the mystery, exclaims the apostle. Our spiritual life, growth, and joy are rooted in Christ, in His broken body and shed blood. Here faith beholds also the communion of saints, the second advent, and our glory with Christ. But of these spiritual and un- seen realities, we have in the Lord's Supper an illustration so simple, so comprehensive, that it is the easiest way of explaining to little children the gospel of our Lord. Many minds are thinking about the mystery of the sacrament, instead of thinking about the mystery of the tmion with Christ by faith and through the indwelling Spirit. For such the Gospel of John is most instructive, both on account of its silence as to the institution and its profound exposition of the ** mystery," which in the Lord's Supper is set before us. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 159 But thirdly, the very purpose of the Lord's Supper is to show that by one great sacrifice, once for all, Christ has put away sin. As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we do show the Lord's death. It is the commemoration of the one offering by which we are perfected. Hence to speak of a repetition of the sacrifice, in any shape or form, is to contradict the essential mean- ing and purpose of the ordinance."^' Christ died once upon the cross, once He entered by His own blood into the holy of holies, and by this one death and once entering in we have redemption and access unto the Father. Hence all the bless- ings of the New Testament are ours. Consider the teaching of our passage in the light of the Lord's Supper. Once we were under the sentence of death on account of our guilt, the transgression of God's holy law. We had forfeited the inheritance. Christ came. He is the Son ; * All assertions that the Lord's Supper is a sacrifice, from the glaring fiction of Rome, of an unbloody sacrifice in the mass, down to more mystical and vague views, are refuted by this chapter and the whole teaching of Scripture. Beside the one sacrifice of our Lord, offered and presented to the Father once for all, the New Testament speaks only of spiritual sacrifices, praise, prayer, and the offering of ourselves (Rom. xii. i ; Heb. xiii. 15, i6 ; i Peter ii. 8), and only of the priesthood of all believers, while it never calls ministers ie/sels, but bishops, presbyters, etc. These spiritual sacri- fices are to be offered contiitiially, the remembrance of Christ's sacrifice is to ht frequently. A remembrance not so much of Him- self, who is always with us and of whom we constantly think, but of His One oblation. There is a higher aspect of the Lord's Supper as a sealmg ordinance. i6o The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. He is the Heir. He came to save us. He came to redeem them that were under the law from the curse of the law. He redeemed us by His death on the tree, by the shedding of His precious blood.^* This is the bread ; this is the cup. Jesus the Mediator of the New Testament gives us the inheritance; and of this inheritance we have now the substance, for we eat and drink in the presence of the Father. Yet is the inheritance still future ; for the Lord's Supper points to the fulfilment. " Till I come" is the golden link be- tween Christ's first advent and His return, when we shall be glorified together with Him. Jesus said to His disciples on the very night in which He instituted this ordinance : " I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me ; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my king- dom, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."! We are to be made manifest with Christ, and reign together with Him. The promise is not fulfilled yet, ''He that overcometh shall inherit all things." But when we show the death of the Lord we look forward in hope to the final salvation, which shall be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. How solemn sound the words, "This is the * Compare Gal. iii., where the subject is viewed in connection with inheritance. t The original diaTide/xai v/mv paaiXeiav means, I ordain to you in a testamentary manner. Compare Rev. iii. 21 ; xii. 11 ; xxi. 7. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. i6i new testament in My blood." This is indeed the central, the fundamental, the eternal mystery. " Thou hast redeemed us by Thy blood," we sing at the Lord's table — it will be our song in eternity. This is the new song for ever, even as it is the new testament for ever. Blessed are we if we read Scripture, as the testament ; if, as children and heirs, we see in the word the record of our inheritance, the promise of glory, as well as the assurance of our present pos- session of the unsearchable riches of Christ. See here the perfection of the fulfilment. (ii)v. 24-27.) As the Levitical high priest entered into the holy of holies with the blood of the sacrifice, to appear before God as the representative of Israel, so Christ by His own blood entered heaven itself for us. But not as the type is the fulfilment. The Levitical high priest entered every year ; Christ once for all. Hence there is no need of a repeti- tion of His sacrifice. Once He appeared in the end of the world, in the consummation of the ages. In the fulness of time'"' Jesus was made manifest to put away sin really and for ever. He was made manifest, for in the counsel of God He was, from before the foundation of the world, the Lamb ; but now the time was come when He fulfilled the salvation-will of God. t Once He bore the sins of many;]: as their substitute He endured that * Gal. iv. 4. t Comp. i Pefer i. 20. X Isa. liii. 12. II. M 1 62 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. which sin deserved according to the hoHness and righteousness of God. This is accompHshed, and perfect; it now Hes behind Him. What then is our position ? The apostle by a very significant transition speaks now of man; leaving the contrast between Jewish type and heavenly reality, he enters, strictly speaking, into the sphere of the gospel, the glad tidings for man- kind. Now the contrast is Adam and Christ. The apostle's statement (vv. 26-28) may be ren- dered more faithfully thus : But now once for all, in the conclusion of the ages, hath He been manifest to put away sin "' by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after that judgment (or decision) ; thus Christ, having been once offered in order to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time without sin for the salvation of them that wait for Him. There are two chains ; the one dark and the other bright ; the one pertaining to man, earth, and time, the other entirely of God, from heaven, and eternal ; the one ending in eternal glory, the other in everlasting misery. The one chain is thus described by the apostolic word : *' The wages of sin is death." The links are sin, death, judg- ment. Unto fallen and guilty man it is appointed ■* etj iehrjaw afiaprias (v. 26), for the abolishing of sin is a very forcible expression. IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 163 to die, and after that the judgment. This chain is the chain of the covenant of works, the relation between the Hnks is that of man's doing and its consequence, according to divine justice and truth. It is impossible for this sequence to be broken. The day sin entered into the world, death also entered, and death as leading to judgment. Death is not, as many, alas ! deceive themselves, the tran- sition from sin to glory : as sin leads to death, death leads to judgment. Inevitable is the con- nection between sin and judgment, and our death cannot sever this connection ; it is, on the contrary, the intervening link. In vain do men seek to put something between death and judgment. It is on this side of the grave that we must be taken out of the reofion of this dark chain. For there is another chain. It came down from heaven. It originated in the eternal wisdom and love of God. It is of God from beginning to end. Jesus came ; this is the first link. Jesus died ; this is the second. Jesus comes again to receive us unto Himself; this is the last. Instead of man, the Son of man, God's own Son ; instead of the death of the sinner, Christ's death ; and instead of judgment, the saints glorified together with Christ. But the logic of this chain is not so apparent as of the first. Sin, death, judgment — this is a right sequence. But the incarnation of the Son of God 164 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. and the cross ; the sinless, perfect Son of man and death, seem to be rather contradictions than con- sequences. One single word explains it, but this word is a stumbling-block to many. It is Substi- tution. Jesus came to die as the substitute ; the just laid down His life for the unjust ; the Father laid on Him the iniquity of us all. And now, sin having been taken away by His one offering of Himself once for all, we look forward to His glorious return. The first time He appeared with reference to sin ; the second time He shall appear — apart from the work of atonement, for it is ac- complished, and they who love His appearing shall then receive the inheritance. As death is the conclusion of our earthly life, and does not lead to a repetition of the same, but to judgment ; so by the death of Christ all that was connected with sin and atonement is finished, and now there is nothing before Him but His second coming. He shall come again in glory. At the Lord's table we behold nothing but grace — not wages, but the gift of God ; gospel or glad tidings, righteousness instead of guilt, life instead of death, glory instead of judgment. Instead of looking back to Adam and transgres- sion, we remember Christ and His obedience, the obedience, even His death ; instead of looking forward to judgment, we wait for the coming of the Lord, who shall give us then the full adoption IX.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 165 and inheritance, the redemption of the body and the glory. If we were thoroughly fixed and rooted In this apostolic "once for all," we should have perfect peace and a lively hope of the glory of God. Here is our weakness, that we do not put all our confidence in Christ, in His one and only death once for all. Though we so often say, '' Christ is all," yet we have some secret feeling that Christ is not all, and that the work is not quite complete. If Christ is all, then blessed be God ! He came. He died, He ascended. He will return for us. As He died for us, so His return must be for our glory. ''Christ is all," the Lord's Supper says. Nothing can be added to this bread, or mixed with this cup. " Drink ye all of it ;" the blessed Saviour includes the weakest believer, encouraging the bruised reed and the smoking flax. " The blood was shed for the remission of the sins of the many." The apostle uses almost the same ex- pression as the prophet — He was once offered to bear the sins of many. Now we rejoice in hope. Sin is removed, and therefore faith looks back and beholds the love of God in a crucified Saviour. Hope looks forward, and beholds the Lord bringing the crown and the inheritance. And though we also have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death, we 1 66 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [ix. know that Christ has abolished death, He has taken away its sting, it is to us no more a hnk in the dark chain of sin and judgment. We have been transplanted out of the kingdom of darkness, and whether we fall asleep before the Lord's return, or are still living on earth at His advent, to us there remains now only one thing to expect : Christ appearing the second time, apart from sin, unto salvation. Our Lord on earth came as the Prophet ; after His death, and by His blood. He entered into heaven to be our Priest, and at His second coming He shall appear as King in great majesty and glory." He who on earth was without sin, who knew no sin, and yet was made by God to be sin for us,f shall appear unto His people waiting for His return, looking with joyful, though humble and contrite, hope to His return. For He comes unto salvation. The Coming One Is the same Jesus who ascended; it Is emphatically the Saviour who delivered us from the wrath to come. \ * Rev. xix., XX. t 2 Cor. v. 21 ; Rom. viii. 3. X Acts i. II ; I Thess. i. 10. LECTURE VIII. "LO, I COME." Hebrews x. 1-7. nPHE apostle has contrasted the high priest -^ of the Levitical dispensation with our Lord. The one entered into the earthly, Christ Into the heavenly sanctuary ; the one with sacrifices which could not purge the conscience, Christ with His own blood, by which we are sanctified ; the one entered every year, Christ once for all. From this sublime contrast the apostle now argues that the law itself, the whole Levitical dispensation, was not able to give perfect peace to the conscience, and access Into the presence of God ; for it is evident from the constantly-repeated sacrifices and offerings that the worshippers had never attained to the condition of true acceptance and sanctifica- tlon — that they had never reached a point where further sacrifice was not needed. Hence the apostle says : ''For" (referring to his demonstration of the perfection of the one offering, Hebrews ix. 1 68 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. 24-28), " the law having a shadow " (only) of good things to come, that is, of the then future salvation, blessing and inheritance, and not the express image of the things (as we have now in Christ, who is the manifestation and the fulfilment, or body), can never with the same yearly sacrifices, which they offer regularly, make the comers there- unto perfect." The prophetic Word supplied the description of the contrast and the fulfilment. It testified of the insufficiency of the sacrifices and offerings, and spoke of the self-sacrifice, the self-devotedness of the true servant of Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel. It is to this special aspect of Christ's offering that our attention is directed in this chapter. He who was offered, offered Himself; in His sufferings He showed the greatest strength and most concentrated activity of self-surrender ; and because thus He fulfilled the eternal will of God concerning salvation, He has perfected for ever by one offering them that are sanctified. And thus we are led back to the fundamental and cen- tral truth: Jesus is the Son of God. Obedience * Shadow {(TKiav) is put first emphatically ; only a shadow or outline of the substantial and eternal blessings promised. A shadow has no substance, but brings before the mind the form of the body from which it is projected. The image itself {ovk avrriv tt^v cLKova) is given to us in Christ ; a full and permanent embodiment of the good things to come. X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 169 belongs to a servant ; concurrence and co-operation are the characteristics of a son. When we think of the eternal glory of the Only-begotten, and the sufferings and obedience of Jesus, it is the divine Sonship on which our minds rest, and in which we see the sacred identity of the Lord and the servant unbroken. It is a characteristic feature of this epistle, that it shows forth most clearly and fully the glory of Jesus exalted at the right hand of God, while at the same time it enters more deeply than most portions of the inspired record into the consoling truth of our Lord's true humanity, of the reality of His temptations and struggles, of His faith, prayers, and tears, and of His perfect sympathy with us, whom He is not ashamed to call breth- ren. Nowhere in Scripture do we meet with a representation of Jesus the Messiah in which His divine majesty, and His human compassion and sympathy, are so distinctly and yet harmoniously brought before us. It is for this reason, though there be many things hard to be understood in this epistle. It has always exerted a most powerful and consoling influence on the Christian, whose joy it is to confess with adoring love that Jesus Is Lord, and to rest with peaceful assurance in the marvellous truth that the Lord, unto whom all power is given in heaven and earth, is the man Christ Jesus; ''this same Jesus" of the peaceful 170 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. gospels, * that in the midst of the throne is the Lamb as it had been slain. Jesus, the Messiah, the Son, by whom all worlds were made, and who is appointed Heir of all things, is now exalted high above all angels and powers ; He who humbled Himself, and was obedient unto death, is for this very obedience enthroned at the right hand of God ; in His humanity He has received a name above every name ; angels and men adore Him, and in the heavenly sanctuary He is our royal Priest ; He is the Son who abideth for ever, the Lord over His own house, the chosen people of God. It is on the divinity of our Lord that our faith and hope rest ; on this rock (''thou art the Son of the living God") the Church is built. The apostle brings before us the divine glory of the exalted Messiah, asserting it in a tone of joyous triumph, and illustrating it by the most varied and abundant testimony of the ancient Scripture ; he reviews all previous reve- lations and ordinances to exalt the Saviour ; above all prophets He is the Son, the only adequate, comprehensive, and ultimate Revelation of God ; above Moses, the servant. He is the Lord, the mediator of a better covenant ; above Joshua, He is the only true and everlasting rest of God, in whom we also have rest here and a perfect Sabba- tism hereafter ; above Aaron, the true and royal * Acts i. II. X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 171 priest, who after the power of an endless Hfe is our Mediator in the heavenly sanctuary. In Him alone, and that because He is God, are all promises fulfilled, all types summed up, and all symbols substantiated. Nay, He excels them all ; for His divine fulness could only be shadowed forth im- perfectly even by God-appointed symbols, and by inspired prophecies. And beyond the territory of man Jesus is represented as the Mediator, by whom all worlds were created, and by whom they are still upheld; in Him, whom angels worship, both before the throne and in ministering unto the heirs of salvation, the counsels of God and the whole universe find their centre.* If this view of Christ's glory, like the appear- ance of the exalted Saviour in the opening scene of the Apocalypse, is so bright and dazzling that it overwhelms even loving and trustful disciples, so that their souls fall prostrate before the Son of God, the same epistle unfolds to us the humanity of the Lord, and gives to us a picture so vivid and touching of His brotherhood, that not even the gospel of Luke leads us into so profound and consoling knowledge of the Son of man, the Friend of sinners, the Physician full of pity and tenderness. And while we see Jesus here taking upon Him our flesh and blood, enduring tempta- '*' The original (Heb. i.) implies that the angels' ministry to us is an act of worship unto God. 172 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. tlon, entering into all our difficulties, struggles, and sorrows ; while here we have explained to us the reality of Christ's human nature, of His faith in God and dependence on Him, of His tears and conflict in Gethsemane, w^e are taught that He went through all these experiences in order that in His glory He may sympathize with us and succour us in all our trials ; that as Man He regards now with an infinite compassion and tenderness all His disciples on earth ; and that therefore, though with awe and trembling, because He is God, yet with perfect liberty and enlarged confidence, we may draw near the throne of grace, where Jesus, the God-man, is still our Brother as well as our Lord. These two aspects, so marvellously and in- separably united, must always co-exist, if we are to have access unto God and communion with Him. The neglect of the doctrine of either the divinity or the humanity of the Lord Jesus is the source of all heresies, maladies, and infirmities which afflict Christendom. Unless Jesus is God, we have not seen the Father, we have not been reconciled to Him, we have not been brought nigh as His redeemed and accepted children. Nor can a soul-renewing influence be exercised except by the divine Lord, who can pour out the Holy Ghost. If Jesus is the Son of God, nothing need or can be added to His sacrifice, to His X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 1 73 intercession, to His soul-transforming and sanctify- ing power. And as the Hebrew believers, if they rightly understood Christ's divinity, were thereby emancipated from all the shadows and types of the Levitical dispensation, so the subsequent in- troduction of human and angelic intercessors, of a so-called repetition of the sacrifice, of priestly mediation, of supplemental merits, is rooted in a defective view of the divine glory of Christ's person and all-sufficient, because infinite, value of His work. But equally essential is it to hold fast our faith In His true humanity. Emphasizing not too strongly, but in a onesided and untrue manner, the divinity of Jesus, men fancied that His per- fection. His spotless purity, His majestic holiness, stood in the way of our coming to Him with con- fidence, and with that free and unrestrained trust- fulness which alone enables us to pour out our whole heart. Jesus seemed so majestic and glo- rious, so high exalted above the heavens, so holy and spotless, that men forgot His Infinite mercy and tenderness, and the Inexhaustible fulness of His human sympathy, and imagined that some human sinful being, better than themselves, yet Imperfect, ought to Intervene as mediator between themselves and Jesus ; that they fancied especially to find such a mediator in the Virgin Mary, whose womanly gentleness and compassion made 1 74 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. it easier for them to approach in their weakness and sinfulness. Oh, how little do such thoughts harmonize with the blessed gospel ! How dis- honouring are they both to the divinity and humanity of our Lord ! This is the great mys- tery of godliness, that our Mediator is God, of Infinite love and mercy; that He Is man, perfect in His sympathy and tenderness. As if imperfect and sinful men, or any created and therefore limited angels, could ever fully know the human heart ; as if finite compassion and love could ever fully fathom and heal our sorrow ; as if any one but" Jesus could unite perfect sympathy with the sin- ner, and the perfect aim and power to bring us Into fellowship and harmony with God. Between Jesus, the Bridegroom of the Church, and the soul none can intervene. He alone knows what Is In man ; He alone loves us perfectly ; He alone has the way to the heart, and power to say, " Let not your heart be troubled." Our sorrow, our sin, our need, lie too deep for human ministry. Once, when He was still on earth. His mother Mary, whom we also In common with all genera- tions of believers call blessed, ventured to Interfere on behalf of the guests, and said, " They have no wine." But the same Lord, who as a child was subject unto Mary His mother, and as a son re- membering her with gratitude and affection even on the cross, commended her to the beloved X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 175 disciple, recognizes here no mediatorial position or special claim on His affection and help. Here He does not call her mother. He does not acknowledge her maternal authority. The tone of His reply appears strange and severe : " Woman, what have I to do with thee } " The evangelist John, who records this incident, was especially near the blessed virgin, and regarded her with peculiar veneration and affection. She had been committed to his care by his beloved Lord. What is the meaning of Christ's words, recorded by John ? He who, even as a child, had said to Mary and to Joseph, " Know ye not that I must be about my Father's business ? " and had thereby revealed to them His divine sonship and His exalted position above all men, returned with them to Nazareth, and in humility was subject to His parents, thus obeying the commandment of the Father who had sent Him. In Nazareth, as a child and youth, He doubtless always called Mary " mother," and always obeyed and honoured her. But now He had entered on His work. He had commenced His ministry, being filled with the Holy Ghost. At the marriage of Cana, Jesus appears as the Lord, as the true Bridegroom of the Church. Here He manifests His glory; here Jesus knows none but the Father, and the chil- dren whom God has given Him. ''Who Is my mother ? and who are my brethren } He who 176 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. doeth the will of my Father in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." The Lord shrinks back from Mary, because she brings her maternal authority and influence into a region to which it does not belong ; she attempts to put herself by His side in the kingdom, where He is the only monarch. Jesus is Lord, and there is none in heaven or earth to share in any way or to any extent His mediatorial throne. How plainly does this incident teach us that, highly favoured as Mary was in the kingdom of Christ, she is only one among myriads, a disciple of Jesus. Thus we find her mentioned in the Acts as one of the believers who united in prayer for the promised descent of the Spirit. In none of the epistles does she occur again. While we hear constantly of our Lord's ascension and exaltation, is there the slightest reference to her ascension ? In the visions of the heavenly glory vouchsafed unto John, do we ever read of Mary as enthroned with or near the Lord — as holding any peculiar position among the angels and glorified saints ? We read of angels and living beings, and elders and martyrs, and multitudes with white robes ; but where do we read of the Virgin Mary, of a queen of heaven, of a merciful and indulgent intercessor, appealing to the filial affection of her son ? No ; Jesus said unto her, "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" How much more now in His exalta- X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 177 tlon is He the one and only Lord who alone is the searcher of hearts, the consolation of Israel, the healer of the wounded spirit, the Head, from whom all blessings descend to His members. It is He who gives us the oil of gladness and strengthens us with the true wine. Mary recedes from her posi- tion as mother, and from the false attitude she had assumed ; her sensitive heart understands Jesus immediately ; she points as a true disciple to the one Lord and Saviour, and directing all eyes and hearts exclusively to Him, utters the great word, "Whatsoever He commandeth you, do." I think we honour and revere and love the Virgin Mary more than the Romanists in their false and un- scriptural devotion. Her word, ''Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it," reveals to us her true greatness, her humility, her faith ; her soul again magnified the Lord, and rejoiced in her Saviour. She points the whole Church away from herself to the Lord Jesus. She acknowledges Him to be the only Master. And so we rejoice in Him, the only Mediator, who is infinitely holy, infinitely merciful ; of whose love all fatherly forethought and strength, all motherly tenderness, minuteness, inventive quickness, and persevering patience, all brotherly faithfulness and sympathy, are but feeble images ; the man Christ Jesus, in whom is all manly and womanly perfection, the Lord who is from above, omniscient, omnipotent, all-good ; II. N 178 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. we have, we need no other mediator than Christ Jesus. But In our passage the apostle brings before us another aspect of Christ's person and work. We are reminded of the truth that Jesus Is the self- subslstent and eternal Word and Son of God. We need always to go back to that fundamental and most comforting truth of the divinity of our Lord. Only the Father which Is In heaven can so reveal this mystery to our minds and hearts, that with adoring love and trust we look unto Jesus. We do not worship a deified man, but God Incarnate ; not a perfect man, who by reason of His complete and holy humanity was exalted Into a heavenly position, but the Son of God, who came down from heaven, and returned Into the glory which He had before the foundations of the world were laid. Jesus, who was born of the Virgin Mary, who lived in obedience to the Father, who suffered and died, and Is now at the right hand of the Majesty on high, came into the world, not merely sent by the Father, but by His free concurrence, accord- ance, and co-operation. In Bethlehem's manger the child born unto us is The Wonderful, The mighty God, The everlasting Father. The prophet of Galilee declares to his cotemporarles, " Before Abraham was I am." The grace which appeared in His death had its fountain in the everlasting love which the eternal Wisdom had to the sons X.] The Epistle to the Hebi^ews. 179 of men.* He is the Son of God from all eter- nity, and in that mysterious eternity before the creation of the world, in His pre-mundane glory, this mind was in the Son, that He would humble Himself, and take upon Himself the form of a servant, and obey the whole counsel of God con- cerning the redemption of fallen man. His whole life on earth, embracing His obedience and His death. His substitution for sinners, was His own voluntary resolve and act. True, the Father sent Him ; but such is the unity and harmony of the blessed Trinity, that it is equally true to say, the Son came. The love of Jesus, the sacrifice of Himself in our stead, the unspeakable humiliation of the Son of God, have their origin not in time but eternity, in the infinite, self-subsistent, co-equal Son of the Father. He took on Him our nature. By His own will He was made flesh. From all eternity He offered Himself to accomplish the divine will concerning our sal- vation. He must needs be God, to have the power of freely offering Himself; He must needs take upon Him our nature to fulfil that sacrifice. Only the Son of God could undertake the work of our redemption ; only as man could He accom- plish it. It is for this reason that Scripture unveils to us the great mystery of the eternal cavenaat^ It is * ProY. viii^. i8o The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. not to gratify an unhallowed desire to look into things too lofty for our vision, but to show unto us the marvellous love of the eternal Son, and the true character and infinite merit of His obedience and death. The counsel between the Father and the Son must ever remain a mystery of solemn and awful majesty. We think of eternity before creation, of that silent eternity before the word was uttered, '* Let there be light ;" before the angels sang to- gether, and the morning stars shouted for joy, and faith hears even then the uncreated Word, which was with God, and was God, the voice of the Only- begotten responding to the Father's purpose, and saying, '' Lo, I come." In this eternal region is the only sunshine, which is never clouded ; here alone the foundation, which can never be moved. " The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hands." " Therefore doth my Father love Me, because I lay down My life for the sheep." '' Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me." '' None shall pluck them out of My hand. I and the Father are one." What are all these consoling and precious assurances but declarations of that eternal concord between the Father and the Son, in which the Son under- took to do the salvation-will of God, comprising His incarnation, obedience, and death, on the one hand, and the Father exalting and crowning and x.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 18 1 enriching Him as the Head of the Church, and the Heir of all things. Now Jesus sees of the travail of His soul, and is satisfied ; and we also rejoice ; Christ's joy remains in us, and our joy is full. Three most practical truths follow from this revelatiofL I. None but the Son of God could offer unto the Father a sacrifice to please Him, and to reconcile us unto Him in a perfect manner. The burnt-offerings and sin-offerings were ordained merely as shadows and temporary types of that one offering, the self-devotedness of the Son of God to accomplish all the will of God, the counsel of salvation. It is the divine and eternal offerinp- of Himself unto the Father, in which the incarna- tion and death of the Lord Jesus are rooted ; it is the voluntary character of His advent and passion, and it is the divine dignity of the Mediator which render His work perfect — absolutely unique, with which nothing can be compared, and a repetition of which is impossible. Hence it is impossible to sever the doctrine of the divinity of Christ from the doctrine of His expiatory sacrifice. The character of Christ's sufferings must be utterly misunderstood, when we do not acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, who came to lay down His life. In the death of our Lord, the Father was pleased ; this sin-offering was also a sacrifice 1 82 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. to God for a sweet-smelling savour. Here was not merely punishment endured, but the doing of *' God's will," the fulfilment of His eternal counsel, righteousness exalted, and divine love manifested in sufferings of infinite depth, and in the strength of perfect faith. 2. Rise from the river to its source, from the rays of light and love to the eternal origin and fount. You know the grace of the Lord Jesus, how He was poor on earth, and had not where to lay His head. Remember He who was poor had of His own free will become poor, though He was rich, the Lord of heaven and earth. You know the grace of the Lord Jesus, that He was born of a woman, and made under the law. Remember that it was Himself, of His own free will, and by His infinite power of love, who laid aside His glory, and emptied Himself. You remember His gentleness and meekness. His labour and toil. His unwearied zeal, and His undisturbed patience. He learned obedience ; but remember it was the Son, co-equal with the Father, who of His own choice learned obedience. You see Him rejected and reviled, buffeted, smitten, spit upon, scourged, nailed to the cross. You say a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief ; remember also to say, strong and glorious Son of God, whom all the hosts of angels obey ; who of thine own divine will and power bearest the sin of the world, and X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 183 offerest thyself by the eternal Spirit a ransom for thy brethren. See in the life, the obedience, the agony of Jesus, the expression of that free sur- render of Himself and espousal of your cause, which was accomplished in eternity in His own all-glorious and infinite divinity. Beware lest you see in Him only the faith and obedience, the sufferings and death of the Son of man ; see His eternal divinity shining through and sustaining all His humanity Because His blood is the blood of the Son of God, shed freely according to the everlasting covenant, it cleanseth from all sin. Who can fathom the depth of such love, of such grace, of such sacrifice 1 And lastly, this truth is revealed to us, not merely to establish our hearts in peace, and to fill us with adoring gratitude and joy, but here, mar- vellous to say, is held out to us a model which we are to imitate, a principle of life which we are to adopt. So wondrously are high mysteries and deep doctrines intertwined with daily duties and the transformation of our character, that the apostle Paul, when exhorting the Philippians to avoid strife and vainglory, and to brotherly love and helpful- ness, ascends from our lowly earthly path unto this highest region of the eternal covenant : " Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory ; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his 184 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [char own things, but every man also on the things of others." Then he proceeds in a subHme and pro- found transition : " Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (from all eternity) : "who, being in the form of God, .... made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the like- ness of men : and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Blessed apostle, who was always beholding in fervent ado- ration and love the image of that Lord Jesus, who appeared unto him as the Lord of glory and the Saviour of the lost. Paul found it easy to serve, to stoop, to suffer, to endure reproach and mockery, to be beaten and scourged, to be hated of his brethren, and to be suspected by his fellow-dis- ciples, to bear the burden of all the churches, and the more vehemently he loved, to be repulsed with enmity, because he remembered that the Son of God loved him before the foundations of the world were laid. Remembering the dark origin of selfishness, of disobedience, of ambition, of pride, let us rise to the celestial and eternal foundation of humility, obedience, love, self denial, to Christ ; and as we owe all to Him who loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood, let us be not merely debtors, but also followers of Him who came, not to do His own will and to be ministered X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 185 unto, who came to love and to serve, to give and to bless, to suffer and to die. He loved 7ne ! Oh, what a contrast ! Let us then receive the love of Christ, and love with His love. One with Christ, let us present ourselves a living sacrifice unto the Father — I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God! LECTURE IX. "ACCORDING TO THE GOOD PLEASURE OF HIS WILL." Heb. X. 7-10. A LTHOUGH man Is a finite and limited -^^^ creature, yet eternity alone can satisfy his heart. We are not able to conceive of eternity, either that endless existence, which lies before us, or— to use language which, Inadequate and almost self-contradictory as It Is, is the only one at our command — the eternity which preceded time. And yet the human heart can only rest in the eternal love of God ; in a love without beginning, which has its source not In time, and which shall endure for evermore ; an ocean without shore, a fulness which cannot be exhausted. I must know, not merely that God loves me now, but that He will love me for ever ; and not merely that the future is boundless, but that the divine love Is from all eternity. Its own cause and origin. In Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God, beheld by the Father as the Lamb slain from before the founda- X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 187 tlon of the world, God has chosen us unto eternal life and glory. In Him we behold and possess the mercy which is from everlasting to everlast- ing ; in Him we have the assurance that God loves us with an eternal love.'"' This eternal character of the love of God in Christ Jesus is unfolded to us, especially in the writings of the apostles John and Paul, from different points of view, the one confirming and supplementing the other. The beloved disciple, brought up in the school of John the Baptist, who led him to the Saviour, seems, without any severe struggle or abrupt transition, to have found in Jesus the promised Messiah, and drawn by the gentle yet irresistible, the calm but heart-deep attraction of the Son of man, he leaned on His bosom : nearest to Him in human friendship and affection, he beheld with most solemn awe the glory of the Only -begotten. In his writings John, like an eagle soaring in loftiest and most radiant heights, looks down on the world, and presents to us truth in its divine and eternal aspect. Hence, he dwells on the contrast between the world and the Church, the world and the men out of the world, whom the Father gives unto the Son, the people who believe not, because they are not Christ's sheep, and the souls who, drawn by the Father, hear the Shepherd's voice ; the con- * I Peter i. 20 ; Eph. i. 4 ; Ps. ciii. 17 ; Jer. xxxi. 3. 1 88 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. trast between the world, which Heth In the wicked one, the realm of darkness, and the believers, who overcome the world, and finally reign with Christ over a subdued and renewed earth. In no other portion of Scripture is the contrast described, and traced to its ultimate reason as well as to its final issue with such stern distinctness. We have on the one hand God, Christ, they who are of God, who are born of Him, who have the divine seed remaining in them, who are not of the world, who are Christ's sheep, for whom He prays, for whom He dies, who shall walk with Him in white, and inherit all things. On the other the world, men who are not of God, who are of their father the devil, and whose end is, that they are cast into the lake of fire. It is as if to him the history of the world, the process of de- velopment had ceased, he ascends to the ultimate manifestation of the essence of things, and to the primary origin in the counsel of God.'^ The apostle Paul, in analogy with his own mental history, begins with man and ascends upwards. While John shows how the life which was with God from all eternity was made manifest, Paul describes how a sinful, guilty, condemned, yet self-righteous * John is pre-eminently, as the ancient Church discerned, the theologian ; he views all things theologically ; that is, from the divine and eternal point. It is strange how an insipid latitudi- narianism has pretended to have a special congeniality with this son of thunder. X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 189 man is brought by grace to find in Jehovah right- eousness and Hfe. He ascends from earth to heaven. Hence as a guide, especially for those who are seeking the way of acceptance and life, the apostle Paul is more helpful ; he enters, with the sympathy and lucidity of a most intense per- sonal experience, into the difficulties and struggles of our hearts. Now let us see how from the ex- perimental point of view the apostle Paul arrives at the eternal character of the gospel. Jesus appeared to him, and what the law could not give him — righteousness in which to stand before God, life wherewith to serve and enjoy God — he received as a free gift in Jesus. Old things thus passed away, and the covenant, the method, the dispensation in which he now stood, was new — new as contrasted with the law of Moses, the Leviti- cal dispensation, the covenant of works made on mount Sinai. Yet on reflecting, it became obvious that this change, this setting aside of the old, this introduction of another and brighter light, before which the former faded ; of another and sub- stantial mediation, which caused the symbolical and typical to vanish, was no after-thought of God. It was new only in the sense that the law had come first ; in reality it was the original, the primary thought, and the law came in only for a time, and to prepare, announce, and symbolize the gospel. The law is. old, because it came first in IQO The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. point of time ; the gospel is new, because it came second in point of time : but the law passes away, because its origin is in time ; whereas the gospel abideth, because its origin is not in time, but in eternity. This thought is most frequently and fondly expressed by the apostle. He shows that the promise given to Abraham was before the giving of the law ; the covenant of grace preceded the covenant of works. But this priority again is based upon the essential and eternal priority of the dispensation or method of grace. The original and eternal plan of God is now manifested in the preaching of the gospel. The Scripture, as Paul personifies it, never meant anything but the gospel.''' It always had its eye fixed on the eternal, free, and all-comprehensive grace of God through Christ Jesus. The law was given only as a temporary and parenthetic dispensation ; the new covenant is the eternal covenant — eternal in every sense of the word. It is ultimate ; it can never become old or antiquated. It possesses a vitality which must endure for ever. Nothing more new can supersede it. But the covenant of grace is eternal in another and more mysterious sense. The apostle naturally contrasted the old dispen- sation and the new method of salvation by grace in Christ Jesus. The transition from Moses to * Gal. iii. 8. X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 191 Abraham showed him at once the temporary character of the law. The unity of Scripture history, and of Scripture itself, revealed that the gospel was God's thought even from the very beginning. But his mind and our mind cannot stop there. All prophecy points to Messiah, to God becoming our Saviour, our Righteousness. This then was God's original and eternal thought, and thus prophecy and the fulfilment of pro- phecy are traced to the purpose of God, His eternal will and counsel. I remind you of such passages as these : " God hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, having pre- destinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. . . . The mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself." '* The hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour." " As the advent and work of Jesus Christ, salva- tion by grace, irrespective of works and merit, our adoption and glorification are rooted in the eternal counsel of God, so His own personal * Eph. i. 4, 5-9 ; Titus i. 2 ; 2 Tim. i. 9, 10. 192 The Epistle to the Heb7^ews, [chap. experience, both in his conversion and his sub- sequent Hfe, force him In Hke manner into the region and atmosphere of eternity. He who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and in- jurious, obtained mercy. True, he had done it Ignorantly in unbeHef. But not merely was his Ignorance wilful, and his unbelief culpable, but only the sovereign, free, and unmerited grace enlightened the ignorance and dispelled the unbe- lief; for, as he himself explains it, '* the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is In Christ Jesus." That is, faith and love were given and implanted by the Lord Himself. By grace was he saved through faith, and that faith not of himself, It was the gift of God. While this was to him a matter of experience and consciousness, the grace which thus visited him led still further to its origin. When the Lord called \\\xs\^ He said that Paul was a chosen vessel unto him ; and so the apostle, looking back on this momentous crisis of his life, writes : " When It pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me." Hence he traces his conversion to the electing love of God, even as salvation is a free and perfect gift of divine righteousness and life. Thus he writes also to the Thessalonians, " Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came unto you not in word only, but also X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 193 in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." But look to the subsequent life of the new- born soul. In the manifold trials and sufferings, in the fluctuating and distressing conditions of our spiritual life, in the fierce and subtle tempta- tions of pride and of despondency, what is the consolation, the encouragement, the cordial of the Christian.'^ Is it not this: ''And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called ac- cording to His purpose"? And again, ''Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect ? " And again, "He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." And again, "The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom." Is not the election of God that ocean of love which surrounds our earthly Christian life as an island, and which we can never lose out of sight for any length of time ? Is it not our ultimate refuge in our weakness, in our afflictions, in our trials ? Thus we ascend to the eternal counsel of God, whether we consider the character of the gospel dispensation in its relation to the law, or the divine righteousness and life through faith in the crucified Saviour, or the work of grace in conversion, or the spiritual experience of the believer. All things are of II. o 194 ^^^ Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. God. Infinite love from all eternity purposed to clothe us with divine and perfect righteousness, to renew us unto an incorruptible inheritance, and this through the gift and the self-devotedness of the Son. Of the eternal counsel of God, Jesus crucified is the centre and manifestation. For, '' Lo, I come," was the voice of the Son of God from all eternity. As the apostle had been speaking of Christ in this whole section, it cannot surprise us that he introduces (v. 5) Christ speaking, without specially saying so ; nor can we wonder that a word of David is quoted as the word and self-testimony of the Lord ; for in this whole epistle the funda- mental and all-comprehensive meaning of the Holy Ghost in the prophetic word is everywhere referred to, without dwelling on the mediating person and circumstances, in connection with which the passage originally occurs. Hence the mind with which the son of Jesse, anointed by God to be king, enters on his royal calling, and which finds its expression in the 40th Psalm, is viewed here as the expression of the eternal mind of David's Lord, with which He entered into the world. He came to offer unto God that which sacrifice and burnt-offering could only shadow forth. In the sin-offering, death, due to the offerer, was transferred to the sacrifice ; in the burnt-offering, one already accepted expressed his will to offer X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 195 himself wholly unto the will of God. How per- fectly, and above all finite conception, was this twofold sacrifice fulfilled in Christ. The obedience which He rendered unto God was perfect ; for it was the obedience of the Son of God, commenc- ing in His eternal purpose, to do the salvation- will of the Father ; the atonement, which He brought, was of infinite value and delight to the Father, for He offered Himself by the eternal Spirit. The contrast is between the sacrifices and a person. These typical sacrifices the Psalmist, or rather Messiah, declares that God would not have; now He offers Himself. This is the one offering which is perfect, and in which God is pleased. The Father prepared a body for Him. All creation and providence centre in Christ* The election of the Jewish nation and their whole history may be viewed as the body, the channel prepared by God, that through it Christ should come. But the chief meaning is, that the humanity of Christ was pre- pared of the Father, even as it was called into existence by the Holy Ghost and assumed by * On the translation of the LXX,, " A body hast Thou prepared me," for the original, " Mine ears hast Thou digged or bored for me," A. Pridham remarks : " The ancient translators, justly appre- ciating the expression as a metaphor of personal devotedness (compare Exod. xxi. 1-6), unwittingly furnished, in their very free version of this passage, the exactest expression of a truth far hidden from their sight. The Holy Ghost accordingly adopts it here as a just interpretation of His own prophetic words." 196 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. Himself. The original expression of the Psalmist, " Mine ears hast Thou bored," refers to the sym- bolical act by which a slave, who offered himself of his own accord to belong to his master, was set apart to willing obedience of his freely-chosen lord. It points out the same fact, of which the pro- phets so frequently speak, that the Lord would come, the Divine One, sent by God, the perfect Servant of God ; one whose ear the Lord had opened, who knew and loved and accomplished the will of God, though it implied sorrow, shame, agony, and death.* When the insufficiency of all sacrifices had been proved, when the powerless- ness of the law had been made manifest, in the fulness of time the Sent One came to fulfil that eternal counsel of which the volume of the book — that is, the Scripture — had written. The original reference is doubtless to the Pentateuch, the roll of the law. Of this fundamental portion of Scrip- ture it can be said emphatically, "In the roll of the book it is written of Me." It is with peculiar significance that Jesus said unto the Jews, ''If ye believe not Moses' writings, how shall ye believe my words ? Moses wrote of Me."t Ii^ these books of Scripture, containing the basis on which the whole subsequent superstructure rests, we have unfolded to us the plan of salvation, beginning with the most comprehensive and far-reaching * Isaiah xli.-liii. t John v. X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 197 promise of the Seed of the woman. Here we read of the Seed of Abraham, in whom all nations shall be blessed ; the Shiloh, unto whom shall be the gathering of the nations ; the Star of Jacob, whose shall be the dominion. In the books of Moses we have many types of Christ's sufferings and mediation. And as the books of Moses are evidently the commencement of a series of records of divine dealings with Israel, the volume of the book has a more extended meaning, and refers to the whole Scripture. The written Word of God is thus connected with God's eternal counsel, and the authority and inspiration of Scripture insepa- rably linked with the most hallowed and tender associations. Jesus, in all His acts and steps, in all His struggles and sufferings, not merely fulfilled the Scriptures, but, continually pondering them in His heart as the revealed counsel of His heavenly Father, arid as the infallible testimony concerning Himself, His great purpose was to fulfil them. See how, after His resurrection, Jesus connects the counsel of God, the written Word, and the actual accomplishment* ''In the volume of the Book it is written of Christ ; " because Christ was set up from ever- lasting in the counsel of the ever-blessed Godhead. When we think of this, we see the connection between our salvation and the eternal purpose of * Luke xxiv. 44-47. iqS The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. God, the manifestation of God's glory, the Father's good pleasure, and the Saviour's reward and crown. We then begin to feel how much is implied in the simple truth that God is well pleased with the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. From all eternity God, according to His good pleasure which He had purposed in Himself, chose us in Christ, that we should be to the praise of His glory.* Notice the expression, "^good pleasure." It was God's eternal delight, this purpose of self-manifestation in grace; His counsel and election centre in the Son of His love, in the Only-begotten. When, according to this eternal counsel, and the Father's good pleasure, the Word was made flesh, the whole life of Jesus on earth was the manifestation of the eternal counsel, the expression of the Father's will, and of the Son's free concurrence, and therefore the object of Jehovah's infinite delight. " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," said the voice from the highest glory of the man Christ Jesus, the Incarnate Word ; and again, on the mount of transfiguration, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear Him." In this elect servant the Father had His delight, even as it was the meat of Jesus to do the will ; that is, to carry out the salvation-purpose of the Father. Knowing the will of God, He * Eph. i. 3-10, especially 5 and 9. X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 199 delighted in it. He never hesitated, He never swerved. Perfect was His love, His gentleness, His patience, His alacrity; perfect was His manifestation of the divine purpose of love. He went on from strength to strength. His was the path which shined more and more unto the perfect day — yes, day ; for that was the perfect day of light inextinguishable, of love invincible, of holiness unsullied, when the Father hid His coun- tenance from Jesus, and He, deserted of God, continued to love the Father that sent Him. It Is a merciful arrangement of the divine bene- volence that we do not see and know our suffer- ings before they come, and that we are 'distracted from the anticipation of sorrow and pain by the varied duties, cares, and joyous gleams of our lives. But our blessed Lord knew from the com- mencement of His earthly ministry the sufferings that awaited Him. Never for a moment did He lose sight of the cup, the sword, the cross. Every source of agony was present to His mind. The enmity of the Pharisees, the ingratitude of His nation, the weakness of His disciples, the betrayal of Judas, were foreseen by Him from the begin- ning. He foretold not merely His rejection, but all the detail of His last days ; all the fearful fea- tures of Israel's ingratitude, hate, cruelty, and con- tempt. Yet He continued faithful to the Father's will ; He abode in the love which had chosen 200 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. sinners to be redeemed ; He who was holy, harm- less, and separate from sinners, was willing to lay- down His life as a ransom for them ; He who was higher than the heavens, and needed no sacrifice for Himself, was willing to enter through His blood into the holy of holies. Perfect Is the offer- ing, because Christ's humanity Is perfect, because In perfect liberty He laid down His life for the sheep. When Jesus offered Himself unto the Father, and as our Substitute bore our sins In His own body (that same body which the Father had pre- pared for Him, as the channel of obedience), Jesus, although made a curse for us, was unto God a sweet-smelling savour, He who in the mysterious hour of darkness had cried, *' My God," returns again to the full consciousness and enjoyment of that word " Father," which, In Its eternal and infinite depth, belongs only to the Son. Knowing that the Father was pleased, and that the full love of the Father was resting on Him because He laid down His life for the sheep, Jesus gave up the Ghost. Then God raised and exalted Him, for It pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell In Christ. Now it Is according to this same good pleasure, to this same eternal, free, Infinite delight, that God calls and converts souls through the foolishness of preaching ; that He gives unto us the adoption of children, and the forgiveness of X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 201 sins : it is the Father s good pleasure to keep the Httle flock, and afterwards to give them the king- dom and the glory, together with Jesus. It is all in Jesus, for Jesus' sake, through Jesus ; it is all a most joyous, free, loving gift, flowing out of the innermost eternal depths of the Godhead ; and therefore God says so emphatically, " I, even I, am He that forgiveth thine iniquities; I, even I, am thy God." God is pleased (that is, in the Scripture sense of the word), God is infinitely delighted with Christ, as the incarnate Son and as the Saviour of believers. Here only is perfect peace. It is not merely that we are forgiven, but that for Christ's sake we are forgiven, through the God-pleasing obedience ; it is not merely that we are acquitted and declared just, but that God has brought near His own righteousness, and clothed us with Christ Himself; it is not merely that we are renewed, but that we who died together with Christ, are co- risen with Him, and that the God and Father of Jesus is in Him our God and our Father. How marvellous and heavenly is this salvation by grace through faith ! Here all is gold, that is divme. We are found in Christ, and where is Christ found ? Where else but in the bosom of the Father ? We have nothing but what is divine, the righteousness, which is by faith in Christ and which is of God, and the life which Christ the risen Saviour has breathed into our hearts. And all 202 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. this, and we In all this, are a joy to God. Lo, I come ! was the voice of eternal filial love and obedience. How precious are we to the Father - — the fruit of Christ's obedience, of that which for ever is most precious and fragrant unto the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is there any believer who has received the pardon of sin in Christ, and who yet goes doubt- ing, mourning with a dull conscience, and with a heart that is not filled with the sweetness of God's peace } You cannot forgive yourself ; you cannot forget your past ; you cannot overlook your con- stant sins and failures, or cease to mourn over your indwelling corruption ? By a strange duality there is in your soul an elder son, who does not understand why the prodigal should be arrayed with the best robe, and that now only the voice of melody and rejoicing should be heard ? Do you not know that your frequent failures and falls do not hinder His love, that His peace is ever in you, though you are not always consciously in His peace ? In Him as your representative and head the Father is pleased. God calls you no longer forsaken and desolate, but Hephzi-bah and Beulah. And when you behold this eternal, never-varying love of God which is in Christ Jesus ; that love which was before time ; that love which gave up the Son ; that love which shall keep you for ever ; when you behold the love of Jesus, combining all X.1 The Epistle to the Hebrews. 203 that is shadowed forth in the love of friend, of brother, of mother, of husband ; that love which bore your sin on the cross, which bears you now on His High-priestly heart in heaven, which looks on you with sweet faithfulness and pity after you denied Him, then, though sin appear more loath- some and bitter, rest and rejoice in Christ, abide in the sanctuary, whither you have boldness to enter by the blood of Jesus. He is ever the same. There, where we doubt Him most, He is, if I may so say, strongest. "We doubt not His all-wisdom or His all-might. That He is all-love is difficult to believe when we feel our grievous sin." Yet is this His great (I had well-nigh said His only) grief with us, that we do not always run to Him with our burden, our unbelief, our many stains and falls. The only punishment Jesus imposeth upon sinning believers is, that they humble themselves to receive His love, and to be beautified with His salvation ; He is not willing that they should remain in the gloomy night, but should return to the light of His countenance. Let all who mourn in Zion, turn constantly from the misery they feel, to the blessedness they trust in ; from the sight of self, fragmentary and sinful, to the sight of Jesus, in whom we are holy and complete. While you say, I am vile, and abhor myself, say in meekness and faith, God delights in Jesus ; God delights in me. LECTURE X. OUR PERFECTION. Hebrews x. 5-18. A GAIN we look to heaven, and behold Jesus -^^^ seated at the right hand of God ; and again with adoring joy we say, "He hath perfected for ever by the one offering all that are sanctified." He who said, " Lo, I come : in the volume of the book it is written of Me," is now seated on the throne of God. His very attitude proves that the work is finished. Fulfilled are the types, imperfect and needing constant repetition, and never bring- ing true purification and access unto God. The Aaronic high priest stood before the altar to repeat the same sacrifices, which could not take away sins. Christ has taken away and abolished sin, and at the right hand of God only one thing is before Him — His second advent in glory and power. He is now waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.* * "From henceforth" might also be translated "for the rest," or "besides." Thus Kurtz views it (comparing Eph. vi. 10 ; Phil, iii. I, 4, 8 ; I Thess. iv. i ; 2 Thess. iii. i) : Christ has finished the X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 205 As under the Levltical dispensation, with its constantly-repeated sacrifices, and the yearly en- trance of the high priest, there was no true, real, and final remission of sin, so now, since Christ is seated in heaven, the apostle argues, it follows that there is no more remembrance of sin. The Holy Ghost Himself witnessed by the prophet Jeremiah, that the new covenant was connected with complete and eternal forgiveness of sin. If so, there can be no more offering for sin. The characteristic feature of the New Testament stand- ing of believers is, that they are free from sin in the sight of God, and that always and for ever. *' No more remembrance of sin ; " because Christ is seated at the right hand of God. This is our sanctification ; this is our standing before God. The sacrifice of Christ is perfect ; it was based upon the eternal will of the Godhead. The Son said, " Lo, I come to do Thy will ;" and in the eternal Spirit He offered Himself, thus ful- filling the salvation-will of God. The sacrifice, flowing out of eternal and infinite love, possesses absolute perfection, never-ceasing efiicacy. And work of redemption. What is still wanting — the subjugation of all enemies — He can await quietly till God fulfills the promise. Christ is represented as sitting on the throne for ever (unless " for ever" is taken in connection with the One sacrifice for sins), and yet we believe that Christ will come to establish His kingdom on earth. Kurtz remarks that in His second advent the Lord comes on and with the throne of God, in His divine glory and power. 2o6 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. by this one offering we are set apart unto God. "Jehovah our Righteousness" is the name by which we call the Lord. In the Lord Christ are we ever before the Father, and in the light and perfection of Christ the Father regards us. Thus, although sins constantly interrupt our communion and our enjoyment of God's favour, nothing can interrupt our position before God, or the repre- sentative position of Christ, the Advocate with the Father. Our righteousness is unchangeable as it is perfect ; it, or rather He, is always before the Father, and for us, and the Father Himself always loves us. Access to God is always open ; the sin-laden and defiled child finds always the Father and the interceding Lord. Oh, it requires much humility, and it makes the heart bleed in great sorrow and contrition, to believe that while we sin and forget God, the throne remains unchanged — • the throne of grace ; that the love of the Father and of the Son never varies ; that our Righteous- ness and Perfection in the once offered Victim remain always the same ; that He loves us with an everlasting love ; that He hath redeemed us with an everlasting redemption ; that He remem- bers our sins no more ; and that we are always before Him in Christ Jesus. Believers in Jesus Christ rest in the eternal love of God. "It is good to be here." Let us in the light of our chapter dwell again on this high and comforting truth. X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 207 True, the Son of God came in the fulness of time ; in these last times the Lamb without blemish and without spot was manifest, and was crucified ; but He was verily fore-ordained before the foundation of the world. It was in time that we heard the call of the Gospel, that we trusted in Jesus, and received the adoption of sons ; but the Father called us according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Our salvation is of God, of the Father, who chose us before the beginning of time ; and of the eternal Son, who, in the deep counsel of the ever- blessed Trinity, undertook to redeem us and to bring us unto glory ; and of the Spirit, who in the same eternal love was appointed to enlighten, quicken, and renew the elect unto the blessedness of the everlasting inheritance. This eternal, absolute, free, and unchanging love is revealed and given to us in the Lord Jesus, who by one offering has perfected for ever all who believe in His name. By His death He has separated us from our guilt and death, and brought us unto God. He has sanctified Himself for us, and us in Him.* Believers have been sanctified and presented unblamable before the Father in the person of the Lord Jesus. The Father s good * John xvii. 19. 2o8 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. pleasure or delight rests now on the people for whom Jesus died. Thus God is always beholding us in Christ, and with eternal love. He beholds neither iniquity in Jacob, nor doth He see perverseness in Israel ; although we stand before Him in the brightness of the all-revealing light. He sees us clothed with white garments, and cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ His Son. And although we are constantly failing and falling, yet doth He behold our faith as never failing, and ourselves as firm as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but standeth fast for ever. With never-changing fervency and tender- ness of love God beholds us chosen, redeemed, sanctified in Christ Jesus. Perfection is now given to all who believe. God Himself is our salvation. Jehovah Himself is our righteousness. Christ's inheritance is our inheritance. The source is eternal love, self-moved, infinite, ocean without shore ; the channel is free abounding grace, the gift is eternal life, even life by the Holy Ghost in oneness with Jesus ; the foundation is the obedience of Christ, eternal in its origin, infinite in its value, and unspeakably God-pleasing in its character. How willing are we to forsake our own thoughts, to give up our own righteousness, to forget our works and feelings, and to stand still, in awe and joyous adoration beholding Jehovah bringing near His salvation X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 209 and His righteousness ! " Of God are we in Christ Jesus, whom God hath made for us wisdom, and righteousness, and santification, and redemption : that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." But let me remind you, believers, and let me testify to you who are yet without the dear Lord, how this eternal love came to us. In Jesus, the Friend of sinners, the Good Shepherd, the light of eternity shone with gentle and healing rays into our hearts. The death of Jesus on the cross was the open page, in which we read the eternal love, the holy and yet gracious purpose of the Father. The voice which called the heavy-laden and weary ones attracted us, and He gave us rest, and thus the eternal counsel was revealed to us as babes. Stooping to our lowest need, and declaring to us the forgiveness of sins, Jesus lifted us up even unto the Father's house, and assured us of mercy which is from everlasting to ever- lasting. Jesus is that sweet bosom of eternal love, where poor and needy sinners can rest ; and in the wounds of Jesus, in His blood, we read our eternal election, and the infinite love of God to us. And of this we have assurance in the Scripture. Will not God's written Word suffice ? Behold, Jesus Himself lived and died to fulfill what was written ; and it was to His mind the same thing II. P 210 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. to say, that the Scriptures are fulfilled, and that the eternal will of God is accomplished. He not merely meditated on the written Word of God with constant delight, He not merely used the Scripture as His one unfailing weapon against the adversary; but He fulfilled the Scripture, because in the volume of the book God's eternal will is written. He went up to Jerusalem to be crucified in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled. He did not ask of the Father to send Him legions of angels ; for how then would the Scripture be ful- filled, that thus it must be } " The things that are written concerning Me must be accomplished." See then how Jesus regarded the Scripture as the perfect, most reliable, all-sufficient expression of God's eternal and secret will. What unbelief then is it on our part not to recognize in the written Word the very mind and will of God ! No voice from heaven, no vision, no authority can be compared with the volume of the book which Christ came to fulfill by His death and resurrection. If we could have heard the counsel of eternity, the word of the Father to the Son, ere time began, we could have no greater certainty than now, when we listen to Scripture, the echo in time of the counsel in eternity. God Himself is here speaking ; the word proceedeth out of His mouth. Now as Christ said, "In the volume of the book X.1 The Epistle to the Hebrews. 211 it is written of Me," to come, to live, to die, to rise, so say, "In the volume of the book it is written of me: Israel, thou hast destroyed thy- self; but in Me is thy help ;" and again; '' I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions ;" and again, " Fear not : I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by name ; thou art mine ;" and again, '' Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; and again, " By one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." Thus between Jesus and believers there is a strong and tender tie which binds them to the Scripture. Jesus believed and fulfilled the written Word- According to that written Word, He obeyed and suffered ; according to that written Word, He hoped and looked forward to His reward and exaltation. The last word uttered by. the eternal Word on the cross was from the Scripture. What a sure and blessed word of prophecy is ours ! It came from God ; it Avas fulfilled by Jesus, and sealed with His own blood ; it comes to us through the channel of Christ Himself; of Christ's faith, of Christ's prayers, of Christ's inmost spiritual heart -life, of Christ's broken body. We can rely on all its promises'; our faith builds on the very words of the almighty and ever-blessed God ; and in this also are we conformed to the image of His dear Son. 212 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. And this very aspect of truth, which has occu- pied us of late, the eternal counsel, is revealed to us in Scripture that we may have the more abun- dant assurance of the divinity of this written Word. Where but in Scripture do we breathe the atmos- phere of eternity ? Where but here is God re- vealed ? Oh, with what majesty, and yet with what condescending familiarity, does God reveal Him- self, and unfold to us His thoughts and His ways ! God reveals His infinite majesty. His ineffable holiness, His sovereign glory, that the creature may be filled with humility, and veiling his face, adore with fear and trembling. God reveals His truth and justice. His goodness and faithfulness, His wrath and jealousy, that the sinner may confess in contrition his guilt, and cry out of the depths. But Jehovah delights in comforting His people, and speaking to the broken and wounded heart of Jerusalem. He desires truth in the hidden part, and therefore, after convincing us of our sin and wretchedness. He reveals His overwhelming and abounding grace, the fulness of His love, the grandeur of His salvation, that the poor and afflicted ones may go forth with perfect trust, with joyous self-surrender, to meet the Bridegroom. How touching is the sweetness of God! Clouds and darkness are round about His throne, and He rebukes Israel, and testifies to them X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 213 of their hardness and iniquity ; but again and again the deepest thought of God — that is, sal- vation— and the never-changing method of God — that is, mercy — burst forth, and with motherly tenderness and comforting iteration. He says again and again, Fear not, I am the Saviour. And then He takes them into His confidence. He un- veils to them His purpose, He speaks to them of His cherished plans, of that future glory which will be His joy and their blessedness. Behold, He says, where and how I have prepared all for you. Behold, my servant! I have made Him a leader and commander to the people. He tells us of that counsel between Himself and the Lord the Messiah, and how Davids Son is to suffer and to die, and how God is to raise and reward Him, and to make Him Israel's everlasting glory and the light of the Gentiles. And then the soul is lifted above time, and its own thoughts, works, merit, and strength^ into the eternal and infinite love, the salvation of God, the joy of God. And in Jesus, the Son of God incarnate, the mes- sage is still more perfect, more simple ; He speaks with the utmost plainness, without parable ; His words are with such condescension, transparency, homeliness, and sweetness, that the heart is per- fectly satisfied, and all that is within us magnifies the Lord. '' I came from the Father, and again I go to the Father." This is all. I came, according 214 1^^^ Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. to eternal love, to die for you ; I go again to the Father, that this eternal love may be yours for evermore. The soul responds with the disciples, " Now speakest thou plainly." The eye is opened to be- hold Him, ascended to His God and to our God, to His Father and to our Father. We know now that the love with which the Father loved Jesus embraces us also, and folds us with everlasting safety and Infinite tenderness. And the highest mystery is unveiled : " I In them, and thou In Me. I am the Vine, my Father Is the Husbandman, ye are the branches." The word '' perfected" falls with a strange sound on those who are experiencing dally their sad Im- perfections. But the Christian Is a strange paradox. We are unknown, yet well known ; chastened, yet not killed ; dying, and, behold, we live ; poor, yet making many rich ; having nothing, yet possessing all things. Let me speak to you then of this two- fold aspect of the Christian. You may be caught up into the third heaven, and yet the abundance of this revelation will not burn up the dross that is within you, or kill the old man, the flesh which warreth against the Spirit. On the contrary, there is the danger imminent and great, as there was to the apostle Paul, lest you be exalted above mea- sure, and dream of victory and enjoyment while you are still on the battle-field, and called to fight X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 215 the good fight of faith, to crucify every day the old man, and to have no confidence, still less compla- cency, in the flesh. The Psalms of David the son of Jesse are not yet ended ; the Solomon period of peace and glory has not yet come. A Christian is known by his difficulties, struggles, conflicts, tears, groans, as well as by his thanksgiving and joy. We have died once in Christ, and in Christ are accepted and perfect ; but our old nature is not dead, the flesh in us is not annihilated, there is still within us that which has no pleasure in the will and ways of God. Painful this struggle will ever be, though God is with us, and our joy is greater than our pain. And thus while our soul is rooted in God, in endless and changeless love, while we dwell in God, in the secret place of the Most High, and have by Christ been taken out of our own misery and wretchedness into the home and sanc- tuary above; yet are we kept in great humility, self- abasement, watching, and painfulness. We have in us the death of Adam, and we have in us the resurrection of Jesus Christ. By the one we are broken and tormented through sin, and darkness, and sluggishness, and earthliness, and gloom ; by Christ we are raised, and strengthened, and com- forted. We sin, we fall, we carry about with us a mind resisting God's will, criticising it, and rebel- ling ; and we shall experience to the very last breath we draw on earth, that there is a conflict, 2i6 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. and that we must strive and suffer in order to be faithful unto death. Hear how at the end of his journey the apostle says of himself, not that he was, but that he is, chief of sinners. Is he a saint ? He calls him- self less than the least of God's saints. Is he an apostle ? he adds, I am not meet to be an apostle. So we confess daily our sin and our sins, and con- demn ourselves whenever we appear before God ; yet are we perfect in Christ Jesus. Deeper than all our grief is the melody of the heart, and always can we rejoice in God. And in this song of praise, in this joyous melody, is our deepest humility ; for the new song says nothing else but ''grace, grace." His love is always resting on us, though He is grieved at our falls, and has to hide His counte- nance and to chasten us ; yet does He love us all the time. Even while we are forgetting and for- saking Him, His motherly pity and forethought prepare our welcome, while His priestly interces- sion keeps our faith from failing. Nay, His love has ordered it, that even our sins and backslidings should lose us no time ; for He deepens His work in us, and through the bitter experience of trans- gressions and of our own weakness leads us to a greater sense of His love and to greater strength of obedience. And you, dear Christian, if you can believe this, will find that it will make sin very bitter to you, X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews, 217 and yourself meek and quiet like a weaned child, and that you will wonder how such a one as you can be loved by God at any time, and at all times, without change and wavering. Then will your heart fear and be enlarged ; you will be amazed how God has kept you, how Jesus has prayed for you, how the Holy Ghost has restored and com- forted you for so many years, through so many days and weeks of your neglect, and coldness, and sin, and disobedience. You will be ashamed ; you will not think of saying, your dross is con- sumed, and that you see nothing in yourself, but delight in Jesus ; you will say. Thy grace, Lord Jesus, is sufficient for me ! The robes are white ; but it is because He loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. Unto you also I lift up my voice in the love and compassion of my Lord ; unto you who are still in the horrible pit and in the miry clay, who know not the royal clemency of the Sovereign God, eternal, infinite love to the sinner; nor Jesus, who became the sinner's Saviour and Brother, by taking upon Him our nature, and by dying as our Substitute, our Mother, bringing us forth by His soul-travail and agony on the cross. What a multitude of sick- nesses, sorrows, fears, and evils lie upon you, and the remedy is near. There is forgiveness for sin, there is deliverance from death, there is renewal for the heart, there is the living God for the sinner 2i8 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [x. in time and eternity. It is near you ; the Word is in your mouth ; God's Word on which you can rely. Behold Jesus ! saith God, He who came to do my will, to fulfill my counsel for the sinner s salvation. LECTURE XL FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE. Hebrews x. 19-25. nPHE apostle's great argument Is concluded, ■*- and the result is placed before us in a very short summary. We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way ; and we have in the heavenly sanc- tuary a great Priest over the house of God. All difficulties have been removed, perfectly and for ever. We have access ; and He who is the way Is also the end of the way; He Is even now our great Priest, interceding for us, and our all-suffi- cient Mediator, providing us with every needful help. On this foundation rests a threefold exhortation. I. Let us draw near with a true heart, In the full assurance of faith. 2. Let us hold fast the pro- fession of hope without wavering. 3. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, labouring and waiting together, and 2 20 The Epistle to the Hebrews. [chap. helping one another" in the unity of brethren. Faith, hope, and love — this is the threefold result of Christ's entrance into heaven, spiritually dis- cerned. A believing, hoping, and loving attitude of heart corresponds to the new covenant revela- tion of divine grace. " Brethren," the apostle here significantly calls believers. He does not mean so much '' his brethren ;" but, including himself, he looks unto the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we are sanctified. For, as he taught before, He who sanctified and they who are sanctified are of one ; for which reason He took upon Him flesh and blood. He Is not ashamed to call us brethren. Thus we who believe stand before the Father. The eternal election - love of the Father in Christ ; the present and everlasting delight of the Father in the accomplished sacrifice, and in the representative position of the Saviour ; the perfect High Priestly mediation of the Lord, who remem- bers His earthly experience, sorrow, and temptation — these are now the bright and yet peaceful heights to which we lift our eyes. And we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus ; for the Holy Ghost witnesses,} that there is no * It would lead too far from the scope of the passage to enter into the connection subsisting between these three gifts of grace. Suffice it to remind the reader of their frequent conjunction in Scripture. Col. i. 4, 5 ; i Thess. i. 3 ; i Cor. xiii. 13 ; i Peter i. t The expression [xaprvpel 5k ijfuv Kai rb irvevfia rb ciyiou is very im- X.] The Epistle to the Hebrews. 221 more offering for sin, for the very reason, that God, on account of the one offering of Christ, will remember our sins no more, (vv, 15-18.) There is now no barrier ; we have a free and unfettered right of access.^ We are not as Israel of old ; not even as the Levites, who were excluded from the Holiest ; not even like Aaron, who only once a year entered, and that in darkness, and for a few moments; unto us is given boldness, right, permission, to enter into the presence of God; for the blood of Jesus Christ, by which He entered Himself, opened the door to us also. Jesus is both the way and the door, even as He is also the end of the way ; and inside the door we portant. It is in harmony with the teaching of our blessed Lord in the Gospel of John, and with the Pauline teaching in Rom. viii. and I Cor. ii. It brings before us the following important and comforting truths : 1. The personality of the Holy Ghost, who searcheth the deep things of God, of the Father, and of the Son. 2. The relation subsisting between the Scripture and the Spirit. The words of Scripture are the testimony of the Spirit. 3. The Spirit witnesses to the individual believer in and by the Scripture. 4. The gracious object of the Holy Ghost is to show us our perfection in Christ Jesus. Let us ever hold fast in a living and experimental faith the doctrine of the Divine Authority and inspiration of Scripture, and never be disturbed by high-sounding phrases of liberty and Spirit ; for only where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty, and the Spirit is with and in the written Word. * It is evident that the expression irappiiffLa must be understood here objectively, not subjectively, else the subsequent exhortation would be unmeaning. 222 The Epistle to the Hebrews, [chap. are brought again into His gracious presence. That veil which hid the Holiest, which on the day of crucifixion " was rent in twain from the top to the bottom,"'^ symbolized the flesh of Christ. It was in order to die that the Son of God took part of flesh and blood, f The humanity in which the glory of the Only-begotten was revealed was, in its aspect of weakness and before His suffering of death, also a veil, separating Him as Son of Man and our Representative, as well as us, from the holy of holies. But when He tasted death for us, the veil was rent, and then Jesus with His own blood entered into the heavenly sanctuary, leaving an open w^ay of access unto all believers. This is the new and living way consecrated by Christ. It is called new,| for before the death of our Lord no believer and worshipper was able to enter thus into the presence of the Most High. This "perfection," which pertains to the con- science, this absolute confidence, this acceptance in the Beloved, this standing in Christ, belongs to the new covenant, though grace prepared and kept the ancient believers under its safe and sheltering wings. The way is called new, because the efficacy and strength of Christ's atonement is ever the same. As the poet says, not so much by the power of imagination, as of faith, "dear dying * Matt, xxvii. 51. f Heb. ii. 14. X ■irp6s