Foundations Sure and Eternal: An Address to Christians on the Epistle to the Hebrews
Clarence E. Lunden
Table of Contents
Foundations Sure and Eternal
Address to Christians La Mirada General Meetings December 29,1985
Hymn 61
"How wondrous the glories that meet
in Jesus, and from His face shine..."
Please turn with me to the book of Heb. 1 would like to speak of different parts of the epistle this afternoon. It is a big subject, but there are certain portions that I would like to bring out. The subject of Hebrews can be spoken of as "the way into the holiest." We will read the first chapter and then we may notice other verses here and there:
" God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,.- hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the
angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they shall perish; but thou remainest; and they shall all wax old as Both a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. But unto which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"
First of all, we would like to speak about the person of the Lord Jesus. In Hebrews you will find, as we were singing in the little hymn, the Name Jesus. How often that Name comes before us. "Thou shalt call his name JESUS." He has many titles; you can take a piece of typing paper and type out all the titles of Jesus on both sides, and you will still have to have more paper. "Thou shalt call his name JESUS." And, beloved, that brings Him right down close to us-the man Christ Jesus!
Hebrews brings before us a Man. I was walking down the corridor of a university building and have a tremendous foundation. Can you imagine a concrete foundation several yards thick, and spread out over a vast area? It was because it was built on sand. God says don't do that; don't build anything on sand, because it will not last when the floods come. Man builds on sand. But, dear friends, I want to speak of some foundations that are everlasting. Foundations that will last when everything else passes away. We have them here in Hebrews.
First of all, we have the Person of the Lord Jesus before us. He is the full effulgence or expression of all that God is-the Person of Jesus. Do you have stable foundations for your faith? Do you have something to rest upon when the floods come (and they will come)? My dear friends, if you and I were taken home today, those who are unsaved would be left for judgment. And possibly within seven years all of the United States, Canada and Europe would be nothing but dead corpses (See Jer. 25). Why? In Thessalonians is says, "they shall not escape." Every one who has heard the gospel of the grace of God and rejected it will be judged. Oh, how solemn! Do you have foundations?
We notice that the angels are spoken of in this chapter; why? Because it is written to the Jewish people, and they admired angels. They had seen angels, and God had spoken to them by angels. But now we find that the Spirit of God is just setting all the angels aside, and Jesus is taking their place. Made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death; but now He is exalted to the highest place. But then it says, "not yet." Oh yes, in God's sight He is exalted; but not yet. We have to wait a little while, and then the whole world will see the glory of that Person. In the second chapter, after we read, "not yet," it says, "but we see Jesus" (v. 9). We don't see all His glory yet; we are going through the world in a path of rejection. "But we see Jesus." Is that enough for your heart this afternoon, or do you want something else? Do you want someone who can fill and satisfy your heart now, and who will for all eternity? That is Jesus. Who is He? He is the Son of God. But, He is also the firstborn; and, what does that mean? It means that He is the One who is the manifestation of all the power and glory of God in His own person as a man. Think of it-Jesus! -
What else do we have here? "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever..." Who? Jesus. Do you want any better foundation? Do you have those foundations? What else? Jehovah; the Creator-God known to Israel. That is Jesus. Over one hundred times He is referred to in the Old Testament. Yes, Jesus is the Jehovah of the Old Testament.
At the beginning of this chapter we find that He is the creator; but also He has made purgation of sins-almost all in the same expression. The mighty creator of all things is the very One who has made purgation of sins! He is the One who undertook that you might have eternal life. Then it says, "being made so much better than the angels..."
That word "made" really isn't the thought. He was never made anything; He was always the eternal God. But He could say to God, "a body hast thou prepared me." He prepared Him a body; He didn't change His Person. The same Person, but He took on a body. And, the angel said, "thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."
We read also at the beginning of the chapter that, when He was finished with this work, He sat down in His own right at the right hand of God. As the Son of God He sat down. But, at the end of the chapter, we see that He is invited to sit down as Man beside the Father. Jesus as Man is sitting beside the Father! You and I will never sit beside the Father; but we are going to sit beside Jesus, on His own throne! "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever..." That is Jesus. What you are trusting in, is that forever and ever? In Hebrews we are given that which is forever and ever.
In the second chapter, the angels are entirely set aside. In that coming day, the Millennial day, God has not put the authority in the hands of angels; no, He has put it in the hands of Jesus. And there is a day coming (chapter 12) when the power of all those angels will be transferred to Jesus and the Church. Marvelous truth! Then they are called, "His angels" (Matt. 13). When He sends forth His angels, and He comes forth to cleanse the earth for the Millennial day. A man; a race below angels. He took part ever deceived? Yes; in this sense, that He said of Judas, "Mine own familiar friend, in whom my soul trusted... hath lifted up his heel against me." Have you had that experience; a good friend suddenly turn against you? He has had that. Have you had sorrows that you can hardly bear? He has had them. He knows how you feel. Have you had the loss of a loved one? He felt it. Think of His weeping at the grave of Lazarus! Yes, the Lord Jesus knows how to comfort those who have infirmities, trials and difficulty. Then the third order of priesthood-after the order of Melchisedec.
But, before we speak of that, I would like to refer to what we had before us this morning, Gethsemane. Because, Gethsemane comes next in the fifth chapter of Hebrews; not the history of it, but the doctrine of it. (You get the history in Luke.) Oh, what a moment was Gethsemane! There the Lord Jesus stood in the presence of a holy God for us. And, the decision He made there determined whether or not we would have life. It says that the time had come for Him to go up, but He set His face to go to Jerusalem. Why? Because He came to die! There in the presence of a holy God the question comes-the question of will. What was God's will? That holy One was to be made sin for us; and He shrank from it. Oh, what a moment, what a solemn moment! But He answers, "Not my will, but thine be done." "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Never again will that Savior have to go through that. Just once! ...once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." And to those who look for Him, He is coming back-not to take up the subject of sin again, but for salvation. Are you looking for Him? Do you have these secure foundations that cannot be moved?
A priest who has made atonement. A priest who now is here, taking care of your infirmities, and mine. But Melchisedec, this is a priest that has no beginning or end. And He abides a priest continually, because He does not die. Aaron died. We have eternal consolation from this, because the foundations are secure in this priest who will never die. Remember the occasion when Melchisedec met Abram? Abram was in the position where he had a tremendous decision to make. He looks, and there is Melchisedec. Does Melchisedec say anything to him about what he has to do? Not one thing. He just spreads out the bread and the wine. What does that mean? The sovereign grace of God comes in to meet us in our need, and He brings us that which we need for all eternity! The wine speaks of joy, eternal joy. The bread speaks of eternal sustenance. It is all eternal in its character. Melchisedec spreads it all out before Abram, the father of faith. That is your portion, and mine, beloved-Melchisedec. He abides a priest continually.
In the sixth chapter God gives us two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, "that we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us" (verse 16). What are these two immutable things? First, God sware by Himself (verse 13). Then, (chapter 7:17) He sware for that forerunner, "Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec." He never swore in the other priests; but this priest was sworn in for eternity-the man Christ Jesus. "After the order of Melchisedec." Are you resting on solid foundations for your faith? A priest who made atonement? That is passed now. Aaron? That, too, will pass. When the Lord comes, we won't need that type of priesthood any more; our troubles here will be over. But we are going to need Melchisedec for all eternity.
One thing more about Melchisedec; he was a royal priest. He was king on a throne at the same time: King of righteousness, and King of peace. And Jesus will be that for all eternity!
In chapter eight we see that if there has to be a priest after a new order of an endless life, there would have to be a new covenant also. Because, the old covenant depended on men down here in weakness-and they failed. But the new covenant depends upon the priest who comes after the power of an endless life. This has a special application for Israel. (The book of Hebrews was written to Israel; but it is for us.)
We are speaking now of the way into the holiest. Wouldn't it be nice, dear ones, to be in a position where you would never again think of nor remember one single sin that you had ever committed? I will tell you something, God does not remember them-He said so! "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." But, do you know what you have in virtue of what Jesus has done? You have a purged conscience (chapter 9:14.) What does it mean to have a purged conscience? It means that all that which was on the conscience is gone forever! In Hebrews we have that which is forever. A purged conscience. And, friends, unless you and I realize this, we have no liberty in the holiest.
We have spoken of what we have. The Lord Jesus sits on an eternal throne in the first chapter. We didn't mention the house in the third chapter; that is eternal too. "Whose house are we"-the believer. In the fifth chapter we have eternal salvation. In the seventh, a priest-eternal. In the eighth, a covenant for Israel-eternal. (We do not have covenants in heaven.) In the ninth what do we have? Notice (verse 12): "Neither by the blood of goats and of calves, but by his own blood..." Oh, how precious the thought, by His own blood! "... he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us." Redemption is the completion of all His works. It is the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. The bride is spoken of in that way too, because she is connected with that redemption (Eph. 1:23). Yes, redemption completes all His works; Oh, what a Savior!
There are three things in chapter nine that are eternal. We have eternal redemption-bought back, and set free. We have an eternal Spirit (verse 14), and we have an eternal inheritance (verse 15). We repeat again and again that we have in Hebrews that which is eternal. It never changes!
Have you made a profession of Christianity? The sixth chapter says that unless you are real, you are going back; and it is impossible to renew to repentance one who has made a profession and had all the privileges of Christianity, and then rejected Him and turned back, because there is nothing God can offer you as a substitute for Jesus. There is only one Name that God will accept, and that is the Name of JESUS.
Eternal inheritance, what is that? There is a day coming, beloved, when you and I, will be His companions ( it is not the bride here-that is Ephesian truth; in Hebrews it is companions). Isn't that blessed! Can you picture yourself going with the Lord Jesus out over the vast universe that belongs to Him as a man? He became a man so that you and I might share it with Him. Can you picture that-going hand in hand, shall we say, with that blessed Savior out over that vast inheritance of all created things that belong to Jesus? You might be in it tomorrow. Yes, you might; if He came tonight! Is it going to be a real disruption in your life; a tremendous change that takes place? Or, is it a part of your everyday life already?
There are just a few more things I want to speak of. In this book of Hebrews, when the Lord Jesus comes he just sets aside everything that belongs to the old order. Figures and ordinances are all gone.
The tabernacle is gone (He is the tabernacle; He is the priest and the King; He is everything). So, you say, what do we have left that we can see? Everything that you want to see is gone, and the natural heart wants something religious to see. But, is it all gone? No; there is one thing left-one thing that you can see. Turn to chapter 13, verse 10: "We have an altar..." That is Jesus. You say, how can you see that? Chapter 2:9: "We see Jesus..."
In Hebrews we have heavenly things. The Jew was occupied with earthly things. In the third chapter we have our Apostle and High Priest in connection with heavenly things. The Lord, when He speaks to Israel in this book, does not say, "You are dead in trespasses and sins;" He says, "Brethren." Why? Because they were already in relationship with Him. But they needed something better-they needed heavenly things. The remnant of faith in Israel belonged to Him, but they didn't know about heavenly things. He calls them brethren. Then He shows them by the Apostle Paul that all these types and shadows have to do with heavenly things. "We see Jesus." It is by faith; He is now in the heavens.
What we have been speaking to you about is the heavens as they are now. In the Old Testament the heavens were clothed in thick darkness. There was no revelation to man. But here the heavens are opened. We see a Man seated in the heavens, surrounded with glory on every hand. His very Person there is the fragrance that fills all heaven-Jesus; the man Christ Jesus. What will the heavens be like in the eternal state? Still Jesus. All things of God; but, it will still be Jesus! Why? Because, He fills all things. Dear young people, you want to have your hearts filled, don't you? You have a longing there for satisfaction. Let me tell you something: There isn't one thing in this world that will satisfy your heart. And, if Jesus is going to satisfy your heart forever, can't He satisfy it now?
I purposely skipped something in Chapter four, and will call your attention to it now. Heb. 4:9: "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." This verse may not mean as much to some of the younger ones here as it does to many who are older-rest. The Sabbath day was the connection of—the Jews with their Messiah. In the fourth chapter we find that after God had done all His work, He rested on the seventh day. But, dear ones, our rest is on the eight day. It is the new day, where everything is new. And, when we get to heaven, everything will be new, except that we know that Jesus will be there. Rest. Oh, how precious is the thought of rest!
We can speak of all those precious truths in connection with the Father's house from Ephesians; but here we have it from another aspect entirely. It is a rest that remains for the people of God. Not a rest of conscience; we have that already, because in that tenth chapter, we learn that the way into the holiest is through the blood of Jesus. That is all, the blood of Jesus. There is no other way. You say, How can I get into the holiest? You are there! You are there if you are under the blood of Jesus. Do we act like we are in the holiest? How we need to hang our heads! That is our home-our eternal home.
But, what about the rest? It remains for the people of God. Are you one of the people of God? Are you resting on these solid foundations we have been speaking about, that are immovable? (Notice also in the twelfth chapter, verse 28, we also have a, "kingdom which cannot be moved.") Do you want something else? Are you looking for something else in this world? You won't find anything that will equal this! "There remains a rest for the people of God." And, how precious for the laborer on his way home, and as he gets nearer that rest he thinks of that fireside, he thinks of the table set with a lovely meal, and he thinks of those arms around him and the kiss of his loved ones. That is what we are going to have, beloved. "There remaineth a rest for the people of God!"
Hymn 30 (Appendix)
"Rest of the saints in glory,
the laborers bright reward,
How constant sounds before me,
`Forever with the Lord.'
Rest, through the toil of Jesus,
For saints there doth remain;
An endless rest, and precious;
A rest from sin and pain."