PRIESTHOOD and law, as wrongly applied, are two giant oppressors of God's people, and two great robbers of the glory of Christ. Men do not, or will not, see God's necessity for changing the system of Judaism, because they do not, or will not, see the glory of Christ. And the reason we do not see the glory of Christ is because we are so full of ourselves. It may be our works, our religion, our church organizations, our preachers. But we say it without fear of contradiction, that immediately a saved soul sees the glory of Christ, he is free from priesthood and law, and rejoices in Him whom God has exalted.
There are many who would indignantly thrust aside every thought and teacher that insinuated the sacrifice of Christ was not sufficient, who will yet allow thoughts and teachers hinting that there is such a thing as a mere man standing between God and His people. Now one of the present glories of our Lord is His priesthood; it is a part of His gracious work for His people who are upon the earth. He stands their High Priest, in God's presence for them. He upholds them on their way to heaven. He intercedes for them. By Him they draw near to God. He has joy in this blessed office of His, and God will allow none to interfere with His Son in this work. As God will reject for all eternity every sinner that pretends to come into His presence save by Jesus, so too does God refuse the officiousness of those who thrust themselves between His people and Him, asserting that they occupy a more intimate place than their fellow-men, and that they are, by reason of their office, in a nearer position to God than other men. We say God rejects and refuses all this pretension because He loves to glorify His Son.
The Scripture gives us an insight of heaven after the death of our Lord, and it is of deep importance that we should know what is there. Fresh from His conquest of Satan, the grave, sin, He went up on high, and God appointed Him to be High Priest. (Heb. 8:11Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; (Hebrews 8:1).) We see Him now, the man Christ Jesus, the glorified, the exalted—having entered the heavens by His own blood (as Aaron entered the holiest on the day of atonement) in the presence of God "for us." He has gone within the veil by His own blood "for us;" God beholds Him there "for us," and He bears the burden of all His people's infirmities there—He ever lives to make intercession for them there, in the very presence of God.
Christ being God's High Priest in heaven, there is no longer left a place for priests on earth (except the priesthood of all believers). Hence God has changed the whole system of priesthood. The earthly order of priesthood is set aside, there is no longer a successional priesthood, men are no longer called to the priesthood, but the priesthood is after Melchisedec as to order—a royal priesthood, a holy priesthood, a priesthood associated with the person of One whom God delights to honor as priest.
God forbid that we should glory in any other priest save Jesus Christ. What shall we say of those who go back in spirit to that Jewish system which God has changed? who divide between priests and people, and worse, who divide between God's High Priest and His people; who make themselves a hedge between the holiest of all and the worshippers, who practically bind up the rent veil, and keep God's saints outside.
But the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law, and this brings us to that other giant law. Now the law is good, if a man use it lawfully, that is, we may bring the law to condemn the sinner and to slay him; but if we put the poor singer who feels his sins under the law, we are enemies of the cross of Christ, and enemies, too, of His glory within the holiest of all.
“Of necessity," saith the Scripture, there is a change of the law; and the needs be is the glory of Christ. It would not consort with His majesty that the word spoken by angels should have a place with that salvation which Christ preached. There needed a change. Priests are set aside, and law is set aside, in order that Christ may be everything.
We would say to any beloved soul who is contending for the law as his rule of life, Consider God's necessity! Consider that as the priesthood is changed —that order of men who taught Israel the law—so also Christ and His salvation have taken the place of law which they taught. Consider, if you go back to the law, you leave Christ. You cannot have part Christ and part law, for this God will not permit. If you want the law then you must content yourself with the priests, if you have Christ you have salvation, and Him as your priest. The law made nothing perfect. It never made a man perfect in peace, righteousness, or joy. It was weak and unprofitable, for it gave no strength to the sinner to obey its commands, and produced no fruit in him. When a believer puts himself under law he begins to "do," he tries his best; and this is a sliding away from Christ. We have not to bring anything to God, we have not to bring Christ to God, for God gave us Christ, and Christ is in God's presence for us. If you say, but I must bring the blood to God by faith, you are doing something, and practically forgetting that God has done everything; you are attempting to give to God, forgetting that God gives, that Christ gives. We have only to believe.
Salvation which the Lord preached has taken the place of law which angels spake. And the salvation is complete. The blood has washed away sins. The cross has ended self in God's sight. The grave has been emptied of its prey. Christ is now in God's presence for us, and as Priest He saves to the uttermost—to the end, all that come unto God by Him.
What a blessed change has God effected for us! Shall we not delight in it? What! shall we go back and clothe ourselves in the old-fashioned garments of Jewish religion, and forget our risen Savior and Priest? Shall we return to temples, to priests and people, to the shadow? No, no—
“The veil is rent, our souls draw near
Unto a throne of grace;
The merits of the Lord appear,
THEY FILL THE HOLY PLACE.”