The Book of Hebrews is called by the apostle " the word of exhortation." Now, as the harmonious adaptation of the chords of an instrument elicit that peculiar sensation which makes music at once so exhilarating and attractive, so shall we find that it is the true adjustment of truth, as recorded in this epistle, which entitle it to the designation of " the word of exhortation or comfort"; and it depends on our lending our ear attentively to all the notes or sentiments in this piece of divine teaching, whether or not we shall feel rightly or fully the peculiar consolation which flows from them. And in addition, perhaps, one may say that at no time was the truth in this word so needed as now, when a systematic effort is made by men-enlightened men-to impose on the conscience the need of certain bodily exercises, to ensure it acceptance with God, of which the word of exhortation or comfort takes no notice; and hence we may argue A priori, that if the word or account of consolation detailed in this epistle makes no reference to such acts, then consolation can be secured without them, for in the word or account of consolation there is not the remotest allusion to them. In the first chapter we get in one verse the whole of Christ's service summed up-" When He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." In those words are concentrated all the blessings He achieved for us; and as we rightly and fully understand them, do we comprehend the extent and fullness of the blessing? It is how He effected what is thus so succinctly described that supplies materials for the word of exhortation, and which in order is brought before us in this epistle. The sins are purged, and by Himself; and, purged, He is no longer in the circumstances of them or of their influence-He is above all principality and power, and in full acceptable association with the Majesty on high, by which He has been declared the Son of God with power. Now, as Jesus Christ the righteous, though once bearing sins for us, yet He by Himself has purged them, and in the righteousness of God, having accomplished this wonderful service, and unaffected by it, save as manifesting forth more especial glory, He sits down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. It is, I might say, the text of the Book, dividing itself into two heads-1St. His work, and the perfectness of it; and 2ndly, Where He is, and where He maintains the perfectness of this work.
EB 2:3In chap. 2:3 "salvation," not the hope of it, is what we are warned not to neglect; and this cannot be too much insisted on, for it secures the perfectness of Christ's work, as well as the only basis for true peace to our souls. But He is now crowned with glory and honor, perfect through sufferings that is, exalted above them, though passing through them. And this touches a point deeply interesting to us, that forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same, that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear Of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Death was the penalty of our sin. He submitted to it, and challenged its power when in it, exhausting it when under it, entering the prison-house to burst all its bolts and bars, hitherto detaining in bondage the sons of men; but, fatal to the devil's power, He is imprisoned there; and He not only delivers Himself, for He could not be holden, but destroys him who had the power, and henceforth retains Himself the keys of hades and the grave. But not only so, but as a Man He has gone above, a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. He has presented Himself as the spotless lamb to God, having shed His blood in bearing our judgment, and wresting us from the bondage of death, in which till now we were righteously held. This is one cheering note in the word of exhortation, which the apostle' beseeches us to suffer. Christ is now above, having liberated us from the bondage we were judicially subject to here, and thither we follow Him, as fellows or partakers of the heavenly calling; for all our hopes are staked in Him, who of Himself has undertaken all for us. And we are His house (3:6), if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. Not if we attain to anything, or manifest any act, but if we retain the sense of emancipation, the rejoicing of the hope which His work has secured and confirmed, then we are His house; that is, He dwells where and with whom the simple fact of His work is the ground of their liberty and rejoicing of hope. How could He dwell where the effect of His work, the joy of God, could not be acknowledged—where His victory over all enemies could not be proclaimed with unerring certainty and joy-where His reception at the right hand was only at best but a wish and a doubt? Christ could have no house there! The question of morals is not spoken of here, the foundation of them and the characteristics of Christ's house are first insisted on; and a little lower in the chapter we are told that we are fellows or partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. There is nothing here of good works or services of any kind. It is demanded of me to ensure the highest blessing, even to be a partaker of Christ, that I hold the beginning of my confidence-in whom or in what?-surely in Christ's work, firm unto the end; that is, as I retain the foundation for my soul in the work of Christ, I shall know the sustainment of Himself. As I honor in the first step, so will He enlarge me on the truth acknowledged. His work is owned, and He will maintain before my soul the proof of His power, seeing that I own that He is the Redeemer and the Guardian of it.
And here Israel failed. They refused to go up and possess the land, not on the ground of their moral unfitness, but they did not retain any confidence in the sufficiency of God to lead them- and here Caleb excelled them, and could say of God "He will surely bring us in." The word of God with them was not mixed with faith.
It was God and His power they disparaged, and thus forfeited blessing! It was not that they sinned in this or that; immoral ways may have led to this unbelief; but still it was distrust of God's resources, and not their own proper unfitness, which closed Canaan against them. The word of God surely tests us, and is the measure of our confidence in Him; and while doing so, exposes the multiplied hindrances in us to the reception of it or submission to it.
But all this has its blessing for us; for thus, to the exercised soul, the obstacles are discovered. We ourselves are brought to light by it; but though convicted of many an unbelieving spirit, we are not condemned to turn again into the wilderness, like Israel in the moment of their unbelief; but we are exhorted to look up, as having a great High Priest, who is passed into the heavens-Jesus, the Son of God: let us hold fast our profession. Christ has surmounted all the difficulties, why should we be discouraged? and if we doubt, it is not our own ability but His we call in question! for if anything has to be overcome therein, Christ has not triumphed; but if in everything He has overcome, then there is nothing for us; and if we doubt, it is not in our own person we doubt, but the fact of the extent of His. But He is in this exalted place, not only as we have seen a priest making reconciliation for the sins of the people, which He has done; and in the power and grace by which He was sustained on the way to it, does He succor all now on the same road. As He was tempted in His course, He is able to succor those who are following in the same course. But not only so, as we see in the passage before us; but He is a High Priest touched with the feeling of our infirmities, who was tempted in all points, like as we are, apart from sin. He knows our difficulties; and though He was exposed to them, He passed sinless through them; and now above the reach of them, and beside the throne of grace, dispensing the benefits of His own work, He awaits us to come in boldly (the same word as is translated "confidence" in chap. 3), in order that we may obtain the fruits of His service in our behalf.
There is nothing here said of supplication or prayer; nay, rather, the exhortation is, that we should, in the sense of liberty-the effect of emancipation, come to the throne of grace, the present order of power, to obtain and find what our need requires, that we may' secure seasonable assistance. The real point brought before us here is the full provision that is with Christ for us, and no act required on our part to secure it, but coming in the sense of what His work has already entitled us to. Still more enforcing, that our blessing depends not on our actings in any respect, but on our sense and acknowledgment of His. We are to come with a sense of title confessed, and to a throne or source of power where favor is dispensed-not to merit, but according to the purpose of His own love, which is grace. Thus we have Him not only a High Priest going up to God for us, having destroyed the power of bondage in which we were held, and succoring us as we follow and know the difficulties of His path, but also He is a great High Priest for us, as touched with our infirmities, because He passed through the trials, but untouched by sin. Where a throne of grace is for us, when we come in boldly in the happy sense of His work, to supply us with both mercy and grace for seasonable assistance; that is, that Christ is not only succoring those who are following on in the path He has trod Himself, but also He is a Priest above for us, to minister suited mercy and grace to us needy and infirm ones, if we but admit His right to be such a minister to us. To come in this spirit is all that is required; the moral fitness, when we come, He supplies.
EB 6We pass on now to the end of chap. 6, where we find the assurance of hope in God's promise confirmed, on the ground that Jesus has entered within the veil. Christ, a forerunner, has passed all the obstacles-He has opened the way-cleared the course-and is at the right hand of God, a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Not only Christ's work on earth, but His service and use to us at the right hand of God, is declared to us; but there as such, the promises of God are secured to us by Him after the Melchizedek order.
First being by interpretation King of Righteousness. This is the first point: Christ has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, not only as having purged our sins, but as King of Righteousness, and called to this of God-from the scene too of His sorrowing service down here. It is the first point, and is the more distinctively of, the order of priesthood, in which Jesus is now-a comforter with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; therefore it is rather by interpretation than as an official King-that is, one finds it out as belonging to Him, rather than as one exercising rule because of it. But next, or after that, He is a King, manifesting and exercising rule in a kingdom, and that kingdom is PEACE—He brought in peace-He made peace-He announces peace as the first fruits of His resurrection. His first salutation to His disciples after His resurrection was, "Peace be unto you;" enemies are all vanquished -hostilities are at an end. God has no longer any strife with man-the debt has been discharged-the judgment executed; God has been satisfied, and with Him there is peace, and He preaches it by Jesus Christ, who has sat down at His right hand as King of Peace, priestly exercising the government of it; that is, that it is still as a Priest He is King of Peace, because our infirmity so needs it. Now again, here the confidence of our hope does not depend on anything we can attain to, but on the simplicity with which we acknowledge the wondrous doings of Christ Himself; and this is all our difficulty, because it is our unbelief in the love and power which accomplished them. This whole passage only tells of what He has done and what He is-a forerunner attaining the highest point, and then by interpretation King of Righteousness, and again exercising rule as King of Peace, and yet both in priestly office, because suited to our infirmity.
EB 8The sum of all (see chap. 8) is, that we have such a High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens-a Minister of holy things (see marginal reading), and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man. Not merely that having purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty " on high," or "in the highest," but as there for us the word " throne" now is introduced, as also "the heavens," as descriptive of the power and place to which He is gone-and where He is a Minister of holy things. How many and varied notes thrill our hearts, as we run over the different yet harmonious chords of His love; surely His love is better than wine; it cheers indeed, and we may well " suffer the word of exhortation," which is only a copiously flowing stream of it. But it is His love does all. Having loved His own, He loved them unto the end. And it is equal to our need -for Christ is not above merely as having accomplished redemption, but He is there preparing a place for us -preparing us for the place-for His love has given Him a direct interest in us; and hence it is not merely, nor in one sense at all, as the high priest under the law offering for sin. He has purged our sins, and becomes as such the channel through which God supplies mercy and grace for us, for seasonable assistance; but He is leading us on and up to yet future things; we have not only present boldness, but we have rejoicing of hope also; hence He is a High Priest of good things to come. He will yet present us to Himself a glorious church, and thus give a character to the testament; that is, that not only are the transgressions under the first redeemed, but eternal inheritance is now secured for us in the presence of God. Therefore Christ is in heaven itself, and thus the heavenly places are purified by better sacrifices than the figures of the true; and as He has put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and having done so instead of judgment awaiting man, He will appear to them who wait for Him without sin unto salvation; that is, salvation and not the consequence of sin in judgment awaits us, when Christ appears the second time. Thus are confidence and rejoicing of hope assured-the latter confirmed, as the former, our present position, is established.
EB 10Confidence (which is the same as boldness) and the rejoicing of the hope, are the two great results flowing to us from a true appreciation of what Christ's services, past and present, have accomplished for us. In chap. 10, the insufficiency of the law to purge the conscience is insisted on; for if there had been purgation, would there not have been a cessation of offerings? for if the offerings continue, the remembrance of sin is also continued; and, moreover, they could not take away sin, but Christ in a prepared body comes to do the will of God, and which will done, we are sanctified through the once offering of the body of Christ. He offered one sacrifice for sins forever (as referring to the limit of the benefits of the sacrifice), and having done so, sat down at the right hand of God; and as there is but one sacrifice, and as its benefits continue forever, so also he that is sanctified is perfected forever; that is, the perfection lasts as long as the sacrifice. The sanctifying describes the mode in which we are placed to appropriate these blessings-as drawn of the Father unto Jesus-and as within His reach, because Jesus has done His will.
But there being a remission of sins, there is no more offering for sin. Christ having effected what the Holy Ghost is witness of, that our sins and iniquities God will remember no more. Therefore, as a necessary consequence, we have boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus; our title is established-our self-possessed assumption of it proves we believe so! we only adopt the manner of one who is assured of the great and glorious fact. It is not expecting or requiring anything to be done, or as feeling our need of it, but imbued with a sense of the efficacy of Christ's work, as one would enter the house of an assured friend, not cautiously to discover what your reception would be, but boldly, because your confidence in him puts you above even questioning the manner of it; and still more satisfied, that according to his means everything would be suitable for you-all the result of the large conception you had formed of your friend, and which of course his character entitled you to entertain; no credit to you nor no demand on you either, but simply to own and ascribe to him his desert, and as doing so to act on it.
I have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus-by the open and living way which he has made for me through the veil, that is, His flesh. I pass into the holiest by the blood; but that flowed from the broken body-the rent veil-which, when broken, not only discharged the sin lying against me, but disclosed to me the light of the knowledge of the glory of God; for then the darkness was dislodged, and the true light then shone abroad. In this light we are never distressed, for there is there a great Priest over the house of God. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin; there is One there who sustains us in all comfort of being faultless before the presence of His glory. Thus His love takes care, for He loves His own which are in the world unto the end; and therefore we may draw nigh, and as prodigals now in the Father's presence, have a true heart, in full assurance of faith-that is, no misgiving in His acceptance, for our hearts having been sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies having been washed with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our hopes without wavering, for He is faithful that promised. So that boldness, or the sense of liberty, because of Christ's work, leads us not only into all the blessed fruits of it, but promotes and feeds us with an unwavering hope; not only is Christ our life, but Christ in us the hope of glory-we pass from one to know and enjoy the other. Faith in Him-leads me into confidence, as owning my title on account of Him, and in confidence my soul is enlarged into the rejoicing of the hope, because properly we rejoice in hope of the glory of God-and also we are of His own goodness to the praise of His glory.
The highest point of blessing is now reached by the soul, but we have to fulfill our course here; having done the will of God, we have need of patience, but the patience is only during the expectancy of Christ's coming, for He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. And while waiting for Him who is the center of our hope, we are sustained here by the very same faith which has realized to us the saving of our soul; a great moral truth that the faith that assures of justification by the work of another, even God's dear Son, is so divine and suitable to us, that it transacts through us all the activities which our course demands, and which Christ has already traversed; for "when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them and the sheep follow Him" -He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. In believing in Jesus, I not only apprehend how truly and fully His work has set me with God, touching all that was against me, so that it, that is, my sins, no longer engage me, but the uprising of the hope in the full display of God's love as yet to come, and that this is now my proper occupation, so that one can say, this one thing I do, " forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth unto the things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
This faith sustains me in the race-but it is the faith of Jesus. By the same principle of life by which I apprehend acceptance, am I sustained in power to walk acceptably; the heart having learned the preciousness of Jesus for its own solid and eternal comfort-set in an evil world, finds out its place of testimony for Him by going forth unto Him without the camp-bearing His reproach. Having once found out our living and perfect union with Him, because of His love, displace us by distance or difficulty as much as possible, the tendency is to re-unite; and this tendency the more vigorous the bettor, declares our identity with Him, and is our testimony for Him passing from the distance, and thus the difficulties. Here works and all self-sacrifices find their place-running in the race, it is looking for Him who loved us; our love for Him is the only mettle, and we love Him as we know He first loved us-we work not, we serve not as Martha, to gain the notice or sympathy of our Lord; if we do, our service will be a wearisome one-we serve because we have sat at His feet and heard His word, and hence know the service which will please Him. Unless the soul is established in the perfectness and value of Christ's love, our service will be always reluctant and unsatisfactory, and therefore the word of exhortation first traces for you in the most touching way, the greatness, value and extent of His love, and then calls on you to tread on patiently through this evil scene till He shall come again-not to see you and enter into death for you, but for you to see Him, and to enter into glory and be like Him.
"Now may the God of peace, that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."
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