CONSIDER JESUS.
Hebrews 3: 1. Wherefore, Holy brethren, partakers of a Heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, even Jesus.
THIRD SECTION
Hebrews 3: 1-6.
Christ Jesus more than Moses
AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY
Consider Jesus! This is the central thought of the verse, and of the passage of which it is a part, as it is indeed of the whole Epistle. It is the one aim of the writer to persuade the Hebrews that, if they but knew aright the Lord Jesus as the faithful, compassionate, and almighty High Priest in Heaven, they would find in Him all they needed for a life such as God would have them lead. Their life would be in harmony with their faith, in harmony with the life of Him whom their faith would apprehend. The words might have been taken as the title of my book: Consider Jesus! Is indeed the keynote of the Epistle.
The word consider, from the root of the Latin word for Star, originally means to contemplate the stars. It suggests the idea of the astronomer, and the quiet, patient, persevering, concentrated gaze with which he seeks to discover all that can be possibly known of the stars which the object of his study are (this is what was told Abraham when told to number the stars of heaven if he could in Genesis 15:5). And Jesus, who is God, who became man, and perfected our human nature in His wonderful life of suffering and obedience, and now dwells in Heaven to communicate to us its Life and Blessedness--- oh, what reason there is for saying, Consider Jesus. Gaze upon Him, contemplate Him. For some increased knowledge of the stars what devotion, what enthusiasm, what sacrifices are ofttimes witnessed. Oh, let the study and possession of the Son of God waken our devotion and our enthusiasm, that we may be able to tell men what beauty and what glory there is in Jesus.
Holy brethren! Thus the Hebrews are now addressed. In the previous chapter the word brethren had been used twice. He is not ashamed to call them brethren. It behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren. The sacred name is now applied personally: Christ's brethren are brethren in Christ. And the heart of the writer warms to them personally, as he seeks to urge them to what with him is indeed the one aim of the Epistle--- Consider Jesus.
Holy brethren! The word Holy had also been just used. He that Sanctifies, makes Holy, and they who are Sanctified, made Holy, are all of one. We saw how Holiness is the common mark of Christ and His people: their bond of union, and the great object they both aim at. One of the great Mysteries the Epistle is to reveal to us is that our great High Priest has opened the Way for us into the Most Holy Place or the Holiest of All. In Hebrew it is the Holiness of Holinesses. There we have Boldness of access, there we are to have our dwelling encircled by the Holiness of God. We must know that we are Holy in Christ; this will give us courage to enter into the Holiness of Holinesses, to have God's Holiness take complete possession, and fill our whole being. It is Jesus who makes Holy: it is we who are to be made Holy: what more natural than that the thoughts should be coupled together: Holy brethren, consider Jesus.
Holy brethren! partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus! What is elsewhere spoken of as a holy calling is here named a Heavenly calling. That does not only mean a calling from Heaven, or a calling to the Heaven, whence the call proceeds. No, there is much more in it. Heaven is not only a place, but a state, a mode of existence, the life in which the presence of God is revealed and experienced in its unhindered power. And the Heavenly calling is that in which the power of the Heavenly Life works to make our life Heavenly. When Jesus was upon earth the Kingdom of Heaven was nigh at hand; after He had ascended and received the Kingdom from the Father, the Kingdom of Heaven came to this earth in power, through the descent of the Holy Spirit. Christians, at Pentecost, were people who by the New Birth (birth means that which is breathed into us by the Divine God, Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7) entered into the Heavenly Kingdom or state of Life. And the Kingdom entered into them. And they were partakers of a Heavenly calling, because the Spirit and the Life and the power of Heaven was within them.
It is to such men the invitation comes. Holy brethren! Partakers of the heavenly calling! Consider Jesus! If you would know what it is to be Holy and to Live Holy, consider Jesus who makes Holy! If you would Know the privileges and powers that belong to you as Partakers of a Heavenly calling, consider Jesus! He is God, the King of Heaven! He is Man who has ascended to Heaven as your Priest and Savior, has opened it for you, and can communicate its Life and Blessedness. Oh, consider Jesus! Set your heart on Him; He will make you Holy and Heavenly.
There is more than one of my readers who mourns that he knows so little what it is to live a Holy and a Heavenly Life. Listen, God's word speaks to you Holy brethren, partakers of a Heavenly calling! Consider Jesus! This is your weakness: you have looked at yourself and your own strength; you have not studied Jesus! This will be your cure: each day, each hour, consider Jesus, and in Him you will find all the Holiness
and the Heavenliness you need.
1. In the latter part of the Epistle all the Glory of Jesus as He entered Heaven, and opened It for us, as He became a minister of the Heavenly Sanctuary, and leads us to dwell in the Father's presence, will be opened to us. But let us even now, from the commencement, hold fast the Truth that the Knowledge of Jesus seated in Heaven is the power of the Heavenly calling and the Heavenly Life.
2. Do not think that you know all that can be told about Jesus. Believe that there are wonders of Heavenly joy to be revealed to you "If" you Know Him better: His Divine nearness and oneness with you, His ever-present indwelling to succor (aid) and lead you, His power to bring you into the Holiest of All, Into the Father's presence and Love, and to keep you there, will be revealed.
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