"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part XXIII

EVEN AS THE HOLY GHOST SAID
Hebrews 3: 7. Wherefore, even as the Holy Ghost said, To-day "If" you shall hear His voice.

THE SECOND WARNING continued
Hebrews 3: 7- 4: 13.
Not to come short of the promised Rest.

BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY

In quoting the words of the 95th Psalm the writer uses the expression, Even as the Holy Ghost said. He regards that Psalm as simply the language of the Holy Spirit He looks upon the Scriptures as truly inspired by God, God-breathed, because men spoke from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Tim. 3: 16, 2 Pet. 1: 21). He regards them as the very voice of God, and attaches to the words all the weight of Divine Authority, and all the fulness of meaning they have in the Divine mind. It is on this ground that he sees in them a deeper meaning than we would have looked for, and teaches us to find in the words, enter into My Rest, the Revelation of a deeper Spiritual Mystery and a Prophecy of what Christ should bring. As it was the Holy Spirit who of old first gave the word, so it was the same Spirit who taught the Apostle to set forth to us its Spiritual meaning and lessons, as we have them in the fourth chapter. And even now it is that same Spirit alone who can reveal the Truth Spiritually within us, and make it Life and power in our experience. Let us wait on Him as we meditate on these words, Even as the Holy Ghost said. The words of the Holy Ghost need the Holy Ghost as their interpreter. And the Holy Ghost interprets only to those in whom He dwells and rules.

In the opening words of the Epistle we were told that it was the same God, who had spoken to the fathers in the prophets, who has now spoken to us in His Son. The inferiority of the Old Testament did not consist in this that the words were less the words of God than in the New. They are equally the words of the Holy Spirit. But the superior excellence of the New Dispensation lies in this that, in virtue of the mighty Redemption wrought out by Christ, taking away the veil between God and us, and the veil from our eyes and heart (Heb. 10: 20, Is. 25: 7, 2 Cor. 3: 16), the word can enter more fully into us with its Life-giving power. The Son of God, as the Living Word, dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit, brings the Truth and the power of the Word as a Divine reality into our living experience. The Old Testament was as the bud; in the New the bud has opened and the flower is seen. Even as the Holy Ghost said. This word assures us that the Holy Spirit will Himself unfold in the New what He had hidden in the words of the Old.

This brings us to a lesson of the very deepest importance in our spiritual life: that what the Holy Ghost has spoken, He alone can make plain. He uses human words and thoughts, and, as regarded from the human side, human reason can understand and expound them. But even in one who may be a true Christian, this does not bring him farther than the Old Testament, the preliminary stage: "The prophets sought and searched diligently what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto" (1 Pet. 1: 2). Beyond this, to the real possession and experience of the redemption they proclaimed, they did not come. It was only when Christ was glorified, and the Spirit was given as an indwelling fountain of Light and Life, that the Divine meaning and power could be known. And so it is with ourselves; to understand the words of the Holy Spirit I must have yielded myself to be led by the Spirit, I must be living in the Spirit. It is only one who knows Hebrew who can expound a Hebrew writing; it is only the Spirit of God who knows the mind of God and can reveal it to us. Take, for instance, what is said of entering into the Rest of God, anyone who will take trouble, and study it carefully, will be able to form some conception of what it means. But truly to know the Rest of God, to enter into it, to enjoy it in Living power,--- none but the Holy Spirit can teach us this by inspiration of revelation.

Wherefore, even as the Holy Ghost said, To-day "If" you shall hear His voice, harden not your heart. Here is the first lesson the Holy Spirit teaches. He calls us not to harden or close the heart, but to hearken to the voice of God there; the Holy Spirit cannot possibly lead us into the power and the Blessing of God's Word unless with our whole heart we hearken to the voice. The Holy Spirit can teach in no way but in a heart that is given up to hearken and obey. When the Son came into the world He said: "Lo, I am come to do Your Will, God." The proof of the Spirit's presence in Him, the sacrifice in the power of the Eternal Spirit, the way to the receptivity of the Spirit, was that of Hearkening and Obedience. The first message of the Holy Spirit, and the condition of all further teaching is ever, "If" you hear His voice, harden not your heart. God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our heart; God asks us to yield our whole heart to His leading; it is as the indwelling Spirit that He will call us and fit us to listen to God's voice.

We are commencing the study of an Epistle of which the keynote is, God speaks to us now in His Son. The wonderful Truths of the Heavenly Priesthood of our Lord Jesus, and of our access into the Holiest of All by the blood, to dwell and worship there, and there in God's presence to be made partaker of the full union with Christ, are to be unfolded. Let us seek a deeper sense of the need, and also the certainty, of the teaching of the Spirit within us: Let us pray "that the Father give us the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the Knowledge of Christ." Let us hear God's voice in meekness and tenderness of heart. Let us in deep humility yield ourselves to the Spirit's guidance. We can count upon Him that the same Spirit who first of old inspired the words of the Psalm, who then in this Epistle revealed their fulness of meaning, will reveal to us in power all the Light and Truth they are meant to bring into the receptive believing heart.

1. God speaking to us in His word, and In His Son, Is all by the Holy Spirit. Everything depends upon our right relation to the Spirit. Let the word be as a seed In which the Life of God dwells. Let us receive the word, in the faith that the Holy Spirit will open It, and make it work mightily, In us who are receptive and believe.
2. And as we wait on the Spirit to open the word, we shall through the word be led to and receive the Spirit of Heaven, as the Divine seal of our faith in the Word.
3. So shall we learn to speak the word In the power of the Spirit. The disciples, however much they knew of Jesus through His Intercourse and teaching, and as the witnesses of His death and resurrection, were not allowed to go and preach Him, until they received the Spirit from on High. The Spirit-breathed word, the Spirit-opened word, must also be a Spirit-spoken word; we, too, must speak out of a Living communication of the Spirit from the Throne of the Glorified Christ. From beginning to end, everything connected with God's word must be in the power of the Holy Spirit.