"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part LVIII

THE PRIEST-KING ON THE THRONE IN THE HEAVENS.
Hebrews 8: 1. Now In the things we are saying the chief point is this: We have such a High Priest, who sat down on the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens.

The start of the SIXTH SECTION
Hebrews  8:1-13
The New Sanctuary and the New Covenant.

BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY

In every pursuit it is always most important to keep the eye fixed on that which is the main thing, and to make everything else subservient to it. A Christian often feels perplexed by the variety of truths and duties set before him in Scripture; to see clearly what the central thought is, is like finding the key to some building around which one had vainly wandered seeking an entrance. Our author here is careful in summing up what we have had thus far, to fix our view on what is the chief point--- We have such a High Priest, as has been set before us, the very Son of God, a true Man in His Obedience to God and sympathy with us, become a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, in the Authority and power of an Endless Life. And we have Him as one who sat down on the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens. It is this that our faith must apprehend and hold this Truth, that we have the key which opens the door into the Heavenly Life upon earth.

Jesus our Priest-King on the Throne in the Heavens. What does this mean, and teach, and give? It reminds us of this, first of all, that Jesus is not only Priest but King. This was part of what was included in His appointment after the order of Melchizedek, whose name meant King of Right (ie. Righteousness), and who was King of Salem, that is King of Peace (Peace with God, a friend of God). The Psalm in which the word of the Oath is spoken began thus: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand. In Israel the office of king and priest had ever been kept separate; it was only one of the latest prophets who foretold (Zechariah 6: 13): He will bear the Honor and sit and rule on His Throne. Thus, He will be a priest upon His Throne. It was part of the defect in the character of the preparatory dispensation that the function of priest, the representative of the religious life, should be so distinct from that of the king, the guide of the civil life of the people. The priest represents purity, the king power; it is the Glory of the New dispensation that the Priest is King--- the cleansing from sin, and the access to God which that gives, is all in a power that goes through the whole life. Religion is no longer to be a thing of times and seasons, of special acts or emotions: in kingly power our High Priest rules over all. Blessed is the man to whom it is given to see that this is the chief point, that this is all.

And that, because He is a King sat down on the right hand (the position of Authority and power) of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens. The Son of God became Man that He might win for Himself and us, for humanity, His own and ours, the Authority and power He had with the Father before the world began, and so as our High Priest serve and rule us in the Authority and power of an Endless Life, in the Authority and power of the Heavenly Life. He sat down on the right hand of the Throne. His position is now one of perfect intimacy (fellowship) with God, in a nearness in which nothing can intervene, in an equality which gives Him complete possession and disposal of all Authority and power in Heaven and on earth. This is the chief point to Know in faith, that we have such a High Priest!

On the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens. We have said before that the great characteristic of our Priest-King, of His Salvation and His Life, is its Heavenliness. It will reward the reader each time the thought occurs, to go over the passages we have marked, and seek to come fully under the power of the thought. Jesus is passed through the heavens, made Higher than the Heavens, seated on the Throne (the symbol of all Authority with its accompanying power) in the Heavens, in order that He Open the Kingdom of Heaven to us. Heaven, we have said before, is not only a place, but a State of Life; the Kingdom of Heaven can come to us here on earth in Authority with all power, and be set up within our hearts. The Will of God can be done on earth as in Heaven. All Jesus is, is Heavenly; all the gifts He bestows, all the work He does, all the Life He breathes, all the Authority and power He exercises is exclusively Heavenly. This is the solid food for the perfect; as our faith receives and feeds upon this, it becomes partaker of the very Spirit of Heaven, in the Authority and power of an Endless Life. As the Heavenliness of the Redemption and the Life in Jesus is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the heart, Heavenliness, its purity, its Authority, its power, its Love, its worship, its Blessedness, will be the characteristic of our religion.

He sat down on the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens. We know how to the first disciples this Blessed Truth was revealed and sealed--- it was by the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven. The Spirit of Heaven is the Spirit in the Authority and power of which the angels do God's Will there. The Spirit of Heaven is the Spirit which came from the Opened Heaven on the Son of Man. The Spirit of Heaven was sent to His disciples by the Son of Man, when He had sat down on the right hand of the Throne in the Heavens, as their share in His exaltation; not as the Spirit of conversion, but as the Spirit to seal their faith; as their experience of fellowship in intimacy (enjoined or conjoined) with Him in His Glory; as their participation in the joy and holiness of the Heavenly Life; as their Authority and power to conquer sin and the world. To those who are willing to come and be separate and utterly forsake this world, this Spirit of Heaven still comes as the GIFT of our Heavenly Priest-King. Let us receive the Word in faith, let us cling to Him and worship Him as seated on the Throne in the Heavens; it will become our Blessed heart experience, not only that this is the chief point, Such a High Priest became us, but that we have,--- yes, not only in thought, in gift, but in living enjoyment,--- we have such a High Priest, who sat down on the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens.

1. The spirit of a king imparts itself to his subjects. As he devotes himself to war or peace, to noble pursuits or to luxury and pleasure, his example leads his people (the worldly king and his subjects). Perfect Heavenliness, Heavenly perfection, is the mark of our King; it Is meant to be the mark of His people. The True Knowledge of the Heavenly Christ makes a Heavenly Christ-Like One, Christian.
2. "Our Forerunner has carried away our hearts with Him. We have no heart left for any one but Him, or for anything without or within the veil that He is not, or is not in."
3. Ever connect Christ's entering the Heavenly Life and His ascending the Throne with the descent of the Spirit to be the life of the disciples. And remember that all our Knowledge and Faith in the Priest-King is only preparatory to the True Blessing the Holy Spirit revealing Him and making Him present in the heart. The Ascension and Pentecost are inseparable.

"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part LVII

SUCH A HIGH PRIEST, THE SON PERFECTED FOR EVERMORE.
Hebrews 7: 26-28  For such a High Priest became us, holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made Higher than the Heavens; Who need not daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people: for this He did (has done) once, when He offered up Himself.  For the Law appointed men high priests, having infirmity; but the word of the Oath, which was after the Law, appointed a Son, perfected forevermore.

The last portion of the FIFTH SECTION
Hebrews 7: 1-28.
The New Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek.

BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY

For such a High Priest became us--- was suited to us, as being what we needed. The words refer to the whole chapter, but specially to the verse that just precedes--- such a High Priest, one who abides forever, one who is able to save completely. It also refers to what now follows, in which His personal characteristics are summed up. Holy, intimacy, fellowship and harmony with God; guileless, in the purity of His disposition; undefiled, in His having conquered all temptation from sin and the world; separated from sinners, a true Man among men, and yet one who had kept Himself free from their sin; made Higher than the Heavens, now exalted in the Glory of God, to communicate to us the Life and the Blessings of the Heavenly world.

 Who need not daily like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people; for this He did Once, when He offered up Himself. We saw that the Glory of Christ's Priesthood, in contrast with that of the many who had, by reason of death, to succeed each other, was, that He alone is Priest, because He abides forever. Here we have the same Truth from another side: in contrast with the daily ever-repeated sacrifices, He accomplished all when He offered Himself Once. That which has to be repeated is imperfect (it could not do or accomplish); that which need be done only once is perfect and lasts forever. Farther on we shall find the word once again, as having the same meaning with regard to His sacrifice which forever has with regard to His Priesthood.

He offered up Himself. We have here the first mention of the sacrifice of Christ. In chapter 2  we had mention of His death, here we see that it was death upon the altar. He is both Priest and Victim. His Divine Priesthood, as it is exercised in Heaven, is the application of the Blood and the Virtue of that Sacrifice which He brought upon earth. The once for all of the sacrifice is the counterpart of the henceforth forever of the Throne of the Heavens.

For the Law, this is the conclusion of the whole, appointed men high priests, having infirmity; but the word of the Oath, which was after the Law, appoints a Son, perfected forevermore. The Law was a preparation, to awaken the need and the hope, of that True, Supernatural, Heavenly communion with God, which should be, not in words or wishes, but in the Authority and power of the Eternal Life. What the Law could not do, God has done, appointing as High Priest, the Son, perfected forevermore.

In these last words we have the summing up of the whole preceding teaching of the Epistle. In chapter 1  it had spoken of the Son of God and His Glory: He came from God, He is God, and has the Life of God in Him; He is able to bring us near, into the true possession and enjoyment of the very Life of God. In chapters 2- 5 we had His humanity, His being made perfect through suffering and obedience. He so perfected a New human nature, which from Heaven He imparts to us in the power of the Holy Ghost. In chapter 7  we have now been taught what it means that He is the Priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek, whose person and priesthood and work are all in the Authority and power of the Endless Life, and who, because He ever abides and ever intercedes, is able to save completely, and to make our drawing near to God a Life that abides continually. Such a High Priest became us, the Son, perfected forevermore.

And if such a High Priest became us, what becomes us now towards Him? Surely one thing, that we fully seek to Know and to Trust and to experience His saving power. If your heart does indeed long for true deliverance from sin, for true near fellowship and intimacy with God, for complete Salvation, for a Life in the power and the Likeness of the Son of God, our Leader and Forerunner within the veil---you must learn to Know Jesus both as Son of God and your High Priest. You must pray for the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation, that you may Know the exceeding greatness of God's Authority and power to us-ward who believe (who have chosen to be receptive to receive by faith), according to the working of His mighty power in Christ Jesus, when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand. You must believe (receive) that the mighty power by which He was thus perfected forevermore, and is seated at God's right hand, is working in you. Yield yourself up in faith to this mighty working of God in Christ, to the Authority and power of the Eternal Life with which from Heaven He will work in you to draw you near to God, and keep you there. As you believe (receive) this, and Trust Jesus for it, He Himself will make it your experience. Oh! Beware of thinking that these are beautiful words and images that Scripture gives; they are meant by God as the most downright actual realities for daily life and walk. God has given you such a High Priest that you might live an impossible life, a life above sense and reason, a supernatural life in the Authority and power of His Son. When Jesus ascended the Throne His disciples were to wait for a communication direct from Himself of the Spirit and power of the Heavenly Life into which He had entered for them. It is the same Holy Spirit, dwelling in us in Pentecostal power, who alone can make all the Blessed objective Truth of the Epistle a Living Reality within us.

1. Ere we part from this chapter note well the three words In which its practical teaching gathers up what our Melchizedek, who abides a Priest continually, is to us. The law of His working Is: He does all after the power and authority of an Endless Life. The object of His work: the Better Hope, by which we draw nigh to God. The measure of His work: able to save completely. The power and authority of Eternal Life, the nearness of God, and complete Salvation are what He has to bestow.
2. The Eternal Priesthood of Christ: this Is the first of the perfection Truths that lead us to the perfection life. A Son, perfected forevermore, Is our High Priest, who out of Himself and in Himself gives us the Life we are to live.
3. The one thought of God In His word here is to make us feel what a complete Salvation there Is for us with such a Savior. God speaks to us In His Son, giving us In Him His own Life.

"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part LVI

A PRIEST, ABLE TO SAVE COMPLETELY.
Hebrews 7: 23-25  And they indeed have been made priests many in number, because that by death they are hindered from continuing: But He (Christ Jesus), because He abides forever, has His Priesthood unchangeable. Wherefore also He is able to save to the uttermost (completely) them that draw near to God through Him, seeing He ever Lives to make intercession for them.

Continuing on with the FIFTH SECTION
Hebrews 7: 1-28.
The New Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek.

BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY

In the order of Aaron there was a continual succession of priests, one dying and another taking his place. That characterized the whole system; it bore the mark of change, weakness, in self-works and death. It could not effect anything that was really abiding and permanent as it only dealt with the external or earthy, much less anything that was eternal (spiritual). The whole inner life of the worshiper was what the system was in need of but it failed, and was subject to change and decay. But He, because He abides forever, has His Priesthood unchangeable. He Himself is the Eternal One, who abides Priest over His House forever. His Priesthood is unchangeable; the Life, in the Authority and power of which He Ministers, and the Life which He Ministers, is a Life that abides unchangeable too. His Priesthood is an everlasting one, ever Living, ever active.

Wherefore also He is able to save completely them that draw near to God through Him. Wherefore, that is because He abides forever, because there is never a single moment in which His Priestly Action, His watchful care of us, His Loving sympathy and succor (render aid in time of need), His working in us in the Authority and power of our Endless Life, is not in full operation. Therefore He can save completely, that is, there need never be a moment (an atomic second) in which the experience of His saving power is interrupted, in which the Salvation He has wrought does not save. To confirm this, it is added, seeing He ever Lives to make intercession for them. Without ceasing there streams forth from Him to the Father the prayer of His Love for every one and every need of those that belong to Him; His very person and presence is that prayer, so closely and so inseparably is He identified with those He calls His brethren. And without ceasing there streams forth to Him from the Father the answer of His good pleasure, and the power of the Holy Spirit, bearing that answer. And even so, without ceasing, there streams forth from Him to each member of His Body the Grace for the timely help. Because He ever Lives to make intercession, without one moment's intermission, therefore He is able to save completely.

He is able to save completely. The connection of the promise with the character and work of Christ shows us what it means. The great complaint of Christians is that their experience is so changeful--- that the blessed sense of God's Love and Grace passes away, and that what they know of the keeping, cleansing, power of Christ does not last; the sense of nearness to God does not abide continually. It is somehow as if there is a necessity of its being lost. With change of circumstances, alas, comes too often change in the nearness of God and His saving power or Authority. Could what Christ does for them at times but be maintained continuously, could it but abide,--- their joy would be full, their Salvation and for many their Redemption complete. We have here the very promise such Christians need. Because He abides forever, because He ever Lives to make intercession, because He is a Priest forever, who exercises every function of His office in an endless Life-power, that never for a moment intermittent (or sporadic) in action, He is able to save completely. In Himself He has been perfected for evermore, with Himself He has perfected forever them that are Sanctified. The Salvation He has wrought out is a Life in the Opened Sanctuary of God's presence in the Authority and power of God's Spirit; all that is needed is that the believer be kept abiding (receptive) forever, ever living in this Salvation-Life which Jesus has Opened up. And this he can do, when once he learns to Trust Jesus for it, because he understands that He ever lives to make intercession. He prayed for Peter that his faith might not fail. Because His work of intercession never pauses nor ceases, our faith (may waver) and our experience of the power of that intercession need never fail. He is able to save completely!

Them that draw near to God through Him. In verse 19 we saw that to enable us to draw near to God is the better hope the Gospel brings--- the one aim of Christ's Priesthood. Here we have it again. One reason why so many have no conception of Christ as able to save completely is simply that they have never understood fully what Salvation is. The following chapters will open it up to us--- and may God's Spirit truly Open it!--- That to come to God through Christ, to draw near to God means nothing less than an entering into the Holiest of All, and dwelling there all the day, spending our life there, abiding there continually. It is only those who receive it and then believe it possible, will give themselves up to it. It is only those who forsake all to give themselves up to it to whom it will be possible (to be receptive as a little child continually, to have the mind of Christ in other words, to be a doer of the word). But for all who come to God through Him the promise is sure: He abides forever; He is able to save completely.

Oh, let us fix our eyes and hearts on Jesus in Heaven, our Melchizedek, our Priest-King on the Throne of Authority and great power, and on His unceasing intercession. And let our one desire be to (be receptive) unto belief or trusting that the God who has sworn by Himself, by His own Life as God, means to do for us something above all we can ask or think.

1. Able to save completely. This is that solid food for the perfect which only the truly consecrated soul can apprehend. It is of the things "hard of Interpretation, seeing you are become dull of hearing." ( and 2 Peter 3: 15-17)
2. Like priest, like people. The character of a priest determines the character of the people whose worship he leads. The character of Christ's Priesthood determines the character of those who belong- to Him. And our view of what that Priesthood can effect will determine our character. Of what infinite importance to worship and to Trust Him, as able to save completely. That will determine our Christian character and life.
3. What a view of the place and power of intercession! Christ's whole Divine Life is given up to it. His power and authority as Priest-King on the Throne has no other channel for its exercise. You long to save others. Give yourself to prayer and intercession. Present yourself before God as a sacrifice for your fellowmen, offering to be filled with His Spirit and consumed by His fire. Count intercession the secret of bringing down the Blessing of Heaven. Connect the two things inseparably together--- unceasing intercession and power to save completely in Christ. Complete Salvation and unceasing Intercession In us.

"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part LV

JESUS, THE SURETY OF THE BETTER COVENANT.
Hebrews 7: 20-22  And Inasmuch as it is not without the taking of an oath (For they, the Levitical priests after Aaron) indeed had become priests without an oath; but He (Jesus) with an oath by Him that said of Him, The Lord swore and will not repent Himself, You are a Priest forever); By so much also has Jesus become the Surety of a Better Covenant.

The continuation of the FIFTH SECTION  Hebrews 7: 1-28
The New Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek

AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY
September 1894

In chapter 6 the deep meaning of God's Oath was set before us. On His side it is a proof of His unchangeable purpose concerning something which He binds Himself faithfully to perform. On our side it points to something in which there is special need of faith, and calls us to the exercise of full and unhesitating confidence as to the certainty of God's fulfillment of the promise. In the words of the appointment of Christ as High Priest we have already found three significant expressions--- there is a fourth one we are now to notice. The Lord swore and will not repent Himself: this Oath of God is a new proof of the Glory of Christ's Priesthood and its Superiority to the old. God confirmed His Blessing to Abraham with an oath (Genesis 12, 14-15); that Blessing is Eternal and unchangeable. Aaron was made a priest without an oath: his priesthood was only temporary an external, a shadow of what was to come. At the first announcement of a priest after the new order, God again interposed with an Oath: inasmuch as it was not without the taking of an oath, by so much has Jesus become the Surety of a Better Covenant. The Oath points us to the Covenant, to its being a Better Covenant, to Jesus being its Surety, and to the Priesthood as that in which the Covenant and the surety-ship have their Authority and power for all.

A Better Covenant. The object of a covenant is to define and settle the relation between the two parties who enter into it, and to give security for the faithful fulfillment of their engagements to each other. The old covenant which God made with Israel had proved a failure (as it only dealt with the external realm). At its establishment they were most ready to promise, All that the Lord had said will we do and be obedient. But how soon was the covenant forgotten and the promise broken. They had undertaken what they could not perform by works of the flesh; the vow and the purpose availed nothing without the strength. In course of time God promised to establish a New Covenant, and in it to provide for what had been wanting an internal or spiritual, for the power to obey, and so to keep the New Covenant. It would be a Covenant of Life--- giving that New Life into the heart, out of which obedience would naturally spring. Of this a Better Covenant, established on Better promises, we shall hear in the next chapter.

The Surety of a Better Covenant. It is this Jesus has come to do, to give the Covenant its Security, and to undertake that its engagements shall indeed be fulfilled. He is Surety of the New Covenant on both sides. Surety to us that God will keep His promise, and give us His Life and Law and Spirit in our heart; Surety to God for us, He will ensure our Obedience and our Keeping the New Covenant.

Became a Priest with an Oath. It is in the Priesthood of Jesus that the Covenant and the Surety-ship have their Authority and power. It is the Priest forever who deals with sin and takes it away in the Authority and power of an Endless Life. He is the Priest forever, the Son of God, perfected forevermore, who has opened a New and Living Way, a New state of life, and works all in the Authority and power of an Endless Life, in whom we have a Divine Surety that every promise and every obligation of the Better Covenant will be fulfilled by God and by us.

It is to give us a Living (life changing) and most complete assurance that all this will be so, that the installation of Jesus in the Priest's office was announced by an Oath from Heaven. God does so long that we should in very deed become to the full partakers of the Eternal Redemption His Son has obtained for us, and because He sees it is impossible for Him to work out His Will in us except as our hearts open to Him in faith and expectation and receptivity, He is ready to do anything He can, to awaken our confidence and compel us to Trust Him perfectly. And so His Spirit reminds us that the Priesthood of Jesus, and all the Blessings which come from it in the Authority and power of our Eternal Life, are absolutely sure or secured and certain. As if it is not enough that we know that as the Son of God He is the Almighty One, as Son of Man the merciful and faithful High Priest, as the exalted One, a King upon God's Throne, God calls us to consider the Oath He took. He swore by Himself. He points to Himself and His honor as God, to Himself as the Eternal and Almighty God and charges us to believe and then to receive this Priest forever He has given us does indeed save with an Everlasting Salvation, with a Salvation in which the Authority and power of eternity works.

When God confirmed by oath to Abraham His promise of Blessing, Abraham, though he knew but little of what that Blessing would yet be, believed God: he was strong in faith, giving Glory to God. And we, who Know the Son in whom God has now revealed Himself, and in regard to the efficacy and Eternal Life-power of whose work for us God has now sworn His Oath to us, shall we doubt or hesitate? God forbid! Oh! That our hearts were opened to understand! The one thing God asks of us, is the faith that sees what He has promised to do, and that sinks down before Him to let Him work what He has undertaken, requires our receptivity. The one thing we have to strive after, as we move on in the path the Epistle opens up to the inner sanctuary, is that our faith stand not in the wisdom of men, in our own thoughts of the way or the measure in which God will fulfill His promise, but only and entirely in our receiving the Authority and power of God. What needed an Oath of God to assure us of it, needs and has the Authority and power of God to work it.

1. Do hold fast these two things. Faith must see what God promises, and then allow God to fulfill the promise In us. Pray for the enlightening of the Holy Spirit, to get delivered from all partial and defective views of what our High Priest can work in us, and then regard as your highest work, to wait upon God and yield to His operation in adoring trust in an attitude of receptivity in child-like faith.
2. The content and substance of the Oath of God Is, the Living personal Christ, as Son and Priest; that is, as Priest In the Authority and power of the Divine and Eternal Life which He Imparts. He that clings to Christ will be led on to Know all that God has promised In Him.

"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part LIV

A BETTER HOPE, THROUGH WHICH WE DRAW NIGH TO GOD.
Hebrews 7: 18-19  For there is a disannulling of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness  (For the Law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope, through which we draw nigh to God.

The Continuation of the FIFTH SECTION
Hebrews 7: 1-28.
The New Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek.

BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY

In verse 12 we read, For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the Law. When the order of Aaron had to give way to that of the order of Melchizedek, the Law, under which Aaron had ministered, had to give way to the New order, to the Law not of commandment, but to the Law with its Authority in the power of the Endless Life. The reason of this is now given. There is a disannulling of the foregoing commandment, because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the Law made nothing perfect. Perfection is what God and man sought as deliverance from sin and its effects; perfect restoration and perfect fellowship. The Law could make nothing perfect, neither the conscience nor the worshiper. Jesus came to work out, and reveal, and impart that Perfection the Law could only foreshadow.

And what this Perfection is, we are now told: " There is a disannulling of the commandment, and a bringing in of a Better Hope, through which we draw nigh to God. " To bring man nigh to God, into full favor and actual fellowship or intimacy, is the object of every priest. Aaron could not do it; Jesus has done it. This is the Glory of the New Testament; it brings in a Better Hope, a real drawing nigh to the Living God, a communion of the Holy Spirit with Him. This is the perfection which, not the Law, but Jesus gives. In chapter 6, hope was already mentioned as that through which we enter within the veil, whither our Forerunner has gone for us. In the power of the Endless Life He has Opened the veil and Opened the Way; He has brought in the Better Hope through which we draw nigh to God.

Draw nigh to God! This expression is one of the finger posts on the Way to the higher teaching that is to come. It gives us the main object of Christ's work: to enable us to live our life in the nearness of God. There are Christians who, in seeking Salvation through Redemption, only think of themselves and their own happiness: Christ is simply a means to an end. There are others who go farther: they feel a personal relation to Christ, and desire greatly to Know and Serve Him better. But even with these, there is something lacking which is indispensable to a whole and vigorous Christian character. They do not know that Christ is only the Way, the door to the Father, and that His great desire is to lead us through and past Himself to the Father, really to bring us to God! He wants us to live the same Life He lived upon earth always looking up to, depending upon, and honoring God in Heaven above Him.

Draw nigh to God! Nothing but this can satisfy God and His Love. He longs to have His children come to dwell in that Love, and to delight in His presence. He sent His Son to bring us to Him. This is what constitutes full Redemption and our Salvation. God as the Author of our being longs to have us yield ourselves and wait upon Himself to work His work in us. As the Righteous and Holy One He seeks to have us wholly given up to His Will and Wisdom. As the unseen and hidden One, He asks that we should withdraw ourselves from the visible and hold fellowship in intimacy with Him. Man was created for the presence of God (Genesis 1: 26-27, 2: 6-7). The nearness of God was to be his native atmosphere. It is this God is willing to vouchsafe to each of us; it is this the Heavenly Priesthood makes possible; it is this God would have us Seek (we are to seek Him for who He is our Heavenly Father, as Father of Spirits. Emphasis added).

As God is no outward Being, so is nearness to Him nothing external, but an Inner Spiritual harmony of disposition, a fellowship of intimacy and unity of will. As His Spirit gives us more of the Divine nature, and God works His Will more freely and fully in us, we come nearer to Him, we become Truly united to Him.

Draw nigh to God! Nothing less than this is what the Redemption of Christ has won and set Open for us. This was the weakness of the Law, that it made no provision for God's people entering into His Sanctuary, His immediate presence. The Way into the Holiest has been Opened by Jesus. We may Boldly enter in and appear before God. Seated on the Throne our High Priest has the Authority and power by His Holy Spirit to make the drawing nigh to God our continual abiding experience. He does this in the Authority and power of the Endless Life. Life never works from without, always from within. Our High Priest by His Life-power enters our life, and Renews it, and lifts it up; His Heavenly Life becomes our actual life, and the presence of God surrounds and shines in us as the sunlight shines on our bodies. He is able so to shed abroad the Love of God in our hearts that His presence is our joy all the day long.

Draw nigh to God! Nothing less than this must be what our faith claims. The Redemption in Christ is so Perfect and all-prevailing, His Redemption and our Salvation so complete, the power of His Life in us so Heavenly and indissoluble, the action of His Priesthood so unceasing and unbroken, and the working of His Spirit so sure and so Divine, that it is indeed possible for us to dwell all the day long in the enjoyment of God's Love and intimacy with fellowship. It is a Life-state He has entered into, has Opened to us, and Lives to keep us in. Let us receive and believe it. Yes, let faith be the one habit of our soul--- a faith that honors our King-Priest on the Throne in expecting from Him what is impossible to man, what is possible only of God, to keep our hearts all the day within the veil before the face of God.

Christ is the door. The door of what? The door of the heart of God. Through Him I can enter in and abide in God's Love, can dwell in God and God in me. He is the Living door, who takes me up, and brings me in to God. He does it most surely, because He is High Priest in the Authority and power of the Endless Life.

1. A life nigh to God: This is the Better Hope, which enters into that which is within the veil. Hold fast the glorying of this hope. Give all diligence to the fulness of the hope: hope makes not ashamed.
2. God near, the world far; the world near, God far. Jesus entered the presence of God in the path which He opened up for us. That path was humility and meekness, obedience and death. It cost Jesus entire and intense self-surrender to open the path and enter in. He has won for us the power and the right to follow, accompany Him, and communicates it to all upright souls in the power an authority of an Endless Life.
3. Nigh to God! Is this your life? Is this your desire? Is this your expectation? It is the Salvation Christ has prepared for you, and waits to give you.

A special note: This revelation is not for the faint of heart nor for those who drawback from God and His Divine Will and purpose for man. But is intended for those who are seeking more of God and less of self. Those who are willing to forsake the world, for more of the Heavenly Life and nature of God Himself.

"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part LIII

A PRIEST FOR EVER-IN THE POWER OF AN ENDLESS LIFE.
Hebrews 7: 15-17  And what we say is yet more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest, who has been made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an Endless Life. For it is witnessed of Him, You are a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

A Continuation of the FIFTH SECTION
Hebrews 7: 1-28
The New Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek.


BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY

In the words of Psalm 110 each expression is full of meaning. We saw (5: 4-6) that the word, You are Priest is the proof that Christ did not glorify Himself to become Priest, but was appointed of God. We have seen the deep significance of the words, after the order of Melchizedek. We now come to what is implied in its being said, You are a Priest forever.

The word ever or eternal is one of the most important in the Epistle. It is found seventeen times. It contains all that distinguishes the New Testament from the Old; the healthy Christian life of the perfect, from the stunted sickly growth of the babes. To understand what it means we must connect it with God, the Eternal One. Eternity is an attribute of Deity and of the Divine Life, and has its true existence only in the Fellowship (remember that the word fellowship here means intimacy with or intercourse with, to become One with, conjoined to ) of that Life. In God there is no change, or aging, or fading; He is all that He is in an ever-fresh, never-changing, youth. As some one has said: "He is the Ancient of Days, and yet the youngest of all, for He Lives ever in the freshness of the Eternal strength that knows no past." This Eternal Life is that which always remains the same, because it is always in God. And when God speaks to His Son, You are Priest forever, it not only means that the Priesthood will never cease, but it points to what is the root and cause of this; it's root is in the Life and Strength of God. Christ is become a Priest after the power of an Endless Life. Unceasingly, without one moment's cessation, in unbroken continuity, He Lives and Works in the Authority and Power of the Divine Life.

The contrast will make the meaning clear. He is made a Priest, not after the law of a carnal commandment, as Aaron, but after the Authority and power of an Endless Life, even as Melchizedek who abides a priest continually. Law and Life are the contrasts. Every creature naturally acts according to the life that is in it, without any law or compulsion from without. The bird needs no law to bid it fly, or the fish to make it swim: its life makes it a delight. A law is a proof that the life is wanting. The law that forbids stealing is a proof that the life of those for whom it is made is wrong. And a law is not only a proof that the right life is wanting, but it is helpless to produce it. It may check and restrain, but cannot inspire. It can demand, but cannot give; it has power (authority) to command, but not to create what it seeks. Aaron became priest after the law of a carnal (external, fleshly) commandment, a law that made nothing perfect, and was disannulled for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof; Christ, after the Authority and power of an Endless Life. Every act of His Holy and Blessed Priesthood, every application of the fruits of His Eternal Redemption, is wrought in the Authority and power of an Endless Life.


These two principles mark two systems of religion, two ways of worshiping God, two experiences of the inner life. The one is that of the Law, with atonement and acceptance with God, as typified in Aaron. The Christian Trusts Christ as his Redeemer, and seeks, by the great motive of gratitude, to compel himself to love and obedience. His life is one of unceasing effort. But he is painfully conscious of failure; obedience is not his life and delight. The New Testament (Acts 11 through Revelation) offers a Better Life. Through unbelief and sloth and standing still the majority of Christians know little of it. But here it is, opened up by the Holy Spirit, as the mystery of Melchizedek. Jesus Christ is become a Priest after the Authority and power of an Endless Life. These precious words are the key to the Higher Life. Jesus Lives in Heaven as High Priest in the Authority and power of an Endless Life. And as He Lives, so He works in that Authority and power. This is the meaning of His being a Priest forever. His work does not consist, like that of Aaron, in a series of successive acts, that ever cease, and ever need to be renewed. No, each work He does for us He is able to do in the Authority and power of an Endless Life. He works it within us as a life, as our own life, so that it is our very nature to delight in God and in His Will. His Priesthood acts as an inner life within us, lifting us up, not in thought but in Spirit and in Truth, into a vital fellowship or intimacy with God. He breathes His own Life in us. And He works it in as the power of Life, a life that is strong and healthy, because it is His own Life from Heaven. And He works it in the Authority and power of an Endless, an Indissoluble Life, a Life that never for a moment need know a break or an interruption, because it is the Life of Eternity, this Life maintained in us by Him who is a Priest forever, a Priest who abides continually.

And why is it so many Christians experience and prove so little of this power of the endless, the unchanging life that abides continually? Some know nothing of it, they only know of Christ as Aaron. And some hear of it but are not willing to give up all to purchase this pearl of great price; to give up the world for this Heavenly Life. And some, who would fain give up all, cannot, dare not, will not, receive unto belief that Christ is indeed Melchizedek, a Priest forever, a Priest who does everything in Eternal Life-power ( with absolute authority).

He abides a Priest continually. The continuity of His Priesthood is never interrupted or broken; as little the continuity of the action of His Priesthood; as little the experience of that action. Everything Christ as my High Priest in Heaven does for me He does in the Authority and power of an Endless Life, as a Priest who abides continually; what He works can abide continually too. Oh! For faith to consider and Know and Trust Christ Jesus, Priest forever, Priest after the Authority and power of the Endless Life!

We have two words that we need to understand they are power and authority and we'll use Webster's 1828 Dictionary for there definitions.
Authority: Legal power, or a right to command or to act; as the authority of a prince over subjects, and of parents over children. Power; rule; sway. Precedents, decisions of a court, official declarations, respectable opinions and says, also the books that contain them, are call authorities, as they influence the opinions of others; and in law, the decisions of supreme courts have a binding force upon inferior courts, and are called authorities.

Power: That quality in any natural body which produces a change or makes an impression on another body; Command; the right of governing, or actual government; dominion; rule, sway; authority. Legal authority; warrant; as a power of attorney; an agent invested with ample power. Power of attorney, authority given to a person to act for another. Christ is called the power of God, as through Him and His Gospel, God displays His Power and Authority.

1. The power of an Endless Life. There is not a more significant or important expression in the whole Epistle. It is life we need, and a strong life, and a life that never gives way, Here we have it--- the Life more abundant.
2. We shall often have occasion to refer to these words. We are so accustomed to think of a priest as a man who does certain things on behalf of other men, separate from himself, that we apply this mode of thinking to the Lord Jesus. Christ is no outward Savior, nor can He give us any salvation as an outward thing. All He does for us and to us. He puts into our heart, makes It our life. We need to know that all He does as High Priest for us in Heaven. He also does within us as a Life He gives. He is Priest, and can save in no other way, than after the power of an Endless Life. It Is only as a Life within us that His Priesthood can attain its object.
3. Jesus was crucified in weakness, but raised In the power of God. He won the power through the weakness, the sacrifice of all to the death. Let all who would Know Him in the Authority and power of the Endless Life enter into the fellowship of His death, walk in deep humility and meekness and dependency upon God, In the path In which He trod to reach the Throne.

"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part LII

MELCHIZEDEK MORE THAN AARON AND THE LAW.
Hebrews 7: 11-14  Now if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under had the people received the law and the Law of Moses), what further need was there that another priest should be raised after the order of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity also a change of the Law. For he of whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no man had given attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord has sprung from Judah; as to which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.

A Continuation of the FIFTH SECTION
Hebrews 7: 1-28
The New Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek.

AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY
September 1894

When God, in Psalm 110, spoke with an Oath of a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, it was a prophecy of deep Spiritual meaning. Why should the order of Aaron, whom God Himself had called, whose work took such a large place in the purpose of God and of Scripture (the physical external world or the earthy), be passed over for the order of another, of whom we knew nothing save one single act? What need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron? The answer is, Because the order of Aaron was only the figure of the work of Jesus upon earth (in His Ministry to Israel only during His first visitation His earthy or physical reality as the son of man in the flesh of man ); for His Eternal and Almighty Priesthood in Heaven something more was needed.

Let us see and grasp this. Aaron's work was the shadow of Christ's work upon earth, of sacrifice and blood-shedding, of atonement and reconciliation with God. Aaron entered indeed within the veil with the blood, in token of God's acceptance of the atonement and for the people. But he might not tarry there; he had to come out again at once. His entering only once a year, and that only for a few moments, served mostly, as we see in chapter 9: 7, 8, to teach the people that the Way into the Holiest was not yet opened; that for this they would have to wait till another dispensation came. Of a life in the Holiest of All, of a dwelling in God's presence, and fellowship (in the intimacy that Adam had before he disobeyed the command spoken to him Genesis 2: 16-17) with Him there, of a communication to the people of the power of a Life within the veil,--- of all this there was no thought. The Glory of Christ's Priesthood consists in His rending the veil (Psalm 97: 2; Lamentations 3: 44; Isaiah 44: 22; 55: 7-9) and entering in for us: of His sitting at the right hand of God to receive and impart the Spirit of God and the powers of the Heavenly Life; of His being able to bring us in, that we too may draw nigh to God; of His maintenance in us of the Life of Heaven by His unceasing Intercession and Ministry in the power and the Authority of an Endless Life; of all this the ministry of Aaron could afford no promise (It is helpless to bring change in man).

It was in all this that Melchizedek was made like unto the Son of God. As Priest of the Most High God, he was also king, clothed with honor and power. As such his blessing was in power. And as one, of whose death and the end of whose priesthood Scripture mentions nothing, and who abides continually, he is the image of the Eternal Priesthood, which is Ministered in Heaven, in Eternity, in the Authority and power of an Endless Life.

The Revelation of the Mystery and the Glory of the Melchizedek Priesthood of our Lord Jesus is the great object of the Epistle. And I cannot urge my reader too earnestly to see that he enters fully into the infinite difference between the two orders or ministries of Aaron and Melchizedek. The apparently simple question, What need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek? Has more to do with our Spiritual Life than we think.

In the opening verses of our Epistle we found the work of Christ divided into two parts. When He had effected the cleansing of sins (that was after the order of Aaron), He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High (that was after the order of Melchizedek). There are too many Christians who see in Christ only the fulfillment of what Aaron typified. Christ's death and Blood are very precious to them; they do seek to rest their faith upon them. And yet they wonder that they have so little of the peace and joy, of the purity and power which the Savior gives, and which faith in Him ought to bring. The reason is simple, because Christ is only their Aaron, not their Melchizedek. They do indeed believe that He is ascended to heaven, and sits upon the Throne of God; but they have not seen the direct connection of this with their daily Spiritual Life. They do not count upon Jesus working in them in the Authority with its accompanying power of the Heavenly Life, and imparting it to them. They do not know their Heavenly calling, with the all-sufficient provision for its fulfillment in them Secured in the Heavenly Life of their Priest-King. And, as a consequence of this, they do not see the need for giving up of self-will and the world, to have their Life and walk in Heaven. (Many know nothing of a spiritual life or a truly Spiritual Life where the risen essence of the Spirit Christ Jesus is the Life giving force within them, this is the intimacy or fellowship with Him and is what the New Covenant of Grace is all about.)

The work of our redemption was accomplished on earth in weakness (2 Cor. 13: 4); it is communicated from Heaven in resurrection and ascension power. The cross proclaims the pardon of sin; the Throne gives the power over sin. The cross, with its blood-sprinkling, is the deliverance from Egypt; the Throne, with its Living Priest-King, brings into the Rest of God and its Victory. With Aaron there is nothing beyond atonement and acceptance; nothing of kingly rule and power; it is with Melchizedek that the fulness of power and Blessing comes, the Blessing that abideth continually. It is as the soul no longer ever again seeks the foundation, but resting on it and it alone, is Built up into Christ Jesus, the perfected and exalted One, that it will be delivered from its feebleness, bankruptcy and Know the power of the Heavenly Life. The more we consider and adore (fear) our Blessed King-Priest, our Melchizedek, the stronger will our conscience and confidence become that from His Throne in Heaven He will, in Divine power, Himself apply to us all the Blessed Fruits of His atonement, and make a Life in God's presence and nearness our daily experience.

1. When He had effected the cleansing of our sins--- God be praised for our Aaron! Glory be to the Lamb that was slain--- He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High! God be praised for our Melchizedek! Glory to the Lamb in the midst of the Throne! The Holiest is now opened, with our great High Priest to bring us in and keep us there.
2. The effecting the cleansing of sins by Jesus preceded the sitting on the Throne. But the application in us in power follows. This is the reason why we are here first taught about the High Priest in Heaven, then in chapter 8 about the Heavenly Sanctuary, and after that in chapter 9 about the power of the blood in Heaven, and from Heaven in us. It is only in the Knowledge of Jesus in Heaven we shall know the full power of the cleansing blood.
3. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a Heavenly calling, consider Jesus on the Throne in Heaven! The worship and the fellowship of a Heavenly Christ makes Heavenly Christians.

"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part LI

MELCHIZEDEK AND ABRAHAM.
Hebrews 7:  4-10  Now consider how great this man was, to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth out of the chief spoils. And they indeed of the sons of Levi that receive the priest's office have commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though these have come out of the loins of Abraham: But he, whose genealogy is not counted from them, has taken tithes of Abraham, and has blessed him that had the promises. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed of the better. And here men that die receive tithes; but there one, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. And, so to say, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes has paid tithes;  For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him.

The continuation of the FIFTH SECTION
Hebrews 7: 1-28.
The New Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek.

AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY
September 1894.

Now consider how great this man was. If we rightly apprehend the greatness of Melchizedek, it will help us to understand the greatness of Christ, our great High Priest. The Hebrews gloried in Abraham, as the father of the chosen people; in Aaron, who as high priest was the representative of God and His worship; in the Law as given from Heaven, in token of God's covenant with His people. In all these respects the superiority of Melchizedek is proved. He is more than Abraham (4-10), more than Aaron (11-14), more than the Law (11-19).

Melchizedek is more than Abraham; of this a double proof is given. Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek; Melchizedek blessed Abraham. According to the Law the priests received tithes from their brethren, but here a stranger receives them from the father of the whole people. There is more; in Israel men who die receive tithes; but here one of whom it is witnessed that He liveth, who abides continually. And in Abraham, even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes. All was so ordered of God as a hidden prophecy, to be unfolded in due time, of the greatness of Christ our High Priest. Consider how great this man was.

There is a second proof of his greatness; Melchizedek blessed Abraham. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed of the better. Abraham had already been blessed of God Himself (Gen. 12: 2). He here accepts a blessing from Melchizedek, acknowledging his own inferiority, unconsciously subordinating himself and the whole priesthood that was to come from him, to this priest of the Most High God.(Without record of parents or of death and burial but this we know of him, he was a gentile as, he was not in the line of Abraham, second that he was NOT of Aaron's priesthood or descendents and this third fact he was a priest of the Most High God an accepted title for a gentile who know God and walked in God's righteousness. Emphasis added)

The unfolding of this Divinely-ordained type not only reveals the Superiority of Christ to the Levitical priesthood, but sets before us most suggestively two of the characteristics of our relation to Christ as Priest. We receive Blessing from Him; He receives tithes from us.

Christ comes to bring us God's Blessing. We have seen in chapter 6: 14 what God's Blessing is. It is in Christ that the Blessing is confirmed and imparted. And if we would know fully what the Blessing is Christ brings us, we have only to think of the priestly blessing in Israel.

On this wise you shall bless the children of Israel, saying to them,
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee;
The LORD make His face to shine upon thee, and be
gracious unto thee:
The LORD lift up His countenance upon thee, and give
thee peace.

These are indeed the Spiritual Blessings in the Heavenlies with which God has Blessed us in Christ and which, as High Priest, Christ dispenses. He brings us to the Father, and we learn to know that He Blesses and keeps us. In Him, the Son, God's face shines upon us, and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is our portion. In Him God lifts up His countenance upon us, and, by the Holy Spirit, gives His Peace to our hearts. Christ the High Priest makes every part of this Blessing a Divine reality, a Living experience in the power of a Life that abides continually.

Christ gives us the Blessing, we give Him the tithes. The tithes to God are our acknowledgment of His Right to all that we are, this body. Our High Priest has a Right to the surrender of all we have, as belonging to Him, to the willing sacrifice of all He asks or needs for His service. The connection between the tithes and the Blessing is closer than we know. The more unreservedly we place all that we have at His disposal, the more we in very deed forsake all for His sake, the richer will our experience be of the fulness and the power which our High Priest can Bless.

Without dispute the lesser is blessed of the better. This is the true relation. The more we know of that better name which Jesus has received, and have our hearts filled with His Glory, the lower we shall bow, the less we shall become in our own eyes; and thereby the fitter and the more willing to be blessed. And the more ready, too, to render Him not only the tithes, but the whole of all we are and possess. As in our spiritual life this twofold relation to our Great High Priest is maintained, and a deep faith and dependency on His Divine fulness of Blessing is cultivated, along with an absolute surrender to His disposal and service, the mighty power of His Priesthood will be revealed in our hearts. And we shall see with ever-increasing clearness that the two dispositions, faith in Him who Blesses and consecration to His service, have their root in the one cardinal virtue of humility, making us ever less and less in our own eyes, until we sink into that nothingness, and bankruptcy, which is the death to self, and makes room for Him to be All. Then the word will be fulfilled in us in a new meaning: Without dispute the lesser is Blessed of the better.

1. Melchizedek blessed Abraham. The work of your High Priest, my soul, is simply blessing. Learn to think this of Jesus, and seek to have a great confidence that He delights to Bless. He is nothing but a fountain of Blessing; rejoice greatly in this and Trust Him for it.
2. Remember that the all-comprehensive Blessing of your Melchizedek in Heaven is--- the Holy Spirit from Heaven in your heart. As it is written: "Christ Redeemed us, that the Blessing of Abraham might come upon us, in Jesus Christ; that we might receive the Promise of the Spirit through faith." The Holy Spirit "abiding continually" in the heart is the High-Priestly Blessing.
3. This day He comes to meet you, as you returned from the battle weary and faint. Bow before Him, and let Him Bless you! "Even as the Holy Ghost said, To-day." Believe that Jesus is all to you.

"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part L

MELCHIZEDEK MADE LIKE UNTO THE SON OF GOD.
Hebrews 7: 1-3  For this Melchizedek, King of Salem, Priest of the God Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all (being first, by interpretation, King of Righteousness, and then also King of Salem, which is, King of Peace; Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God), abides a Priest continually.

Fifth Section
Hebrews 7:1-28
The New Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek

BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY

In chapter 5 we read that Jesus was called of God, even as was Aaron. In many points Aaron was a type of Christ. But there were other respects in which the priesthood of Aaron utterly failed even to prefigure that of Christ. By a Special Divine provision the name of another is found, in whom, what was wanting in Aaron as a type, was foreshadowed. The difference between the priesthood of Aaron and Melchizedek is a radical one. In the right understanding of what that difference is, and in the knowledge of that in which Melchizedek has been made like unto the Son of God, lies the secret of this Epistle, and the secret of the Christian onto the Christ-like life in its power and perfection. The secret may be expressed in one word--- PRIEST FOREVER.

The whole place Melchizedek occupies in Sacred History is one of the most remarkable proofs of the inspiration and the unity of Scripture, as written under the direct supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. In the Book of Genesis (chapters 14 and 15) all we know of him is told in three short, very simple verses. A thousand years later we find a Psalm (110: 4) with just one single verse, in which God Himself is introduced, swearing to His Son that He is to be a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Another thousand years pass, and that single verse becomes the seed of the wondrous exposition, in this Epistle, of the whole work of Redemption is Revealed in Christ Jesus. All its most remarkable characteristics are found enveloped in the wondrous type. The more we study it the more we exclaim: This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. We see in it nothing less than a miracle of Divine Wisdom, guiding Melchizedek and Abraham with a view to what was to take place with the Son of God two thousand years later; revealing to the Psalmist the secret purpose of the Divine mind in the promise made to the Son in Heaven; and then, by the same Holy Spirit, guiding the writer of our Epistle to his Divinely-inspired exposition. To the believing mind no stronger proof of inspiration could possibly be given. It is indeed the Eternal Spirit, the Spirit of Christ Himself, through whom all was wrought and in due time recorded.

In the first three verses of our chapter we are reminded of the story of Melchizedek, and the exposition is given of his name and history. His name signifies--- King of righteousness. He is also called, from the city where he reigned, Salem, meaning Peace--- the King of peace. The two titles thus combined proved how he was destined of God to be the figure of His Son. Righteousness and Peace are mentioned together both in the Old Testament and in the New as characteristic Blessings of the Kingdom of Christ. Righteousness as the only foundation of Peace: peace as its sure and blessed result. The Kingdom of God is Righteousness and Peace, and, as the sure fruit of these, joy in the Holy Ghost.

Melchizedek was priest and king--- a thing unknown in all the history of Israel. What was always kept asunder in God's people had, by the Divine forethought, been united in Him who had been made like unto the Son of God. It is the Glory of Christ as the Priest-King that our Epistle is specially to unfold.

The silence of Scripture as to his genealogy and birth and death is then interpreted as proof of how different his priesthood is from that of Aaron and the priests in Israel, where descent was everything. So had God prepared in him a wondrous prophecy of His Son, whose right to the priesthood lay in no earthly birth, but in His being the Son of God from eternity to eternity. Made like unto the Son of God, Melchizedek abides a priest continually.

A Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. This word of God is in the Psalm which forms the connecting link between Genesis and our Epistle. The Holy Spirit who first inspired it, and then expounded it, is waiting to lead us into the Mystery of its Glory, as a Living experience. That word forever, that we meet in the expressions, Priest forever, eternal Salvation, eternal Redemption, Perfected forever, not only signifies without end, but infinitely more. God is the Eternal One; His Life is Eternal Life. Eternal is that which is Divine, in which there is no change or decay, but everlasting youth and strength, because God is in it. The Everlasting Priesthood of Christ means that He will do His work in us in the Authority and power of the Eternal Life, as that is lived in God and Heaven. He Lives forever, therefore He can save completely.

May God Teach us to know what it means that Christ is our Melchizedek, a Priest forever. It is the spiritual apprehension of this Everlasting Priesthood, as communicating even here and maintaining an Everlasting, Unchangeable Life in us, that lifts our inner experience out of the region of the external, the effort, and change, and failure, into the Rest of God, so that the immutability of His Counsel is the measure of that of our Faith and Hope.

1. In this chapter we have now the beginning of the things hard to be understood except by the perfect. It is only those who press on to perfection, who long to possess the very utmost of what God is able to Work in them through Christ, who can inwardly appropriate the Revelation of the Eternal Priesthood. Neither talent nor genius can suffice--- it is the heart that thirsts for the Living God that will understand this Teaching about our being brought nigh to God.
2. The Holy Spirit, through whom the history was recorded, and the Oath to the Son revealed, and the exposition inspired, can alone lead us into the Spiritual Power and Blessing here revealed. And the Holy Spirit only leads as He is known as the indwelling One, is waited on in deep humility, and yielded to in meek resignation. What a solemn, Holy, Blessed thing to believe that the Spirit of God is Leading us into this Perfection-Truth as a possession and experience.
3. He abides continually: an Unchanging, Never-ending Life, the characteristic of Melchizedek, who was made like to Christ, of Christ in His Heavenly Priesthood, and of the life of the believer who learns rightly to Know and Trust Him.

"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part XLIX

THE FORERUNNER WITHIN THE VEIL.
Hebrews 6:18-20  That we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us; Which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast (firm) and entering into that which is within the veil; Where as our Forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

The last part of The Third Warning
Against Sloth, Standing Still and Apostasy

BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY

In chapter 5, speaking of the Priesthood of Jesus, the writer had twice cited the words of Psalm 110, with its prophecy of a Priest after the order of Melchizedek (5: 6, 10). But he feared that the Hebrews were, by reason of sloth, too far back in their Christian life to be able to receive this higher teaching. It was on this account he interposed his words of reproof and warning. From these he had passed to exhortation and encouragement, and is now ready to address himself to what is the central teaching of the Epistle. There are specially two great Heavenly Mysteries he is commissioned to unfold. The one, that of the Heavenly Priesthood of Christ; the other, that of the Heavenly Sanctuary in which He Ministers, and into which He gives us access. In the two last verses of our sixth chapter we have the transition to the new section, and in it these Mysteries are both mentioned as the hope set before us. Hope enters within the veil; it finds there the Forerunner, who has entered for us, Jesus our High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek. (A gentile priest of the Most High God and also the King of Salem which becomes New Salem or Jerusalem later in Hebrew- Jewish history. Added for emphasis of clarity.)

We who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. The hope sometimes means the object of hope, that which God sets before us; sometimes the subjective Grace or disposition of hope in our hearts. Here it specially refers to the former. And what that hope is, is clear from the next chapter (7:19), where we read of the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw nigh to God. This better hope is the access our High Priest in Heaven gives us into God's very presence, into the enjoyment of His Fellowship (of intimacy) and Blessedness, even while here on earth.

Which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and firm, and entering into that which is within the veil. The hope is our anchor. A ship is held by the anchor cast into the unseen depth beneath. So the hope in the unseen within the veil, which God has given us, holds us fast. And as our heart is fixed upon it, hope as a subjective Grace is stirred and drawn, and enters within the veil too. Where our hope lives there the heart lives. There we, our real selves, are Living too.

Whither the Forerunner is for us entered. The Forerunner. Here we have another of the keywords of the Epistle, without the right understanding of which our view of the work of Jesus as High Priest must be defective. It points us to the work He did in Opening up the Way, by Himself walking in it; to our following Him in that Way to the place into which He has entered, and into which we now have access. We have had His name as Leader. We shall yet have (10:21) the New and Living Way He has Opened up. We shall hear (12:1) of the race we have to run, looking to Jesus, who went on before, enduring the cross, and is now set down at the right hand of God. There is nothing will so much help us to understand the work that Jesus does as Son and High Priest as the acceptance of Him as our Leader and Forerunner, bringing us into the very presence of the Father.

Entered for us. We are so familiar with all the blessed meaning there is in the words for us, in reference to Christ on the cross. What He did there was all for us; by it and in it we live. No less is it true of Christ within the veil. It is all for us; all that He is and has there is for us; it is our present possession; by it and in it we Live with Him and in Him. The veil was rent that the Way through it might be opened for us; that we might have access to that which is within the veil; that we might enter into a New world, an entirely New Way of Living in close and intimate fellowship with God. A high priest must have a sanctuary in which he ministers. The Mystery of the NOW Opened Sanctuary is that we can enter too. The inner sanctuary, the Holiest of All, the presence of God, is the sphere of Christ's Ministry and our Life and Service to all. (For their benefit as are become the pastor/teachers as having received the promise and we remain in the Hope to the end. Emphasis added.)

The Forerunner, even Jesus! It is as if the writer delights to repeat this name which our Savior bears as Son of Man. Even in the Glory of Heaven He is still Jesus, our Brother.

Having become a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. We have yet to learn all that is contained in this Melchizedek priesthood. But this will be its chief glory--- that He is a Priest forever, a Priest in the power of an Endless Life, a Priest who Opens to us the State of Life to which He Himself has entered in, and brings us there to live here on earth with the Life of Eternity in our bosom.(By faith in His Word, IN Him. Emphasis added)

Christian reader! Do you know the power of this hope, entering into that which is within the veil, where the Forerunner is for us entered. Jesus is in Heaven for you, to secure for you a Life on earth in the power and joy of Heaven, to maintain the Kingdom of Heaven within you, by that Spirit, through whom God's Will is done on earth as it is in Heaven. All that Jesus is and has, is Heavenly and Spiritual. All that He gives and does, is Heavenly Spiritual. As High Priest at God's right hand, He Blesses with all Heavenly Spiritual Blessings. Oh, prepare yourself, as the Glory of His person and Ministry in the Heavenly places are now to be opened up to you, to look upon it, and appropriate it all, as your personal possession. And believe that His High Priesthood not only consists in His having secured certain Heavenly Blessings for you, but in His fitting and enabling you to enter into the full personal experience and enjoyment of them.

1. There Is a Sanctuary in which God dwells. There was a veil that separated man from God. Jesus came from within to live without the veil, and rend it, and open a Way for us. He is now there for us as our Forerunner. We may now enter in and dwell there, in the power of the Holy Ghost. This is the Gospel according to the Epistle to the Hebrews.
2. Hope enters within the veil, rejoices in all there is to be found, and counts upon the Revelation in the heart of all that is there prepared for us.
3. Jesus the Forerunner, follow Him. Even though you can not understand all, follow Him in His path of humility and meekness and obedience: He will bring you in. This is the promise which, even in this life, you shall inherit, through patience and longsuffering (the trials, testings and tribulations which proof us as through fire to become a vessel of honor and full of God's Glory, emphasis added).

"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part XLVIII

THE OATH OF GOD.
Hebrews 6: 16 - 18  For men swear by the greater: and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation. Wherein God, being minded to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of His counsel, interposed ( Mediated) with an oath:  That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

Hebrews 6:16-18 (Weymouth NT)  For men swear by what is greater than themselves; and with them an oath in confirmation of a statement always puts an end to a dispute. In the same way, since it was God's desire to display more convincingly to the heirs of the promise how unchangeable His purpose was, He added an oath, in order that, through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for Him to prove false, we may possess mighty encouragement--we who, for safety, have hastened to lay hold of the hope set before us. Added for ease of understanding.

Continuing with The Third Warning
Against Sloth, Standing Still and Apostasy


BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY

For any serious man it is always a solemn thing to take an oath, and appeal to the omniscient God for the Truth of what He says. But there is something more solemn even than taking an oath before God, and that is, God's taking an Oath before man. And this is what our writer proceeds now to speak of. He had already spoken of God's Oath in His Wrath, They shall not enter into My Rest. He will in the next chapter point out the deep significance of Christ's appointment as High Priest being confirmed by an Oath. Here he wishes to show believers what strong encouragement they have in God's Oath to expect most confidently the fulfillment of the promise. It is this confidence alone that will enable the Christ-Like one to endure the slander of others, the disappointments caused by those closes to them and hardship of trials and testings and conquer.

Let us once more consider this. The Oath of God plainly proves that the thing He seeks above everything is--- faith; He wishes to be Trusted. Faith is nothing but depending on God to do for us what we cannot do--- what He has undertaken to do. God's purpose concerning us is something of infinite and inconceivable Blessedness. He is ready, He longs, as God, Himself to work in us all that He has promised. He cannot do this except as we open our hearts to Him, and yield ourselves in stillness and absolute surrender for Him to do His work. Until this faith takes possession of us, we are always seeking to do His work, in this we hinder Him. Faith teaches us in deep humility and dependency, in meekness and patience, to place ourselves in God's hands, to make way for Him, and to wait for His time. Faith opens the whole heart and life in expectation, in anxious receptivity, and hope. Then God is free to work; faith gives Him His place as God, and honors Him; and He fulfills the promise, Him that honors Me, will I honor. Oh, do learn the lesson, that the first and the last, the one thing, God asks is--- that we Trust Him, to do His work.

It is for this that He mediates, comes in between, with an Oath. Just notice the expressions that are used: God willing to show--- they had shown their love toward His name; they had been urged to show diligence to the fulness of hope; here they are told what God will show them--- willing to show more abundantly to the heirs of Salvation the immutability of His Counsel. God Wills to show us how unchangeable His purpose to Bless us is, if we will but let Him, if we will but Trust Him, and by Trusting let Him work. And He Wills to show us this more abundantly. He wants us to have much more abundant proof of it, that we may, as we had it in chapter 2:1, take more abundant heed, and see that there can be no possibility of a doubt: God will do it. It was for this He confirmed the promise with an Oath.

That by two immutable things--- His Promise and His Oath ---in which it is impossible for God to lie, we  might have a strong encouragement. Just notice the expression--- impossible for God to lie! It is as if God asks, if we do not think His word enough, if we think it possible that He, the faithful and the unchangeable One, should lie. He knows how little our darkened hearts trust Him; His promises are so Large, so Divine, so Heavenly, that we cannot take them in. And so, to waken and to shame us out of our unbelief, He comes, and, as if it were possible for God to lie, calls us to Listen as He takes an Oath in our presence that He will do what He has said: Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. And all, that we, the heirs of Salvation, might have a strong encouragement. Surely every vestige of fear and doubt ought to pass away, and our whole soul fall down to worship and to cry out: O God! we do Trust You. Never, never, will I doubt Your word again.

God, since He could swear by none greater, swore by Himself. Yes. By Himself ! In that lies the Authority and power of the Oath, and the power of our faith in our oath. God points to Himself--- His Divine Being, His Glory, His Authority and power, and pledges Himself, gives Himself as Security, as hostage, that, as sure as He Lives, He will fulfill His promise. Oh, if we would but take time to tarry in the presence of this God, and to Listen to Him swearing to us that He will be faithful, surely we should fall down in confession that we ever harbored for a moment the doubt, which thinks it possible that He may be untrue and not keep His word. Shall we not kneel and vow that by His Grace we will rather die than again make such a God a liar?

And now let us pause and realize what all this argument about the Blessing and the Oath of God means. In the Christian life there is lack of steadfastness, of diligence, of perseverance. Of all the cause is simply--- lack of faith. And of this again the cause is--- the lack of the Knowledge of what God Wills and is, of His Purpose, His Eternal Authority and power to Bless most wonderfully, and of His faithfulness to carry out His Purpose. It is to cure these evils; it is to tell His people that He will do anything to win their Trust, and will do anything for them if they will but Trust Him, that God has taken His Oath of  faithfulness. Oh!, shall we not this day believe God and believe in the fulness of His Blessing? And shall we not count it our most sacred duty, and our most blessed privilege, to honor God every day by a life of full and perfect Trust? This is our lesson from Jesus' example, His total Trust in the Father of Spirits to do all as He had promised.

1. "The oath for confirmation." The same word as in Heb. 3: 7, 14, and 6: 19, firm. As we see how firm, how steadfast, God's promise and the hope He gives us, our confidence will grow more firm too. The fulness of my faith depends upon my being occupied with the faithfulness of God.
2. By faith and long suffering. Having suffered long. God Is often very slow. "He bears long with His elect." This is the patience of the saints: to let God take His time, and through all ever to Trust Him.
3, That we be not slothful: it is the faith that God will work all, that rouses to diligence both in waiting on Him and in doing His Will.

"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part XLVII

INHERITING THE PROMISE.
Hebrews 6: 13 - 15   For when God made promise to Abraham, since He could swore by none greater, He swore by Himself, Saying, Surely in blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. And thus, having patiently endured, (suffered long ) he  obtained, the promise.

Continuing with The Third Warning
Hebrews 5:11 - 6:20
Against Sloth, Standing Still and Apostasy

BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY

The Epistle is dealing with one of the greatest dangers in the Spiritual Life. All experience amply confirms what was seen in the first Christian churches, that many who began well stood still and then turned back. The Christian life is a race: to begin profits nothing unless we run to the end and reach the goal. Faith may accept; But only longsuffering inherits the promise. Day by day, without intermission, rather with ever-growing zeal and diligence, our allegiance to Jesus our Leader must be maintained, or backsliding must inevitably ensue. And the Church of Christ is a very hospital of backsliding Christians, who meant honestly, in the joy of their first love, to live wholly for God, and who yet gradually sank down into a life of formality, conformity and feebleness. There is nothing the Church needs more than the preaching of daily diligence and perseverance as the indispensable condition of growth and strength. Let us learn from the Epistle how these virtues can be fostered in ourselves and others. It had spoken of those who through faith and longsuffering inherit the promises. It will now show us, from the example of Abraham, what this means. It first points us, as ever, to what God promises, and then to the disposition in man which this claims and works. ( For we like Abraham will have to pass through many trials, tests and tribulations for the working out of our Salvation after we've pass into Redemption and begin to put our whole heart into Trusting God in His Word. Thereby inheriting our promised results as a reward eternal Life in Christ. )

For when God made promise to Abraham, since He could swear by none greater, He swore by Himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. The deeper our insight into the certainty and the fulness of the Blessing of God, the more will our hearts be roused to believe (to be receptive) and to persevere. The Word of God is our assurance of what we are to expect. How much greater must our confidence be when that Word is an Oath? Of this the following verses are to speak. Here the fulness of God's Blessing is set before us in the promise given to Abraham: as his seed (those who put their total trust in God through Jesus Christ ) we are his heirs, and what God promised him is for us too. We need be content with nothing less; nothing less will stimulate us to a life like his in faith and patience.

Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. In Hebrew the repetition of a verb is meant to give force to what is said, to express the certainty and the greatness of what is asserted. In the mouth of God the repetition, Blessing I will bless, multiplying I will multiply, was meant to waken in Abraham's heart the confidence that the blessing was indeed to be something very wonderful and worthy of God, Blessing in Divine power and fulness. What that blessing was to be, the second half of the sentence shows, Multiplying I will multiply you. Scripture teaches us that the highest blessing which God can bestow, that which makes us Truly Godlike, is the power of multiplying ourselves, of becoming, as God is, the source and the blessing of other lives. So the two words are connected in passages like Genesis 1: 22, 28 ; 9: 1. Of the living creatures it is said: God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply. And of man: And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply. So of Noah too: And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said, Be fruitful and multiply. It is the Glory of God that He is the dispenser of life that in His creatures He multiplies His own Life and Blessedness. And it is one of His Highest Blessings when He communicates this power of increase to those whom He chooses for His service. The power of His Blessing to Adam is seen in the race that sprang from him, as of His Blessing to Abraham in his seed, even in Jesus Christ Himself. And to each child of Abraham, to each truly receptive believer, the promise still comes in Divine power: Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. Every truly receptive believer who will but claim, and give himself up to the Blessing of God, will find that the Blessing is a power of the Divine Life which will make him fruitful in blessing to others, and make it true of him too, multiplying I will multiply you. Even we, like Christ, can become priests, bringing the Blessing of God to those who know Him not.

It is when this fulness of Blessing in its Divine energy, when this Blessing I will Bless you begins to be understood, and the soul sees that there is something beyond the mere being saved from wrath, that there is a becoming the recipient, and the channel, and the dispenser, of Life and Blessing to others, that it becomes willing to sacrifice everything, and in longsuffering to endure until it obtains the promise.

Christian! Would you be an imitator of Abraham, and let the God who spoke to him speak to you? Remember it is not so easy to receive and claim this promise. Abraham received it in the Way of faith and Obedience and Self-sacrifice, in the entire surrender to God's Will and Leading. It was when he had sacrificed Isaac, yes and more, when in doing so he had sacrificed himself, that this promise was given him with an Oath. God will speak to you as truly as to Abraham. Learn with him to go out of your country and your home; give yourself to God's Leading; be prepared to sacrifice all. God will meet you too with His double blessing. And your heart will become strong to hear His voice, "Blessing / will bless, multiplying / will multiply." And it will be true of you as of Abraham: And thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. We shall not only be the heirs, but the actual inheritors of the promise.

1. It Is after the most terrible warning this promise comes. Until the slothful Christian is roused the most precious promise finds no entrance. When he is roused, it is the preaching of the promise in its fulness will give him courage and strength.
2. Does your heart condemn you, and do you fear that there is but tittle hope of your becoming a bright, growing, holy child of God, blessed and made a Blessing? Come and learn from Abraham the secret, God spoke to him! Listen to God. Let God speak to you, follow where He leads, obey what He commands. He will bring you to the place of Blessing, the
place of the revelation of Himself.
3. And put at once into practice the lesson of to-day. Be not discouraged if you feel feeble and cold, and if there appears to be no progress. Listen to God's, Blessing I will bless you. Feed on what God says. And Trust Him to work in you all you need.
4. Are you a worker in God's service? Wait upon God to speak this word to you too, Multiplying I will multiply you. He can make even you a Blessing to many. But such a premise needs an oath to find entrance to the receptive heart. Accept and live on the oath of God.

"THE HOLIEST OF ALL" part XLVI

OF DILIGENCE AND PERSEVERANCE.
Hebrews 6: 9 - 12  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany Salvation, though we thus speak: For God is not unrighteous to forget your work, and the love which you showed toward His name, in that you ministered to the saints, and still do minister.  And we desire that each of you may show the same diligence unto the fulness of hope even to the end:  That you be not sluggish, but imitators of them who through faith and patience (long-suffering) inherit the promises.

Continuing with The Third Warning
Against Sloth, Standing Still and Apostasy
Hebrews 5:11 - 6:20

BY THE Pastor ANDREW MURRAY

In every Christian community you have two classes. There are some who give themselves up with their whole heart to seek and serve God. There are others, too often the majority, who, like Israel, are content with deliverance from Egypt, and settle down in sloth, without striving for the full possession of the promise, the rest in the promised land. In speaking to such a Church, one might address the two classes separately. Or one might address the whole body now from one, then from the other of the two standpoints. This is what the Epistle does. In its warning it speaks to all as if all were in danger. In its exhortation and encouragement it speaks as if all shared the sentiments of the better half.

But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany Salvation, though we thus speak of falling away, and the impossibility of renewal. We have the hope that our word of warning will bear fruit, and that by the Grace of God, which has already wrought in you, you will be stirred to rise up out of all sloth and unbelief and press forward. We look to God Himself to perfect His work in you ( one might add here, as long as you are or remain willing and obedient vessels). 


For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and the love which you showed toward His name, in that you ministered to the saints, and still do minister. If there was much in the present state to make him anxious, the writer encourages himself and them by pointing to the past. When the Gospel was preached among them they had received Christ's messengers with joy, and stood by them in sharing reproach and spoiling for His name. Even now still there was among them a love towards God's people. And God is not unrighteous to forget what has been done for His name and people; the reward of the cup of cold water may be remembered by God even when the giver has grown cold, and may come in the blessing that restores him again. God does not only remember sin; He much rather remembers the work of obedience done through His Love.

And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fulness of hope even to the end. In all worldly business diligence is the secret of success. Without attention and trouble and hearty effort we cannot expect our work to prosper. And yet there are many Christians who imagine that in the Christian life things will come right of themselves. When they are told that Jesus undertakes to do all, they count this as a pass to a life of ease. Of a Truth, No. Jesus will indeed do all; but He undertakes it, just to inspire us with His own Spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion to the Father's Will, His own readiness to forsake all ease and comfort to please God and man, His own unvarying diligence in working while it was day. And so our writer urges his readers to show the same diligence they had formerly manifested, to the fulness of the hope to the very end.

We have here the same three words we had in the second warning. There we read, " Let us give diligence to enter into that Rest" (4: 11). "If we hold fast the glorying of our hope firm to the end (3: 6). "If we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end." The great marks of Christ-Like perseverance are here once again joined together. Hope looks forward and lives in the promises; it glories beforehand in the certainty of their fulfillment. Bright hopefulness is one of the elements of a healthy Christ-Like life one of the surest preservatives against backsliding or standing still. This hopefulness must be cultivated; diligence must be given to the fulness of hope a hope that embraces all the fulness of God's promises, and that fills all the heart. And all this to the end, with a patience and perseverance that knows no weariness, that waits on God's timing, and seeks with patience till the fulfillment has come.

That you be not slothful. This is what had done so much harm they had been slothful in hearing (5:11). This is the danger that still threatens. But be imitators of them who through faith and longsuffering inherit the promises. The writer had spoken in warning of the example of the fathers in the wilderness; he here encourages them by reminding them of those who through faith and longsuffering had inherited the promises. Longsuffering is the perseverance of faith. Faith grasps at once all that God promises, but is in danger of relaxing its hold. Longsuffering comes to tell how faith needs daily to be renewed, and strengthens the soul, even when the promise tarries, still to hold fast firm to the end. This is one of the great practical lessons of our Epistle, and one the young believers and so called followers specially needs. Conversion is but a beginning, a step, an entrance on a path; day by day its surrender must be renewed; every day faith must afresh accept Christ, and find its strength only in Him. Through faith and longsuffering we inherit, enter on the possession of the promises. Salvation consists in what Christ Jesus is to us and does in us. There must, each day, be personal intercourse with Him, distinct personal surrender to His teaching and working, if He is indeed to be our life. Let us beware, above everything, of unconsciously resting or trusting in what we have or enjoy of Grace. It is alone by faith and longsuffering, by the never-ceasing daily renewal of our consecration and our faith in our quiet time with our Beloved Lord, that the Heavenly Life can be maintained in its freshness and power.

1. God is not unrighteous to forget your work. How often God spoke to Israel of its first love. What an encouragement to any who have grown cold to return and Trust Him to restore them. God cannot forget what has passed between you and Him.
2. That you be not slothful, not for a single day. We may lose in an hour by unwatchfulness what we have gained in a year. Christ and His service ask for your undivided, unceasing attention and obedience with receptivity of heart.
3. Let not God's Way appear too slow or too difficult. Let patience have its perfect work. As the husbandman has long patience with the seed, God is patient with you. Be patient with Him. Just remember this simple lesson. Day by day renew your complete surrender to Jesus, and your faith in Him your hope in God. Faith and patience must inherit the promises.