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.
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