28 - Heb_10:19-25
CHAPTER X X V I I I.
FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE Hebrews 10:19-25. THE apostle’s great argument is concluded, and the result is placed before us in a very short summary. We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way; and we have in the heavenly sanctuary a great Priest over the house of God. All difficulties have been removed, perfectly and forever. We have access; and He who is the way is also the end of the way; He is even now our great Priest, interceding for us, and our all-sufficient Mediator, providing us with every needful help. On this foundation rests a threefold exhortation. 1. Let us draw near with a true heart, in the full assurance of faith. 2. Let us hold fast the profession of hope without wavering. 3. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, labouring and waiting together, and helping one another* in the unity of brethren. Faith, hope, and love - this is the threefold result of Christ’s entrance into heaven, spiritually discerned. A believing, hoping, and loving attitude of heart corresponds to the new covenant revelation of divine grace. (*It would lead too far from the scope of the passage to enter into the connection subsisting between these three gifts of grace. Suffice it to remind the reader of their frequent conjunction in Scripture.Colossians 1:4-5;1 Thessalonians 1:3;1 Corinthians 13:13; 1 Peter 1.)
"Brethren," the apostle here significantly calls believers. He does not mean so much "his brethren;" but, including himself, he looks unto the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we are sanctified. For, as he taught before, He who sanctified and they who are sanctified are of one; for which reason He took upon Him flesh and blood, He is not ashamed to call us brethren. Thus we who believe stand before the Father. The eternal election - love of the Father in Christ; the present and everlasting delight of the Father in the accomplished sacrifice, and in the representative position of the Saviour; the perfect High Priestly mediation of the Lord, who remembers His earthly experience, sorrow, and temptation - these are now the bright and yet peaceful heights to which we lift our eyes. And we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus; for the Holy Ghost witnesses,* that there is no more offering for sin, for the very reason, that God, on account of the one offering of Christ, will remember our sins no more. (Hebrews 10:15-18.) [*The expression
1. The personality of the Holy Ghost, who searcheth the deep things of God, of the Father, and of the Son.
2. The relation subsisting between the Scripture and the Spirit. The words of Scripture are the testimony of the Spirit.
3. The Spirit witnesses to the individual believer in and by the Scripture.
4. The gracious object of the Holy Ghost is to show us our perfection in Christ Jesus.
Let us ever hold fast in a living and experimental faith the doctrine of the Divine Authority and inspiration of Scripture, and never be disturbed by high-sounding phrases of liberty and Spirit; for only where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty, and the Spirit is with and in thewrittenWord.]
There is now no barrier; we have a free and unfettered right of access.1 We are not as Israel of old; not even as the Levites, who were excluded from the Holiest; not even like Aaron, who only once a year entered, and that in darkness, and for a few moments; unto us is given boldness, right, permission, to enter into the presence of God; for the blood of Jesus Christ, by which He entered Himself, opened the door to us also. Jesus is both the way and the door, even as He is also the end of the way; and inside the door we are brought again into His gracious presence. That veil which hid the Holiest, which on the day of crucifixion "was rent in twain from the top to the bottom,"2 symbolized the flesh of Christ. It was in order to die that the Son of God took part of flesh and blood.3 The humanity in which the glory of the Only-begotten was revealed was, in its aspect of weakness and before His suffering of death, also a veil, separating Him as Son of Man and our Representative, as well as us, from the holy of holies. But when He tasted death for us, the veil was rent, and then Jesus with His own blood entered into the heavenly sanctuary, leaving an open way of access unto all believers. This is the new and living way consecrated by Christ. It is called new,4 for before the death of our Lord no believer and worshipper was able to enter thus into the presence of the Most High. This "perfection," which pertains to the conscience, this absolute confidence, this acceptance in the Beloved, this standing in Christ, belongs to the new covenant, though grace prepared and kept the ancient believers under its safe and sheltering wings. The way is called new, because the efficacy and strength of Christ’s atonement is ever the same. As the poet says, not so much by the power of imagination, as of faith, "dear dying Lamb;" as Luther often said, "It seems but yesterday that Jesus died on the cross." (1It is evident that the expression
It is called a living way, because all that symbolizes Christ must be represented as possessing vitality. Thus we read of Him as the living stone, and of the temple built on Him as growing. Thus He speaks of Himself as living bread, because He gives and sustains life to all His people. Christ is the living way, for He gives life and strength to walk by Him to the Father. Christ actually brings us, in repentance, trust, and soul - renewal, into the presence of God. Christ is all, and the sinner is really and truly transplanted out of the kingdom of sin, guilt, and death into the kingdom of righteousness, peace, and life. But the second privilege, on which the apostle founds the exhortation is, that Jesus is not merely the way, but the end of the way, a living Saviour within the veil; the great, the all-glorious Priest,1 continuing in the heavenly sanctuary without intermission His priestly functions, interceding for His people, and bringing each of us individually, with our various need, infirmity, and sorrow, before the Father. He is the great Priest over the house of God. By the house of God believers are meant,2 Christ, as the Son, the Only-begotten of the Father, and the First-born among many brethren, is over His own house. What a consoling and encouraging thought is this, that on the throne of God is Jesus, Head of the House, and Head as Priest - merciful, faithful, sympathizing, Guardian and Lord, Brother and Friend; nay more, One with the people, for whom He intercedes. And as Christ and the Church are viewed as the One House, Habitation, and Temple, so we know there is yet a future manifestation of the "place" which He is preparing for us. He is gathering now a congregation in the holy of holies; He is building now a spiritual and heavenly temple; and when the building is complete, then will be made manifest the threefold meaning of the tabernacle - a heavenly locality - Christ, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and Christ and the Church, the tabernacle of God.3(1Thus inHebrews 4:14Christ is called great High Priest.2 Hebrews 3:6.3CompareMatthew 16:18;Acts 4:11;1 Corinthians 3:11;Ephesians 2:19;Revelation 21:22)
Having thus received, through Christ’s sacrifice and Christ’s present priesthood boldness, a full right of access into the holy of holies, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. "The term ‘draw near,’ in English, reads as a mere general term, but as addressed to the Hebrews it has peculiar significance. It is the term which is applied to the approach of a priest drawing near to offer sacrifice. The privilege is right of access unto God, the duty is that of approach; and no man values the right of access who does not desire to approach. There can be nothing which really satisfies the heart of any man in being told that he is at liberty to approach God, if he has no inclination to approach unto God."*(*Dr. John Duncan,Sermons, p. 395.)
We can only approach with our heart, and by faith, which has its seat in the heart; with a heart which is in earnest, true, and purposeful in this very work of approach. What is meant by a true heart? Sincerity towards God is not the natural attribute of our heart. On the contrary, the heart is exceedingly deceitful with regard to God and to divine things. It requires divine grace to give the heart sincerity and unity of purpose. Only by grace can we say, I will seek Thee with my whole heart. Only a whole heart is true.
God desireth truth in the inward part. A true heart is a heart which accepts the testimony of God, which distrusts itself, which believes God’s Word, declaring our sin, guilt, and helplessness, and which responds simply, and without reservation, humbly and joyfully to the divine gospel of the gift of God, eternal life through the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. A true heart is a heart purified by trust in Jesus. A true heart is a heart which desires to be with God and to live unto Him. Thus, while we desire this "truth," and say, "Oh for a heart to praise my God, A heart from sin set free!" believing in Jesus, we possess the true heart, "A heart that always feels the blood, So freely shed for me." A true heart rests in the mercy of God, and allows God to be all its righteousness and strength. It leaves itself to the heavenly Father, to the Bridegroom, and to the Spirit, to make it an abode of their glory, and to work in it of their good pleasure. A true heart is never pleased with itself, but is at peace, content that Jesus shall be all.
What is meant by full assurance of faith? Nothing else but faith in full, vigorous, healthy exercise. Faith in what? Not faith in our having faith, in our being accepted; but faith that we have a right of access, that Jesus is the living way, and that He is the High Priest in the holy of holies. The object of faith, of the weakest and smallest spark of faith, as much as of faith in plenitude or full assurance, is not ourselves, but Christ in His person and work. That which I am to be fully assured about, on which my faith is to rest clearly and firmly is Christ, and what He is, and has done for sinners. Hence when timid hearts say, I cannot draw near with full assurance of faith, because I do not know that I have truly taken hold of Christ, the answer is, You are to draw near with full assurance of faith in Christ. It is not, "Seeing therefore we have evidence that we have been truly converted and renewed, let us in full confidence of our possessing true faith draw near; but seeing that we have received right of access by the blood of Christ, and that He is High Priest over God’s house, let us exercise full trust in His glorious person and His finished work." Christ alone is the object of faith from beginning to end. Of Him we are to be perfectly sure, and then trust ourselves to this firm foundation. "We are called to exercise faith, but we are not called to look in on faith as a condition; we are called to exercise faith in looking out on the unmixed promise of God, which yet can be received only by believing." Therefore the apostle says at the end of his life, "I know whom I have believed." From his conversion to his last moment he trusted as a poor sinner in Jesus. Clearly and vividly as his conversion must have stood before his mind, indelible as must have been the impression of the heavenly vision, yet he was never tempted to substitute the reminiscence of grace received for the personal and loving Saviour, for the new and living way by which we constantly come to God. Hence when the disciples saw Jesus hands and feet they rejoiced, for all doubt was removed.*(*"In primitive times an apostle could take for granted of a whole church that they all trusted. For, in writing to the Ephesians, does Paul makea single allusion to their unbelief?or does he employ a single exhortation in the way of persuasion to believe? or, from beginning to end of his epistle, does he hint at such a thing as prevailing distrust? No; in those days Christian men no more thought of refusing to trust in the Saviour than of denying the Word of truth. But now, is it not a frequent case that a man shall go by a Christian name, and practice Christian duties, and receive Christian privileges for years together, while he is so far from trusting in Christ with the confidence of faith, that he shall not only confess himself destitute of trust, but shall often express a fear lest full trust and confidence were an unwarranted and dangerous presumption?How strange this would have sounded in the apostles’ time, when to trust in Christ, and to trust fully and for all salvation,wasthe very first exerciseto which they called those who were awakened to seek in earnest for eternal life, and received the record of God concerning the way. The remarkable trust of the first Christians gave a perfection to their character we now seldom perceive.") The eye does not see itself; faith is not to stand on itself; your full assurance is to be that Christ’s blood is precious, and that He has entered as the forerunner. Then you are at peace. Faith means trust, reliance, confidence, leaning. There is no other worthy of trust, none else reliable but Jesus. But if you wish to have an additional object of faith in your own progress and spirituality, you are, like Peter, looking away from Jesus unto the unstable sea. Nor have I any other proof of my faith’s genuineness yesterday, but my exercising faith this moment. It is an ever-present tense, "He that believeth hath eternal life."
But, alas! some who speak of not being sure of salvation, and wish to be persuaded not so much into assurance as comfort, have most likely never had any dealings with God. They wish deliverance from sorrow and punishment. They would like not so much to be brought nigh to God, but rather to have a title-deed, promising that they are and must be unfailingly saved! This would be salvation without God. This be far from us. God is our salvation. Our souls thirst for the living God. We draw near in full assurance of faith; for Jesus died and rose again, and sitteth at the right hand of God: we trust and are safe. Nay, while we are afraid, like the Psalmist, we will put our trust in Him. The feet may tremble, but the rock on which they are set standeth firm and immovable. Be not discouraged that you need the constant exercise of faith, as if this argued that you are not already accepted. "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand." The exercise of faith alone keeps the heart true. When we behold Jesus as the way and the priest, there is no guile in our spirit.1 Thus have our hearts been sprinkled from an evil conscience; we have been freed from the sense of condemnation and guilt; and we have been set apart to the service of God; for as the priests were set apart by blood and water, so have our persons,2 body and soul, been washed by the virtue and efficacy of the Holy Ghost, who applied to us the atonement. This is signified and sealed to us in baptism; and the emphatic mention of the body (Hebrews 10:22) reminds us that the whole of our present life, with all its activities and energies, is to be a life of faith and heavenly-mindedness. The body belongs even now to Christ; and of this our personal sanctification - body, soul, and spirit - we have the emblem and seal in baptism, in which we have also the pledge of the resurrection of the body. There is "pure, clean water." Not the water which putteth away the filth of the flesh, but the Spirit of God, who alone sanctifies by the blood of Christ.3(1ComparePsalms 32:1; Psalms 2:2;Romans 12:1.3The apostle refers to the inward and to the outward purification as facts accomplished once for all. This is evident from the whole scope of these chapters, and from the participles perfect. A Jew who came to faith in Jesus, and was baptized, was transplanted into the kingdom of grace with body, soul, and spirit, separated inwardly and outwardly to the life and service of Christ.)
Thus in the exercise of full confiding faith, in sincerity of heart, and in conscious separation of our whole persons unto God, let us draw near to the Father, who loves us, and to Jesus our great Priest, faithful and compassionate.
2. We are exhorted to hold fast the profession of our hope without wavering. Before the first advent believers looked forward in faith and hope to the good things to come. Believing the promise, they expected in hope the glory of Messiah’s reign. With us this unity of faith and hope is substantially the same; but it appears now in a twofold manner. Faith rests on the past, the accomplished work of Jesus; hope looks to the future, the return of our Saviour. And the more we realize Jesus as the living Lord, the more shall we look forward, waiting for His coming, and going forth to meet Him. It we believe that He has come, we also hope that He will come. If we know the salvation - bringing grace of God which hath appeared, we shall with confiding hope look for the coming of our great God and Saviour. Thus "the hope" is the most comprehensive view of Christ’s relation to a believer. Hence, when Paul said that "he stood and was judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers,"* he spoke out of his inmost heart. A dead faith is without hope; it does not behold Christ living; it does not desire Christ’s return; it has never known Christ crucified. (*Acts 26:6.)
We have been born again unto a lively hope. We are saved by hope, and we are waiting for the adoption; that is, the redemption of the body. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, if our horizon is limited by earth, if we do not look forward unto the appearing of our great God and Saviour, ours is indeed a miserable existence. The profession of our hope is most practical and testing. Hereby we profess that we are strangers and pilgrims upon earth, that we are seeking heavenly things, labouring for heavenly rewards, laying up for ourselves heavenly treasures. We must forsake the sins, pleasures, and honours of Egypt; we must purify ourselves, as Christ is pure. If we profess hope, we must also rejoice, though we be in tribulation; we must view the sufferings and trials of this present life as not worthy to be compared with the coming glory. Then hope, resting on faith, supports faith, and fills us with courage and patience. "Till I come is the voice of the Saviour, when faith beholds His dying love; and going forth to meet Him, going forth out of the world’s sin, bondage, gloom, is the response of the bride.
Hold fast then the profession of your hope; and as God is faithful who promised, so let us be faithful to the hope. Let us remember that we can only have one hope, one purpose, one God. Far be every thought of apostasy, of faint-heartedness, of hesitancy. Let us be strong and of a good courage, and when the soul is cast down and disquieted within us, let the spirit say, "Hope thou in God."
3. But in thus drawing near unto God, and holding fast the profession of our hope, we must bear in mind that we are called to be a brotherhood, and that faith and hope are to be exercised in love. We are the body of Christ, and members one of another. We are to please not ourselves, but our brother unto edification. The congregation of believers is ordered of God for the exercise of Christian love. We are to consider one another as fellow-pilgrims; to study our brother’s need and sorrow, difficulty and trial; to exercise our mind on our duty and relation to him, that thus we may be helpful to him in his course, and stimulate and encourage him to good works. To consider one another in the right spirit is to look above all at the Christian character of our brother; to regard him, not so much in the light of his natural disposition; to love him, not so much on account of qualities congenial and pleasing to us; still less to exercise criticism, and to cherish suspicion and uncharitable judgment; but to fix our thought on the one great fact of brotherhood in Christ, as the apostle Peter exhorts, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another fervently with a pure heart, being born again." We should dwell on their excellencies, on the fruits of the Spirit which they bear, on the features of Christ which they reflect; and every good thing that we discover in them should be to us as the voice of Christ, saying, "Follow Me." We should thus be benefited by every, even the humblest, Christian, and find it both easy and delightful in lowliness of mind to esteem each other better than ourselves. And running together in a holy rivalry the same race, we should behold in our brother features of Christian character and activity in which we are deficient. And in this spirit of love we should cherish Christian communion; "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together." Christianity is eminently an individual heart-affair; but it is also eminently social. The promise of Christ’s presence is to the assembly gathered in His name. As a congregation we are to show the death of the Lord. The voice of melody is heard in the assembly of saints. We are to encourage and exhort one another. "Let us remember to build our inward service upon God’s blessed gospel, and to build up our outward profession upon inward heart-religion, and social communion upon a personal profession of believing."*(*Dr. Duncan.) In times of persecution or of lukewarmness, Christian fellowship is specially important; it is likewise a test of our faithfulness. Are we ashamed of the Lord, of His truth, of His followers, of His reproach? The Hebrews, it seems, needed this word of exhortation, and the apostle confirms it by the solemn addition, "Forasmuch as ye see the day approaching." The apostle refers, doubtless, to the approaching judgment on Jerusalem, connecting it, according to the law of prophetic vista, with the final crisis. Because the Lord is at hand, we are to be patient, loving, gentle, exercising forbearance towards our brother, while examining with strict care our own work. The second advent of our Lord is the most powerful, as well as the most constraining motive. Do we hope to be with Christ and all the saints in glory, and shall we not love the brethren, and minister unto them, while we are waiting together for His coming? Do we expect Christ to acknowledge us as His brethren, and shall we be ashamed of Christ’s members, or treat them with cold neglect and indifference? Have we all to appear before the tribunal of Christ and to account for our stewardship, and shall we not be faithful and diligent in exercising whatever ministry is entrusted to us, as God hath bestowed unto each one of us his own measure and gift? Called to eternal fellowship of love in joy and glory, let us fulfill the ministry of love in suffering and service, and let every day see some help and consolation given to our fellow-pilgrim.
Christians "see the day approaching;" for they love Christ’s appearing; and to them the day of light is not far off. Jesus said, "I come quickly." The long delay of centuries does not contradict this "quickly." Christ is looking forward unto His return, and unto nothing else. All events only prepare and further this great consummation. And the Christians of every period recognize that the mystery of ungodliness is already working, and that our only hope is the return of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Let this hope separate us from the evil which is in the world, and strengthen and gladden us in all our sorrows and difficulties; let it bind us together in the fellowship and ministry of love. Let us exhort one another daily by word and by example.