PREFACE

            This volume does not contain an exposition of Hebrews.  Its purpose is rather to carry out, so far as the Lord may enable, the injunction to exhort one another daily, so long as it is called “To-day.”  Another “Day” is soon coming; indeed, we can clearly see it approaching.  In that day it will be too late to give heed to the exhortations found in this portion of God's Word, and to gain the recompense of the reward that depends upon the heed given thereto.

The Epistle is addressed to “Hebrews,” and the individual most frequently and most prominently mentioned in it is Abraham, who is specifically designated “the Hebrew” (Gen. 14:13).  Those acquainted with the Hebrew tongue tell us that the word signifies one who passes over or through.  We may, therefore, regard a Hebrew as a “passenger”; and certainly the message of the Epistle is for those who are passengers in this age, who have here no continuing city, but seek one in the age to come.  The message is not for Israelites, who have a place in the world and a mission to the nations thereof, but for Hebrews, who are simply passing through the world, having no place or standing therein.

            The true Hebrew is one who has come out of the country of his birth, leaving all its advantages and associations, because he has heard and believed the report of a better country which he has never seen; and he is now passing through the intervening territory, not settling therein, and not mindful of the country whence he came out, though having opportunity to return thither.  Of such it is written that God is not ashamed to be called their God, and He has prepared for them a city.

            Abraham was not an Israelite.  Abel, Enoch, Noah, Sarah, Isaac, Rahab were not Israelites.  Moses was, rather a Hebrew than an Israelite, for he never had a place in the Land of Promise.  These were all true Hebrews, who had seen by faith the far-off promises, and were persuaded of them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

            The Scriptures speak of many things that God has prepared for them that love Him—things which are in the nature of rewards, not gifts, and are quite distinct from remission of sins and eternal life.  These latter are gifts bestowed upon all who believe; but not all believers will obtain the rewards.

            Great is the reward promised to those who maintain the character of Hebrews “to the end”; and correspondingly great is the loss that will be incurred by those who, through neglect or unbelief, turn aside from the pilgrim’s path.  In view of this, we would point out, as plainly as possible, the dangers to which God’s pilgrims are exposed, and the provision that He, in wondrous grace, has made to safeguard them from those dangers.

            May it be the purpose of both writer and readers to be “not slothful, but followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises.”

It may be of interest to the reader to learn that the writing of this book was begun and finished on the memorable voyage of the Steamship Carpathia which was interrupted by the rescue of the survivors of the Titanic, and by the return with them to the port of New York.  This is not the place to speak of the harrowing scenes and distressing incidents of the four days of that return trip.  But that event—the sudden and dramatic overthrow of the latest and greatest human achievement of its kind, the most conspicuous object in the world—which stirred all Christendom to an unprecedented degree, served to impress powerfully upon the writer’s mind the truth that the day is at hand for the shaking of all things, when the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth for fear of the LORD and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth.  The destruction of the Titanic is a foreshadowing of what is about to happen to the great “civilization” upon which man has expended his energies, and in which he puts his confidence.  For the unconverted, the obvious lesson of this tragic event is to inquire concerning the lifeboat.  But there are also solemn and important lessons in it for the saints of God.  Some of those lessons the writer has endeavored to set forth in the following pages.

    SS. Carpathia, May 2, 1912.

CHAPTER ONE.  

Introductory Remarks and Explanations.
The Message, its Substance, And to Whom Addressed.

          IT is manifest that the Epistle to the Hebrews has a special message for God’s people, the strangers and pilgrims on earth, who are living in the last days of this age.  It speaks with special emphasis to those who are awaiting the Son of God for salvation (Heb. 9:28), and who are come to a point from which they can “see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:25).  It voices the desire of the Spirit that these should go on to full growth (that is, to the state of adult sons), and that each one of them who has received the first principles of the doctrine of Christ should show the same diligence unto the full assurance of hope unto the end (Heb. 6:1, 11).

            The people of God who are upon earth at the end of this age must of necessity meet peculiar trials, must experience peculiar needs, and be exposed to peculiar dangers.  Many Scriptures testify to this.  But God has made special provision for those who have to encounter the special conditions of the last days.  The Epistle of the Hebrews is of particular value for them.  It points to the age to come as something imminent.  It declares that it is but a “very little while” until He Who is coming will actually come; and in view of that fact its chief exhortation is to the exercise of patience or endurance to the end (Heb. 10:36, 37 &c).  Up to the very last moment there remains the possibility of failure and loss.

            The conspicuous feature of this “age to come” will be the manifestation of the Son of God in the character of High Priest after (corresponding to) the order of Melchizedek, who was both a King and a Priest.  That manifestation of the Son of God will be in fulfillment of all that is shadowed forth in the type of Melchizedek; and particularly will it be the fulfillment of what is prophesied by Zechariah, “He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His Throne; and He shall be a Priest upon His Throne” (Zech. 6:13).

            Hence the prominent subject of the Epistle to the Hebrews is the Melchizedek Priesthood of the Son of God, Who is now seated on the Right Hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the heavens, awaiting the joy that was set before Him when He endured the Cross.  That joy will be His when He receives the promise made to Him in Psalm 45, repeated in Hebrews 1:8: “Thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy Kingdom.”  “This,” says the writer of Hebrews “is the sum of the things which we have spoken” (Heb. 8:1).  Apart from what is written in the Epistle to the Hebrews, we should know practically nothing of the present ministry of the Son of God in the Presence of God, as a Minister of the true sanctuary, or of His perpetual office as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.

            Therefore it will be seen that the Epistle to the Hebrews occupies a place of peculiar importance in the Word of God.  Its scope and contents are unique, and this must be borne in mind in seeking the special message it contains for the saints of God.  The difficulties that have been encountered in reading it, and the misapplication of some of the statements it contains, are due chiefly to a lack of apprehension of the scope of the Epistle, and a failure to distinguishing features of this great Epistle, the reader, if a confessed stranger and pilgrim on earth, will be greatly aided in comprehending and profiting by the Divine communication it contains.

            Let it be noted, in the first place, that Hebrews does not set forth, except incidentally, the message of the Gospel of God’s grace to sinners; nor does it contain the doctrine and effect of the Gospel.  It is in this respect to be sharply distinguished from Romans, and also from those parts of other Church Epistles which speak of the crucified and risen Son of God as the Righteousness of God, and the Giver of eternal life, to all who believe on Him.  The Epistle of the Hebrews is concerned solely with a people who have been already redeemed from the bondage of sin and the dominion of death, and whom God is bringing “into Glory.”

            The “salvation” spoken of in Hebrews is not the justification of the sinner from his sins.  It is not the reconciliation to God, through the Death of His Son, of those who were by nature enemies and aliens in mind through wicked works.  It is of the utmost importance that the reader take notice of this; for otherwise the special significance of the letter to the Hebrews cannot be understood.  The Son of God is not a Priest on behalf of the unconverted.  He does not intercede for them, but solely for His own redeemed people.  To the unconverted the Gospel is preached with the Holy Spirit sent down from Heaven.  The work of the Son of God on their behalf is “finished” and awaits their acceptance.  But the offices of the priest are not for them until they have become believers.  The priesthood was not instituted in Egypt, but in the wilderness, after the people of God had been redeemed by the blood of the paschal lamb (Ex. 12), and had been “saved” out of the land of Egypt [Editor’s Note: cf. Ex. 13:15; 15:13, 16], the house of bondage, by the mighty power of God displayed at the Red Sea, typifying the Death and Resurrection of Christ (Ex. 14; Rom. 6; 1 Cor. 10).  The priesthood was instituted after God’s people had become “strangers and pilgrims,” and were journeying on to the Land of “the Promise.”  The types which have their fulfillment in Hebrews belong entirely to the wilderness.  They relate wholly and solely to God’s dealings with His own redeemed people, and not at all to His dealings with unpardoned and unreconciled sinners.  The sacrifices mentioned in Hebrews do not include that of the paschal lamb slain for redemption in Egypt, and under whose blood, sprinkled in faith on the door-posts, there was protection from the Destroyer.  The sacrifices mentioned in Hebrews are those of the tabernacle offered on behalf of the redeemed people.

            We repeat, and beg the reader to notice carefully and to keep clearly in mind, that the “so great a salvation, which began to be spoken by the Lord” (Heb. 2:3) is not the justification of sinners, but the bringing of many sons into glory (Heb. 2:10).  It is not what is represented by the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt, but what is represented by bringing the survivors into the Promised Land, which Land is a type of “the inhabitable earth to come, wherefore we speak” (Heb. 2:5).  The remission of sins spoken of in Hebrews is not the forgiveness of sins of unconverted men upon believing the Gospel of the Crucified and Risen Savior.  It is the forgiveness of the “sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17); that is to say, the people of God, who constantly need propitiation for their sins.*  The message of Hebrews is not addressed to men in their sins, urging them to accept the pardon and life which have been provided by the grace of God through the Cross of Jesus Christ.  The message is addressed to “holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,” urging them to lay hold of the hope set before them, and to hold the confidence and rejoicing of that hope, firm to the end.

            Undoubtedly much confusion has resulted from a failure to observe the distinctions indicated above, and which are clearly marked in the text.  We often hear the passage “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” used in preaching to the unsaved, and presented as a warning to them of the danger of neglecting the forgiveness and justification which God has made available to all who believe His Gospel.  It needs but the slightest attention to the passage to make it perfectly clear that the “we” who are in danger of suffering loss through neglect of the “so great salvation” mentioned there, are the redeemed people of God, the children of God, and heirs of salvation.

            The “faith” spoken of in Hebrews is not believing unto righteousness (Rom. 10:9), but believing unto the saving of the soul (Heb. 10:39), which is a very different thing, as will appear later on.  The faith spoken of in Romans is justifying faith, that is, believing on God Who quickens the dead.  But the faith spoken of in Hebrews is faith exercised by those who have been already justified.  Abraham is the divinely given illustation of both kinds of faith.  In Romans we are referred to the faith of Abraham when he believed God’s promise of a multitude of children to him whose body was practically dead.  That is the faith in the God of resurrection, which faith God credits or imputes to a man for righteousness (Rom. 4:17, 24, 25).  But in Hebrews we are referred to the faith Abraham manifested by obedience of faith, and the endurance of faith.  By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out, obeyed; and by faith he sojourned in the Land of Promise as in a strange country.  For he waited for the city which has the foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God (Heb. 11:8-10).  The effect of this kind of faith is not the being accounted righteous before God, but the obtaining of the promised reward (Heb. 6:15; 10:36).  Abraham not only believed God, being fully persuaded that what God had promised He was able to perform (Rom. 4:21), but he also held the beginning of his confidence in God firm to the end; for he died in faith, not having received as yet the promised inheritance (Heb. 11:13).

            It is also needful to distinguish between the truth revealed in Hebrews and that revealed in Ephesians.  There are several points of contrast that should be carefully noted.

(1)   In Ephesians, the elect saints who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, and predestinated to the place of sons by God unto Himself, are viewed collectively, as forming “one Body,” even the Body of Christ.  The blessings and responsibilities are collective, to be shared by all saints.

In Hebrews, the redeemed people are viewed individually as having individual responsibility.  We find there such expressions as “lest there be in any of you,” “lest any of you should seem to come short,” “lest any man fall,” “lest any man fail of the grace of God,” “lest there be any fornicator or profane person.”  Hebrews speaks of blessings and privileges in the nature of rewards, to be gained by individual faith, obedience, and endurance, and which may be lost by neglect, unbelief, or disobedience.

(2)   The blessings mentioned in Ephesians, which are for the present enjoyment of the saints, are located in heavenly places.  God “has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in (or with) Christ.”  He has quickened us together with Christ, and has raised us up and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.

In Hebrews, however, the blessings have their location in “the habitable earth to come.”  The Kingdom of the Son is brought into view—that glorious Kingdom wherein all things shall be placed in subjection unto Him Who, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth.  It is the dominion of the Son of Man which was the subject of the first revealed counsels of God (Gen. 1:26), and which is specifically foretold in the Eighth Psalm: “Thou madest Him to have dominion over the works of Thy Hands; Thou hast put all things under His Feet.  All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea.  O Jehovah, our Lord, how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth” (Psa. 8:6-9).  We learn by the second chapter of Hebrews that this prophecy will be fulfilled when the Son of Man, Who is now at God’s Right Hand, shall come again into the habitable part of His creation, and shall take up His great power, and reign.  That will be the reign of the Son of God on earth as the Priest-King, to which attention is specially directed in Hebrews.

(3)   The blessings of the saints mentioned in Ephesians are available in the time now present.  God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings.  He has accepted us in the Beloved, in Whom we have obtained an inheritance.  God has sealed us with that Holy Spirit of promise, and has quickened us, raised us up, and seated us together in heavenly places.  The future is referred to only in an incidental way, mention begin made of the dispensation or economy of the fullness of times, and the ages to come (Eph. 1:10, 14; 2:7); but the emphasis is entirely upon the present relations of the saints as connected with the Risen Christ, now at God’s Right Hand, forming His Body, supplied by Him with everything needful, loved by Him, in process of being built upon Him, and growing into a holy temple in the Lord.

In Hebrews, on the other hand, the blessings are future, pertaining to the age to come, when the enemies of the Son of God shall have been placed as a footstool for His Feet; when the many sons shall have been brought unto glory, and shall have entered into the enjoyment and satisfaction of the rest that remaineth unto the people of God.  God’s people are not viewed in Hebrews as being at the present time in the place of blessing, but as being in the place of trial, of danger, and of suffering; in one word, as in the wilderness.  The things spoken of in Hebrews are things “we see not yet”; and we are referred for our encouragement and example to those whose earthly course was determined by things which they had heard, but had “not seen as yet.”

The “grace” revealed in Hebrews is not the grace wherein the saints have been made accepted in the Beloved, and wherein God has abounded toward them in all wisdom and prudence (Eph. 1:7, 8).  It is not the grace whereby we have been saved through faith, and raised up and seated in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 2:5, 6).  It is the grace that is sent down to us for meeting our daily need on earth, while journeying through this great and terrible wilderness, and which must be constantly sought at the throne of grace.

(4)   Lastly, and of chief importance, are the relations of Christ to the redeemed people of God as presented respectively in these two Epistles.  In Ephesians, His relation to them is that of Head to the members of His Body, associated with Him as sharers of a common life.  The offices He performs on behalf  of His people are such as the head of a body performs for the members, nourishing and cherishing them as a man cherisheth his own flesh; “for we are members of His Body, of His Flesh, and of His Bones” (Eph. 5:29, 30).

In Hebrews, Christ sustains towards His people an official relation.  He is gone into heaven as their Representative, to make propitiation for them, to maintain them in a fit state for approach to the holy Presence of God as worshippers.  He is also the Great Shepherd of the sheep, tending and guiding them through the wilderness; and He is set before them as the Royal Priest of the coming age, the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, who was first King of Righteousness, and after that King of Peace.  The great character in which He is here presented is that of SON.  As such He is the Builder and the Ruler of the Father’s House in the widest sense, and is the responsible priestly Representative of the members of the household, those whom He is not ashamed to call His “brethren,” those who are the “children” committed to His care.  Being charged by God with responsibility for the welfare of those “many sons” He is faithful to God Who appointed Him, ever living to make intercession for them.

            By noting these important distinctions, which might be greatly amplified if time permitted, the reader, who has been begotten again unto a living hope by the Resurrection of the Jesus Christ from among the dead, and who is no longer a babe, unskillful in the word of righteousness, will be greatly assisted in laying hold of the instruction contained in the Epistle to the Hebrews.  Many of the difficulties which are ordinarily encountered will disappear when once it is perceived that the experiences therein described are those of a redeemed people.  The dangers against which we are warned are those to which God’s own people are exposed.  Nothing is said of the doom awaiting those who have rejected the Gospel of God’s grace, and who are lost eternally; but much is said of the loss which the people of God themselves may incur by failing to take heed to the things they have heard, or to exercise diligence in respect thereto, and by neglecting the salvation so great, whereof the Lord Himself began to speak, which was confirmed to us by them that heard, God Himself bearing witness with signs, and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own Will.

            The writer’s purpose in the present volume is not to explain the difficult passages found in the Epistle to the Hebrews for the intellectual satisfaction of his readers; but to aid his fellow travellers (“Hebrews”) in securing the benefit of the warnings, exhortations, comforts, and encouragements in which this portion of God’s Word so richly abounds.

            Since the Epistle to the Hebrews has to do solely with the experiences of a redeemed people, it follows that certain passages (Heb. 6:4-6 and 10:26-31) which are sometimes taken as indicating the eternal condemnation of the persons to whom they refer, cannot have that significance.  That the people of God can bring upon themselves great suffering and loss is clearly set forth in many Scriptures.  But it is equally clear that they cannot themselves be lost.  In Hebrews we learn what may befall the sheep in the wilderness; and it must not be forgotten that the Good Shepherd has Himself declared concerning them, “I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish” (Jn. 10:28).  How could those perish for whom He laid down His Life, and for whom He now intercedes in resurrection life and power?  That could not be; but there is, on the other hand, the gravest danger that they may, through perversity, disobedience, unbelief, sloth, or neglect, incur serious loss.  It is on this account that the Holy Spirit so earnestly urges them “to-day,” and so long as it is called “to-day,” to hear His Voice, Who now speaks from Heaven, in order that, when the crucial hour arrives, that may not befall them, which befell God’s people of old, who, when the opportunity came for entering into the possesssion of the promised inheritance, hardened their heart to His Word, provoked His indignation, and so could not enter in because of unbelief.  Those whom God has redeemed from the bondage of sin and the fear of death can never be lost.  Their security rests upon the finished work accomplished by Christ upon the Cross; and what He has accomplished stands for ever.  But beyond any question there is the possibility that they may fall after the same example of disobedience, and so may fail to inherit “the blessing.”  And in view of that possibility we are here most solemnly warned that such as draw back from entering into the reward promised to patience and obedience, cannot be renewed again unto repentance, that is to say, they cannot be permitted, upon change of mind (which is the meaning of “repentance”), to enter into that blessing from which they willfully turned away.

            We are prone to slight the warnings of Scripture, and are all too ready to assign them to others than ourselves—to “the Jewish remnant” for example.  Let us be on our guard against the deceitfulness of our own hearts, as well as against the deceivableness of sin.  We cannot afford to neglect the warnings of Scripture; and there is no room for doubt as to those for whom the warnings of Hebrews are intended.  They are, beyond question, for those who have been redeemed by the precious Blood of Christ.  They are for those on whose behalf He is gone into Heaven, and for whom now He intercedes.  If we apply to ourselves such passages as “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest that has passed into the Heavens” (Heb. 4:14), we must also of necessity accept the application of the words that occur in the immediate context, “Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (lit., disobedience).  It is impossible to read the warnings contained in this Epistle without perceiving that tremendous consequences hinge upon the attention given to them.

            It being clear then, that the redeemed people of God may fail to obtain “the promise,” and to secure to themselves “the recompense of the reward,” it becomes a matter of highest importance for them to give their most earnest and intelligent heed to the warnings which God, in His faithfulness and kindness, has vouchsafed them; and also to avail themselves of the provision which His grace extends to meet their need and to help their infirmities.

CHAPTER TWO.  

“The Things which we Have Heard.”

GOD has spoken.

            This is a tremendous and a solemn fact.  Well may the creature tremble before the utterance of God, while counting it a matter of the highest privilege to hear and to comprehend what God has said.  But we are called upon to listen, not to a proclamation from the Creator to His universe, or even to mankind in general.  God has spoken “unto us.”  The same God Who of old spoke in many parts and in many ways to the fathers, has in these last days spoken unto us.  He has given a message directly to us, and which vitally concerns us.

            It appears at the outset that the Spirit’s object in the Epistle to the Hebrews is to impress us with the weightiness of the message spoken to us, and to this end He shows us that, important as was the message given to the fathers of old, the message spoken to us in these last days is of far greater importance.  And this appears from the fact that the Word of old was spoken by (or through) angels (Heb. 2:2), whereas God has spoken to us in (or as) the SON.  (The original reads “in Son,” and its force cannot be rendered in English by mere translation.  The idea is that GOD HIMSELF has spoken, the character He has taken for this purpose being that of “Son.”).

            Many times it is written in the Old Testament that “the Word of the Lord came” to one and another of the prophets; but generally it is not stated how the Word came to them.  It appears, however, from what is said in the Scriptures now before us, that the Word was sent by angels, or messengers.  We read that the Word of the Lord was brought in this way to Daniel (Dan. 9:21, &c.).  Moreover, in Galatians 3:19 it is said that the law was “ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”        Thus it appears that God’s customary way of communicating with the prophets was through angels; though He spoke of old time “in many ways,” as by dreams, or visions, or by directly moving the tongue (Gen. 41:25; Num. 12:6; Psa. 45:1).

            But now God Himself has spoken.  He Who is the Effulgence of God’s Glory and the express Image of His Substance, by Whom also He made the worlds, and Who upholds all things by the Word of His Power, has now spoken to us with Human Lips, uttering words of familiar human speech, which words, nevertheless, are Spirit and Life, words such as never man spoke, words of eternal life which shall never pass away.

            Attention is directed to this great difference between the Word spoken of old to the fathers and the Word spoken in these last days to us, to the end that we should give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard.  The first chapter of Hebrews is largely occupied with references to the Old Testament Scriptures which set forth the excellence of the Son of God, as compared with the angels who are His “ministering spirits,” and who are bidden to worship Him when He condescends to come into the habitable earth in human form and nature (Heb. 1:6).  This contrast, so carefully and forcibly made, between the Son and the angels, is not merely for the purpose of establishing and guarding the Deity of Christ, but is given also in order to impress upon us the supreme importance of the special message spoken to us by the Son Himself, as distinguished from that spoken to the fathers through angels.  The reason why this contrast is given us at the very beginning of the Epistle clearly appears from verse 2 of chapter 2: “For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord?”

            There is, then, unspeakable advantage to be gained by paying heed to the things spoken to us by the Lord; and it necessarily follows that there is a corresponding loss to be incurred through failure to believe and obey His Word.

“Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard, lest at any time we should slip away.”*  

The plain meaning of this is that if the Israelites of old were bound to give earnest heed to the Word of the Lord sent to them, in order to secure their own welfare, we are bound to give the more earnest heed to the Word spoken to us, because that Word was spoken by the Lord Himself, and moreover, it puts before us a reward far greater than that offered to the Israelites.  The heed which an Israelite was required to pay to the words spoken to him by the prophets is stated in such passages as Deut. 11:18, 19; 28:1, 2; and 32:46, 47.

            What, then, is this “salvation” to which the Spirit of God applies the expression “so great,” and which began to be spoken by the Lord?  Surely this is a question of the utmost importance.  We cannot afford to be in ignorance, or even in uncertainty, about it; and surely God would not have us to be either ignorant or uncertain as to a matter of so great moment to us.  The cause of the confusion that exists upon this subject is the usage among Christians of the word “salvation,” which is commonly taken as meaning justification or the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ, and as being limited to that meaning.  But the word “salvation” is seldom used in the New Testament as equivalent to justification, that is to say, the change which takes place in the sinner’s relations with God when he believes on the Son of God.  The salvation of God goes far beyond that; and the word “salvation” itself, as used in Scripture, generally refers to something future.  Thus, in Romans 5:10, “reconciliation” is spoken of as a thing already accomplished for the believer, while salvation is yet future; “For if, when we were enemies we WERE RECONCILED to God by the Death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we SHALL BE SAVED by His life.”

            Likewise, in Romans 8 it is declared that there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, and believers are spoken of in that chapter as children of God; but they are said to be “saved in hope,” that is to say, their “salvation” is yet future.  See also Romans 13:11, 12, “Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed,” etc. 

            So also the apostle Peter speaks of those who have been redeemed, and begotten again, as still awaiting the salvation that is about to be revealed (1 Pet. 1:3, 5).

            In the Epistle to the Hebrews the word “salvation” is used as signifying the future blessing into which the people of God are to be brought, whereas redemption is regarded as having been already accomplished.  Christ has entered into the holy place “having obtained eternal redemption.”  On the other hand, those who have been redeemed are addressed as “heirs of salvation,” literally as those “who are to inherit salvation” (Heb. 1:14), and as awaiting salvation.  (The literal reading of Heb. 9:28 is “and a second time, apart from sin, shall He appear unto them that await Him for salvation.”)

            It clearly appears from chapters 3 and 4 that the “so great salvation” of chapter 2 is something of which the land of Canaan, promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and put before the Israelites as the goal of their journey through the wilderness, is the special type.  Those chapters plainly teach that we are now in the eve of the fulfillment of this type.  God is now leading a people through the wilderness of this present evil age.  He has revealed to them, for their encouragement, the glories of the age to come, and has even given them a taste of the works of power of that age (Heb. 6:5).  Those glories center in Christ as the Priest-King—the High Priest of good things to come.  That is the destination and the glorious Rest that awaits them; and it will be theirs if they hold the beginning of their confidence steadfast unto the end.  God has not only given His Word, but He has confirmed it with an oath, saying, “The Lord swore and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek”; and He has done so in order that, by two immutable things, the Word and the Oath of God, we might have a strong encouragement to lay holy upon the hope that is set before us (Heb. 6:17-20).

            The “so-great salvation” of Hebrews 2:3 is defined in verse 5 as being identified with “the habitable earth to come.”  By that passage it is made known to us that God has not put in subjection to angels “the habitable earth to come whereof we speak”; and then the eighth Psalm is cited and quoted to prove that the glorified and perfected works of God’s Hands, delivered from the curse, and rejoicing in the blessing of God, are, in the coming age, to be put under man, even under the Son of Man; and Jesus, the blessed One, Who for a little while was made lower than the angels for the suffering of death, but now is crowned with glory and honor, is announced as that “Son of Man” in Whom the prophecy is to have its fulfillment.

            The habitable earth to come is thus declared to be the subject “whereof we speak.”  That is what the Apostle connects with the so-great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord.  It is the glorious Kingdom of the Son, when He shall occupy the place of “Firstborn,” in all that is signified by that great title.  The Firstborn is the Father’s might, and the first-fruits of His strength, the Pre-eminence of dignity and Pre-eminence of power (Gen. 49:3).  He is Head and Ruler of the Father’s House—taking the word “house” in the broadest sense.  The same thought occurs in the third chapter where Christ is spoken of as Son over His Own House (Heb. 3:6); and the connection is still closer in the original, the word rendered “world” (“world to come” or “habitable earth to come”) Hebrews 2:5, and that rendered “house” in Hebrews 3:5, 6, being of the same derivation.

            The Scriptures make it clear that “this present evil age” (Gal. 1:4), during which the people of God are strangers and pilgrims in the earth, because the latter is the scene of the dominion of sin and death, is to be succeeded by an age of blessing and glory in which the earth and all created things will be under the rule of the Son of Man, with Whom will be associated all those who shall be accounted worthy to participate with Him in the administration of the affairs of that Kingdom.  This is the salvation so great whereof the Lord Himself spoke, as for instance in Matthew 13, where, in announcing what is to happen at “the end of this age,” He said,

“The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His Kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 13:41-43).

            Manifestly the same event is referred to in Hebrews 2.  The angels are sent forth to minister for them who are about to inherit salvation (Heb. 1:14).  The righteous shining forth in the Kingdom of their Father, are the “many sons” whom God is bringing “unto glory” (verse 10).  That event will be the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 8:18, quoted in verse 12, when Christ will say, “Behold, I and the children which God has given Me.”  The “furnace of fire” is the “fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries” (Heb. 10:27).  The words of solemn warning, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear,” have their echo in the words “We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,” things “which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord” (Heb. 2:1, 3).

            Again, on the occasion when Simon Peter, by the revelation of the Father, recognized and confessed the Lord Jesus to be “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” the Lord “began” to show unto His disciples that He must fulfill what was written concerning the sufferings of the Christ (Matt. 16:21), and then He went on immediately to speak of the glory that should follow, saying: “For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then shall He reward every man according to his works (Matt. 16:27).

            We do not stop to comment now upon this exceedingly important Scripture, expecting to return to it.  We wish at this point only to direct the attention of the reader to certain specific Scriptures wherein the Lord Himself began to speak of the glory of the age to come when He, as Son of Man, shall reign in righteousness over the earth.  In the foregoing passage the reference to the “Son of Man,” His sufferings, Death and Resurrection, the glory of His Father in which He will return, the angels, and the “reward” of men’s works, show clearly that the subject is the same as that of Hebrews 1 and 2.

CHAPTER III.

The Son: His Person, His Power, His Kingdom.

            HAVING obtained a general idea of what is meant by the salvation so great, which began to be spoken by the Lord, we would look more closely at the contents of the first chapter of Hebrews.  We quickly perceive that it is all about the SON.  The Spirit is here giving Him the pre-eminence, and is fulfilling Christ’s own Word, “He (the Spirit) shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you.  ALL THINGS that the Father hath are Mine; therefore said I that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.”  We are told of His “Being,” Who He is—“Being the Effulgence of God’s Glory and the express Image (or exact expression, lit., the character) of His Substance.”  His wealth is also declared.  The Father has appointed Him “Heir of all things.”  His creative wisdom is then set forth; for by Him He made the words or ages.  His power is announced; for it is He Who upholds all things by the word of His power.  His mighty work of redemption is brought to mind; for it is He Who by Himself purged our sins.  And then the place to which He has been exalted is declared; for He is seated on the Right Hand of the Majesty on high.  There is no other, no angel or any created being, who could occupy that place.  Yet it is as a Man that He has gone into Heaven.  He has taken humanity to that exalted position.  He appears there as Man, and for men.  But He is, at the same time, God over all, and blessed for evermore.  Therefore, after His Deity has been declared, the Spirit refers to Him as the Man Who has been “MADE so much BETTER than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent Name than they” (Heb. 1:4).  This should be read in connection with the passage in chapter 2, “We see Jesus, Who was MADE for little while LOWER than the angels” (Heb. 1:9).  He came as Man to do the Will of God by tasting death for everything, being made, for that purpose, and for a little time, lower than the angels.  Now, as the Man raised from the dead, He is made so much better than the angels, as the Name which He has obtained “by inheritance” (not His own Divine Name) is more excellent than theirs.  He, as Man, has obtained by inheritance the Name that is above every name (Phil. 2:9; Eph. 1:21; Acts 4:12).  It is very significant that the first thing here asserted of the Son is that God has appointed Him the “Heir of all things.”  Thus our attention is at the very outset directed to the prominent subject of the Epistle, namely the glorious Inheritance of the Son of Man.  The frequent recurrence of the expression, “All things,” is worthy of notice.

            Our attention is next called to certain prophetic Psalms which are to have their fulfillment in this glorified Man—the Son of God and Son of Man.  The fulfillment of these prophecies will be the “salvation so great” spoken of in chapter 2.  These are Psalms 2, 45, 102, 104, and 110.  Psalms 8 and 22 also are quoted in chapter 2.

The Second Psalm is of surpassing interest and importance.  In it the Lord is saluted of God as “My Son.”  From Acts 13:33 it appears that this was the greeting God gave Him when He raised Him up from the dead to sit with Him on His Throne; and the begetting there spoken of is that whereby He became the Beginning of a new creation, the First-begotten of every created thing, the First-begotten from the dead, that in all things He might have the pre-eminence (Col. 1:15, 18; Rev. 1:5).

            Having been thus greeted and exalted to the highest place, after having made peace by the Blood of His Cross, in order to reconcile all things unto the Father, He awaits the moment when He shall ask of the Father, and shall receive, the nations for His Inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession (Psa. 2:8).

            The Lord Jesus has already received some of those whom the Father gave Him out of the world (John 7:6, &c).  They constitute “His inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18).  But even these are not yet “perfected.”  The Church has not yet attained to the “full-grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).  It is not yet ready for Him to “present it to Himself, a Church of glory, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing” (Eph. 5:27).  Therefore we may say that He has thus far received only an earnest of His inheritance in the saints, as they have received an earnest of theirs.  But, in the age to come, He will receive, not only the perfected and glorified Church, His Body, to which God has given Him to be Head, over “all things,” but also the nations for His inheritance.  At the present time He has, in the world, only a feeble people for His own Possession (Titus 2:14—the word “peculiar” means “for a possession,” see also 1 Pet. 1:9); but then He will have “the uttermost parts of the earth for His Possession.”

            In view of this universal dominion that is to be exercised by the Son, the kings of the earth and the rulers, who (as stated in Psalm 2:2) set themselves and took counsel together against the Lord and against His Christ, are admonished, in verses 10-12, to be wise, and to be instructed, and to kiss the Son, because in a little while His wrath will be kindled (R.V.).  Regardless, however, of all that the kings of the earth and the rulers may plan and do, the purpose of God is declared, and will be carried out: “Yet have I set my King upon My holy hill of Zion” (Ps. 2:6).

            Surely it is a point of great significance and importance that the very first Scripture cited in Hebrews is that which declares God’s blessed and unalterable purpose to place His Son in absolute authority over the whole earth.  This is the great salvation that is in prospect for the sons of God.  It is the great feature of “the world to come whereof we speak,” which God has not put in subjection to angels, but unto Him Who stooped to become the Son of man, and unto those who shall be associated with Him, that is to say, unto “all them that obey Him” (Heb. 5:9).  The closing words of Psalm 2 doubtless refer to those: “Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.”

            Hebrews 1:5 contains also a quotation from the Lord’s message by Nathan to David.  In that message occurs this promise, “Also the Lord telleth thee that He will make thee an house.  And when their days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy Seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish His Kingdom.  HE SHALL BUILD A HOUSE FOR MY NAME, AND I WILL ESTABLISH THE THRONE OF HIS KINGDOM FOR EVER.  I WILL BE HIS FATHER AND HE SHALL BE MY SON” (2 Sam. 7:11-14).

            The last words of this promise are quoted in Hebrews 1:5 as being fulfilled in Christ.  We know that Solomon failed, and that his direct line was cut off in Jehoiakim, the last wicked king of Judah, whose sons were slain before his eyes, and of whom God declared that none of his seed should sit upon the throne of his father David (Jer. 22:30; 36:30).  Hence the descent of Jesus Christ is traced through David’s son Nathan (Lk. 3:31).  At the same time Christ was the adopted Son of Joseph, who was descended from David through Solomon, and thus was, by Jewish law, the rightful heir to the throne (Matt. 1:7, 11) although not of “the seed” of Jehoiakim.

            In the next verse of Hebrews 1, we read that “When  He bringeth in the “First-begotten into the world (habitable earth) He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him.”  Although He was made for a little while lower than the angels, nevertheless when He comes into the habitable earth the angels are commanded to worship Him.  This coming scene of the revealed glory of the Son of Man was made known by the Lord to Nathaniel, the guileless Israelite, who believed His Word.  To him He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see Heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending unto the Son of Man” (Jn. 1:51).  That “hereafter” is the age to come; and this is another instance where the Lord began to speak of that so great salvation that is ready to be revealed.

            At this point Psalm 104:4 is quoted: “Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire”; and then, by way of contrast, Psalm 45 is quoted.  In that Psalm the Holy Spirit, by the tongue of the Psalmist, speaks of “a good matter,” even of “the things touching the King.”  No other prophetic Scripture speaks so clearly, with such detail, and is such glowing terms, of God’s King.  The words quoted are verses 6 and 7 of the Psalm.  “Thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the scepter of Thy Kingdom is a right scepter.  Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness (lawlessness); therefore God, Thy God, has anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.”

            Here again the Kingdom of the Son is brought into view, for it is “unto the Son” that God saith “Thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever.”  He is saluted as “God,” and is also spoken of as the “anointed” One, that is, the Christ, being anointed, not with the oil of consecration for suffering and death, but with the oil of gladness for reigning in glory.

            Attention should be paid particularly to the words “above Thy fellows.”  This glorious and blessed One has companions or associates, taking part with Him in the responsibilities of His Kingdom, and participating in His glory.  There is no difficulty in recognizing these as the “many sons” whom God is bringing “unto glory,” whom Christ is not ashamed to call “brethren.”  The connection is very clearly seen in the original, for the word rendered “fellows” in Hebrews 1:9 occurs again in two passages in chapter 3, and those occurrences should be carefully noted.  In Hebrews 3:1, we read “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers (fellows) of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus.”  These “holy brethren” are the “fellows” or companions, or associates, of God’s anointed King, Jesus.

            The next occurrence is in verse 14, and it calls for special notice.  “For we are made partakers (fellows) of the Christ (the anointed King) if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.”  Thus we are plainly told that being made an associate of God’s anointed King in the glories of His reign, which is soon to begin, is dependent upon the steadfastness of those who are called to that great honor.  Those who are seen coming forth with the Faithful and True One, when He issues from the opened Heaven, bearing upon His vesture and upon His Thigh the Name written “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS,” are not only “called,” and “chosen,” but also are “faithful” (Rev. 19:11-16 with 17:14).

            The next Psalm quoted in Hebrews 1 is the hundred and second.  This Psalm speaks of the time when the Lord, Who endures for ever, shall arise, and shall have mercy on Zion (verses 12, 13).  “For the time to favor her, yea, the SET TIME, is come.”  As the apostle Paul declared to the Athenians, God has “APPOINTED A DAY in the which He will judge (that is, will do justice and equity to) the world (habitable earth) in righteousness, by that Man Whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).  And it is given to us, who are now sojourners in that world, to “see the day approaching.”  Furthermore the Psalm declares: “So the heathen (the nations) shall fear the Name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory.  When the Lord shall build up Zion HE SHALL APPEAR IN HIS GLORY” (verses 15, 16).  “This shall be written for the generation to come; and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord” (v. 18).

            The succeeding verses refer to the work of Christ in the days of His flesh, when His strength was weakened and His days were shortened; and then follow the words quoted in Hebrews 1.  “Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Thy Hands.  They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure.  Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed.  But Thou art THE SAME, and Thy years shall have no end.”

            He Who is soon to take up the sovereignty of the earth, and reign over it, is “the Same” Who of old laid its foundations, and created all things therein.  He alone knows the secrets of nature, the marvelous properties of matter in its countless forms, and He will bring to light and put to their intended uses all the properties and forces of nature.  At that day it will be seen that the wise and learned men of this day, the “men of science” (falsely so called, for they are really men of ignorance) are but stumblers in the darkness.  At that day the wisdom of this age will be seen by all to be utter foolishness.

            He is also the One Who changes not.  “Thou art THE SAME”; and this blessed truth, full of comfort and assurance for those who are enduring the sufferings of this present time, is repeated in the last chapter of Hebrews, in those well-known words, “Jesus Christ, THE SAME yesterday, to-day, and for ever.”

            The last quotation in Hebrews 1 is from Psalm 110.  This contains the germ of the great subject which is expounded in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and nowhere else in the Word of God, namely, the office of the Son as a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.  Again the Spirit of God directs out attention to a Psalm which speaks clearly of the Kingdom of the Son, pointing to the time when the Lord shall send the rod of His strength out of Zion, and He shall rule in the midst of His enemies.  It tells of the coming day of His power, when His people will offer themselves willingly to Him, adorned with the beauty of holiness; and He Himself will have the dew of His youth out of the womb of the morning.  Again, there is a reference (as in Psalm 2) to the “day of His wrath,” and to the kings of the earth who will then be stricken through.  And again is the promise given, “He shall judge among the heathen (the nations).”

            Such are the Scriptures which are brought to our notice as showing what is meant by the great salvation which is to become a manifested reality in the habitable earth to come whereof we speak.  In view of such a revelation, in view of the wonderful things we have heard, can there by anything more important for us than to examine ourselves as to how much heed we have paid, and how much we are now paying, to these things?  And if, as the result of such examination, we find that we have been paying even less heed to these things of Christ and His coming Kingdom, than to the perishing things of this present evil age, shall we not make haste to present ourselves at the throne of grace, where the High Priest of our confession is now seated, that we may “obtain mercy” for these past failures and perversities, and “find grace to help” in this present time of need?  The wonderful “things that we have heard,” whereof a beginning was spoken by the Lord Himself, transcend the human mind and understanding.  They constitute a salvation so great that the imagination of man can form no conception of its greatness.  “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man  the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him.”  Paul could say for himself, “God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit”; but he could not write them unto the Corinthians, because they were babes.  He could not speak to them as unto spiritual men, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ (1 Cor. 3:1).  Hence the importance of the exhortation to be no longer babes, but to “go on to full growth,” of which exhortation we hope to speak later on.

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CHAPTER FOUR.  

THE APOSTLE AND HIGH PRIEST OF OUR CONFESSION

            THERE are two exhortations to which special prominence is given in the Epistle to the Hebrews.  The first is that we, God’s pilgrims of this dispensation, should give to the things that we have heard more earnest heed than God’s people of old gave to the things announced to them.  The reasons for this exhortation are, that the things we have heard are vastly “better things” than those spoken of old time to the fathers; and chiefly that the One Who began to speak to us of these “coming good things,” is the Son Himself, by Whom and for Whom all things are and were created. 

            The second great exhortation is that which stands at the beginning of chapter 3, namely that the holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, should attentively consider the Apostle and High Priest of their confession, even Jesus.  (The word “Christ” is lacking in nearly all the texts.)

             The second exhortation follows logically from the first.  Having given earnest heed to the things that we have heard, we are led thereby to devote our best consideration to Him Whom God has set before us, by revelation of His Word and Spirit, as the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.  Having given heed to the things that we have heard, we perceive that those things have to do with the future period of the visible glory of the Son of God, when He shall assume, in the eyes of the whole creation, the Headship over all the works of God’s Hands.  What that means to Him is, of course, far beyond our comprehension.  But as we give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard, and as we attentively consider Him, in the capacity of Apostle, and in that of High Priest, we shall find ourselves gaining in the apprehension of the hope that is set before us.  This fast approaching day of the glory of the Son of God is the joy that was set before Him, when He endured the Cross.  How great will be that joy we cannot say.  We have no means wherewith to measure, and no terms wherewith to describe it.  But this we know, that so great will be that joy to Him, that the mere anticipation of it enabled Him not only to endure the Cross, but even to despise the shame.

             That “glory” and that “joy” He desires to share with those who are the objects of His grace; for His present work is on behalf of those many sons whom the Father is bringing unto glory, and His special interest is in those to whom He shall say, in that day, “enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

             It seems very clear, after an attentive study of the text of this Epistle, that the way to avoid the dangers to which God’s pilgrims are exposed, and to gain the reward that is set before them, is by heeding and obeying these two leading exhortations, which are the burden of the first four chapters of Hebrews.  Parts of those chapters, and the whole of other chapters following them, are occupied with the things that we have heard, “the better things, and things that accompany salvation,” and with special revelations from the Spirit of God, whereby we may be enabled to consider Him Who is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.  Then, in chapter 12, these two leading exhortations appear again.  In verses 1 and 2 we are exhorted to run with patience the race that is set before us, “looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith.”  The words “Author” and “Finisher” correspond respectively with “Apostle” and “High Priest.”  As the “Apostle” of our confession He is the Author or Beginner of faith, and as High Priest He is the Finisher of faith.  Then, at verse 25, occurs again the warning, given in the most impressive language, to “refuse not Him that speaketh.  For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth (Moses), much more shall not we escape if we turn away from Him that speaketh from Heaven.”

            The purport of all this, briefly and simply stated, is that God is now leading a people out from the present evil world and its seen things, unto a coming world consisting of “things not seen as yet,” and which at present are apprehended only by faith.  These are “the things that we have heard,” but they are realities, and God’s announcement concerning them is capable of exerting an influence upon those, and only those, in whom it is “mixed with faith.”  The seen things are “the things that can be shaken,” and which will therefore be “removed.”  The great danger is that those whom God has called (partakers of the heavenly calling) may occupy themselves with, give their attention to, set their hearts upon, the seen things, thus refusing Him that speaketh, or, in other words, neglecting that great salvation which is “the Kingdom that cannot be shaken.”  In such case, the warning is given, and given too clearly to admit of being misunderstood or explained away, or relegated to the Jewish remnant, that they who neglect that great salvation shall not escape the loss of a share they might otherwise have had in that Kingdom.  In order that we may escape so great a loss, we are urged first to give earnest heed to the things we have heard, and not to refuse Him that speaketh, and second to consider, that is, be occupied with, Himself, especially in His offices of Apostle and High Priest.

             The words “holy brethren,” which define those to whom the second exhortation is addressed, connect directly with verses 10-17 of the preceding chapter, whereof the subject is His “brethren.”  They are “holy” or “sanctified” by His own act, as stated in Hebrews 2:11: “He that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all of one, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them ‘brethren.’”  They have been by Him “sanctified,” that is to say, set apart for a special purpose, which, in this instance, is that they should become members of a priestly house, a household of sons, built up and presided over by the Son Himself.  This is more fully brought out in chapter 3:6, 7.  “But Christ as Son over His own House, Whose house are we, IF we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.”

            To become a member of that Household is a matter of reward and privilege.  It is a privilege so high that the danger of neglecting it through lightly esteeming it, as the Israelites slighted the land promised to them, and as Esau slighted the privilege of the birthright, is very great indeed.  Membership in that Household is a reward promised to those who do the Will of God in the particulars now under our consideration.  Of this the Lord began to speak, saying, as He looked on those who “sat about Him” at the time when the rulers and the nation rejected Him, “Behold My mother and My brethren!  For whosoever shall DO THE WILL OF GOD, the same is My brother, and My sister and mother” (Mk. 3:34, 35; see also Matt. 12:49, 50).  With this agree the words of the Epistle; “For ye have need of patience that, AFTER YE HAVE DONE THE WILL OF GOD, ye might receive the promise” (Heb. 10:36).

             These “holy brethren” are “partakers of the heavenly calling,” that is to say, a calling into the Household of the Son, to be associated with Him in the authority, dignities, honors and glories, of His Royal Priesthood.  In order that they may make their calling and election sure, they are exhorted to fix their attention steadfastly upon the Apostle and High Priest of their confession.  The word “confession” probably embraces the whole of that for which they have been apprehended in Christ Jesus, and for which He assumed the characters of Apostle and High Priest; but especially it would seem to refer to their present status in the world as strangers and pilgrims.  They have the example of those who “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13).  This is the character they are called upon to maintain, and of those who seek to maintain that character, Christ is the Apostle and High Priest.

            The word “Apostle” signifies one sent forth on a special mission.  Hence, the work of the Son of God as the Apostle embraces all that He did in the days of His Flesh as the Sent One of God.  His work as the Apostle of our confession is finished.  He, being eternal Deity, came forth from God, assumed the form and nature of man, and thus brought to man all that man required of God.  Having finished that work, He, as true Man, returned to God, bringing to God all that God required of man.  That is His present office and work as High Priest within the true sanctuary.  It is not His character of High Priest after the order of Melchizedek that is spoken of here.  He will not appear in that character until He comes forth again to assume the office of King in addition to that of Priest.  His present ministry is rather the fulfillment of what is typified by the ministry of the Aaronic high priest on the Day of Atonement, when he entered into the Holy of Holies with the blood of the sin-offering.  This clearly appears from chapters 8—10, in which Christ is revealed as a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, but is not spoken of as High Priest of the order of Melchizedek.  Nevertheless, He has been already “saluted of God as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (verse 10), though yet waiting to be revealed as such.  What He is awaiting is, amongst other things, the perfecting of the “many sons” who are to be associated with Him in that Royal Priesthood.

             The work of the Son of God as the Apostle of our confession is not specially described in Hebrews.  For that we must refer to other Scriptures.  It embraces all His words—the words which the Father gave Him to speak—and all His works, especially His work on the Cross, where He bore the sins of many, and put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself .  This redemption-aspect of the work of the Cross is mentioned in Hebrews, though not specially described there (Heb. 9:12).  The following passages, among others, refer to features of His work as the One sent forth from God.

·        “When He had by Himself purged our sins” (1:3).

·        “Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death; that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every one (or every thing).”  “Forasmuch, then, as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil, and deliver those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”  “He Himself hath suffered being tempted” (2:9, 14, 15, 18).

·        “Who, in the days of His Flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was able to save Him from (out of) death, and was heard in that He feared, though being Son yet learned He obedience by the things He suffered” (5:7, 8).