The thing the writer of Hebrews feared was giving up Christ as the Object of their confidence. From chapter 5:11 through the end of chapter 6 he takes up that concern and exhorts them.
How is God dealing with your heart now (Hebrews 6:77For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: (Hebrews 6:7))? Do you apprehend Him in judgment or in grace? Is the communion of your soul with God in the liberty of grace or in the fear of a coming day of judgment? If the latter, it is not yielding “herbs” meet for Him by whom it is dressed. If I walk in the filial confidence of one who has trusted in the salvation of God, that is the earth yielding fruits meet for Him by whom it is dressed.
What is the ground of the Apostle’s persuasion of “better things” touching them in Hebrews 6:99But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. (Hebrews 6:9)? It was that the fruits of righteousness were seen among them: beautiful things that accompany but never constitute salvation. Therefore, the Apostle, seeing this beautiful fruitfulness, says, “Though I am sounding an alarm, I do not attach it to you.” He pursues this thought to the close of the chapter. He prays them to continue to minister to the saints. Does your knowledge of Christ lead you to two things: secret communion of soul with Him and practical energy of Christian walk and faithfulness? “Now,” he asks, “do you go on with the beautiful, practical work you have begun? Do not be slothful, but followers of them who by faith and patience inherit the promises.”
Then he brings out Abraham as one who did not slack his hand to the end. Abraham not only got the promise in Genesis 15, but he went on in patience till it was confirmed by an oath in Genesis 22. We are called not only to faith, but to the patience of faith. It is possible to have a consolation and yet not a strong consolation. Abraham had a consolation in Genesis 15 and a strong consolation in Genesis 22.
The Apostle would have us like Abraham in Genesis 22, that “we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” This passage is commonly misquoted. It is not a sinner running to the blood for refuge, but a saint running to the hope of glory from the wreck of every prospect here. Are we promising ourselves hopes for tomorrow? Abraham was a man who fled from every prospect here to lay hold on the hope of glory. The Apostle says, “Lay hold upon the hope,” not on the cross. Is the expectation of your heart the hope of the return of Christ?
“Whither the forerunner is for us entered” (ch. 6:20). We see the Lord Jesus here brought out in a new character in heaven, not only for us as High Priest, but to secure a place for us with Himself. Jesus is in heaven in the glory of a Forerunner a High Priest the Purger of our sins. He will put on other glories in the millennial heavens: King of kings and Lord of lords on the millennial earth.
We pass on to chapter 8. “We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” What exquisite words! There were glories set in the superficial heavens by the fingers of God, and there are glories set in the interior heavens by the grace of God. One of these is a tabernacle which the Lord has pitched there. Christ came down from the eternal bosom to glorify God on the earth. Was there anything too brilliant in the way of glory in which to array such a One?
What communion we get here between God and His Christ between the Father and the Son! Among those glories was a temple pitched by the Lord Himself. God in redemption has built a habitation of the High Priest, and He is seated there in the highest place of honor. Christ could not be a priest here, for He came of the tribe of Judah. He came to fulfill all righteousness: thus a priest of the tribe of Levi, if he found Him there, would have been entitled to cast Him out. He was entitled to everything, but He came as a subject, self-emptied Servant. Did He intrude on the two poor disciples at Emmaus? Much less would He, a Son of Judah, intrude in God’s house.
Here we pause. In this epistle we find one thing. From the beginning to the end the Spirit is taking up one thing after another and laying it aside to make room for Christ. When He has brought Christ in, He fixes Him before us forever. Has not God laid you aside and brought in Christ in your stead? Faith bows to what He has done in every believing soul. In chapter 1 He lays aside angels. “To which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool?” Next we see Moses laid aside. “Moses verily was faithful... as a servant... but Christ as a Son over His own house.” We can part with Moses because we have got Christ, as the poor eunuch could part with Philip because he had got Jesus. Then in chapter 4 comes Joshua. But he is laid aside also. “If [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.” Christ is set before me as the true Joshua, who really gives me rest. Then Aaron is set aside to let in the priesthood of Christ, but when I have it before me I have it forever. He is the Administrator of a better covenant. The old covenant is done away because the Lord has nothing to say to it. And at the close we read the beautiful utterance, which might be the text of the epistle, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” He being brought in is the same forever.
What a magnificent thought to think of God bringing in the blessed Jesus to the displacing of everything! God rests in Him [pictured by] the sabbath of old, when God rested in creation. Now God rests in Christ, and if you and I understand where we are, we are breathing the atmosphere of perfection an accomplished work a sabbath. Hebrews is an epistle of untold glories and of inestimable value to the conscience of the awakened sinner.
At the close of chapter 8, we see the first covenant set aside. The covenant that Christ ministers never waxes old. “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”
The Lord touches everything and fixes it before God forever, and God rests in it. He perfects everything He touches and everything gives place to Him. He gives place to nothing. They came to John the Baptist and said, “Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to Him.” He answered, “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.” This ought to be the utterance of your heart: “He has set me aside to bring Jesus in.” There is wonderful unity between the discovery we get here and the experience of our own souls. We shall never get to an end of these glories till we are lost in an ocean of them by and by a sea without a shore!
J. G. Bellett (from The Opened Heavens)