19 - Heb_8:1-2
CHAPTER X I X. THE TRUE TABERNACLE.
IT is the locality where the great High Priest now exercises His functions which the apostle emphasizes. Here the contrast is not so much that of law and gospel, of grace and works, as in other epistles; the contrast is between the earthly and temporary and the heavenly and eternal. In spirit and reality, the Levitical dispensation terminated when the veil of the temple was rent in twain; actually and in outward appearance, it continued till the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple declared unto all the world that the times of the old dispensation had come to an end. While the temple was still in existence, it was difficult for the Hebrews to understand the heavenly character of their calling and worship. It seemed to them that faith in the Messiah excluded them from the blessings and privileges of Messiah’s nation. Levitical services in the earthly sanctuary still continued. Where was the place of believing Hebrews? The apostle shows that Jesus is High Priest in heaven, and that therefore ours is a heavenly sanctuary, where all is substance, and possessed of an eternal vitality and glory.
All this is implied in the fundamental fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. The Lord said of Peter’s confession that on this rock the church is built; but even Peter did not fully understand for some time the truths which necessarily follow from faith in the Christ, the Son of God. The Priesthood of the Son must needs be heavenly and eternal. It cannot be connected with the old covenant; but it is inseparably connected with the new, in which divine love and life are truly bestowed through the righteousness of grace, and in which forgiven and renewed sinners worship the Father in spirit and in truth. It must break down the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile; for through the exalted Saviour the Spirit is given, by whom both have the same access to the Father. Hence the apostle returns at the end of the seventh chapter to the key-note struck at first - Jesus the Son.
If our High Priest is Jesus, God and man in one person, the only mediator, the sanctuary in which we worship is above. He is the minister* of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. This tabernacle is contrasted with the tabernacle in the wilderness. It is "true," in the sense in which Jesus says, "I am the true vine;" that is, the real and substantial vine, of which the outward and visible vines are merely emblems. (*
Now, the tabernacle has no fewer than three meanings. In the first place, the tabernacle is a type, a visible illustration, of that heavenly place in which God has His dwelling. In the second place, the tabernacle is a type of Jesus Christ, who is the meeting-place between God and man. And, in the third place, the tabernacle is a type of Christ in the Church - of the communion of Jesus with all believers.*(*The analogy between the tabernacle and man, or rather the individual believer, has struck Luther. He calls the outer court the body, the holy place the soul, and the most holy the spirit. As the passage is in itself interesting and instructive, I add a translation. Speaking of theMagnificat(Luke 1:46), Luther says: "Scripture divides man into three parts, as the apostle writes (1 Thessalonians 5:23), ‘The God of peace sanctify you wholly; that your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved unblameable.’ And each of these three, as well as the whole man, is divided in another manner into two, spirit and flesh, which is a division, not of human nature, but of its condition. That is, each of the three may be either good or bad, spiritual or carnal, of which subject we do not treat here. The spirit is the highest and noblest in man, whereby he is able to grasp incomprehensible, invisible, eternal things; and it is, in short, the dwelling-place of faith, and of God’s word, of which David speaks (Psalms 51:12), put into my inmost being a right spirit. (ComparePsalms 78:37.) The second is the soul; that is, the same spirit according to its natural aspect, in so far as it animates the body, and is often called in scripture life; for the spirit can live without the body, but not the body without the spirit. This soul, we notice, lives and works constantly even in our sleep, and can perceive and understand, not spiritual things, but the things of reason; for reason is the light in this house, and the soul cannot be free from error unless the spirit illumines and rules it with faith or the higher light. . . . The third is the body with its members, the works of which are only exercise and habit, according to the knowledge of the soul, and the faith of the spirit. . . . Now of this I shall show a similitude from Scripture. Moses made a tabernacle with three distinct parts. (Exodus 26:33-34.) The first,sanctumsanctorum, where God dwelt, and in which there was no light. The second,sanctum, in which stood the candlestick with seven branches. The third was calledatrium, or court, that was without, and in the open daylight. Which is a picture of the Christian. His spirit issanctumsanctorum, God’s dwelling-place, in faith without sight; for he believes what he cannot see, or feel, or comprehend. His soul is sanctum, in which are seven lights, reason, discernment, knowledge, and understanding of outward things. His body isatrium, this is open and patent to all, and every one can see what he does, and how he lives." No doubt this analogy is correct. (Compare on the distinction - soul and spirit, 1 Cor. 2) What is true of the whole Church, is true of each individual member; but to find in this the purport of the tabernacle chiefly or exclusively is erroneous and untenable.)
Moses, when he went up into the mount, after the glory of the Lord had appeared unto him and unto the elders, received from God a wonderful revelation.1 There was shown unto him - in what manner it is impossible for us to conceive - a pattern of the heavenly places; not the heavenly realities themselves, but he beheld, most likely in a vision, the model of heavenly places, the picture of heavenly realities. And according to that model he was instructed to give the orders in the framing of the tabernacle, and to execute the design; so that the tabernacle in the wilderness was to be a faithful representation of what he had seen, as far as it is possible to represent heavenly and spiritual realities by outward and visible things. Surely when God showed unto Moses the pattern of heavenly things, He showed unto him also the great mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh, by whom there would be brought about not merely a reconciliation, but also the indwelling of God in the hearts of His people; and as Abraham saw the day of Christ, and rejoiced and was glad in it - as Isaiah, when he heard the trisagion of the seraphim, beheld the glory of the Lord, even of the Christ,2 - so there can be no doubt that, when Moses the man of God was on the mount, there was revealed unto him the mystery of the counsel of God, the incarnation, and the mediatorial work of the Lord Jesus Christ. [1It is stated four times in the book of Exodus that the tabernacle was built after the pattern shown in the mount. (Exodus 25:9; Exodus 25:40; Exodus 26:30; Exodus 27:8.) To this Stephen also alludes. (Acts 7:44.) In like manner the temple was built according to divine direction, as we read (1 Chronicles 28:11) that "David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses, . . . and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit." (CompareHebrews 9:8, where, speaking of the high priest’s yearly entrance into the Holy of Holies, it is said, "The Holy Ghost this signifying.")2John 12] The tabernacle presented wonderful truths* to Israel. In the sacrifices and ordinances of the tabernacle God declared unto His people the forgiveness of their sins; He brought them near unto Himself through expiation and mediation; He healed their diseases and comforted their hearts. But the ultimate object in all this was to reveal Himself, to manifest His divine perfection, to show forth His glory. In all the gifts of pardon, and in all the privileges of approach unto God, the Lord revealed the perfection and manifold glory of Himself. Here Israel beheld the glory of the Redeemer-God. Everywhere the twofold object was accomplished, the need of sinful, guilty, and failing man was supplied, and in this very grace the character and glory of Jehovah was revealed. Thus, as in Christ crucified we possess all we need, and behold all the thoughts and purposes of God, so in the tabernacle the believing Israelite, receiving pardon and help, was taught to exclaim, "Who is a God like unto Thee?" (*Psalms 119:18: "Wondrous things." (Compare Lectures V. and VI.) The tabernacle was a symbol of God’s dwelling. There is a sanctuary, wherein is the especial residence and manifestation of the glorious presence of God. Solomon, although he confesses that the heaven of heavens cannot contain God, yet prays that the Lord may hear in heaven His dwelling-place.1 Jeremiah testifies, "A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary."2 The visions of Isaiah and of Ezekiel also bring before us the heavens opened and the likeness of a throne, and the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord; the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon the throne. 3 Of this heavenly locality David speaks, when he asks, Who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?4 In the book of Revelation we receive still further confirmation of this truth. "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of the covenant;" and again, "And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened."5 As in the tabernacle there was a distinction between the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, so we read of the throne of God and of the temple of the Redeemed, of Mount Zion and of the heavenly Jerusalem. Almost all expressions which are employed in describing the significance of the tabernacle, are also used in reference to heaven. As in heaven so in the tabernacle God has His dwelling, and manifests His grace and glory. The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. His manifestation in the tabernacle is generally called glory. God, the King, has His palace in the midst of His people. His palace is the sanctuary. The throne, from which He issues His royal law and the declaration of His sovereign grace, is between the cherubim, a symbol of the heavenly throne of divine majesty. "The temple of thy holiness" is the name both of the earthly and the heavenly sanctuary.6(1
God, who dwells in heaven, and from His heavenly throne dispenses all blessings, manifests Himself on earth and holds communion with His people, and the place or sanctuary chosen for this purpose is a symbol of heaven, and there subsists a real connection between the celestial archetype and the earthly image. When Jacob awoke out of his sleep, in which the Lord appeared unto him, he said, "This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." In the sublime prayer of dedication, Solomon constantly expresses the same thought: "That thine eyes may be open toward this house, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servants, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place." But the tabernacle is, secondly, a type of the Lord Jesus Himself. For it is in Him that God dwells with us; in Him dwells the fullness of God head bodily, that we dwelling in Him should have communion with the Father.
See the fulfillment of the type in the first place in the Incarnation. "A body hast thou prepared for me." He was born of the Virgin Mary, conceived of the Holy Ghost. God, and not man, built this tabernacle. He dwelt in the midst of us even as the tabernacle was in the midst of the people. And as that tent, although it was made of materials which were common and earthly, was irradiated and sanctified by the indwelling glory of the Lord, so although He was born of the Virgin Mary, and was in every respect like unto His brethren, and was found in fashion as a man, yet is the humanity of Jesus called that holy thing, for it is the tabernacle in which was beheld the glory of the Only-begotten. In the second chapter of the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus explains unto us how He is not merely the tabernacle, but the temple that was to endure forever. This temple had first to be broken, Jesus had to die, but it was to be built again on the third day by His resurrection. This is still more fully explained, when it is said that the veil of the temple was rent in twain. As the apostle teaches us, this refers to the crucifixion of our Lord, the veil of His flesh was then rent. For then heaven was not merely revealed, but the way of access was opened to all sinners who believe in Jesus. Nay, more than this. Jesus Himself went thereby into the holy of holies. And now we behold Him at the right hand of God, the true tabernacle, in which all believers worship, even in the very presence of God, before the throne, which is now a throne of grace.
Thus do we dwell in Him, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead; and thus has the Father brought us into His very presence, even in His Son, in a way which could not be adequately symbolized. It was by a gradual development that Jesus became the true tabernacle. First, by His incarnation. The tabernacle was pitched of God, and not of man. The Holy Ghost came upon the Virgin Mary, and the power of the Highest overshadowed her. Then Jesus, in His holy humanity, in His perfect walk of obedience, in His words and works, manifested the Father: God was with Him the Father was in Him; the glory of the Only-begotten shone through His body of humiliation. Then, by His death on the cross, the holy place became, as it were, the holy of holies; the veil being rent, all that separated God from sinners was removed according to righteousness. Then, by His resurrection and ascension, He actually entered in - as our representative - for us, and, so to say, with us.
It is difficult to combine all the aspects of Christ, who is Sanctuary, Priest, Sacrifice; but the more we dwell on Him as the One who is all, the more fully are our hearts established. Behold Him, then, as the tabernacle, where all sacred things are laid up. All that was in the tabernacle is in Him. He is the true Light, the true Bread of the countenance, the true Incense of intercession, with which our prayers and offerings come before God. All spiritual blessings in heavenly places are in Christ.*(*"All the utensils of holy worship of old, all means of sacred light and purification, were placed and laid up in the tabernacle. And these were all patterns of the heavenly things themselves, which are all laid up in Christ, the true tabernacle. They are all enclosed in Him, and it will be in vain to seek for them elsewhere." - OWEN,Hebrews, vol. 3, p. 666.) But the tabernacle has yet a third aspect. There God and His people meet. The Ark of the Covenant was not merely the throne where God manifested Himself in His holiness, but it was also the throne of relationship with His people. In all the offerings and sacrifices God was manifested, just as regards sin, merciful as regards the sinner; there also God and the sinner met. So throughout the tabernacle there was the manifestation of God, in order to bring Israel into communion with Himself. In the tabernacle man’s fellowship with God was symbolized through manifold mediations, sacrifices, and offerings. But in Jesus we have the perfect and eternal fulfillment. In Him God and the sinner meet; in Him God and the believer dwell and have communion. In and from Jesus we have received the Spirit. God now dwells in His saints by His Spirit, whereby they become an holy temple unto Him. We are builded together in Him (Christ) for an habitation of God through the Spirit.* We are, according to the testimony of another apostle, a spiritual house, in which sacrifices and offerings of thanksgiving and obedience are continually brought unto God. In this chosen Temple God has His rest and His joy. This is the glorious gospel: God in Christ, we in Christ, Christ in us. (*Ephesians 2:21-22.)
Thus we have seen that the tabernacle was a picture of heaven, a type of Christ Jesus, and of Christ Jesus in the saints. And therefore, when Jesus Christ comes again with His saints, it will be said, "Lo, the tabernacle of God with men." True, there is a locality where Christ and His saints have their abode. But the glory and substance of that heavenly place is the Lord Jesus, one with the saints. In thinking of the throne of God and of heaven, we must avoid a pantomiming hyper-spiritualism, and on the other hand a carnal and materialistic view. Heaven is not a state merely, but a place; yet in our present condition it is not possible for us to form a conception of that spiritual, substantial, and eternal abode which God has pre pared for them that love Him. It is sufficient for us to receive the Scripture statements, and to rejoice in the descriptions given in the prophetic books, and especially in the Apocalypse, of the glorious home, of the beautiful and eternal city, in which the Lamb and His Bride shall dwell. It is enough for us to believe the word of Jesus, so simple and sweet: "In my Father’s house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you."*(*
It is in heaven, and in heaven only, that the Lord exercises His priesthood. "For if Jesus were on earth He would not be a priest at all." As our Lord belonged to the tribe of Judah, and not to the tribe of Levi, it would have been impossible for Him to exercise the functions connected with the Aaronic priesthood. How forcible a demonstration to the Jews, who saw the priests of Levi performing their daily office in the temple at Jerusalem. Godly Israelites might even in those days be taught by the image and pattern of heavenly realities; but those Israelites, who had recognized in Jesus the Messiah, were now to walk in the clear brightness of the gospel light, and in the fullness of the day to perceive the temporary and fragmentary character of the Levitical dispensation. But as with the Jews, so with us all, the great difficulty is, to realize the spiritual and heavenly character of worship. To lift up our eyes and hearts to heaven, to feel the power and the reality of things unseen, to hold communion from the heart, as man’s holy of holies, with God Himself in His holy of holies - this is, indeed, the gift and grace of God, and blessed are all whom He chooses and causes to approach.*(*"The glory and worship of the temple was that which the Jews would by no means part withal. They chose rather to reject Christ and the gospel, than to part with the temple, and its outward pompous worship. And it is almost incredible how the vain mind of man is addicted unto an outward beauty and splendour in religious worship. Take it away, and with the most you destroy all religion itself: as if there were no beauty but in painting, no evidence of health, or vigour of body. The Christians of old suffered in nothing more from the prejudice of the whole world, Jews and Gentiles, than in this, that they had a religion without temples, altars, images, or any solemnity of worship. And in latter ages men ceased not, until they had brought into Christianity itself a worship vying for external order, ceremony, pomp, and painting, with whatever was in the tabernacle or temple of old, coining short of it principally in this, that that was of God’s institution for a time, this of the invention of weak, superstitious, and foolish men. Thus is it in the Church of Rome. And a hard thing it is to raise the minds of men, unto a satisfaction in things merely spiritual and heavenly. They suppose they cannot make a worse change, nor more to their disadvantage, than to part with what is a present object and entertainment unto their senses, fancies, carnal affections, and superstitions, for that which they can have no benefit by, nor satisfaction in, but only in the exercise of faith and love, inclining us to that within the veil. Hence is there at this day so great a contest in the world about tabernacles and temples, modes of worship and ceremonies, which men have found out in the room of those which they cannot deny but God would have removed. For so they judge that He will be satisfied with their carnal ordinances in the church, when the time is come that He would bear His own no longer. But unto them that believe, Christ is precious. This true Tabernacle, with His ministration, in their estimation far excels all the old pompous ceremonies and services of divine institution, much more, all the superstitious observances of human invention." -Owen.)
Now of the holy things,1 the spiritual and heavenly blessings, and of the true tabernacle, Jesus is the minister or priest. He is ministering before God and towards God on our behalf; He is continually bestowing upon us the blessings of the new covenant. There was no approach unto God without continual respect unto sacrifice and oblation. However excellent the person of the high priest, it was an absolute necessity, that He should have somewhat to offer. And thus our great High Priest had somewhat to present unto the Father when He entered into heaven. The sacrifice, we know, was offered when Jesus died upon the cross. What was typified on the Day of Atonement, found its fulfillment on Golgotha. Jesus died outside the camp.2 His precious blood was shed on the accursed tree,3 But as was already understood in the type, the blood of Jesus, though shed on earth, pertains to the heavenly sanctuary. Jesus presents Himself, the victim, before the Father, and enters by His own blood into the holy of holies. This is the only perfect and efficacious oblation. This is the only true and real propitiation or atonement made for our sins. Jesus Himself could not save us, or bring us unto God without this sacrifice; it was necessary that He should bring Himself, the victim and substitute, before the throne of God. (1The expression
If this is true of the Levitical priesthood, which was of divine appointment, how much more fearful is the assumption of any priestly title, position, and function during the new dispensation. All Christians are priests. To imitate a revival of that which God Himself has set aside by a fulfillment perfect and glorious, is audacious, and full of peril to the souls of men. It is not even the shadow of a substance; but the unauthorized shadow of a departed shade. The one sacrifice and oblation has been offered on Golgotha, and presented to the Father by the ascended Saviour, once for all;* and now believers are a kingdom of priests, drawing .near in full assurance of faith. (*How true and obvious is Owen’s remark: "If anyone else can offer the body of Christ, he also is the minister of the true tabernacle. For the Lord Christ did no more. He did but offer Himself, and they that can offer Him do put themselves in His place.") The apostle Paul connects "the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises." (Rom. 9) These go together, and the character of one link deter mines that of the rest. In the first dispensation, of which Moses was the mediator and Aaron the priest, the service was connected with an earthly tabernacle, and the promises also possessed an earthly and temporal character. How much more glorious is the new dispensation, where all is substance, and not shadow; heavenly and eternal, and not earthly and temporal! Here one Person is Mediator-Priest; the law is written on the heart; the service is in spirit and in truth; the promise is life eternal. True, the contrast between the old and the new would be viewed in a false light, if we forgot that in the old dispensation spiritual reality and blessings were presented, and were actually embraced in faith by the people of God. The law had a positive or evangelical aspect; although herein also it was elementary and transitory, it acted as a guardian and a tutor; as the snow is not merely an indication of winter, and a contrast to the bright and genial sunshine, and the refreshing verdure of summer, but is also a beneficent protection, cherishing and preparing the soil for the approaching blessings from above. But now the winter is past, the fullness has come. The sanctuary being changed, the dispensation and covenant are likewise changed. The new covenant is now revealed, of which Jesus is both Surety and Mediator. In a previous chapter the apostle had inferred, from the superior excellence of the Priest after the order of Melchisedec, the superiority of the covenant, of which He is Mediator. He calls Jesus the Surety of a better testament. The expression reminds us that the Lord Jesus gave unto the Father all that divine righteousness and holiness demanded, that He gave to man every pledge and assurance of our full and everlasting salvation. In the Lord Jesus, who sanctified Himself for our sakes, the Father possesses all believers; in Him all believers are brought into communion with divine love and life. The expression, "Mediator," used here is more comprehensive.*(*It occurs only in two other Pauline passages. The somewhat obscure passage,Galatians 3:20, and1 Timothy 2:5.) The mediator and surety of the old covenant was Moses, and not Aaron. Yet since the first covenant also could not be instituted without sacrifice, Moses acted as priest; the priestly dignity and functions were afterwards transferred to Aaron. But now is Jesus the true and eternal Mediator-Priest; not a servant like Moses, but the Son. True mediation is accomplished now because the Mediator as the Son is in the heavenly sanctuary at the right hand of God, and because from thence He sends the Spirit into our hearts. This new covenant is based upon better promises. The expression "established" means formally established as by a law. It reminds us that here all is arranged, fixed, and secured by inviolable sanctions. The "everlasting covenant is ordered in all things, and sure;"* it is based upon immovable foundations; it is according to the eternal purpose of God and to the divine and unchanging perfections. (*2 Samuel 23:5.) The promises are better, because they are now clearly and directly spiritual and eternal. Forgiveness of sin, the knowledge of God, communion with God, His indwelling in our hearts, the inheritance reserved in heaven, such are the promises and gifts of the new covenant. The promises are better because they are unconditional, secured by the great Mediator and High Priest. They are better because they were given to Christ before the world began, and are according to the infinite love which the Father has to His only Son, in whom He hath chosen us. The promises are better because in the new dispensation the blessing comprehends all, Jews and Gentiles, and unites all believers as a royal priesthood, who have access unto the Father by one Spirit.
There is a wonderful simplicity in the new covenant revelation. The true light which now shineth does indeed possess an exceeding greater brightness than that of the old dispensation; and yet everything is full of simplicity, directness, and peaceful calm. When we contrast the old and the new, then we become conscious of the wonderful transparency, simplicity, condensation of divine teaching which we possess. Our little children possess in the words Jesus, Lamb of God, trust in the Saviour, in the simple gospel declarations and promises, that which the old saints had to combine laboriously from the necessarily fragmentary types and teachings, and could only see darkly. We look to Jesus for everything; we have and receive all from Him. Our sins and infirmities, our trials and sorrows, so bind us to the grace of Jesus, and to His High Priestly ministrations, that we are constantly with Him, and experience the power of His blood, and the sustaining influence of His love. Jesus in heaven, at the right hand of God, the Lamb in the midst of the throne - this sums up all our faith, all our love, all our hope. It is the crowning point.
Looking back in the light of fulfillment on the history of God’s dealings with mankind and with Israel, on the long-and marvellous, the manifold and complicated, yet harmonious events, ordinances, types and predictions, in which the wisdom and love of God vailed, and at the same time revealed, the central mystery of redemption, we are impressed with a sense of the magnitude and the glory of the new revelation in Christ Jesus, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for us. We do not merely, like aged Simeon, rejoice in beholding the salvation which God hath prepared before all nations, but the salvation which He purposed in Himself from all eternity, to the praise of the glory of His grace.
How wonderful is the love of God, that from all eternity this was the secret, cherished purpose of His will - that He should manifest Himself in Christ Jesus, and bring poor, guilty, and helpless sinners nigh unto Himself, that they should dwell in Him, and that He should dwell in them. How wonderful is the grace of God - that purpose of grace which was in God before the foundations of the world were laid, according to which He has given unto us eternal life in Christ Jesus, that not in creation, that not in the perfection and purity of angelic beings, who never fell, but that in the redemption, and sanctification, and glorification of sinners there should be made manifest the fullness of God.
See then how everything leads you unto the ultimate love of God. Conceive in an enlarged manner, and with an assured and blessed confidence, that all the thoughts of God concerning you are thoughts of peace. You cannot think too highly of the love of God. You cannot exaggerate how important you are in God’s estimation, how precious your salvation is unto Him, how great is His joy and His delight in His people, how culminating is that position which He has given unto Christ as the head of the church, and how this is the one thought in God from everlasting to everlasting, so that in Christ Jesus and the church there should be summed up in one all things visible and invisible, whether they be in heaven or on earth. God loved us and chose us in Christ Jesus that we should be to the praise of the glory of His grace. "The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens;" and what is His throne but Christ Jesus, who is the tabernacle, and in whom we are also become the habitation of God.
Learn, in the second place, the wonderful grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Minister of the sanctuary. He is still going on with His service. His thoughts, His prayers, His affections, His energies, are all engaged now with regard to His people who are still upon the earth. He has ascended into the holiest, into the region of perfection and glory; but not to forget us who are still in the wilderness. As He loved His own even to the end, He loves them now, and throughout all the ages; and He will come again to receive us to Himself. He is the same loving, serving Jesus as He was on earth, the minister of holy things even now. In the fullness of His love, power, and glory, our exalted Lord, the Son of God, the man Christ Jesus, is ministering continually on behalf of and unto the saints.
Thirdly. Learn here the true character of worship. This is more fully explained in the subsequent chapters of the Epistle. But from what we have seen, it is evident that it is only by faith we can worship, for only by faith we can discern the heavenly and spiritual realities here set forth.* The heavenly sanctuary is the only place of worship. We are brought into the very presence of God in heaven, we draw near in the one great High Priest, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins through His blood. Such are now the elements of worship, and only faith can realize and appropriate these gracious truths and gifts. Believers only can worship; they worship in spirit and in truth. (*"The fundamental and essential contrast between the former and the latter things is, that the discernment by faith of things in visible is now the alone condition of true worship." A. PRIDEAUX.)