10 The Word of God, Judging The Christian Below
CHAPTER X.
TILE WORD OF GOD, JUDGING THE CHRISTIAN BELOW; THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST’S SYMPATHY AND HELP ABOVE.
RESTING by faith in Jesus, and laboring to enter into that perfect rest which remaineth to the people of God, the Christian, during his pilgrimage through the wilderness, is guided by the word of God, which is in his hand, and upheld and encouraged by the intercession and sympathy of the great High Priest above. The apostle, having based his earnest exhortation on the Scripture, on what the Holy Ghost saith inPsalms 95:1-11, naturally confirms it by reminding the Hebrews of the majesty and power of the word of God. They who are under the influence of the divine word must be decided, earnest, whole-hearted. For God’s word is perfect; it enters into the inmost depths of the heart, it searches out every secret thought, and judges our life from its hidden root to all its manifestations. You who are in contact with the word of God, with the mind of Christ, with the depth-searching Spirit, are you more real and thorough than others? Does God find in you the truth He desires in the inward parts?
We are familiar with the word of God. ‘Like Israel, we possess this treasure in our country, in our families. It is in our homes and schools. We know it from our childhood. The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth. How often have our lips uttered the very words of the living God. But, thankful as we ought to be for this great privilege, do we know also the majesty and the power of the word of God? Do we know that, in possessing, reading, and knowing the Scripture, we are under a mighty, solemn, and decisive influence, and that this word judges us now, and will judge us at the last day? Do we tremble at the word of Jehovah? Does the word judge and decide, mould and govern, guide and comfort? What are and do ye more than others, who know only human words and opinions, to whom Scripture also is but the word of man? Is it evident, from the effects the word has produced in you, that it is the word of the living God? Oh, blessed are they who, like the author ofPsalms 119:1-176, can give to the word more than a hundredfold praise! The expressions which are used here of the word of God are all applicable to Christ Himself ; for He is living, He is the power of God, He came for judgment into the world, He is the Searcher of hearts, His eyes are like a flame of fire. But the reference is to the spoken and written word. For in this epistle the Lord is never called the Word, as in the gospel of John and in the book of Revelation. We know how intimate and essential is the connection between the eternal, living, personal word and the Scriptures. The Son is the Word, the revealer of God, the expression of His thought, the manifestation of His light and love. Christ is the Word of God, and therefore Christ is the sum and substance of Scripture. Of Him testify Moses and the prophets. The Spirit of Christ did signify, both in the types of the law and the prophecies, of His sufferings and glory. The Scripture, as the written word, is according to Christ and of Christ; and by it Christ is heard, received, and formed in the soul. Of this written Word, of which Christ is centre and end, as well as author and method, which is inspired by the Holy Ghost and sent by God, the gospel message is the kernel. And hence it is this gospel which especially is called the Word. "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you." And is not all Scripture gospel? For even the law, convincing of sin and declaring condemnation, is only sent to prepare the heart for the reception of Christ’s grace and salvation. And blessed are they who are wounded by Moses, for Jesus shall heal them. The Word is living (zwn). (Revelation 1:18, Greek.John 5:26;John 5:21;John 5:24;John 6:63;John 6:68|.) God is called the Living One; and Christ the Lord calls Him-self the Living One. He is the life, He has life in Himself, and He came to quicken and to give unto us life abundantly. And the Word which proceedeth out of the mouth and heart o God, the Word of which Christ is the substance, and which is given and watched over by the Spirit, is also living ; for God’s words are spirit and life. The Word is the seed, which appears insignificant, but which if received in good ground shows its vitality. Hence it is by this Word that souls are born again unto eternal life. They who receive the word of God (not texts and sermons) experience that this Word does not remain within them as a dead and inert mass, a mere addition to their previous knowledge, but that it produces within them life. All words, to a certain extent, may be compared to seed; but they cannot produce new, spiritual, divine, eternal life. They may add to the knowledge, excite the emotions, stimulate the energies, rouse the conscience of the old man; they cannot create the new life. The word of God quickens the dead. As the Word, applied by the Spirit, produces, so it also sustains and promotes life. " As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby." The Saviour, who is life, calls Himself not merely bread, but living bread ; so the word of God, by which our life is sustained, is a living Word. The living Word is powerful or energetic (enepges ). It is compared to the seed which possesses vitality and power. It springs up and grows while men are asleep and unconscious of its operation. First comes the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. The word of God is continually active; it grows and energizes in our thoughts and motives, it brings forth fruit in our words and actions, it impels to exertion, it sustains in trial. We can see the power or energy of the Word when it fills those that hear and receive it with strong emotions, filling them with fear and terror, with grief and contrition; we can see its power in the sudden and striking changes it produces, when the thoughtless and worldly, the selfish and depraved, are arrested and quickened by its mighty power. But while the earthquake and the fire declare the approach of the Lord, it is in the still small voice that the Lord at last appears to take up His permanent abode. There are the hidden flowers of humility, of forgiving love, of patience and meekness; there are the unseen and unknown daily conflicts and victories; there is the crucifixion of the old man, and the constant renewal of the resurrection-life; and these are especially the triumphs of the power of the Word. The Word cannot be loving and energetic with. out being also a sword, dividing and separating with piercing and often painful sharpness that, which in our natural state lies together mixed and confused. The Word of God, by which all things were called forth, divided and separated darkness from light, the waters above from the waters below, the dry land from the sea. The Word of God, which came unto the fathers, tried and proved them; it was a heart-searching Word, which called forth conflict, and commanded separation from all ungodliness and all trust in the flesh. The Word of God, incarnate, was declared from His infancy set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. For before life enters into the soul, there is no separation, division, warfare; all things are chaotic, without form and void. The soul, or the lower intellectual and sentient life, is not distinguished from the spirit and the higher God ward and eternal life. We do not discern the inner man delighting in the law of God and the other law striving in our members. We call evil good, and do not know that there is only one good, even God. We savour the things that are of man and not of God ; and while we think ourselves disciples, Jesus calls us Satan. We do not know nature and grace, flesh and Spirit, earth and heaven, self and Christ, Adam and the Lord, the quickening Spirit. We sing, but it is not the melody of the heart; we pray, but it is not in faith ; we read the Scripture, but it is not hearing the voice of God ; we preach, and visit, and work, as we call it, for Christ, and it is not as the servants who do not their own will, seek not their own glory, and rely not on their own strength. We imitate Christ, but not the real Christ, who sought only to please and honour God, who walked in love, who came not to do His own will. Oh, when the whole life of Jesus stands before the eyes of our heart, when we behold ourselves in this mirror, how deeply humbled do we feel! I think of the singleness of His aim, " I came to do not my will, but the will of Him that sent me ;" I think of the uninterrupted calmness and fervour of His faith in God ; I think of His absolute and inexhaustible love, which gave expecting nothing again, which was always ready to forgive and to bless ; I think of Him as walking in love, love surrounding all His footsteps, love (and that in a sinful world which hated Him) the atmosphere in which He breathed, the constant manifestation of His heart, "And when mine eye seeth Him, I abhor myself. (Job 42:5-6.) The word of God comes as a sword, and separates and analyzes; it comes not to flatter and to soothe ; it comes not to encourage us with half-true, half-false encomiums ; it does not call the flesh Spirit, but condemns it as flesh and enmity against God. It leads you into the lower Christian life (John 3:30) ; it discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart, the hidden self-complacency, the hidden ambition and self-will ; it enters into the very joints and marrow, the energies and sentiments, the motives and springs of our actions, the true character of our rejoicing and mourning, our elevations and depressions ; and then you say with the apostle : I have no confidence in the flesh, in my old nature, in me, body, soul, and spirit as I am of Adam. I dare not trust the sweetest frame. I cannot call my “holy things" holy, for they are full of sin. The word of God enters into my inmost soul and heart-life, and as a judge both unveils and condemns ; what hitherto was hidden, is uncovered ; what was disguised, unveiled ; what was falsely called good and spiritual, appears now in the bright light of God’s countenance; the thoughts and intents of the heart are discerned,
Thus am I brought into God’s presence, as when I first was convinced of my sin and my guilt ; but I feel more abased, and with a deeper knowledge and sorrow I exclaim : I am vile, and abhor myself in dust and ashes. Oh, where is Christ? I wish to be found in Him. I wish Him to live in me. What is there in me pleasing to God? Oh that Christ would sing, pray, love, live in me! When the Word thus dwells in us, we give glory to God, and we are spiritually-minded. We live not on mere notions and impressions; we begin to apply our knowledge to our actual state and to our daily walk; we are delivered from hypocrisy, which is since the fall the great disease of mankind, especially those who enjoy the privilege of belonging to the congregation of God. What is hypocrisy but as the word signifies, living in a vain show, the semblance of things? As actors on a stage, who pretend they are kings, and possess power and large armies, who speak and demean themselves with great dignity; so men professing faith and godliness rest satisfied with a form and outline, without substance and fullness? The word of God suffers not such a semblance and shadowy deception. It brings us into the presence of Him who desireth truth in the inward part. The Christian, who is judged, chastened, and corrected, who is wounded and killed by this living and powerful Word, prays : "Search me, and try me, and see if there be any wicked thing in me, and lead me in ..he way everlasting."
Here alone is peace. Without this solemn awe and trembling at the word of God, there is no true rest in Christ. There may be much talk about peace and assurance, expressions which are exuberant, but proceed not out of a full heart, which sound strong and courageous, but are not of the Spirit, in whom alone is might. He who has confidence in the flesh does not rejoice in Christ Jesus. And to have no confidence in the flesh is the result of the pain-inflicting judgment of the Word. When we judge ourselves, we are not judged. When we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sin. When we admit that we have denied Him thrice, we can say: “Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee."*[I] The Word judger, us on earth, and we are humbled; the Lord Jesus represents us in heaven; He intercedes for us, He sympathizes with us. We look from earth and self to the sanctuary above, and find there nothing but love, grace, sympathy, and the fullness of blessings. He is our great High Priest. Israel in the wilderness, though full of sin, was brought nigh to God through the priesthood, and especially through the High Priest. We have the substance, of which tabernacle and priests were types. Christ is our great, eternal and all-sufficient High Priest in heaven. We must lift up our eyes and hearts to heaven in order to find peace and consolation. Jesus the Son of God (Hebrews 1:2), who by His sufferings and death became a merciful and faithful High Priest (Hebrews 2:17), has, according to the will and word of the Father (Hebrews 1:3;Hebrews 1:13); He is called great, for Aaron and Melchisedek are but types, while He is the true and eternal Priest. The throne on which He is seated is the same throne which is called the throne of the majesty. But unto us it is now a throne of grace. The Father, the Lamb, and the Spirit, are One, the God of salvation. We who are justified by the blood of Christ are now in the presence of the Father. All divine attributes and perfections are now full of peace and consolation; we behold the throne of God as a throne of grace. As forgiven, accepted, nay, as the righteousness of God in Christ, we are before God. Beholding Jesus as our great High Priest, we shall have strength to hold fast our profL notwithstanding all our difficulties and sins, and we shall have boldness to go to the throne of grace, to obtain mercy and help in the time of need.
Judged and humbled by the word on earth, we are strengthened and comforted by the great High Priest in heaven. Through suffering and temptation, through infirmity and conflict, the Son of man ascended high above all principalities and powers, thrones and dominions; high above all heavens, into the very presence and glory of God. He has entered into the holy of holies; He possesses now, as the Son of man, the glory which He had with the Father from all eternity. Far above all created heavens, far above all created angels, we behold now Him who first descended into the lower parts of the earth. Our Lord Jesus, who hungered and thirsted, who lived in the weakness and infirmity of the flesh, who sighed and wept, who prayed and agonized, who was tempted of the devil, who died on the cross, who was buried and descended into Hades, He is now in the most excellent glory, and He is there as our High Priest, Representative, and Head. " Glory to God in the highest," sang the angels; and in that highest region-if we may so call that which is above space as eternity is above time-lives now our Lord, with whom wq are one.
Think not of the quiet resting-place of the saints who, free from sin and toil, are asleep in Jesus-think not of the heavens of angels, who in strength and love execute God’s commandment -but high above them, in the sanctuary, in the palace, in the very throne of the glorious and ever-blessed Godhead, is the Man Christ Jesus. And we who were co-crucified with Him are there in Him. The Father beholds us in Christ; we are whiter than snow, and the beauty of the Lord shines on us. In that sanctuary of blessedness and glory Jesus, who was tempted in all things as we are, apart from sin, is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He remembers His earthly experience. He knows our frailty, the painfulness of the conflict, the weakness of the flesh.
"Where high the heavenly temple stands, The house of God not made with hands, A great High Priest our nature wears, The Guardian of mankind appears.
"He who for men their surety stood, And poured on earth His precious blood, Pursues in heaven His mighty plan, The Saviour and the Friend of man.
“Though now ascended up on high, He bends on earth a brother’s eye;
Partaker of the human name, He knows the frailty of our frame.
“Our fellow-sufferer yet retains A fellow-feeling of our pains ; And still remembers in the skies, His tears, His agonies, and cries.”
He knows our danger, and that Satan hath desired to have us, that he may sift us as wheat. While the Saviour thus regards us with compassion and with sympathy, He has no lower standard for us, no lower aim, than He had for Himself. We are to be in the world as He was, to overcome as He overcame, and to end even where the Lord is; it is Christ’s will, that where He is we who believe in Him should be likewise. As He was in heaven, even while He lived on earth, so He desires that, even while in the wilderness, we should have our citizenship in heaven. And as He overcame, and is set down on His Father’s throne, so He desires that we should overcome and share His throne and dominion.
Remember both the tenderness of the High Priest’s heart, and the comprehensive scope of His intercession. This indeed is true sympathy, not with the sin, but with the sinner. The perfectly holy and victorious One alone can give true sympathy, seeking our real, our highest good. Sympathy comes to us from the "very highest" heaven. His intercession is perpetual, unceasing; it is sovereign, and part of the divine covenant-gifts. Even as He died for us, and rose again, and ascended into heaven for our salvation, so He ever liveth to intercede. It is not in answer to our prayer, it is not according to our works and merits, that He died for us. Even so is His intercession His own divine, gracious, sovereign gift. As His infinite and inexhaustible love brought Him from the throne of His glory to live and die upon earth, so the same love is now the source of His constant care and faithfulness, and of His never-ceasing intercession. We are upheld according to His loving-kindness, according to the multitude of His tender mercies. Justified by His blood, we are now much more abundantly saved by His life. And having such a High Priest in heaven, can we lose courage? can we draw back in cowardice, impatience, and faint-heartedness ? Can we give up our profession, our allegiance, our obedience to Christ? Or shall we not be like Joshua and Caleb, who followed the Lord fully? Let us hold fast our profession; let us persevere and fight the good fight on earth. Our great High Priest in the highest glory is our righteousness and strength; He loves, He watches, He prays, He holds us fast, and we shall never perish. Jesus is our Moses, who in the height above prays for us Jesus our true Joshua, who gains the victory over our enemies. Only be strong, and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed. In that mirror of the Word in which we behold our sin and weakness we behold also the image of that perfect One who has passed through the conflict and temptation, who as the High Priest bears us on His loving heart, and as the Shepherd of the flock holds us in safety for evermore. Boldly we come to the throne of grace. In Jesus we draw near to the Father. The throne of majesty and righteousness is unto us a throne of grace. The Lord is our God. In one aspect Christ tells us that He does not pray to the Father for us, because the Father Himself loveth us. We behold in Christ’s intercession the Father’s love, even as in the death of Christ we recognize the love of God. Our God then is enthroned in grace. There is not merely grace on the throne, but the throne is altogether the throne of grace. It is grace which disciplines us by the sharp and piercing Word; it is grace which looks on us when we have denied Him, and makes us weep bitterly. Jesus always intercedes; the throne is always a throne of grace. The Lamb is in the midst of the throne. Hence we come boldly.
Boldly is not contrasted with reverently and tremblingly; boldness is not contrasted with awe and godly fear. It means literally "saying all," with that confidence which begets thorough honesty, frankness, full and open speech. “Pour out your heart before Him." Come as you are, say what you feel, ask what you need. Confess your sins, your fears, your wandering thoughts and affections.
Jesus the Lord went through all sorrows and trials the heart of man can go through, and as He felt all affliction and temptation most keenly, so in all these difficulties and trials He had communion with the Father. He knows, therefore, how to succour them that are tempted. How fully and unreservedly may we speak to God in the presence and by the mediation of the man Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus is filled with tender compassion, and the most profound, lively, and comprehensive sympathy. This belongs to the perfection of His high-priesthood. For this very purpose He was tempted, He suffered.-Our infirmities, it is true, are intimately connected with our sinfulness; the weakness of our flesh is never free from a sinful concurrence of the will; and the Saviour knows from His experience on earth how ignorant, poor, weak, sinful, and corrupt His disciples are. He loved them, watched over them with unwearied patience; prayed for them that their faith fail not; and reminded them the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. He remembers also His own sinless weakness; He knows what constant thought, meditation, and prayer are needed to over-come Satan, and to be faithful to God. He knows what it is for the soul to be sorrowful and overwhelmed, and what it is to be refreshed by the sunshine of divine favor, and to rejoice in the Spirit. We may come to Him expecting full, tender, deep sympathy, and compassion. He is ever ready to strengthen and comfort, to heal and to restore. He is prepared to receive the poor, wounded, sin-stained believer ; to dry the tears of Peter weeping bitterly; to say to Paul, oppressed with the thorn in the flesh, " My grace is sufficient for thee."
We need only understand that we are sinners and that He is High Priest. The law was given that every mouth may be shut, for we are guilty. The High Priest is given that every mouth may be open, for Jesus receives sinners. He saves and upholds all who put their trust in Him. It is by reason of that secret pride and self-righteousness, which Satan as a subtle poison infuses into the human heart, that when we feel our sinfulness and transgression we do not go boldly to the loving and compassionate High Priest, to the throne of grace. And this latent self-righteousness often expresses itself in such regretful phrases as, Well, I must just depend on the mercy of God ; as if the mercy of our God and Saviour was a last resource when other and better things have failed, as if it was not our only peace, joy, and glory, as if it was not the best robe and the unspeakable gift, as if Jesus was not all in all, as if our song in time and eternity were not-" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. He loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood."
We come in faith as sinners. Then shall we obtain mercy ; and we always need mercy. As pilgrims on earth we always need mercy, to wash our feet, to restore to us the joy of salvation, to heal our backslidings, and bind up our wounds. We shall obtain help in every time of need. For God may suffer Satan and the world, want and suffering, to go against us; but He always causes all things to work together for our good. He permits the time of need, that we may call upon Him, and, being delivered by Him, may glorify His name. He will send timely (eukaipon BoeQeian) help before we succumb to the infirmities and temptations which beset us. For He, who will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, will send deliverance at the right moment, when all the purposes of grace and chastening discipline have been secured. All the help we need-wisdom, patience, strength, daily bread, all is treasured up for us in the heavenly places ; the sanctuary is also the treasury; the High Priest is also King. From the throne of grace God will send it. Come boldly.
Jesus belongs to the sinner. From His infancy in Bethlehem’s manger to the garden of Gethsemane, and from His agony on the cross to His ascension high above all heavens, He belongs to us, poor, guilty and helpless sinners, who trust in Him. He is altogether ours. He came to seek and to save us who were lost. His obedience, His life of sorrow and love, His prayers and tears, His sacrifice on the cross, His resurrection, all is ours, because we are the wayward and help-less sheep who went astray, and whom He found. And in the heavenly glory He is ours, and His love, sympathy, faithfulness and power, give unto us in our need and misery, all things which pertain unto life and godliness. It is with us sinners that the glorified Saviour is now constantly occupied. We are His thought, His care, His work, and-oh that it were so more abundantly I-His joy, His garden, His reward. In Jesus God is ours. In the ocean of His love, in the fullness of infinite covenant-grace, we can rejoice. The God with whom we have to do seeth and knoweth all things ; He is a consuming fire-and yet is He our God, Father, Saviour, indwelling Spirit; His throne is the throne of grace; nay, our very life is hid with Christ in God ; we are in the bosom of Jesus, who is in the bosom of the Father. Hold fast, brother, and come boldly Amen.
[I] (1)* The expression, "two-edged sword," is usedProverbs 5:4;Psalms 149:6; and Revelation 1:16;Revelation 2:12. In the prophet Isaiah the Messiah saith : "He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword " (Isaiah 49:2) ; and in the days of His flesh He declared, "The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. (John 12:48.) They who are pierced by the word, and wounded in their inmost heart, are also healed and comforted, and shall not enter into the judgment of condemnation. The sword is bitter, but the land that wields it is sweet and loving. The dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and mar-row: mueloi, organs of thought and sensation; apmoi, those of motion and activity; yuce and pneuma, according to the Scripture, refer to the lower and higher spiritual life of man. This thought is more clearly expressed: xpruc6r; that is, discerner and judge of the desires (soul) and thoughts (spirit) of the Use, in which both soul and spirit centre. Thus the heart by tilt word is brought into the presence of God, with whom we have to do, and before whom all things are open (tpacelicein, expose to view). The intimate relation between the personal word of God and the written word is evident. Now what is said of the latter always points to its source and fountain, the Lord Himself. The following remarks of Otinger are practical: "The word of God in the Spirit separates soul and spirit out of a state of confusion; as often as I conquer myself by recollection of Scripture passages, by spiritual thoughts, which lie already prepared in my mind, this separation takes place; the affections, prejudices, and complicated departures from the truth, which arise from below, are corrected and judged by the spirit above. Our lower mind has many preconceived ideas, which are full of distrust, doubt, and hypocrisy, as regards the gospel. To distinguish these from the enlightened thoughts of the heart is the redemption through faith. Spiritual we call the mind, which is planted in us through the heavenly doctrine of the gospel; when this mind is established in us and confirmed, the apostle Peter calls it the incorruptible essence of a meek and quiet spirit. It expresses itself in thoughts which are true, and which continue solid and steadfast, and in a wisdom which pervades all our actions, not in optical, unsubstantial thoughts (that is, mere theoretical, shadowy notions and images). As soon as by grace this mind is planted in us, the separation spoken of inHebrews 4:1-16Commences. To know this is a matter of experience. If we find that we ourselves experience the effects of the word which we expect it to exercise on others; if I know from Rom. vii. that there are two wills in me, the one out of the truth, the other out of the imagination (God-estranged), the one of God, the other of self, the Holy Ghost assists me in an indescribable manner to discern what is in me, to distinguish between the spiritual inner man and the lower carnal. Thus the Spirit leads me into truth. To be spiritually-minded is life eternal and liberty. If I allow the word of God to exercise its separating power (according to the true method of the Scripture and the sacraments), I am brought into the true spiritual condition and understanding ; the more faithful and patient I am in my reception of the most delicate words and operations of the Spirit, of all the sayings and commands of Jesus, the clearer and freer becomes my mind, and flesh and spirit are separated, so that I am no longer in the flesh (Rom. vii.), but in the Spirit (Romans 8:1-39.;Galatians 2:1-21), although I still live in the flesh. (2 Corinthians 10:1-18.)"