2:12
May 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
of the human and earthly. It is true that we stand in grace and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Nevertheless, there is responsibility as to our walk. The New Testa ment both recognizes and emphasizes this. An outstand ing example of this fact is found in Ephesians 5 :22 to 6:9. After revealing the blessed and holy relationships between God and the Christian believer, culminating in the duty and privilege of the Spirit-filled life, the apostle proceeds to deal with the responsibilities of the Christian profession. He addresses husbands and wives, parents and children, employers and employed concerning this matter. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the responsibilities of the Christian walk appear in the close of the doctrinal discussion; that is, from chapter 10, verse 26, to the end of the epistle. Some writers divide this epistle into the two parts, doctrine and duty. Chapters 1:1 to 10:25 comprise the doctrine, and all that follows deals with various duties. We need not shrink from the word “duty” or from the word “responsibility,” if we remember what is said in 2 Corinthians 12:9:, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” The duties enumerated in our epistle may be summed up briefly as follows: In chapter 10, the matter of joyful confidence and patient endurance is presented. In chapter 11, the maintenance of faith is emphasized both by precept and example. In chapter 12, the responsibility is to in terpret the events and circumstances of life in the light of God’s providence and purpose. Suffering is used for chastening by Him who is the Father of our spirits, and it yields “the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Brotherly love, hospitali ty, and compassion are urged in chapter 13 as duties and responsibilities incumbent upon the Christian believer. The sacrifice of praise mentioned in 13:13 brings to a fit ting climax this whole matter of relationship and re sponsibility. To praise God for a seeming calamity turns it into a blessing. “By him therefore let us offer the sac rifice of praise to God continually.” VII. R eturn “Until he come whose right it is” to reign, the renew ing of the Spirit will be necessary, and in the power of that renewing, responsibilities can be met. In chapter 9, verses 27 and 28, we learn that His return is as certain as death and judgment. It is as certain as the fact that He was once offered to bear the sins of- many. The Hebrew Christians to whom the epistle was addressed needed that certainty and assurance. The coming of the Messiah had always been associated in their minds with the expectation of a great deliverance. He had come and had given Him- splf as the Lamb of God to deliver them from their sins, but things continued as they were from the creation, and many were saying: “Where is the promise of his com ing?” This produced an atmosphere in which doubt and depression might easily grow. 'The Lord is ever mind ful of His own; and in such an hour of need, this epistle of exhortation, instruction, and admonition was sent. It spoke to them, as it speaks to us, of the revelation from God, of divine redemption, of personal regeneration, of perfect rest, of the need of renewing, of the new relation ship and responsibilities, and of the return of our Lord. “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (10:37). We need these words, even as the people to whom they were first written. Nineteen centuries have passed since He ascended, since the two heavenly witnesses uttered the words recorded in Acts (Continued on page 215)
nounced it very good. This is not the rest necessitated by weariness, but the rest of complacency and delight in the perfection of His creative work. Then we have the rest of conscience which comes to those who cease from their own works and rely upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is explained in chapter 9, verse 14—-another great verse for memorizing and for medita tion. The rest of Canaan is also mentioned-—that rest into which Israel did not enter because of unbelief. The rest of contentment for the obedient is also seen here, typi fied by Caleb and Joshua who entered into the rest of the Canaan life through the obedience which springs from faith. All that is said in this section concerning the mat ter of rest may be summed up in the words of another writer: “There is a rest prepared of God—‘My rest!’— which He would share with His people of all generations and dispensations.” With this truth in mind, meditate a bit on the opening words of chapter 4: “Let us fear there for, lest haply, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it.” V. R enew ing Salvation involves an act and a process, both of which are mentioned in Titus 3 :5: “Not by works of righteous ness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” All that a pilgrim needs during his entire pilgrimage is involved in the word “renewing.” It affects our life, peace, hope, joy, and strength. Apart from this renewing, we faint and fail. Hence the force of the words in chapter 4, verses 14 to 16. Do not fail to read and study these verses. The priesthood of Christ, which is fully developed in chapters 5 to 10, has in mind this matter of our spiritual renewing. We have a perfect Priest who offered a perfect sacrifice, and who entered a perfect sanctuary to perform for us a perfect service. His sacrifice was not only a propitiatory offering for our transgressions, but it also “made purification for sins.” In other words, it removes all obstacles in our approach to God and avails for our constant cleansing. Our access to God is made perfect, and the One who represents us in heaven is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. We are constantly invited and urged to come. The veil was rent from the top to the bottom when Christ died, and now it is written: “Having . . . boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus . . . and hav ing an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (10:19-22). To do this is to be renewed in the spirit and to be in creasingly conformed to the image of His Son. VI. R esponsibility Our relationship to God, as redeemed and regenerated men and women, carries with it certain responsibilities. Every relationship incurs responsibility. This applies in matters spiritual and heavenly, as it does in the sphere
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