September 1931
410
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
STUDIES IN THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
How Faith Will Grow Use the faith God has already given you. You have faith, or you could not be a Christian. Use your little faith and it will increase by use. Plant a few grains of it, and you will find it will grow and multiply. George Muller said that when he began his ministry, it was as hard to believe for a pound as it was forty years later to believe for one thousand pounds. He was like the Thessalonians, to whom Paul wrote, “Your faith groweth exceedingly.” —T h e D aw n . THE PANORAMA OF PRIVILEGE [Continued from page 396] ment of limitation, an element of certainty, and a condi tional element as to time. “It doth not yet appear”—it is the element of limitation. Very true it is that there is as yet no full vision of the glory that awaits the child of God. “Now we see through a glass, darkly.” We look upon the babe in his crib and consider his beautiful inno- cency the most charming thing in the world, but “it doth not yet appear” what he shall be. A few years pass, and there is the charm and strength of youth. His body is rounding into the fullness of manhood, keenness of intel lect is reflected from his countenance, and his spirit is quickened to the things of God and eternity, but “it doth not yet appear” what he shall be. After a while, his life is at its full tide. In the strength of mature manhood, the heat and burden of the day is being courageously borne. His life is being lived for God, and service is being rendered for eternity, but “it doth not yet appear” what he shall be. Later still comes the crown of old age. The work of life seems complete, the fruitage has been borne, the fullness of the individual career seems realized. But no, for “it doth not yet appear” what he shall be. So there is always incompleteness in the limitations of the flesh. The perfection of any life is never seen here. “It doth not yet appear.” “But we know.” Here is an element of certainty. This epistle is a writing which is gloriously marked by certainty—by positivism. Thirty-four times in its brief compass, we have reference to things that we “know.” It is confessedly written “that we may know.” The one great thing we know is that “we shall be like him.” The pur pose in creation was “man in our image, after our like ness.” That purpose has never been thwarted or forsaken, for, after the ravages of sin, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” The interpretation of Christianity in daily life is to be found, not in imitation of the example of the incarnate Christ, but in transformation into the likeness of the glorified Christ. Ultimately this will be complete, and “we shall be like him.” We find also a conditional element as to time. When shall this glorious consummation, so certified to us, come to realization? “When he shall appear.” Then “we shall see him as he is,” and the vision will be accompanied by personal transformation. Then He “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself.” Then the very God of peace will sanctify us wholly; and our whole spirit and soul and body will be preserved blameless (1 Thess. 5 :23). Certainly nothing less than this is the heritage of the believer. We have merely received a glimpse of the vistas that enter into our panorama of privilege: now—“sons of God,” a blessed family fellowship; then—“we shall be like him,” a certain glorifying of this family fellowship. v c f e s S v f V j ^ n o n v a l u e d ;
A,.
[Continued from page 406] to deliver from this bondage and to break the power of him who held sway over the realm of death. B ring ing S ons unto G lory It was not incumbent upon God to deliver us from sin and Satan, but having purposed to do.so, it became Him to do it in a way entirely consistent with His holy nature and His righteous law. This is the meaning of Hebrews 2:10: “It became him, . . . in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” Those who are delivered are destined unto glory. All charges against them must be met, and all grounds of condemnation must be removed. How shall this be done? The answer is found in verses 10 to 13. First, God provides a captain, or leader, of our salvation. Always perfect in His person, He must yet be made perfect as a Saviour. His life was untainted by sin, and therefore was not subject to death unless He should lay down His life voluntarily. This He did as a sacrifice and a substitute. As our text says, by the grace of God, He tasted death for every man. Grace brought Him to the place where sin brings us, namely, the place of death. And it is at this place, “the place called Calvary,” that we meet Him in a union vital and unbreakable. When He died, it might have seemed to many that all possible relationship between Himself and His people was forever severed. But it was at that very instant that the basis for a spiritual union was created. Vital and vitalizing rela tionship with Christ begins in union with Him in death, and it continues in the power of His resurrection life. Being made perfect in this way, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him. The obed ience that springs from faith is the proof of His accepted leadership. The word “salvation,” in verse 10, and the word “sanctification,” in verse 11, are united as cause and effect. The Saviour must be, and. is, the Sanctifier. Those for whom He tasted death are, through faith, made partakers of His resurrection life. In the words of verse 11, “both he that sanctifieth [Christ] and they who are sanctified [Christian believers] are all of one.” Read this over many times. Believe it, and thank God that it is so, even though it be “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” This matter df identity with “the cap tain of our salvation” is part of the divine process in bringing many sons unto glory. The next step in the process is the confession of this relationship. By the use of three quotations, the apostle emphasizes the conception of partnership between the Son of God and the sons who are being brought unto glory. In verses 11 to 14, the word “brethren” occurs twice, and the word “children” twice. Marvelous is the statement that “he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” This is grace indeed. So, then, we have a perfect Saviour, who unites to Himself all who come to Him, sanctifying them by shar ing His life with them and by representing them in His infinite perfections. Thus we stand before God. The Sav iour provided for us is first the perfect expression of God to man, and then He is the perfect representation of man to God. S aviour and S anctifier
P
y
^
yo
*
^
fr*
1
p
"I
y*
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker