APOSTLESHIP AND PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST
APOSTLESHIP AND PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST
The admonition at the beginning of the chapter must have been remarkable in the ears of the Jew. He was not accustomed to connect the idea of the apostle and high priest in one person. In the Jewish system these were distinguished; now they are one, the apostle is as good as the priest. Moses was faithful in God’s house, but Aaron was not. Moses represented law, and Aaron infirmity; now we turn from that to grace and ability of which Christ is the expression. There is grace in Christ, and ability. He is able to save to the uttermost. Christ as the living bread came down from heaven. He is the embodiment of grace. Aaron could not help the people spiritually. He was himself encompassed with infirmity. Now in Christ we get ability. The apostle is connected with grace; we are not under law but under grace; the new system was established in grace. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Ques Is not Hebrews 4 grace coming in, in connection with the priest?
FER Yes, but that is detail. I was speaking of what characterises the system, which is inaugurated by the apostle. Christ is the Mediator of the new covenant, and what characterises the new covenant is grace.
Ques What is the difference between apostle and mediator?
FER They are near akin; the mediator comes into establish. The great point is to see the application of these things to us, not merely to Israel. We get the value of it when we turn away from systematic christianity and turn to a Person; then we find liberty. There is in systematic religion what people like, but you never get into liberty, save in the consideration of a person. The [p. 44] point in the apostle is to maintain the calling at its height; the function of the priest is to maintain us at the height of the calling. The calling is that we are to be conformed to Christ. God is “bringing many sons unto glory” (Hebrews 2: 10). Sonship is conformity to Christ where Christ is. It is a great point to see the application of these things to us. The direct application of the chapter was to the Hebrews at that day. When we came out of the entanglements of christianity, from the state church, and dissenting places, we were not delivered from those things to come into another system. We are brought out to a Person, and then there is liberty. Peter left the boat to go to Christ. The great thing is to get to Christ, and to come under His influence. We are delivered from the law, not to be married to another law, but to Him who has been raised from the dead. All systematic religion is legal because it is made up of routine. Grace has taken the course with us of bringing us under the influence of a Person. “By me if any man enter in” (John 10: 9); it is by a Person we enter in. So it is now, “one flock, one shepherd”, no longer a fold. The great danger with us is to set up a fold, and get a lot of sheep into it; that is to falsify christianity. We may be in a way establishing a system even in right things — we can have a breaking of bread on Sunday and a prayer meeting on Monday, reading on Wednesday without being under the influence of the Person, and if so it is all systematic. The great point is to come under the influence of a Person; then we get sunshine and rain, and that delivers from system. We want to “consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus”; that should be a habit with us, and the effect of it would be to bring us under His influence. Many go on in a routine. When once we see that christianity is connected with a living Person, routine becomes irksome. The only remedy for it is for each one to see that he comes under the influence of Christ, and if under His influence we come under His affection. The husband is bidden to love the wife; when we understand that we are married to Christ we come [p. 45] under the influence of His love. There is no hope of escaping routine, save as we are exercised individually.
Ques Is “consider him” beholding the glory of the Lord?
FER Well, that is the Apostle. He comes out in that chapter in that way. It is to cultivate intimate relations with Christ. We must begin by knowing Christ as Apostle; we have no authority for the profession until we know the Apostle. Authority is not connected with Aaron. Moses carried authority; the thing must be divinely authorised. The Apostle maintains the calling at its height. He is that now; He is the perfect expression of the mind of God in regard to us; all is expressed in Him.
Ques. “Great salvation”?
FER That was the Apostle. It “began to be spoken by the Lord”, that is the Apostle. When we look at Christ we learn what the calling is. We may talk of sonship, but how can we get any idea of it, except in Christ Himself? So, too, eternal life: it is set forth in Him. All that is in the mind of God for us is set forth in our Apostle. He is Himself the perfect exponent of all that is in the mind of God for us. This could not be said of Moses; he was faithful in all God’s house, but he was only a type of what was to come. In our Apostle all God’s thought for us is perfectly and divinely expressed. In the very nature of things there can be no diminution of the calling. All is maintained in Christ.
Hebrews is not an appeal to Hebrews like James, but it was addressed to them as having fled for refuge to the hope set before them.
Ques Is apostleship and headship the same?
FER Well, they are akin, but different ideas. The apostle inaugurates a profession, and that we are called to hold fast. It is a great principle that the apostle and high priest are identical. The weakness of the Jewish system was that Aaron was not up to Moses. Moses as a rule was faithful. Aaron helped the people to make the golden calf. Now the high priest is commensurate with [p. 46] the apostle; there can be no breach in the system. The legal system depended as much on the priest as on the apostle, and in effect it all broke down through the failure of the priest, as we see in the time of Eli. It was like priest, like people. The two being now commensurate, Christ maintains the saints at the height of the calling. If we are placed in emergency there is intercession for us, so that we may not break down. But then He also ministers to us, so that there may be no distance between us and Himself. The Lord prayed for Peter that his faith might not fail. That is intercession, but then in John 21 you get the Lord removing the moral distance which had come in between Himself and Peter. The Lord was working in that way to maintain Peter at the height of the calling, and He does that for us now. He may find an accumulation of things come upon us, but Christ intercedes for us so that we may not be overwhelmed, but hold fast, and not give up. But then Christ goes a point further; He ministers in order to remove any moral distance between us and Himself. Peter failed, but his faith did not fail. Then in John 21 the Lord works to remove distance between Himself and Peter; that is His work as Priest. There are the two functions of the priest — intercession (that is chapter 7) and ministry (chapter 8). He is the minister of the holy places, which is another function of the priest. Ministry is man-ward.
Ques What are the holy places?
FER The saints.
Ques Is there no ministry towards God?
FER Yes. We have it in Christ appearing before the face of God; He is representative; He represents us. Ministry is in view of presentation. Christ’s ministry is in view of offering up. Christ will present the church to Himself without spot, holy and without blemish, and His ministry is to that end. It removes all distance between Christ and me. Christ will present the church to Himself; that is what He will offer as Priest. Intercession goes on, on the part of Christ, probably without our knowing it. It is most wonderful that when a saint [p. 47] fails here Christ intercedes, and the result is that the saint judges himself. Christ intercedes because He is High Priest. No one can say that we shall hold fast our profession. The devil might bring about a heap of circumstances to bear on me so that I might give up my profession; but Christ intercedes that I may not give up.
If we have not accepted Him as the Apostle we could not be said to be in christianity. The more we consider the Apostle, the greater sense we have of the calling.
Ques Why had we the fuss about eternal life ten years ago?
FER Because people thought it was in themselves and not in Christ. There is no fear of the fidelity of Christ, but there is fear of my fidelity breaking down. The more we enter into the thought of God in regard of us, the more we feel — how ever am I to keep in that? Then we find that the service of the Priest, is that we may be maintained at the height of it. Christ may intercede, and you may not know of it, but you will be conscious of His priestly ministry. The minister of the new covenant must be in the mind of the covenant.
Aaron had the charge of the vessels of the sanctuary. Christ has the charge of all the holy vessels; the holy vessels are the saints. The true tabernacle is what is pitched here, in the power of the Holy Spirit. The minister of the sanctuary has charge of the vessels, and He ministers to keep us in sunshine, that we may be maintained in intimacy, and that we may be in communion with Himself. A fog may come in, and the Lord ministers to remove all clouds. The test of people in the present day is what they are in the assembly.
Ques How does Christ lead the praises?
FER Well, it does not say that He leads. It says there is a place where Christ sings; ‘He leads’ is what we have said, but we do not get that in the passage.
Ques “In the midst” — where is that?
FER It is Christ in the saints, and that gives character to all our praises. I wish we had more ability to “consider the Apostle and High Priest”. We have not to [p. 48] look at two, but One. That Person can express all that is on the part of God towards us, and at the same time, He can, on our side, take up all in regard to us God-ward. The great danger has been to establish a system. The church is not a system, never was, and there was nothing systematic established; all was set up in the power of the Holy Spirit.
If a man was to be an elder, he must be full of the Holy Spirit; so also a deacon, he must be full of the Holy Spirit. The ‘vast universe of bliss’ may be called a system, but I do not think that you could call the church a system.