THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRISTIANITY
[p. 11] THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRISTIANITY
Hebrews 8: 6 - 13; Hebrews 7: 26; Hebrews 3: 3 - 6
I have before me to speak about christianity in its initial features, and if the Lord help, as I hope He will, to show its superiority as compared with human religions — indeed with all that is merely human. I have in view to help the young, for as young we are prone to be discouraged by the outward smallness of what we are identified with, allowing our natural sensibilities to control us, and thus disqualifying us from viewing things morally, from the judging of values, and disqualifying us for the appraisement of heavenly things. The Lord introduced the idea of values in His parables, speaking of the treasure that the man found as if he were not looking for it, and then of something that one was seeking as a merchant-man ready to pay for what he sought, his taste being of the highest order. He found one pearl of great price and sold all to obtain it. He thus stresses the idea of value and the ability to esteem it proportionately. One observes and knows, from one’s own experience, that what marks the young, and perhaps all, is the constant tendency to gravitate to a lower level; and the lower we get, the larger things become on that level. So we become discontented with what is of real and abiding value, and hence turn back to what is visible and to what is appraised among men as of value, and yet is of no real value.
Now these were the circumstances which drew forth this remarkable epistle — the epistle to the Hebrews. It was undoubtedly written by one who had great appreciation of the heavenly. It has been styled, and rightly so, the book of the opened heavens. Stephen was the first to look into heaven, as far as we can see, after Christ was received up. Those who saw the Lord go up are addressed by two men in white who say, “Men of Galilee, why do ye stand looking into heaven? This [p. 12] Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall thus come in the manner in which ye have beheld him going into heaven” (Acts 1: 11); and they returned to Jerusalem from mount Olivet and entered into the upper room. It was from Olivet, but before they left Olivet the cloud had received Jesus out of their sight. It was not that they were not to see Him in another sense, but the era of sight had ceased — they were now to walk by faith and not by sight. It is a question of faith in this epistle, so it says “we see Jesus” — He is still to be seen, not on the principle of natural visibility, but on the principle of faith. “We see Jesus, who was made some little inferior to angels on account of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; so that by the grace of God he should taste death for every thing”. So we see Him crowned with glory and honour, and Stephen could say, “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God”. He saw the glory. It was no longer in Jerusalem, no longer on Olivet, no longer hovering over the threshold of the house, but in heaven, and seen there on the principle of faith. All true values are in heaven. The manifest intent is to draw us away from earth and the most accredited things on earth, to what is in heaven. If these things are represented here they have not lost their value, and I want to show that they are represented here, and I would enlist the interest of every young person as to them. Christianity is a heavenly thing on earth, but by this it has not lost its heavenly quality. Gold is gold wherever it is, whatever the circumstances; so true christianity is heavenly, whatever the surroundings, and has the ability to keep itself. The power to keep itself is inherent through the divine provisions, which I hope to speak of. I wish to enlist the interest of the young, especially that they may see how this works out that there is inherent power in it to keep itself in this world.
The first thing is the covenant. There are many golden threads running through the epistle, all on [p. 13] parallel lines, but the words I wish you to dwell upon are “better” and “new”. In the passage read we have both. Some years ago there was a calling together of a so-called parliament of religions, in which all were compared. But christianity in the true sense is incomparable. For christians to accept such a proposal was an absolute surrendering of the whole position. There is no comparison with christianity at all, it is unique. The word “new” signifies that the covenant is entirely different — new in that sense. There has been and is nothing like it. It stands by itself, and we want to see that we have part in it. It is “better” too. This word involves comparison, but it is with what God had ordained, and which does not exist now. Christianity supersedes it. Jewish christians were going back to what had grown old. That is what is in view in this epistle. They should have been teachers. How quickly the early brethren declined! — for this epistle was written a comparatively short time after Pentecost; but we are reminded in it of the readiness in ourselves to decline. Hence the need for care in discerning and judging the elements of decline. These tendencies will show up in our reverting to something old and rebuilding the things we have destroyed. We revert not merely to what we have left, but to what God has left. We are then on the down line, whereas God is always on the up line.
The twelve apostles continued on the old level in grace according to the Lord’s leading in Luke 24; they were in the temple daily, in order that the elect Israel might be saved, and a testimony rendered to everyone in Israel. But the upper room was in view. There is no steeple, no choir, no organ, nothing to appeal to the flesh where christians meet, and the flesh does not like that. We are told they went to the upper room, so it is a question of valuing what is in that upper room. Analyse the persons who were abiding in that upper room and see whether, by careful spiritual weighing, you can find anything to compare with them. You cannot; it is the [p. 14] most excellent material there is. The apostles are there, they are continuing in prayer, and we have their names given — each name signifying what is most excellent. There were certain women there; the mother of Jesus was there and His brethren. Christianity is there concretely, the excellency of the workmanship of Christ is set out in the persons staying in that upper room. Let the youngest here sit down when they have opportunity, and carefully consider those persons. Do you prefer other society? Could you find any woman in all the world like Mary the mother of Jesus? Or a man like Peter, or James, or John, or Bartholomew, or Matthew? The whole list is given and they have no equals. They have all gone, but their testimony remains, and the Spirit that actuated them when He came from heaven remains. All is substantially here, all is carried down to us. Think of who is here! The Comforter is here, the Paraclete. He is here not only to help those who minister, but to look after, to superintend, the divine interests. He is the great custodian of the things of God from Pentecost until now: sensitive and tender as the dove, still patiently waiting on the people of God; but also in the character of fire, for He will not tolerate the flesh. Whatever religious titles people may have, He will make no compromise with any; unless Christ is honoured, He will retire, for He can be grieved and quenched. He has a footing somewhere and He maintains the principles of christianity, and He maintains values. In these last days He has come in wonderfully to emphasise the heavenly side of things with Christ as our Head in heaven.
Let us think of that magnificent truth — we have a Man in heaven who is our Head, who knows us well; and we have the Comforter, the Paraclete, a correlative Person down here who takes care of the affairs of the assembly day and night; and now in the last days there is such a mighty impulse of the Spirit that Christ is brought in as Head of the assembly, His body; and moreover, that assembly is God’s temple, the house of [p. 15] God. So we have christianity. I use that word as being, for what is before us, as comprehensive a word as I know. Think of having part in christianity! It ought to appeal to us and cause joy unspeakable and full of glory in our hearts, stimulating them. Think of it! — that we are “holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling” — that applies to every true christian.
So in the new covenant; God has entered into covenant with His people. He says in effect, I love you, and I want you never to be distant from Me. I want you to be a people near to Me. I brought you to Myself at infinite cost, and I want you to be nearer to Me, and nearer to Me in perfect restfulness. So I enter into covenant with you, and the terms are calculated to make you perfectly at home with Me, to cast out every bit of fear from your hearts. The Spirit of God goes on to say “he is mediator of a better covenant” (verse 6), and in verse 8 refers to the “new covenant”. God found fault with the old one. He said virtually, It is not good enough, it did not effect what it was intended to effect. That is what the great religious bodies, from Rome to the weakest church, Anglican, Wesleyan, or any others have gone back to — to this principle, the principle of demand; whereas God says it has not served its purpose. God finds fault with it. He says it is proved valueless and has grown old; it is aged and vanishing. It has been revived and is the principle, in one way or another, of every accredited religion in christendom, every one of them. I do not say this in order to attack those bodies, but to help the saints here so that we might not drift back into these things, for they have long since vanished from the eye of faith. Faith has taken on God’s way — the effective one, the new one, the one that abides — God’s covenant. You say, I would like to understand it. It appears every time we break bread. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples — referring to the cup — “Drink ye all of it”, and “they all drank out of it”. Then He says, That is the new covenant. It begins here in Hebrews 8 and ends in [p. 16] chapter 10. I would urge every young person here to read these chapters and see whether they fit into them, into the warmth and liberating power of the covenant; whether they are at home in the assembly, in the conscious worship of God. If so, you will say, Nothing can allure me from this, I have turned my face to God who is presented to me, there is the outshining of love in the face of Jesus.
The glory of God is in the face of Jesus, the outshining of God’s love in the face of Jesus, and it has been shed abroad in our hearts. The Spirit of God goes on to point out that it is not now a question of demand — not that the christian does not have to be responsible — but you are set down in the presence of God without any sense of demand being made upon you. So God says, I will teach you Myself, no man shall say, “Know the Lord”, He will see to it that everyone will know the Lord. The epistle to the Hebrews is an epistle to christians to save them from going back into religions of this world; they are to stay in a realm of love where God provides everything. So the writer goes on to say in the succeeding verses, “Because this is the covenant that I will covenant to the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: Giving my laws into their mind, I will write them also upon their hearts; and I will be to them for God, and they shall be to me for people. And they shall not teach each his fellow-citizen, and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord; because all shall know me in themselves, from the little one among them unto the great among them. Because I will be merciful to their unrighteousnesses, and their sins and their lawlessnesses I will never remember any more”. Does not that appeal to your conscience? It has often appealed to mine. “I will be merciful to their unrighteousnesses”. Does anyone claim to have none? The more honest we are, the more we have to admit that we have. Moreover He says, “their sins and their lawlessnesses I will never remember any more”. That sets us down in restfulness of conscience. “By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” — by the one offering. There is the sense of forgiveness, that God does not remember our sins; not only are they forgiven, but remembered no more. It is intended to govern the rest of our course, to give restfulness of conscience, that we may have restfulness in the presence of God so as to serve Him. “And the Holy Spirit also bears us witness of it”, Hebrews 10: 15. It is by the Spirit that it is brought home to our souls in power. “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us”.
The second thing I would call attention to is in Hebrews 7; we have priesthood as belonging to us. I need not remind you of the hierarchies there are in christendom, all based on the idea that priesthood attaches to man in the flesh; that men of religious culture and training, unregenerate men, can take the place of priesthood to God, and not only so, but the place of a high priest is taken. This epistle brings out the magnificence, the greatness of our High Priest. It is not so much here the priesthood of christians; all christians are priests, but what this epistle stresses is the greatness of the Person who is our Priest. Hence the statement in chapter 7, verse 26. This brings out the greatness of the persons who are represented by that Priest. “Such a high priest became us”. There are those who claim a certain person in Rome as their high priest, but he dies; one after another goes. Look at our Priest. It is a question of faith, apprehending Jesus in heaven and who He is. I believe it would be of assistance to many young believers to be enquiring as to who Jesus is, as did Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus sought to see Jesus who He was. The one great feature of this epistle is the greatness of Christ, who is a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec, without father or mother, without beginning of days or end of life, but abiding a Priest continually. Then after many such statements about Him, we come to this statement, “such a high priest became us”. Who are the “us”? I am one of them, thank God, and so is nearly everybody in this room; but do we sit down and let the greatness of it settle into our minds and hearts? That word “became” means that the persons of whom He is Priest are so great and glorious in divine counsels, that their calling requires such a High Priest. You say that is taking very high ground. It is: for the ground is high. God is impressing upon us here the greatness of divine counsels and purposes. The writer of the epistle says, “holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling”. “Such a high priest became us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and become higher than the heavens”. It signifies an uncreated state of things, it is beyond creature thought. The heavens mark the acme of creation, the highest realm, however many. Paul went to the third heaven; Jesus went higher than the heavens, beyond them all — what creature heart can understand it? And yet in that very connection you have the statement “such a high priest became us”, and so as to preserve us in the meantime it says, “he ever liveth to make intercession for them”. It is the character of the Priest. Is that all He has to do? We know He has other things on hand, but day and night He is living to make intercession for us, as if it were the prime object of His position as Priest. He ever lives to make intercession for us, and to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him. All are so precious, all so valuable, all provided for; so that while you eat, while you sleep, while you work, think of it — He ever liveth to make intercession for you.
The third thing is the house. These things are over against current religious combinations; every item is over against what is generally accepted in this world religiously, to which many have gravitated and have built again the things that they destroyed. You will observe that I began with chapter 8, and then went back to chapter 7, and then to chapter 3. The nearer you get to chapter 2 of the epistle, the higher you get. In chapter 3 the saints are addressed as “holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling”. In verse 3 the point made is that the Lord Jesus is the Builder. God is the Builder, “he that built all things is God” (verse 4), but Christ is God. That is a way of asserting the deity of Christ, He is no less than God. As compared with Moses, who was a servant in the house, Christ is the Builder of God’s house, and has thus more honour than the house. Now the next thing is, what is the house? It is composed of persons. The general idea is that it is composed of stones and mortar. That is a fallacy, and yet there are those who cling to it and defend it, and some have left and gone back to it. So in order to bring this out in greater clearness, the Lord at the end of His ministry, as He was about to suffer death, looked up and saw the rich casting their gifts into the treasury of God. He was interested in that, in fact Mark says, He was seeing how they did it. He took notice of it because from His point of view it was a question of love, and there is nothing more prominent in Scripture than God’s way of love. “Yet shew I unto you a way of more surpassing excellence”, 1 Corinthians 12: 31, and giving is under that head. So the Lord was interested to see how they did it.
Luke does not make so much of that, only enough to show it came under His eye, but there is this woman. The widow is usually a figure of the remnant — bereft of shelter, of what she should have had, but this widow had something — two mites. You say, That was not much. But you always have something to attest your loyalty, that is the principle. You may not have money, but you have a body, and it is more to the Lord than money. Romans says the believer has an arm or an eye; according to chapter 6 he can present every member to God, holding his members as instruments of righteousness to God. I always have the means in my body of attesting my loyalty and love to God. This woman’s body was not needed, it was of no use in the temple. Looking-glasses were donated in the early days. They [p. 20] were given up. There are a good many of them today; they represent that on which I feed my pride. In surrendering this, women are heartily in the tabernacle; but the body of this woman that I allude to would have been no use then; it was of use in the upper room. There were in the upper room in Acts 1 Mary and other women, but they had no place in the temple. The widow’s mites were enough to attest her loyalty; her devotedness to that temple. To her it was God’s place, and the Lord Jesus immediately says in effect, This building is not great enough for such giving. He said every stone would have to be thrown down. It was as if when the disciples said, Look at these stones, He said, All this grandeur is not great enough for this widow. Of course other great things were also in His mind. But she is attesting her love to God, and the Lord is saying that she needs a greater building than this. She needs to be among the brethren, in the upper room. Not only her mites, but herself will be of use there. All those buildings which are but a revival of the temple will be thrown down, and men are building them today with increasing pomp and magnificence. They are not great enough, however, for the saints today who are devoted to Christ. The writer of Hebrews speaks of the saints when he says, “whose house are we”. The Lord says to Philadelphia, “thou hast ... kept my word, and hast not denied my name”; and again, “thou hast kept the word of my patience”; and further He says He will make those who say they are Jews and are not to come and “worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee”. That widow would find a resting place there, she would be a loved sister there. It was what the Lord valued, hence He says, “more than they all”. Peter is stronger in a way in saying, “To whom coming, a living stone, ... yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”, 1 Peter 2: 4, 5.
[p. 21] That is the position, and I press it so that the young might be saved from despising what is small outwardly, and might learn what is of essential value because of its moral worth, and what heaven thinks of it. If you love Christ and love the brethren, you say, This is my home and this is my rest, this is the house of God. He rests here, and I rest here, and it is going through. What is despised now will come out presently as the heavenly city, and how glorious it will be! We shall shine in it. The Lord says if we deny Him, He will deny us, but if we are unfaithful, He abides faithful. He says, I never proved unfaithful. Let us value what is brought in — value each other, indeed, because of what we are in divine counsels, as subjects of the work of God.