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would say, ‘I have been called with a holy calling, and I have a
distinction, an honour from God, that I would not sully for a
moment by moving in that circle of things’.
The next thing is the heavenly calling in Hebrews. It says,
“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.
Jesus …”. Now that word “partakers” is interesting. Beloved
brethren, do we all partake of the heavenly calling? It is what
you enjoy; you partake of it. We have had a weekend of
refreshing ministry, and you felt the very atmosphere was just
right. Were you a partaker of the heavenly calling? Did you
partake of it, or did you say, ‘Everybody else seems to be
enjoying themselves, but—I do not know why—I have not
quite got it’? It is a wonderful thing to partake of the heavenly
calling amongst the people of God. What is touched amongst
the saints, in the environment of eternal life, is a heavenly
calling. The world could not offer you anything like that.
And then it says, “Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our
confession, Jesus”. You desire to be in this circle where you
are going to hear about “the Apostle and High Priest of our
confession, Jesus”. Consider Him. It is the contrast, beloved
brethren, to the earthly system of things; Christianity is so
much greater. It is good for younger brethren to know the
heavenly calling. A young brother said to me some time ago,
‘Why can we not be more outgoing, not sitting in meetings
talking about the truth? There are
those who are active evangelically, and people are getting
converted’. But, beloved brethren, while we surely need to be
evangelical, the heavenly calling is not just that. You young
people have been granted a wonderful blessing that you are
brought into a circle to partake of the heavenly calling, Christ
and the assembly, and all the wonderful things involved in the
revelation of God. You do not get that in an earthly religion;
you will not get that in the established church or in any church;