THE ELEMENTS OF THE WORLD TO COME
[p. 245] THE ELEMENTS OF THE WORLD TO COME
(continued) Reading, Revised by F.E.R.
Hebrews 5: 1 - 14 What connection is there in this chapter with what we had before us this morning?
FER This chapter gives us the calling of the High Priest.
JSA He is a great Priest over the house of God, is He not?
FER Yes, the house is brought in; the first principle in the epistle is the rule, or authority; that is, Jesus crowned with glory and honour. The next is God’s house; He is dwelling. Then we have the rest of God, which concludes that part. Then in chapter 5 we get the High Priest called of God, as was Aaron, in order to bring in the change of law, that is, of the order of approach, for all changed in connection with the change of priest. In this chapter Christ is seen, called as High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. In the next chapter He is entered in as Forerunner, and in chapter 7 we have the consequent change of system. There is change of the law because of change of priest. There is the setting aside of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof, for the law made nothing perfect, and the bringing in of a better hope by which we draw nigh unto God. It is a great point to see that all these things hold good also for the future; they do not simply apply to christianity. We have them in anticipation.
WE How will Christ exercise His priestly service in the world to come?
FER He sits upon His throne as King and Priest. He is Priest upon His throne, and it is in [p. 246] connection with the priesthood of Christ that the whole system of things in the world to come is introduced, just as in the time past the law came in in connection with the priesthood of Aaron. Whatever there may be enjoyed in that day, in the way of access to God, will be in connection with the priesthood of Christ. He introduces a better order of things than that of the past. The law really brought in exclusion from God, but the better hope brings in drawing nigh unto God.
It is not in the day to come so much a question of the priest going in, as of the priest coming out; but He has entered in now, not only on our behalf, but on the behalf of Israel.
JSA And that is what you had in mind when you said this would hold good in the time to come.
FER Every point in the epistle holds good for the world to come; that is, for the future as well as for the present; we anticipate the future. It is a great thing to get a clear idea before the mind of the world to come, and of its features; Jesus being crowned with glory and honour, the house of God, the rest of God, etc., are all connected with the world to come. The world to come is the rest of God.
WM Will that be the thought of blessing?
FER It brings in blessing so that God can rest.
JSA “He will rest in his love”, that refers to that time.
FER Yes, it is a fulfilment of that of which the sabbath is type, but we anticipate it, “We which have believed do enter into rest”.
WM In the first part of the Hebrews is the thought that the priest is on our side?
FER Until chapter 7 the point is rather of the system or order which God has established.
WM And the light of that reaching us now?
FER Yes, in connection with the true Moses and Aaron. We get in chapter 6 the Forerunner, which [p. 247] indicates evidently that others are to go in; there would be no meaning in it otherwise. Then in chapter 7 you get the effect of the hope in the present, that you draw nigh to God, there is the introduction of a better hope in connection with the Melchisedec priesthood by which we draw nigh to God, “he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them”. I think it is in that way that people are delivered from ritualism.
W.M. In what way?
FER Legalism in a way necessitated a priesthood here. The introduction of the better hope sweeps away all idea of a priesthood here, because the saints draw nigh to God. If christians all had the sense that they draw nigh to God, they would not bear the idea of priesthood upon earth.
JP A priesthood upon earth is an utter denial of christianity.
FER It is a simple going back to what God has put aside. There is a setting aside of what has gone before, and the introduction of a better hope by which we draw nigh to God.
JLJ Is it through the blood of Christ that we draw nigh?
FER It is by the better hope; in that connection. This is so far all on God’s side; when we come to chapters 8 to 10 we apprehend our side, but down to chapter 7 all is on God’s side.
JSA The order of things God has set up.
FER Yes, in connection, no doubt, with the world to come.
JP Only we now come into it in anticipation.
FER Yes, because the things are there. Christ is crowned with glory and honour, and saluted as High Priest, at the right hand of God, after the order of Melchisedec, and therefore these things are brought into view. The scripture brings into view the world [p. 248] to come, and the new order of things connected with the new priesthood.
JSA And we have practically the same kind of difficulty that the Israelites had, to get rid of the thought of this order of things.
FER Because christianity has been brought down to the present order of things.
JSA In the past God set up a kingdom and temple, and there was ground of approach and priesthood in it, but all that order of things is set aside.
FER In Exodus we have the redemption of the people, the establishment of God as King, and the setting up of the tabernacle; then Leviticus comes in and lays down the law of approach to God, in connection with the Aaronic priesthood. That is the type. Now you have the antitype, in connection with the true Moses and true Aaron.
WM This is the new system.
JSA And the question is whether we enter into God’s system or not.
FER And the system holds good for the time to come. This brings in the house of God, for the truth of the house of God is not literally fulfilled in the present time, it points on to the time to come.
JSA I think that brings in the very beautiful thought, that God cannot rest except where His love is satisfied.
FER You see everything hangs on the quotations from Psalm 8 and Psalm 110; the Son of man with everything put under His feet, and then the sitting at God’s right hand, and saluted there as Priest after the order of Melchisedec.
JSA And I suppose our appreciation of Christ as Priest depends on our entering into that.
FER Yes, you cannot appreciate Him as Priest unless you apprehend the order of things in connection with which He is appointed Priest. God’s Son is the Priest, and therefore you may be certain that you will [p. 249] have a good state of things. It is a most curious thing that authority is connected with the Son of man, and priesthood with the Son of God. Chapter 2 is the Son of man, chapter 5 is the Son of God.
WM I suppose the character of our relationship with God is that we are sons and priests, too.
FER That comes out afterwards, you have not come yet to our side; there is often a great difficulty in understanding divine things, because there is such a tendency to bring ourselves in. It is so difficult to us to see what God has established for Himself.
JSA Even in salvation, the simplest thing, it is God’s salvation. We get confused by bringing ourselves in too soon.
FER Quite so, we shall come in fast enough, but we should all profit greatly if we would give up ourselves to the study of these two Psalm 8 and Psalm 110, so as to enter into the great reality of them.
JLJ What does that mean, after the order of Melchisedec?
FER Christ is not after the order of Aaron; the priesthood being changed there must of necessity be a change also of the law, that is, Leviticus would not do for us.
PHF Is the point in that He was without beginning of days and years?
FER Christ is outside of the restrictions that belong to the Aaronic priesthood; He is a Priest after the power of an endless life, not according to a carnal commandment. He did not belong to the tribe to which priesthood appertained, and therefore it is as risen that Christ takes up priesthood.
WE Then I suppose you would say there is no feebleness in connection with it.
FER No, and there is no feebleness connected with our priesthood, though there is connected with us. We are priests only as risen with Christ, and there is no feebleness in connection with that. If saints [p. 250] get the apprehension that they are risen with Christ and before God in the divine nature, there is strength connected with it, not feebleness. Feebleness appertains to our life of flesh, not to us as priests. What accompanies being risen with Christ is, you are quickened together with Him; that is, you have part in the divine nature.
JP I suppose if we apprehended this more, we would be outside of our own feebleness, that would be a mercy.
FER It is a great thing if for a moment we can get away from all that is of man and see what God has established for Himself in Christ.
JP I think it is delightful.
FER The first thought in the epistle is the complete subjugation of evil; then the establishment of a priesthood which is after the power of an endless life, not passing from hand to hand; “Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec”. There is something very great in that.
JSA We should be catering more for our own happiness if we lived more in it.
JA I think few things have debased christianity more than the willing falling into the thought of the feebleness of christians, making excuses on every hand, “We are poor feeble things”, instead of entering into that which is on God’s side and cannot be moved or shaken. The soul never seems to get on when we fall back on to our own feebleness, which is quite distinct from nothingness that turns to God to expect from Him.
FER And people are very willing to remain feeble so that they can go on with things down here.
WB What is the meaning of chapter 5: 2? “Infirmity”; we get infirmity there.
FER It is only the description of a priest in verses 1 and 2 that is all right. Christ sympathises [p. 251] with us in infirmity, but the object is to lift you out of the infirmity.
JP There is no infirmity in this wonderful system.
FER None.
Rem This infirmity relates to the priest taken from among men.
FER Yes, it does; the priesthood is to enable us to hold fast to our profession.
WE It is not to help you on in this world.
FER No, but to maintain you in the light of that which God has established.
JSA I suppose that those addressed had not got into this line of things.
FER There is another point, viz., to see the value of the priest in regard to Israel. Israel in the great tribulation will doubtless be supported by the priesthood of Christ. I think priesthood will be available for them as for us.
GW Does the thought of priesthood go into eternity?
FER Not in one way, it connects itself with the world to come. I rather doubt if Christ ever gives up the place of minister of the sanctuary.
GW I ask because I have not a very clear idea of what is involved in the priest.
FER I think the priest is Christ on our side. Christ as Mediator is on God’s side. When you think of God’s approach to man, He is Mediator; if you think of man’s approach to God, He is Priest. He has come in both functions.
JC That is, Christ filling the two offices, Moses and Aaron.
FER “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant”. You get the two combined in [p. 252] one Person.
JSA And as you were pointing out the other day, it is an immense improvement on the old system.
FER Yes, because Moses was faithful when Aaron was unfaithful. There was thus a great deal of divergence of mind between the two, mediator and the priest, when Moses was on the mount and Aaron was making the golden calf. You can never have that now.
JSA And I suppose in the measure in which we understand Christ as Mediator we shall be able to appreciate His services as Minister of the sanctuary.
FER I think so. He knows perfectly what is in God’s heart toward men, and therefore He can perfectly order man’s approach toward God.
JP Because He orders our approach according to what is in the heart of God.
GW What is the thought of the minister of the sanctuary? Is it different from priesthood?
FER You are going on to chapter 8. I do not object to going on, but chapters 8 to 10 bring in our side; up to chapter 7 it is God’s side.
GW It is Priest when it is God’s side.
FER It is King and Priest, Jesus crowned with glory and honour, and at the same time saluted as High Priest. You have the kingdom and the house and the rest of God, and the Priest and the system.
GW You have the Priest there, but not our side.
FER Not exactly as on our side; you have what hangs on the priest. Aaron never entered in as a forerunner; he never went through the veil in that character. Christ has entered in as Forerunner, and that means for us approach to God. There is the introduction of a better hope by which we draw nigh to God.
JC Is that the thought of John, ‘preparing a place’?
FER It is connected with it. He has gone through the veil for us, and it is at the right hand of [p. 253] God that He is saluted as Priest, but He has gone in as Forerunner. I have no doubt that the blessing of man in the millennium hangs on that, because if man can go in to God now, God can come out to man then. It is as easy for God to come out in blessing, as for God to receive us when we go in.
PH Will the saints during the tribulation go in as christians now do?
FER No, but they will be sustained and enabled to wait until Christ comes out to them.
PH They have the sympathy of Christ?
FER And He will support them, and they will be kept until He comes out.
JP It will mean a great deal for them to be sustained in that trying time.
FER It will be a time of fearful pressure, when there will be every effort to drive them away from God, but they will get grace from Christ.
PH Is it not a distinct privilege of christianity that saints now go in?
FER That is the system which is introduced, “By which we draw nigh to God”; but the thought of our going in evidently indicates that God can come out; you must connect christianity with the world to come. If you divorce christianity from the world to come, you will never understand the world to come.
PH But in that aspect God comes out.
FER Yes, but He comes out in the very people who have been accustomed to go in. He comes out in the heavenly city, the church. He can come out in us because we have been accustomed to go in to God.
JP I hope we will all make the connections here.
PH The point with me, is that none other has ever had that privilege.
FER No, the privilege is peculiar to christians, but that very privilege fits us to be the vessels in which God comes out. If we suffer with Christ we will reign with Him. It is a great mistake to think that [p. 254] christianity is one thing, and the world to come another. The heavenly city shows the connection between the two. “Ye are come unto mount Zion; and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect; and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel”. There is the whole system.
JSA I doubt very much whether many of us have a very distinct idea of what the heavenly city means.
FER It is a vessel of rule, rule is the idea often connected with a city in Scripture; Babylon rules, or Jerusalem rules; the thought in connection with the heavenly city is the rule of grace. That is, the heavenly city has been so instructed in grace that it is fitted to rule in grace, so the nations walk in the light of it — the grace of God is so perfectly expressed in it.
JP That should be true now; people should be affected by our sense of grace now.
FER Exactly, God shows forth in us the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. That is for the instruction of the universe.
WE Will grace reign through righteousness then?
FER Exactly, the heavenly city will be the expression of it. The heavenly city has the glory of God and her light is most precious, that is, the light of grace.
GR How does that passage fit in, “A king shall reign in righteousness”?
FER Grace will reign through righteousness; it will not tolerate sin, man’s will. Grace and will cannot [p. 255] go together, and if grace is established man’s will must go.
WM So that even now, according to Titus, grace teaches us to walk righteously.
WE And I suppose righteously is doing the will of God.
FER That is practical righteousness, being here for God’s will. As long as a man goes on in self-will he can know nothing at all about the grace of God. He makes himself as great as God. I am only in a condition for grace when my will is broken.
GR I suppose Job is an illustration of that.
FER Yes, as long as Job was asserting himself God hid Himself. It was when he repented and abhorred himself that he really appreciated grace.
JP When he said, “Behold, I am vile”.
FER Yes. Now chapters 8 to 10 form another section, and they bring in our side.
EHT Which side do we want to learn first?
FER God’s side.
JSA That is the importance of what we have had this afternoon.
FER God’s side calls for faith. If you are to apprehend Jesus crowned with glory and honour, and made a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec, it must be in faith. God’s side requires faith. When you come to man’s side, this brings in the power of the Spirit; it is not simply faith. You get three things coming out in these chapters: the first is the new covenant, the second purgation, and the third sanctification. These are three great principles on our side.
JP And then you enter the holiest.
FER You enter the holiest according to your calling.
WM Why should purgation come in that order?
FER Because the covenant is established in blood. There must be the blood of the covenant, and [p. 256] I doubt if people learn purgation properly speaking till they get a sense of God’s disposition toward them. It is one thing to know forgiveness so that you do not come into judgment, another to know purgation so that you can approach God.
AHP Do you get that in the new covenant?
FER Yes, the Spirit, the water, and the blood are witnesses. You do not really understand the significance of the water and the blood until you have the Spirit.
JC There is nothing but love.
FER There is perfect purgation — their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. You can realise that now because you know the disposition of God toward you, and reconciliation and sanctification follow on that. You have the new covenant, purgation, reconciliation and sanctification; four things.
JSA By saying the significance of the water and the blood, you do not mean the efficacy.
FER No. You learn them in a different light, not in their efficacy, as a means by which you are saved from judgment; you learn the perfectness of the purgation, so that you may be before God without consciousness of sins.
GW Why is sanctification last here?
FER Because you cannot realise sanctification until you have come to reconciliation.
GW It is reconciliation here.
FER Yes; until you apprehend in the death of Christ that man has been removed and God revealed, you cannot understand sanctification.
PH On God’s side sanctification would be first.
FER It is His will, of course, “By the which will we are sanctified”.
EZ Is it being set apart?
FER Quite so. But we are not set apart after the flesh, but by the will of God through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. We are set [p. 257] apart as priests. You cannot understand sanctification unless you see the old man has been removed.
WHC Does reconciliation go further than that?
FER No, it gives you that side, that man has been removed.
WM Would reconciliation be more for God, and sanctification on our side?
FER Yes. Reconciliation is what we receive, and is God-ward.
JP It is the same sanctification spoken of in the second chapter.
FER Yes. But you could not have sanctification without reconciliation. Sanctification means that you are before God as the brethren of Christ, in association with Christ; “in Christ”, in a word.
JP A new origin, a new stock.
FER Yes, a new stock; sons of Aaron; you never could be that after the flesh. You get the priestly company and family.
GR “Through the offering of his body”. That is the removing of the man, and this is signified in the Lord’s supper: “This is my body, given for you”.
FER I think so.
WM What you brought out the other day, ‘man put out and God brought in’; that is reconciliation.
FER I think so. The old man gone in the death of Christ, but God come out in love, and the new man is the product of the love of God.
GW A brother asks you to say a word on 1 Thessalonians 5: 23.
FER That does not go so far as sanctification in Hebrews 2; it means set apart from the corruption in the world down here.
JLJ That is a question of walk.
GR I think the word in Colossians 1 helps in the thought of reconciliation; “To reconcile all things unto himself” — everything.
FER But through Jesus Christ.
WB [p. 258] Will you explain that verse in Corinthians, “such were some of you”, etc.?
FER It is the same thought; you are set apart.
WB But sanctification comes before justification there.
FER I think every man is set apart in the mind of God before he is justified.
GR Then there is the sanctification of the Spirit.
FER And faith of the truth.
GW That is what I had in mind.
FER In chapter 10 you are fit as being sanctified by the will of God; our sanctification comes out in that connection.
JSA What would you say is the point to which you are led up in Hebrews?
FER I think it is to draw nigh to God; boldness to enter into the holiest. That brings you back again to the seventh chapter, you draw nigh to God in priestly function.
WHC Is that what is meant by going on to perfection?
FER No, that is rather going on to the apprehension of God’s purpose — the system and order of things which God has established.
GW I believe we have got to where I can ask my question. The Minister of the sanctuary; what is that?
FER Christ is Head of the body, the church and has the place of Minister of the sanctuary. He presents the saints to God; He takes the place of Head. He says, “Behold I and the children which God hath given me”.
GW It is not anything ministered to us?
FER No. He leads the praise. Aaron was minister of the sanctuary, that is, he was charged with the care and ordering of the sanctuary. Everything connected with the worship was under the charge of Aaron, and so everything connected with the worship [p. 259] of God now is under the charge of Christ. He leads the praises of the universe, “in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee”, “My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation”, “I will praise ... thee among the nations”. This is the proper function of the priest. The time will come when there will be no occasion to succour the tempted, when there will be no temptations; but when that comes to pass there will still be the service of God, and Christ will never give up that place, I take it.
GR It is the other side from what we get in chapter 7. He is able to save to the uttermost, that is more saving us from what is against us. When you get to the sanctuary, it is not that. Would you get the idea in Israel’s high priest, in his garments of beauty, with the names on his shoulders and on the breast, the place of affection?
FER Quite so. It has been said Aaron never put on the garments of glory and beauty, because when he went into the holiest, on the day of atonement, he had to go in in the linen garments.
WB What you get in the second chapter will continue after this present world is gone. Is it not in force now?
FER Yes, in chapter 10 you have come back to chapter 2.
GR The fact is stated in chapter 2, and we see in chapter 10 how it is brought about.
GW The sanctuary; is that the presence of God?
FER It is the light of God. I do not know what else the sanctuary could be but the light of God; the light in which God has been pleased to make Himself known in Christ.
GW It is not exactly the presence of God.
FER No, you might be in the presence of God as a judge, that would not be much of a sanctuary to you. Every man will have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and that will not be a sanctuary. I think [p. 260] you come into the light of the sanctuary through the death of Christ. In the death of Christ the veil was rent because God had come out according to His mind.
JP When we come together to the Lord’s supper we ought to begin with the sanctuary.
FER I think if you enter into the spirit of the thing it is there you get into the sanctuary.
GR And there you meet the Lord as the Minister of the holy places, not at that moment sympathising with us in our infirmities.
JSA I think the difficulty is an ordinary one, that minister is generally connected with someone ministering to us.
FER That is not the idea in chapter 8 at all. Christ has obtained a more excellent ministry God-ward, by as much as He is the Mediator of a better covenant man-ward. The ministry God-ward depends on the covenant man-ward, hence you can see the importance of the mediatorship and the ministry being combined in one Person; the One who knows perfectly the disposition of God towards us is the One who is Minister of the sanctuary.
WB What is the force of chapter 2, He reveals the Father’s name to us?
FER He has done that as a term and basis of relationship; He said, “I ascend unto my Father and your Father; and to my God, and your God”, that was the declaration of the Father’s name. He has done that. Now He says, in the midst of the church I will sing praise unto Thee; the Sanctifier and the sanctified are all of one, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.
WM I suppose this is the time for knowing Him, and the world to come is display.
FER Yes, but you see we are now going in so that we may be qualified to come out.
WB I never saw that [p. 261] before.
FER Well, it is a very good thought.
JSA What is at the bottom of our failure is that we are always dwelling on our side; we have to come out for God.
FER Yes, it is the point of the epistle to the Ephesians that you go in to God, in order that you may come out from God, to express Him here; that is, you are filled unto all the fulness of God.
WM “Through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father”.
FER You go in, and you are strengthened to come out; the church is filled unto all the fulness of God, that is to what is adequate for the setting forth of God.
JSA Is that the same thought, “he shall come to be glorified in his saints”?
FER Quite so, “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end”.
Ques What is the meaning of that scripture, “might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God”?
FER That is as a witness now to angels; hereafter it will be in the heavenly city to the universe, the nations walk in the light of it — that is not now.
JP It would be a wonderful thing if we walked in the light of it now.
GW Did I understand you to say that in regard to chapter 2, verse 12, Christ does not now declare the Father’s name? but that the singing praise in the midst of the church is now?
FER Yes, “In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee”; He does that now.
Rem I think that word “will declare it”, in the second clause of John 17: 26, is what has been misleading to many of us.
FER But He has declared it, “that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them”. It was future when the Lord spoke. The full declaration was in resurrection.
GR So that if God is known He must be known in that way.
FER We do not know Him according to the calling unless we know Him in that way.
WHC Is that eternal life?
FER Eternal life is realised only in the assembly; no one touches eternal life now except in that connection.
GR I was going to say we only get in the power of the Spirit the good of the declaration of the Father’s name.
WB Is it the message that Mary got?
FER Yes, that was the declaration of the Father’s name. He said, “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father”.
JSA And as you said the other day, once He has been declared as Father, He never goes back from it, and therefore every family will be named of the Father in a sense.
FER Only one word more, and that is that all these principles — new covenant, purgation, reconciliation, and sanctification — stand good for the world to come. The new covenant is established with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, then purgation comes in by the blood, their sins and iniquities God will remember no more; then reconciliation comes in by Jesus Christ, everything is reconciled; and sanctification comes in as to Israel, that is, they will be a kingdom of priests. Every principle of which you get a present application stands good for the future.
JSA Eternal life applies to the world to come.
FER That is the proper connection of it, you can very well understand that as to it, for then death is swallowed up in victory.
JP I suppose in both of the passages in the Old [p. 263] Testament where eternal life is spoken of it is in connection with the world to come.
FER Yes, but we get it as a present thing in association; there is no other way to it. Where is it that you are out of death, that you are risen? only for the assembly. Only one scene in which you are risen. If you have not passed out of death into life, you have not reached eternal life.
WE You speak of ‘in association’; in association with what?
FER In association with Christ and the saints, you are out of death in association. When I think of myself in my individual path in the world I cannot say I am out of death. If I earn my living and provide for my family, all that is this side of death; but in the assembly where I appreciate God’s mind that we are risen together with Christ, we see something of eternal life. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren”.