the human form bocomes ol<l and waxcth aged and is nigh unto vanishin"' away. "The days of our years are threescore years and ten," etc. (Ps. xc. 10). \Vhen tl,c, earthly house of our tabernacle is worn out we know that it will soon be dissolved. 'l'he departing vitality tells us that the body itself will Roon vanish away. Its decrepitude hernlds its disappearance. This is II reason: 1. Why the a'}ed should live in readiness far their departure hence. 2. Why the aged should be treatea with considerate; kindness. Their age has a claim upon our respect, unless its character forbids respect, and then it should elicit our pity. '!'heir feebleness makes its silent and touchin" appeal to us for support. And they will soon be beyond our sight and our services: By the help of God let us seek so to live that, when the time of our departnre draws near, we may be ready to leave this world, having :finished our work, and to enter upon the, to us, unknown future, having committed ourselves to the keeping of the" great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ."-W. J. Vers. 1-5.-Heaven the place where this great High Priest ministers. Does the writer mean, " This is the summing up," or " This is the chief point " ? We accept the latter, and that we have here no recapitulation, but a.n advance, the point to which he has been coming from the first. Christ, High Priest; Christ, High Priest i:;reater than Aaron. So far we have come. Subject-Heaven the place where this great High Priest ministers. From this comes the truth to which he bas been looking from the begin- ning, that in heaven, a.a the true holy of holies, is fulfilled what was exhibited in type in the tabernacle. l. THE ASSURANCE TlIAT CHRIST IS FULFILLmG BIB HIGH PRIESTLY WORK DI HEAVEN. "We have a High Priest," etc. Jesus in heaven, acting as our Representati~e, is the crowning point of what the writer has to say about our Lord. Is not that the crowning point of all that can be said about him? Can we ever know the full blessed- ness of Jesus till, in our habitual thought of him, he who lived on earth, and died, and rose, is ever seen and felt to be living for us in the heavenly places? 1. The declarations of Scripture give us this assurance. That is intimated in the use made here of Ps. ex., the whole of eh. vii. being based on it-the Messiah was to be a Priest at God's right hand. 'l'he same word gives us the same assurance; but whereas to the Jew it was prediction, to us it is fulfilment. "He was received up into heaven," declare evange- lists and apostles. 2. The dischai·ge of his priestly functions necessitates this. "But [ not 'now'] if he were on earth be would not be a priest at all," etc. He could not discharge his priestly duties on earth; the Law would forbid it of one not of the tribe of Levi. If, then, he is Priest, and called to what is priestly, and this cannot be on earth, it must be in heaven, for there is no other place where he could legally minister. But we Christians get the assurance that Christ in heaven is acting as High Priest, in what we find he has actually done and is ever doing. He sends his people what he promised when he should be there. '!'hose gifts and co=unications come to them from heaven which they know could not come but for his mediatorial work. 3. The fu7filment of sacred types demands this. (Ver. 5.) A very important statement, for it occurs no less than five times in the Pentateuch-proof that the Jewish ritual was but a shadow of certain Divine realities. The ministry of the priests, therefore, must bave its celestial counterpart. The high priest, after the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, antered within the veil to present the atoning blood before the mercy-seat. '!'hat is th8 type; then the fulfilment must be in Christ. In the Book of Revelation the Christian sees this fulfilled in a series of visions: Christ redeeming the world, subduing bis foes, completing his Church, and all this through bis exaltation to the heavenly throne. IL 'l'HE EXALTED POSITION m BEAVEN IN WHICH THIS HIGH PRIESTLY WORK IS DEING FULFILLED, The Hebrews regarded the high priestly ministry with a~e. How the majestic contrast drawn here must have arrested their attention, and surprised them by its olaim : "We have such," etc. I 1. It implies our Lord's equality with the Ji'ather. On the supreme throne only Jehovah cau sit; be who sits with him as hi9 co-equal mnst, with him, be one God. He who ascended is he also who descended. The Incarnation was the condescension of God himself. Get high thoughts of Jesus, for it will exalt our hope, and make our snlvl\tion more s_ure to our mi;1d, and reveal fresh depths in the Divine mNcy. 2. Thi.~ also implies his fearlessness m the pmence r/ tho llatller, The Jewish pric~t stooJ and trcmbltl,l and udorcJ within the v1:,i. 220 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEilllEWS. [en. vm. 1-18.
Jesus sat down on the throne. Why should he fear? we might ask. Because ho went there as_ mnu's _Representative. The Lord lnid on him tho iniquity of us all, he bowed Ins head in death under the awful burden, he then ascended into heaven an<l sat down on tho Father's throne. 'l'hen how certainly ho had put away sin by thll offering of him~elf ! 3. Thisfu1·ther implies his posse.~sion of the favour of the J/atl1er, He sat there-why? Becau~e God said unto him, "Sit thou at my right.," etc. 'l'he Father's delii!ht must indeed bo fixed on him he asks to share his throne. Dut it is as our Mediator he is exalted thus. Of his own right, by his own Deity, that throne was his; the invitation to ascend it was made to him as our Hepresentalive. That gives utmost encouragement to us. The welcome given to Jesus is really a welcome to all prayers for his people. III. 'l'nE EFFECT wmcn TJIR EXALTATION OF CHRIST AS HIGH PRIEST SHOULD HA VE UPON OUR HEARTS. I. It should lead us to ingui,·e whether we are among God)a hrael. "We "-whom does that include? The high priest entered the holiest of all for every Israelite; every Israelite could say, "He is there for me." Christ, iu like manner, 11ppears in heaven for the true [not the typical] Israel, the true seed of Abraham, they who are of faith. Faith admits into God's Israel, and for all these Christ is High Priest. Then, are we of these? 2. It should ma~ us ful the sufficiency of his mediation, \\' e can need no other priest if we have Jesus, and no other sacrifice. What can a man on earth add to that wltich in him we have in heaven itself I 3. It should assure us of tlie supply of every necessity. Jesus, who has the Father's ear, is at the Father's right hand; aud there for us. 'l'hen we have nothing to fear.-C. N.