upon this picture. The opening word of the Psalm expresses the
consummation of all the sufferings of Christ, that word which came
from the darkness, which surrounded the cross and in which we are
face to face with the unsearchable depths of His atoning work. "My
God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me." He who was ever with the
Father, one with Him in all eternity, who could say on earth "I am
not alone" was left alone. He was forsaken of God. But more than
that. Jehovah bruised Him; He put Him to grief. The spotless One
bore the wrath of God alone. It was then that He who knew no sin was
made sin for us. How significant it is then that the Holy Spirit
puts that word of the Lord Jesus Christ before the predictions of
His physical sufferings. They tell us what our redemption cost Him
--the awful price, forsaken of God. The Psalm also emphasizes what
man under the terrible instigation of Satan did unto Him. We glance
at some of these sufferings as expressed by His own Spirit.
"But I am a worm, and not man; a reproach of men, and despised of
the people" (verse 6). This is His own complaint. No longer a man
but writhing on the ground like a worm, the substitute of sinners,
thus the Holy One felt when He was numbered among the transgressors.
The Hebrew word "worm", means the small insect, the coccus, from
which the scarlet color is obtained by death of this worm, that
color which was used in connection with the tabernacle. Thus He died
as our substitute that our sins though they are as scarlet might be
white as snow. Men reproached Him; His own people despised and
rejected Him. Then we read how He was mocked and scoffed at. They
"laugh me to scorn," they "shoot out the lip," they "shake the
head." The very language of the leaders of the people as they
surrounded the cross is given by the Spirit of God. "He trusted on
the Lord that He would deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him"
(verse 7). What depths of the depravity of the human heart they
reveal! And in all this, while He suffered thus from man His sole
trust was in God (verses 9-10). His whole life was to trust in the
Lord to lean upon Him, till that moment came when God could no
longer know Him as His own, when the sword, the sword of judgment
awoke against the Man, the fellow, the companion of the Lord of
hosts (Zech. xiii:7). What that sword did to Him is expressed by the
cry of the forsaken One.
And what else do we find here? We can follow the whole story of the
cross in the first part of this Psalm. His enemies are described,
the bulls and the ravening and roaring lion.--"I am poured out like
water."--"All my bones are out of joint."--"My heart is like wax;
it is melted in the midst of my bowels." Like fire melteth wax so
His heart melted in the fire of wrath against sin. The strength of
the mighty One, who fainteth not and knows no weariness, failed. His
tongue cleaves to His jaws. "Dogs" and "the assembly of the wicked"
--Gentiles and Jews were there. "They pierced my hands and feet;"
crucifixion, unknown among the Jews when David lived, is here
predicted by the Holy Spirit. "I may tell all my bones" as well as
the words "all my bones are out of joint" refer to His suffering on
the cross. Then after they hung the Prince of Glory at that cross we
read "they look and stare upon Me" (verse 17). "They parted my
garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." What man did to
Him, what He suffered from man and from Satan's power is here
described. Yet it was God who bruised Him. Concerning man the
sufferer spoke what "they" did unto Him; but He also addresses God
"THOU hast brought me into the dust of death."
And thus He suffered and died for us. Our sins were laid upon Him
and He bore them in His own body on the tree. At what an infinite
cost we have been redeemed! What a price has been paid! The Father
did not spare His only begotten Son, but delivered Him up for us
all. The Son of God, was made sin for us, smitten, stricken and
forsaken of God.
Jehovah bade His sword awake--
O Christ, it woke 'gainst thee!
Thy blood the flaming blade must slake;
Thy heart its sheath must be--
All for my sake, my peace to make;
Now sleeps that sword for me.
The Holy God did hide His face--
O Christ, 'twas hid from thee!
Dumb darkness wrapt thy soul a space--
The darkness due to me.
But now that face of radiant grace
Shines forth in light on me.
Wonderful Love! But how unable we are to realize adequately these
blessed facts! How little after all we think of these marvellous
things and how weak is our devotion to that blessed, loving Lord,
who loved us thus!
And what do we behold about us? An ever increasing darkness; a
turning away from the blessed Gospel of the Son of God as it centers
in the Cross; a greater rejection and neglection of the great
salvation which God has so graciously provided in the great
sacrifice. It is fearful to see the enemies of the cross increasing
and rushing on to their coming doom. What is to be our attitude? It
is for us to glory more and more in the cross of Christ. We must
exalt and magnify the Person and Work of our blessed Lord as never
before. The more He is rejected by the world, His blessed work on
the cross disowned in such latter day delusions as the new theology,
Christian Science and the numerous other systems, the more we must
give Him the pre-eminence.
But it means also for us if we are faithful to Him the fellowship of
His sufferings. God has called us into the fellowship of His Son
Jesus Christ our Lord. This includes the fellowship of His
sufferings. Never, of course, suffering from God as He did. But as
He is rejected and despised so are we called to share His rejection
and take upon us His reproach. He suffered without the gate and the
Word exhorts us "Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the
camp, bearing His reproach." In these last days we must like Moses
"esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of
Egypt (the world)." And if we are faithful to Him, if we walk in
_separation from the world_, including the great "religious world"
with its Christ and the Cross rejecting schemes and tendencies, we
shall know something of the reproach of Christ and the fellowship of
His sufferings. Oh! that we might know more of that in these easy
going days. Such a precious Word of God as contained in 1 Peter
iv:13-14 ought to make us long for bearing His reproach and for
sufferings with Him. "But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of
Christ's sufferings that when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be
glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of
Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth
upon you; on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is
glorified."
Be true to Christ and to the cross of Christ. Live out the doctrine
of the cross "crucified with Christ"--dead to the things here
below, then you will have some suffering from the side of men and
Satan as well.
And what will be the awful judgment for the multitudes, the ever
increasing multitudes who reject the Cross of Christ, who are either
opposing it by their ethical gospel, to whom the preaching of the
cross is foolishness, or who are indifferent? The Holy Spirit has
told us that where the Gospel, the Cross of Christ is rejected or
perverted the Anathema, the curse of God must follow (Gal. i:9; 1
Corinth. xvi:22). Well has one said "Distance from God was the
climax of the Lamb's dying sorrow." It is a fearful solemn thought
that the world while with heedless selfconfidence it still pursues
its way, is no nearer now to God than Jesus was when, under the
burden of the world's iniquity, He cried, "My God, my God, why hast
Thou forsaken me?" How solemn this is! May we learn to say more
fully with Paul, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto
me, and I unto the world."
The Glory of Christ.
The first twenty-one verses of this Psalm describe the sufferings of
Christ. This part closes with an appeal to Jehovah for deliverance.
"But be thou not far from me, O Lord; O my strength, haste thee to
help me. * * * Save me from the lion's mouth." Then comes the joyful
statement that He has been heard. The answer He received to His cry
is resurrection. We find therefore that the second part of this
great Psalm, which reveals so fully the Cross of Christ, is taken up
with the Glory of the forsaken One. God raised Him from the dead,
and so we hear at once in this Psalm the notes of triumph coming
from the lips of Him who is dead and now liveth. His triumph and His
Glory are revealed. All for whom He died, the Church, Israel, the
ends of the earth, the nations are mentioned. He is seen in the
midst of the church as well as in the midst of the future great
congregation. All the ends of the earth are yet to remember and turn
unto the Lord. The nations will come to worship before Him; His will
be the Kingdom, He will rule among the nations. But we must look at
some of these precious predictions a little closer. We need to
consider them as much as the Sufferings, the Cross of Christ.
The day of His Resurrection is first mentioned.
"I will declare Thy Name unto my brethren
"In the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee."
It is a joyous word which stands at the head of the glory section of
this Psalm. Raised from the dead He met His own with an "All hail"
--rejoice. In the Gospel of John we see Him meeting her who sought
the living One among the dead and telling her "Go and tell my
brethren." How literally this prediction has been fulfilled. And
what He tells her of "my Father and your Father, my God and your
God" declares that intimate relationship which is the result of His
death on the cross. Brought through Him to God, we are Sons of God
and Heirs of God. "He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified
are all of one, therefore He is not ashamed to call them brethren"
(Heb. ii:11). Precious truth! He owns us as brethren. He is the
Firstborn among many brethren. The congregation mentioned here is
the church. In the midst of the church His praise is heard (Heb.
ii:12). It is true the church is not revealed in the Old Testament
but it is anticipated. And as we, saved by Grace, in possession of
His life, approach God in His worthy Name His own voice is heard; He
is the leader of our prayers and our praises. That new and intimate
relationship brought about by His atoning death at the cross is
mentioned first. He gave Himself for the church (Eph. v:25). In the
next place we hear Israel praising Him. "All ye the seed of Jacob
glorify Him; and reverence Him all ye the seed of Israel." They who
rejected Him, His people who despised Him and had such a part in the
suffering of Christ, now own Him. They acknowledge Him, whom they
thought afflicted of God, as having been heard of God.
That time will come when He returns in power and glory, when Israel
will see the Man in Glory, the First begotten coming in the clouds
of Heaven. Then they will realize the full truth of Isaiah liii. The
blessed Lord will then have the travail of His soul and be
satisfied. But there is more glory still for Him.
A _great_ congregation is mentioned; there too His praises will be
heard. All the ends of the earth will remember and turn unto the
Lord. Nations will worship before Him.
"For the Kingdom is Jehovah's
And He ruleth among the nations" (verse 28).
The great congregation are the nations of the millennial age. Then
the ends of the earth will remember Him while He ruleth among the
nations. What Glory awaits Him! Now we behold Him, who was made a
little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor. It is a spiritual vision; we see Him there by
faith. But a little while longer and He will appear in the Glory of
His Father bringing His co-heirs with Him, the Son bringing many
sons to glory, the sons He is not ashamed to call brethren, for whom
He was forsaken on the cross. What a procession of triumph and glory
that will be when the Heavens open and He is coming forth, bringing
His church with Him! What will be His Glory when Israel at last owns
Him and nations submit under His rule, when His visible Glory will
cover the earth as the waters cover the sea! All hail! Oh blessed,
blessed Lord!
And we do need to consider all these precious predictions, so
numerous in the Scriptures, the prophecies of His Glory. The God of
this age Satan is unfolding the glories of this present age which is
almost at the end, with a skilful master hand. He knows how to blind
the eyes not only of those who believe not, but of many who are
Christians. He makes everything so attractive and many of God's
people have fallen into his snares. We need to look through the Word
of God upon the brightness of His Glory, the glorious things to
come, so that our eyes may be blinded to the miserable playthings of
the dust, which the fire of God's vengeance will ere long consume.
We need these glorious visions of the great realities so that we can
go forward with joyfulness to suffer, be rejected of men and bear
the bright and blessed testimony, the Father expects from His
beloved children. Take up the watchword of the last days! _True to
Christ--all in Christ--all for Christ--Onward to Glory._ Soon He
will call us into His glorious presence.
"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us"
(Rom. viii:18).
"For our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. v:17).
Oh what will be the day when won at last
The last long weary battle, we shall come
To those eternal gates the King hath passed,
Returning from our exile to our Home;
When earth's last dust is washed from off our feet;
The last sweat from our brows is wiped away;
The hopes that made our pilgrim journey sweet
All met around us, realized that day!
Oh what will be the day, when we shall stand
Irradiate with God's eternal light;
First tread as sinless saints the sinless land,
No shade nor stain upon our garments white;
No fear, no shame upon our faces then,
No mark of sin--oh joy beyond all thought!
A son of God, a free-born citizen
Of that bright city where the curse is not!
The Exalted One.
Hebrews i.
SOME thirty-five years ago, when the so-called "Higher Criticism"
had begun its destructive work, a believer living in England,
predicted that within thirty years the storm would gather over one
sacred head. How this has come true! Satan's work of undermining the
authority of the Bible, a pernicious work still going on, is but the
preliminary to an attack of the Person of Christ. To-day as never
before the glorious Person of our Lord is being belittled in the
camp of Christendom. This is done not only in the out and out
denials of His Deity but also in more subtle ways. It is for us who
"deny not His Name" (Revel. iii:8), whose desire is to exalt Him,
ever to remind ourselves of the Blessed One and His Glory. At this
time we desire to look briefly at the teachings of the first chapter
in Hebrews.
This chapter is divided into two parts. In the first part we find
another great description of our adorable Lord, and in the second a
description of His exaltation. The beginning of the chapter gives us
that solid assurance that God has spoken and that the Old Testament
is His Word. "God having spoken in many parts and in many ways
formerly to the fathers in the prophets, at the end of these days
has spoken to us in (the person of the) Son." The Old Testament
Scriptures are the inspired Word of God; at last God spake in Son,
as it is in the Greek. The Old Testament announced that God would
speak in the person of the Son. For this reason it is impossible to
deny the authority of the Old Testament without denying the
authority of Lord Jesus Christ. The written and the living Word
stand and fall together.
This is followed by a description of Himself. Seven things are
mentioned concerning our Lord. 1. Heir of all Things. 2. By whom
He made the worlds. 3. The Brightness of God's Glory. 4. The
Express image of His Person. 5. The Upholder of all Things. 6.
He has purged our sins. 7. He sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty on high. What wonderful seven things these are! Oh that we
would meditate more on each, how it would strengthen our faith and
deepen our fellowship with Him. It would give us victory when the
hosts of the enemy press upon us. Our defeat is the result of losing
sight of the object of our faith, Christ.
We also can divide the description of our Lord in the first chapter
of Hebrews into three parts. 1. He is the Son of God in eternity;
One with the Father, essentially and absolutely God. This is found
in these great statements "By whom He made the worlds; who being the
brightness of His Glory and the express image of His person, and
upholding all things by the Word of His power." This could never be
said of a creature of God. Our Lord is the Creator Himself, the
express image of the person of God, the one who upholds all things.
What it all means! What a Lord we have! All this harmonizes with the
description of His Person in Colossians.
2. He is the Son of God in incarnation. This is found in the
following sentence "When He had Himself purged out sins" or as it is
literally "Having made by Himself the purification of sins." For
this great purpose He entered His own world. The mighty Creator, the
eternal Son of God, the Holy One is our Redeemer. As Son of God He
walked on the earth in the Spirit of holiness, the holy, spotless
One, God manifested in the flesh. And this wonderful Being was made
Sin for us, went as the willing sacrifice to the cross. Oh what a
record! "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; who
when reviled, reviled not again: when suffering threatened not; . .
. . . . . who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, . . . .
by whose stripes ye have been healed." What a foundation for our
faith, what assurance! He Himself has accomplished the work for us
and has made peace in the blood of His cross. He only could do it.
3. The Son of God in resurrection. "He sat down on the right hand of
the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels as He
hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." And
in verse 2 we read "Whom He (God) hath appointed heir to all
things."
All this is spoken of Him who had died on the cross and who raised
from the dead as glorified Man is at the right hand of the majesty
on high. What He is in that resurrection Glory we shall be with Him.
His Love does not stop short of this. The Glory the Father gave to
Him, He has given to us. He is the image of the invisible God,
because He is God. His redeemed people shall be transformed into His
image, that He might be the first born among many brethren. What a
thought this is! We shall image Him forth in all eternity, as He
images the invisible God. Into what depths we gaze!
Then in the second part of this chapter we find a description of His
exaltation and Glory. The Holy Spirit shows this marvelous theme
from His Word. He quotes from seven Psalms, that book which is one
of the most attacked in the present day. The Holy Spirit gives us a
key in these quotations how we should look for Christ in the Psalms.
What wickedness in face of such Scriptures to deny the messianic
prophecies contained in the Psalms. The Psalms quoted are the
following: "The ii; lxxxix (2 Sam. vii:14); xcvii; civ; xlv; cii and
cx." They reveal His Glory and in what His future Glory will exist.
And we shall share that exaltation with Him. We are destined to be
His Co-heirs. We shall rule with Him and shall be priests with Him.
He is higher than the angels in His resurrection Glory. He was made
a little lower than the angels that He could take us with Himself
into that place above the angels. All Glory and Praise to His Holy
Name. We worship and adore Thee, Thou Son of God, our Saviour and
Lord! What Glory awaits us! What dignity is ours! Oh, child of God,
you need just this one thing, to know Him better, to have the Holy
Spirit make Christ and the things of Christ, the future Glory more
real to your souls. Let Him do it. And soon we shall be with Him.
Lamb of God, Thy faithful promise
Says, "Behold, I quickly come;"
And our hearts, to Thine responsive,
Cry, "come, Lord, and take us home."
Oh, the rapture that awaits us
When we meet Thee in the air,
And with Thee ascend in triumph,
All Thy deepest joys to share!
A Glorious Vision.
THE Epistle to the Hebrews, this profound and blessed portion of the
Holy Scriptures, unfolds a most wonderful vision of the Person, the
Glory and the great Redemption work of our adorable Lord. The
portion of the Epistle which is the richest in this respect is the
Second Chapter. Here is a vista for the eyes of faith which is
sublime. Our Lord in His Person, in His humiliation and exaltation,
in His suffering and glory, stands out in a way which makes the
believing heart rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of Glory. What
He has accomplished for us, His present place in Glory and
intercessory work, His future and dominion over the earth, all are
mentioned by the Holy Spirit in this brief chapter. His humiliation
by incarnation is mentioned in these words "Thou madest Him a little
lower than the angels." "Forasmuch, then as the children are
partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of
the same." And He is the One "by whom are all things" (verse 10).
His suffering and death and its blessed results are given in this
chapter. "By the grace of God He should taste death for every man."
"That through death He might destroy him that had the power of
death, that is the devil." He made "reconciliation for sins of the
people."
We read of the gracious relations into which all believing sinners
are brought in virtue of His work on the cross. "For both He that
sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which
cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren." It is that blessed,
deep, eternal relationship of being One with Him and One with God.
Then we find here His presence as Man in Glory. "But we see Jesus,
who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of
death crowned with glory and honor."
In that attitude He is now "the merciful and faithful high Priest."
"For in that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted, He is able to
succor them that are tempted."
The ultimate result of His work is also stated. He is "bringing many
sons unto glory." And that glory will be His own glory. Not only now
but in that future day of glory He will declare "Behold I and the
children, which God hath given me."
Furthermore we have the fact of His earthly dominion, that He is to
have possession of the earth. "The world to come," that is the
habitable earth, not heaven, is to be put in subjection under Him.
"Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet." All these
blessed truths are stated in this chapter of Hebrews.
In regard to a subdued earth we read: "But now we see not yet all
things put under Him." That was true when the Holy Spirit penned
these words. This is still true and it will be true until the Father
bringeth in the First begotten into the world, when not alone all
the angels of God will worship Him (Heb. i:6), but when God will
make His enemies the footstool of His blessed feet (Psalm cx:1).
However this coming triumph for Him who was made a little lower than
the angels is not the glorious vision of this chapter. It is time by
faith we may behold the glorious consummation as revealed in the
prophetic Word, but here another vision for our present rejoicing
and present help is put before us. While we see not yet all things
put under His feet "we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor."
This is the great vision for the present. This is what the Holy
Spirit wants us to behold more than anything else. Of Stephen it is
written: "He being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly
into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the
right hand of God" (Acts vii:55). And whenever the Holy Spirit fills
us He will direct the vision of the eyes of our heart to Him who was
made a little lower than the angels and who is now in heaven crowned
with glory and honor. And only the _power_ of the Holy Spirit
filling us can make this great fact and vision a reality.
But what does this glorious vision mean to _us?_ What does it teach
us? Oh, much more than the weak pen of the writer can tell out.
The blessed One who is there crowned with glory and honor is the One
who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of
death; He bore our sins on the cross and died for us. What a
blessed, blessed proof then it is, as we behold Him there, that our
sins are completely and forever gone!
But more than that. In seeing Him there we behold ourselves. The
deliverer of our souls at the right hand of God, the second man,
crowned with glory and honor, is the pattern and forerunner of all
who belong to Him and whom He is not ashamed to call brethren. Grace
has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the
heavenlies in Christ Jesus (Eph. ii:5, 6).