The Way Into the Holiest by F. B. Meyer Christian Classics Ethereal Library About The Way Into the Holiest by F. B. Meyer Title: The Way Into the Holiest URL: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/meyer/into_holiest.html Author(s): Meyer, F.B. (1847-1929) Publisher: Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library Rights: Copyright Christian Classics Ethereal Library Date Created: 2000-07-09 CCEL Subjects: All; Bible; LC Call no: BS2775 LC Subjects: The Bible New Testament Special parts of the New Testament The Way Into the Holiest F. B. Meyer Table of Contents About This Book. p. ii THE WAY INTO THE HOLIEST:. p. 1 PREFACE.. p. 1 I. THE WORD OF GOD.. p. 2 II. THE DIGNITY OF CHRIST. p. 6 III. THE GLORY OF CHRIST©S OFFICE. p. 8 IV. DRIFTING. p. 12 V. ªWHAT IS MAN?º. p. 16 VI. ªPerfect through sufferingsº. p. 20 VII. THE DEATH OF DEATH. p. 23 VIII. CHRIST©S MERCIFUL AND FAITHFUL HELP. p. 26 IX. A WARNING AGAINST UNBELIEF. p. 30 X. THE GOSPEL OF REST. p. 36 XI. THE WORD OF GOD AND ITS EDGE. p. 40 XII. TIMELY AND NEEDED HELP. p. 44 XIII. GETHSEMANE. p. 48 XIV. IMPOSSIBLE TO RENEW TO REPENTANCE . p. 53 XV. THE ANCHORAGE OF THE SOUL.. p. 56 XVI. THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. p. 60 XVII. THE SUPERLATIVE GREATNESS OF CHRIST. p. 63 XVIII. THE TRUE TABERNACLE . p. 67 XIX. THE TWO COVENANTS. p. 71 XX. THE HEAVENLY THINGS THEMSELVES.. p. 75 XXI. TEACHING BY CONTRAST. p. 79 XXII. THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. p. 83 XXIII. ªONCEº. p. 86 XXIV. AN ANCIENT HEBREW CUSTOM. p. 90 XXV. DRAWING BACK. p. 94 XXVI. FAITH AND ITS EXPLOITS. p. 98 XXVII. STRIPPING FOR THE RACE. p. 101 XXVIII. CHASTISEMENT. p. 106 XXIX. THE IDEAL LIFE. p. 110 XXX. SINAI AND SION. p. 115 XXXI. THE THINGS THAT CANNOT BE SHAKEN. p. 118 XXXII. GOD A CONSUMING FIRE.. p. 122 iii The Way Into the Holiest F. B. Meyer XXXIII. THE UNCHANGING SAVIOR. p. 126 XXXIV. THE ESTABLISHED HEART. p. 131 XXXV. THE CLOSING PRAYER. p. 135 Indexes. p. 140 Index of Scripture References. p. 140 Index of Scripture Commentary. p. 142 iv Our Daily Homily F. B. Meyer THE WAY INTO THE HOLIEST: EXPOSITIONS OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. F.B. Meyers B.A., Author of: "Tried by fire"; "The Life and Light of Men"; "The Psalms: Notes on Readings"; etc., etc. Baker Book House Grand Rapids Mich. 1951 Edited by Larry Hendrickson P.O. box 295 Lowell, OR 97452 PREFACE. This Epistle bears no name of author, or designationof church. But it needs neither. In every sentence we can detect the Authorshipof the Holy Ghost: and feel that it has a message not to one age, but to all; not to one community, but to the universal Church. We do not therefore discuss questions which are amply treated in every commentary; but set ourselves at once to derive those great spiritual lessons which are enshrined in these sublime words. And probably there is no better way of vindicating the authority of the Pentateuch than by showing that it lay at the basis of the teaching of the early Church; and that especially the Book of Leviticus was the seed-plot of New Testament Theology. There are two strong tendencies flowing around us in the present day: the one, to minimize the substitutionary aspect of the death of Christ; the other, to exaggerate the importance of mere outward rite. To each of these the study of this great Epistle is corrective. We are taught that our Lord©s Our Daily Homily F. B. Meyer death was a Sacrifice. We are taught also that we have passed from the realm of shadows into that of realities. These chapters are altogether inadequate for the treatment of so vast a theme; but such as they are, they are sent forth,in dependence on the Divine Blessing, in the fervent hope that they may serve to make more clear and plain to those who would find and enter it,the Way into the Holiest of all. F.B. MEYER. Editors note. I have endeavored to remain true to the original manuscript as was delivered to me. I did, however, make some punctuation correction so as to make it more readable to the computer audience. Namely, I replaced a few hyphens where I saw them confusing the text. I also corrected a couple of obvious errors found in the original printing. If these changes cause any confusion I, alone, take full responsibility; please e-mail me at [email protected] and I will make any corrections necessary. Larry Hendrickson I. THE WORD OF GOD. "GODÐwho at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son." HEBREWS i. 1,2. GOD." What word could more fittingly stand at the head of the first line of the first paragraph in this noble epistle! Each structure must rest on him as foundation; each tree must spring from him as root; each design and enterprise must originate in him as source. "IN THE BEGINNING-GOD," is a worthy motto to inscribe at the commencement of every treatise, be it the ponderous volume or the ephemeral tract. And with that name we commence our attempt to gather up some of the glowing lessons which were first addressed to the persecuted and wavering Hebrews in the primitive age, but have ever been most highly prized by believing Gentiles throughout the universal Church. The feast was originally spread for the children of the race of Abraham; but who shall challenge our right to the crumbs? In our endeavor to gather them, be thou, God, Alpha and Omega, First and Last. In the original Greek, the word "God"is preceded by two other words, which describe the variety and multitudinousness of his revelation to man. And the whole verse is full of interest as detailing the origin and authority of the Word of God, and as illustrating the great law which appears in so many parts of the works of God, and has been fitly called the law of VARIETY IN UNITY. That law operates in Nature. The earliest book of God. No thoughtful man can look around him without being arrested by the infinite variety that meets him on every side. "All flesh is not 2 Our Daily Homily F. B. Meyer the same flesh; . there are celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one; and the glory of the terrestrial is another. One star differeth from another star in glory." You cannot match two faces in a crowd; two leaves in a forest; or two flowers in the woodlands of spring. It w~ld seem as if the molds in which natural products are being shaped are broken up and cast aside as soon as one result has been attained. And it is this which affords such an infinite field for investigation and enjoyment, forbidding all fear of monotony or weariness of soul. And yet, amid all natural variety, there is a marvelous unity. Every part of the universe interlocks by subtle and delicate links with every other part. You cannot disturb the balance anywhere without sending a shock of disturbance through the whole system. Just as in some majestic Gothic minster the same idea repeats itself in bolder or slighter forms, so do the same great thoughts recur in tree and flower, in molecule and planet, in diatom and man. And all this because, if you penetrate to Nature©s heart, you meet God. "Of him, and through him, and to him, are all things." "There are diversities of operations; but it is the same God which worketh all in all." The unity that pervades Nature©s temple is the result of its having originated from one mind, and having been effected by one hand, the mind and hand of God. That law also operates throughout the Scriptures. There is as great variety there as in Nature. They were written in different ages. some in the days of "the fathers"; others at "the end of these days" for us. In the opening chapters, under the guidance of the Spirit of God, Moses has embodied fragments of hallowed tradition, which passed from lip to lip in the tents of the patriarchs; and its later chapters were written when the holy city, Jerusalem, had already been smitten to the ground by the mailed hand of Titus. They were written in different countries: these in the deserts of Arabia; those under the shadow of the pyramids; and others amid the tides of life that swept through the greatest cities of Greece and Rome. You can detect in some the simple pastoral life of Palestine; in others the magnificence of Nebuchadnezzar©s empire. In one there is the murmur of the blue Aegean; and in several the clank of the fetter in the Roman prison-cell. They were written by men belonging to various ranks, occupations, and methods of thought.. shepherds and fishermen, warriors and kings; the psalmist, the prophet, and the priest; some employing the stately religious Hebrew, others the Chaldaic patois, others the polished Greek-every variety of style, from the friendly letter, or sententious proverb, to the national history, or the carefully prepared treatise, in which thought and expression glow as in the fires--but all contributing their quota to the symmetry and beauty of the whole. And yet, throughout the Bible, there is an indubitable unity.