(19) Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (20) By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (21) And having a high priest over the house of God; (22) Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (23) Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) (24) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: (25) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
These words are the conclusion to the blessed doctrine going before. And they are so sweet, so gracious, so consolatory, and encouraging to every child of God, in whose spirit the Spirit witnesseth, by his regenerating, soul-renewing grace, that he hath interest in the full remission of sins just before spoken of; that I cannot but beg the Reader to pause over what is said, and ponder them, one by one.
First. The persons spoken to are brethren, yea, holy brethren, as they are called, Hebrews 3:1. And, being one with Christ, and interested in all belonging to Christ, in his communicable grace, and glory; they are indeed holy in him, 1 Corinthians 1:30
Secondly. They are said to have boldness, to enter in. And this ariseth from many causes. Christ's oneness with the Father, his Suretyship-engagements also being fulfilled. His own personal entrance there, and also as our representative and forerunner, the compleatness of his obedience and sacrifice, the ample reparation he hath made both to law and justice, and the reward which his Church is entitled to, by, and in him; all these, give a boldness to the whole brotherhood of Christ.
Thirdly. The place of entrance, namely, into the holiest. The Holy of Holies, in the Tabernacle, was a type of this. Christ is gone into heaven, which this represented. And there, by faith, we are not only commanded to follow him, but to come with boldness. For, by virtue of their oneness with him, and redemption by him, this is their final home, and their rest. Jesus declared before his return thither, that he only went before to prepare a place for them, and that he would come and receive them to himself, that where he was, there they might be also, John 14:3. Hence, in the lively exercises of faith upon his Person, and their interest in him, and union with him, they are expected to come with continued boldness, 1 Peter 1:5
Fourthly. And the way is most blessedly spoken of, in which they are to come, namely, by the blood of Jesus. Reader! do mark how blessedly the subject riseth by gradation, higher and higher. The blood of Jesus! This is the sole means, by which real soul-felt communion with God in Christ, through the Spirit, can be carried on, and enjoyed, It is, or ought to be, the soul's daily, hourly act of faith, upon the Person, and blood of Christ. There can be no access, either here, or hereafter, but in, and by Him. He hath opened this way to God and the Father, by his blood. And he ever liveth to keep it open, by his intercession. Oh! it is blessed, most blessed, thus to approach. The Church in heaven, are represented as proclaiming aloud, in their hymns of praise, that this was the way they found, of access to the throne. Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, Revelation 5:9
Fifthly. The new and living way. Not new, as if the Old Testament saints had not the same good old way. For Christ was set up from everlasting. And He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But perhaps so called, because Christ had, in fact, been newly slain; and his vesture, which John saw, dipped in blood, as if flowing then fresh from his wounds, Revelation 19:13; Revelation 19:13. And, it is probable, moreover, it may be here called a new way, in distinction to the old Covenant of Works under the Law, which this Epistle throughout had been all along shewing the incompetency of, to bring sinners to God. Now here is a new, and it is a living way; for the Law killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. And Jesus himself is the way, the truth, and the life. Oh! what sweetness, what blessedness, what soul-encouraging strength, are in these words, to a poor sinner, condemned in his own heart of sin?
Sixthly. It is also a consecrated way. Yes! For Him hath God the Father sealed, John 6:27. Pause, Reader, over this additional argument of the most unanswerable persuasion, to come with boldness to the mercy-seat. Here is not only the blood of Jesus, to give confidence to his redeemed, in that it cleanseth from all sin: 1 John 1:7. but here is Jehovah's consecration of Christ; his own appointment, and authority. It is the very remedy of God's own providing. God himself is the Author, the Contriver of it. He it is, that hath sworn Christ into his Office of High Priest, and Mediator. So that, when a poor sinner is led this way to God, by the sweet guidings of the Holy Ghost, he may well find boldness; because the way he comes to God in Christ, is not only a righteousness, and a sacrifice complete and full, and answering to all the demands of God's righteous law; but because the remedy is God's own. How can I possibly fail, (the poor sinner may say as he comes to the throne with boldness), when my God, and Father, hath himself appointed it, accepted it, and commanded me, and every poor awakened sinner so to come?
Lastly, to add no more. What a thought is that, to every child of God, to come, in addition to all that hath been said before when his drawing nigh is in and through the vail of Christ's flesh. Oh! who shall speak the blessedness, or what heart here below shall conceive, the thousandth part of that endless felicity, when we consider that all our approaches to God is in, and through the human nature of Christ; and all his Manifestations to us, are through the same medium? Even in glory, the felicity of the Church must be heightened by this cause. The brightness of celestial objects, and especially the revelations of God, in his threefold character of Person, will be softened, and tempered to our apprehensions; ripened, and made perfect, as they then will be, through the vail of Christ's flesh. And both here and there, in grace, and glory, all that our Jesus makes known to us, while they are the result of his infinite power and Godhead will be naturally unfolded to us, to suit our capacities. Infinite, large, eternal, they will be, because Christ's Godhead gives these properties to them, and such they will continue forever. But coming to us through the manhood of Jesus; this will so assimilate, and humanize them to our apprehension, and enjoyment, as to give a double blessedness to every manifestation, of grace here, and glory hereafter. Reader! behold then, with what strength of persuasion it is that we are here commanded by the Holy Ghost, when in a justified state in Christ, to come boldly to the throne, in the blood and righteousness of Christ, to grasp, and lay hold fast of our profession, and to exhort one another in it!