CHAPTER II: The words of the text, Heb. 10:19–22, explained
places in heaven to bestow? Have they mansions and offices there to dispose of? (may our high priest say). But Christ hath; 'He is passed into the heavens.'
CHAPTER II
The words of the text explained.—What is meant by the holiest.— How we enter in thither.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having a high priest over the house of God; 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.—HEB. 10:19–
22.
My subject from out of these words is, How in prayer, especially secret prayer, to converse with Christ our great high priest, entered into the heavens, and we to follow him thither by faith, and treat him there when we pray as being entered into the holiest with him.
The art and skill of this high converse with him in the heavens, is the apostle Paul's: who of all the apostles (if not alone) hath most insisted on this particular. And in this epistle he unfolds the mystery of Christ's high priesthood, as it was veiled under the type and shadow of the Levitical high priesthood of Aaron, and his successors.
And writing to the Hebrews, now turned Christians, he speaks both the doctrines and duties of the gospel in the Old Testament characters, and conciphers them. But in a special manner he had explained the mystical signification of that eminentest part of Aaron's priesthood, in his officiating on that most solemn 'day of atonements,' when he went into the holy of holies (which was the sum and complement of the high priest's service), to be Christ
'entering into the heavens' as an high priest for us (of which you may
read largely, though intermingled with other things, from chap. 4 ver. 16, and chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and so on in this 10th chapter, unto these words). And in these words (my text) he comes to the duties, or practical part that belongeth to us thereupon as inferred from thence: which likewise he utters in the language of the types of that day's rites and solemnities.
And of all those gospel duties, he begins first with this very thing which I have singled forth for my subject, viz., How to converse with God, and Christ, now he is in heaven, in allusions unto the type thereof, and there to cansact our concernments with him; which being the first of all the other exhortations made, shews it was a principal one, and most genuinely inferred from the foresaid type.
And to that end he first informs us, in ver. 19, of our right and privilege, that are saints under the New Testament, viz., to enter into the holiest, and to go to him our high priest thither; and the foundation of that privilege to be his blood, ver. 19. And withal, secondly, pointing us the way which our high priest hath paved and consecrated for us to come thither to him, ver. 20, himself having first entered as an high priest for us, ver. 21. And then, thirdly, in ver.
22, he sets forth the duty and qualifications of those that will so come, and which they that enter must seek for, or bring with them; and these drawn and inferred either from the type of the people's part, performed on that day, or by the high priest acted for them, or on their behalf.
There are three or four things or phrases in the text which I account it requisite to explain, to make way for the founding of this my subject on the words, ere I proceed upon it.
First, That by 'the holiest' here is meant the highest heavens, into which Christ is entered, and where Christ is resident, and whither we are bidden to come and enter, and whereof the holiest in the temple was the type. This is so much known to the most of intelligent readers as it needed not to be insisted on, but for the more unknowing their sake. And they may understand from our apostle
that the tabernacle of Moses, and afterwards the temple of Solomon, consisted of two courts or rooms (see 1 Kings 16:17, 19), one before the other; which the apostle exactly describes, to the end that all might understand this very thing I am upon. Chap. 9 ver. 2, 3, 'For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary or the holy. And after the second veil, the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all.' 'And the priests,' he says, namely, 'the holy, went into the first* every day to sacrifice,' ver. 6. 'But into the second' (which was the holiest) 'went the high priest once a year,' &c., ver. 7, which second he again calls, 'the holiest of all,' in ver. 8. And at ver. 9 he tells us, that this 'first tabernacle' (so he calls the whole, consisting of these two apartments) 'was a figure for that time then present.' The figure of what? The apostle plainly unriddles and explains it; ver. 24,
'Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands' (that is, into those earthly tabernacles which the priests entered into every day, and the high priest once a year entered into), 'which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.' So then we are sure that the heavens are the holy places; and the heaven Christ is now in is the holiest, and figured out by that holiest of all. I will not at all detain you with the question, whether there be not in the heavens a first court, which Christ passed through, of which the court of priests was the figure, into that heaven of heavens, of which the holiest of all, which then the high priest entered into, was the figure. The apostle, in that last place cited, doth in the plural mention both, in saying, 'the holy places,' and that they were 'figures of the true,' and it is certain the true here are the heavens. And yet again when he interprets what those places did signify, he says, 'heaven itself,' in the singular. It is enough to my present purpose, that the highest heavens is here meant by the holiest; those which Christ entered into, and where now he is, and into which we are here invited to come in; and into which our hope is said to be (in like allusion) to enter as an anchor, into 'that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered,' chap. 6 ver. 19, 20. And 'that within the veil' is plainly an allusion to the 'holy of holies.' So the apostle would have as to mind and
observe, from his foresaid description, chap. 9 ver. 2. After the second veil was the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all.
The second thing to be explained is, what is meant by entering. Our entering (for it is spoken of us, and our entering) into the holiest; that is, into heaven.
1. We all know that our going to enjoy and possess heaven, after this life and world are ended, is termed an entering into it: Matt. 25:23,
'Enter into thy master's joy;' and Acts 14:22. And Christ's entering into his glory, and into the heavens (as in this epistle), is said to be when he ascended.
But here this our entering must be understood of what is to be, and what we are to do, in this life. We being invited upon the declaration of our right to enter in, ver. 19, to come to, as the word is, ver. 22, or draw near. And it is as an act to be done by us in this life; an entry and coming with liberty of speech, as the word translated liberty and boldness, in ver. 19, also signifies. And withal to 'come to,' and 'draw near,' doth import an act of ours; and that to be with such and such dispositions as at that present are to accompany that act of drawing near, and to be exercised therein, all which dispositions are concomitants of this life. Moreover, it is as an entry whilst we are in via, in the way; viatores, wayfaring men (as the prophet Isaiah, chap.
35, terms us); so ver. 20, we are to enter 'by a new and living way,' consecrated for us, and that is in this life. In the other world we are at our journey's end.
Yet 2. There is an entering into the kingdom of heaven in this life, which is when we are first called and converted, and born again, which indeed is done but once for all, whereof baptism is the seal; of which those places are to be understood: John 3:5, 'Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God;' which phrase is also used, Matt. 19:23, 24, and Mark 10:23, 25, that 'a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of God;' that is, is hardly converted; and is spoken upon occasion of the rich young
man's refusal to come unto Christ. But this initial entrance is not meant here; for he supposeth them he speaks to, to have been as to this respect entered already; and therefore calls them brethren, ver.
19, and supposeth them to have a right already to enter: 'Seeing therefore we have boldness,' or 'right to enter' (as many interpret it), so upon that right invites them to draw near; whereas the new birth is that which gives that right first, as John 1:12, 13, and therefore is not meant here. And again, that entrance into the kingdom of heaven by effectual calling at first, is as an entrance into a state, or such as into a city, to be at first admitted a free denizen of it (the state of grace, as Rom. 5:1); but is an admission into a condition or privilege, namely, that the kingdom of heaven should belong to us. It is to be cœlo donatus, made a citizen of heaven, Phil. 3. But this here is an entrance as into a house, ver. 21, where some one dwells whom we would speak withal; and liberty of speech is that which this entrance serves unto. And this is into the holiest, you see, as into a place, in allusion to the high priest's going into the tabernacle, as a holy place; and such was Christ's entrance into heaven, as into the holy place, as was said, chap. 9 ver. 24; and this of ours is into heaven, as his was.
3. It rests then this be an entrance into heaven in this life, by our performing such acts of drawing near, and coming to God, and our high priest there, as are to be continued and increased after our first conversion, and performed between it and our entering into the actual fruition of the glory of heaven. And that there are such actings of soul, in the exercise of which we do truly and really enter into heaven, and are so called, the Scriptures are not wanting as to the using this phrase in that sense. The apostle, 2 Peter 1:11, having exhorted unto an exact diligence in all good works after calling, and unto adding all sorts of graces, as occasions call for the exercise of them, and to abound therein; from ver. 5 to 10, he then proposeth four or five spiritual advantages that will accrue thereby, proceeding by a gradation in them, ver. 10. And the last and highest of them is in ver. 11, 'For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.'
This is narrowed by most interpreters* unto an abundant free
entrance into heaven, and reception of our spirits by Christ at our death; according as we have abounded in good works, to be filled at our death with joy and comfort answerable; as also at the latter day, when Christ shall say, 'Come, ye blessed; for ye saw me hungry,' &c.
And it is certain that the word enter is used of our taking that full possession of enjoyment after death of the kingdom of heaven, as Acts 14:22, and frequently elsewhere; yet I find Calvin to take in unto this, the promise of all those rich supplies and assistances, which God vouchsafes all along during this life, whereby to bring us to heaven. And some protestant interpreters since, take it to include assurance in this life, and a promise that eternal life, and the happiness thereof, shall open itself to you more and more, or be set open wider unto your spirits, so as to enjoy the larger sense thereof in your souls, that you may more amply and freely pierce into the inwards of heaven, and enjoy the sense of that life in a larger measure. I have in the margent cited these, that I may not appear alone in giving this sense; though I take the words to extend to both, viz., unto our entrance by way of full fruition in the other world; the comfort whereof at death God often gives to those that have abounded in holiness, that their souls are in heaven whilst in their bodies, and in the suburbs of heaven. And they crowd not in, but have the great broad gates set wide open to them. Yet withal, also, that in the mean time holy walking procureth, ministereth, or affordeth in the very doing, the privilege of a more abundant entrance into heaven every day more and more, all along this life; by Christ's manifesting himself to them; as John 14, upon 'keeping his commandments.' And in the coherence of the words in Peter with the foregoing, the promise hereof comes in last, as an increase or surplusage of the former privileges (all which are in this life). One mentioned, ver. 10, was, that we should thereby 'make our calling and election sure.' And this of 'abundant entrance' is not the same with that; not a repetition of the same matter, of assurance namely, but an addition of a distinct and further benefit; a further, and indeed the highest, degree attainable in this life, the top of his climax, or highest ascension of such attainments. As if he had said, you shall not only 'make your calling and election sure,' but you shall
enter more and more into heaven, and live in heaven aforehand whilst you live, and take an ample possession of it in the first fruits thereof, which yet is called but an entering (though often still renewed), because it is at highest in this life but an imperfect attainment; and in comparison of the latter full entrance, which is upon death, but as an entrance, a first entrance, and first fruits and earnest, and yet said to be an entrance. And thus, Heb. 4, 'we who have believed do enter into rest;' and therefore going on 'from faith to faith,' as Rom. 1, we enter further into rest, as faith increaseth, every renewed act being a renewed entrance; and thus we are entering all our life long. And this Jacob, that so extraordinary saint and patriarch, had enjoyed long afore death. He says, 'This is the house of God, and this is no other than the gates of heaven,' which in that vision (wherein he saw Christ and the angels) he had been taken up into, Gen. 28:17. Yea, and every soul that walks very holily, and abounds in it, though he enter not into the joys of heaven, such as are
'unspeakable and full of glory,' yet he may truly be said to go further up into heaven, in his so walking, and to obtain larger room and place there than other men, though holy. He enters further up into the country every day, into the heart of it, as we use to say,—though it be true that every true Christian is passed from death to eternal life, from hell into heaven;—and when possession or fruition shall come, such a man will find a more rich and ample provision to have been made for him there against he comes.
4. But if, in the last place, more strict inquiry be made, what actings, exercises of faith and holiness, the apostle doth here in this my
Hebrews text, more especially intend, and calleth an entering into heaven, and a coming to, and drawing near? I answer:
(1.) In general. All gospel worship and ordinances, which therefore by way of inference from this here in ver. 19, he in the 23d exhorteth not to forsake. And we must consider that his exhortation, begun in the 19th verse, is an inference from his discourse afore of the Jewish worship, and particularly of that on that solemn day of atonement, when the high priest went into the holiest, which was the highest
worship that the Jews had prescribed them; and was a day of pure worship. They were to do no work thereon. Yea, and was styled a Sabbath of Sabbatism, the queen of sabbaths, and above all other sabbaths whatsoever. And you may observe how in the beginning of this chapter, wherein he goes on to interpret and unfold the mysteries of this day's solemnity, he styles them that come to it, 'the worshippers,' 'the comers thereunto,' verses 1, 2, and from which (namely, that his discourse, doctrinally treated by him in three chapters afore) it is he deduceth his exhortation here. So then gospel worship and ordinances may in general be understood to be an entrance into heaven, and the dispositions required in ver. 22, to be the inward qualifications requisite unto all such worship.
But (2.) in a more special and eminent manner, I conceive, he understands prayer, and especially private prayer. And I am so far from being alone in it, that I find myself compassed about with a cloud of interpreters, who, almost generally, carry it unto prayer. I could fill a leaf with their names and sayings to this purpose upon some or other of these. And that parallel-like exhortation (which many of them do allege for this), Heb. 4:14, 'Seeing we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God;' and ver. 16, 'Let us come boldly to the throne of grace.' The exhortation there, 'Let us come,' is a coming by faith in prayer, imploring for help in time of need and distress; so the psalmist useth the word to 'come to God:' Ps. 65:2, 'To thee shall all flesh some.'
How? 'For thou art a God hearing prayer.' It is a coming then by prayer. And the word here in my text, 'let us draw near,' προσερχώμεθα, is in the original the very same that is there in chap.
4:16. And in the next chapter to this where my text is (the 11th), 'He that cometh to God' is one that 'diligently seeks him;' and that is by prayer. But if it were as it is translated 'draw near,' it likewise importeth prayer: James 4, 'Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you; be afflicted, and mourn,' &c. Again, in that parallel, chap.
4:16, it is a coming to God 'to obtain mercy, and find grace to help.'
And all that speaks prayer. For these are the aim of a soul that invocates God by prayer, to obtain his mercy for pardon; and grace
for supplies of all their spiritual wants, and other needs. And also the word βοήθεια there used, is a crying out for help in case of extremity.
Likewise the word there translated 'boldly,' μετὰ παῤῥησίας, with boldness, is properly 'liberty of speech.' And what is that but to come and speak freely to God our needs, and boldly to use all sorts of pleas with him, which grace and mercy in him do afford, to obtain relief and succours, to pour out our hearts afore him? And is not the very word also that the apostle chooseth here in my text, to form his exhortation in, the very same? 'We having boldness, let us come,' or draw near; that is, having liberty to speak, and speak out our minds, our whole hearts, let us come and do it. Every word in that Heb. 4 speaks prayer; and with that exhortation there doth this here correspond and agree. The allusion also here of entering refers unto the Jews, their coming to worship, which is styled an 'entering into God's courts,' Ps. 100; and their coming with praise and thanksgiving
(which is a part of prayer, 2 Tim. 1:1*) in the 4th verse of that psalm, 'Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.' But further, the special allusion of this whole paragraph, my text, being specially made to the worship and practices of that day wherein the high priest entered into the holiest (which phrase of entering into it is so often repeated in this epistle), this brings it yet nearer home unto prayer as meant, and shews that it is a coming to God and Christ by prayer. For both on the high priest's part that day, as he went in by blood into the holiest, so by incense to make a cloud, and by these two alone he went into the holiest: Lev. 16:12, 13, 'And he shall take a censer fall of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not.' This all of us that come into the holiest are to imitate. Now, not only incense betokens prayer (as in the psalms), which was required, on the high priest's part, but on the people's part also. It was required of them, that whilst incense was offering, they should pray without: Luke 1:9, 10, 'According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the