Bible Commentaries

Hebrews 7:15-16

If God dwells in the heart, and is vitally united to it, He will show that He is a God by the efficacy of His operation. Christ is not in the heart of a saint as in a sepulchre, or as a dead saviour that does nothing; but as in His temple, and as one that is alive from the dead. For in the heart where Christ savingly Hebrews 7:22

His honour, and His great court in heaven, hath not made Him forget His poor friends on earth. In Him ho ours change not manners, and He doth yet desire your company. Take Him for the old Christ, and claim still kindness to Him, and say, "O it is so; He is not changed, but I am changed". Nay, it is a part of His unchangeable love, and an article of the new covenant, to keep you that ye cannot dispone Him, nor sell Him. He hath not played fast and loose with us in the covenant of grace, so that we may run from Him at our pleasure. His love hath made the bargain surer than so; for Jesus, as the cautioner, is bound for us.

—Samuel Rutherford, to Lady Kenmure (26th November, 1631).

References.—VII:22.—F. B. Cowl, Preacher's Magazine, vol. xviii. p380. VII:23.—Expositor (4th Series), vol. i. p443. VII:23-25.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii. No1915.

Hebrews 7:24-26

The name of priest has been desecrated, till the very word, in some degree, carries with it the idea of something either spiritually despotic, or drily ecclesiastical and official; yet what word, what thought is in reality so tender as that of a Hebrews 7:25

We have here a brief but explicit statement, on the one hand, of the ability of Christ to save, and, on the other, of the ground on which that ability rests.

I. As to the ability of Christ to save—this is considered under two different aspects: as to its extent or range, and as to its intrinsic efficacy. (1) It extends to all those who come to God by Him. For though the word "all" does not occur in the passage, it is of course implied. The phrase is precisely analogous to our Lord's own words: "Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out," which is equivalent to saying: "Every one that cometh to Me shall certainly be received". No doubt He has power to save even those who neglect or refuse to come. But this thought is not present to the mind of the writer, who is contemplating the completeness of the salvation provided tor those who come to God to obtain it, not the possibilities that are open to those who do not. (2) But Christ's ability to save, not only meets us at the threshold as it were of our approach to God, and assures of its sufficiency to bring us into His fellowship, it also assures us of His power to complete the process which He thus begins. He is able to save to the uttermost. This does not mean to the end of life, or up to the time of the Second Advent, though that is no doubt involved in the words. The idea rather is that His power is adequate to secure the perfect salvation of all who come to Him, so that nothing shall be required for its completeness which He is unable to supply. And this is the assurance that we need. II. But we have still to consider the ground on which this saving ability of Christ rests. (1) It rests upon the fact of His ever living to make intercession. In this respect He presents a contrast to the Levitical priesthood. It passed from one to another as death removed the successive occupants of the office. But Christ abideth for ever, and there is no interruption to the continuity of His mediation. (2) Again, we may gather that the power of Christ's intercession springs from His atonement. This Hebrews 7:25

"If the person," says Guthrie of Fenwick, in The Christian's Great Interest, "have a heart to come unto Him through Christ, then He is able to save to the uttermost. Yea, it is more provoking before God, not to close with Christ when the offer comes to a man, than all the rest of his transgressions are."

References.—VII:25.—C. Perren, Sermon Outlines, p327. T. D. Barlow, Rays from the Sun of Righteousness, p110. J. Keble, Sermons for Ascension Day to Trinity Sunday, p42. T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. iii. p86. G. A. Sowter, From Heart to Heart, p219. J. Keble, Sermons for Lent to Passiontide, p386. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii. No84. J. Keble, Sermons for Septuagesima to Ash Wednesday, p421. W. Robertson Nicoll, Sunday Evening, p355. VII:26.—Expositor (5th Series), vol. vii. p297; ibid. (7th Series), vol. vi. p423. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture— Hebrews, p10. VII:27.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvi. No2693. VIII:1 , 2.—A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture— Hebrews, p20.