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In Hebrews 13, Christ is presented as the One who remains the same.
Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes, even forever.” We should remember that the writer of the book of Hebrews spoke this word after Christ ascended to the heavens. Before His ascension He underwent changes; that is, He passed through processes. In eternity past, Christ was only the Son of God, not the Son of Man. He did not have humanity, the flesh. However, in His incarnation Christ underwent a change, picking up humanity and putting the flesh upon Himself (John 1:1, 14). Christ then passed through death and entered into resurrection. In resurrection He, as the last Adam, was transfigured into the life-giving Spirit. Thus, He changed to become that which had not been — the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). After passing through all His processes, including incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, Christ, the embodiment of God, is now processed and consummated. For Jesus Christ to remain the same yesterday, today, and forever does not mean that Christ remains unprocessed from eternity past, through time, and into eternity future. Rather, by passing through the processes, Christ underwent many changes. Yet since He went through and completed the processes, He is now processed and consummated, possessing divinity, humanity, human living, the all-inclusive crucifixion, the all-surpassing resurrection, and the all-transcending ascension. As the Christ who has been processed and consummated, He remains the same and will remain the same forever.
Christ, who is the word that the ministers of the word of God in Hebrews 13:7 preached and taught, who is the life that they lived, and who is the Author and Perfecter of their faith, is perpetual, unchangeable, and unchanging. He remains the same forever (1:11-12). There must not be another Jesus and another gospel preached in the church (2 Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:8-9). For a true and steadfast church life, we must hold on to the Christ who is the same yesterday and today, and even forever, and we must not be carried away by various strange teachings (Heb. 13:9).
Hebrews 13:12 says, “Therefore also Jesus, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.” The expression the gate is the gate of the city of Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus was crucified in Golgotha, which is outside the city of Jerusalem (John 19:17-20). The people of God rejected Him, the sent One of God. Even though He is the Son of God, the children of Israel had Him crucified outside the city. Christ’s body was carried outside the gate. There He suffered death so that He might sanctify the people through His own blood.
Christ’s body suffered the death of the cross outside the gate, and His blood was brought into the Holy of Holies for our sanctification (Heb. 13:11-12). The book of Hebrews unveils to us that God’s heavenly calling is to make us a holy people (3:1), a people sanctified unto God. Christ is the Sanctifier (2:11). He suffered death on the cross, shedding His blood, and entered the Holy of Holies with His blood (9:12) that by the heavenly ministry (8:2, 6) of His heavenly priesthood (7:26) He might be able to do a sanctifying work and that we might enter within the veil by His blood to participate in Him as the heavenly Sanctifier. By participating in Him in this way, we are enabled to follow Him outside the camp on the sanctifying pathway of the cross.
The Lord’s blood, through which He entered into the Holy of Holies (9:12), opened the new and living way, enabling us to enter within the veil to enjoy Him in the heavens as the glorified One (10:19-20). His body, which was sacrificed for us on the cross, cut the narrow way of the cross, enabling us to go outside the camp to follow Him on earth as the suffering One (13:13).
Hebrews 13:11-12 tells us that Jesus as the sin offering suffered outside the gate: “For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the Holy of Holies for sin by the high priest are burned up outside the camp. Therefore also Jesus, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.” Since Jesus suffered outside the gate, those of us who enjoy Him as the sin offering must also be outside the gate. We must follow Him outside of the world and any religious camp. We must be outside of any religious organization and any kind of worldly organization. Christ was judged there, and that is also our place. The more we are outside the gate, the more we are in the place where Jesus was “burned to ashes.” Then we can truly enjoy Him and praise Him for the blood and the ashes. We are on the same standing as the ashes. We are the followers of Christ, who have left the camp. We are not in any kind of worldly or religious organization. The redeeming Jesus has led us out of all these things. Now all we see is the blood and the ashes. Those who follow Jesus out of the camp also become ashes. We are nothing but ashes following Jesus. This is the full enjoyment of Christ as the sin offering.
Hebrews 13:13 says, “Let us therefore go forth unto Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.” The gate in verse 12 refers to the city of Jerusalem, which signifies the earthly realm, while the camp in verse 13 refers to the tabernacle, which signifies human organization. Together, the two signify one thing, the Jewish religion with its two aspects, the earthly and the human. Judaism is both earthly and human. Christ was crucified outside the governmental gate, the gate of the city of Jerusalem, but we need to follow Him outside the religious camp, bearing His reproach. This means that we are passing through the process of suffering that He underwent. As suffering ones, we will become the same as He is.
If we would be proper Christians, we must experience Christ in the way of going outside the camp to bear His reproach, following Him in the sanctifying pathway of the cross. We must experience Christ in this particular aspect. If we would experience Him in this aspect, we must enter “within the veil” (6:19-20), that is, into the Holy of Holies, to enjoy Him as our heavenly Sanctifier in His heavenly priesthood (10:19-20).
“Outside the camp” and “within the veil” (13:13; 6:19) are two very striking points in the book of Hebrews. To enter within the veil means to enter into the Holy of Holies, where the Lord is enthroned in glory, and to go outside the camp means to come out of religion, whence the Lord was cast in rejection. This signifies that we must be in our spirit, where experientially the practical Holy of Holies is today, and outside religion, where the practical camp is today. The more we are in our spirit, enjoying the heavenly Christ, the more we will come outside the camp of religion, following the suffering Jesus. Being in our spirit to enjoy the glorified Christ enables us to come outside the camp of religion to follow the rejected Jesus. The more we remain in our spirit to contact the heavenly Christ, who is in glory, the more we will go forth outside the camp of religion unto the lowly Jesus to suffer with Him. By contacting Christ in the heavens and enjoying His glorification, we are energized to take the narrow pathway of the cross on earth and bear the reproach of Jesus.
First, the book of Hebrews gives us a clear vision of the heavenly Christ and the heavenly Holy of Holies, and then it shows us how to walk on the earth in the pathway of the cross, that is, how to go forth unto Jesus outside the camp, outside religion, bearing His reproach. Even Moses, after the children of Israel worshipped the golden calf (Exo. 32), moved to a place outside the camp, where everyone who sought the Lord went to meet with him, for both the Lord’s presence and the Lord’s speaking were there (33:7-11). We must go outside the camp so that we may enjoy the Lord’s presence and hear His speaking. Our spirit must be in the heavens with Christ, and our steps must be with Jesus outside the camp of religion. All these things are necessary for the practical and proper church life.
Christ is our offering, our portion offered to God for us on the altar of the cross. The way to enjoy Him as our portion is twofold. On the one hand, we enjoy the ascended Christ in the heavens in our spirit, and on the other hand, we need to follow His steps outside the camp and bear His reproach. In these two ways we fully enjoy Him as our portion. The way to enjoy Him is by entering the veil and going outside the camp. To enter the veil is to enjoy the heavenly Christ in our spirit, and to go outside the camp is to give up organized religion to follow Jesus. There is no other way to fully enjoy Him. The more we enjoy Him as the heavenly Melchizedek in our spirit, the more we will step outside the camp and give up organized religion.
To bear the Lord’s reproach means that we bear the same reproach He bore; it is to bear His disgrace or shame. Further, to bear His reproach is to bear the cross (Matt. 16:24). The more we are despised, the happier we should be because we are bearing the cross. The reproach He suffered now becomes our reproach. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He suffered reproach from religion. Now as His followers, we must bear His reproach, suffering reproach from religion. This is to be a joint partaker of the tribulation in Jesus (Rev. 1:9). This is the only way for us to follow Him and enjoy Him as our portion. This is the way of faith, the way of the cross, which is the narrow pathway for us to enjoy Christ in a practical way. May the Lord be gracious to us that we may practice this.
On the one hand, we are within the veil; on the other hand, we are outside the city, the camp. On one hand, we are in the Holy of Holies; on the other hand, we are before men. Inwardly, we enjoy the resurrected Christ, and outwardly, we follow Jesus. When we pray in our room in the morning, we contact Christ. This can be likened to the Shulammite and Solomon living and fellowshipping together in the palaces of ivory (Psa. 45:8 S. S. 1:4). We touch the Lord in the inner chamber, in the Holy of Holies, in the secret place. When we testify for the Lord and work for the Lord in our outward living, we can be likened to Abigail, wandering with David in the wilderness (1 Sam. 25:39-42).
Every day we experience these two aspects. On the one hand, we are within the veil as the Shulammite, living in the Holy of Holies and enjoying the resurrected and glorified Christ, the One greater than Solomon (Matt. 12:42). On the other hand, we are outside the camp as Abigail, living in the world and following the lowly Jesus (v. 3). Like the Shulammite, we inwardly remain in the palaces of ivory and fellowship with the Lord, the real Solomon, and like Abigail, we outwardly live and work by following the Lord, the real David, to war and suffering. The One within is the resurrected Christ, whereas the One without is Jesus the Nazarene. Inwardly, we have the enjoyment of the Shulammite in the secret place, and outwardly, we have the public living of Abigail.
We not only enjoy the resurrected Christ within, but we follow the suffering Jesus without. Our colleagues, relatives, neighbors, and friends may persecute and trouble us when we testify for the Lord. At such times, we are outwardly walking on a narrow way similar to that of Jesus the Nazarene. Nevertheless, when people trouble, persecute, oppose, and harass us, we enjoy the resurrected Christ inwardly.
Philippians 3:10 says, “To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” As far as Christ is concerned, He first experienced suffering and then resurrection. As far as we are concerned, we touch resurrection and then experience suffering. He died and then resurrected, but we resurrect and then die. No one can take the way of the cross by himself; neither can he follow the footsteps of Jesus the Nazarene by himself. It is not until a person touches and contacts the resurrected Christ within and the resurrected Christ enters into him that he can say, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). It is the resurrected Christ in us who leads us to follow the suffering Jesus. He has walked the way of the cross and entered into us in resurrection. Now He is leading us to take the way of the cross.
When we enter within the veil by entering into our spirit, we taste the sweetness of the heavenly Christ so that we may be enabled to go outside the camp, forsaking the earth and its love. As we stay within the veil, we also have our spirit filled with the glory of the heavenly Christ so that our heart may be freed from the possession of the earth’s enjoyment outside the camp. Furthermore, within the veil we behold the glorified Christ so that we may be attracted to follow the suffering Jesus outside the camp. Beholding His countenance in heaven enables us to trace His footsteps on earth. As we enter within the veil, we are infused with resurrection power (Phil. 3:10) so that we may be empowered to walk the pathway of the cross outside the camp. We also participate in the ministry of the heavenly Christ so that we may be equipped to minister Him to the thirsty spirits outside the camp. Here we enjoy the Lord’s best so that we may be enriched to meet the needs of people outside the camp.
The Holy of Holies, the pathway of the cross (signified by the going forth unto Jesus outside the camp, bearing His reproach), and the kingdom are three crucial matters set forth in the book of Hebrews. The Holy of Holies with its rich supply enables us to take the narrow, difficult pathway of the cross, and the pathway of the cross ushers us into the kingdom in its manifestation so that we may obtain the reward of glory.
Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through Him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise continually to God, that is, the fruit of lips confessing His name.” This verse presents a profound thought. When we bear the reproach of Jesus and suffer on His behalf, we often groan and do not offer any praise to God. Yet the writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that when we pass through reproach and suffering, we should continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.
Verse 15 is a continuation of verses 8 through 14. Since in the church life we enjoy the unchanging Christ as grace and follow Him outside religion, we should offer through Him spiritual sacrifices to God. First, in the church we should offer up through Him a sacrifice of praise to God continually. In the church He sings in us hymns of praise unto God the Father (2:12). In the church we too should praise God the Father through Him. Eventually, in the church He and we, we and He, praise the Father together in the mingled spirit. Christ as the life-giving Spirit, praises the Father in our spirit, and we, by our spirit, praise the Father in His Spirit. This is the best and highest sacrifice that we can offer to God through Him. This is greatly needed in the church meetings.
Through the Christ whom we have experienced and enjoyed, we need to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. The real praise in the meetings must be constituted of our experiences of Christ. The sweetest praises we can offer to the Father are those we offer to Christ and which concern Christ. There is nothing more pleasant to the Father’s heart than this. Real worship to the Father is the offering of His Son. In the preaching of the gospel, we tell the sinners that Christ is the Son of God, who redeemed us and who can save us and bring us to the Father. If we minister these things regarding Christ to the unbelievers, this is real worship to the Father. To worship God the Father is simply to present the Son of God. The real praise to the Father comes out of our experience of Christ in our daily life. This is a very pleasing praise to the Father, gladdening and rejoicing His heart. The Father desires that we glorify Him with the Son. If we glorify the Son, we glorify the Father. When we glorify the Son, the Father is glorified in His Son’s being glorified by us (John 17:1). The praises out of our experience and enjoyment of Christ — the spiritual praises about Christ — are the best praise to the Father.
Hebrews 13:16 goes on to tell us about “doing good and sharing with others.” Doing good refers to giving, and fellowshipping refers to sharing, that is, having fellowship in the needs of the saints. This kind of doing good and fellowshipping with others also are sacrifices that we should offer to God. These too are necessary for a proper church life. It is truly improper if in the church some needy saints are not well cared for and ministered to. This means that the fellowship with others is absent or inadequate.
Hebrews 13:20 says, “Now the God of peace, He who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of an eternal covenant.” The sheep here are the flock, which is the church. This confirms the view that the things covered in Hebrews 13, with the experience of the unchanging Christ as our sin offering, through whom we were redeemed, and as our great Shepherd, by whom we are now being fed, are all for the church life. Today Christ as the High Priest is the Shepherd who takes care of us for the church as we pass through the sufferings of Christ (1 Pet. 4:13).
Hebrews 13:20 speaks of the eternal covenant. The book of Hebrews does not concern temporal things, such as the things of the old covenant, but eternal things, things that are beyond the limit of time and space, such as eternal salvation (5:9), eternal judgment (6:2), eternal redemption (9:12), the eternal Spirit (v. 14), the eternal inheritance (v. 15), and the eternal covenant (13:20). The new covenant is not only a better covenant (7:22; 8:6) but also an eternal covenant. It is eternally effective because of the eternal efficacy of Christ’s blood, with which it was enacted (Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:20).
The eternal covenant is the covenant of the new testament to gain a flock, which is the church issuing in the Body and consummating the New Jerusalem. The eternal covenant of God is to consummate the New Jerusalem by the shepherding. God raised up our Lord from the dead to be the great Shepherd to consummate the New Jerusalem according to God’s eternal covenant.
Hebrews 13:20 indicates that it was by the blood of the eternal covenant that God raised Christ from the dead. All that God has ordained has been covenanted to be our portion. This portion is actually God Himself with His nature, life, attributes, and virtues. It is through the blood of the covenant that God becomes our portion. The blood of the covenant brings us into God, into the divine life and nature, into the inward law of life and the ability of life to know God, and into the infusion, transfusion, and enjoyment of God both now and in eternity. This is the function of the blood of the covenant.
The blood of the covenant is not mainly for forgiveness; it is primarily for God to be our portion. God has ordained and predestinated us to enjoy Him. This enjoyment has also been covenanted to us. This covenant was enacted by the blood of Jesus Christ, the blood which brings us into all the divine blessings. According to Matthew 26:28, the Lord Jesus took the cup and said, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” According to Luke 22:20, the Lord Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant established in My blood.” In 1 Corinthians 10:16 Paul refers to the cup as the “cup of blessing.” This cup of blessing is the covenant enacted by the blood. The blood of the new covenant is the blood which enacted the covenant of blessing. The covenant is the cup and also the blessing as our portion. This portion is God Himself for our enjoyment.
The blood is spoken of in Exodus 12 and 24 and Leviticus 16. In Exodus 12 we see the blood of the passover lamb for redemption; in Exodus 24 we see the blood of the sacrifices for the enactment of the law; and in Leviticus 16 we see the blood of the expiation by which man could enter into the Holy of Holies, contact God, and be one with Him. In the New Testament we see that the Lord Jesus shed His blood on the cross. This is typified by the blood of the passover lamb in Exodus 12. With the blood shed on the cross, the Lord enacted the new testament. This is typified by the blood in Exodus 24. Ultimately, the blood of Christ brings us into the fullness of God as our eternal enjoyment. This aspect of the blood, the blood of the eternal covenant, is typified by the blood in Leviticus 16.
The blood brings us into the Holy of Holies; that is, it brings us into God. When the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies, it was not his purpose to observe the law. On the contrary, because of the blood sprinkled in the Holy of Holies, he could enjoy God, behold His beauty, and receive His infusion. Enjoying God in this way is what produces a man of God.
In Revelation 7 those who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” are before the throne of God, in the temple of God, and are brought to springs of waters of life (vv. 14-17). Furthermore, 22:14 says, “Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city.” Here we see that through the washing of the blood, we have the right to come to the tree of life and enter into the city, New Jerusalem. The tree of life and the city are the ultimate aspects of God as our portion. If we view the Bible as a whole, we will see that the blood of the covenant brings us into the full enjoyment of God as our portion both now and forever.
Hebrews 13:21 tells us that through Christ the God of peace is “doing in us that which is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” God is doing in us that which is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ that we may be able to do His will. God works in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). From beginning to end, the book of Hebrews presents to us a heavenly Christ. Only in 13:20-21, with the expression God...doing in us...through Jesus Christ, does this book imply the indwelling of Christ. It is through the indwelling Christ that God works in us so that we can do His will.
Through Jesus Christ God does in us that which is well pleasing in His sight. This means that God is working in us. Not only is God leading us to go outside the camp to bear the reproach of Christ; He is also working within us that which is well pleasing in His sight in order that we would live a life according to His pleasure.
In verse 21 Jesus Christ is the subjective Christ. This indicates that God must work within us subjectively through Jesus Christ. This conclusion impresses us that all the teachings within the book of Hebrews are for the subjective work of God within us.
Hebrews 13:21 indicates that the great, wonderful, and inexhaustible Christ is now in us. This Christ in us is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). As the Spirit within us, He is always available and easy to experience. If we would simply pray a little, we would pray ourselves into our spirit to touch this One and enjoy Him. He is inexhaustible yet available. As we enjoy the aspects of Christ as revealed in the book of Hebrews, we will be led into the experience of His humanity, His divinity, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension, and we will grow in Him in all these aspects. The book of Hebrews reveals many wonderful aspects of Christ for our experience and enjoyment. It will take our entire lifetime and even eternity for us to enjoy all these aspects of what Christ is to us.
