In this message we come to Heb. 3. This chapter opens in this way: “Wherefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling.” I like these two titles — holy brothers and partakers of a heavenly calling. No other book in the New Testament calls us holy brothers. The title holy brothers implies two main points — that we are holy and that we are brothers. We are not only brothers but holy brothers. Do you dare to say that you are a holy brother? The writer of this book could not call us holy brothers until he had covered so many of the qualifications concerning both Christ and us in the first two chapters. By the time he reaches the third chapter, he is able to call us holy brothers. Through His death and resurrection Christ has made us His brothers. Originally, we were sinners, death victims, prisoners, and captives. Praise Him that His death has made propitiation for our sins and has released us from the slavery of death. In His resurrection we were produced as His brothers. So now we can be called holy brothers. In chapter two we see that the brothers brought forth in the Lord’s resurrection are in the process of being sanctified. Therefore, we are holy brothers. We are not merely sinlessly perfect; we are divinely holy.
In Heb. 1:9 we see our relationship with God’s anointed One. That verse, which is addressed to Christ, says, “Your God has anointed You with the oil of exultant joy above Your partners.” The King James Version renders the Greek word for partners as “companions.” But a partner is better than a companion. We may be companions without being partners, but if we are partners, we certainly are companions. In God’s economy, Christ is the One whom God has appointed to accomplish His plan, and we are Christ’s partners in the divine interest. He was anointed by God, and we share His anointing for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Christ is the Heir appointed by God, and in 1:9 we see that this appointed Heir has been anointed. The anointing confirms the appointment. Firstly, God appointed the Son and then He anointed Him. As Christ’s partners we all partake of His anointing. We are partners of God’s anointed One and we share His anointing. This is a part of the gospel. It is included in the full gospel. Many people talk about the full gospel. The full gospel includes our partnership with Christ. This wonderful item is included in the full gospel. We all need to see that we are partners of Christ and that we share in His anointing. Because of this, by the time we reach 3:1, we have all that we need to be holy brothers. We have the standing, the qualifications, the reality, the life, the nature, the source, and all that we need. We are now the holy brothers.
If you knew that you were such a holy brother, what would you do? Would you still smoke cigarettes? Whenever I see a brother smoking cigarettes, my whole being goes down. I say to myself, “Oh brother, you have just sold your birthright for a cheaper price than Esau did.” How can a holy brother still smoke cigarettes? Although we have no regulations or legality, we do have our majesty. We are not only holy; we are majestic. Consider our position; we are the brothers of the Firstborn Son of God and we are the partners of God’s anointed One. This is not a small thing. If you were a brother of the president of the United States, you would be very proud and have a certain amount of majesty. But whose brother are you? You are a brother of the Firstborn Son of God and a partner of God’s anointed One for the fulfilling of God’s plan. Smoking is an insult to God’s anointed One. Yes, the Bible never says that you should not smoke, and the New Testament is not a book of laws but a book of holy brothers. Nevertheless, I believe that if the Lord would open your eyes and impress you with this marvelous item in the full gospel, you would be another person. You would be more than open for our High Priest to minister Himself into you. This would change your taste. Never again would cigarettes be tasteful to you.
Such a vision would change our preaching of the gospel. Today the preaching of the gospel is too low. As we preach the gospel, we should not only tell people that they are sinners, that they are condemned, and that they are going to perish. We have to preach the gospel in a much higher way, telling people that God is calling them to believe in His Firstborn Son that they might become His brothers, even His partners in fulfilling God’s eternal plan.
There is the need for such preaching today. I hope that some of the young brothers will be burdened to do this kind of preaching. I do not want to hear the preaching of the gospel with the same old tune that tells people that they are sinners and are going to hell. This is not wrong, but it is too low. We need to preach the gospel from Hebrews 3:1, telling the sinners how they can be converted and transformed into holy brothers. If the young people preach this gospel, many of their schoolmates will be attracted.
More than thirty-nine years ago, when I was still young, I stayed for a while in Peking, the old capital of China. In Peking there was an outstanding hospital that was sponsored and supplied by the Rockefeller Foundation called Peking Union Medical College. It was a great hospital with the highest standard. Many of the nurses who worked in that hospital were caught for the church, and some of the doctors were also caught by the higher preaching of the gospel. They were all on fire. We need this kind of preaching today.
I am burdened because I have seen something higher. I want to see people get something better. We should not preach the gospel in a low way. What is the center, the high point of the gospel? Is it to take a poor sinner, sprinkle some drops of blood on him, and send him to heaven? Do you think that God’s gospel only does this much? No, it is much higher than this. God’s gospel is to make people holy brothers. This is not my concept; it is the concept revealed in the book of Hebrews. In His resurrection, Christ has made all of us His brothers and He has come into us to declare the Father to us. Now, as the Sanctifier, He is qualified to perform the sanctifying work that makes us holy. We are His holy brothers and His partners, sharing His anointing for the fulfilling of God’s plan. Is this not in the Bible? Is it not the good news? The world needs to hear these glad tidings. Many thoughtful people in the leading universities throughout the country are wondering about the meaning of human life. So many are asking themselves, “What is the purpose of life? What will happen after my graduation?” No one in the universities can tell them. We must go and tell them the real meaning of life. Go and tell them that they can be the holy brothers of the Firstborn Son of God. If the Lord delays His coming back, I hope that after a few years this kind of preaching will be prevailing in all the universities in the United States.
The United States, Europe, and all the leading countries need to hear the higher preaching of such a full gospel, the gospel that produces holy brothers of the Firstborn Son of God. If the young people will take up this burden and go to the campuses preaching this gospel, a good number of thoughtful young people will be caught. They will be satisfied. I hope that many of you reading this message will make a deal with the Lord, telling Him that you are willing to be burdened for the preaching of the high gospel. If you are burdened to preach the high gospel, I believe that the Lord will honor your preaching. “Lord, we need more young preachers, more preachers of the fullest gospel!”
Before we go on, I would like to have some fellowship with the young people. I have been fully captured by the Lord and I know what I am doing here. I have seen the vision. In the whole universe there is nothing higher than this. I am doing the most glorious work among the humankind, and you all must do the same thing. This is why I do not care for the department stores — they are too low. I would never trade what I have in my hands for anything in the world. What I have is too high and too glorious. Today’s world needs a crusade with the preaching of the highest and fullest gospel.
The holy brothers are the heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14) who inherit “so great a salvation” (Heb. 2:3) that does not only make us holy brothers to participate in God’s holiness, but also brings us into God’s glory.
The holy brothers are also the partners of God’s appointed Heir (2, Heb. 1:9). God’s Son is God’s appointed Heir to inherit all things. This Heir has been anointed by God for the fulfilling of His eternal plan. The holy brothers have a partnership with such a One.
The holy brothers are also the followers of the Captain of salvation (2:10). The Captain of salvation is the Firstborn Son of God who has pioneered the way into God’s glory. The holy brothers are the followers of such a Captain to be brought into the divine glory.
Furthermore, the holy brothers are the brothers of the Firstborn Son of God. Christ is the Firstborn Son of God with both divinity and humanity as we have seen in one of the previous messages. The holy brothers, as human beings being regenerated with the divine life, are the brothers of Christ with humanity and divinity. They are the same as Christ in both life and nature.
Ultimately, the holy brothers are the church in resurrection (Heb. 2:12). Individually they are the brothers of Christ; corporately they are the church, the Body of Christ. This is absolutely a matter in resurrection. Before the resurrection of Christ, the church did not exist. It was through Christ’s resurrection that the church came into being, composed of Christ’s brothers. This was why after His resurrection the brothers of Christ, the church, were produced. Today the church in the Lord’s recovery must be the church in resurrection.
The holy brothers are being sanctified by and with the Son of God and the Son of Man (Heb. 2:11). The Sanctifier is the Son of God and the Son of Man. As we have seen in message eleven, we have been made qualified to be partakers of the divine holiness. The divine holiness is simply the holy nature of God. Holiness is God’s nature. As the Sanctifier, Christ is now sanctifying us dispositionally by imparting God’s holy nature into our being. I have often used the illustration of teaification. A glass of plain water is teaified by putting tea into it until the water is completely teaified. The way to teaify the water is to add the element of tea to the water until the water is saturated and permeated. Then all of the water will be teaified and will have the appearance, color, taste, and flavor of tea. This is teaification. We are the glass of plain water, and Christ is the very essence of the divine holiness, the divine nature. Christ has put Himself into us, the glass of plain water, to permeate and saturate us until we are fully sanctified with His holy nature. This is sanctification.
The holy brothers are also partakers of the divine holiness (Heb. 12:10). We are partakers of the divine holiness that is nothing less than the holy nature of God. When we are being sanctified, we are saturated into this holy nature of God. It is by this saturating way that we partake of the divine holiness.
As holy brothers, we have to pursue holiness (Heb. 12:14). On the one hand, we have been sanctified by the blood of Christ (Heb. 10:29); on the other hand we have been regenerated with the holy nature of God (2 Pet. 1:4). Now as such sanctified holy ones, we should pursue holiness in our daily walk. Without holiness we shall not see the Lord. Without it, our fellowship with the Lord will be broken. We need a holy life in order to keep a continuing fellowship with the Lord that we may see Him all the time.
As holy brothers, while we are under the process of being made holy, we are on the way to glory (Heb. 2:10). To be made holy, to be sanctified, is a preparation for us to be glorified. As we are on the way to glory, Christ is sanctifying us, ministering to our needs as the High Priest, and bringing us into glory as our Captain.
Now we come to the partakers of the heavenly calling. The term heavenly calling is used by the writer of this Epistle to compare this calling with the earthly calling. All the people in Judaism participated in an earthly calling for earthly blessings. Nothing in Judaism is heavenly. But in God’s economy, in His full salvation, we have been called by God from the heavens and called to everything that is heavenly. Therefore, this calling is a heavenly calling. Everything in it has a heavenly nature. We, the holy brothers, are partakers of such a heavenly calling. Do you like to stay with the earthly calling, or will you cross the river to be a true Hebrew partaking of the heavenly calling?
The concept of the book of Hebrews is focused on the heavenly nature of the positive things. First of all, it points out to us that Christ today is sitting in the heavens (Heb. 1:3). He has entered into the heavens (Heb. 9:24). He has passed through the heavens (Heb. 4:14) and has become higher than the heavens (Heb. 7:26). Then this book unfolds to us the heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1), the heavenly gifts (Heb. 6:4), the heavenly things (Heb. 8:5), the heavenly country (Heb. 11:16), and the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22). It also tells us that we are enrolled in the heavens (Heb. 12:23) and that God warns us today from the heavens (Heb. 12:25). All the things in the Old Testament which were held in Judaism were of an earthly nature. In this book the writer’s intention is to show the Hebrew Christians the contrast between the heavenly nature of the New Testament and the earthly nature of the Old Testament that they may forsake the earthly things and attach themselves to the heavenly.
The heavenly calling firstly calls us to the heavenly Christ (Heb. 1:3, 13; 4:14; 6:20; 7:26; 9:24; 10:12). Where is Christ today? He is in the heavens. He was on earth and He will return to earth, but now He is in the heavens. He is the heavenly Christ ministering the heavenly life, supply, and riches to us all the time that we may live a heavenly life while we are still on earth.
The holy brothers have partaken of the heavenly calling, but they are still on earth. Yet they have been enrolled in the heavens, (Heb. 12:23) having their names written in the heavens. Today we are not in the heavens, but our names are written there. We are partakers of the heavenly calling, sharing in the heavenly enrollment. So we are a heavenly people (Phil. 3:20).
We, the partakers of the heavenly calling, have been called to taste the heavenly gift (Heb. 6:4). The heavenly gift should be the heavenly things given to us by God at the time of our salvation, such as forgiveness, righteousness, divine life, peace, and joy. As partakers of the heavenly calling, we all have tasted these heavenly things.
As partakers of the heavenly calling, we also need to have the heavenly worship (Heb. 8:5; 9:23-24). Although we are on earth, our worship to God must be heavenly. The holy brothers have been called to have the heavenly worship on earth. We have to keep our worship from any earthly nature. Both our life and worship should be heavenly.
People under the Old Testament came to the earthly Jerusalem. But we, the partakers of the heavenly calling, come to the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22). The earthly Jerusalem symbolizes the law with its bondage (Gal. 4:25), whereas the heavenly Jerusalem symbolizes grace with its freedom (Gal. 4:26). The Hebrew believers should not remain under the law as children of bondage coming to the earthly Jerusalem. They should give up the earthly Jerusalem and come to the heavenly one as the children of freedom under grace.
We, the partakers of the heavenly calling, have been called to the heavenly country (Heb. 11:16). We are traveling through the earth and shall reach the heavenly country.
As partakers of the heavenly calling, we are also partakers of the Holy Spirit (Heb. 6:4). The Holy Spirit is what God promised to give man in His gospel (Gal. 3:14). In His gospel, God has called us from the heavens to the heavenly things that we may partake of His Holy Spirit. It is by God’s Holy Spirit that we have tasted the heavenly gift. It is by God’s Holy Spirit that we can live a heavenly life on earth. It is by the Holy Spirit that we can partake of the divine holiness. The Holy Spirit is just God Himself. As partakers of the Holy Spirit, we partake of God as our enjoyment. It is also by God’s Holy Spirit that we can have the heavenly worship.
We, the partakers of the heavenly calling, also partake of the divine discipline (Heb. 12:8). I have been told that in Great Britain the crown prince, the successor to the throne, receives a great deal of discipline. A prince needs to be disciplined before he can assume the throne and have the kingship. This is the kind of discipline that we are now partaking of. As successors to the throne, we all are under the divine discipline. As holy brothers we need to partake of the divine holiness brought to us by the Holy Spirit within us. As partakers of the heavenly calling, we need to partake of the divine discipline accomplished by the Holy Spirit through our environment. We holy brothers are partakers not only of the heavenly calling but also of the Holy Spirit, of the divine holiness, and of the divine discipline for us to be perfected, equipped, and qualified that we may be the proper partners of God’s anointed One.
