It is by His continual intercession in heaven that saints on earth are succored and sustained in their wilderness journey, and, at the same time, upheld as worshipers within the vail, in all the sweet fragrance of His own divine excellencies; and neither their ignorance nor their lack of enjoyment of these things alters or affects their blessed, glorious, and eternal reality, "seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." (Heb. vii. 25.)
2. As our Great High-Priest, He presents to God the gifts and sacrifices of His worshiping people. Under the law, the worshiper brought his offering to the priest, and by him it was presented to the Lord, on His own altar. Every thing was arranged by the priest, according to the word of the Lord. How perfectly all this is done for the worshiper now by his High-Priest in heaven! Our prayers, praises, and thanksgiving, all pass through His hands before they reach the throne of God. What a wonderful mercy this is, when we think of our confused and mixed services! So much that is of the flesh mingles with that which is of the Spirit. But the blessed Lord knows how to divide and separate between them. That which is of the flesh must be rejected, and consumed as wood, hay, and stubble, while that which is of the Spirit is precious, preserved, and presented to God in the value and sweet savor of His own perfect sacrifice. "By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto His name." (Heb. xiii. 15.) The kindness of the Philippians to Paul was "an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God." Hence the importance of the exhortation, "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him." (Col. iii. 17.)
III. In the third place, we observe that the Christian's only place of worship is inside the vail, "whither the Forerunner is for us entered." Outside the camp is his place as a witness; inside the vail is his place as a worshiper. In both positions Christ is surely with him. "Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach." "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus." (Heb. xiii. 13; x. 19.) To know these two positions in communion with Christ Himself, through the teaching of the Spirit, is unspeakable blessedness. The Church has no divinely consecrated place of worship on earth. Our place is in heaven, in virtue of the sacrifice and of the priestly ministry of Christ there for us. Whatever may be the character of the building in which Christians are gathered together in the name of the Lord Jesus, their true and only sphere of worship is the heavenly sanctuary. Through faith in God's word, and by the power of His Holy Spirit, they worship Him in "the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man."
Israel had "a worldly sanctuary," and accordingly the character of their worship was worldly; "the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing." But the way has been opened up by the blood of Jesus. The same stroke that slew the Lamb rent the vail from top to bottom. The way into the holiest of all was then laid open, and Christ, with all His blood-washed ones, entered into the immediate presence of God, without a vail. There is no outer-court-worship now for the people, and temple-worship for the priest, as under the law. These distinctions are unknown in the Church of the living God. It is all priestly worship and temple worship now. All are equally near, all have equal liberty, all are equally acceptable, through the presence and intervention of the Great High-Priest of His people. The same precious blood that cleansed us from all sin, has brought us near to God as children, and as worshiping priests. And if we really know the wondrous efficacy and power of that blood in the heavenly places, we shall be at home and happy there in all the liberty and dignity of sonship, and in all the official nearness and standing of once-purged worshipers, in the most holy place.
Oh that our hearts may be kept in the sweet remembrance, knowledge, and power of the rich provisions of God's grace for all our need! Oh that we may never lose sight of the blood on the mercy-seat, the Minister of the sanctuary, and of our holy, heavenly, and eternal place of worship!
We must now leave the dear reader, earnestly commending to his most prayerful and diligent study this precious book of Leviticus. The light which it sheds on the Person and work of Christ—the ground and character of our communion with God, is deeply blessed to the heart that desires to live in the enjoyment of these eternal realities. He will find the "Notes" most helpful in unfolding the text, and in giving an interesting and practical view to many of the ceremonies which we are prone to pass over as uninteresting and uninstructive to us. See, for example, the eleventh chapter.
And now, may the Lord graciously own, use, and bless this little volume, for the glory of His own name, and for the comfort and blessing of many precious souls.
A. M.
London, May, 1860.