Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Jesus has gone ahead as forerunner on behalf of believers and entered within the veil into heaven itself, into God's presence and heavenly sanctuary. There He serves forever as High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, in a permanent priesthood that does not pass to another. His intercession there is as essential to salvation as His death, pleading His own blood before the Father for sinners and presenting the prayers of penitent believers. In 1844 He finished His mediation in the first apartment and passed within the second veil into the Most Holy Place, where He stands by the ark containing the commandments. Christian hope is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, entering where He has entered and grounded in God's unchangeable promise confirmed by an oath. That hope calls for faith that reaches within the veil to grasp God's promises, centered in Christ alone and not in self, merits, or feelings, holding firm through every trial.
Entering Within the Veil
Jesus has gone ahead as forerunner on behalf of believers, and their faith and hope follow Him where He has entered. He entered on their behalf into heaven itself, into God's presence and the heavenly sanctuary before God's throne, through His own blood by which He obtained eternal redemption. There He serves forever as High Priest and presents His blood and the prayers of penitent believers before God, and His continuing intercession there completes the work He began through His death and ascension. Through Him believers are brought near to God, and His mediation opens the way to the Father's throne where the sincere desires of those who come to God in faith may be presented.
The heavenly sanctuary where He ministers is the original of which the sanctuary built by Moses was a copy. Even the earthly sanctuary's great splendor was only a faint reflection of heaven's greater glory. Its structure and services taught important truths about the heavenly sanctuary and the work carried forward there for humanity's redemption.
In 1844 Jesus finished His mediation in the outer apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. He then rose up and shut the door in the Holy Place that no one can open, and opened the door in the inner apartment that no one can shut. He passed within the second veil into the Most Holy Place, where He stands by the ark containing the commandments, and the faith of Israel follows Him there.
Since He opened that door the commandments shine out to His people and God tests His people on the holy Sabbath. That test on the Sabbath could not come until His mediation in the Holy was finished and He had passed within the veil. Christians who died before the seventh month of 1844 without keeping the true Sabbath rest in hope, for there was no condemnation until the true light on the Sabbath came.
Priest Forever After Melchisedec
Jesus has entered within the veil ahead of believers as their forerunner on their behalf, and there He serves forever as High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. Through Him believers are brought near to God, and His entrance grounds their sure and steadfast hope as an anchor for the soul. His perfect work atoned for sin and brought everlasting righteousness and peace. His priestly ministry continues forever without ceasing, interceding for humanity, and His prayer and service in human nature provide an example of devoted service to God. By that unending ministry He keeps Calvary ever living and effective, for though He lives to God He continually dies to sin, so His priesthood applies His sacrifice without ceasing and any person who sins has an Advocate with the Father.
Being after the order of Melchisedec means His priesthood is permanent, does not pass to another, and is not superseded by another. The earthly high priest was designed in an especial manner to represent Him, clothed in consecrated robes with the breastplate and precious stones, standing as counselor and mediator and judge with no appeal from his decision. This stands in contrast to the men who held the high priesthood before and at His first advent, who were not divinely appointed but seized it through love of power and show, bribery, fraud and assassination while corrupt in heart and life.
His enthronement in His mediatorial kingdom was specially marked by the gift of the Holy Spirit, which signals His entrance within the veil and the sure hope that anchors the soul. The donation of the Holy Spirit is the greatest gift God could bestow upon finite men, free to all and beyond computation. In the gift of the Comforter God demonstrates the perfect reconciliation He has effected between Himself and men, and that reconciliation is the hope that enters within the veil.
Intercession Before God
Within the veil Jesus ministers in heaven's first apartment, pleading His own blood before the Father on behalf of sinners. There He presents the prayers of penitent believers with the fragrance of His own righteousness, and offers the blood of His atonement so that mercy and pardon are available to all who come and ask forgiveness.
His intercession is as essential to salvation as His death. His death began the work, and after His resurrection He ascended to complete it in heaven, where His continuing mediation carries it forward. Through that mediation He has opened the way to the Father's throne, where the sincere desires of those who come to God in faith may be presented. By faith believers enter there where He has gone, and the light of the cross reflected there gives clearer insight into redemption, showing that salvation cost heaven infinitely much and that His sacrifice meets the full demands of God's broken law.
By that unending priesthood He keeps Calvary ever living and effective, continually applying His sacrifice without ceasing. Though He lives to God He continually dies to sin in that ministry, so that any person who sins has an Advocate with the Father. Children and youth are to be taught to ask Him for forgiveness and pardon, for His present work makes mercy available to everyone who comes.
As great High Priest pleading before the mercy seat in behalf of His ransomed people, He ever lives to make intercession, pleading His own merits and His blood with power and efficacy. He pleads thus for the backslidden, the rebellious, and those who sin against great light and love, and He has never lost a case committed to Him. While Satan stands to accuse, He stands at God's right hand to plead for them, interceding especially for the most lowly, oppressed, suffering, tried, and tempted ones.
Though entered within the veil, He is still linked with His people in closest sympathy by the golden chain of love and truth. He beholds His tried and suffering people in a persecuting, cursed world and remembers His church in temptation, praying for them to be kept from evil and to share His self-denial, self-sacrifice, and sufferings. His prayer and service in human nature provide an example of devoted service to God. He is the Substitute and Surety, the source of hope and help for fallen people, whose merits enable repentant souls in every trial to overcome evil rather than rely on human comfort.
Hope Sure and Steadfast
Christian hope is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, entering within the veil where Jesus has entered ahead as the forerunner for His people. It is cast within the veil to Him who has gone before, holding the soul firm and secure because it is anchored in Christ above. The anchor is fixed upon Christ, the Rock of ages, a Rock rent purposely that the anchor may find a holding place, for no other foundation can be laid. He is a rent Rock giving an abiding place for the people of a perishing world.
That hope is grounded in God's promise to the heirs of promise confirmed by an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which God cannot lie there is strong comfort for those who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before them. The hope set before believers is eternal life and future immortal life, and nothing short of this will satisfy the Redeemer. His merits have purchased forgiveness and immortality for every sinful, perishing soul, and His perfect work atoned for sin and brought everlasting righteousness and peace. That anchor holds and gives comfort when health fails or loved ones are near death, because believers can have a firm hold on the promise of future immortal life.
That hope is the perfect reconciliation God has effected between Himself and men, demonstrated to men in the gift of the Comforter. The donation of the Holy Spirit was the greatest gift God could bestow upon finite men, free to all and beyond computation. Its bestowal specially marked the enthronement of the only begotten Son of God in His mediatorial kingdom.
The anchor means the constant expectation of God's favor in the heavenly world, purchased by the atonement and intercession of Jesus Christ. It keeps believers steadfast and unmovable in every hour of conflict and should keep Satan from casting his shadow across their path and eclipsing their view of the future reward. Holding it fast in the rent Rock gives security and serenity of mind to all who put trust in God and rest as a child in the care of a parent, preventing spiritual shipwreck when minds become unbalanced by having their own way. Each person knows for themselves that the Word of God is the directory, because Christ has taken the mediation between God and man.
Faith That Holds Fast
Faith is to reach within the veil where Jesus the Forerunner has entered ahead of believers into heaven and God's presence, firmly grasping God's eternal promises and holding fast to the unseen with steadfastness. That faith centered on Him as High Priest within the veil holds firm through every trial and gives assurance of victory, providing secure ground for hope amid disappointment and trouble. The Spirit-guided believer anchors there, searches Scripture for light and guidance, and faces life's perplexities and perils with peace and steadfastness in the realities of the unseen world.
Faith follows Him within the second veil, laying hold of God's promised blessing and claiming it before it is felt or realized. Faith is distinct from the blessing and from the feelings that come through it, and is not a remarkable demonstration of feeling or waiting for an impulse of feeling, but taking God at His word without anything material, saying the promise is mine because God said it. When faith reaches within the veil and lays hold of what Jesus has given, the blessing is possessed the very moment faith grasps it, feeling or no feeling. When rest and peace and evidence come it is no longer faith but assurance to be rejoiced in with full freedom of forgiveness and pardon of sin. Faith sends itself within the veil to talk with God and grasp His promises.
Hope and faith must be centered in Christ rather than in self, merits, human effort, or feelings, for heaven is gained not through our own merits but through the merits of Jesus Christ alone, since salvation cannot be found in ourselves. He has entered ahead of believers and by faith they lay hold of Him as strength, Substitute and Surety, the source of hope and help for fallen people, so that in every trial repentant souls turn to Him rather than rely on human comfort or look to feelings for proof of acceptance, and His merits enable them to overcome evil. Looking to Jesus within the veil gives hope and confidence, and the blessed hope and glorious appearing of Christ is to be talked of. Trusting in self and looking no higher than human effort makes shipwreck of faith, and doubting and unbelief dishonor God.
When faith is sorely tried and hopes are not realized, believers are not to complain or be greatly disappointed but to keep looking to Jesus the author and finisher of faith. Hope is in Jesus Christ, sure and steadfast, and He is a rent Rock giving an abiding place for the people of a perishing world. Believers are to keep their confidence in Christ their sympathizing helper and to persevere in faith and love, with strong faith in God in discouraging circumstances and without looking upon present appearances.
Anchored in Christ the soul is immovable like a tempest-tossed ship amid raging elements, driven yet not driven on the rocks or drawn into the whirlpool. Because hope is anchored in Christ, the tempted and troubled soul can remain steadfast through temptation and not be swept away by it. Faith is to follow Him within the second veil in lively exercise and take hold upon the most excellent glory, and this is how believers buffeted by the enemy refuse to yield one inch and keep rowing upstream against wind and tide to the port of glory, to eternal life and the riches of Eden, enduring a little longer until victory is won. The anchor is cast within the veil to Him who has gone before, fixed upon Christ the Rock of ages, a Rock rent purposely that the anchor may find a holding place, for no other foundation can be laid. That anchor means security and serenity of mind for all who put trust in God and rest as a child in the care of a parent, holding fast to prevent spiritual shipwreck when minds become unbalanced by having their own way, with each person knowing for themselves that the Word of God is the directory, because Christ has taken the mediation between God and man.
Earnest prayers enter within the veil where Jesus has entered God's presence as forerunner and high priest, and believers may approach the Infinite One with sanctified boldness. By faith the sinner is to look within the veil and behold Jesus before the mercy seat, and seeing Christ there opens the soul to receive the truth and trust Him as the way of salvation. This access to God is a privilege of true Christians and brings them into intimate acquaintance with Him.
The anchor holds when human plans fail and discouragement tempts to murmuring and complaint, giving confidence in God and His living oracles as the only source of strength and the only One mighty in counsel to set disordered human management right, trusting every working out of His providence even when His ways are not human ways. It holds when health fails or loved ones are near death, giving comfort through firm hold on the promise of future immortal life. It holds in sickness and in the last closing scenes of life when the lips are palsied with death, giving the dying testimony of a living Redeemer and a crown laid up for all that love His appearing.
Holding this hope requires an individual work of preparation for the great events that are before us. It calls each person to seek God more earnestly with repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ while He may be found, before the coming tempest of trouble and destruction, the shaking of the earth, the close of probation and the nearness of the end, so as to be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. This hope holds the soul firm and secure against rejecting divine mercy and being ensnared by vain philosophies of men, which ends in a lost life, and it makes possible reaching the highest standard and gaining immortal life.
Being anchored within the veil means unshakable confidence in the Bible that cannot be shaken by any kind of error. This anchor comes from studying God's Word with prayerful earnestness in youth, wrestling with difficult passages and seeking God for understanding until light shines from the sacred page and the foundation of faith is established in the heart. It is made firm by a personal knowledge of Christ who inspired the Word, enabling believers to labor for souls as a mighty power for good.
Jesus has entered heaven on behalf of believers as their forerunner and serves forever as high priest in the order of Melchisedec, and His ministry within the veil anchors hope securely and gives reason to trust God and bring burdens to Jesus. Cited with the promises that strengthen faith in God, it supports confidence in Christ who has entered for believers and serves as their high priest.
Jesus has gone ahead as forerunner on behalf of believers and entered within the veil into heaven itself, into God's presence and heavenly sanctuary.
There He serves forever as High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, in a permanent priesthood that does not pass to another.
His intercession there is as essential to salvation as His death, pleading His own blood before the Father for sinners and presenting the prayers of penitent believers.
In 1844 He finished His mediation in the first apartment and passed within the second veil into the Most Holy Place, where He stands by the ark containing the commandments.
Christian hope is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, entering where He has entered and grounded in God's unchangeable promise confirmed by an oath.
That hope calls for faith that reaches within the veil to grasp God's promises, centered in Christ alone and not in self, merits, or feelings, holding firm through every trial.
Entering Within the Veil
Jesus has gone ahead as forerunner on behalf of believers, and their faith and hope follow Him where He has entered. He entered on their behalf into heaven itself, into God's presence and the heavenly sanctuary before God's throne, through His own blood by which He obtained eternal redemption. There He serves forever as High Priest and presents His blood and the prayers of penitent believers before God, and His continuing intercession there completes the work He began through His death and ascension. Through Him believers are brought near to God, and His mediation opens the way to the Father's throne where the sincere desires of those who come to God in faith may be presented.
The heavenly sanctuary where He ministers is the original of which the sanctuary built by Moses was a copy. Even the earthly sanctuary's great splendor was only a faint reflection of heaven's greater glory. Its structure and services taught important truths about the heavenly sanctuary and the work carried forward there for humanity's redemption.
In 1844 Jesus finished His mediation in the outer apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. He then rose up and shut the door in the Holy Place that no one can open, and opened the door in the inner apartment that no one can shut. He passed within the second veil into the Most Holy Place, where He stands by the ark containing the commandments, and the faith of Israel follows Him there.
Since He opened that door the commandments shine out to His people and God tests His people on the holy Sabbath. That test on the Sabbath could not come until His mediation in the Holy was finished and He had passed within the veil. Christians who died before the seventh month of 1844 without keeping the true Sabbath rest in hope, for there was no condemnation until the true light on the Sabbath came.
Priest Forever After Melchisedec
Jesus has entered within the veil ahead of believers as their forerunner on their behalf, and there He serves forever as High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. Through Him believers are brought near to God, and His entrance grounds their sure and steadfast hope as an anchor for the soul. His perfect work atoned for sin and brought everlasting righteousness and peace. His priestly ministry continues forever without ceasing, interceding for humanity, and His prayer and service in human nature provide an example of devoted service to God. By that unending ministry He keeps Calvary ever living and effective, for though He lives to God He continually dies to sin, so His priesthood applies His sacrifice without ceasing and any person who sins has an Advocate with the Father.
Being after the order of Melchisedec means His priesthood is permanent, does not pass to another, and is not superseded by another. The earthly high priest was designed in an especial manner to represent Him, clothed in consecrated robes with the breastplate and precious stones, standing as counselor and mediator and judge with no appeal from his decision. This stands in contrast to the men who held the high priesthood before and at His first advent, who were not divinely appointed but seized it through love of power and show, bribery, fraud and assassination while corrupt in heart and life.
His enthronement in His mediatorial kingdom was specially marked by the gift of the Holy Spirit, which signals His entrance within the veil and the sure hope that anchors the soul. The donation of the Holy Spirit is the greatest gift God could bestow upon finite men, free to all and beyond computation. In the gift of the Comforter God demonstrates the perfect reconciliation He has effected between Himself and men, and that reconciliation is the hope that enters within the veil.
Intercession Before God
Within the veil Jesus ministers in heaven's first apartment, pleading His own blood before the Father on behalf of sinners. There He presents the prayers of penitent believers with the fragrance of His own righteousness, and offers the blood of His atonement so that mercy and pardon are available to all who come and ask forgiveness.
His intercession is as essential to salvation as His death. His death began the work, and after His resurrection He ascended to complete it in heaven, where His continuing mediation carries it forward. Through that mediation He has opened the way to the Father's throne, where the sincere desires of those who come to God in faith may be presented. By faith believers enter there where He has gone, and the light of the cross reflected there gives clearer insight into redemption, showing that salvation cost heaven infinitely much and that His sacrifice meets the full demands of God's broken law.
By that unending priesthood He keeps Calvary ever living and effective, continually applying His sacrifice without ceasing. Though He lives to God He continually dies to sin in that ministry, so that any person who sins has an Advocate with the Father. Children and youth are to be taught to ask Him for forgiveness and pardon, for His present work makes mercy available to everyone who comes.
As great High Priest pleading before the mercy seat in behalf of His ransomed people, He ever lives to make intercession, pleading His own merits and His blood with power and efficacy. He pleads thus for the backslidden, the rebellious, and those who sin against great light and love, and He has never lost a case committed to Him. While Satan stands to accuse, He stands at God's right hand to plead for them, interceding especially for the most lowly, oppressed, suffering, tried, and tempted ones.
Though entered within the veil, He is still linked with His people in closest sympathy by the golden chain of love and truth. He beholds His tried and suffering people in a persecuting, cursed world and remembers His church in temptation, praying for them to be kept from evil and to share His self-denial, self-sacrifice, and sufferings. His prayer and service in human nature provide an example of devoted service to God. He is the Substitute and Surety, the source of hope and help for fallen people, whose merits enable repentant souls in every trial to overcome evil rather than rely on human comfort.
Hope Sure and Steadfast
Christian hope is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, entering within the veil where Jesus has entered ahead as the forerunner for His people. It is cast within the veil to Him who has gone before, holding the soul firm and secure because it is anchored in Christ above. The anchor is fixed upon Christ, the Rock of ages, a Rock rent purposely that the anchor may find a holding place, for no other foundation can be laid. He is a rent Rock giving an abiding place for the people of a perishing world.
That hope is grounded in God's promise to the heirs of promise confirmed by an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which God cannot lie there is strong comfort for those who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before them. The hope set before believers is eternal life and future immortal life, and nothing short of this will satisfy the Redeemer. His merits have purchased forgiveness and immortality for every sinful, perishing soul, and His perfect work atoned for sin and brought everlasting righteousness and peace. That anchor holds and gives comfort when health fails or loved ones are near death, because believers can have a firm hold on the promise of future immortal life.
That hope is the perfect reconciliation God has effected between Himself and men, demonstrated to men in the gift of the Comforter. The donation of the Holy Spirit was the greatest gift God could bestow upon finite men, free to all and beyond computation. Its bestowal specially marked the enthronement of the only begotten Son of God in His mediatorial kingdom.
The anchor means the constant expectation of God's favor in the heavenly world, purchased by the atonement and intercession of Jesus Christ. It keeps believers steadfast and unmovable in every hour of conflict and should keep Satan from casting his shadow across their path and eclipsing their view of the future reward. Holding it fast in the rent Rock gives security and serenity of mind to all who put trust in God and rest as a child in the care of a parent, preventing spiritual shipwreck when minds become unbalanced by having their own way. Each person knows for themselves that the Word of God is the directory, because Christ has taken the mediation between God and man.
Faith That Holds Fast
Faith is to reach within the veil where Jesus the Forerunner has entered ahead of believers into heaven and God's presence, firmly grasping God's eternal promises and holding fast to the unseen with steadfastness. That faith centered on Him as High Priest within the veil holds firm through every trial and gives assurance of victory, providing secure ground for hope amid disappointment and trouble. The Spirit-guided believer anchors there, searches Scripture for light and guidance, and faces life's perplexities and perils with peace and steadfastness in the realities of the unseen world.
Faith follows Him within the second veil, laying hold of God's promised blessing and claiming it before it is felt or realized. Faith is distinct from the blessing and from the feelings that come through it, and is not a remarkable demonstration of feeling or waiting for an impulse of feeling, but taking God at His word without anything material, saying the promise is mine because God said it. When faith reaches within the veil and lays hold of what Jesus has given, the blessing is possessed the very moment faith grasps it, feeling or no feeling. When rest and peace and evidence come it is no longer faith but assurance to be rejoiced in with full freedom of forgiveness and pardon of sin. Faith sends itself within the veil to talk with God and grasp His promises.
Hope and faith must be centered in Christ rather than in self, merits, human effort, or feelings, for heaven is gained not through our own merits but through the merits of Jesus Christ alone, since salvation cannot be found in ourselves. He has entered ahead of believers and by faith they lay hold of Him as strength, Substitute and Surety, the source of hope and help for fallen people, so that in every trial repentant souls turn to Him rather than rely on human comfort or look to feelings for proof of acceptance, and His merits enable them to overcome evil. Looking to Jesus within the veil gives hope and confidence, and the blessed hope and glorious appearing of Christ is to be talked of. Trusting in self and looking no higher than human effort makes shipwreck of faith, and doubting and unbelief dishonor God.
When faith is sorely tried and hopes are not realized, believers are not to complain or be greatly disappointed but to keep looking to Jesus the author and finisher of faith. Hope is in Jesus Christ, sure and steadfast, and He is a rent Rock giving an abiding place for the people of a perishing world. Believers are to keep their confidence in Christ their sympathizing helper and to persevere in faith and love, with strong faith in God in discouraging circumstances and without looking upon present appearances.
Anchored in Christ the soul is immovable like a tempest-tossed ship amid raging elements, driven yet not driven on the rocks or drawn into the whirlpool. Because hope is anchored in Christ, the tempted and troubled soul can remain steadfast through temptation and not be swept away by it. Faith is to follow Him within the second veil in lively exercise and take hold upon the most excellent glory, and this is how believers buffeted by the enemy refuse to yield one inch and keep rowing upstream against wind and tide to the port of glory, to eternal life and the riches of Eden, enduring a little longer until victory is won. The anchor is cast within the veil to Him who has gone before, fixed upon Christ the Rock of ages, a Rock rent purposely that the anchor may find a holding place, for no other foundation can be laid. That anchor means security and serenity of mind for all who put trust in God and rest as a child in the care of a parent, holding fast to prevent spiritual shipwreck when minds become unbalanced by having their own way, with each person knowing for themselves that the Word of God is the directory, because Christ has taken the mediation between God and man.
Earnest prayers enter within the veil where Jesus has entered God's presence as forerunner and high priest, and believers may approach the Infinite One with sanctified boldness. By faith the sinner is to look within the veil and behold Jesus before the mercy seat, and seeing Christ there opens the soul to receive the truth and trust Him as the way of salvation. This access to God is a privilege of true Christians and brings them into intimate acquaintance with Him.
The anchor holds when human plans fail and discouragement tempts to murmuring and complaint, giving confidence in God and His living oracles as the only source of strength and the only One mighty in counsel to set disordered human management right, trusting every working out of His providence even when His ways are not human ways. It holds when health fails or loved ones are near death, giving comfort through firm hold on the promise of future immortal life. It holds in sickness and in the last closing scenes of life when the lips are palsied with death, giving the dying testimony of a living Redeemer and a crown laid up for all that love His appearing.
Holding this hope requires an individual work of preparation for the great events that are before us. It calls each person to seek God more earnestly with repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ while He may be found, before the coming tempest of trouble and destruction, the shaking of the earth, the close of probation and the nearness of the end, so as to be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. This hope holds the soul firm and secure against rejecting divine mercy and being ensnared by vain philosophies of men, which ends in a lost life, and it makes possible reaching the highest standard and gaining immortal life.
Being anchored within the veil means unshakable confidence in the Bible that cannot be shaken by any kind of error. This anchor comes from studying God's Word with prayerful earnestness in youth, wrestling with difficult passages and seeking God for understanding until light shines from the sacred page and the foundation of faith is established in the heart. It is made firm by a personal knowledge of Christ who inspired the Word, enabling believers to labor for souls as a mighty power for good.
Jesus has entered heaven on behalf of believers as their forerunner and serves forever as high priest in the order of Melchisedec, and His ministry within the veil anchors hope securely and gives reason to trust God and bring burdens to Jesus. Cited with the promises that strengthen faith in God, it supports confidence in Christ who has entered for believers and serves as their high priest.