February - the Free Presbyterian church of Scotland

38
The Free Presbyterian Magazine
in man being set adrift from heaven, as an alien and an outcast from God. It
has poured the splendours of “glory in the highest” around God’s character
and it has established, by the power of things immutable, the purity of man’s
character, the peace of his conscience and his heart, and the blessedness and
joy of his destiny.
Its virtues reach unto the highest heavens; they even prevail to save, from
going down unto the pit, those who are worthy of the lowest hell. It sweeps
sin away “as far as the east is from the west;” and “as the heavens are higher
than the earth”, so far does it remove our iniquities from us. Its sweet savour
fills the souls of believing men on earth with tranquillity and the soul of God
in heaven with rest. To Jehovah it is “a savour of rest”, and to those who
believe it gives admission into the rest of God. It is perfect. It is absolutely
final and conclusive. It makes certain a fearful looking for of vengeance and
fiery indignation for those who reject its love and ministrations, shutting
with the key of David the hell of the unbelieving, and no man can open it;
and it seals and perfects into a hope most sure and steadfast those that humbly
trust to its mediation, opening heaven for them by a new and living way, and
giving them boldness to enter in.
All this is true. And all this is made most obviously true by the fact that
its ministrations are conducted, as in their rightful native sanctuary, at the
right hand of the throne in heaven. The central throne of God is the scene of
this priesthood. It would be a terrible place of testing and of peril to a priesthood
that was not perfect; for there, on that stainless seat of holiness and
tenderest moral sensibility, any imperfection, unprofitableness, deficiency,
or fault, arising anywhere in all the universe, would vibrate with the power
of many thunders, and manifest itself with worse than the lightnings and the
darkness of Sinai.
But no; round about the throne is the rainbow of the covenant. There is no
jarring sound of disharmony to tell of something still unsettled or left unhealed.
The storm of divine wrath is past, and no clouds return after the rain.
“For this is as the waters of Noah unto Me: for as I have sworn that the
waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I
would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall
depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee,
neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath
mercy on thee.” For this Man, continuing ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood;
“He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him,
seeing He ever liveth to make intercession” – such an High Priest indeed
becomes us “who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and
made higher than the heavens”. For the law made nothing perfect, making