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"I keep under my body . . . . . lest . . . . . I myself should become disapproved
(dokimos). Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that
ALL our fathers were under the cloud, and
ALL passed through the sea; and were
ALL baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea: and did
ALL eat the same spiritual meat; and did
ALL drink the same spiritual drink . . . . . but with
MANY of them God was not well pleased: for they were
overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples" (I Cor. 9: 27 - 10: 6).
This same point is stressed in the opening of the Epistle to the Hebrews:
"With whom was He grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned,
whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? . . . . . Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being
left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it . . . . . For we
have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but
was in all points tempted as we are, apart from sin" (Heb. 3: 17; 4: 1, 15).
We must remember that salvation from sin is not here in view, nor are the
temptations here the temptations of the unsaved; on the contrary, they are parallel to the
trials of the wilderness. Grace, however, is ever available, and is to be found at the
throne of grace, where Christ now sitteth at the right hand of God. This brings us once
again to Heb. 7: 2. He is able to save His people "unto the uttermost"--that is to say, in
the language of the type, He enables the redeemed Israelite, not only to leave Egypt and
cross the Red Sea, but He also enables him to pass through the wilderness, and takes him
triumphantly into the Land of Promise. The believer is saved "unto the uttermost" by the
living, seated, Intercessor at the right hand of God.
#9.
That Blessed Hope.
pp. 218 - 221
In this series of studies we have taken the exhortation of the Apostle, "Seek those
things which are above, where Christ sitteth", and looked at it from various angles.
We have sought a scriptural answer to the question, "Where" is it that Christ is
described as sitting? We have further sought to understand "Why" He is now seated.
Moreover there were lessons of deep importance connected with the fact that the Lord is
"at the right hand of God". These also we sought to appreciate. We then observed that
"things in heaven" could also be understood by considering their opposites, "things on
the earth", and found that, in some cases, not anything intrinsically vicious was indicated
by "things on the earth", but things undispensational, things right and good in their own
sphere. We also found that there were earthly things that were a snare to the believer,
and, in connection with the reference in Phil. 3: to those who "mind earthly things", we
obtained light on the word "affection" in Col. 3: The fact that it was almost impossible
for any doctrine to be found in Phil. 3: that was not connected with the subject of the