Reflections on Hebrews with Andrew Murray (5)

 

After the Preface, Murray writes an Introduction in which he considers authorship, audience, the object of the epistle, the structure of the epistle, and the relationship between the epistle and the church of his day. Between the Preface and Introduction, he provides a complete text of Hebrews, with structural headings and cross references.

 

“I have had the Epistle printed at the beginning of the book, with headings showing the contents of the different parts, with the view of inviting and helping the reader to make himself master of the writing as a whole. It is of great consequence that the student of God’s word should not only seek his edification from individual texts or passages, but that each book should be to him a living and connected organism, all alive with the Spirit that dwells in it. The more we thus take time and trouble to accept the great thoughts of God, the more will our life be brought to that unity and breath, in which the purpose of God will be perfectly fulfilled.” Andrew Murray

 

Murray’s goal was not to produce 130 unrelated meditations on the Epistle to the Hebrews, it was to have his people “see” Jesus and “see” the book of Hebrews as an interconnected organic whole. He wanted Hebrews to belong to his people, and he desired that his people belong to the Epistle. He wanted his flock to become “master of the writing as a whole.”

 

My wife Vickie and I have toured many historic homes during our travels over the years, bur touring a home and living in a home are two different things. We have friends with whom we’ve spent many an hour in their homes, but spending many hours in others’ homes, even over the course of decades, is not the same as living in those homes.

 

Christ has not called His people to tour the Bible again and again and again, He has called us to live in the Bible. He has not called us to peak into the Bible, viewing a verse here and a verse there, a passage here and a passage there, but to open the front door, walk down the passageways – to live in the House and allow the House to live in us. We are not called to consume information about the Bible, we are called to be consumed with the Word of God and to be consumed by the Word of God.

 

Dear friends, the Bible is not a self – help manual, it is not Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth (as witty as that may sound,) it is the unfathomable and dynamic revelation of the Triune God, living and dwelling in His People. Perhaps you know from experience, as I do, what it is to touch a live electrical wire. You have either had the experience or you haven’t. May I gently ask, “Do you know the experience of the Word of God living within you?” If not, or if you are not sure, let me encourage you by saying that Jesus Christ desires to reveal Himself to you through His Word with all His heart, with all that He is – He desires to live in you and you to live in Him as a way of life. He deeply desires to be your Way of Life, He passionately desires His Word to energize every fiber of your being. How can I write these things? Because Jesus Christ gave His all for you, for me, for us – of course He wants you living in the fulness of an intimate relationship with Himself! It is nonsense to think otherwise!

 

Yet, what do we have today? Throughout much of the professing – church is disconnected preaching and teaching with no discernable ultimate purpose, no continued focus on bringing the sons and daughters of the Father into the image of Jesus Christ. We have capitulated to the immediate, the functional, the pragmatic. We seem to have no understanding of Biblical epistemology or pedagogy. We give people information to consume, Bible studies to consume, Sunday school material to consume – but do people grow into the image of Jesus Christ? Are they living in the Word of God and is the Word of God living in them?

 

During the current pandemic, many people are learning to grow their own food and preserve it. Also, during the past few years there has been an expanding Farm to Table movement in the United States – locally raised produce and meats delivered to local tables, both restaurant tables and household tables. Isn’t it about time that local congregations learned what it is to grow their own food in Jesus Christ? Who will grow Philippians? Colossians? 1 Samuel? Genesis? Matthew? John? Who will cultivate the soil and grow food for his brothers and sisters? Who will bake bread? Who will grow and harvest grapes? Who will teach others how to farm?

 

Why can’t we bring ourselves to say, “The Emperor is stark naked?”

Who in our congregations has mastered (and been mastered by!) the Gospel of John? James? Micah? Job? Who can romp and run throughout the entire palace of the Word of God?

 

And what of our pastors and teachers? What of our seminary professors? What about me? What about you?

 

The Word of God is a treasure house that will overwhelm us if we will allow it, for within it is the Revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ – and His ineffable glory will transform us into His image…individually, as husbands and wives, as families, as local churches and beyond.

 

Which room in the Palace (book of the Bible) will you decide, by God’s grace, to make your own…beginning today?