THE CORDS OF LOVE
Hosea 11:4; Exodus 26:15-19, 26-30;
In the preaching on Lord’s day, we started with a hymn which spoke about sinners being bound in chains of bondage (Hymn 133), and we finished with a hymn that speaks about being drawn by
‘… the cords of love,
And thus He bound me to Him’ (Hymn 187)
Our brother spoke of the fact that the gospel releases souls who are bound by Satan, bound in chains of bondage. That is a real thing, and I have been struck as we have looked at Revelation by the reality of the chains of Satan and the grip that they can have. We see these chains being used now to bind men. Our brother spoke appealingly as to the effect of the gospel, and the fact that it would release us from those chains of bondage, release souls into liberty and into freedom. I thought of the occasion in the Philippian jail where Paul and Silas were listened to by the prisoners, and the earthquake came and it says “and the bonds of all loosed”, Acts 16:26.
So this scripture in Hosea came to me because as we are released from the bonds of Satan, we are to be bound to Christ. That is the individual effect of coming under the sound of the gospel and accepting Him. It is not that we are liberated to become free spirits; that is not what the Lord has in mind. He does not have in mind that we are released to go and do our own thing. That is what man hankers after, and look where that gets him. It is important that we prove what this scripture speaks of, “I drew them with bands of a man”. That is what Christ would love to do; He would love to draw a soul. This scripture brings out God’s feelings for Israel and His desire to draw His people to Him. Think of God’s feelings for Israel; He “drew them with bands of a man”. Who is that Man? That Man is Christ.
If it applies to Israel, beloved brethren, then it applies to us in our day to prove what it is to be drawn “with bands of a man”. There is something gentle about this. Satan’s chains of bondage are not gentle; they are hard, there is pressure associated with those chains. You see the effect of being in bondage to Satan on the man who lived in the tombs; it was a hard thing, but “cords of love” are strong though gentle. That is how the Lord would work; He would not lay on a believer, on one who had just come into the good of the gospel, a massive burden that cannot be borne. Instead it is “with bands of a man, with cords of love”. I trust we have all proved it, and come under the influence of these bands and these cords. It is what will preserve us and keep us from the drawing power of the enemy. If we yield to the “bands of a man, with cords of love”, it will keep us from the drawing power of everything that is around us. It suggests to me there is some flexibility in those bands. They are strong, but there is some give in them; I think the Lord would bear with us as He would work with us. Think of how He went with those two on the road to Emmaϋs; it said “and he made as though he would go farther”, Luke 24:28. The Lord was showing grace to two who were under such pressure. He showed them grace, He showed them love and the end result is that they were recovered. The end result is that they came into the good of what it is to be drawn by the bands of a man. So we prove that individually.
In this passage in Exodus, it seems to me, beloved brethren, that if we are drawn to Christ and if we are bound to Him, then what comes about is that we are bound together. These boards for the tabernacle are very interesting and they make a fascinating study. The boards are the saints; each one of us can take our place as a board of the tabernacle and it is interesting that the scripture says that the boards should be standing; standing there in relation to everything that is for God. As you take your place as a board, there is responsibility attached to it. We have a responsibility to take our place, but we do not stand in our own strength, we do not stand in anything that we have done in our own ability or anything that we may have done in our own experience or even in our own power. These boards stood on bases of silver; we stand on the worthiness of the redemptive work of Christ. Those boards of acacia were covered with gold. They could bear the gold; there is that which speaks of what God Himself has done, and I would encourage each one of us, beloved brethren, to see that in one another, because we are set together. I read about these bars for that reason. The boards stood vertically, but the bars went horizontally to bind the boards together. They gave the tabernacle strength, shape and structure. These boards of the tabernacle were able to carry the coverings and the curtains. This can only be if there is a structure which is stable and can stand and take the weight. So we are bound together. It speaks in verse 28 of “the middle bar in the midst of the boards reaching from one end to the other”. This is the effect of the presence of the Spirit keeping us bound together in relation to one another. These boards were next to each other; each would have its place. Every board was necessary to form this structure so that the coverings of the tabernacle could be borne, and so that the service of God might proceed.
In Corinthians, we see how we are set together and bound together in relation to Christ’s body, the assembly. This scripture is very simple. It says “If the whole body were an eye, where the hearing?” Paul in a few words sets out this picture of the assembly which is so attractive and so crucial. Every single member is required for all of the features of the body, all of its movements, all of its functions to be known. It says in verse 20, “But now the members are many, and the body one”. This is the supreme picture of how we are bound together in relation to Christ, He always having the pre-eminent place. If we find ourselves bound together on any other basis, it will fail. We are bound together because we are bound to Christ; that comes first, being bound to Him “with bands of a man, with cords of love”. It is that which sets us in relation to one another. And so what you find is a whole system that is operating, because God has set each one of the members in the body according as it has pleased Him. It is not necessarily what I might want, it is not necessarily how I might think things should be, but it is according as it has pleased Him. It starts with being bound to Him by “cords of love”, and ends in this functioning body with Christ as its Head. Every impulse, every movement, every single activity is directed by the Head, so that God might be served.
May we prove it for His name’s sake.
Word in meeting for ministry, Witney
10 February 2014
A.J. McKay