1 KINGS 6 (SUMMARY OF A READING)
1 KINGS 6 (SUMMARY OF A READING)
In the previous reading we considered the house itself and, particularly, the materials used in its construction, suggestive of spiritual material which comes now under the hand of Christ, the true Solomon, and which is being built up a spiritual house. We referred to the stones, cedar, cypress and olive as representing symbolically various features of the work of God in His people, all combining together to form His house. We noticed that all was presented from the divine side, and presented as perfect; there are no figures of what is defective. What is in the mind of God is presented for our consideration, so that we might be exercised to come up to it by the work of God proceeding in our souls.
But there are many scriptures which give us light as to progress on our side in spiritual apprehension, and I understand that the “side-chambers” present this side of things in a striking way. They are not the house itself, but they stand in close relation to it. They are in three storeys, enlarging as they ascend. There is “the lowest floor”, then the “middle one”, and then “the third”. I believe the consideration of this will be found helpful, for in the truth as set out in the New Testament, particularly in the epistles, we may see what answers to these three grades of elevation and enlargement. The chambers of each floor as they ascend are of larger dimensions, so that they indicate the thought of spiritual progress. The thoughts thus suggested are helpful not only in a general way but in regard of [p. 85] our service to God in the assembly.
The “lowest floor”, I think we may say, is where baptism and the Lord’s supper are. That is, it answers to the truth as set forth in Romans and 1 Corinthians. If we are not right on that floor we cannot expect to go higher. It is where our moral relations with God, and with the brethren, and with the world, are divinely adjusted. When we receive the gospel our moral relations with God are put right. On the ground of redemption we are justified so that we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by Him we have access by faith into the favour of God, and the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This blessedness is unfolded in the epistle to the Romans, chapter 5; we also learn that the adjustment of our relations with God involves the adjustment of our relations with the world, and baptism has its place in this connection. We must accept a public position here which is in keeping with right relations with God. The public position is burial with Christ; baptism means that we go out by burial from the life of the world, “in order that, even as Christ has been raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life”, Romans 6: 4. That is a new kind of life here on earth. As buried to the former life we yield ourselves to God as alive from among the dead and our members instruments of righteousness to God. That is a kind of life which the Spirit can support. Christ has now a footing in our hearts where He once had none, and if Christ is in us “the body is dead on account of sin, but the Spirit life on account of righteousness”, Romans 8: 10. The flesh has ceased to dominate: in result we can present our bodies a living sacrifice, so that God’s will may be worked out in us in the way of service to the brethren (Romans 12). For we are members one of another to serve; we have many to serve us and we have many to serve, and in taking up this [p. 86] service in a practical way we find freedom from selfishness. Being in right relations thus with the brethren we are liberated for the service of God. We are “to be like-minded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus; that ye may with one accord, with one mouth, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”, Romans 15: 5, 6. It is evident that this brings us into view of the service of the house, but it is, to use the language of the type, “the lowest floor”.
The first epistle to the Corinthians runs parallel with Romans, and it develops our assembly relations. The truth of the fellowship to which we are called comes out in this epistle, as does the Lord’s supper as the rallying point of the assembly. Believers come together in their different localities to remember the Lord Jesus in the place where He died, and to share in common the precious fruit of His body being given and His blood poured out. It is the privilege of the saints to come together locally as those who are in the conscious gain of the new covenant, both in the letter and in the spirit of it. We thus enjoy in a corporate way the place and portion which the death of Christ and the gift of the Spirit have brought us into. And as together we find an outlet for our praises to the Lord Jesus and also to the blessed God. We occupy a place in relation to the house of God which answers to the chambers of “the lowest floor”.
The normal effect of being in the good of the Roman epistle and of taking up in a practical way the assembly order of 1 Corinthians is that we look for something further. The “lowest floor” truly occupied would ensure collective freedom and the spirit of sonship would give power to ascend. We read that “they went up by winding stairs into the middle floor, and out of the middle into the third”. And it is to be noticed that “the entrance to the side-chambers of the middle floor was in the right side of the house”. The right side suggests the thought of power, as we find generally in Scripture. We can only go up to the middle or third floor as there is spiritual power to do so; we must always go up by “the right side”. But in the spirit of sonship there is liberty and power to go up. It is to be observed in Romans 15 the power of the Holy Spirit leads to abounding in hope. It fills the soul with bright anticipation of something higher; the closing verses of the epistle would lead the Roman believers to see that there was much more in the apostle’s mind than he had unfolded. They would see that there was a great deal more to be entered upon; they would have hope of things more elevated than what he had spoken of. They would recognise that there were “stairs” leading upward to a higher level!
And to the Corinthians also, though the greater part of the first epistle refers to “the lowest floor”, the apostle does not end without leading their hearts upward. Chapter 15 is like “stairs” leading upward, for he speaks of Christ as risen being First-fruits of a risen company, and he says, “Such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones. And as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly one”, 1 Corinthians 15: 48, 49. We may remember that the stairs for the house of Jehovah, and the balustrade were made of sandal-wood (2 Chronicles 9: 11; 1 Kings 10: 12). It was wood that came from a far-off clime; “There came no such sandal-wood, nor was there seen to this day”. So I would suggest that the sandal-wood stairs represent what leads up in the direction of the heavenly.
We come together to break bread on “the lowest floor”, but it is not the Lord’s mind that we should remain on that level. He would have us to go up to the middle floor and also to the third. One feels sure that any christian in the good of Romans and 1 Corinthians would desire to go up, but going up is a question of power. And power for this lies [p. 88] largely in the affectionate apprehension of Christ as risen and as the heavenly One. The Lord’s supper brings before us how He went down, but in the last chapters of the gospels He presented Himself to His disciples as risen.
What they saw in Himself was the way up. Those who saw the risen Christ, and with whom He assembled during forty days, were in flesh and blood condition, but they understood that all that was precious to them was now in resurrection, and that there was no distance between them and the risen One. They did not know as a matter of doctrine that they were risen with Christ; that was left to Paul to unfold; but they had the reality of it in spiritual experience. Everything that had caused distance had been removed by His death, so that we see no fear or trouble or unbelief on their part in Acts 1. The service He had rendered in verifying Himself to them in Luke 24 had been effective. They could be with the risen One, and not only hear Him, but speak to Him with confidence. It was true of them that they were risen “with him through faith of the working of God who raised him from among the dead”, Colossians 2: 12.
There were “holy and faithful brethren in Christ” in Colosse of whom it is said that they were “raised with him”. They were men and women living in a city in Asia Minor, but they had been raised with Christ through faith of the working of God who raised Him from among the dead. This was clearly a faith position. Let us try to understand what this would mean to them. They would know that they could be with God as in company with Christ risen. They would know, in the light of what Epaphras had taught them and what Paul had written to them earlier in his letter, that Christ was “firstborn from among the dead”, Colossians 1: 18. That is, He was the pre-eminent One, the glorious Head of the company risen with Him. They would know that they were His body, to increase [p. 89] with the increase of God. What elevation and enlargement there is in this! It answers to the chambers on the middle floor, which are not only more elevated than the lowest floor but are of enlarged dimensions.
If we had never heard of these things before, and it was brought home to us in spiritual power that by faith of the working of God we were raised with Christ, I am sure it would make a great impression on us. We should understand that the great thing now for us is to hold fast the Head, to get suggestions from Christ as Head. He would not fail to minister to the body that it might increase with the increase of God. Christ as Head is the great Source of supply, and He makes use of “the joints and bands” to convey what is of Himself to the body. It is not, in the teaching of the Colossian epistle, the action of gifts, though of course their service is recognised as in Paul and Epaphras and others in chapter 4, but in the teaching of the epistle the Head is held fast as furnishing ministry through joints and bands so that “increase of God” is brought about. I understand “the word of the Christ” (Colossians 3: 16) to be the word of the Head, which is to dwell richly in all the holy and faithful brethren in Christ, so that the teaching of the Head becomes available, and this issues in there being psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God. The thought is that the vast reservoir of wealth that is in the Head becomes available for the body so that God is praised as the great Source from which all has come. It is beautiful to see that ministry from the Head leads to “increase of God”; there is great wealth in the knowledge of God.
When we come together in assembly we begin on the lowest floor, but we should have in mind that there is a way up to another level. We should not forget the “stairs”, but be prepared to go up step by step, remembering that power is needed at each step. We must remember, too,
[p. 90] that the stairs are winding; it is impossible to see far ahead; we must be content to go up step by step as we have power in a way of spiritual leading. We cannot see all the way clear before us on any particular occasion. A note to Proverbs 2: 9 in the Darby Translation is helpful in regard to “winding”; it says, ‘God’s path for the saint ... does not always lead where we expect, or so that we can see straight on in it’. This applies also to the steps by which we go up when we are together in assembly. If Christ has His place amongst us as the Mediator of the new covenant He will serve us so that we shall be empowered to go up, but not exactly in a formal way so that we can see all the way by which we are going. In a formal religious service everything goes on in a fixed order from which there is no deviation, but in the spiritual service of the assembly room must be left, surely, for Christ to have His place in the midst as Head, and who can tell beforehand what He will suggest on any particular occasion? He will surely lead upward, but exactly how the steps will go cannot be foreseen when we enter on the upward way. Of course every spiritual movement will be in accord with the truth as made known to us but in the movements of life in the assembly as convened we should expect to find something quite different from a formal order. Holding fast the Head will keep us in touch with infinite resource and variety in relation to the holy service of God. Any company of saints where Christ has His place as Head would look for a lead from Him. There would be joints and bands available through whom great spiritual thoughts would be conveyed which would determine our upward steps. If there is the “increase of God”, there will assuredly be increase to God in the blessed service of praise.
I do not think that the spiritual leading on any occasion can go quite beyond the general state of those present; it would hardly be real if it did. That is why the meetings [p. 91] fluctuate. If there has been a careless walk through the week, if matters have not been what they should be in the household or in the business or the office, or if there has been a measure of slackness generally it is sure to affect the meetings. Even the spiritual elements present cannot rise freely; their upward movements are impeded. This is a great exercise for us all. We can be thankful to know that the Lord does often come in and raise the tone of a low meeting. He can use a spiritual man to do this, so that we often get a touch towards the end of a meeting that we could not have had at the beginning, because He is concerned that God should get His portion, and He gives much help in that direction even when things are low on our side. We get an uplift so that we may be prepared for suggestions from the Head that will lead up the stairs to a higher level.
I think we may see an example of this when He gave that wonderful message to Mary Magdalene, “Go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”, John 20: 17. He did not entrust this message to a great gift but to a woman who was a joint or band through whom He could minister. And in saying “I ascend”, He was leading up all their thoughts and hearts to the chambers of the third storey. To be risen with Christ and to hold the Head are wonderful things, but they belong to the middle floor. Colossians prepares us to go higher than this when it calls upon us to “seek the things which are above, where the Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God”, and to have our mind on those things. That is a leading up to another level. The epistle to the Ephesians gives us the “third storey”, the highest spiritual level. We see there that there is a divine sense in which we can be said to be raised up to a very great elevation. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ “has raised us up together, and has made us sit down [p. 92] together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus”, Ephesians 2: 6. This is our full heavenly place as sons with Him who is above. The chambers on the third storey are “seven cubits broad”; that is, they suggest the perfection of the divine thoughts. As there we have come up to the full height of divine purpose and calling. We have come to the thoughts which were formed in Christ before the world’s foundation and which are for the supreme satisfaction of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. What capacity this would give for the service of God! It is there for access by the winding stairs, not only in an individual way, but as a matter of assembly movement when we are together. There is nothing beyond; it is the full height of the thoughts of divine love. Christ as the glorious Head cherishes those thoughts and loves to lead us up to them collectively when convened. If we give place to His leading it will surely be in this direction. But the winding stairs suggest that He would not have us to see all the way up when we begin the ascent. He would have us conscious that He is the Head, and that we must go up step by step as the spiritual leading may be on each occasion. He would have us to know this great service of His love according to which we are enriched and furnished in relation to the house of God.
The sandal-wood was used for the stairs and the balustrade and for harps and lutes for the singers. So that it seems to have special significance in relation to going up and to the service of praise. Being wood I think it suggests what is brought about in men by the work of God — a suitability as heavenly ones to go up and to praise in a manner that harmonises with what is proper to heaven. It is to this elevation that God would have us brought, and He has furnished us with a Head who is able to bring us there. But on our side we come to it by successive stages of apprehension, each of which is accompanied by an [p. 93] appropriate service of praise. If Christ has His place as Head there will be spiritual activity; there will be a leading upward and a singing to God. This is something to be known experimentally and confirmed as we are together in assembly.