THE PROTECTION OF THE THINGS OF GOD

G. C. McKay

Matthew 13: 10–15, 34–36; Exodus 26: 1–4; Acts 15: 22–29

We spoke in the reading of what we might call the private area of the Spirit, where the most precious things can be spoken of, and there can be the communion of the Holy Spirit in connection with the most blessed privileges that are ours. That is there is a place where we can resort to, where heavenly things can be enjoyed in an atmosphere that is beyond this scene. What I wanted to speak of now is this, that if God has the most precious things He also provides for the protection of these precious things. These things are not to be laid open to all. We are told not to cast our pearls before swine lest they trample on them and then turning rend us (Matthew 7: 6), so that precious things are to be cared for, and God knows how to do that. Not only does God have all the power that is necessary but He knows how to do things.

It says in 2 Peter that the Lord “knows how to deliver the godly out of trial”, 2 Peter 2: 9.

That is just an example. The Lord knows how to protect these precious things.

So I begin with this remarkable speaking of the Lord Jesus in parables, because it is an example of God knowing how to protect these things. The crowds were taught by the Lord Jesus. The truth was set before them, but it was set before them in such a way that it was protected, and only some could understand. It is not that the Lord had not spoken plainly, nor declared fully and clearly what the truth was, but the time came when He spoke in parables and did not speak to the crowds without a parable. And so the disciples wondered about this.

He was speaking in parables to protect the truth from persons that did not really care about it, persons who were not really interested and were

not prepared to receive it. It is very remarkable that the truth was set forth, but set forth in such a way that it was protected from the hostile and careless mind of man. Think of the Lord being able to do that to protect His precious things, and yet give persons an opportunity, because as Jesus spoke these parables there was an opportunity for persons to become interested in the truth and to look into it and to enquire as to what these wonderful things are.

The disciples were puzzled, “Why speakest thou to them in parables?”, and Jesus answering said, “Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens”, that is the hidden things, the secret things. They are not secret to believers, who are initiated into them, but still they are “the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not given”.

The young people might say, That is rather unfair. The Lord Jesus goes on and He presents the truth, “for whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall be caused to be in abundance”, so he that has gets more, indeed he gets abundance, “but he who has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him”. You might say, That is rather unfair. But “he that has not”, why does he not have? He is culpable. If someone does not have something, why does he not have it? Has God not made it available? So if someone does not have something it is because they did not want it, they were not prepared to receive the truth. It is a very serious and sober matter to be under the sound of the word of God, whether it be the glad tidings or on an occasion like this; because the word of God coming brings its own responsibility and its own challenge. Not only does it set out things objectively, but it enters into the conscience and heart. It is addressed to man in such a way as to bring about a result, and a deep result. If persons resist or they are indifferent or they will not listen, then God says, If they shut their eyes as if asleep, if they shut their ears, if they will not listen, I will put things in parables and these things will be hidden from

them. It is a judicial matter, a governmental matter that God would hide these things.

We do not want to be among those who are outside of these things. I would speak to everybody here, young and old. Do not be outside of these things, do not be among those who have not. Men use that expression, or used to, the ‘have nots’, the poor nations in the world that are deprived of things. You do not want to spiritually be among those who are not interested enough in the truth to go in for it and become spiritually wealthy. You want to become among those who have something. Once you get to that stage that you have something of the truth, you will get more. You will come to the reading, and because you know a little of the truth, and it has found a place in your heart, what is said will mean more to you, and you will begin to add to that stock of spiritual wealth. If you have not made a start, how can you? But if you have made a start, you have some impression of Christ, some impression of the truth, then God will add something. You come to the meeting and you listen and God will add something. It may be a little at a time, but He will add, and if you go on in exercise you will be in abundance, and what you will be given to partake of are the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, the most precious things. Now these crowds were left because they were not interested, but they were given the opportunity. The parables raised a challenge with them. Were they interested enough to find out? Where we read later on in Matthew 13, again it says, “Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables”. The prophet that is quoted makes things very attractive, “I will utter things hidden from the world’s foundation”, as if to attract your heart. Would you like to know things that God hid from the world’s foundation? They are open to you, are you interested?

Then, “having dismissed the crowds, he went into the house; and his disciples came to him”.

They had not really understood very well either, but they came to

Him in the house and asked Him, saying, “Expound to us the parable of the darnel of the field”. Do you want to come into the house? That is what these disciples did. Jesus had said much outside, but now He is going to speak in the house. If you want to hear Jesus speaking in the house, you have to come into the house, you have to come to Him where He is, and He will explain things to you. Would you like things explained to you? Would you like to understand the truth better? You do not need to remain in ignorance about it. It will be explained to you, but you have to come to Jesus for that, you have to be interested enough. I suppose some of these crowds would see Jesus going into the house and they would just go off and say, Well, I do not know what that was all about. Those who were disciples, who were devoted, they would say, I want to go into the house, I want to follow Jesus and I want to get an opportunity to ask Him about these things.

Not only did He expound to them the parable that they asked about, but He went on there in the house to tell them things that He had not said elsewhere, precious things. In verse 44 we have “a treasure hid in the field”. In verse 45 He begins to speak to them about pearls and about one pearl. He begins to bring out the most precious things. It is what divine Persons think about the saints, what they are in the eye of heaven. These things are disclosed but they are protected. The Lord could not speak about these things and explain them to the crowd or to persons that were unsympathetic and hostile; persons who had listened to Jesus and had rejected His word and were not prepared to go along with Him. He explained them to persons who were devoted, to disciples who followed Him into the house. Now you want to do that.

Do not miss the meetings, follow Jesus into the house. That is where the secret things are being explained, the most precious things. That is where the mysteries of the kingdom of the heaven are to be known, that is where you will find an unfolding of things, in these intimate or private communications, because

these verses Matthew 13: 44–46 include some of the most precious things that are in Scripture. They contain an allusion to the preciousness of the saints to the heart of Christ, and the preciousness of the assembly. You do not want to miss these things.

In verse 51 Jesus says, “Have ye understood all these things?” So you get a kind of examination at the end, a question asked. What do you do before the reading? I just speak quite practically. You young people, you want to learn the truth. What do you do before the reading? Are you interested enough to know the chapter that is going to be read? Do you read it before you go out? As you read it maybe you will get something, and then as it is gone over in the temple you will get much more. And then, what do you do afterwards? Jesus might say to you afterwards, “Have ye understood all these things?” So there is a time before the meeting, there are disclosures during the meeting, and there is exercise after the meeting. It is very fine when you hear young people saying after the meeting, What does that mean? “They say to him, Yea, Lord. And he said to them, For this reason every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens”. A scribe is not a casual or a careless person, he wants to know the thing and put it down in writing. He wants to know the truth, not just in a vague way, but to really understand what the truth is. He is “discipled to the kingdom of the heavens”, which means he is not just a freelance, an insubject person, but a disciple. He “is like a man that is a householder”. He is not just an individual, he has a household, and he “brings out of his treasure things new and old”. It is very fine to go into a person’s house and he can bring out things new and old. There are various applications to that, but if you bring out something new, it is something you have just received that morning or just recently. Then the things that are old are not to be despised. That impression you received years ago, it matures in the soul and the value of it comes home to you. These are valuable things, but you have to go and

get them, you have to be in the area where they are disclosed, because God protects His secret and holy things from persons who do not want them and would not value them. He protects them and yet He opens the door to exercise.

Now you can understand, if God in that way protects the truth from the mind of man, from the hostility of man, that protection is a very great feature in the divine system. So I thought to speak about these curtains and coverings in Exodus 26 on that line. In speaking about the tabernacle and the tent and the coverings, we also have in mind what these enclosed, because in the tabernacle there were God’s precious things. There was the ark of the covenant covered over in every part with gold, and the mercy-seat, and the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat. There was a golden altar too, and the lampstand, speaking of divine light and the beauties of the Person of Christ. There was a table with loaves on it, speaking of the saints set in order before God. There were precious things in that tent and God would not have them exposed. Dear brethren, do we realise that we have to do with the most precious things in the universe? We must be protectors. Do not have any wrong thoughts as to the Person of Christ, His manhood and His deity. These two matters are so important; if you impugn the manhood of Christ in any way, or His deity, you take away Christianity, you destroy the truth. How precious it is to think of the Lord Jesus treasured in the hearts of the saints, and His glory and His perfection valued, so that there is a reverence as we think of Him. Think of the saints as maintaining the testimony, and think of all the precious things that God has down here at the present time. That is what the tabernacle speaks of, what God has that is precious in testimony down here at the present time for His own satisfaction, for His own dwelling, for a place where His people can meet with Him, where He can speak to them as He spoke to Moses from off the mercy-seat.

These precious things were covered over. If we speak about the tabernacle, strictly speaking, it was the inner tent, the inner curtains. They were beautiful, these ten curtains that we read of in Exodus 26: 1, “twined byssus, and blue, and purple, and scarlet—with cherubim of artistic work”. These speak of the inner side, what you would see if you were inside the tent. They speak of features of the manhood of Christ expressed in the saints surrounding these precious things of God. The twined byssus would speak no doubt of righteousness, the kind of lives the saints lead. Blue, of course, would be a heavenly colour. Colour is a very telling thing in creation, and it is a telling thing spiritually too, what kind of colour you show. Have you any blue about you? Is there anything heavenly at all, anything that could not have come from this earth, that you could not get from the schools nor the teaching nor the business or anything of this earth? And then there is the purple and the scarlet. Purple I believe speaks about royalty and scarlet speaks about something that is distinctive in manhood according to the manhood of Christ.

And then there are these cherubim of artistic work, as if to say that in that precious holy area there is a discerning judgment as to everything that is for God, everything that is suitable for His presence. Cherubim are protective, they seem to assert the rights of God. You find them at the beginning when Adam sinned. The cherubim with the flame of the flashing sword guarded the way to the tree of life. Adam could not approach the tree of life, God protected that. It was not that He did not have it in His heart for man, but sinful man was not going to stride in there and lay hold of the tree of life. No, there was to be a way made but it was to be made by Christ and made through redemption. So we find the cherubim were there in the tabernacle system. They were not exactly keeping persons out, the cherubim were overshadowing the mercy-seat. God operated so that the cherubim could look on that mercy-seat and blood was sprinkled there. There was a type of the

means of redemption, and of approach to God. Artistic work of cherubim was there everywhere as you looked round the inside of the tabernacle. These curtains speak of what is seen in the saints, and the heavenly side of things that we enjoy. They speak about the beautiful atmosphere of the meetings where you can look with complacency on the saints, where you can value what they say. You can sense their love for the truth, their faithfulness, and every fine feature. You can see the cherubim there too for you can see they have a clear judgment of what is right and what is wrong, of what is satisfying to God and what is objectionable to Him.

All this suggests a beautiful inner scene with these precious things and these beautiful curtains round about, and that, according to this scripture, is the tabernacle. But then if there are such precious features they have to be protected. And so we find in verse 7 there are

“curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle”. So there is the tabernacle of curtains of fine byssus and there is a tent over it of goats’ hair. There are now eleven curtains, not the ten that you get for the inner curtains, and they are longer curtains too. The sixth curtain was doubled in the front of the tent, so you get double protection at the entrance of the tent, and I think you will find there is a half curtain overlap at the back. The two ends of the curtains of goats’ hair were long so that they were fully on the ground, fully covering the tabernacle at each side. Now that means God would protect matters. These features are to be seen in you and me. No doubt the curtains speak about principles, but principles as maintained by the saints, not simply abstract, but maintained in practice by the saints. What men of God have taught us is that the goats’ hair refers to the principle of separation enforced in the lives of the saints. That is derived from the fact that sheep tend to flock together and goats do not, but tend to go off on their own, and so they speak in scripture of the principle of separation. How important that is! How it can be abused we know in history, but then the principle itself is right, an essential, holy principle that would preserve what is precious within.

There are other features too that we ought to take account of. You find these loops and clasps that held the curtains together. The inner ones were blue loops with clasps of gold, speaking of the precious links we have in the truth; what is formed in the saints in the divine nature means that as we come together there is a bond one with the other. The loops would be opposite one another too. You meet a brother from another country or someone you have not met before, and it is very fine to find the loops are opposite one another. What your feelings are and what your appreciation of the truth is just meet his, and so you find yourself at one in connection with the holy things of God. These loops of blue and fifty clasps of gold were that the tabernacle may be one whole. The tent of goats’ hair has fifty loops as well, but there are fifty clasps of copper used there, speaking about judgment of evil, and that is another very fine thing. You meet a brother and you find that your judgment of evil is the same as his, you have unity in your judgment of what is right and what is wrong. Perhaps it might involve self-judgment too because the copper speaks of God’s judgment. It reminds us of the brazen altar, the place where God’s judgment is seen, upheld in the death of Christ, God’s judgment against evil. We have to be in keeping with the altar, we have to be in keeping with the death of Christ, and we have to be bonded together in the same judgment of evil. We have the golden clasps within but we need the copper clasps without. Dear brethren, we need these things. The tabernacle is to be one whole. If there is going to be the preservation of the precious things of God in the testimony, the tabernacle has to be one whole. There cannot be a gap in the curtains, there cannot be a missing loop or a missing clasp. We must hold to the truth in that way. We need the goats’ hair, we need these principles.

Thus on top of the tabernacle of the byssus curtains, we have the tent of goats’ hair but God says, That is not enough. The entrance was doubly protected as if that is a place where evil might find entrance. You find a double there, and at the back too, because the devil attacks both frontally and also subtlety, so there is a covering up there too. You have to be alert to how the devil might attack. Whether it is the front or back you will find a double there, an overlap, divine principles adhered to. But God says, That is not enough. On top of all that there were two coverings. They are described, not as the tabernacle or the tent, but just coverings, and these were made of animal skins; “thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red”. These things are to be seen in the saints. They were seen in Christ. He was superior to evil, He repelled evil, and He was able also to conquer what was evil. We see in Christ’s manhood how He stood against everything that was evil. There could be no access to Christ’s mind or heart for evil, in Him sin was not. The ruler of the world came and in Him he had nothing (John 14: 30). He was impregnable to that. Now something of the features of the manhood of Christ are to be seen in the saints. We have to have all these coverings. You say, Do you need so many? These eleven goats’ hair overlapping curtains, are these not enough? No, you need the rams’ skins dyed red. You might say, Well is that not enough? No, you need the badgers’ skins on top of that. God says I am going to protect My precious things absolutely, and we have to protect things, dear brethren.

It is a question of the testimony, the tabernacle in the wilderness. And so we have to examine ourselves as to whether this feature of rams’ skins dyed red is with us. Now I understand the ram speaks of the manhood of Jesus and His devoted love for the will of God, His devotion, the energy of it and the fulness of it. The skins are dyed red, meaning that the persons have taken on a different colour. Have you changed colour? Are you still much the same person as you were before you were converted or is there a change with you? The change that is suggested here is that you become distinctive because you become like Christ, you become devoted and consecrated in your affections. It is not simply holding coldly to principles, but you do it out of an immense and intense love for Christ. It is dyed red, not just a colour that is going to slip or fade, it is dyed; you are going to stay that way, you have been converted. We read about that in Matthew 13. I did not comment on it, but it says, “lest they should see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them”. So we could ask you, Are you converted? Has this change come about in your life that there is something evident about you, that you have such intense love for Christ that you will not give up any of the truth, you will protect everything that is precious to His heart down here?

And then “badgers’ skins over that”. I understand that badgers’ skins are very repellent of any soil or anything defiling. Some have stated that badgers are marked by vigilance too. It seems to be that the badgers’ skins are impervious, they will not yield, they will not give way, they will not allow evil through. That is the principle of it. Sometimes we are very vehement in refusing something, and then later on we just let it in, we just give in. I think it is the principle of the badgers’ skins that you do not change your mind and just let it past; you hold to your convictions because they are right. When Saul had sinned and Samuel had to tell him that God had rejected him because he had been disobedient to the word of Jehovah. Saul appealed to Samuel, “turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah”. Samuel said, “I will not”, 1 Samuel 15: 25, 26. The prophet had received his instructions from Jehovah and he could not condone or soften what Saul had done. He had said, “rebellion is as the sin of divination. And self-will is as iniquity and idolatry” (verse 23), and Samuel

saw the skirt of his mantle rent and said, “Jehovah has rent the kingdom of Israel from thee today, and given it to thy neighbour, who is better than thou ...” (verse 28). And Saul says, “I have sinned; honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people” (verse 30). Hardly repentant words, “I have sinned; honour me now”. Then he says, “turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah thy God. So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped Jehovah” (verse 31). He gave in. You see you can be very strong and right in the truth and then the day can come when you are persuaded just to give in, to let it pass, to give up your convictions. The badgers’ skins mean you adhere to the truth come what may. It does not matter if it is a question of persons, or circumstances, or anything like that. It is an uncompromising feature. These are features that have to be worked out in us. You lay hold of the principles abstractly, you see them exemplified in scripture, you see them in the manhood of Jesus, but then they have to be worked out in our lives so that divine things are not lost or damaged.

Now I read in Acts 15 to give one example of persons who have taken on something of the protective character that we have been speaking about. In Acts 15 there was a great crisis, a great attack on the assembly, on the truth, because a Jewish element among the believers was insisting on circumcision and the keeping of the law. If that was enforced as a necessity for persons to be saved then the great truths that were coming out in Christianity would be undermined and nullified. The truth of sonship would be undermined because there would be a reversion to the law. We do not want to go into it in detail, but it is very remarkable the care that is exerted at this time by the apostles and by the others to avoid evil destroying the precious things of God. So we find the divine word coming in, persons speaking with authority in this church council in Acts 15, but what I wanted to call attention to specially was the persons alluded to in verse 26. They send word back to

Antioch by the two men, together with Paul and Barnabas who had gone up from Antioch to see about the matter. In Acts 15: 25, “it seemed good to us, having arrived at a common judgment”, that is just what we have been speaking about, “a common judgment”, the same judgment of evil and good, “to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have given up their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”. I think that is like the rams’ skins dyed red, they had given up their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words it was a sacrificial matter with them. Do you know there is a sacrificial aspect to this matter of protection and faithfulness to the fellowship? Are you prepared for sacrifice? Are you among God’s godly ones who make covenant with Him by sacrifice? Are you prepared for that? The truth of Christianity involves sacrifice. It is founded on the sacrifice of Christ, but for us to come into it, to take our place in God’s testimony, means that we must be prepared for sacrifice. These men had given up their lives. It does not say ‘laid down’ here, it says “given up”, they had given up their lives. Paul says of Aquila and Priscilla, “who for my life staked their own neck”, Romans 16: 4. That was in view of the protection of Paul. It means they were literally prepared for death rather than the vessel of the testimony at the time should fall into hostile hands. It was sacrificial.

If you looked at the tabernacle outwardly you would see these badgers’ skins, skins of animals that had died. It is a testimony to death. Do you know that there is a side of the fellowship which involves sacrifice? There is the fellowship of the Spirit, which involves all these precious inner things which we enjoy together in the power of the Spirit, these wonderful things that we enjoy in an area that is secluded from the world; and there is the fellowship of God’s Son which speaks of the great dignity of the fellowship that is given character to by none other than the Son of God Himself; but then there is the fellowship of the death of Christ too. The communion of the blood of the Christ is the fellowship of His death, and that is protective, I believe, and that was the testimony you could see from the outside of the tabernacle. If you looked at it you would think of death, because these rams’ skins and these badgers’ skins involved the death of the animals. If these features are to be seen in us we have to accept the sacrificial side of things, we have to accept too the full bearing of the death of Christ so that divine things may be protected. May we be more like this, dear brethren. We can speak about it and we can see it in scripture, but thank God we can see something of it in the saints. May we be all encouraged to devote ourselves that it might be seen in each one of us, for His name’s sake.

Address at Peterhead
20 March 1999