SPIRITUAL WEALTH
[p. 247] SPIRITUAL WEALTH
Genesis 14:18; 2 Kings 4:1 - 13; Proverbs 31:10
It is in my mind to speak from these scriptures of spiritual wealth, and consequent independency of this world, and of men in it. It is a divine thought that we should be individually, as well as collectively, wealthy. The idea of wealth — divine wealth — is prominent throughout Scripture, and in that epistle which may be said to be peculiarly our ‘light’ — that is, the epistle to the Ephesians — we read of the “unsearchable riches of Christ”. Ephesians 3:8. The glad tidings announce these riches, as it is said, “the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of Christ”. Ephesians 3:8. And so I wish to show how the believer comes into this divine wealth, and how he is thereby set up in independency of the world, and then, how the assembly is seen in the chapter in Proverbs as also possessed of this wealth, so that she needs not to ask accommodation from the world. Indeed, what has marked the history of the assembly, the public body in the world, is that it fell to the level of the world in first seeking accommodation from it, and then allying itself with it, so that it is now indistinguishable from the world. And, as the Lord has come in for us, dear brethren, in recovering us from all this, my exercise is that we may be preserved; that we may not rely on light only; that we may understand the income that there is whereby we are to be maintained at the full height of the position in which the light sets us.
So I wish first to speak of administration, and I take Abraham in the chapter in Genesis to represent a believer coming in for the gain of this; that is, for the ministrations of Christ, in order that he should not be dependent on the patronage of the world. Even although he may seem to have served as [p. 248] Abraham did, the believer is not to come under the patronage of the world. As a matter of fact, Abraham did not ally himself with the king of Sodom and his confederates to help them; his part in the war had Lot in view. He undertook to take part in the conflict in order to deliver Lot — a worthy object, surely — and if one looks into the map of the territory traversed by Abraham in this war, one will be impressed with his brotherly interest; that, indeed, he laid down his life for his brother. He took his life in his hands in order to rescue his brother, and so, having succeeded, the King of Sodom would fain patronise him.
How often young people are exposed, as they come into the light of the gospel, to this snare of the devil! I wish particularly to dwell on this passage, because to young ones setting out in the path of faith it is of all importance that you should understand that the Lord is in heaven, and is thinking of you, and that He foresees what you are exposed to, and provides against it, so that the temptation may not be greater than you can bear. Hence what you find is that at this juncture in Abraham’s history the king, Melchisedec, appears. I want young ones here to understand that this is not a mere historical incident in the life of Abraham. The Old Testament ever helps us as speaking of Christ, and this chapter is intended to instruct us as to the administrative service of the Lord Jesus, and that His administration has every individual believer in view.
Now, in Acts 2, as you will remember, Peter announces the gospel, and the burden of it was to explain what had taken place in Jerusalem on that day, the day of Pentecost. It was a wonderful day; the Holy Spirit had just come down from Christ. Think of the import of that day! We are told that they were all with one accord in one place — it is a collective scene — and there came from heaven a [p. 249] sound as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Heaven made itself heard in that house, and not only made itself heard, but filled the house. If the house was filled with that sound there was no room for any other sound. It is a notification, at the outset, that God intends to have control of His house; that He intends that His voice, and His voice alone, is to be heard there. It is not as yet a question of what was said, but the sound; it filled the house, and, as filling it, it excluded every other sound. That was a collective scene, as I said; but then it says the Holy Spirit “sat upon each of them”. Acts 2:3. In the character of cloven tongues as of fire, He sat upon each. That is, the Holy Spirit came down from heaven, the evidence of the administrative power of Christ. He not only was there for the company; He was there for every individual in it, so that the Lord takes account of the youngest believer here; He is more concerned about a young believer than He is about the affairs of this world. The international affairs of the world occupy the minds of men, but there is no joy in heaven in regard to any of them. There is joy in heaven as a believer opens his heart to Christ and repents. Heaven sees in that heart an acknowledgement of the rights of God so far, though that heart has to be dealt with in a positive way, for repentance is not enough. You cannot live on repentance. It is negative. It affords joy in the hearts of the saints who know you, but it is not joy in your heart; it is sorrow. I have no confidence in a conversion in which there is no sorrow, in which there are no tears. Repentance is bitter, but heaven intends that that heart should be filled, that the sorrow should be turned into joy, and so the administration of Christ is to the end that your heart should be filled. Hence we read that Melchisedec met Abraham with bread and wine. Who was there to compare in that day [p. 250] with Melchisedec? Who is there to compare now with Christ? No one, and yet Christ, who is peerless, both in heaven and upon earth, is interested in your soul, and the wealth of heaven is available to your soul. The Lord is concerned at this moment that in your soul there should be enough, and to spare.
And so Melchisedec, as I said, appears. Who is he? He is King of Righteousness. Do you wish to have anything to do with any other king? You will understand I am not referring to ‘the powers that be’ — one has respect for the king. We are enjoined to “honour the king”, 1 Peter 4:17 and to pray for kings, but, spiritually, what king do you wish to be in contact with save the King of Righteousness? It is not only a man who practises righteousness, but the king of it. One has satisfaction in that Man appearing when the world had got adrift. Was God without resources? Men had elected to reject God, as it says, from their knowledge. Was He without resources in those days? He had a King of Righteousness. Think of what God had in those days, and think of what He has today for Melchisedec is none other than Christ. “Now consider”, says the writer of the Hebrews, “how great this personage was”. Hebrews 7:4. He was without father, without mother, without beginning of days or end of life, assimilated to the Son of God — it was Christ. And it was written down there for the youngest believer here, as well as every one of us, to enlighten us as to the interest of God and of Christ in our souls. The King of Righteousness appears, and He blesses Abraham.
And He is not only King of Righteousness. He is King of Peace. How the thought of Melchisedec towers up in that world above the puny thoughts of men! There was Nimrod, the beginning of whose kingdom was Babel. Then there were these kings who had just been at war; it was what we might call a ‘world war’. But here is a king who has had [p. 251] no part in it. He was outside of it. His concern is to sustain the believer in the midst of it. Think of that Personage being interested in your soul! He is concerned tonight that, as you leave this room and face the world, you should be fortified by His ministration, so that you should not come under the influence of it. That is what you get here. I speak at length on this point, because of the young people, that they should be set up in their souls in the knowledge of Christ in heaven administering to them the wealth of heaven, so as to fortify them, and set them up in independency of this world. Wrapped up in this Man is the millennium — the world that God has in His mind. For the moment He is supporting a solitary believer, so that he should not fall under the influence of the world. He brought forth bread and wine. I need not enlarge on these two things; bread strengthens man’s heart, as we read in Psalm 104, and wine makes his heart glad. The heart strengthened with the knowledge of Christ, and gladdened by the holy joy of the Spirit, is sufficient to enable you to stand up against this world. He blessed Abraham. He says, “Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heavens and earth”. You see how He brings in God and Abraham — God and you in other words — and me. Hence, when the King of Sodom comes to Abraham and proposes to repay him, he says, No, “I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, lest thou shouldest say I have made Abram rich”. Genesis 14:23. How dignified that was!
Now I want to go on to chapter 4 in 2 Kings, so that you may see how what Christ ministers is worked out in the soul after the Holy Spirit is received from Christ — and I may remark that there is a difference between the gift of the Spirit and the reception of the Spirit — the gift of the Spirit is in John 4; it is from the divine side. The reception is [p. 252] in John 7; it is from our side — but after the Spirit is received, from want of knowing how to draw upon Him — how to use the Spirit — the soul gets into bondage. That is, I link Abraham on with the woman in this chapter. He received the ministration from Melchisedec, it supported him at the moment, but what he received — and what we receive from Christ — has to be utilised, beloved, and that is where many young ones miss it and come into bondage in their souls. This woman, you see, was the wife of one of the sons of the prophets. She represents a believer who has light, but light will not pay your debts — you cannot pay your debts with light — and so this woman was in debt, and her two sons were in bondage. Taken together, they represent a soul who, although he has the Spirit, is not using the Spirit, and hence the light that is needed by such a soul is not the light about Christ, precious as that is — he has that, he knows the gospel, and he has believed it — what he now needs is light about the Spirit.
I hope you will all follow what I am saying. The gospel involves the Spirit, it includes light about the Spirit, and if we do not understand, if we have not got light covering the Spirit, we shall, like this woman, be in spiritual poverty. We shall have creditors, we shall be in bondage, we shall not be men and women of spiritual wealth. So she comes to the prophet, and he says, What have you got in the house? You say, “Do not throw me in on myself”. No, beloved, I do not want to throw you in on yourself. I want to throw you in on the Spirit. The Spirit is in you. There is a very great difference between throwing you in on yourself and throwing you in on the Spirit. “What hast thou in the house?” he says. You have to be introspective if you want to discover what is in the house. You have got to look back on your spiritual history, that is; on your history since you were converted, and see whether [p. 253] there are evidences that you have the Spirit “in the house”. And if there are unmistakable evidences that you have the Spirit, then this passage is light for you.
The next thing is, “Get vessels”. You will say, “What does that mean?” Well, that reminds me of how typical Scripture is. The meaning of typical Scripture is not on the surface, although it employs the most ordinary circumstances. The unspiritual eye runs over this passage, and sees nothing in it but the most ordinary circumstance — a pot of oil, a woman in debt, and two sons in bondage. So that typical Scripture has to be read with spiritual eyes. As it is said, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” Acts 8:30. Hence, if I inquire what it is to get vessels, what is it but that I make all the room possible for the Spirit? My spiritual poverty implies that I have not been unloading, that whilst I have received the Spirit I have been retaining myself — I have been retaining the flesh — I have been ministering to the flesh — I have not made room for the Spirit. Borrowing vessels means that you are making room in your soul for the Spirit, and that means unloading.
Look about in the house and see how much rubbish is in it! Do you think this wise woman that we read of in Proverbs would have the rubbish in her house that many of us retain? She would not. She surveyed the ways of her house, and it is for the believer to look in his house, his own inward being, his spirit, his soul, his heart, his mind. You say, how are we to do it? Well, take the word of God; it is available to you, it is like a searchlight that one takes in his hand, and goes into the dark and investigates, and sees what is in the room that should not be there, and ejects it. It is a sharp two-edged sword, we are told, dividing asunder between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. That is what the word of God [p. 254] is. And so I would say, take that searchlight, and turn it in — make an introspective examination, and see how much rubbish you have been keeping in the house. Your pitiable condition is because you have not been doing this. Let it be done at once. Well, the woman accepts the word of the prophet. She was to get vessels not a few, and fill them. She and her sons were to shut themselves in. This is a private matter. You know many of us have very little experience with God in the secret of our souls; many of us live on the meetings; many wives live on the spirituality of their husbands. Many children are content with the family readings and what they get at the meetings. What this passage means is that I shut myself in. It is a matter between myself and God. It is a matter of self-examination and self-judgment and self-unloading. So she has plenty of oil. There is not a vessel left, every crevice of the moral being is filled with the Spirit.
And now another word comes, “sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live on the rest”. Again we have the most simple circumstances, but what are they spiritually? I have now, in making room for the Spirit, a means of discharging every moral obligation that rests upon me. I love God, I love Christ, I love the people of God, and I minister to their needs. And then I live. I have never lived before. I have been forgiven, I have repented, but I have not learned to live. Now I have. So that “the Spirit is life”, as it says in Romans 8, “because of righteousness”. Romans 8:10. Does it not appeal to you that God would set us up down here with the means of livelihood? The inheritance of fathers, we are told, are riches and a house. Is God behind? Not at all. He has given us the riches and the house to live in; let us live, then, by the riches He gives, and the house He provides. “Live of the rest”, said the prophet.
Well, now I want to show that the Shunammite [p. 255] woman is the counterpart of this woman, and she is living by the Spirit. She is called a “wealthy woman”. It is the same woman really. Now she is wealthy. What is the evidence of wealth? She could provide for the prophet. She is able to open her house and entertain the prophet of God. She perceives that he is a holy man of God. I doubt whether we are able to discriminate between the holy and the unholy, until we have the Spirit practically living in us and operating in us. He is said to be the Holy Spirit, who sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts, and so by the power of the Holy Spirit I am able to discern between what is holy and what is unholy. There are thousands of Christians in this world who cannot discern between the holy and the unholy, and they are very often, alas, found in unholy associations, and yet their consciences are good. It is a most sorrowful thing to think of a Christian being in unholy associations, and yet having a good conscience. What is the explanation of it? The Holy Spirit is not recognised. He is the Holy Spirit, and so this “great woman” perceives that Elisha was a holy man of God — not simply that he was a great preacher or a great teacher. It is one thing to recognise a great gift, and it is another thing to recognise a holy man of God. If you recognise him, you want to make room for him. You do not want simply to come and hear him; you want to make room for him. It is a question of Christ. Lydia says, “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord come into my house”. She would have Paul in her house. How she would regard the apostle as he entered her house! She did not think she was patronising him. She had received the light of God into her soul through him, and she opened her house to him. She perceived, like this great Shunammite woman, that he was a holy man of God. Well, the furniture was all in keeping, nothing [p. 256] luxurious — a bed, a table, a stool, and a candlestick. She discerned that the man of God needed nothing more, and she provided what he needed. But now he tests her. What shall be done for you? Will you be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the host? What a test that was! If she had not unloaded the flesh already, she would have been tempted to have the king asked for something. How we do crave naturally for recognition by the great of this world! As royal personages pass around, how people run after them and seek recognition; but not this woman. Although it was the prophet himself who proposed it, she said, “I dwell among mine own people”. What a word that is for young people — mine own people. Have you found your own people? They have the Spirit, they are dignified, they are wealthy. No royalty in this world can compare with them, either in dignity or in wealth. “I dwell”, she says, “among mine own people”.
Well now, I want to go on to Proverbs, because the “virtuous woman” is really composed of individuals such as I have been speaking of. I want to show you from this passage, by the Lord’s help, how the assembly is self-sustaining; how that through her own industry and skill she is entirely independent of this world. She has no fear even for the future. You may say to me in using the word ‘independency’ you may be shutting out God. No, beloved friends; the divine intent is that the assembly should be here free from human influence, without any need of man attaching to her; without any need of philosophy, vain deceit, or ceremonialism. It was the divine thought that she should, as having Christ in heaven as her Head, hold Him, and from Him receive such nourishment, such wealth, ministered through the joints and bands; that she should make increase according to the increase of God. I want every Christian here to understand that he is connected [p. 257] with that; that it is a living organism. The assembly is an organism. As it says again in Ephesians, “from whom the whole body, ... according to the working in its measure of each one part, works for itself the increase of the body to its self-building up in love”. That was the divine intent, and it shuts out — as I may say, automatically — every human intrusion. It is here in divine wealth and sustenance, so as to be entirely independent of man or the world.
So I turn to this woman for a moment. “Who can find a woman of worth?” says the writer of the Proverbs. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said that he had not found one woman among a thousand. He had found a man. Ecclesiastes is the preacher, and we only need a man for the preaching, for Christ is preached. But in this book the writer contemplates a woman of worth. The Spirit of God has the assembly in His mind, This book is the Kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love. Believers are said to be delivered from the authority of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love. These are a selection from three thousand proverbs spoken by Solomon, and they convey to us the wisdom of love. That is what the book is. He says, “I was a son unto my father, tender and an only one in the sight of my mother”. Proverbs 4:3. There was never a babe like Solomon. He was brought up in affection, and so is qualified, as divinely imbued with wisdom, to represent Christ as the Son of the Father’s love. Then he takes — every believer and tutors him in the instruction of a father, so that in the aggregate there should be “a woman of worth”. Hence he says, “Who can find a woman of worth? for her price is far above rubies”, and then he proceeds to outline the traits of this woman of worth.
He says, “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her”. Proverbs 30:11. Think of what it is to Christ to have a confidante in this world, one in whom His heart can safely trust! How does that appeal to you?
[p. 258] Can He trust us? If He cannot, we do not measure up with these virtuous traits of the woman of worth. And so he goes on, “She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life”. Proverbs 30:12. How these words come home to one’s heart! Have I done Him good and not evil all the days of my life? Have you? These traits are given so that we may have a standard to measure ourselves by.
Then it says, “She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar”. Proverbs 30:13,14 you see the industry and the selection in her purchases. She buys wool and flax and she works willingly. It refers to the collective industry of the assembly of the saints. One can trace it out in the Acts of the Apostles, but I can only run over it here. The wool affords comfort for the winter, and flax affords comfort for the summer. Linen garments fit the summer; they are cooling. Wool is heating. She selects both. And she is like merchants’ ships, “she bringeth her food from afar”. Proverbs 30:14. Who but the assembly can act at such a distance? She brings it from heaven. By the presence of the Holy Spirit here, there are direct communications with heaven. There are direct communications between Christ in heaven and the assembly, and she trades upon those resources like the merchants’ ships; she brings her food from afar.
“She riseth also, while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens”. Proverbs 30:15. Rising early is a divine trait. God rose early to send the prophets to Israel; “He that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” Psalm 121:4 — and so “her candle goeth not out by night”. Proverbs 30:18. The precious light of the Spirit shines throughout the night in the assembly; there is no darkness there, and there is no laziness. There is agreement with heaven. So it goes on. “She considereth a field and buyeth it; with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard”. Proverbs 30:16.
[p. 259] This is not adding field to field, like the ‘corporations’ of the world at the present time, spoken of, indeed, in the book of Isaiah. She considers a field and buyeth it. She acquires it in righteousness. That is to say, the assembly is ever bent on extending her borders. Normally, as we see in the Acts of the apostles, there was continual increase of the assembly’s influence. She acquired the field, and she planted a vineyard. The field was not to be idle. Nothing goes to waste, or is idle in the assembly. The field is acquired, and it is employed to plant a vineyard. I need not enlarge on what that is, beloved brethren. The vine provides what makes glad the heart of God and man, so that every extension of the assembly’s influence involved joy for God and joy for man.
“She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms”. Proverbs 30:17. The apostle says, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the might of his strength”. Ephesians 6:10. She makes strong her arms to support others.
“She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy”. Proverbs 30:19,20. You see these wonderful traits of the assembly as set up here in the power of the Spirit. The needy are helped. You see how the needy come into view. There are maidens provided for, and the needy; and it says, “She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet”. Proverbs 30:21. There is plenty of warmth. Many of us know what the bitter north wind is — I am speaking of the northern latitudes — signifying winter. It refers to the believer exposed to the adverse influences of the world, and I Wish you, dear young people, to take into your minds the thought that the assembly is not afraid of the snow, for all her household is clothed with scarlet. Then keep close to the saints; attend the meetings. I am speaking of individual [p. 260] exercises now. Keep with the people of God. The Spirit of God is with them. There is warmth with them; you need not be afraid of the snow, as you know the circle of life. She is not afraid. So it says, “She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land”, Proverbs 30:22,23. The Lord Jesus should be known through the assembly, but through her as seen in this wonderful type; when He sits among the elders of the land, He shall be known. “She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness”. Proverbs 30:24 - 26. You hear her speaking, that is in her members, if the law of kindness is in what she says.
And then it finally says, “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her”. Proverbs 30:27,28. “She looketh well to the ways of her household”. How that comes down to the local companies of the people of God! In the care meetings every detail concerning the interests of Christ is carefully looked into and watched over. “Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all”. Proverbs 30:28,29. The Spirit of God here has His eye upon the assembly. “Thou excellest them all”. The assembly stands out in the eye of the Spirit as excelling all the families. She is first. The Father names every family, and she comes in as excelling them all. And so it says, “to him (God) be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages”. Ephesians 3:21. In the Ephesians she is seen as the vessel of the glory of God throughout all generations of the age of ages.
Pages 261 - 385 — “Divine Administration”. Sydney, 1925 (Volume 74).