SPIRITUAL INITIATIVE (2)
[p. 125] SPIRITUAL INITIATIVE (2)
— I intend to pursue the subject we had this afternoon. At the close of our meeting, we were occupied with Gideon’s present. We remarked that he had by him the means of presenting an offering to God; he brought a kid and unleavened cakes. These things speak to us of the Lord Jesus Christ, as Man on earth, presented to God; the kid as being slain and presented speaks to us of the Lord put to death, and the broth relates to what He was essentially as known to God, and in a certain measure, to the believer; the ephah of flour, that is to say, a measured portion of flour, speaks to us of His perfect humanity, and Gideon was accepted in the value of these offerings — the one would be the burnt-offering and the other the oblation. We were led to contemplate the priestly features in Gideon, for no brother, and no sister, can have power with men before having power with God. But there was still something lacking in Gideon’s instruction: he did not know God revealed in love.
“And Gideon perceived that he was an angel of Jehovah; and Gideon said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! for because I have seen an angel of Jehovah face to face ...”. In the presence of God, there ought not to be such an expression in the mouth of the servant: “Alas, Lord Jehovah!” The knowledge of God revealed in the death of Christ should dispel all that fear from us, for “perfect love casts out fear” 1 John 4:18. Fear produces torment, but perfect love casts out fear, and perfect love is witnessed in the death of Jesus. We should understand the death of Christ from that point of view. It is one thing to know [p. 126] that I am accepted as Gideon was, and it is another thing to know what God is as revealed in the death of Christ; what God is in Christ is greater than what I am in Christ, although there is perfect correspondence between God revealed in Christ and my position in Christ. At that moment, Gideon needed to know perfect love. Jehovah said to him, “Peace be unto thee: fear not; thou shalt not die”. There is a certain liberty in the soul of the one who knows God. Gideon’s altar is erected in that light. An altar represents a definite progress in the soul; it is my public testimony to the knowledge of God that I possess. He called the altar Jehovah-Shalom. That is the light in which Jehovah had made Himself known to him: “Jehovah of peace”. We arrive at a point that is very beautiful. I have no more fear in my soul with regard to God. All is adjusted with Him. God is known to me in His nature, and my heart is in perfect rest before Him.
— Does this answer to the first verse of chapter 5 of Romans: “We have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ” Romans 5:1?
— The beginning of chapter 5 of Romans is the complement of the end of chapter 4. After that, the soul can go forward without hindrance, and if tribulation comes it produces endurance; “and endurance experience; and experience hope; and hope does not make ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” Romans 5:4,5. Perfect love is known in the heart by the Holy Spirit. I have no more fears, from that side. All that happens to me is in my favour. How many are there among us who possess this altar? This altar is characterised by peace — “Jehovah of peace”.
— It is the privilege of all Christians.
— And one who does not possess it is not in the full Christian position.
— [p. 127] It is not a question only of possessing this altar, but of building it.
— The name of the altar indicates the state of soul of the one who builds it. Here, it is “Jehovah of peace”. It is his public worship of God known in that light. If any one comes to you and asks you what this altar means, you say it expresses the knowledge that you have of God, as Paul says, “My God shall abundantly supply all your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:19. That indicates the altar that he himself had erected, for note that he does not say, ‘our God’, but “my God”.
— Abraham had his altar and his tent.
— That is the same idea.
— All that is experimental and personal.
— Gideon had made progress. He is in public and definite relation with God. He has power with God. Now, what follows is the development of that power with men; for if we wish to help men, we must have moral power towards them. “And it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said to him, Take the young bullock, which thy father hath, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the Asherah that is by it”. What right had Gideon to do it? If it had been his bullock and his altar, he would not have needed moral power, but he did need it, so much the more as it concerned what was his father’s. Gideon acts now on the principle of moral power. If I have not moral power I cannot take his bullock and throw down his altar. The verses that follow show that Gideon had moral power with his father, and in verse 31 his father is with him. That is the important point. Do I carry the brethren with me, so to speak, in all that I do? It is an immense thought. Before I can be successful in the testimony I must have moral power, and that power [p. 128] flows from that which I have with God. I have noticed that if one prays for someone, among the brethren in the locality for example, we shall, at the suitable time, have power with regard to him, and the further we extend in our prayers, the more moral power we shall have.
— It was in that power that Jacob was able to stand before Pharaoh.
— Yes. He was a prince who had power with God and with men.
— It is very beautiful to see how Gideon’s father is entirely won.
— There is something else that is of great importance: it is the second bullock (verse 26). I believe there may be a danger: that is that Gideon may be aware of the knowledge he possesses, and that God has taken him up on account of his personal valour. As we have already seen, it is true that God recognises the personal valour of a man. But we must not forget that those whom God uses He takes up according to His sovereignty, and each one in particular. The second bullock indicates that one has finished with what the first signifies. Therefore, God does not use me on the principle of nature; that which is natural comes first, that which is spiritual, second. So we have “the first man”, and afterward “the second man”.
— What is the meaning of the Asherah?
— Gideon used the wood of the Asherah. The wood represents that which had been in the service of Satan and is now in the service of God. After all, every creature of God is good.
— Was it a public testimony against evil?
— Yes. Gideon’s education is very important for us. We are a little inclined to adorn ourselves with the power which, really, comes from God; that would mean that we do not offer the fat to God. The most useful servant, the one who is most successful, always [p. 129] refers to God in relation to his power. There are therefore two things that go together in service: God recognises His own work in the individual, and on the other hand, he chooses him sovereignly, as Paul for example, who was separated for service from his birth.
— And afterward called by grace.
— If then one has received his mission from God as sovereign, one is kept in humility.
— Paul could say, “By God’s grace I am what I am” 1 Corinthians 15:10.
— And that was a great triumph, Mr. L. An offering was presented at the same place where the altar of Baal was. And you see that his father approved it.
— Dionysius, the Areopagite, was also won; Acts 17.
— All that of which we are speaking takes place between Gideon’s soul, and God, and his father, before Gideon appears in public.
— It is particularly interesting to see that it is a son who has this moral power with his father. In verse 34, “the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon”: God commits Himself to him.
— What does “In the ordered manner” mean (verse 26)?
— Everything had to be suitable, in Luke and the Acts. Everything is done “in the ordered manner”. There is a certain manner which is suitable.
— “Let all things be done comelily and with order” 1 Corinthians 14:40. That is the principal object of the gospel of Luke. It says, for example, “And having taken a loaf” (Luke 22:19), it is a loaf and not a piece of bread, for the thought is a complete thought. It is not a part, but a complete idea. The local brethren will pardon my having made this remark.
— Indeed we desire to do what is suitable.
— So it says that Luke had set things out “with method” (Luke 1:3); and in the ordering of the Lord’s supper, it speaks of manner — “In like manner”, it says in Luke 22:20. At Corinth that was one of the chief difficulties: things were not done with decency and order. The outward things that are placed before our eyes have in view to produce unity. “In the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body ... and have all been given to drink of one Spirit” 1 Corinthians 12:13. It is a matter of everything that tends to unity.
— This all bears upon the ordered manner.
— Would you give us your thought as to the collection? When is it suitable to make it?
— What is done at the collection should be the expression of the love of the saints. There is what is material and public, which includes the symbols and the collection; it seems to me that that should go together. After that, we are free to enter into the things that are proper to the assembly, the things of God. In Ezekiel, “He that cometh in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that cometh in by the way of the south gate shall go out by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate by which he came in, but shall go out straight before him” Ezekiel 46:9. He goes straight before him. We enter with things that relate to time: the Lord’s supper which takes place until the Lord comes, and the collection which is in view of the needs of the saints. When we have finished with those things, we go straight before us; if we enter by the gate of the north, we go out by that of the south; we go straight forward. There is no one who closes the meeting. If I put the collection at the end, the meeting must be closed, and it is I who close the meeting, while the assembly belongs to the Lord; He says; “My assembly”, and no one should take upon himself to close the meeting.
— [p. 131] It would only be after having made the collection that we should enter the sanctuary. Then, we are free. We have finished with all that belongs to time. It says that “Having sung a hymn, they went out to the mount of Olives” Matthew 26:30. I believe that is what is open to us after the Supper: we can move to heavenly places. It is He who begins the song in the midst of the assembly.
— Such is the ordered manner!
— And to what should the proceeds of the collection be devoted?
— It was said to Paul that he should remember the poor, “which same thing also I was diligent to do” Galatians 2:10. It is said of those who carried the money collected, they were “deputed messengers of assemblies, Christ’s glory” (2 Corinthians 8:23), which shows the place the collection holds: those who dispense it are “Christ’s glory”. It is for the support of the testimony, for the support of those who travel and who spend themselves for the Lord.
— That is what belongs to time.
— Then we rise higher and higher. According to the power that we possess, we can rise and have our heavenly part. The collection is so to speak sanctified because it expresses the love of the saints. You would not wish unconverted persons to take part in it; only believers should take part in the collection. All Gideon’s private instruction had made him capable of acting. He blows the trumpet, but only after having been clothed upon by the Spirit of Jehovah. When he blows the trumpet, it is not a question merely of his father’s house, but all hear it. It says that “they came up to meet him”.
— The trumpet is of importance.
— It is the testimony which makes itself heard.
— Could we say that his service begins at this moment?
— [p. 132] Paul began quickly, when the Spirit sent him in company with Barnabas.
— Would you say a few words with regard to the fleece?
— The first sign is in verse 37: “If dew shall be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the ground, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said”. That means that God restricts His blessing to a certain locality, and He has a perfect right to do so. That is what He did in Old Testament times: He restricted His blessings to Israel. Now, the second sign is in verses 39 and 40: “Let it, I pray thee, be dry upon the fleece only, and upon all the ground let there be dew”. God can allow His blessing to spread everywhere, and He can also withdraw it from where it was before. So historically, the blessing of God has been taken away from Israel, and has been spread over the nations. These two signs, therefore, indicate the rights of God in sovereignty.
— The fact that Gideon asked for such signs does not point to great intelligence on his part, does it?
— What he did not fully understand, we can understand now, because we have the full light, and these scriptures have been given for us. It is important that we should pay attention to the sovereign rights of God. He can place the blessing in one place, and withhold it from another place. It is not of him that wills, but of God that shows mercy. The epistle to the Romans teaches us this great principle with regard to Israel and the nations. The fall of Israel is the reconciliation of the world.
— No servant can carry out his service well if he disregards the sovereign rights of God.
— He must have the knowledge of God and of His sovereign rights.
— Is there any significance in the “bowl-full of water” (verse 38)?
— [p. 133] That refers to the blessing which was taken away from Israel, when the Lord took the cup, at the passover. There were two cups: one is connected with the passover, and the other with the Lord’s supper. There was the passover cup which the Lord told them to take and pass from one to the other; that is what had been in Israel. The epistle to the Romans tells that they had much because to them were entrusted the oracles of God: all that has been brought to us, and more still.
— The knowledge of God’s sovereignty maintains the soul in humility.
— And that teaches you too that God can pass you by, if it is His will.
Reading with J.T. at Beauvoisin, 10th May, 1926, evening.