THAT WHICH IS GOOD FOR SOMETHING
[p. 256] THAT WHICH IS GOOD FOR SOMETHING
Jeremiah 13:1 - 11; Revelation 11:1,2
The Old Testament prophets may be viewed as witnesses to the long-suffering of God, just as, at the present time, evangelical ministry is the testimony of the long-suffering of God. It says that accounting “the long-suffering of our Lord to be salvation” (2 Peter 3:15), for God is not willing that any should perish; so that now we have a testimony to divine long-suffering in the presence of the assembly down here and of the Spirit who qualifies vessels for the preaching of Christ. The prophets correspond to this thought in a remarkable way. It even says that God saves at the dawn of the morning, such is His sustained interest for His people. What is presented in the prophets are signs indicating the ministry of each. The fact is manifested in a special way in Isaiah and Jeremiah. Isaiah has in view the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; His train filling the temple, while the seraphim proclaimed, “Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” Isaiah 6:3. It was the testimony that God had a throne and the means to bring everything into correspondence with His throne. As soon as the seraphim proclaimed His glory, the glowing coal taken from off the altar purged Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah then gives the testimony to the means that God has by Him to bring the whole earth into correspondence with His holiness. Isaiah is the great evangelical prophet; while showing us the throne of God and Christ seated thereon, he shows us also that same precious Person walking on this earth and bearing sins upon the cross. So, an African, a coloured man, a stranger to the blessings of Israel, receives from the mouth of the great evangelist [p. 257] Philip, the good news concerning Jesus; he was reading the prophet Isaiah, and he went on his way rejoicing.
To Jeremiah also are given signs: first “a rod of an almond-tree” (Jeremiah 1:11) representing the faithfulness of God; and then “a seething-pot” (Jeremiah 1:13) turned from the north and representing the judgment of God. Thus we see on the one hand the eternal faithfulness of God, for it says, “I am watchful over my word to perform it” (Jeremiah 1:12); if we apply that thought to our days, we see that God is about to fulfil everything that He has purposed; every one of His elect will be saved. On the other hand, the love and the grace and the goodness of God towards all are declared, for He desires that all men should be saved. That is what the rod of an almond-tree reminds us of, while the seething-pot reminds us of the judgment which will fall upon those who reject the gospel, for it says in the epistle to the Romans that “there is revealed wrath of God from heaven upon all impiety, and unrighteousness of men holding the truth in unrighteousness” Romans 1:18. If therefore the gospel is rejected, there is only judgment for men.
In chapter 13 of Jeremiah, there is a remarkable figure supporting what I have just said. The word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah telling him to go and buy a linen girdle and put it upon his loins; then the word came again to him, saying, “Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock”. We have here a striking sign. Jehovah explains it further on, “For as a girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith Jehovah; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory; but they would not hear”. If we apply this verse to ourselves, it deals [p. 258] with a people in outward relation with God. God had acted toward Israel with the greatest consideration and the greatest affection. “As a girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah”. It is a question of what God brought about; “I caused to cleave unto me”. It is not a question of the result of the people’s love; it is a question of what God brought to pass by outward means, so to speak. There are thousands today who have been affected by outward means. The gospel of God revealed in Christ has affected men, so that they have taken that position; but is there any moral value in that? The girdle was no longer good for anything. What was the secret? It had not been dipped in water. Jehovah said to Jeremiah, “Dip it not in water”.
Those who are really believers in Christ have been dipped in water. There cannot be real and living faith if one has not been dipped in water. Our beloved Lord Jesus has been into the water, not that He had any need of it. However, He had to say, “All thy breakers and thy billows are gone over me” Jonah 2:3. He “went down to the bottoms of the mountains” (Jonah 2:6), like Jonah, who is a type of Him; He went down into the depths of the sea. “All thy breakers and thy billows are gone over me” Jonah 2:3. “The waters encompassed me, to the soul” Jonah 2:5. He suffered the judgment of God; and we must be brought to correspond to what He endured. Profession is worthless. As to appearance, we may be as near to God as a girdle that encircles the loins of a man. We may frequent the meetings; we may read the Bible; we may even partake of the Lord’s supper; we may be identified with the saints, and we may not have been dipped in water, that is to say, we may not have appropriated the death of Christ. It says that on the day of Pentecost, all those who were converted were baptised.
[p. 259] That was not a religious form. The meaning of baptism is identification. “Those then who had accepted his word were baptised” Acts 2:41. It was a matter of a real identification with the death of Christ. We can only be baptised once. Baptism is an event, a fact that remains during the whole of our life on earth. It was those who were baptised who “persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers” Acts 2:42. Baptism was the sign that they had really been dipped in water. They publicly identified themselves with the death of Christ, but perseverance in the teaching of the apostles shows that they were subject and in fellowship. They took up Christian obligations, and the breaking of bread showed that they loved the Lord Jesus, and that they wished to keep Him in their affections. In other words, these three thousand believers showed that they had been dipped in water, and that their position in relation to God was not merely outward. If God had attached them to Him as a man attaches to himself a girdle round his loins, they showed that they were in that nearness and that they wished to remain there. They were attached to the Lord. That is what God brings about; He attaches us to the Lord. But if we love Him, we attach ourselves to Him. If there is not this reality, we are good for nothing. What a serious word! One may be a good citizen, a good neighbour, a good member of society, a man of business, and nevertheless be good for nothing in God’s eyes. How serious it is! And the secret is that one has not been dipped in water. Then God announces His judgment.
You see the great care of Jeremiah, as well as his sacrifice, in order that God should cause this thought to penetrate into His people’s conscience. There are three communications. First of all, Jehovah had said to him, Buy that girdle, and let it be of linen. Then it was a question of carrying it to the Euphrates.
“[p. 260] And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying, Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as Jehovah had commanded me”. It had to be hidden in a hole of the rock by the Euphrates. On the one hand, it is the means for the preservation of the girdle; and on the other, it is nearness to death. It is a question of the government of God towards His people; for later on, in His government, they were carried away to the Euphrates; but in His governmental ways, God shows His great care for us. The rock was to provide the preservation of the girdle. If we can possibly be preserved, God provides the means, but death is near at hand. If we would be preserved, it is a matter of accepting what is at hand. The believer who is such only by profession has only to appropriate the water of death which is near. In other words, God has acted in His governmental ways towards you. His love is behind all. It is for you to appropriate the death of Christ — the only means of blessing. Faith will be accompanied by perseverance, for “they persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers” Acts 2:42. Those who despise those things cannot be good for anything. In so far as I submit to the teaching of the apostles and continue in the teaching and fellowship, in breaking of bread and prayers, I am good for something; I arrive at being of some value to God and to His people; otherwise I am exposed to divine judgment — and good for nothing. That which is good for nothing must disappear, sooner or later; but, in the long-suffering of God, His gospel is still presented, and also a living, fresh ministry, in order that we may be subject and may be found good for something. At the beginning of the book of the Acts, we see those who became good for something. Think [p. 261] of the way God used such believers! Think how those three thousand believers were good for something! They were brought into the assembly, vessels of divine glory. The one who, according to the second epistle to Timothy, purges himself from vessels to dishonour is “a vessel to honour, sanctified, serviceable to the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21); he is good for something, which is the case with every true believer.
Now, in Revelation 11, God takes account of all that is good for something. “And there was given to me a reed like a staff, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship in it”. The temple of God, at the present time, includes all those who have received the Holy Spirit. The temple is composed of those who are good for something. The apostle says to the Corinthians, “Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16. How great and blessed it is to have part in the temple of God, where the Spirit of God dwells and the light of God is found! Beloved, think of the privilege of forming part of that temple! We are led to consider the reality of Christianity, each brother and sister forming part of the temple of God where He makes His light to shine. Am I going to continue to walk outside such a sphere? While coming to the meeting, while being with those who form part of the temple, am I going to remain at a distance? Why this distance? Love does not like this distance. “Come near to me” (Genesis 45:4), said Joseph to his brethren. Love takes pleasure in nearness. In the epistle to the Hebrews, love says, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way which he has dedicated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh, and having a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart” Hebrews 10:19 - 22. That is an invitation [p. 262] to every believer, now that the way has been dedicated through the veil; and God finds His pleasure in a true heart. “My son, give me thy heart” Proverbs 23:26. God can make use of your heart, if it is a purified heart, a true heart. He invites you to approach; we can approach. Why not approach, if we believe in Christ? Why, if our hearts have been sprinkled from a wicked conscience? If you have a wicked conscience, you know the reason. God knows it, and so do you. Confess before the Lord, for He has the means of purification. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9.
The Spirit insists, saying, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” Hebrews 10:25. If we assemble ourselves, it is that we may approach God to worship Him. Thus the temple is measured, likewise the altar and the worshippers. If there is an altar, it is that I may offer sacrifices. If Christ has sacrificed all for me, it is a question of my sacrificing. Peter says that we are “a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” 1 Peter 2:5. That is all measured — “the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship in it”. All that is found there is real, true. What joy for heaven to consider the saints of God on earth in the light of the temple. They are independent of man; they are in the light and knowledge of God revealed in Christ; they have the Scriptures as oracles of God; they have the Holy Spirit to understand the Scriptures, and on them shines the light of God. Then, they have made sacrifices; they have forsaken the world; it may be they are ready to lay down their life for the brethren, for if we would correspond to Christ, we ought to lay down our life for the brethren.
The altar is measured, and then the worshippers. When the saints gather together “in assembly”, they take up their priestly privileges. We are sons of [p. 263] God; and as such we are perfectly free before Him, for we know the Father. We are priests; and as such we understand what is suitable to the service of God. We worship God “in spirit and truth” John 4:23. These two things necessarily go together. I worship God in spirit, for God is a Spirit, and my spirit is in relation with God. But I worship Him also in truth, and I am to be in correspondence with Christ; truth is presented in Christ. We worship God in spirit and truth. All that is measured, for God takes account of it at the present time, dear brethren, and all that is outside of that is not measured — the court, that is to say profession which has no value in His eyes, which is good for nothing. For the profession, there is only judgment. How solemn it is to have part in that which is left for judgment! May God bless His precious word!
Address by J.T. at Tence, 18th May, 1926, morning.