GOD'S KINGDOM, AND MAN'S CONFIDENCE
GOD’S KINGDOM, AND MAN’S CONFIDENCE
Psalm 118: 21 to Psalm 119: 8; Psalm 99: 1 - 5
I desire to draw attention to two lines of truth, which meet in Christ, and are connected with the ways of God toward man; they present two things which God has found the means of conciliating. The one is the establishment of His authority in man’s soul, that is what the kingdom means. The other is the gaining of the confidence of man’s heart. The two things go together in our experience.
If God saw fit to establish His kingdom — and no one can for a moment deny the propriety of His doing so — there would not have been much in it if He had not been able to gain the confidence of man. The wisdom of God is manifested in the way in which He has brought about these two results. They will come out most distinctly when the kingdom is displayed: then the ways of God will have their issue.
On the one hand, the authority of God will be publicly established in the world, and will be the guarantee to man of liberty from the power of the enemy; and, on the other, the result achieved for God is the confidence of His people upon earth.
We can appreciate the wisdom in which God has been able to accomplish these two purposes when we take into account that man is in will departed from God and has wandered into the tortuous paths of self-will. The presumption and self-assertion of man are something amazing. You may see this all around. Man has set himself up as the rival of God, in fact, he displaces God altogether; that is the line of development of evil; yet the end and issue of God’s ways is that He has established His authority in the kingdom, and has gained the confidence of man.
[p. 97] This will be verified in the case of Israel, and these two thoughts will explain a great deal in the psalms, where the two lines are pursued.
Now Christ is the wisdom of God. What I understand by wisdom is resource. Christ is the resource by which God has been enabled to work out the purpose of His will: to establish the kingdom and to gain the confidence of man’s heart.
The passages I have read are from two books of the psalms. The first two passages are found in the fifth book, and the last in the fourth book; both books celebrate the coming of the Lord, though in different connections.
I might put it in this way: in the fourth book the coming of the Lord is celebrated as the establishment of the throne of Jehovah; in the fifth book the same coming is celebrated, but on the behalf of man. You can look at it in both lights. Christ comes on the part of God and on the part of man. The two lines are treated distinctly in the psalms, and are easy to apprehend in connection with the Lord.
In Psalm 99 we read, “Jehovah reigneth: let the peoples tremble. He sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved”, etc. The burden of these psalms is, Jehovah reigneth. The subject begins really in Psalm 93; in Psalm 97 Jehovah has made known His judgments; then in Psalm 99, “Jehovah reigneth; let the peoples tremble”, etc. Nothing can be simpler than the burden of these psalms celebrating the coming in of Jehovah. It is Jehovah coming in, in Christ, to establish the kingdom, and the throne of David. Jehovah is exalted. Now, so far, the truth is all on that side. It is Jehovah coming in to establish His rights in the world, and no one could deny the suitability of this. Christ comes in, in that way, as Jehovah. When, however, you come to the fifth book of psalms, it is not exactly the establishment of Jehovah’s rights that is in question, but the establishment of man’s heart in confidence in God, and that is a very great point. The two things come to pass by Christ. He represents the authority of Jehovah, but at the same time He comes in in such a way as to establish the confidence of man’s heart in God. What good could there be in the kingdom otherwise?
I will read a verse or two in Psalm 110: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.... The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec”. In this particular psalm Christ is not viewed as Jehovah; but Jehovah speaks to Him. “Jehovah said unto my Lord”. It is Jehovah speaking to David’s Lord. The burden is not, “Jehovah reigneth”, but Jehovah saying, “Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool”; and again, “Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec”.
Now the idea of a priest is, that he is for men. He is ordained on man’s behalf in things pertaining to God. The thought stands in contrast to that of mediator. The mediator is of God toward man, and the priest for man toward God; hence in Psalm 110 Jehovah sware, and will not repent, “Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec”. Melchisedec, you remember, brought forth bread and wine and blessed Abraham. He was on the behalf of Abraham, and so is Christ for us. We have a throne of grace to which we can come boldly to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need; that is the effect and fruit of priesthood.
In Psalm 118: 22 we read: “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner”. Then again, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord”. That is not exactly the idea of Jehovah’s throne, but of one coming in the name of [p. 99] Jehovah, confirming the confidence of the people in Jehovah. When the Lord came to Jerusalem in the past, He said: “Behold your house is left unto you desolate; for I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord”. It is to that point that this psalm refers. It is Christ come in, in the name of Jehovah, on behalf of the people, in order that the confidence of the people may be established in Jehovah. The beginning of this is by priesthood. We get the benefit of this now, and so will Israel hereafter. He comes again; and when He comes again into the city from which He was cast out, the confidence of the people in Jehovah is fully established.
Thus we have the two things brought together, the establishment of God’s kingdom, and of the confidence of the hearts of the people in Jehovah; and the secret of this lies in Christ, who has suffered on their behalf. He came here and tasted death for everything, and they will recognise in Christ their Saviour and Priest. He will come forth to bless Israel, as Melchisedec blessed Abraham. He will bring forth bread and wine.
You get the idea of this in Moses and Aaron coming out of the tabernacle to bless the people. Moses represented the authority of God, and Aaron was the priest.
I do not know anything much more important in connection with the kingdom than that in it authority and priesthood are combined. Christ has been received with acclamation in heaven. The children sang on His entering Jerusalem, “Hosanna”. That was in view of Christ entering heaven, but He is going to enter the city with acclamation, and they will then say, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord”. He will be welcomed, and the confidence of the people established in Jehovah.
[p. 100] Now, if you follow me I think you will apprehend the perfect wisdom of God’s ways: how He brings to pass two things which never could be if man had his way. If God had to deal with righteous people there would be no need to bring in the kingdom; but He has had to deal with sinful man, and in this it has been possible for God to conciliate the two things of which I have spoken; and the secret of all is that Christ has come in as Saviour and Priest. “He was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death”, etc. That is, having established righteousness, He has taken up the position of priest. He is Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
These two thoughts stand good in regard of Christians, and we get the gain of them. We rejoice in the authority of God, and delight to give God His place. One can see the terrible sin of the world in virtually ignoring the authority of God. God’s name is used, but His authority is not admitted in the world. Do you think that politicians concern themselves about the authority of God? Do you think that people do generally? The principle which rules in this world is the will of man, and no one who knows the world can deny it. The worst form of it is in religious things, in which the will of man is rampant. Where do you think such things as Ritualism and Rationalism come from? From man’s will. And infidelity, too, is an expression of that will.
It is remarkable that there is nothing, in principle, working in the world of which you do not get a type in Scripture. One can see in the early books of the Bible the type of every principle of evil now prevalent. Take, for instance, apostasy from Christian privilege. Esau is a very apt type of a great deal which is going on today, men giving up their Christianity for some worldly advantage. This is the secret of much of the infidelity, and opposition to Christianity in the present day. Men, like Esau, barter their birthright for a mess [p. 101] of pottage. In Ishmael you have the man after the flesh, who scoffs at the idea of God’s sovereignty; and in Cain, a man that would claim the earth for man and give God acknowledgement. Christianity is properly the birthright of everybody born in this country: by that I mean the light and gain of it, and if a man gives it up he, like Esau, sells his birthright for present gain.
On the other hand, a true Christian delights in recognising the authority of God, and has confidence in the One who is presented to him in the Saviour and Priest; Christ has passed through the heavens to the throne of God, and sympathises with His people here in their infirmities; and the practical result is that we have a throne of grace to which we can come, to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
I pass on now to the next point. In Psalm 119 we read, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord”. And again, “I will keep thy statutes, O forsake me not utterly”. I read also a verse or two in John’s first epistle, chapter 4: 9: “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him ... Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit”. Also verse 16: “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.... There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love”. At first sight you might hardly see the connection here, but both scriptures really hang on the new covenant. The covenant follows upon the kingdom. God has established the kingdom, and in connection with it you have the priest, who is also the Mediator of the covenant. That will be the case when Christ takes the kingdom. The people come under the teaching of the new covenant, and that we get expressed in Psalm 119;
[p. 102] in other words, the psalm presents the effect of the law being written in the heart, which is the meaning and power of the new covenant. God will write His laws in their hearts, and their sins and iniquities will He remember no more. It is God’s law, and no remembrance of sins.
The result of that is that Israel hereafter will become the expression of the law of God upon earth. They will love God with all their hearts, and their neighbours as themselves. They derive that from Christ, for they come under Him as the second Man; and what marks Him as Man is, “Thy law is within my heart”. Israel will see the perfection of God’s law as a rule for man upon the earth, and it will find its expression in them as a people. You get the accomplishment of this in Psalm 119.
Now, we have in Christ the authority of God on the one hand, and confidence in God inspired on the other; we know Christ as Saviour and Priest, sitting at the right hand of God, giving us confidence of heart in God. In the midst of trouble we are not afraid, for we are supported. We get mercy, and grace to help in time of need. We are represented at the right hand of God and thus get confidence in God. If there were one thing which I would desire to do, it is to establish the heart of every saint in full confidence in God which nothing could shake, so that in coming into trials and difficulties there might be unwavering confidence. That is a service which Christ Himself alone can effect.
As Christians we come under the spirit of the new covenant, and that is represented to us, I think, in the passage in John’s epistle. The chapter looks upon the saints, not as in the sanctuary, but as in the place of testimony and responsibility. I will read verse 17. “Herein has love been perfected with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; that even as he is, we also are in this world”. Here the day of judgment is contemplated; that is not the thought of heaven,
[p. 103] neither is it of the sanctuary. This is not the idea here; it refers to Christian responsibility. The day of judgment closes up for ever one chapter of a Christian’s history. Everything that we do here has reference to the day of judgment, for then we receive the estimate of Christ; but we have boldness in regard of that day, because we are as Christ is. Love is made perfect with us so that we may be without fear.
Verse 9 carries us back to the beginning of our apprehension, “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins”. You see that the love of God was there before we loved God. It was manifested toward us. All began with the love of God. Then in verse 16, “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us”. That is in regard of our pathway here. This is not the love of God as expressed in the past, but the love He hath to us. And finally in verse 17, “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world”. This fulfils the Lord’s prayer in John 17, “That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them”. That is what I understand by the covenant. Our hearts are established in the love of God. The point here is that the love of God is our testimony. We are not the expression here of the law of God. If we walk in the Spirit the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us; but that is hardly our testimony; our testimony is of the love of God, as expressed in Christ.
We read in verse 12, “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us”. That is the testimony of Christians: the continuation of that testimony which came out in Christ. His testimony here was the [p. 104] love of God. He was the Son of God who came out from God to express His nature. He was here not only making known divine counsels; but the divine nature. It is a great comfort to know what God is in nature, because you can then judge of everything by the nature of God. Anything which is unsuitable to the nature of God you can reject very simply. The love of God is thus the real standard of judgment. If any one were to come to me with doctrine which is incompatible with love, I would reject it, God cannot act contrary to His nature. His acting is the fruit of His nature. You cannot ever set light against love. Light is the revelation of love. Love can be indignant. The Lord Himself was indignant when here. He was angry and it was the anger of love. God is angry with the wicked every day, but that does not really conflict with the thought that God is love. Christ was the expression of the love of God and the very substance of it. He came out from God and has declared Him, and you get in a sense the continuation of that in Christians. We are left on earth to be the expression of divine love, and how? Simply in love one toward another. It is perfectly vain to talk about my love to God if I do not love the saints. I can only prove love to God by my love to the saints. “If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us”. But how has this come about? It is by divine teaching; in the way in which the apostle brings it out in this chapter.
Love began, and love is at the end. It never fails. The love of God was toward us when we were in our sins. Our history began with the love of God; it abides with us in our pathway here, and is made perfect with us in regard of the day of judgment, so that we may have no fear.
The purpose of God in bringing us into the joy and security of the kingdom is that we may come under the teaching of divine love. The great teacher on the [p. 105] part of God is the Spirit of God. No man can teach us. I can only show you that the love of God is there, but the Spirit of God brings it home. The great witness of God’s love is in the death of Christ, and the Spirit is the teacher. He makes good in the saints that which is witnessed in the death of Christ. “God commendeth his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. The love was there before we loved God. He sent His Son when we were dead that we might live through Him.
When our eyes were opened to divine truth it was to apprehend the love of God, and the end is that we may be a testimony in love one toward another.
I compare the saints to a transparent vessel through which the love of God shines out. God would have that there should be the expression of Himself in the saints. The nature of God shines through them. Divine love rises above distinctions of flesh. We love one another, not because we are of the same nationality, or anything of the kind; but because we recognise one another as begotten of God. Love is the bond of perfectness, and the purpose of God is that there should be in the saints the expression of Himself.
The more sense you get of divine love the more you advance in spiritual intelligence and in holiness. Holiness does not come by faith; it is the blessed fruit and effect of love.
Now, I have tried to show you that the principles of God abide. When Christ comes the throne is established and the law written in the hearts of God’s people. But the kingdom is true to us now, Christ is Saviour and Priest, and our confidence is established by Him in God. We get the teaching of the new covenant by the Spirit of God; our hearts are established in the knowledge of God, so that divine love should find its expression in us.
If our hearts were in the light of divine love half the difficulties that we meet with here would not affect [p. 106] us at all. And if you are established in love you will make very great progress in spiritual intelligence, “Being rooted and grounded in love, ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God”.
How blessed it is to think that all this will come out in the future. Think of the heavenly city. It has the glory of God, and its light is most precious, the nations walk in the light of it. God’s nature is expressed in it. God gives witness too in it of the exceeding riches of His grace, in His kindness toward us, in Christ Jesus.