THE CAUSE OF DEFECTION IN THE CHURCH
[p. 220] THE CAUSE OF DEFECTION IN THE CHURCH
Exodus 32: 1 - 6; 1 Corinthians 10: 1 - 12
We get in the passage in Exodus the point of departure in the case of Israel. There had been the lusting after evil things; but this was the great defection, on account of which they were carried away into Babylon. Although Israel entered the land of promise they did so only provisionally; they never entered it according to the pleasure of God. From the making of the golden calf God intended that they should be carried away captive into Babylon. The same defection is seen in the history of the church. That is my meaning in connecting these two scriptures.
What Israel did actually after the flesh, the church has done in a spiritual sense. Israel began first by lusting after evil things, and this was followed by idolatry. There were in Israel what answered to sacraments; they did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink — it is what the Lord’s supper is to us — but there was unjudged flesh amongst them. Now I want you to see that the same character of departure has taken place in the church of God.
On the occasion referred to Moses was absent. Moses was apostle in connection with Israel, Aaron was priest. Moses represented to the people the light and authority of God. In divine things rule and authority are connected with light. We see this even in nature. God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. God constituted light to rule, and so it is today — light rules. I do not doubt that in putting things in this way in Genesis 1 the Spirit of God had Christ in view. He is the great Light set in heaven,
[p. 221] and it is very important to see that God intended light to rule.
Now light is connected with the apostle. In regard to Israel, Moses was apostle and brought the light, and light was to rule. Authority was connected with light. In this passage in Exodus we learn that Moses was absent, he was up in the mount with God. During his absence the people separated priesthood from true authority, and connected a false authority with the priest, and by doing so they practically degraded the priesthood. They separated the light and authority, which were vested in Moses, and connected them in their mind in a false way with Aaron, the priest. He was to be their leader, and to accommodate things to their taste.
This act resulted in the bringing in of idolatry. They said to Aaron, “Up, make us gods”, and Aaron said, “Break off the golden ear-rings, which are in the ears of your wives” (verses 2 - 6).
We have in this an epitome of the history of the professing church. Christ is absent; He, the Apostle, is lost sight of in the present day in Christendom because He has delayed to return, and the leaders have separated priesthood from true authority. They have degraded the priesthood by connecting authority with it; idolatry has been sanctioned, and the people under the influence of idolatry have become completely worldly. “The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play”.
It is remarkable that at the beginning of the history of the church God should have warned saints by this defection of Israel. We see the defection today, both in Romanism and in Protestantism. And it will be in the case of Christendom as with Israel, that because of this defection destruction will come upon it. It is of all importance to apprehend the course defection has taken in Christianity. It is easily seen that during the absence of the Apostle — Christ, heavenly light and [p. 222] authority have been disregarded. A spurious priesthood has been introduced, the priest has sanctioned idolatry, and thus priesthood has become degraded.
We have been given to see this defection, and it is a great favour to have had our eyes opened to it. Now God’s corrective I believe to be in the apprehension that what man separated God has brought together. Apostle and Priest go together in the one Person, and that makes Christianity, in its true power, perfection. As we accept the authority we get the gain of priesthood, and that is the point I want to bring before you.
I may turn to Romans 4: 23 to chapter 5: 11 to illustrate this. All this passage is connected with the Lord Jesus Christ; He is the Apostle, the One in whom is brought in the light of God. The Priest does not bring in the light, the Apostle does. If you turn to Romans 8: 33 - 39, you find the priest. We get thus the distinction between the Apostle and the Priest. There is distinction in function, but the two are combined now in one Person, so that the Priest is as good as the Apostle, which was hardly the case in Moses and Aaron. At the outset Aaron went wrong, but of Moses God said that he was faithful in all His house. It was an imperfect system. Now the system is perfect, for the two offices are combined in one Person — the Priest is equal to the Apostle. The Apostle brings the light of God which is to rule; the Priest carries us in to God. Therefore the function of the Priest is more limited than that of the Apostle. Light, when it comes in, is world-wide testimony. God could not limit His light, it shines for all. You could not conceive God limiting the value of the sun. “There is nothing hid from the heat thereof”. And God could no more limit the light of the gospel than that of the sun. Priesthood is more limited in its application, for its exercise is connected with those drawing nigh to God; the Priest brings us in. Many to whom the light has come are never exercised about [p. 223] going in to God, and so they never get fully the good of the priesthood.
Now the light is to rule, and I understand the light to be the glory of God. We read in 2 Corinthians 4: 6, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”.
I understand the glory of God to indicate the completeness of moral perfection in display. Circumstances have come to pass which have brought the moral perfections of God into display, and they are all proportionate and harmonious. Righteousness, love, holiness, mercy, faithfulness, truth — all that goes to make up the moral perfection of God — all are harmonious. That is the simple idea to my mind of the glory of God, and it is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. It is what Stephen saw, and where Stephen left off Paul begins. The glad tidings of the glory of God have come into this world; it is a wonderful light, and that light is to rule. God intends us to be ruled by the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Every attribute of God has come into display — righteousness and faithfulness, all is set forth in His face, and in that light I am to walk. I am as much affected in my soul by the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ as I am naturally by the light of the sun in the heavens. Under the influence and rule of the light I walk down here in the will of God in the midst of imperfection. I see all moral imperfection in man. If I come across a man good in one point he has imperfection in another. I see every moral perfection in the face of Jesus Christ, and I walk in that light down here for God’s will. Light is in the Apostle, we are affected by it, and it is in the light of that glory that the Christian is enabled to walk in the knowledge of God’s will.
At the close of Romans 11 we read, “For of him,
[p. 224] and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen”. Then in chapter 12 the apostle beseeches the saints through the mercies of God. Mercy is part of God’s perfection and glory. “That ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God”. You have got the light of the glory of God: that is, “Of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever”. The apostle has assured us in the epistle of God’s righteousness and faithfulness, and in the light of that we prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. The more you are affected by the light the more you are down here in this world, not for man’s will, but for God’s will. It is a great thing to be here in the light of God’s glory, for we shall come out in it by-and-by in the heavenly city.
Till things are morally according to God’s glory, He cannot display His glory. God does not display His glory now. If He were to display it there would be an end of man. But He gives us the light of it in Christ that we may not be ruled by our own perverse wills, but by God’s will. And it works out down to the most minute and meanest things in our daily lives. The light of God’s glory is to illuminate us completely; we are to be affected by that light in the details of our daily life. I would seek to carry out everything down here — any little bit of ministry, my business, my responsibilities in my family, etc. — according to my knowledge of the righteousness, faithfulness, love, and mercy of God. It is a great thing to walk down here in the light. The light is the authority to the Christian, all the details of his conduct are affected by it.
I turn to one more passage. Titus 2: 10 - 14.
[p. 225] Grace is the predominant element in the light of God. We are taught by it, and are awaiting “the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works”. This passage concludes my point in that connection; that rule is connected with light, and light is by the Apostle, and as we are walking in it, we are here for God’s will. The moral effect is that we live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. It is thus a great thing to apprehend the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God has made known to us the completeness of moral perfection, and we can regard it because we stand in a grace which imputes nothing. The great point is rule, and the rule is the rule of light. The rule of light comes into the corners and dark places of our hearts and affects us in every detail of life. We seek to answer to the character of God. We are exhorted, “Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children”.
Now we have seen that light is connected with the Apostle, but we have also to apprehend that the Apostle is Priest. Not only is there light, but there is life. The thought of life is connected with the Priest, light, with the Apostle. Through the Apostle light comes to us where we are; the Priest takes us in to where God is. If you turn to Romans 8: 28 - 34 you get the Priest, “Who also maketh intercession for us”. As in chapter 5 you get in principle Christ as Apostle, so here you get Him as Priest. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” that is as Priest.
The first knowledge we have of God’s love comes to us as light, not in connection with the Priest, but by the Spirit. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us. The love comes out in testimony as light, and the Spirit diffuses it in our hearts, and the effect of that is that [p. 226] we live. The first real breath of life is our response to the love of God. The response to it is in affection. The moment you can say that you love God you know you are the called according to God’s purpose. And the love of God will never fail us down here; it is light to us, and God will keep us in that light. But now the Priest comes into view, and Christ stands in another light. He is going to lead you into the sanctuary, but in order to do that He must have you attached to Himself, for till He has got you attached to Himself you are not in a position to enter the holiest. In the wilderness Christians have the Spirit, and are in the light of the love of God, but it is a poor thing to have the light of such great love and not respond to it. You are bound to respond, and when you respond that proves there is life in you, and the moment has come in your history when you find that you are the called according to purpose. Some object to the truth of election, but, do what you may, you cannot get away from the fact of the sovereign mercy of God.
Now the love of God is so known in your heart that He has got your affections, and you are ready for Christ as Minister of the sanctuary — that is, you are prepared to go in with Him to the heart of God. You go from the cross, where the love was expressed, to its source in the heart of God. The way in which the Priest attaches our hearts to Himself is by making intercession for us, and by succouring us in our difficulties and trials along the road. We learn His tenderness, His sympathy, His unfailing interest in each one of us personally. He appears in the presence of God for us, helping us in the exercises through which we pass down here, and is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. But there is an end in view in this; namely, to attach our hearts to Himself so firmly that He can lead us in with Himself to where He is at home — to where the love of God is at rest.
[p. 227] The twelve apostles were three and a half years in the Lord’s company, but it had not much effect in enlightening their intelligence. It is said after Christ rose, “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures”, but He had first rebuked them, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken”. It has been said that the disciples did not really understand a single thing the Lord said to them while He was down here with them. But His presence had the effect of deeply attaching their hearts to Himself. Though Peter did deny Him, he could say to Him afterwards, “Lord, thou knowest that I love thee”. After His resurrection the Lord came into the midst of the disciples and shewed them His hands and His side. Do you not think their hearts were attached to Him? They were prepared then to be led in.
I am sure that our qualification for being led into that divine scene is our attachment to Christ Himself. Many Christians have the love of God shed abroad in their hearts who are not sufficiently attached to Christ to care earnestly to be with Him where He is.
The next question that is raised is, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Read Romans 8: 35 - 39; 1 John 5: 20.) The apostle passes in review a number of things, and says, “I am persuaded that neither death, nor life ... shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. You are in that circle. “In him that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life”. You are in the scene of divine complacency, and the service of the priest is to bring us into that scene. He so attaches us to Himself that He can lead us in to where God’s love rests. The high priest in Israel bore the names of the twelve tribes on his heart and on his shoulders. So with Christ. He intercedes for us individually and supports us in our trials and exercises because He loves us; and He thus [p. 228] so attaches us to Himself that we must go in with Him to where He would lead us — to where He is at home. He never leaves that scene of divine complacency in which He is when He serves us down here, but He serves and succours us here in this scene so that we cannot consent to be separated from Him, and thus He leads us into association with Himself in that scene of rest and joy. He is the Firstborn among many brethren. That is, He is Firstborn in our estimation. I used to think of Him as Firstborn in a very cold way, that is, officially. I see now that it is we that accord to Him the place of Firstborn; He is Firstborn in our affection. We give Him that place of pre-eminence because He has so effectually attached us to Himself.
You see thus how the idea of Priest is connected with life, and that is connected with the love of God.
It is very important for our souls to be in the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, so that in every detail of daily life we intelligently do the will of God. If I were asked why I do not thieve or lie, I should answer, because I am in the light of the glory of God. But there is another thing, and that is, We go in to God. We learn His purpose. I was born again before I knew it, but now I know myself as called according to purpose. I get not only the Priest now, but the Priest and the Apostle united in one Person, and perfection has come in.
In saving us to the uttermost, and in ever living to make intercession for us, He, as Priest, is assuring us of the attachment He bears towards us, to the end that He may lead us into the place where He Himself is, where love has found its satisfaction and is at rest. All this is eternal. All that which is connected with our responsibility, as being in the light here, will come to an end. That which is connected with God’s purpose, our association with Christ in that scene of holy love, is eternal, and it is there that you [p. 229] touch eternal life. All connected with our responsible life here will come to an end. All connected with the purpose of God and life beyond death is eternal.
In Christendom men have become idolatrous; and they have degraded the priesthood by separating the Priest from the Apostle. God has opened our eyes to see that in the Antitype we get the Apostle and Priest in one Person, so that there can be no more divergence. We can walk now in the light of the Apostle — in the light of the glory of God — and can go in with the Priest into that scene where the love of God rests in divine complacency. And we can look forward to the time when we shall be completely according to God’s glory, having entered in with Him for ever.