THE DIVINE WAY OF CONTINUING THE TESTIMONY
[p. 90] THE DIVINE WAY OF CONTINUING THE TESTIMONY
2 Timothy 1: 13, 14; Revelation 1: 9, 10; Exodus 6:23; Exodus 6:25,26; Judges 18: 30, 31; Judges 20: 27, 28
I have before me to call attention to the divine way of continuing the testimony of God until the end, until the coming of the Lord; as the Lord said, “If I will that he abide until I come, what is that to thee?”, John 21: 22. Everyone who loves God will be interested in this inquiry. Indeed, no one who loves God and who loves Christ will be indifferent in regard of the continuance of what He cherishes such solicitude for, that is a right perpetuation of what the Lord introduced here, beginning with Himself. We all know how, after having washed His disciples’ feet and communicated to them the thoughts of His heart, warning them as to what they would have to contend with, He lifted up His eyes to heaven. One of the most, if not the most, attractive pictures that Scripture affords is that the Lord, having said these things, lifted up His eyes to heaven. What uninterrupted communion existed from the outset between the Father and Himself! How in all His unwearying service the Father’s eye rested with delight on Him, for He found One who would do all His will; and so the Lord lifted up His eyes to heaven. What a spectacle for heaven, if not appreciated on earth! How the Father’s eyes, so to speak, would meet His! And then He poured out His heart in regard of those whom He had been ministering to and forming, with a view to the continuance in them of what cost Him, or was about to cost Him, so much. And similarly the beloved apostle, Paul, having in like manner set up the assembly in the most wonderful service next to that of the Lord’s, set up that company at Ephesus, having declared unto them the whole counsel of God. Then he commended them to God; with what solicitude he thought of them, as they, the elders of the assembly, wept upon his neck. And so in a later day, when even Ephesus itself had failed him, he enjoins his beloved child Timothy in regard of what is so precious, the good deposit, and as we take account of these things, dear brethren, we cannot but be concerned, not only as to the preservation of the things of God in our own lifetime, but in all the time that may follow according to the will of God. It behoves each of us indeed to think of what is said of one, that he served his own generation by the will of God; but then there is, it may be, that which is to follow, and what comes to me is this, dear brethren, the importance of example. Not only am I to hand on to others, if it be the will of God, but what I may hand on to others is not only in the way of light and truth but in the way of example; as the apostle again says, “Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life”. That is, you see, not only the truth, the doctrine, but the manner of life. The committal on the part of God of any deposit must be contingent on the manner of life; so it is said, “If the Spirit of him that has raised up Jesus from among the dead dwell in you, he that has raised up Christ from among the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies also on account of his Spirit which dwells in you”. That is to say, the anointing must depend on the manner of life. What a manner of life is that of Jesus! “The Spirit of him that has raised up Jesus” — God takes account of the manner of life, because our manner of life is the test as to how much we are formed after Jesus. How much of the life of Jesus is there? For God will have no other. He has seen the green here in Jesus, and He looks for that, He looks for the life of Jesus [p. 92] in the saints, and the life of Jesus is that which supports the anointing, hence Jesus first, the Christ next.
Well now, I wanted to show by connecting these two scriptures with what I read in the Old Testament how what I have remarked involves what, in official language, is called priesthood. We are called upon to consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; consider Him. In the first scripture I read in Exodus, the Spirit of God gives us the genealogy of the tribes until we arrive at Levi, and then He stops; because for the moment He is not concerned about the tribes taking possession. He is concerned to bring before us the great vessels of the exodus. And what you will observe is that Moses’ children are not mentioned — he had sons — whereas we have Aaron and his wife and his sons, and then Eleazar and his wife and his son Phinehas. After history will interpret the meaning of this. After history shows that whilst Moses’ posterity, or one of them, is found in the way of idolatry, this son of Aaron, the son of Eleazar, is found standing before the ark of God. What I wish to point out is, dear brethren, that whilst apostleship has its own wonderful and unique place in the ways of God, it has to do with revelation, with inauguration, and is not charged with the maintenance of what is set up. If, therefore, we limit ourselves to apostleship, if we limit ourselves to light and ignore the Spirit, we shall find ourselves in the way of Jonathan. I wish the dear brethren would notice this particularly, because we have all round about us the results of adherence to the light by profession, and the total disregard of the Spirit, and all the blessed Spirit as here in this world involves, namely, the house of God. You will observe that Jonathan, the son of Gershom, served as priest in the tribe of Dan before an image made by an idolatrous man. He and his posterity carried [p. 93] on an idolatrous priesthood during all the time the house of God was in Shiloh. We are today confronted exactly with these conditions, a priesthood maintained that is not of God, not of the order of Aaron, having indeed a worthy ancestry, for what can be more honourable than the ancestry of the apostles? But to assume to occupy their place is a serious matter. Here we have an order of things which is idolatrous, supported by one who had such an ancestor as Moses, all the time the house of God is at Shiloh; a rival to the house of God, having the honour of such an ancestor. There are those who claim antiquity, and all the glamour that goes with it, only to fortify themselves against the truth of the house of God. Thank God, the house of God is still existent, and will remain while the Spirit is here; but there is that rival institution, and believers will do well to take note of its character; it continued until the time of the captivity. Yes, it did; but then there is the house of God in Shiloh; and believers today, thank God, are becoming awakened to the great fact of the house of God being still existent, and what the Lord would do for us, as we come into the light of it, is to continue it, to maintain it, and I believe that this involves the knowledge of God in every one of our souls. One sees young people being affected by the truth, and one rejoices in it, but we have to be careful to see that we are cultivating the knowledge of God and acquiring a personal acquaintance with God. Besides this, although we may partake outwardly of the symbols of fellowship we shall not reach in our souls the house of God. The house of God is contingent on the knowledge of God, for “he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him”. And, further, it says, “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God”. Young believers need to take note of these things,
[p. 94] and especially the confession of the Son of God. It is the character in which the Lord presents Himself to Thyatira. In that assembly, idolatry was forming itself, and it continues. We have around us an idolatrous state of things which has no relation whatever to Aaron, and so the Son of God has to say to that. His eyes as a flame of fire, “But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come”. He would have them, and if one could reach the ears of the people of God in that system, one would say, “Come out of her my people”. The Lord would say that to them, and is saying it, for as Son of God He has got rights over His people; and the knowledge of the Son of God, and the confession of it, qualifies one for the dwelling place of God. “God dwelleth in him”.
There are two things which are essential for every believer in regard of the house, and these are dwelling in love and the confession of the Son of God. These two things qualify one as the dwelling place of God. God is pleased to dwell in those who dwell in love and who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and so you come into the house. I do urge on every one here to see to it that you are in the house, not only in an outward way, but by way of the knowledge of God, by way of love, by way of confession of Jesus as Son of God.
So that the house of God, it says, is at Shiloh; that was its place. Shiloh refers to Christ. There are wonderful places in this world, as we speak, reared up in the name of the Lord, but Shiloh has no pretensions. Shiloh is the gathering centre, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto [p. 95] him shall the gathering of the people be” (Genesis 49: 10) or, more correctly, ‘the obedience of the peoples’. You see the kingdom subserves in that way the assembly. The sceptre and lawgiver are essential, meaning spiritually Romans and Corinthians, the Lord being the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. These are essential so that there might be the gathering of the people, the obedience of the people in the gathering place; and hence the house of God is an assured thing where Shiloh is recognised, and where there is the obedience of the people to Christ, as Paul says, “Ye ... have obeyed from the heart the form of teaching into which ye were instructed”. There is no realisation of the house of God, viewed from the side of gathering, apart from the saints being subject to Christ, and subject to one another. So that the rival institution stands up alongside of the house of God, but then which is to prevail? The Lord says to Philadelphia, “I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee”. We can bear the reproach in the knowledge of His love, and in course of time all shall have to own who the loved ones are. Can anything, in a way, be more precious than the knowledge of being a loved one? So He says, “I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee”. What an incentive there is to continuance till that glorious day when we shall be seen in triumph, as it says, “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith”.
Well, you see the position, the house of God at Shiloh, and the rival institution in Daniel How was the order of the house of God to be continued?
[p. 96] Chapter 20 shows the man who continues, that is to say, the priest after the order, not of Melchisedec nor of Aaron, but of Phinehas. Phinehas is a priest of his own kind, he has signalised his priesthood with a javelin; he is a man who can come forth at a crisis, disregarding the consequences, and stand for God. He comes forward with his javelin at a time when everything was hanging on a thread; for Balaam’s wicked device had only too well succeeded, and the camp of Israel was about to fall in the plain. One man saves the day. One man came forward and signalised his priesthood by his adherence to the holiness of God when it was about to be submerged in the abyss of corruption. The continuance till the Lord comes in the precious things He has died to secure for us is made to depend in a way, not on the advanced, for it should especially appeal to the young believer. The old ones, we trust, have long known it, and we may well pay a tribute to those who have preceded us, and handed on to us the precious heritage we have; but how are we going to hand it on to others, and to maintain it, if it be not the Lord’s will to come in our lifetime?
John presents to us in his own person a priest of the Phinehas order. The Lord said of him, “If ... he tarry till I come”. That was a spiritual thought. Some said that the Lord said, “That disciple should not die”, but the Lord did not say that. That suggests how an error becomes prevalent among the people of God, adding to what is said. “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar”. He did not say that, but “if I will that he tarry till I come”, the Lord left it for the spiritual, and one would seek to get the spiritual thought, for it is in spirit, that is, by being formed in spiritual thoughts, that we are available for the preservation of things. John says, “I was in Spirit on the Lord’s day”. There is the priest. First he says, “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ”. What a priest he was! Have I ever been in an island for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus? An island is an isolated place, and the word of God, if you are true to it, and the testimony of Jesus, will isolate you at times. Thank God, no one of us shall ever be called upon to walk alone; I do not believe the Lord requires it now, but if it be necessary, am I equal to it? Are you equal to it? It is a test to be cut off, to be isolated. I know of one who said he would walk alone if necessary. I cannot say I could undertake that, but I believe the Lord would bring every one of us to that. If this treasure we have in the earthen vessel, as Paul speaks of it, is worth anything, if it is worth what Scripture says it is worth, it is worth my life, because it cost Jesus His life; He gave up His life for it. And so John says, “I ... was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus”. But how was he there? Was he living out the real life of a prisoner, grinding in prison life? No, beloved, it was very different from that; martyrs are not like that. He says, “I was in Spirit on the Lord’s day”. What a happy time he was having! Although cut off, as I said, he had access to God. The Spirit’s power opens the heavenly door, if one is rightly shut off. The doors even of the saints may be shut on you, but the door of heaven will open. Wonderful triumph for a martyr! “I was in Spirit”, not as if it was anything extraordinary; it is referred to as something he well knew; so that we need not fear the consequences. If we lay hold of the value of the treasure, of the deposit come down to us, and are resolved to stand by it, we shall be victorious. In all the addresses to [p. 98] the assemblies overcomers are assumed. It is not, if he overcomes, but “He that overcometh”, to ensure that there should be overcomers. So we have all the sympathy of Christ in the opened heavens.
He says, “I was in Spirit on the Lord’s day”. What was Nero doing? What were they doing at Rome? Nothing like that. All the facilities of the world combined could not afford the joy John had in Spirit on the Lord’s day. Wonderful thought! heaven itself was open:-
‘And see! the Spirit’s power
Has ope’d the heav’nly door’. (74:5)
And so we see one maintaining things rightly in the true spirit of Phinehas; he is a priest, one who has the covenant of life and peace. I can maintain things rightly as in possession of life and peace. John had these in abundance on that Lord’s day. And so, dear brethren, in John, as I said, you see the continuance of the real thing; that is to say, the priest as in Phinehas, one standing before the ark of God in those days. Who stood before the ark of God in the days of the apocalypse? John did; he stood before the ark of God, and he had a wonderful time. We shall not fail of these wonderful times if we stand firmly by the precious treasure that has come to us, involving the truth of the house of God. The ark of God was at Shiloh then, and Phinehas stood before it. There were dark days without, but there was one man standing before the ark of God at that time, and that was Phinehas.
I just wanted to add from 2 Timothy the thought of the maintenance of things doctrinally. We must have the faith, the unity of the faith, as it says, “Until we all arrive at the unity of the faith”. We must not let one item of it go. “The faith” is not the thirty-nine articles. Faith is what is in a person, a living thing, not in a book. So the outline is held in the faith of the saints, hence we want the outline.
So Paul says to Timothy, “Have an outline of sound words, which words thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus”. That is how we are to have them. One does not despise books; the Holy Spirit is pleased to use them to instruct us, but the outline is not to be in books, the outline is to be in us. I believe the Lord would remind us of that in regard of ministry, otherwise we shall take licence in the use of our minds. The outline of sound words is most essential for ministry, “Keep ... the good deposit entrusted”, how? “By the Holy Spirit which dwells in us”. That is how it is to be kept. You see God will have a living state of things down here. One sees it extending; one sees what the Lord is doing, but we need to be reminded of the outline of sound words, and the good deposit which is to be kept, not intellectually, but by the Holy Spirit. I believe that is again the priesthood of Phinehas. Priesthood depends on the Spirit. In other words, to be a priest is to be a spiritual person. In the mind of God all believers are priests, but to take up function for God, to be here for God, is by the Spirit. Keep by the Spirit, by the Holy Spirit, the good deposit entrusted. I do not know of anything in a way that tests one more than that, how to use the blessed Spirit of God. He has come in here in wonderful grace and lowliness to maintain things for Christ, and He is at the disposal of all those who love Christ. So you may use the blessed Spirit in that way. By Him we cry “Abba, Father”; by Him we put to death the deeds of the body; by Him we live; by Him we walk; by Him we wait for the hope of righteousness, which is by faith, and by Him we keep the good deposit. It is a test to us as to the use we make of and the manner in which we may employ the blessed Spirit. He has placed Himself at our disposal, so that we may be found priests unto Christ’s God and Father. That is service.
[p. 100] Well, dear brethren, that was all I had to present, and I do urge the recognition of the Spirit in everything, but particularly in the maintenance of the good deposit, of that which involves the continuance of the precious things Jesus died to secure for us.