THE REINSTATEMENT OF MAN IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

^[p. 137] THE REINSTATEMENT OF MAN IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Genesis 40: 1 - 23; Zechariah 6: 9 - 14; Luke 24: 50 - 53

What I wish to speak about tonight is the reinstatement of man in the presence of God. We have to take that in as a fact, that man is reinstated in the presence of God. This reinstatement was not hurried. It was after due consideration. I read Genesis 40 to establish the principle. At that early date in the history of the race on the earth you have the principle of reinstatement established. And it is remarkable that it should appear in what may be regarded as the ministry of Joseph, a ministry which, in its earliest stages, took the form of interpretation. You will remember how Job alludes to the importance of an interpreter, one among a thousand. Joseph had a particular experience in dreams, but his dreams required no interpretation. The utterance of Joseph’s dreams was their interpretation. His brothers understood him, his father understood him. His dreams, in the uttering of them, carried their own interpretation with them. I need not enlarge upon them; they are well known to you. I wish more particularly to refer to his interpretations, the first being found in this chapter and the next in the following one. I may say at the outset, that in the first interpretation, there is introduced the idea of reinstatement, and the reinstatement of man in the presence of God. And following upon that, in order, in the second interpretation in the next chapter, you have the preservation of the life of the world. These were two great principles to be introduced at that early date, that, whilst the race outwardly was marked by divine rejection, and consequently by death, there should appear in testimony the principle of reinstatement and the preservation of life.

Now, the suggestion of these things must be of ^[p. 138] interest, and they come about in connection with what may be regarded as exercise. God is pleased to exercise men; you get nothing without it — I mean subjectively. Exercise brings about inquiry, and inquiry brings in light. And the light that is introduced involves that man is reinstated in the Person of Christ. That is wonderful light to the soul. The man that was rejected is seen in the baker. The baker is a man who has to exercise himself, but he comes under the curse. That man is not accepted. That man is not reinstated. If man is to be reinstated, it must be in a man who is fully tested here, and who, as thus tested, answers in every way to God. Now, I was saying at the beginning that the reinstatement is not hurried. It is quite true that the testimony of the angel in regard to the birth of our Lord was that that holy Thing which should be born should be called the Son of God. That was like the cherubim overshadowing the mercy-seat. There was the protection of the Lord’s Person in the communication. But the public acknowledgment on the part of God, of Man in Christ was not until Christ was thirty years of age. Now, you will understand, I am speaking guardedly. The public acknowledgment on the part of God, of Man in Christ, was not until He was baptised. You will understand that He was before His baptism what He was after; there could be no change in His Person. But the divine acknowledgment of the reinstatement of man in Christ was after that Man had fully attested what He was. What a history, what a pathway, that was under God’s eye! You will find the Spirit of God carefully avoids anything like a public acknowledgment, only there is a full attestation of what He is. Take the gospel of Matthew, in chapter 2, the Spirit of God eight times alludes to our Lord as a little child, “Take ... the little child and his mother”. Think of the interest on the part of God. But yet it is the little child and his ^[p. 139] mother. In the next chapter, when He is baptised, the heavens are opened upon Him, when He is thirty years of age. There is the public acknowledgment on the part of God of His acceptance of that Man and His delight in Him. I would like you to ponder that. The testimony of it appears at this early stage. One man is hanged upon a tree — we are not told exactly why. There can be no error, I need not say, in any of God’s doings. All we have here is the statement that one man is reinstated, and the other is hanged upon a tree. But how much enters into that! How much enters into the consideration of the man that is reinstated! As I was saying, if you have a man reinstated in the presence of God, ministering to Him — for that is what is said of the chief butler, ministering to him — God has His portion. God is ministered to in that man, and on the other hand, you have the idea of the curse. It is important to remember that the curse lies in the background. The first epistle to the Corinthians presents to us in the Lord’s supper, that man is reinstated. There is the blood of the covenant. There is that which is definitely called blessing. I wonder if we apprehend the Lord Jesus in that light. He has been introduced in this world as attested in His walk and ways. Think of John’s estimate of Jesus! He says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. He was not at a distance from us. He was among us. He moved about amongst us. He was the true vine that produced the grapes. That is the Man that is reinstated. Would that one could enlarge upon the incarnation! You all remember the service of the Kohathites. The most exalted service was not entrusted to the Levites. The priest put forth his hand of affection and covered the ark with the covering veil. One would love to bring forward Luke and John. Luke puts forth the covering veil. He brings in, in his divinely inspired record, the humanity of ^[p. 140] our Lord Jesus Christ. See how beautifully he covers Him! In chapter 2, before he introduces us to the Lord, he surrounds us with a priestly atmosphere. Look at that! He has written to his beloved Theophilus: ‘I wish to set forth with method’. And directly he ends his preface, he introduces a priestly atmosphere. The whole of chapter 1 is a priestly atmosphere. And in chapter 2, you have the ark. I would appeal to you as regards the Person of our Lord. How do you take account of Him? Luke, before he introduces you to Him, surrounds you with a priestly atmosphere, so that it is like the principle of sterilisation, that all the corrupt principles of our minds and hearts might be sterilised, might be rendered impotent there. That is what Luke does for us. He surrounds the mind and heart with a priestly atmosphere. He introduces us to Zacharias and Elizabeth, who is herself of the daughters of Aaron, a priestess so to say. He introduces us to Mary the virgin, and to the angel Gabriel. They all lend their own quota of priestly atmosphere to the surroundings before you have the Person of our Lord introduced. And then, when He is introduced, He is surrounded, as it were, with a heavenly multitude. In chapter 2 the whole earth is in order. You remember how Zechariah the prophet speaks about four chariots which had gone out, and one quieted His spirit in the north country. Chapter 2 opens with order on the earth, and with a census. What for? Everything, beloved friends, to enhance the introduction of the Lord. When He comes into the temple, the angels add their quota — a multitude of them. What an atmosphere they brought! We need that. We need an atmosphere from heaven. There is plenty from beneath, from the bottomless pit. The whole earth is steeped in it. And we dare not come from that into the surroundings of Jesus. The multitude of the heavenly host brings in an atmosphere that will be fitting.

^[p. 141] Then He comes into the temple, and there is the priest. Do you want to see a picture of the priest with the ark in his hands? That is Simeon! See what it says of him! It was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit (that is the real priest — a priest who has got a revelation by the Spirit about Christ) that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And there He was. He asked no questions. It was divinely communicated to him by the Spirit. There was no careful investigation as to the history of things externally. Faith knows nothing about that. The spiritual man knows nothing or seeks nothing — He is taught by the Spirit. Simeon took the Babe in his arms and blessed God. What a marvellous picture! He blessed God and said: “Lord, now thou lettest thy bondman go, according to thy word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation”. “A light”, he says, “for revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel”. That is how Luke introduces us to the Lord Jesus Christ. What a priestly touch that is! There is the rigid refusal of all that is unsuited to that scene, to these surroundings. Is it not of all moment to be introduced into that? Or are we content to remain outside the limits of that atmosphere? To look at it, as it were, from a distance, and remain outside the limits of the priestly influence, the priestly surroundings. That is what Luke introduces us to. But he does not stop there. He goes on to the boyhood of the Lord. He expatiates upon that. He shows us the tender plant, as Isaiah had presented Him prophetically, “He shall grow up before him as a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry ground”. There is nothing in the soil about Him to conduce to His growth, not even in the affection of Joseph and Mary was there anything, not one moral element, conducive to the growth of that tender sapling. It was all barren desert as regards Him, and yet He grew up. He grew up ^[p. 142] before Jehovah as a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry ground. Not even in the affections of His parents and family was there one iota of sap to conduce to His growth. He derived nothing morally from that. It was dry ground. Nevertheless He grew. That is the Man who is reinstated. “Wist ye not”, He says, “that I must be about my Father’s business?”. Did He get that from Mary or Joseph? They understood nothing of that, “Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing”. Absolutely dry and barren as regards the Lord. Nevertheless He grew in perfect humanity. He grew up before Jehovah as a sapling. Every word, every movement, every step was an indication of that vital energy that was inherent in Him. Nothing from without, all in Himself.

And now, in the next chapter you have the baptism — every feature of the man developed. All that man should have been for God was there — nothing else. “Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature”. There He was under God’s eye. With nothing ministering to Him from without, but all within. He developed into full stature as a Man in the presence of God. He goes up out of the waters of baptism in prayer. What a picture! What a perfect delight for God! Never had the golden altar been fully realised till then. There was all the holy fragrance of perfection in Man ascending on the altar of incense. The heavens must open; I speak reverently; they must open on that. God had looked down from heaven to see whether there was any good. There had been none good. But now, there is not only a look from heaven, but the heavens are opened upon Him. How suited, how perfect the scene! The heavens answering to moral perfection in Man upon earth. What complete infinite reinstatement of Man in the Person of Christ!

If that Man is reinstated, there must be administration. In Genesis 41 is the administration. The interpreter ^[p. 143] becomes the administrator. And the administration involves the preservation of the life of the world. That is his name, “Zaphnath-paaneah”. The man who is reinstated in complete acceptance with God is the administrator. Hence Luke 4 introduces the administrator. The Man anointed by the Spirit is the Administrator. The Man who is accepted is anointed. And the Man who is anointed ministers. “The Spirit”, He says, “has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor”. There is a clear indication of the mind of God in blessing for the world. For Joseph became really the preserver of the life of the world.

I have dwelt upon Luke’s order, upon Luke’s record, so that we might have the divinely presented view of Man in Christ. Nothing can exceed that in interest. As you dwell upon it, you perceive the righteousness of God in reinstating man in that Person; in confirmation of that you have Zechariah’s testimony. I may say in passing that Zechariah has a very remarkable bearing upon our own day. He is the last of the prophets but one, and he was contemporary with Haggai and with Joshua the son of Josedech. He was one of those who encouraged the building of the temple. Now, who will be concerned about the temple? I would appeal to you as to the temple. If man is to be reinstated, he must think of God, and if he thinks of God, he must think of the worship of God, and if he thinks of the worship of God, he must think of the temple. Who thinks of the temple? The priest. You will understand that I am dwelling upon this line so as to lead to exercise in regard to priesthood. Why has christendom lost the temple? And in losing the temple, why has it lost the light? The answer is obvious — because they have lost priesthood. If we lose priesthood, we lose all, subjectively. Now you may attempt to be a Levite. Assuredly you will be beside the ^[p. 144] mark. The Levites were brought near to Aaron and presented to him. What Zechariah presents to us is the priest. You will bear with me, but I want to make the subject clear. He introduces the crowns of gold and of silver. There was Josedech, the high priest. Now, who is to be the high priest? The Branch is to be the High Priest. How do we arrive at priesthood? It says, “He shall grow up out of his place ...”. You can never reach priesthood except by righteousness — never. We are told in the Psalms that the righteous grow as a cedar. If he grows to be a cedar in righteousness, he flourishes as a palm-tree in the house of God. We will never flourish as palm-trees in the house of the Lord, if we do not grow up in righteousness as cedars. What about the Branch? He grows up out of His place. The Lord never sought to alter His circumstances or to put Himself forward. He never assumed to be anything. He was the lowly, meek, subject Man. In the temple, He asked questions and answered them, but He went back to His parents and was subject to them. That was fitting. He grew up out of His place; He grew up where God placed Him. He never altered His circumstances. But what follows that? “He shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory”. Is not that it? Are you after glory? Do not seek levitical glory. It will pass away. Seek priestly glory. “He shall bear the glory”. He grows up out of his place. He thinks of God. He builds the temple of the Lord. It is the priest that does that. And now what? “And shall sit and rule upon his throne” — not as a Levite — “He shall be a priest upon his throne”. As a priest! Is it not the throne that you are after? What is the glory you are after? There is a man who grows up in righteousness. In other words, there is the principle of local responsibility. You grow up out of your place, and the next thing is you think of the temple. If you are true to ^[p. 145] righteousness, you will be true to holiness, but not otherwise. If you attempt to reach the temple without righteousness, you will corrupt it. The road to the temple is righteousness. If you think of the temple, if you consider for God, then what? You sit on a priest’s throne. I would rather sit on a priest’s throne than on a levite’s throne. There are many such thrones — levites’ thrones — in the world, in christendom. The archbishop’s throne is that in principle; it is not a priest’s throne. A priest’s throne is reached by the road of righteousness and holiness; that is, you consider for God.

And now, the next thing is this — there is the counsel of peace between them both. You travel the road of righteousness, you reach holiness — you reach the temple — you get into the mind of God, you enter into the counsel of peace — God and man perfectly in unison. In the unison of what? In the unison of peace. Peace is in the sanctuary. People who are at variance are not in the sanctuary. There is no such thing as quarrelling in the sanctuary. All that is outside the court of the tabernacle. All the strife is in the camp. But here we have a priest sitting upon His throne. He has reached it by the road of righteousness. He is in the counsel of peace with God, “The counsel of peace shall be between them both”. Such is the position of the Lord Jesus with God.

I read the passage in the end of Luke to show you what an end Luke presents to us. He opens with the priestly atmosphere, and he closes with it. He opens with the heaven in view, and the angels there. They were not priests. I need not say they were heavenly visitors, carrying with them a heavenly rather than a priestly atmosphere. But at the close, you have a man going up to heaven as a priest. It is as if God were to say, ‘You have reached the throne by righteousness, you have got the breastplate ^[p. 146] upon the heart for the saints who are there’. He was the true Aaron. He led them out as far as Bethany. The saints were upon His heart. Luke 24 is the breastplate of the high priest. Chapter 22 indeed is the breastplate. The breastplate is seen at the Supper. Chapter 24 shows that the same breastplate is with the Lord in resurrection. He is with the saints; He is thinking only of them; He would have the saints together. He was the true Aaron. And having collected them together He led them out as far as to Bethany. They are under His influence now. What a triumph! We have not only the High Priest, but we have His service. We are with Him, and it is as if God were to see the priestly course upon earth. He has on Him all the habiliments of the High Priest — garments of beauty. And as He blessed them He was carried up into heaven. It is not now the heavens opened on the man, but heaven receiving the Priest. It is not that He went up, that would not be becoming to a Priest. He is received up, carried up. And how carried up? As He blessed them; as He exercised His priestly functions in blessing, He is carried up into heaven. What a Person to be in heaven! The breastplate is there with all the names of the tribes upon it, that is to say, the names of all the saints. They are upon His heart, and upon His shoulders as well, for the names were upon the shoulders and upon the breastplate of the priestly garments. Man is reinstated in heaven. That is the excess of grace. He is carried there in the attitude of blessing man here.

But He secures a place for us there, for I may add that Luke gives us the representative of all believers, the heavenly Man. He goes up into heaven, and He has left behind Him a testimony that His followers shall go too. He says. “Rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven”. Our names are ^[p. 147] written in heaven. I was saying this afternoon, that God has a perfect right to put a family in heaven. Man is reinstated before Him. He has got title to place a family in heaven, and so, because of His great love wherewith He loved us, He has raised us up together, and seated us together in the heavenlies in Christ. Such is the completeness of man’s reinstatement in the presence of God, that he occupies heaven. Heaven is really occupied by man according to God before earth is so inhabited by him.

I may not proceed further. I feel I have dealt with the subject in a very feeble way, but I am sure you cannot fail to have followed in some measure what I am exercised about, and that is particularly, that there might be amongst the saints a priestly state. If we move away from a priestly state, we lose everything subjectively. You may remember things, but you have lost them in your heart, you have lost your joy. You have no power for holiness, and no power to appreciate and enter into the things of God.

May the Lord produce in us that priestly state!