THE INHERITANCE
J.C.Evershed
Joshua 13: 1 "... and there remaineth yet very much land to take possession of''
We have sung, dear brethren, of the certainty of promise (hymn 184); it encouraged me to bring forward this scripture to urge ourselves to explore the inheritance the more. This prophetic word was given directly by God Himself over three thousand years ago, but it may well be given tonight because it has a present application. Joshua was able to admonish the people to go up into their inheritance. I have not the moral power to do that, but I can say that I feel concerned that we should explore more of the inheritance than we have done so far. We have all often read this scripture. I have to admit that my own attitude in reading it has usually been, well, that is bound to be so and it always will be so. But that is unbelief. It is reading this scripture as if it said merely, "and there remaineth yet very much land", missing out the four vital words, "to take possession of". We are content, maybe, to leave it that there is very much land, and always will be, and we do not concern ourselves with the taking possession of it as much as we should.
For one thing, we need to value the inheritance for the way in which it has come to us. It has come certainly in God's purpose for us, but it has come through the death of the Lord Jesus. One has often related in the preaching, that in business we used to have to write to persons and tell them that we were sorry to say so-and-so had died, but as a consequence they had come into an inheritance. They always answered in effect that they were sorry to hear the news, but when was the soonest they could have their inheritance! As far as I know, we never had to write to anyone and say, you have so far taken only half your inheritance, do you not want the rest? So the inheritance has come to us, as I said, through the death of the Lord Jesus. It is a remarkable thing that the rending of the veil took place immediately after He died; in, fact, in Luke's gospel it is mentioned before He yielded up His spirit, showing the great concern that God had, that as soon as Christ had died, the inheritance should be fully available to all those who would enter in. We now have boldness to enter into the holiest of all "by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way which he has dedicated for us 'through the veil, that is, his flesh", Heb 10: 19, 20. And though going into the holiest is not the only way of looking at the inheritance, I think we would all agree, that to have liberty to go in there and to contemplate the varied glories of Jesus, the way in which He devoted Himself to the will of God and the maintenance of the truth, and every other feature that came out in Him; all those are regions of the inheritance which we need to penetrate into further.
There may be difficulties that hinder us; as I said, there is unbelief which probably accounts for more than we think; there may be weakness with us, but a good deal of our lack of faith is culpable. A believer might say that if I go up into the inheritance I must first be careful of my ordinary life and other matters so that the enemy does not come in somewhere where I do not expect him. Well, one can understand that but John, writing in the presence of antichrists and all kinds of departures, weaknesses and sins, said "he that has been begotten of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him", 1 John 5: 18. Our entering into that may be by measure but in itself it is an absolute statement. We might say also that we have to care for our business and other duties that take up a lot of our time. No doubt that sphere of things can be viewed as an inheritance on the other side of the Jordan because it is a sphere in which we learn to explore the grace and longsuffering and care of God. As we have been singing, the Lord Jesus has set Himself to care for us, but those things should not be made an excuse for not penetrating into what is more spiritual. And an interesting thing is that while the men of the two and a half tribes were helping the others in conquering the land, we do not hear of anything untoward happening to their wives and families, flocks and herds on the other side of Jordan in the meantime. The only trouble came when those men gave up the fighting and went back. They felt that they needed to have something to remind them of the unity of the people and they, therefore, put up that great altar. The idea was perhaps right, but it showed a certain weakness with them, yet God was able to maintain the people in whatever inheritance He had given them.
Then as to conflict we might say we do not like the idea of fighting; we are peacefully minded and the idea of warfare is not an attractive one. It was, however, not everyone who had to fight for the inheritance. The daughters of Zelophehad did not have to fight for theirs but obtained it by establishing their right to it which they maintained consistently in the wilderness and in the land. And I think they are a great example of the way in which the sisters can support one another, as those dear women did, in connection with the entering in to their possession. They form a kind of subjective setting of Caleb and his concern for the inheritance; as has often been said of him, the inheritance was in him before he was in the inheritance. He said it was in his heart, and it was certainly in the heart of those daughters of Zelophehad. In any case God had said that He would send the hornets before them and drive the enemies away. In Exodus 23: 28 He says "the hornets", in Joshua 24: 12 He says "the hornet", as if all He had to do was to send one. It shows the power of God, dear brethren, to make a way for us into the inheritance, whatever the latent opposition may be. On the other hand it is essential to be ready to enter into conflict. The enemies, mentioned after this chapter and elsewhere are the various nations that were left. They represent features in the old condition which God in His wisdom has left with us and which we have to learn to overcome in a definite way; and it entails suffering, as we find. Yet it is a very good thing to be fighting on the side that can be always victorious, because God said that He would support them in their fighting in faith for the conquest of the land.
There is therefore every encouragement for us, dear brethren, to go in for the fulness of what the inheritance would represent. Joshua here was aged and shortly to pass off the scene, which, as we have been taught, suggests something like apostolic energy making way for other features in the ways of God; and we have no apostles now. But although Joshua's death is mentioned we do not get a record of the death of Caleb, so that he represents the continuing and secret cherishing of the inheritance that would take it up and leave nothing unoccupied. Then Achsah, his daughter, desired a land and was given a southern land, well situated as ours is. We might wonder how we are going to maintain it when we do enter spiritually into it and form a perception of divine things beyond us. Well, the way in which that is done is by the Spirit, because Achsah had the insight to say that she needed springs of water and she was immediately given the upper springs and the nether springs. So it shows that everything is really available for the maintenance of the saints in the full gain of the inheritance.
To describe the inheritance would be beyond one; we often speak about it and its features, and God brings forward certain matters in this book that relate to it. And it is interesting that, although the scripture says more than once that the people were slack in going up to possess the land, it does not say that God took away their right to it. In this very chapter the rest of the land is referred to. Joshua later on (see chap 18) took three men from each tribe to send them up into the land to describe it, so that all should know just what there was to go in for. That, interestingly enough, was just after the tent of meeting was set up in Shiloh. I feel, therefore, that the more we apprehend and practice what is unifying in connection with God's service and testimony, the more God will raise up those who are able to describe and outline some great features of His purposes which we may not have apprehended before. Hence the value of every meeting that we have, fellowship meetings, and indeed every occasion when we come together, so that there might be something fresh brought before us as to the land to whet our appetite for it. We might, of course, say that as there has been a break-up publicly in Christendom it is not possible for us to go up together into the inheritance, as the people had to. Well, God sent a prophet amongst us a fortnight ago and he spoke to us about the tribes at the beginning of the book of Judges going up, Judah saying to Simeon "Come up with me into my lot", Judg 1: 3. I have thought over that a good deal, that we can say to one another whatever breakdown there may have been, Let us now go up together into the inheritance. Going up into the inheritance will give us a greater idea of what the whole company is, than if we did not do so; just the same as an apprehension of the whole assembly will encourage and urge us to go up together into the inheritance. So that the thing works both ways. The matter with us, therefore, is to have faith in connection with the word of God as it comes to us.
I venture to say these things so that we might all be together in a further penetration of the truth; not be unduly cast down by events that have taken place, difficulties and differences of thought here and there. Let it be our great concern to go up together into what God has set out for us, and what His sovereignty has given too. We are not each given a little piece of the inheritance, but we are all given the whole, and moreover, we are all joint heirs with Christ. There is no thought of our having an inheritance apart from Him, but what we do enjoy is what is related in every aspect of it to the Lord Jesus with whom we are joint heirs. May the Lord bless the word.
LONDON
20 June 1978
THE CHILDREN'S VALUE
In writing to the believers at Corinth Paul twice told them that they had been "bought with a price". He did not say what that price was or even that it was a great price. It was left to the men, women and children who heard the reading of the letter to find out. No doubt most of them, if not all, knew already, as we do, that it was at the cost of the precious and shed blood of Jesus. Who can say what the value of that blood is in the sight of God and of His redeemed ones! It is "with the blood of his own" that He has purchased for Himself the assembly which is composed of all believers who have received the Holy Spirit.
Let us remember that in the balances of the holy places - balances far more accurate than any electronic device and fail-free - God weighs both our hearts and our spirits. As to our bodies "by him actions are weighed". Therefore our value for His present use depends upon what we are and not just on what we possess as some may think. Three men once met in the City of London. One said, 'I hear that so-and-so has died: he was worth a lot, how much did he leave?' 'Oh!' said another, 'He left everything, of course'. Said the third, 'Are you sure he left everything? Did he leave his sins or did they go with him to judgment?' Solemn words! But our God does not only value the world as something that His hands have made, with all those in it, but He has loved it so much that He gave His only-begotten Son that all - young or old, poor or rich - who believe on Him may never come into judgment.
Do you ever rebel a little inwardly at the thought of being bought by the Lord Jesus and feel that it hinders you from doing your own will and pleasure? At one time slaves were sold and bought at public markets and often at high prices. In one instance a slave was very indignant at being purchased by a man whom he knew to be a Christian and opposed to slavery. But when his new master told him that he had bought him to set him free, he said, 'You have taken my heart captive! I am your willing servant for ever'. Does he put you to shame?
J.C.Evershed