THE SPIRIT'S PRESENCE FUNDAMENTAL TO CHRISTIANITY
THE SPIRIT’S PRESENCE FUNDAMENTAL TO CHRISTIANITY
2 Timothy 2: 19; Haggai 2: 5; Isaiah 59: 19; Isaiah 62: 6,7
I hope to speak, with the Lord’s help, about what is fundamental in christianity, connecting my remarks with the presence of the Spirit who is spoken of in two of these scriptures. Then I should like to show briefly at the end how, as basic principles are recovered and put into use, they are preserved; for, if God has restored things in a functional way, it is obviously a great consideration that they should continue to function. That implies establishment which I hope to touch on in the last scripture read, God has no other thought than that there should be continuance, for which the means are furnished; these means include faithfulness in those who are enjoying the benefits of the recovery. All the scriptures, or the hortatory scriptures at least, have faithfulness in view as being essential in those who are enjoying the benefits of recovery.
Now the passage in 2 Timothy is very familiar to us and I read it because it introduces the fundamental thought in view of such days as those in which we are. This fundamental thought, of course, is prominent at the outset for the Lord had the foundation of the building in mind. It is spoken of typically in Solomon’s foundation which alludes to Matthew 16. What we have in the passages read is God’s foundation, but Matthew 16 is Christ’s foundation, Solomon’s foundation, as I said. The idea in Solomon’s foundation is, I apprehend, a foundation that cannot be improved upon. It is wisdom’s foundation. Wisdom enters into christianity more than into any other thing or system. Not even does the physical system compare with, or equal, the wisdom that enters into christianity, which [p. 492] extends to ourselves in the sense that we are said to be wisdom’s children. Wisdom is a feminine thought in Scripture, and as its children we are to carry on the service of our mother in that sense. Wisdom is the principal thing and inasmuch as the foundation is Solomon’s, it is laid in wisdom.
The point in our verse is that it is a firm foundation. It is God’s foundation but the Spirit of God is not content with saying that — it is God’s firm foundation; so no one should be timid or tread on it as if it were going to give way. He laid the foundations of the earth; the morning stars were pleased and the sons of God were pleased. “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38: 7). Hannah in her prayer includes this thought, “For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah’s, and he hath set the world upon them” (1 Samuel 2: 8); and in the Psalms we have, “like the earth which he hath founded for ever” (Psalm 78: 69). All that suggests firmness. Let no one, therefore, tread lightly. There are things on which you should tread lightly and carefully, but the more heavily you tread on the foundation of God the more assured you are of it. Get your feet firmly on it. “The firm foundation of God” says the apostle, “stands, having this seal” 2 Timothy 2: 19. A remarkable thing that, the foundation has a seal. It carries the seal with it, a two-sided one, as we have often said. Someone says, ‘Well, see how few you are’. Why are there not more christians on earth now? The fact that there are only a few as far as you can see (after all, we see little), in no sense discredits the foundation. Were there only one on it, the foundation would be what it is. It can hold one or it can hold billions of people. What about these billions, or millions, or thousands, or hundreds? “The Lord knows” 2 Timothy 2: 19. It says referring to the foundation, “having this seal”, as if God foresaw that there would be this questioning. Look at the foundation and see what it has. It has a seal, not simply to say that God [p. 493] built it, although it carries that too, but to show that it is the firm foundation of God, God coming down to that way of thinking. Of course it would be firm. If God swears, it is not that He lies if He does not swear, but it is that He assures our hearts, so if He says His foundation is firm it is to assure our hearts, for obviously it would be if it were His.
But then there is this additional thing, — the seal, with two sides, which the foundation has. These myriads — well, the Lord knows them. Let that cause no anxiety or uncertainty to your mind. The more of them you know the more you love them, and you will understand why the Lord knows them, why He calls them by name, and why He loves them. They are valuable in His eyes. The word is, “The Lord knows those that are his” 2 Timothy 2: 19, that is, He has a claim to them and they belong to Him. That expression, “those that are his”, runs along with “His own”, a term of endearment. If anyone here is moving in associations displeasing to the Lord, then you are grieving his heart, He says to you, ‘You are Mine, you know; I have redeemed you, I have a claim on you — an incontestable one’. Move away from those associations that are harming you. “The Lord knows those that are his”. How very comforting that is! Not merely does He know them as a matter of numbers, but He knows your down-sitting and your uprising, your associations, and where you find your enjoyment, and it will occasion Him sorrow if it is in a circle that He cannot have to say to. He knows all that is there and He says, You are Mine. “The Lord knows those that are his”. The foundation carries that with it.
Then it adds on the other side, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord” (the same One who owns you) “withdraw from iniquity” 2 Timothy 2: 19. Very plain speaking that, but it belongs to the foundation.
Now I want to show from Haggai how this works out. He and Zechariah are two prophets, and are [p. 494] certainly better than one. Any one of these prophets read by himself is good but when you see the two men together you will say they are better than one. They were unusual in the sense that they worked together; not prophesied together — I do not say that — but they built together. They were builders — they understood something about a foundation. Haggai prophesied and urged forward the builders who were slacking, negligent and fearful; he urged them forward and in doing so he did not content himself with what we call ministry. He actually carried the mortar or whatever it may have been. That is what he did. He was a prophet, but he was one of those christians, or brothers, that would do whatever his hand found to do, answering to the great example of the apostle Paul. Whatever there was to be done he would do it, even to putting a stick on the fire to keep it burning. As he says, “Yourselves know that these hands have ministered to my wants, and to those who were with me” (Acts 20: 34). That was the kind of workman that Paul was, and Haggai foreshadowed that kind of service. So that he knew something about building and consequently he knew something about a foundation. It is a question of the building of the house in Ezra, and for the building the foundation had to be examined and it was found to be sure. It was the real one; there was no other. I have no doubt that Haggai could have told you about it. What firmness there was there in spite of the debris that had piled up on it, — Solomon’s foundation — which is God’s foundation. Solomon’s throne was really Jehovah’s throne. So that you can see, dear brethren, how a remark like this in verse 5 fits in with a man s ministry of this kind. “The word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt” (meaning what He covenanted with them at Horeb long before the foundation was laid) “and my Spirit, remain among you” Haggai 2: 5. “My Spirit” and “the word that I covenanted”. The “word” there is very simple because it always [p. 495] means the impartation of the divine mind. Christ is that, fully, perfectly. In fact He is said to be a covenant to the people. He is fully and perfectly the expression of the divine mind in the covenant. Everything was there. So that we have “the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, and my Spirit remain” Haggai 2: 5. That is, I am with you Myself, for that is what is meant. He had not left them, God’s Spirit is God, God Himself, beloved brethren. The expression of His mind, so perfectly portrayed in Christ, and the Spirit remain here.
These are fundamental thoughts, thoughts that the youngest here should be able to take in, that God has plainly made His mind known in His engagement in Christ. He has made known to us what He thinks of us. If you could only spend a half-hour with God (if you will allow me to speak simply and practically), and let Him speak to you, He would fill your soul with what He thinks of you. You say, He would occupy me with my conduct. Of course He would if necessary, but that would be only so as to gain your confidence that He might fill your soul with what He thinks of you — that He loves you. He would say, What have I not given for you? “I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee” (Isaiah 43: 3). But that is nothing, I have given Jesus for you! I have given My Son for you! “Herein is love”, He would remind you, “not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son a propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4: 10). That is what God would say if we would only listen to Him. He would fill our souls with what He thinks of us — with what we are to Him.
“And they shall be unto me a peculiar treasure”, says the Lord (Malachi 3: 17). That is all involved in this word — “the word that I covenanted with you”; that is, what He thinks of us, what we are in His mind, in His counsel. He has not changed one iota in regard of that. Then He adds, “and my Spirit, remain among you”. He remains with us. Is it theory merely with us? No; beloved brethren. Times without number in this city and in other cities we have proved incontestably as a fact that God’s Spirit remains with His people. There is no question about it. He is here today in this little place. “The word that I covenanted with you” He says, “... and my Spirit”. They both remain. In other words, what I think of you, what you are to Me, what My love is for you and the power that is here to support you, remain here. Things may have broken up but these two foundational facts remain. They are facts. Let us not put them at a distance, let us not say they are theoretical. Let us say, I have proved the love of God in my own little way; I have proved the power of the Spirit in my own little way. You are setting to your seal in that way that God is true.
Everyone of us has a seal and that one thing is on it, that one thing is there: — God is true. He loves to be trusted, and in statements like this He appeals to our hearts. Is it not really so? He would say to us. The prophets are full of this sort of thing.
Now as these great fundamental facts are in existence, I just wish to speak about the Spirit as seen in Isaiah 59. Those who recognise these great facts and are moving in the joy of them will not fail to come in for the persistent opposition of the devil. In hundreds of ways he is attacking the people of God today. He sees the brethren are making a little headway in the truth, thank God! in righteousness too, in holiness, in intelligence. A little headway, not much; I speak of it only to credit God with it, dear brethren. But however little it may be, Satan resents it and if he cannot make a frontal attack to divide us asunder, he will harass us by constant attacks, ambushes, etc. Isaiah sees the possibility of the enemy coming in like a flood. He uses water. We know how Satan, in the book of the Revelation, is seen casting a flood out after the Jewish remnant to overwhelm them. It is one of his weapons;
[p. 497] that is to say, the control of humanity in a certain way. He would love to get control of a few of those who are walking in the truth; two or three, or however many he can get. Then he brings the wind to bear on the water and you have a flood, or the principle of a flood. He would say to some one standing for the truth, What are you going to do now? That is his way. What are you going to do with a flood? It is an overwhelming thought! But when he does that, it says, “the Spirit of Jehovah will lift up a banner against him” Isaiah 59: 19. That is what He does — not a feeble effort but a banner against him. The Spirit of God does that, dear brethren. He does it through His people of course. He is not incarnate.
It says: “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee” (Psalm 60: 4). It is a great thing to have the fear of God before our eyes. Not slavish fear, but fear lest I might do something to dishonour His name. “For also our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12: 29). It is not simply “God”, but “Our God is a consuming fire”. Why should I not fear God? Sin in me is not any more acceptable to God than it is in the worst person in Chicago. It is more hideous in a christian if any comparison can be made. Hence to any one that feareth God He says, I will give a banner to you. “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth, (Selah), That thy beloved ones may be delivered”. Psalm 60: 4,5. I was speaking of the Lord knowing those that are His. They are the beloved ones in that psalm. Our brethren are beloved ones whatever their association, and they are to be delivered by the setting forth of the truth in the banner.
How full and varied is this book of Isaiah. One loves to think of Isaiah; what sufferings were his! “For thus have they persecuted the prophets”, says Jesus, “who were before you” (Matthew 5: 12). He came in for persecution, you may be sure, but the buoyancy of his writing is most stimulating. There are many [p. 498] references to him by the Lord Himself in the New Testament. John also referred to him, “Esaias said again” (John 12: 39). He spoke twice. What did he speak of? The glory of Jesus. He saw it — “he saw his glory and spoke of him” (John 12: 41). No one should serve, or attempt to serve, who does not see the glory. It is that which gives buoyancy and splendour to the ministry — charged with the glory. Isaiah represents this thought as much as any writer in the Old Testament.
So here, there is the enemy coming in like a flood. Take Sennacherib; he came up to the walls with his armies. What would he not do? The Spirit of the Lord lifted up a banner through Hezekiah and those who served Hezekiah. They knew what to say. Those that went out to meet him were circumspect men but Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left” (Isaiah 37: 4). What a word that is for everyone that is here tonight! Lift up your prayer! Good enough to think of the beloved ones still undelivered — indeed Isaiah tells us himself, “Yet will I gather others to him, with those of his that are gathered” (Isaiah 56: 8), but Hezekiah says, “Lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left”. Hezekiah takes the letter from this wicked man, Rabshakeh, the general of Sennacherib’s army, and spreads it out before Jehovah.
I was reading in Isaiah 62: 6 where it says, “ye that put Jehovah in remembrance”. You are to remind Him of things. Do not keep silence. Keep reminding God of things. One prayer is not enough — a thousand may not be enough. Keep reminding Him of things.
Hezekiah went in and spread the matter before Jehovah. Rabshakeh had said, Well, I will give you a few horses if you can put riders on them. That was true enough, alas! There were very few horsemen or riders inside the walls of Jerusalem. And there was a flood coming. But the Spirit of the Lord had not [p. 499] left; the covenant was there and He was there. What happened? “The virgin-daughter of Zion” (a daughter is a youngish thought) “despiseth thee, laugheth thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head at thee” (Isaiah 37: 22). You young sisters — it is the daughters of Zion who have obtained their character and substance from Zion. You are to learn what that means — daughters of Jerusalem and daughters of Zion. A daughter of Zion is just a christian, taken up sovereignly and set up in relation to God in accordance with His counsel, who is an example to others and sets forth order in this world. And they are invulnerable. She “despiseth thee, laugheth thee to scorn”. The Assyrian army is smitten — one hundred and eighty-five thousand at one stroke. That is what God does, beloved brethren! “When the adversary shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah will lift up a banner against him” Isaiah 59: 19.
Now finally in regard to the verse in Isaiah 62. These are the men, the watchmen. The building has gone up; the walls are seen to be there. The earlier chapter says: “but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation” (Isaiah 60: 18). Many years ago we had a great battle here with a man who said it was heresy to say that salvation was in the assembly, in the sense in which scripture teaches. In chapter 60, the walls are called Salvation. The very idea is there. And who has not proved it? Salvation of course is in Christ — it is there, but let us get inside the gates. Do not stay outside a moment! The gates are called Praise, and suggest the care meeting. Not only that, but the gates of Zion are loved by God more than all the habitations of Jacob. That is where the divine administration is carried on here on earth — the walls of Salvation and the gates of Praise.
I want to show from this verse what is essential to the continuance of these things. Verse 6 says: “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, Jerusalem; all the day [p. 500] and all the night they shall never hold their peace” Isaiah 62: 6. I have never known a time amongst the brethren when there were so many local eruptions. Things are happening here and there that are traceable directly to the enemy’s workings. Young people are coming under his power, under the power of sin; they are dishonouring the Lord’s name and causing sorrow amongst the brethren all over the world. And it is due to want of watchmen; not watchmen that are “dumb dogs that cannot bark” (Isaiah 56: 10). What good are they if they cannot bark? That is what they are for. I believe these sorrows are largely due to lack of watchfulness, such as the elder brethren watching the younger ones, praying with them, rebuking them, “with all long-suffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4: 2); according to God, not according to man, and in the grace and power of God checking this epidemic, as I may call it. Priestly care, of course, watchfulness surely and prayers. The Lord says, “But what I say to you, I say to all, Watch” (Mark 13: 37), “abide here and watch” (Mark 14: 34). It is our business to watch this young one and that young one and every one; we are keepers one of another. We are our “brother’s keeper” Genesis 4: 9. The leaders and elders are said to “watch over your souls as those that shall give account” (Hebrews 13: 17). What we see here is, “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, Jerusalem; all the day and all the night they shall never hold their peace” Isaiah 62: 6. These watchmen are apt to come in for sufferings if they are faithfully discharging their duty. It is a position that is sure to call forth resentment. They shall never hold their peace day or night. Why is that? Because of these constant uprisings of which we shall never be free. Indeed their very existence is a proof that there is something to oppose. There is something the enemy objects to. The Lord would have us take these things into account and watch.
Then we have this further word which I called your attention to in reading: “Ye that put Jehovah in remembrance”, Isaiah 62: 6,
or as the note reads, ‘think of Jehovah with loud voice’. You tell the Lord about things, not just once or twice, but until the matter is settled. Keep at it. “Keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth” Isaiah 62: 7. The application of that is extremely simple. What we need is establishment in our little gatherings. Separated in this country as they are and exposed to the bitter winds in all directions, what we need is establishment. It means full growth; no longer remaining babes but becoming men. The watchmen here keep on speaking, day and night; they speak to the saints. But these remembrancers speak to God, and they give Him no rest. It is a very remarkable thing that the Spirit would write such things — as if we could disturb His rest! But God comes down to our way of thinking. Give God no rest until a thing is settled, until there is establishment in the gatherings in the light of Christ as Head and the assembly as His body here. God is to be given no rest until there is establishment. So that the saints are going on in a positive way in the service of God instead of having constantly to be setting one another right. If we have to do that, it is proof that we are just babes. Full-grown men know what to do and they know what to say. They are balanced. We are constantly occupied in setting one another right and it is most humiliating, but God would help us to keep on praying for this brother and that brother, this sister and that sister, local or otherwise. Give Him no rest until there be establishment! May God bless the word to us!