FELLOWSHIP SEEN IN THE SHEWBREAD

D. A. Burr

Leviticus 24: 5–9; Mark 2: 23–28; Romans 15: 1–7

I believe that the Lord Jesus uses occasions of fellowship to show us more clearly what fellowship is. He serves us so that we might, on the one hand, understand the basis on which fellowship is established, and that we might also understand its potential. What are we embarking on when we commit ourselves to Christian fellowship?—what are we embarking on morally, but what are embarking on spiritually? I would like to say something about three different aspects of fellowship. I think it is very important that we understand that the fellowship that believers have part in is something that has been furnished for us entirely by God Himself. The provision that God has made whereby we can have Christian fellowship together is entirely of Himself, and therefore, among other things, it does not derive from other links that we may have with one another, precious as they may be, and even if they are of God. I would have to say for myself, and I expect most here would say the same, that I am very thankful that my family is in that Christian fellowship, and that that is where I grew up. I do not imagine that otherwise I would have found my place in it, as I have. I do not, of course, suggest that God would not have sovereignly worked in me; but I fear that, but for the environment in which I grew up, I might still be a stranger to the privileges which I now so greatly value. It is also the case, as we sadly know, that having had an upbringing of that kind does not itself assure me of possession of the privileges and realities that Christian fellowship constitutes. Sadly, it is the case that there is a trickle of people who have been identified outwardly with the privileges of Christian fellowship who ultimately pursue a life without them.

Of course, family is not the only natural link we have. We are friends and we are very thankful that, diverse as we are, there is a healthy level of friendship among the brethren. I think that should be strengthened, and I have a special concern that it should be universal. There should be nobody among us, or indeed in Christian fellowship at all, but certainly among us, who does not feel befriended to the same extent by every other member of the company. It is not right, beloved, if some are more friends than others. It is not consistent with the principles of Christian fellowship. Having said that, the fellowship we enjoy together is not a product of our friendship. The friendships we have are, or should be, the product of our fellowship together. And the basis of that fellowship, as we have already said, is the precious blood of Jesus. If, as we have quoted, “we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin”, 1 John 1: 7. Do I sufficiently understand the privilege of having a place in a circle which is cleansed of sin, do I understand that? We look at the world in which we are and we look in our own hearts; everywhere we look we see corruption, but in the fellowship of God’s Son there is no corruption, it is cleansed. The basis of it, beloved, is that a precious life has been given and precious blood has been shed. As a result of that, God has established what Paul, in the epistle to the Corinthians, calls ‘the fellowship of God’s Son’. It all depends on Him.

He maintains the level of it, He is its security, He is its centre, He is its universal lead. How wonderful, beloved, to be brought to something appointed like that. If you have it, if it is yours, it is because you were called. This is the first thing I want to refer to. God calls you, Paul says that in Corinthians, “God is faithful, by whom ye have been called into the fellowship of his Son”, 1 Corinthians 1: 9. So, you did not find your own way; it is not as if you have come, as it were, on your own terms or anything of that kind. God Himself has called you. The One who is greater than all has called you.

Now, if these things are a possession to you, it is because you answered the call, and as others were remarking in the reading, that call was made to your affections. It was made by the very One who died for you, the One who provided God with a basis on which there could be Christian fellowship at all, who gave His life and shed His precious blood. He aims an appeal to your hearts, because He has done that for you.

If we refer to cleansing and the meeting of our moral need, if we refer to the need for a refuge from judgment, the Lord Jesus has done all those things; and it is He who calls you, the very One who did it. He calls you because He wants you, He wants you to have a part in this. He wants it to be yours, and He wants it to be yours for ever. If you answer the call you cannot go back. It is not one of the terms of the call that you may one day go back. This call is for ever. It is a call to something that is eternal, to something to which you commit your life, your all. As we said in the reading, if you are attracted by the Lord Jesus as Saviour, and you put your faith in His precious blood, you hand to Him a claim which He will never relinquish.

It is a claim that will sooner or later have everything, He will possess you all, and it is on that basis that we have fellowship together. We have had the same call, we have felt the same claim, our hearts are drawn by the same love, and we find ourselves together with Him.

We speak about the assembly as a sphere of salvation, and that is why it is a sphere of salvation. So it is very important that it should be kept like that. It is very sad and very solemn to me that any of us should have occasion to find, in Christian fellowship, that our safety and security has come into question. There are, for example, relationships that have foundered because of sin, and somebody has been endangered by another’s unfaithfulness in a relationship that they will have believed was secured by the sanctity of Christian fellowship. What a solemn thing that is, that someone who relied upon the security of Christian fellowship, and formed a relationship on that basis, should find that that relationship has been compromised by unfaithfulness that should never be found in Christian fellowship. I do not say any more about that, beloved, but you see the sanctity, the purity that provides the safety and security of Christian fellowship. It is the fellowship of God’s Son. One may say, Well, I am not terribly attracted to brethren—which would be a pity—but you are called to the fellowship of God’s Son. You will meet brethren there, but it is His and you come for Him; and you stay for Him. Oh, you say, I do not feel I can go on because I cannot get on with Mr. So-and-so. Beloved, you are not called to Mr. So-and-so, you are called into the fellowship of God’s Son.

That is one aspect of the fellowship. A second aspect is its potential, and I feel I can hardly convey this—think of the wonder of being identified with the truth that is unfolded in the gospel. God, in His wondrous love, has proposed to us that we should have a place in the favour of His Beloved and, as part of His family, entitled to the liberty of His house. Think of the wonder of what the Lord Jesus says as to David, “he entered into the house of God”.

What a wonderful thing, that we have the liberty and the privilege of entrance into the very place where God is free to suit everything to Himself. He is not just ready but He really desires that you and I should be part of that, and that for ever. I may have a relationship with God that is not only in my affections but in my understanding, and God, in His wonderful grace, has given me the Holy Spirit so that I, might appreciate the blessings into which He has brought me. And God is pleased that we should serve Him and we share that privilege together.

Tomorrow morning we shall gather for the Lord’s supper—what a privilege the Supper is! I have been breaking bread for over forty years, which means I have been at the Supper for about two thousand times. I have enjoyed good health so that on almost every occasion, as Lord’s day has come round, I have been at the Supper. Has it become even a little ordinary to me, the Supper and the service of God? What a privilege it is that I should be there. The emblems before us remind us that that privilege has been accorded to me because Jesus died. He bought for me, not only my redemption, but my privilege. I have the liberty to be at the occasion which He Himself inaugurated and gave to His own. It has been preserved down to this day and I am able to be there, and so are you. What an immense privilege it is, not only to be at the Supper, but to stay for the service of God. Think of the way Israel served God, and compare it to the liberty we have, each of us free in the service of God.

Beloved young brother, do you exercise that liberty? How can you not exercise it? God has given you the freedom not just to be there, but to participate. God is pleased if you do participate. I may imagine that it is easy to say something after all these times I have been, but can I say something fresh that conveys to others there that this is a reality to me, and a possession. Perhaps I resort to things I know are safe, but do they add anything to that occasion? God has given me the liberty and the privilege to be there. It is the highest honour of every week, far exceeding anything else you would ever do in the week, an opportunity to participate in the service of God. These things, beloved, are entered into in Christian fellowship together. God has given us the light of this. We do not go to a place where a minister reads a sermon that he wrote out on Wednesday or something, quoting from newspapers and from television programmes and these kinds of things. We go and serve God, and it is an occasion for worship. There are many of His people who forfeit that liberty because of the systems they belong to. We have been recovered to it. Is there any reason why anyone who has that liberty would not want to exercise it, and would not seek the Spirit’s help to do that? These are things that enter into fellowship.

The third thing I would like to speak about is the blessing of relationships with one another. We are all ordinary people and we are all natural. We are not perfect, but we have been called into fellowship together. We can afford to look at one another as God looks at us. We can have a relationship with one another from which imperfections and the irritations of our natural condition can be for the time being eclipsed, so that we can share things together. If we take a man like the apostle John, on the isle of Patmos, what a man he was, what an understanding he had of Christian fellowship; and yet denied the means of enjoying it, because he was on his own. Think then of the privilege it is to have people with whom we can walk together. Do we value one another, beloved, as we really should? If we look at the history of brethren, we see a certain casualness about the importance of our relationships together. We quote what is rightly said in ministry, ‘if we take care of the principles God will take care of the persons’. I have to say that taking care of the persons is a principle—we are not excused taking care of the persons. We cannot take things up amongst the brethren as if this does not matter, as if it does not matter if someone feels stressed and under pressure because of the unspiritual way we choose to raise something. We should value one another, beloved, because that enters into the basis on which we know each other at all.

I remember a brother quoting his father saying that you speak to the Lord about the brethren and you speak to the brethren about the Lord. Paul says in Philippians, “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are noble ... think on these things”, Philippians 4: 8. I think Mr. Raven said that you should not think too much about people, but you think about these things, and you see them in one another. I do not find too many of them in myself but we see them in each other. In God’s discipline, the number of those who are available has been greatly reduced in my lifetime and it is a very sad thing. We can think of places where there used to be a meeting around here. There are still people there who we long to have fellowship with, and they are not available. We should regard each other as of the utmost value. I do not say that discipline is set aside, discipline is essential, there must be discipline; the sanctity of our fellowship together demands it, but let it be exercised, beloved, with the true estimation of what we are before God. As Paul says, “Let all things ye do be done in love”, 1 Corinthians 16: 14.

I would just like now to use the passages I have read to show how this matter of the shewbread illustrates what I have been saying. The shewbread, as it says in Leviticus, is a bread of remembrance and it is arranged before Jehovah continually on the part of the children of Israel. So it represents the people of Israel before God. The people of Israel have a long history and it began with a call, as we have been remarking. It was not because the one who was called was better than anyone else naturally speaking. As far as we can see Abraham grew up in a household that was idolatrous, in what is now Iraq, and he moved to the land of Syria. But then he was called out from his people and his father’s house to originate something that was eventually manifested as the nation of Israel. Much had been set aside along the way. One of his sons and one of his grandsons had been set aside, Ishmael and Edom. God has chosen to go on with Isaac and with Jacob, and with Jacob’s twelve sons.

If we look at the history of those men, all fourteen of them, Isaac and Jacob and the twelve sons of Jacob, we might say, what a natural bunch of people they are; where is the evidence of anything spiritually attractive in these people? There are exceptions, like Joseph, and features that come out in men like Judah and Benjamin, but some of their brothers have hardly a redeeming thing said about them in the Scriptures. There is little redeeming that could be said about me either from a natural point of view. But God had chosen them. He brought them together, and He kept them together. If God had not moved in the family of Jacob, they would not have had anything to do with each other by the time we get to the period of which we have read. They were a disparate and disagreeable group of people. They had different allegiances and they had very much their own interests at heart and yet God, in His grace, had preserved them together. They became an assembly, a congregation before God, a moral whole. That is how God viewed them from the point of view of His calling. The mere fact that they were descended from Abraham was not their virtue; their virtue was that they were called by God. They had a lot to learn, a long way to go. Their journey is not finished even now, and a lot of bitterness enters into the parts of it still to come, but from God’s point of view they are His people.

By bringing them out of Egypt, God established a covenant with them. That covenant was based on precious blood, so their position is like ours. They had a relationship with God that depended on the work of redemption and the blood that is the price of redemption. God is able to view them on that basis. After all the price had been paid. It was not a theory, it was a fact. So He proposes here that they should be in a holy place before Him representatively, and that they should be arranged in order upon the table. The table is one of those things in the holy place which speaks of Jesus. The tabernacle is an interesting combination because some of the things in there speak of Jesus and some of them speak of the people of God. So, for example, in the holiest of all, clearly the ark speaks of Jesus, and the things that were in it, the mercy-seat, the veil, all speak of Him. Outside the lampstand speaks of Him, the table, the altar of incense, also speak of Him, and beyond, outside the curtain, the altar and laver, speak of Him too. The boards speak of us, the lights on the lampstand which had to be trimmed and dressed, speak of us. The loaves on the table speak of us too. They represent God’s people in a place they have before God that depends entirely on the place that Jesus has before God. There He is, in a holy place, sustaining us at the level of God’s thoughts for us. He gives us room in a holy place. How precious that is! What a privilege it is, and what a basis! There they were together, arranged in rows for a memorial, a bread of remembrance.

God will never forget that was the view He had taken of His people, and we should never forget that is the view that God has taken of His people, all of them seen here all together.

They are not assigned tribally, you could not say the one on the left at the end is Reuben or anything like that. It is the whole twelve representing the nation of Israel. The Lord Jesus sustains all His own at that level in the presence of God. It would be a question as applicable to me as it would be to anybody else whether every one walks worthy of it. But, there we are before God sustained in the strength and virtue of Christ and His place there. How we need to value where His work and His present service to us brings us! These are things that we enter into together, like the twelve loaves arranged in two rows on the table. I think these loaves answer to what I have been saying, firstly about the responsibility that attaches to the fellowship because all this system depended on that precious work of sacrifice that speaks of what Jesus did; but they also remind us of the immense privilege we have, and share together, in relation to the level of things to which Jesus has brought us.

I would just say a short word then about Mark. This incident comes into three of the gospels but I want to raise a question about what is distinctive to Mark. He uses this interesting expression, “what David did when he had need and hungered”. Do we feel in need? Do we feel in need of one another? Young people might say they wished they had more friends. That is a need, but do we feel we need one another? Do we feel we need

those with whom we share Christian fellowship together? If we want to satisfy that need, how do we do that? We might go round the camp and see what we can get from people’s houses or tents, but, as David shows, we also have the privilege of entering into the house of God and eating the shewbread. You can go before God, exercising the privilege of which I have been speaking, and feed on His people there. What a privilege that is! What a colour it would give the fellowship if that was our habit. How it would elevate the level on which fellowship is enjoyed! How it would simplify things that arise among the brethren, and strengthen fellowship; how it would lead us to appreciate and value what we hear one another say in relation to God’s things. It would make us love one another because of the things they can say about the privileges that they enjoy. Paul says to the Philippians, “each esteeming the other as more excellent than themselves” (Philippians 2: 3), that is eating the shewbread. A brother observed to me that it was a sad thing that there may be suffering among the brethren that is caused by other brethren. I do not go into that. It is true, and I find it has been true before, but how is it? Might some lean and hungry soul not pause to feed on this provision that God has made, this priestly provision that God has made to satisfy that need which is met by fellowship? I can say that this is something that I hunger for. I identify and recognise a need and I am very thankful that David has shown me how to meet it.

I just refer to this passage in Romans. There is a lot of teaching in Romans about the gospel and God’s ways, but it is interesting that as Paul begins to close this epistle, his mind turns to the value of the brethren. He says, “we ought, we that are strong, to bear the infirmities of the weak”. I might think that is the responsibility of the Lord Jesus. He is the table, so it is on His strength we rely. If a brother or sister is infirm that is perhaps what he or she should rely upon. Paul asks if that feature of Christ could not be manifested in you; well could it? He says, “we ought ... to bear the

infirmities of the weak”. And then he says something which I hesitate to labour, but it is important and something we do not always understand. He says, “and not to please ourselves”. We all do it but it has no place in Christian fellowship, it is a lawless principle.

Paul says, “and not to please ourselves. Let each one of us please his neighbour with a view to what is good”. I go back to what we said in the reading about sharing the passover with a neighbour (Exodus 12: 4). Let us imagine there was an old lady in Israel who lived by herself. She hears Moses say that they should each take for themselves a lamb, and eat of it according to the measure of their eating. She would say it is quite impossible. Then the family next door, perhaps one of the children next door, comes round and asks, Would you like to share the passover with us, would you like to do that? We have room and we would like to share it with you. That is pleasing his neighbour in what is good. It should be the practice of Christian brethren that they please their neighbours in what is good. The Christ did not please Himself, think of that—we depend on Him for everything, but why do we not take character from Him? One thing about the loaves was they were very near the table. The nearer we are to Him then the more of these features will come out in us.

Paul goes on to develop this. The brethren can study it because there is food in it. He refers to the God of endurance and encouragement. We all need encouragement and we find that God is the best source of it. Paul tells us to find encouragement in God, and do this next; be like-minded one toward another. All those loaves on the table were all the same size, they were all made with the same quantity. There were no bigger or smaller ones, and no tumbling about on the table, they were all the same; “be like-minded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus”. That is the place of the shewbread on the table, according to Christ Jesus. The place of the shewbread is not defined by anything outward, but it is according to Christ Jesus, that gives it

definition. Then it says, “that ye may with one accord, with one mouth, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. That is the acme, the climax, of Christian fellowship, that we might have one accord and one mouth. How blessed that is! Christian brethren, with one mouth, glorifying the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then Paul adds, “receive ye one another”. We ought to be receptive, the basis has been laid in all that He has done for us.

It is the issue of our fellowship together, and the sharing of our privileges with one another, that we receive one another according as the Christ also has received us.

I can only speak according to my measure, but I see that God has set out for us something that exceeds my capacity to describe or convey. I can be filled with it. The wonder is that my enjoyment of it, my possession of it is something I have to share with you and you have to share with me. That, beloved, is the level on which we have been called, and the basis on which we associate with each other. My desire is that, as we think about it, it might bring about this accord and the singleness of mouth in the glory and the praise of the God whose work it is. May He bless the word.

Address at Kirkcaldy
19 June 2004