THE HOLIEST
24th June 1916
As I have said on previous occasions, I repeat now, that all my addresses are spiritual lessons. I do not stand here as an expositor of scripture - not that I say a word against that (we have our Bible readings for that purpose and scripture must be carefully expounded) but my object is that the truths with which we are very familiar may be put into practice, that what we learn as truths we may experience in a practical and experimental course otherwise it will be of no use to us. I say this for the young, there are many present here tonight and my desire is that you may make progress and not be diverted from the path. There is a great difference between the glory of title and the joy of possession - the greatest possible difference - and very often we run away with the thought that we have possession because we have the title. We may indeed have very great joy in that and think we really possess. Of course, where there is title there must have been faith - where there is possession there must be continually a divine work; exercise will be produced and by that, I mean desire and prayer. That being so, the things we have title to we really possess. I think the distraction will be helpful for there is a very great deal we know we have title to which we have never taken possession of. Now I will try and illustrate my point having the young especially in view. I come into a large estate; a fine mansion standing in its own extensive grounds and at the entrance a charming little honeysuckle lodge. I am charmed with this latter place, it is a very pretty spot and I enter it and take possession and am quite contented. One day I am asked, ‘Have you been up to the house?’ It is two miles up through the wealth of trees. ‘No, I have never been. I am quite content in my honeysuckle lodge’. I have title to all but I have only got as far as the honeysuckle lodge – do you not see?
I come now to my subject, which is an excessively important one - the holiest, and the way in which we are affected by it - two very large subjects. There is the holiest in relation to our coming together and on the other hand there is the holiest in regard to the ways of God with us down here. The key to the position lies in a sentence I am about to give you and I pray you may be affected by it. This is it: Distance and silence are unbearable to God. We have all had to suffer the fruit of departure and distance and with these come also destitution and degradation. Those four things, hateful to God, are set forth in the story of the prodigal. We have all had to feel the sorrow of that state of things. All the sorrows of this world are the results of distance from God; such things could not exist in His presence. A time is coming when every sorrow shall be removed. He will wipe away all tears and He will be greater in wiping away tears than in creating a universe.
Distance and silence are unbearable to God, therefore He came in from His own side to remove the distance and break the silence. What a blessed God He is! He loves to have His creatures near Him. There was the hunger of the prodigal but on the other hand, there was the hunger of the father’s heart for the boy. It is a great thing to have that thought before your heart. The father says, ‘I miss him - I will have him back’, not to be reinstated to the position in which he was but to something far better. The Father takes the opportunity to show the largeness of His heart.
Let us return to our subject of the holiest. What I have said in regard to the prodigal is beyond the holiest. You get the holiest set forth in the Epistle to the Hebrews. This epistle was written to people who had been in relationship with God outwardly but now had come into Christianity - they had left the shadow for the substance. They had come into this vast system which stood in contrast to the old and which can only be understood by those that have the Spirit. You are not cognisant of it by your senses - it is all known by the Spirit and the Epistle to the Hebrews was written to show the superiority of the New over the Old. That was the object of its being written. And since we are in the presence of a Judaised [system] - Christendom, I mean - the Epistle to the Hebrews has a loud voice for us now. If this epistle were properly understood it would be morally impossible for anyone to be a Ritualist. The sacrifice has been “once offered” - not twice; that would destroy Romanism and Ritualism. Do not think I am speaking against persons, I am not - it is not persons but the system I deplore. The Epistle to the Hebrews, if rightly understood, would deliver from that state of things and therefore I beg you to pay close attention to the passage that I read. (The sacrifices are dealt with in previous chapters.)
In the old system the way into the holiest was not made manifest - the veil was up, which kept God in and shut man out. There was distance, and the reason was this - man was under probation and as long as that is the case he must be kept at a distance. But when the substance comes the shadow disappears. Christianity is another system entirely - the veil was rent and God came out to man and man went in to God through death. Now God and man come together through the efficacious death of Christ. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus ... through the veil, that is to say, his flesh”, vv 19, 20. Now I ask you to consider this passage. The former part of the chapter shows the glory of the Person, His work, His position, and because of that you are invited to draw near. The nearer you come the more happy you are and the nearer you draw to God, the more you realise that the silence is broken - you must praise Him.
Now how do we draw near? The first thing I need in order to draw near is a purged conscience - that is that everything between your soul and God has been divinely met. A purged conscience is the fruit of the death of Christ. If you have not that, how can you happily draw near? You would be disturbed. Now what is the meaning of a purged conscience? My conscience took cognisance of guilt to bring me into judgment - my conscience said, ‘You are a sinner responsible to God’ and it created a very great disturbance in my soul. I thank God that for 49 years my conscience has never taken cognisance of sin as bringing me into judgment. My conscience marks time with the present value of the blood. While I say that, let me preserve my subject. My heart is now awakened to a new love, thus my conscience is no longer cognisant of sin as condemning me, is kept tender by love to Christ. It is not the thought of sin now as bringing me into judgment but my conscience works now in the power of affection. I realise in some measure what sin is as having brought Him into judgment and in the measure that I realise that it becomes abhorrent to me. I am a Christian now. I love Christ.
Are you established there? If not, you cannot know anything of the holiest. Who can tell me what sin is? Who can tell me what the consequences of sin are? He has come to bear all the consequences and in the power of affection alone I learn what sin is, as I see what it meant for Him to bear it all. The marvellous efficacy of the blood of Christ! That efficient sacrifice! And if you are a simple believer in the work of Christ you are seen alone in the value of that.
First then, there is the blood and secondly there must be a “new and living way”, and the third thing is the great Priest over the house of God. These are the three points here and we are encouraged to draw near and find our home with God. There must first be the removal of sin but there must also be a new and living way. If I am to find my pleasure in God I must know that He finds pleasure in me. It is in another Man that we draw near to God - in the life of another Man. In other words, “Bring forth the best robe”, etc, Luke 15: 22. I want to have him near Me in suitability to Me, do you not see? Ask the prodigal about his ring, his shoes, his robe. ‘Yes’, he would reply, ‘I know, I know, but what a father I have got. I never knew I had such a father. He is most blessed’. That is worship. What a sweet thing it is.
If you draw near you must be in suitability. His way in is your way in - it is affection that carries you and makes you follow. Then there is the Priest - He is the administrator of all the blessings of the house of God.
What is the holiest? What shall I find there? What is involved in that word? In another part of the epistle it says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”, Heb 4: 16. At the throne of grace you receive help in time of need. The holiest is where you receive divine communications - there you are in the presence of the glory of God and in the light of another world. What a wonderful thing! Christ is the expression of another world to which I belong. Would to God we knew it better! “Send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy”, etc”, Ps 43: 2-4. God is your exceeding joy in the holiest. It is what He is, not in relation to you but to Christ. Have you ever been there? You say, ‘Is that open to me?’ Yes, to every Christian. I do not know how you are going to get through this world if you are not in the light of another world. We are invited to “draw near”. The first two chapters of this epistle are the holiest. God said of the holiest in the book of Exodus, there “will I speak with thee”, Exod 25: 22. The second chapter is more the ark of the covenant. The holiest and the mercy seat are both in chapter 1 - the light of another world shines there. Keep those points in mind and you will find them very helpful in reading this epistle. The blood is there on the mercy seat; let us draw near in the efficacy of that blood, of that work. His death has removed all defilement.
“In full assurance of faith”. What is that? My heart is assured of the love that won the victory. Notice how the verses follow in beautiful succession:
Verse 22 - “Let us draw near” That is inside
Verse 23 - “Let us hold fast” That is outside
Verse 24 - “Consider one another
to provoke unto love
and good works”. That is the Christian.
I have been into the holiest and I come out to hold fast and then I consider others to provoke to love and good works - I look upon my brethren, not in the light of any social worth but as they stand in the estimation of divine Persons. If it were so continuously, what a great difference it would make to our meetings. I come out of the holiest and find every saint beautiful in my eyes, as they are in God’s. I would raise my hat to King George and give honour to those in authority but the weakest saint on earth is more precious in the sight of God than any earthly potentate as such. Remember, had we not known Christ we should probably not have known one another. That is the only possible link we have with one another - there must be none of these intrusions. I consider you in the light of the sanctuary and so I shall not provoke your flesh but I shall provoke you to love. And how shall I do it? By loving you.
There would be a great deal of recovery if we knew more of this. We want spiritual power and we want to consider one another more in this way. It is intensely individual. You come from the holiest carrying an atmosphere with you. It is not the meetings, though it is felt there and we contribute to the happiness and prosperity as we are in the spirit of the holiest. You have been at the meeting and the Scriptures have been illuminated for you? You have felt the power of the word? Yes, and the reason? We were in the power of divine love. That which is merely mental is absolutely ruinous. Your measure of spirituality lies in loving the saints and caring for them - it does not consist in standing at a desk and talking to them. There are far more spiritual ones oftentimes among the listeners. I do not judge any man but I do feel that we confuse spirituality with gift. Your spirituality is measured by your manner among the saints and such an one contributes to the assembly far more than the gifted one. I am not underrating gift - if rightly exercised in divine love it works mightily. My greatest comfort in coming to address you is this, oftentimes feeling my inability and weakness the Lord says, ‘They love Me and I love them’. It is the sweetest thing possible to speak to people who really love the Lord. Gift is valuable, it has its place but the spiritual stature of the one who ministers must correspond with it. The father has a beautiful coat and his boy admires it, and there it is trailing in the dust. We need stature to carry our gift and stature lies in the knowledge of divine love.
Paul, that blessed apostle, could say, “I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved”, 2 Cor 12: 15. When I consider the apostle’s stature how small I feel in the face of it. In effect he says, ‘You may despise me and slight me but I will love you more and more and more’. Besides the ‘slighting’ side I think we are apt to err on the flattery side. Our blessed Lord and Master never slighted or flattered any one. He never made a wrong judgment. May we be preserved from the two extremes, then shall we pursue our way provoking one another to love and good works.
We have spoken of the holiest - we are there inside with God. Then we come out with men - you get that at the end of the chapter. There is always the opposition of the will of men but “the just shall live by faith”. How are you going to behave in relation to the outside? By accepting all that Man puts on you. How can you do that? By first going inside. Then you learn your destiny - you will then come out and bow to the will of that Man.
To illustrate this point I have often told the story of the late Queen Victoria when she was but a child of ten years of age. One morning being very self-willed, her governess put before her the table of succession and for the first time she found that she was nearer to the throne than she ever thought. As the truth dawned upon her she looked earnestly up into the face of her governess and said, ‘I will be good, I will be good’.
In the light of your destiny you learn the reason of your education. If you live in the light of your destiny you accept discipline. God permits man to do what he does to educate him. If we realised this there would be no cry of ‘Had it not been for this ... or that ...’. No, we are not creatures of circumstances. In the same epistle, in Hebrews from which we read, we find these early Christians taking joyfully the plunder of their goods. Why? Because they knew that in heaven they had more enduring substance. How would you like your goods spoiled? Could we take such things joyfully? It was the will of God for them and it proved to them the reality of their Christianity. Never take anything second-hand. The holiest will help you - that is the key. If you are there you will accept the will of God for you here and will never think of second causes.
How we waste our time! How little we make progress! Why are you left here? Why did the Lord not take you when you were first converted? Why did He not take me forty nine years ago? Are we left here to make a fortune? Am I left here to make a cosy nest for myself? You are left here to be educated for your destiny.
Read Psalm 73. The opening verses show the foolish and wicked prospering, the unrighteous man flourishing, the ungodly and the corrupt walk through the earth oppressing and full of pride. “When I thought to know this it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end”, vv 16-17. That is where you get understanding. You could never envy anyone here if you could consider what a marvellous destiny is yours. Accepting the education - that is our difficulty. Why do you hanker after this or that? Leave it to God. Do not try to make an easy path for yourself. I tell you, you will be disappointed and spiritually blighted if you take things out of God’s hands.
Psalm 66. “For Thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidest affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads ... but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place”, vv 10-12. If you are in the holiest you will be prepared to receive education in the nature of discipline by the hands of men. There are many other ways also, but I must not stop to speak of them now. You see that building yonder being erected? There is a huge scaffolding around it - yes, it is very ugly and unsightly, yet it is necessary it will be taken down and then the building, the glory and pride of the architect and builder, will show to perfection. A silent and blessed work is going on now which will be all to His praise and glory.
You may say, ‘I don’t understand the ways of God’. No, very likely not. God is always thinking of your destiny and is working accordingly. He is working with that great end in mind - He will explain all by and by and it will be a vindication of Himself. Shall my heart say in that day, ‘It could not have been otherwise’? It shall. He will vindicate His ways with me and in regard to His ways with me, my heart will say, ‘It was absolutely necessary. I had to pass that way. Quite necessary that I should experience that sorrow or that trial’.
Now, “the just shall live by faith”. We are to hold on, not to cast away our confidence. We are to live by faith. That quotation is from Habakkuk and it is three times quoted in the New Testament, in Romans, Galatians and here in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Habakkuk is a remarkable book and I will just give you a brief sketch of it in closing. It is undated - nobody knows when it was written. It is the experience of a man of God in a day of trouble and ruin and is on that account psalm-like in character.
Verses 1-4 of the first chapter give the burdens of Habakkuk the prophet. There is spoiling and violence, iniquity and grievance, the law is slacked and judgment gone. And Habakkuk cries and gets no answer. From the 5th verse onwards God says, ‘Habakkuk, you are perfectly right, I will destroy them’. And the prophet answers, “we shall not die, O Lord, Thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, Thou hast established them for correction”, v 12.
Then a doubt came into the prophet’s mind. ‘The people you are using Lord are morally worse than the people you are disciplining, I cannot understand’. Look at chapter 2. “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon my tower” (v 1) (that is the holiest in principle). And what does he see? In his deep sorrow he goes to enquire of the Lord, and the Lord answers him by giving him a vast outlook upon another world. God is bringing in another world and “it will surely come, it will not tarry”, v 3. And he is to write the vision and make it plain upon tables “that he may run that readeth it”. The light of another world will make you run through the world.
Next Habakkuk begins to preach, “the just shall live by his faith”, v 4. In chapter 3 he prays - it is the prayer of Habakkuk upon Shigionoth. The chapter ends with singing. Shigionoth denotes the wind instruments. Negionoth is the music of the stringed instruments - it figures Christ. As sure as you play on Shigionoth you will play on Negionoth.
Notice the order - he weeps, he watches, he preaches, he prays, he sings. A beautiful climax. “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive tree shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me walk upon mine high places. To the Chief Musician. On my stringed instruments”. (vv 17-19). The stringed instrument is the heart that has learnt to value Christ and because of that, produces a sweet note of praise. It is not the recital of truth, not remembering certain pamphlets, good though they may be. What is acceptable to God is the heart that overflows. John overflowed. Let us speak well of Christ, let us sing on the stringed instruments.
Now I realise I have taken you over a very large tract of ground this evening but do not be downhearted, do not say, ‘I can never remember all that man said’. Get the little bit that is meant for you. I cannot tell you what will serve you but the Lord can impress it upon you. He can make a little go a long way. I would like you to leave this meeting sensible of these things - If I know nearness to God I shall learn my destiny and I shall accept my education. You say, ‘I cannot understand many things that happen about me today. Why must I take part in that which I would like to be free of? Why is this war allowed?’ Oh, the questions that arise in our hearts!
The necessity of it all lies in the unreality of God’s people - the war with all its terrible consequences has fallen upon countries professing to know God. Take our own country - God has been patient with this country for long enough. Think of the pleasure-seeking, self-seeking, God-forgetting. Do not find fault with God - the mischief lies with ourselves. I feel, very many feel, these times are very trying naturally, yet they are a splendid opportunity for Christians to prove the reality of what they have believed. May the Lord stir us up to wait for Him. His coming cannot be far off.
The Lord grant it for His Name’s sake. Amen.
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