THE GRATING OF NETWORK IN THE ALTAR
A. B. Parker
The “grating of network” in the altar of burnt-offering was made of copper. Apparently it would be under the offering, and the wood that was placed upon the altar. Only what was consumed by the fire on the altar could go through the network. There would be no lumps in the ashes that the priest removed from the altar; all had come through this grating, of network, indicating that there is to be nothing casual about the way matters are attended to.
Matters which arise amongst us are to be sorted out and
finished; they are to be completed. The Lord could say to Sardis, “I have not found thy works complete before my God”, Revelation 3: 2. Exercises are not to be left in abeyance unduly.
There can be no movement in the testimony if we do not complete matters; unless there is thorough self-judgment; unless our minds and hearts are in keeping with the heart of God in relation to moral issues, personal state, and general conditions in our localities. The altar, with the grating of network, should, in principle, be found in every locality.
I believe that the Lord, in ordering the terrible pressures which we have had to go through, involving loss of loved ones and brethren, has in mind that things are to be sorted out and purification accomplished. Where this is not done the compassions of God may be restrained, as suggested in the Lord being “girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle”, Revelation 1: 13. He is allowing the suffering to work out in us, and deepen the experience of self-judgment in the consciousness that God is holy, and those who draw near to Him must do so in righteousness and holiness. Therefore, matters must be gone into in detail and nothing lumpy or unfinished should be allowed to remain. The ashes taken from the altar and poured out in a clean place outside the camp suggest a public testimony that there is a sphere where
God dwells, where matters are thoroughly judged and worked out, providing a moral basis for the divine Presence to remain amongst us.
Dear brethren, if we are going to move on in the truth, as the Spirit of God is seeking to open it up to us in these days, we must be thorough in self-judgment individually and collectively.
I believe progress is being made, for as one moves around amongst the
brethren one finds an atmosphere conducive to increase, and a readiness and desire to take on the truth. The countenances of the brethren, too, show an appreciation of what the Spirit is bringing in.
Let us be characterised by what the copper suggests—a living, active judgment and repudiation of everything that is not of God. Nothing that is not of God should remain unjudged in the circle of fellowship, for if we do not deal with such things in such wise that the ashes go through the network, there can be no real spiritual progress, for the rings through which the staves were put to carry the altar were attached to the grating of network.
From a preaching at Redbridge
8 October 1972