BUILDING INWARD

J. N. Castle

2 Samuel 5: 6–10; 7: 18–24; 1 Chronicles 29: 1–5; 2 Chronicles 7: 1–3

I would like to say something, beloved brethren, about building inward in view of completion. There will be a day of public display; however, the building today is inward, and it is in that direction that God is moving so His work in us will be complete, and there will be a further answer to His desires. I would say that He has always worked in that way. God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, a rib was taken and built into a woman; then the woman was presented to the man. The thought

was complete—man and woman; a type of God’s eternal idea of completeness. Christ and the assembly. Nothing can exceed the blessedness of what God has designed. So the woman is presented to the man, and Adam’s affections are immediately drawn out when he says, “This time”. They are words of affection. He gave names to all but did not find a helpmate his like.

However, when presented with the woman, he could say, “This time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”, Genesis 2: 23. The inward side was where God worked, the result being that God secures something complete according to His own thoughts, man and woman, typical of Christ and the assembly.

How delightful it would be to God to look forward from that point to what eventually would be, because with God a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. God can embrace all that in His mind and affections whereas things take time to work out with us. The tabernacle also was precious on the inside, the very inside, but what was around it would protect and basically support all that God had in His mind as to it; even the cloth that was used in the coverings inside was finer, more beautiful, more finely processed than the outside coverings. However, as you approached the tabernacle from the outside you would see the skins of slain animals, immediately conveying the impression that what is to be for God depends on death. Death had to come in. So our thoughts revert to Christ, the One who died for us. Now when you advance into the tabernacle, the metals change from brass to gold and then finally the ark is there. That is the wonderful matter for the soul, that God is there representatively. Then the cloud, the glory of God, filled the tabernacle. How wonderful to see God’s approval as to the best He had at that time.

Well, I thought of the kingship and activities of David because he had learned from God. He was a military man and thought in a military way. Yet he had secured the affections of the people. They came with

one heart to make him king. It says, “Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. Even aforetime, when Saul was king over us, thou west he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel; and Jehovah said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be prince over Israel.

And all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Jehovah; and they anointed David king over Israel”, 2 Samuel 5: 1–3.

He had secured their affections by the way he carried out the will of God. What was in the mind of God was that the city should be secured, and David took the stronghold of Zion, which is the city of David. It seems the Spirit of God already had that name in mind. So David said, “Whoever smites the Jebusites and gets up to the watercourse, and the lame and the blind hated of David’s soul ...!” (2 Samuel 5: 8). These lame and blind would be persons who would prevent the saints from applying the truth and reaching completion. One of the things that is very precious in God’s sight is that the truth should be applied, with subsequent gain in our souls. These lame and blind were hated of David’s soul; he felt the matter deeply.

He realised intuitively, as we realise today by the Spirit, that this city must be for God, and his whole energy was directed to it. Then it says, “And David built round about from the Millo and inward”. I believe the Millo, as it says in the note, the rampart, would be some kind of protective matter around all this area which was to be developed for the glory of God. He built from that; he built, I would say, on the epistle to the Romans; that is what we would do.

We should have that truth firmly in our souls. What a rampart it is to help us to be weaned away from the world, so that all that is precious to God should be fully protected. No doubt these particular ramparts were built by others, but that is not the point. In the history of the children of Israel they were renewed. I think that it is necessary for our soul growth to keep exercises proceeding together, what is protective and what is

peculiarly precious. Keep the building going on “round about” so no area is neglected. The whole matter of what is precious to God would be encircled, as it were so the enemy could not get in anywhere. “And David built round about from the Millo and inward. And David became continually greater; and Jehovah the God of hosts was with him” (2 Samuel 5: 10).

We can see, therefore, what the result is when a man or woman sets himself or herself to build inwardly. Let us, after these meetings, set ourselves afresh to build inwardly. It is a wonderful thing to have completion in mind, bodies like unto His own body of glory. That would be completion for us, and God’s thoughts as expressed in Christ and the assembly.

How joyful it is that God Himself would look on to it; He has much in mind. If you look into all the scriptures that speak of what is to take place after the rapture, you will see that there is a tremendous amount of holy activity that will go on in which the mind of God is expressed, the saints also being involved. So David became continually greater. I would think that would be morally greater. Certainly, it would be that he became greater in the eyes of those who were in his kingdom, but the great thing is that Jehovah, the God of hosts was with him. If we are thus engaged, beloved brethren, we can see from this scripture that God would be with us, setting ourselves to build inwardly in view of what is precious and complete.

What this does is to produce certain exercises like those that come out in David in 2 Samuel 7. I particularly like this section of scripture because it shows a man on easy and yet reverent terms with God, “king David went in and sat before Jehovah”. It does not even say that he waited for God to speak to him nor does it say that God spoke to him, as it does in relation to Moses, but it says, “and said”. David likely would have spoken first. Of course, the prophet had spoken to him and that was God’s word, but ‘David went in and sat (tarried) before Jehovah, and said, Who am I, Lord Jehovah, and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?’ Notice

his spirit; how right it is; a man who had understood something of the blessing of God. He had in mind to build a house, a place for the ark. Typically he had Christ in mind. He came from a good household; God said in relation to Jesse, “I have provided me a king among his sons”, 1 Samuel 16: 1. I would think that the ark was cherished in Jesse’s household, and David learned to love it. As they sat down for their morning reading, so to speak, His affections were generated; he searched for it. He would not give sleep to his eyes nor slumber to his eyelids until he found it. And he did find it. It is like a man or woman having a transaction with Christ, getting something in their soul, a personal knowledge of Christ. He who draws near to God must believe that He is, then that he is there for God. God is for the one who approaches. So David, in that sense, found Christ typically; he found the ark in the fields of the wood, think his affections were involved with the ark all the way through. The ark had had a history. Persons had taken it out into battle, but God was following it. Then in later years it must have been removed from the holy of holies, a matter hard to imagine. But how pleased heaven must have been when Josiah said, “Put the holy ark in the house ...” (2

Chronicles 35: 3), and it was restored to its place. Actually, the temple had fallen into sad disrepair, but Josiah made much of Christ typically. I think that is a wonderful thing to get into our souls, that Christianity makes much of Christ. What God has in mind is that we, also, should make much of Christ and become like Him. That is what will be before God eternally, and He would presently take delight and joy in persons who love Christ with intelligence and zeal.

So David continues, “And yet this hath been a small thing in thy sight, Lord Jehovah; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, Lord Jehovah?” What is the manner of man? It is Jesus; that is the manner of Man that God is looking for. How that brings all the gospel narratives to mind as to the manner of the Man,

Christ Jesus, the One whom we love, the One whose death has secured so much for God.

That is really what Zion means, indeed it is also mercy; but it involves ourselves so there is something secured in the hearts of the saints for God. Christ having done it. What a wonderful thing to have before us, beloved brethren, as we think of the truth; “And is this the manner of man ...?” David continues, “And what can David say more to thee?” When the Lord comes before us, what else can be said? That is to say, He is God’s Man, and He is the final matter for God; it is Christ, Christ and the saints. No doubt there will be some representation of sonship in every family; the Father would give them all that, so that all the families would speak to Him of Christ in accordance with the light that He was pleased to vouchsafe to them.

Now, David becomes a contemplator, he is somewhat like John and the disciples; John speaks for the disciples, saying we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father”, John 1: 14. As they looked at the Lord, there was something that spoke to them of the fact that He had a Father, and that He was an only-begotten. In a sense I think we can understand something of that, because it enters into human feelings; God has caused it to enter human feelings. He has entered into a relationship which we can understand in some degree. Father and Son, and then it says, “full of grace and truth’’. Think of that!

How it radiated from the Lord Jesus, and John says that we have contemplated that.

Contemplation is essential in view of the acquisition of substance. That is a matter that we work out with the Lord Jesus; we want to get before Him not only for what we need, but for His own sake, may I say, and our own enjoyment. David was a contemplator; the disciples were contemplators. What John saw was so much over and above what David could see, but David in type is helping us.

It goes on to say, “for thou, Lord Jehovah, knowest thy servant. For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, to make thy servant know it”. Then he breaks out, as our hearts would do,

“Wherefore thou art great, Jehovah Elohim; for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears”. And in that David came to something fresh. I think in the contemplation of Christ that we will come to something fresh. John did, he said, “full of grace and truth”, that is what he came to; as the thing began to be in the Lord Jesus. Beloved, if we contemplate the Lord Jesus we would come up with something that He gives us because He enjoys that. He delights in our thinking of Him. Not only that, but David goes on to say, “And who is like thy people, like Israel, the one nation in the earth that God went to redeem to be a people to himself, and to make himself a name, and to do for them great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemest to thyself from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?” So that no one is really like Israel; no one is like the assembly; you get these thoughts all arranged orderly in your mind, and you see that God has Christ before Him and no one is like the assembly. That is the whole point, I think, of our being together, and it is really the whole point of our living. I know when we are young we have all kinds of thoughts, and they may not be wrong, as to what we are going to be; then God weans us away from that, and shows us the point of living is really to be here for God, and then to be there for God.

Those are the days, we trust, that will soon come, to be for God. We can enter into that now, and that is, I think, where the greatness of the assembly lies, because it has to do with the name of God, and to make Himself a name. It is interesting how there are so many references to being redeemed from Egypt, which is a type of the world system. All through the Pentateuch we find that God goes back to that point which would involve the death of Christ.

How valuable the death of Christ is; how much it accomplished! Go over that in your thoughts. We can return to it every Lord’s day morning when we see the emblems, we think of what God has done in Christ, and what He has accomplished; you go back really to the very beginnings of your spiritual history when you see the loaf and the cup, and then the Spirit takes you on, and we reach what we are able for. But it is interesting how God brings that up, and He brings it up continually to remind us that we really want nothing to do with Egypt. He has taken us out of the world, involving the sacrifice of Christ, the shedding of His blood. It says, “immediately there came out blood and water”, John 19: 34. This is something that God takes you back to, and then He would lead you forward.

Now I want to say something about 1 Chronicles 29, because not only does David become a contemplator, but he becomes a contributor. He wanted to build a house. It was a good desire, and could not have been improved upon in that sense, but he accepted the word of God, and said to all the congregation, “Solomon my son, the one whom God has chosen, is young and tender, and the work is great; for this palace is not to be for man, but for Jehovah Elohim”.

Notice this now—“And I have prepared according to all my power for the house of my God”. He was wholly in it, preparing with all his power. He was not only a contemplator, but that caused him to be devoted in the whole bent of his life. We might have expected that, but still what a stimulation it is if we can say, every one of us, “I have prepared according to all my power for the house of my God”, not just “God” but “my God”. Then he adds, “gold for things of gold, and silver for things of silver, and brass for things of brass, iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood”.

Just think for a moment of how well he had the truth thought out in his mind; he went in for the truth, he represents that kind of person; he had things sorted out accurately and orderly, “gold for things of gold”; so he began with the great matter of divine righteousness, that God had to be satisfied. Having been offended by man’s sin He had to be satisfied, and was satisfied in divine righteousness by the sacrifice of Christ. The Lord Jesus accomplished it. How affecting that is, and in type David got hold of that. Then “silver for things of silver”, well, how was it done? It would speak of redemption, and the way that God took through Christ. We were referring to what He purchased with the blood of His own. They were His, He bought them back; we were His, we belonged to God before time, “They were thine” (John 17: 6); then creationally we were His, then He redeemed us and the price was the blood of Christ. And “brass for things of brass” reminds us of the approach in the tabernacle. What is brazen speaks of judgment; how Christ bore the judgment of God, involving His sufferings. Everything that was required by God was met by Christ.

Then there are these other matters. Notice the stones, “onyx stones, and stones to be set”. The stones were intended to be for beautification. There are stones to be set like young persons coming along. They will be set; we thank God for that. We will encourage them, nurture them. Then he says, “glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and white marble in abundance” (1 Chronicles 29: 2). This is all to convey that God desires the temple, His house, to be adorned. We can look back in our short histories and take account of brothers and sisters who had a regard for the testimony. They have become our fathers and mothers spiritually. The idea of adornment was seen in them as to what they reached personally and brought into the assembly. Though the great part of them are with Christ, we trust that there will be continuance of that fine spiritual adornment. Let us consider, each one of us, this great matter of adorning the testimony.

Then he says, “And moreover, in my affection for the house of my God I have given of my own property of gold and silver, for the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the house of the sanctuary”. What he has given is set out. He knows the truth in order—gold for things of gold, silver for things of silver. Let us spend time to go into the truth and find it out for ourselves in conviction. God is a rewarder of those who seek Him out. Let us seek conviction as to all the features of the truth so that it becomes solid in our souls, solid like a rampart, like the epistle to the Romans. Think of the greatness of building inward, seeing what it means that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and that we lay our bodies on the altar, reaching something that is pleasurable to God and useful in the testimony. So the matter is open to every one of us as David says, “And who is willing to offer to Jehovah this day?”

In closing, I turn to 2 Chronicles 7: 1 where it says, “And when Solomon had ended praying, the fire came down from the heavens and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of Jehovah filled the house”. This is the great end that God has in mind; that He would take possession of everything in His house, take full possession. Paul, no doubt, had this in mind in Philippians 3: 12–14 so there would be a full result for God. When the glory of Jehovah filled the house, the priests could not enter. That would be God’s satisfaction; He was satisfied with all that was done. It speaks to our hearts and minds of all that was accomplished by Christ, and the Spirit’s service in forming the assembly and leading it to Christ. In a typical way it meant that everything that was done by Christ and Christ Himself was fully acceptable to God. Is that not something we love to think of? So much of the truth can be enjoyed in our spirits. Christ is fully acceptable to God. How beautiful that is! Then it was not only Solomon, but all the people saw it, and bowed themselves and worshipped; the assembly typically was drawn into it. Our hearts are bowed in the presence of God. They worshipped and thanked Jehovah. Then we

have that statement, no doubt included by the Spirit of God, but it may even be what they said, “For he is good, for his loving-kindness endureth for ever”. What a wonderful conclusion to come to from this matter of building inward.

May God help us to make the most of the times we enjoy together by learning to build inward. An objective is always a fine thing for a believer to have before him. Even in our ordinary affairs we need an objective. As we apply it to ourselves in relation to the truth, having an objective such as to be here for God, having been taken possession of already, we realise something of what Paul had before him, which he pursued (Philippians 3: 12). He enjoyed his objective, and yet there was more to enjoy. May the Lord bless the word and encourage us, as we give thanks for the time, the three days, and the love and care of the brethren, and all that enters into that, for His name’s sake. Amen.

Address at Denton
26 May 1997