FAITH, AND THE HOUSE OF GOD
[p. 67] FAITH, AND THE HOUSE OF GOD
2 Timothy 1: 5; Psalm 92: 13, 14
It has pleased God to connect His gospel with His house, and the house of the believer is also connected with the gospel. The believer’s household was intended to contribute to the house of God. Timothy represents in a special way such contribution; he inherited the faith which dwelt in him. The faith that dwelt in him dwelt in his mother and in his grandmother. In these last days God is working in connection with believers’ households, He not only saves individuals, but also households. The household of Stephanas was said to be the firstfruits of Achaia; 1 Corinthians 16: 15. So God is gathering in the young members of households now. When Israel came out of Egypt it was said that not a hoof should be left behind; so today, God seeks that all the young of a believer’s household should be brought in. Timothy may be taken as an example of one brought into the house of God in connection with the faith of his parents. The faith of the parents will not in itself help the child; the child has to have faith for himself. So it is said here that faith dwelt in Timothy.
The house of God indeed came to light in connection with a young man who had faith. It is first spoken of in connection with Jacob, and what was said of him previously to that is that he obeyed his father and his mother; Genesis 28: 7. That was an evidence of faith; so as he made his way to Padan-aram God met him, indicating the regard that God has for subjection in the young to their parents. It is said, “Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise”, Ephesians 6:2. As a young man or a young woman has respect for the authority of the parents, God takes account of this. This subjection to parents is an evidence of faith,
[p. 68] and God comes in for such a young person and blesses him. His blessing is necessarily dependent on his having faith. It is said of Timothy that faith dwelt in him; 2 Timothy 1: 5. It is only through faith that we can come into the blessing of the gospel. The gospel is presented on the principle of faith to faith, and so a young person in a believer’s household may become a most valuable servant in the house of God. It is obvious, therefore, that parents should have the house of God in view for their children. Evidently Timothy’s mother had this in view for her son; he was as one planted in the house of the Lord. We might look at a passage or two in the book of Samuel, so that we may see how parents may act in faith in regard to their children with a view to the house of God.
1 Samuel 1: 21 - 23. We see how Hannah, who had asked for a son, would not take him and place him in the house of God until he was weaned; that is, she would set him in the house of God as weaned from the natural source of supply. There is sufficient supply in the house of God for one who is planted there. God dwells there; the Holy Spirit is there, and so the believer, as set in the house on the principle of faith, has everything there for his soul’s nourishment. Parents therefore must not mix the natural and the spiritual in regard to their children. The house of God excludes what is natural: it is the place of the activities of God’s Spirit, and there is no place in it for nature. So in the second chapter we read: “But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod”. A linen ephod denotes that which maintains sobriety in the house of God. A woollen garment excites the flesh; it produces natural heat. Linen produces typically sobriety. But it says, “Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice”. She took account of his growth; she would know every year the growth of the child. In due time the Lord spoke to Samuel.
The passages, we have had refer to the mother’s exercise: the third chapter of 1 Samuel brings in Samuel’s exercise consequent upon the word of the Lord to himself. How touching that the Lord should come and call a young man or a young woman! The Lord at this moment would speak to every young person here present. He came, and stood, and called Samuel by name: “Samuel, Samuel”. And so He would address every one here that knows Him not, whether old or young. It is said of Samuel before the Lord spoke to him that he did not yet know the Lord; 1 Samuel 3: 7. Is there anyone in this company who does not yet know the Lord? The Lord knows you; He knows your name, your circumstances, your soul history. Are you prepared to let Him speak to you now He spoke, to Saul of Tarsus out of heaven, saying, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks”, Acts 9 : 5. The Lord knows how hard your way is. It may be that your wife is a Christian, or your children may be Christians, and you have been refusing the light all these years. Let the Lord address you now; He has compassion on your soul; He knows how hard your way is, and He would have you come unto Him, so that you may find the needs of your soul met, that you might know the forgiveness of your sins through His blood, for redemption is in Him. It is said we are justified freely by God’s grace “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth a mercy-seat through faith in his blood ... that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus”, Romans 3:24 - 26.
To pursue the thought of the house, we may turn to a passage in Psalm 131. We see in this psalm how [p. 70] one who is weaned, like Samuel, behaves himself with God. His heart is not haughty; he is subdued in the presence of God now. Those who are thus subdued receive the Holy Spirit. It is said that the Holy Spirit is given to all those who obey Christ; Acts 5: 32. Has everyone in this company received the Holy Spirit? The most wonderful gift that God can give to a person is the Holy Spirit. He gave His Son for us in death, and He gives the Holy Spirit to us. The Holy Spirit in the believer brings the love of God into his heart, so that he has joy in the Holy Spirit, and one who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit is not haughty; he is not self-willed, he is subject to Christ and subject to his brethren. His heart is not haughty, nor his eyes lofty: neither does he exercise himself in regard to matters or things too high for him. He is content to move on humbly and lowlily; he is not aspiring to a great place in this world, and so he says, “I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother”. He has learned to do without the natural source of supply; he finds his joys now in the house of God, in spiritual things.
We learn in Luke 15 that there was music and dancing in the house, so it is said in Psalm 87, “As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee”. We find thus all the satisfaction of our heart’s desire in the house of God. So the father of the prodigal says, “Let us eat and be merry”. As subdued and free from the natural source of supply, we find everything in relation with God in His house. So it says, “My soul is even as a weaned child”, and this passage in Psalm 92 comes into evidence: “Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God”. What a place to be planted in, the house of God! Do we understand what the house of God is? It is composed of believers in [p. 71] Christ who have the Holy Spirit. It is not a building of stone and mortar; it is composed of living stones, believers who have the Holy Spirit. Are we, as believers, planted there? To be planted means that our roots are set in soil that nourishes us; so we are told as believers that we are to be rooted and grounded in love; Ephesians 3: 17. We have learned the love of God in the death of Christ, and we have learnt it in our own hearts by the Holy Spirit, and we learn it in the hearts of God’s people. So we are rooted in it, and we flourish in the courts, in the house of God.
This great position involves that we are not national or local in our spirits. The house of God is not a national thing: it is composed of all believers on the earth, so that, as rooted and grounded in love, we love all the saints, and so we flourish, it says, in the courts of our God. It is a much greater thing to flourish there than to flourish in this world. One may flourish as a politician, or as a commercial man, or in society. All such distinction passes away; but the glory that we have in the house of God remains, and further it says, “they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing”, Psalm 92: 14.
Such is Christianity; it provides for us right up to the end of our sojourn here, and as we pass out of this scene it is eternal glory with Christ. “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever”, Daniel 12: 3.
So that we are kept in the house of God in freshness here, and we shall live with Christ and shine with Christ for ever.
May God bless His word to each one of us.