1 CHRONICLES 4 (NOTES OF A READING)
1 CHRONICLES 4 (NOTES OF A READING)
1 Chronicles 4:21-23; 1 Chronicles 4:38-43
CAC We were considering last week that, the Spirit of God having introduced David, who is typical of Christ, we get in chapter 4 certain features marking the saints as indicating the line on which things are maintained on the side of the people of God. The first great principle is Jabez, the thought of prayer, and then the next special feature called attention to is the thought of craftsmen. “The father of the valley of craftsmen; for they were craftsmen”. This introduces the thought of skilful labour, which, I suppose, is very essential. We should not be edified by prayer alone. I thought there was a moral order in the exercises suggested.
The first thing is that the Spirit of God would lead us to be enriched and enlarged in our own portion in Christ, and then the thought of being serviceable in connection with the work of the Lord. “Craftsmen” means skilful labour in connection with the work of the Lord.
It is an early exercise; you see it in Saul of Tarsus; “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22: 10). The work of the Lord is the most highly skilled work in the world.
Rem So you get it in Judah, the royal tribe.
CAC I have wondered if it is not an exercise we all need to take up — to be skilful to serve the Lord.
Rem The craftsmen are in the valley. Does that suggest the lowly character marking them?
CAC That is very helpful. Paul puts it into words; “Serving the Lord with all lowliness, and tears, and temptations, which happened to me through the plots of the Jews” (Acts 20: 19). We need to take the service up. In the christian profession it has become official, a college education, but that is too poor. We must have an education and qualifications of far superior quality to that.
Ques Would the qualification be affection for the Lord?
CAC I suppose every brother or sister who prayed would be qualified for any service the Lord would have us take up. I see many christians who ‘do their best’.
Ques Would the gospel bring such to light? Romans 16 gives Priscilla and Aquila “my fellow-workmen in Christ Jesus”, and Andronicus and Junias “my fellow-captives”, and Urbanus “our fellow-workman in Christ”. Would they be workmen?
CAC That is very good, and they were all skilled craftsmen, not amateurs. And it is everyone, we are all to fit in. It means great subjective exercise and there would be enquiry as to what the Lord would have us do in His work. And we want to be skilled like Aholiab and Bezaleel, who were highly skilled workers for the tabernacle.
Rem Men and women were all employed in the work of the tabernacle.
CAC It is an important exercise for us, and if we serve in the power of the anointing we do it in excellent quality; in the power of the anointing it cannot be improved upon. An old brother said that his encouragement was that no brother could preach like him. He had the sense that if any of us is qualified to render a divine service no one can fulfil it but ourselves. There is no thought of imperfection in the work of the Lord, whether gifts in the assembly in Corinthians or Ephesians. It all works from the top and is perfect in character. We want a very high standard before us of what the work of the Lord denotes in skill and perfection.
Rem “And to each one his work” (Mark 13: 34).
CAC And He would not give anything a man could not do. The Lord does not expect us to do another’s work.
Rem Sometimes it is work for the Lord and not the work of the Lord. “Abounding always in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15: 58 ).
CAC Yes.
Rem A zeal for God, not of God; a similar thing in Romans 10: 2.
CAC Yes. We need the work of the Lord to be carried on in the way of instruction of the different parts, so that the whole body of saints becomes an intelligent company.
Rem “Building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 20).
CAC And the work of the Lord is carried on mediately now; He puts it into the hand of the saints. It is no use to say, ‘Well, I am not qualified’, we must find out what our qualification is.
Rem “To each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ” (Ephesians 4: 7). There is responsibility, as you have reminded us before.
CAC It is stimulating and encouraging to take account of that; we all want to be active labourers in the work of God.
Rem There were some set over the service of song (chapter 6: 31) by David.
CAC It all culminates in the service of praise.
Rem It seems to begin with it in the prison at Philippi.
CAC I thought we might consider briefly the byssus workers, for there are thoughts dropped in by the Spirit of God — intentionally put there by the Spirit of God.
Rem It would be fine work.
Ques Does it compare with “the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints”? (Revelation 19: 8).
CAC The saints are to be invested with features of Christ. I think that Epaphras was one of the byssus workers. He laboured fervently that they might “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Colossians 4: 12).
Rem It is the working out in the saints here, not a question of ministry.
CAC Yes, I thought so. In Philippians 1: 9 it is, “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in full knowledge and all intelligence, that ye may judge of and approve the things that are more excellent, in order that ye may be pure and without offence for Christ’s day, being complete as regards the fruit of righteousness, which is by Jesus Christ, to God’s glory and praise”.
Christianity is not a negative thing, not merely that Christians do not do things, but they are invested with all that is positively good and right. I think that is the thought of the byssus throughout Scripture. They put on the new man which we have all done. All saints are regarded as having put off the old man and having put on the new man which is “renewed into full knowledge according to the image of him that has created him” (Colossians 3: 10). If not, then we are not in the Christian position at all! Now we are to have exercise to put on these beautiful features which correspond to the features of Christ; for instance, it comes out in such words as these: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another” (Colossians 3: 12, 13). “And to all these add love, which is the bond of perfectness” (verse 14). All this seems to correspond to the byssus. If we have put on the new man we cannot possibly be comfortable to allow the contrary; that becomes instinctive. So the Christian’s heart condemns him if he allows anything contrary to the new man.
Rem You say we have all put on the new man. Will you explain when and where?
CAC Well, Scripture does not precisely say when it is done. We want to understand, for it is what we want to get, all of us. Scripture always assumes it. We have it both in Ephesians and Colossians spoken of as a thing that is done.
Rem And that we have done it — a moment arrived at.
CAC Well, I do not know when you did it!
Rem There are young ones here and we want to be clear.
Rem It is the normal progress of the Christian.
CAC There is a moment in our exercises when we see the true character of the old man. The old man is not an individual but a collective thought; it requires all the children of Adam to make up the thought of the old man. There comes a time in our history when we see the true character of the old man with feelings of repulsion, and we come to the conclusion that the old man ought to be rejected by God, and if so, I come to that conclusion. Colossians is practical, not practice. J.B.S. has likened it to a man going to work. The first thing he does is he takes his coat off. That is not practice, but he means to work!
In the history of our souls we come to see the true character of the old man; all his features are taken from Satan. Have I any desire to go on with what takes character from Satan? But I see another thing, there is a new man. It takes all the saints to make up the new man, and all the features are of God and derived from Christ. Well,
any christian says: I am delighted with that, and then comes in the practice, and I must not let anything contrary come into evidence. If we have not come to it we should make haste and do so. Am I going on with what is of God or what is of the devil? “And your having put on the new man, which according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Well, that is what I am after. I fail and am inconsistent, but that is what I am after. Will that help the young ones?
Rem It will help me anyway!
CAC Think of the issue that is in view, that we come unto that full-grown man, and everything is measured by Christ. “At the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ” (Ephesians 4: 13). And we are going that way, and all the gifts are for that.
When we are baptised we put on Christ, baptism is the starting out. It is done in the power of the work of God in the soul, leading us to judge what is of the devil and be attracted by what is of God seen perfectly in Christ. If I look at Christ, if I see any characteristic of Christ, I am entitled to say: That is my life.
Rem And it is not attainment but what is true of us.
CAC These are the ABCs of christianity, what is normal; and all connected with the thought of byssus-workers. How much instruction lies in one verse!
We are apt to get the blemishes of persons before us, but if I could follow that brother or sister into their chamber what would they be praying for? I see a lot of failures but you want to follow the saints into their chambers. You might find the poorest sort of saint perhaps going through a struggle to get rid of hindrances. It is going on universally in the saints. Sometimes it is a long time before you see it, but it is going on all the time. If I look in my own heart, well, He is giving just the same kind of exercise to every brother and sister. It is most important, this putting off and putting on, and all true exercise starts from there. Now I have come to the refusal of the flesh, and it means every day and all day long I refuse the features of the flesh. And what a happy day it is if I can put on some feature of Christ.
Rem Then the potters are mentioned.
CAC When you come on to this, what need there is for the formation of vessels. If all these beautiful things are true, I want to be a vessel for them. I may have knowledge of the Scriptures and gifts, but something more is wanted, i.e. spiritual formation. The potters are for this.