2 CHRONICLES 29 (NOTES OF A READING)
2 CHRONICLES 29 (NOTES OF A READING)
Ques Would you help us as to the covenant in verse 10?
CAC Is it not that we come to the point of seeing that certain things are not only right and desirable, but that we must be definitely committed to them, which has a voice for us surely today?
Rem It was in his heart and the right place.
CAC Many believers are prepared to assent to truth that may be brought before them, without being prepared for definite committal to it in a practical way. I was thinking of the word “hallow” and “hallowed” (verses 5, 17), which seems to be a prominent word in this chapter; that is, an impression of holiness was upon the heart of Hezekiah, and it came on the hearts of others too. It is the most essential word for us to consider, for it seems to me that as the presence of the Spirit was lost sight of practically the thought of holiness essentially went.
Ques Would you not say that in the exercise of approach to God and taking up His service the first thing to be recognised is holiness, and any touching these things must be marked by that themselves? “Filthiness” is a strong word but it is so in connection with the house of God.
CAC And that is exterminated by the holiness that becomes the house. I think that Hezekiah had probably got an impression from the prophet Isaiah. A great impression made on the prophet’s soul was holiness; the impression in Isaiah 6 is “Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts”. It would almost seem as if he had passed on the thought to Hezekiah who would have the thought of the house being hallowed.
Rem With the Levites (verse 11) the great objective would be ministering to Him.
Rem There should be no toleration of looseness with us.
CAC The main exercise among the people of God during the last century was holiness, revived by a great sense of the presence of the Spirit of God, because He is the Holy Spirit; and, of course, the presence here of the Spirit of God carries with it some thought of the house of God.
Ques Would the house date from Pentecost, when the Spirit came down?
CAC Yes, but then all true thought of the house of God was lost with the losing of the thought of the Spirit as a present divine Person. It lay at the root of all the departure. Well-intentioned men fell back on the outward order of bishops, deacons and other features, and the thought of God dwelling here Spirit-wise was lost. But then God has given it back; it is recovered, and along with it the thought that God has a dwelling here, and holiness is here; and we are all, I trust, definitely committed to it. So this chapter covers the exercises of the last century.
Ques I wonder whether we are all clear as to what holiness is?
CAC It has often been said that righteousness maintains the judgment of evil, but holiness maintains the inward abhorrence of it, and is not that right in principle?
Rem The thought of holiness really hangs on the presence of the Holy Spirit.
CAC And that involves the house, but the house viewed as what has to be preserved through the exercises of the saints, so there is the hallowing of the house and the removal of filthiness and uncleanness, and in speaking of the house, what is not of God is unclean and filthiness. God dwelling here raises at once the question of what is suitable to God, otherwise we might choose to have things that are most according to our liking. If God is dwelling here and the saints are the house, the thought of holiness is intensified, and a thousand things people consider not harmful are filthy as measured by the Spirit of God. It is most essential that this thought of holiness should be preserved if this service is to go on in a way that is delightful to God. If anything intrudes into the service which is not of God, it is unclean. A vast number of things have come in in that way, and they have to be carried out and that has been going on the last hundred years, because God revived the thought of the Spirit, and it makes the body and the house a great reality for any soul realising it by faith. You could not possibly go on with a sect after that. It is an attempt to set up religiously the man who is entirely rejected by God.
Rem It condemns what our fathers went on with (verse 6).
CAC And it is recognised now that what is proper to the house has been destroyed; the doors shut, the lamps out and no offerings of sweet savour. There is no gospel, no spiritual ministry, and the result is there is no spiritual answer to God according to the dispensation. It is a dreadful state of things, but it is a fact in the religious world. God has revived the fact of the presence of the Spirit, and I believe any soul who has some sense of the Holy Spirit has some sense of the body and the house.
Ques Why do you stress the body?
CAC Simply because it is involved in the presence of the Spirit. “In the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body” (1 Corinthians 12: 13). In giving any thought to the Spirit no one could think He dwells in him alone, for He dwells in all the saints — that is the body, the worshipping company.
Rem It is striking that it says twice in verse 24, “for all Israel”.
CAC Is that not very attractive? When he comes to the sin-offering and burnt-offering, he says, “all Israel”. So we need to cultivate that sense of things. And does that not remind us that holiness is a matter of affection?
Rem So the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.
CAC So the working out of holiness is by love. That it is by faith is a terrible delusion, it is by love. So whatever is inconsistent with holiness is inconsistent with love; it is two parts of the divine nature. So we speak of ‘holy love’. If uncleanness is dispensed with there is nothing left but love. Is that not a wonderful conception? Fancy a company permeated by love. God is there, holiness is there. So that the house is not merely a shell; in christendom it is a shell, but it is full of something! We are too doctrinal. Why are we in separation from a thousand things? Many will tell you, ‘We have seen in Scripture they are wrong’. Well, that will not cleanse the house. We know a doctrine that it is a service of sons, but we can only take up service in the power of the Spirit. The thing is taken up by the Spirit of God’s Son in our hearts, and it is taken up in reality — it is in our hearts — God is there.
The hallowing is a progressive thing. It takes sixteen days here (verse 17). It could not be said to be complete in any of us, nor assembly-wise. It is a process that has been going on for over a hundred years.
Ques These are remnant conditions, so you would not get the complete thought?
CAC If you retired altogether into the region of the Spirit, would not you find it there?
Rem That is an individual.
CAC Well, would not twenty such individuals make a company?
Rem That would not be the whole.
CAC It is the assembly in principle, is it not? We want to be really set for the working out of this in an experimental way. In this chapter something is being carried on that is right, and can any of us be content without the service of God being such as He desires? There is not a meeting on the face of the earth where there is not need for a great deal more hallowing. Are we really committed to the working out of what is pleasing to God?
Ques What does verse 11 mean?
CAC It suggests that everything is worked out on the line of divine sovereignty as in John’s gospel. And that encourages you; God has chosen you; do not be negligent in the service (verse 11). Why has God separated us from much in christendom? I think I could say I am more conscious of my shortcomings than I ever was, but I do not want to give up the thoughts of God, of His house and His service, for all my weakness. Doors are primarily for going out, but we have often been told that the way we go out is the way for God to come in. Ministry and the gifts of the Spirit are given sovereignly (Ephesians 4).
Ques What about the gospel?
CAC We find the gospel was not known practically before the recognition of the Spirit. J.N.D. said he never heard it until he preached it. ‘Paul’s gospel, do you preach it?’ was a little book once distributed. And you must have Paul’s gospel to see the wonderful character of God’s coming out to man; it must be according to His own heart. Then there is the building up leading to the service of praise. It is all new to christendom.
Ques Is what you get in verse 15 a suggestion of the movement of the last century?
CAC Yes it is; and the Lord has helped us and is helping us all the time to see what is suitable to God, and that everything not suitable is unclean.
Rem There are many names brought in here.
CAC Does it not remind us that the Spirit of God uses vessels? He does not act apart from certain human beings. It is good to recognise the vessels God is using at any given time.
Rem There should be the ability to recognise the sovereign choice of God.
CAC We ought to know the names of brethren the Lord is using. There are one hundred and sixty names of men given in the New Testament. So there is a divine principle in making known the name of a brother that is going to preach.
Rem In Acts 1: 15 it says, “the crowd of names”.
CAC There is an idea that mentioning names is making too much of man. If God has made something of Paul, am I not to make anything of Paul? The thing is to recognise what is of God, not what is of man. You value a brother or sister for what is of God there, and especially if you come to something distinctive in levitical service. And every one of the Levites should be set for the cleansing of the house, and all serving on the line of developing love in the saints, so that God can have a house where He can be comfortable and be praised. It is good for any Levite to start out with the knowledge that his name is written in heaven. He will not be inflated then, because it is what is for God that is in his mind. My place with God as a son is infinitely greater than anything I can be as a servant. What Paul was as a son was greater than what he was as an apostle.
Rem It throws us back on the sovereignty of God.
CAC That was what I was thinking. So a real basis is laid for the service to be carried on in the most acceptable manner.
Ques Why is it “the brook Kidron” (verse 16)?
CAC It is very suggestive that in John’s gospel the Lord goes over it on the way to the garden (chapter 18: 1); that will give you a clue. Certainly all the rubbish will be washed away if you get it down there for it is where everything unsuitable to God is washed into oblivion.
Rem “He went out”, it says, it was done deliberately, to meet those moral questions, where He had to say, “Thou art holy” (Psalm 22: 3).
CAC When this has been brought about, the saints can take up intelligently what is of Christ. Both the sin-offering and the burnt-offering are taken up collectively as the service of the house.