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APPRECIATION OF CHRIST

Jim Gray

I do not want to speak in detail about the kings but, as will have been noticed, there is a phrase which came into each of the passages, that is they either "did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done" - that is Hezekiah and Josiah - or this other king Ahaz who "did not what was right in the sight of Jehovah, like David his father". God took pleasure in persons who were "like David his father". What was it in David that God delighted in? Both these kings, Hezekiah and Josiah, celebrate the passover, make way for the recovery of the service of God, and, indeed, Josiah's passover exceeds many that had gone before. One phrase comes into 2 Chronicles 35 in the celebration of his passover, that is, "Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built", v 3. I think that is what David appreciated and what God appreciated in David. It was the place he had in his heart for the ark. I think that is what God and the Lord Jesus appreciate at the present time, the place we have in our hearts for Him. David says in Psalm 132, "I will not give sleep to mine eyes, slumber to mine eyelids" until he finds a resting place for the ark. He said, "Behold, we heard of it at Ephratah, we found it in the fields of the wood".

The ark was despised for a long time in the reign of Saul, and David found it in the house of Abinadab. Christ in type not appreciated for a long time, and then appreciated by David, leads to the recovery of the service of God. The order of the service of God makes way for the exaltation of Christ in our affections. The whole saga that is presented in the Kings and the Chronicles after David and after Solomon is one of oscillation. You get bright spots when kings did what was right in the sight of Jehovah according to all that David their father had done. It seems to me that if we are going to be preserved and kept in the testimony, it must be on the basis of appreciation of Christ. The history of the church is one of oscillation. I am sure recovery has been brought about by appreciation of Christ. The public side is gone; the public recognition of things has gone. The candlestick has been removed, that is Ephesus, as we have been taught. Philadelphia is not the candlestick. Philadelphia is appreciation of Christ. That is what keeps things vital. If we are going to be preserved in vitality until the Lord comes, it must be in appreciation of Himself. It must work out in all our lives. That is what these two kings, Hezekiah and Josiah, worked out in their lives. When we come to know the Lord as our Saviour, we give Him a place in our heart. What you find is that a place in your heart means a place in your life. He is worthy of the chief place. We can always begin to accord Him that. The great test is whether we are preserved in it. Every vicissitude of life, every decade of life, childhood, teenage, twenties, thirties, and so on, each has its own tests, and what comes up in these chapters is whether we are maintained in our affection for the Lord Jesus Christ. As we were reminded in a word in this room two or three weeks ago, "To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood", Rev 1: 5, that is the One who is to have the chief place in our life. It is good to remember that, “to him who loves us", presently loves us, "and has washed us from our sins in his blood". He is the One who is the delight of heaven, as the scripture says: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight", Matt 3: 17.

So Hezekiah and Josiah found their delight in Christ, like David their father. There have been men that have gone before us in this city and other cities in the history of the testimony, who had Christ in their hearts through the whole of their lives. He came into every walk of their lives. It says here, "walked in the ways of David his father". It is the steps of Jesus. Peter speaks of Him as "a model that ye should follow in his steps", 1 Pet 2: 21. There is help to walk in those steps by the Spirit. Think of the resource of heaven at the present time! It has been put into the dispensation in which we are, persons strengthened by the Spirit, led by the Spirit: "for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God", Rom 8: 14. It is not that we are left to our own devices, to seek to plod a way through our natural resources, but it is as committed to the Lord Jesus and making room for Him in our hearts, that the Spirit would help us. The Spirit of God helps us to walk so as to please God so that there are persons in this scene in whom heaven has delight. The psalmist says, "To the saints that are on the earth, and to the excellent ... In them is all my delight", Ps 16: 3. Heaven has delight in Christ and also delight in the saints. These thoughts were in my heart and mind to bring before the saints as to the appreciation of Christ, in view of being preserved in vitality so that the service of God does not become a liturgy. No matter how well taught we are, it remains vital to us and a spiritual experience, something that is pleasing to heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ must continually be appreciated by us. Well, may the Lord help us for His Name's sake!

EDINBURGH

6 March 1995

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