UNITY
Romans 14:17; Nehemiah 1:1-7 (to ‘against thee’);
7:61-65; 8:1-3,6-10,13-17; 12:43
I seek help from the Lord to speak about how it is according to God’s purpose that saints may dwell together in unity. We see that expressed in Psalm 133, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (v.1); it is pleasing to God, joyous to God. How is it arrived at? It is arrived at morally. We have been hearing today about what is moral, the moral road, and we have been reminded recently in our area of the moral road that we are to take. What we read of here is the moral road spelt out in relation to the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the foundation of what is normal in the assembly. We see here that what is found characteristically in the kingdom of God is given in an ordered way. It does not say righteousness, peace, but “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”. It is maintained in the power of the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God is what is maintained down here in the power of the Spirit, according to the light of heaven. Its characteristics are the principles of righteousness first, and then peace, and then joy. They are in contrast to what is adverse; righteousness in contrast to lawlessness, peace in contrast to confusion, and joy in contrast to murmuring. So if there are, and sometimes there are, conditions in which unity is not evident, then we must face it, and go back upstream and say ‘What is the way of recovery?’. The way of recovery is through righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Where do we see the standard of righteousness? It is in the Lord Jesus. We have been engaged with Him – how thankful I was to come here and be confirmed as engaged with the Lord Jesus as the righteous One. He is distinguished by God as the righteous One, and peace is founded upon righteousness. If righteousness is not fulfilled there cannot be conditions of peace, and if there is no peace, there is no lasting joy, no true joy. But it is all maintained in the power of the Spirit. We see the standard of righteousness in the Lord Jesus and we see in the kingdom of God what is regulated by God. As a physical illustration, look up at the heavens. You need to go out of the cities of Aberdeen or Manchester on a dark, clear night, and look up, and you see the heavens. You see what was set there by God. It is a scene of peace because everything is ordered. Who put the stars there? Who put the planets there? God did, through Christ, of course, as the Creator. As He founded the earth, there was joy among the sons of God, they “shouted for joy” (Job 38:7). What God does is righteous, wonderfully right. What holds the stars there, what holds the planets? There are great forces. If you take a tennis ball, what happens if you let it go? Does it drift round the room? Does it stay where it is? It falls down. You may say, ‘That is obvious, it has always done that’. But what causes it? It is because it is attracted towards the centre of the earth. How attractive righteousness is, seen in the Lord Jesus; He loved righteousness, and hated lawlessness. The result of that is that God anointed Him with oil of gladness above His companions (Heb.1:9). What joy it was to the heart of God to see righteousness fulfilled in the person of His beloved Son. Righteousness is seen in Him.
What about peace? We read of the peace-offering (Lev.3) and of how the Lord Jesus has made peace. How was that made? It was made “by the blood of his cross”, Col.1:20. When there are not conditions of peace, when there is confusion, what is the answer to it? The answer to it is in the cross of Christ, where I have to see that my opinion, my thoughts, what I am naturally, are all gone. He was made sin, and that is gone, that is judged before God, so that the very basis of the peace-offering is the death of Christ. I have to see that I come to the end of my opinion and of my natural thoughts, my way of thinking about how the testimony should proceed. He is the peace-offering, and peace is founded upon righteousness.
As peace is known, there is joy known amongst the saints. How is true joy maintained? It is maintained by the Holy Spirit. We are to provide conditions whereby the Spirit is free. We have appreciated the time of enquiry together, where the Holy Spirit is free, but back in our localities, we are to provide conditions where the Holy Spirit is free. We have been reminded of the need for self-judgment. Sometimes failure comes in and where do I start? With self-judgment. That is why I read in Nehemiah, where we see that there was what was in ruins, what was disastrous. It draws attention to the fact that “the wall of Jerusalem is in ruins”. Now we know that that speaks very much of the breakdown of the church publicly. We can also apply it to where there is a breach in the wall, where there is a breach of fellowship. Where a breach has come in, it is shameful and it is potentially disastrous; the enemy can come in and spoil what is for God. We read later in this book of the chambers of the treasure-house (Neh.10.38), the result of what was recovered through the exercises of one man initially, who went to God, who spoke to God about the problem, about the disaster. Who does he speak to? He speaks to the God of the heavens. How stable the heavens are. There is a God of the heavens and as we look at the way God is working, He does everything righteously. There is what is stable there. We speak to Him, we find His mind, His direction. But firstly I have to judge myself. As our brother has been reminding us, the most difficult person to judge is myself, what I think of myself. Perhaps I might only smite the ground three times, but it is five or six times that is needed (2 Kings 13:18,19), and that is like Nehemiah. What does he say? He speaks of confessing the sins of the children of Israel, “which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very perversely against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances that thou commandedst thy servant Moses”. He took it upon himself. Do we feel as God feels, do we feel the disaster that comes in through a breach of fellowship? Do I say, ‘As an older brother, I should have been a right influence’? I have to take it upon myself.
Then in chapter 2, verse 18, we read of how Nehemiah found others similarly exercised, similarly feeling matters in relation to the ruin. And what happens? Firstly, God puts in Nehemiah’s heart what he could do for Jerusalem. Are you committed to the assembly? Are you committed to the wellbeing of what is for the heart of Christ in your local assembly, in your local place? You may say, ‘Conditions are bad’. But you can make it better by one, and God will put it in your heart to do something about it as you face that in yourself, then you find that there are others similarly exercised. And so this revival, beginning with Nehemiah himself, grows in strength; it expands. The revival that we often speak about began nearly two hundred years ago in the souls of those who were exercised and moved by the Holy Spirit. It was a wonderful movement set on by the Holy Spirit. It is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and in any revival we find that we have resource in the Holy Spirit. He is the power for the working out and the demonstration and the experience of the kingdom of God down here.
In chapter 7, it comes closer home to our households. Every household was tested about whether they could be found in the genealogical register. What does that mean? Some said, ‘We are descended from Barzillai’. He was a good man, he supplied in great abundance what was needed in the escape of David, and so this family thought, ‘We are descended from Barzillai, we are all right’. But the test was their genealogy. It is a righteous obligation on every believer seeking fellowship to look back to see whether the ground on which he or she meets is on right moral foundations. The Lord has directed the saints step by step in the testimony, and sometimes it has involved conflict. We do not like conflict, but sometimes it is conflict for the truth, the defence of the testimony, the defence of what is due to the Lord Jesus. And in doing that, we are to remember our leaders; Hebrews 13 says, “Remember your leaders” (v.7). We have been speaking of our brother who was local here; that is for you in Aberdeen, and we think in Manchester of those who have led us there. But then we can go further back to those who have spoken the word of God, and we are to remember the issue of their conversation, and to imitate their faith. How much we owe to these men who have gone before, who have ministered the truth to us; it cost them much, and they needed faith to go on, and the Lord helped them.
It helps to understand what may be happening currently by seeing what has happened in the history of the assembly. Read the book on the ‘Recovery and Maintenance of the Truth’. You may think it is a little difficult to begin with but start reading it; ask somebody who has read it and you will find help. Pray about it and use it to see what happened at different times in the testimony. That would be proving your genealogy. But then a matter might come up where something might need to be resolved, and how is it resolved? It is resolved in verse 65, “that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up the priest with Urim and Thummim”. That is the high priest. The Urim and the Thummim were put into the breastplate of judgment and the scripture speaks of it being upon the heart of Aaron (Exod.28:30). Think of how the breastplate of judgment is upon the heart of the Lord Jesus; it is according to His affections and He maintains judgment before God continually. So we can turn to Him about anything; there is nothing that cannot be resolved. Just turn to Him and you will find the answer – the certain, clear answer is upon His heart.
In chapter 8, what we see is further progress. All the people came together “as one man”. Oh, that we might come together as one man, to seek the Lord’s mind in present matters, that we might hear the Spirit’s voice and be moved as one man! It requires manliness to go over these things, but the men and the women were there together and their desire and their affections come out in their urgency to look into the word and hear the law. Where was it done? It was in the “open place that was before the water-gate”. That represents our making room for the Holy Spirit; righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Make room for the Holy Spirit! It was in the open place; there was no obstruction. The will of man was put to one side and it was simply the voice of God in clarity, so that their understandings were opened. It says they “caused the people to understand the law; and the people stood in their place”; they answered to it. What was their answer? First there was one ‘amen’, and then there was another ‘amen’ – it is wonderful to hear the ‘amens’ of the saints as they are carried by what is voiced of God. This was a wonderful thing, and it caused the joy of Jehovah to be brought out. Their weeping was turned to joy; it says “For all the people wept”. Think of how God was looking upon those tears. We were reminded recently about the tears that God treasures in His bottle (Ps.56:8); there were the tears of Nehemiah, there were the tears of the people here, but they were quickly turned to joy. There was a going over of the ground, going over the problem, going over the difficulty, but there was repentance and finding the resolution upon the heart of the high priest, so that their grief was turned to joy; “for the joy of Jehovah is your strength”. It is the joy of God; He would have us enter into His joy. The young man in Luke 15 came back in repentance, but it was a wonderful surprise to him that he was received with joy; that was immediate. God would bring us into joy, dear brethren, as we face our responsibilities individually, in our households and collectively. God would bring us into His joy and into His strength, that His strength might become our strength. We might feel utterly weak, utterly ashamed, and have to hang our heads in shame at our own failure, but as we strengthen ourselves in God, we find that the joy of Jehovah is our strength.
Then we see that there was still further progress. We have often been reminded in ministry that verses 13 to 17 were like a three day meeting to enquire into the Scriptures, and fresh light came out. You might say, ‘It was in the law already, it had already been known’, but they enquired. It says that “they found written in the law which Jehovah had commanded through Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month”. They found it – it was like a fresh beam of light to the people, as if they had never appreciated it before. You come away from meetings like this and you might say ‘I have never understood it that way before’. But rather than forgetting all about it, what happens is that the result of it is proclaimed in all the cities. When we go back to our places, what happens is that there is fruit and activity in love, the brethren working together in love, working together in harmony, dwelling together. As we have often been reminded, that is Ephesian territory.
So we begin with Romans, we begin with the kingdom of God and we tread this moral road, but soon, as you go through the epistle to the Colossians and experience the reality of the epistle to the Ephesians, you find with the Holy Spirit’s help that there are conditions of restfulness, conditions of joy, conditions of holy activity. They went up to the mountain and fetched olive branches; that was activity in urgency. We have been reading about how Achsah urged her father to give her the field (Josh 15:19) and about how the Father interrupted Peter to speak well of His beloved Son (Matt.17:5). This activity here was promoted by the reading and the finding in the law what was proper to the joy of Israel. So they went and fetched “olive-branches, and wild olive-branches, and myrtle-branches, and palm-branches, and branches of thick trees”. What variety there was, what appreciation of the supply of the Spirit, what life, what liberty, what victory. What variety there is in the saints! There are many hundreds of brethren here today and it is a privilege to be among them. What variety there is in the hearts of the saints, set in holy activity together, dwelling in heavenly conditions together in the appreciation of Christ.
I read from the Song of Songs because there we see what is joyous and what is normal. We have read in Nehemiah of what was abnormal and how it was met righteously, how it was met by going on that moral road. In the Song of Songs, we see represented what is normal in the assembly, and what will be seen by the remnant of Israel. But it is our privilege in our day to be here in the light of the assembly, and to cater for what is for the heart of Christ, for His joy. The word joy is not mentioned here, but it is very evident that it is a very joyous scene. You see here the joy of the bridegroom and the joy of the lover of the bridegroom, and what she brings and what she provides. The wall is complete in verse 12 but that is not an end in itself – it is enclosed for Him. It protects what is precious, it protects and conserves the fragrance that is in the hearts of the saints and it is a place where the “well of living waters” is known. I love this phrase, “Which stream from Lebanon”. Think of what streams from Lebanon! What does that speak of? The Lord Jesus, the Man in the glory. These streams from Lebanon, coming to us by the Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with Christ. We gaze in our hearts on Christ. Oh, what liberty, what joy comes as we make way together for the Holy Spirit!
Then we read of the north wind and the south wind. We have been reminded recently that the north wind would be discipline, discipline allowed of the Lord Jesus. Job 37 says “From the north cometh gold” (v.22). That is like chapters 11 and 12 of John’s gospel. The Lord Jesus allowed the north wind to come to that family at Bethany, allowed death to come in, allowed those conditions where tears were known. Those dear lovers of the Lord Jesus experienced Him weeping with them. He knew the answer, but He wept with them, for they were in His affections, and He was feeling in His spirit for them in their sorrow. But their grief was turned to joy as they saw the glory of God. What a wonderful thing! The result of it in John chapter 12 was the outpouring of the ointment upon the feet of Jesus by one who had gained from the north wind, and who had treasured in her heart that which was so precious to Him. That little company in Bethany was precious to the Lord Jesus. He was invited there. We read, “Let my beloved come into his garden”; think of how the Lord Jesus was invited. It is not like Laodicea, where He had to keep knocking and He was on the outside. This is in contrast to that, it is where the Lord is loved. There is what is for Him and what is like Him, what is of Him, and what caters for His own heart. It says – what wonderful grace and wonderful affection – “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk”. These ingredients were what she had gathered in her affection. Our affection for Christ is for His heart. “My honeycomb”; that is the saints working together in love and in enjoyment of the truth together, in enjoyment of our heavenly portion and in enjoyment of Christ. It is a joy to His heart. The result of that is that He says, “Eat, O friends”. Friends are proven persons, quality persons, persons who have acted in scenes of adversity, scenes in which they have proved themselves faithful to Him. He says “Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, beloved ones!”.
What abundance there is under the hand of Christ. He is Head of the assembly (Col.1:18), and we know the variety of the fruits; it says “with all trees of frankincense”. What variety there is in all the saints – it needs all the saints to know the love of the Christ in its breadth and length and depth and height (Eph.3:18). What a privilege it is to be here in this large company; yet it is only a very small fragment of what is found in the assembly. What abundance there is under the hand of Christ which will come out in the day of display. May each of us be exercised, may we be searched that we might fulfil our responsibilities in our own localities so that there might be resultant joy, joy through unity amongst the saints, and as a result, joy for the heart of Christ, for His name’s sake.
Address at Aberdeen, Scotland
5 August 2016
J.B. Ikin