REBUILDING THE WALL
REBUILDING THE WALL
CAC We should find it very helpful to think of the general principles set forth in the building of the wall; it has a special relation to our own time. We are living in a time when what is of God is broken down and there is an opportunity for all those who love God to come forward to build up that which has been broken down. The wall obviously suggests the thought of what is external.
Ques Has the building of the wall in view God’s dwelling-place?
CAC Yes. The book of Ezra gives us the altar and the building of the house. That is evidently internal. In contradistinction with that, the wall is external, for the protection and security of what is inside.
Having read Ezra we understand that what is in the mind of God is that we should approach and serve in His house acceptably to Himself. We can all see that that is inward and spiritual, but it requires to be safeguarded by outward conditions which are suitable to the protection and preservation of it.
None of the service in this chapter is by commandment, it is all a question of what is voluntary, what proceeds from the heart of each one. It is not here a service appointed to us by the Lord, but a service to which we appoint ourselves. It is on the line of what is said of the house of Stephanas in the last chapter of 1 Corinthians. Paul says of them that they “devoted themselves to the saints for service”. J.N.D. calls attention in the note to the fact that the word used is of an officer to a regiment. That is what the Lord likes — they [p. 252] appointed themselves. It is an official appointment, an appointment of love brought about by their own care for the welfare of the saints.
The fellowship means that all must work together. We set to work together on the same piece of work as the saints all over the world; a piece of work that is entirely in keeping with the mind of God. I believe that lack of fellowship is universally felt by Christians who have any love for the Lord. What God is doing is building the wall of Jerusalem, and we want to do what God is doing. In this chapter what they were doing was in perfect harmony with the mind of God. Nehemiah surveyed the ruin and then he spoke to the brethren so that they all moved to come forward to the work.
Ques Would the building and repairing necessarily involve separation?
CAC Yes, there is nothing much more separating than a wall. It sets up a distinct line of demarcation between what is inside and outside.
Ques What is the separation from and what to?
CAC I think it is the great principle set out in 1 Corinthians, where you find there are persons in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful thing that is! God does not contemplate any believer being outside that. The epistle is addressed “to the assembly of God which is in Corinth ... with all that in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ”. Think of companies of persons in every place calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; there is a conscious link with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. Is not that wonderful? That is the character of the fellowship. No one can call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and go on with what is contrary to Him; the thing is morally impossible. That is the real character of the fellowship — persons who are in absolute unity of thought, purpose and desire because all are calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what [p. 253] is so ruined today. There is no divine fellowship outside the footing of calling on the Lord out of a pure heart. The initial thought in Corinthians was all those who call on the name of the Lord Jesus, that was what constituted the fellowship when Paul wrote to the Corinthians. In the last days when departure has come in and the wall is entirely brought down, the Lord looks for persons who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Those are the people who constitute the fellowship. In principle it takes in all saints, but the majority of believers are uninterested, like the nobles of Tekoa, who put not their necks to the work of the Lord (verse 5). We do not want to be like that.
The apostle and Timothy and a few others in Corinth were working at the work of the Lord, and the apostle admonishes all to be at it. “Be firm, immovable, abounding always in the work of the Lord”. He stirred them all up to be builders. Every one of us can do something to further this great fellowship which is of God, and we can do something to hinder it too. In Nehemiah they were all doing something to help in it. What is of God must necessarily preserve from what is of man. The building is building up what is of God.
It appears that every trace of the fish-gate and sheep-gate had gone, but in other cases it is evident that all was not quite gone, but needed repairing.
The wall in the heavenly city is of jasper. That is like God, because God is seen in Revelation 4 and His glory has the character of jasper. What is of God goes into the wall and shuts out what is of man.
All our intercourse together either helps or hinders the fellowship. When two brothers or two sisters meet, they either help or hinder the fellowship by what they say. We should be able to say something to each other, for we are working on the biggest thing on earth. One wishes one had a deeper sense of the necessity of going on with the work of the Lord always. It is not a spasmodic thing, but a life work. If it is not that, what is it? Paul said of Timothy, “He works the work of the Lord, even as I”. It is open to each of us to work the work of the Lord. It is not a question of gift or special ability, but it is a question of whether we love it. The fellowship is the great thing; God has called us to the fellowship of His Son.
Ques What are the angles?
CAC Certain salient points in the wall that require special attention. It is a wonderful thing that all these different men and women so worked together that there was not any discrepancy at any point. You have to be ready for turns in the wall; that is very important. You have to move in keeping with the exercises of the brethren all the world over. There are no such things as local customs; they are altogether out of keeping with the fellowship. The apostle says, “We have no such custom, nor the assemblies of God”. Sometimes we have to make a change in our customs; the Lord gives more light as to things, and we have to learn to turn a corner. Sometimes people fall overboard at a corner. In the fellowship we have to learn to regard the exercises of the brethren all over the world, and regard the ministry the Lord has given in all parts of the world; it is all connected with the greatest thing on earth.
We must work on what is nearest to us; they built over against their own houses. The first thing a man wants is his house in fellowship. You do not expect to find ungodly people in the saints’ houses, or worldly books, or wireless sets. If your house is not in fellowship it is a poor thing. Every believer’s house should be a suitable place for the assembly to meet in; if our houses are not that, there is something wrong in them.
Pursuing on this line does not allow for special friends — certain ones found in your house and others never. Special friends and cliques with certain people are the ruin of the fellowship. The universal thought is that all the brethren are in your mind in the wonderful bond of the fellowship.
Ques What about the towers?
CAC There is something distinctive in that. There is [p. 255] the tower of the furnaces; I suppose that stands connected with the fellowship very distinctly and it reminds us that in the fellowship the Lord maintains His own rights in judgment. If we disregard His rights in love we may expect to come under His judgment.
At Corinth they ate the Lord’s supper carelessly, and there were many sick and dying among them. That was the direct judgment of the Lord, and He has not changed His mind about these things. That is in keeping with the tower of the furnaces. What is nearest to the Lord is what He is most particular about. The Lord may allow things to go on in the sects without taking any notice, but He comes down on us very hardly sometimes. The Lord maintains His right in judgment, and no one who loves Him would like Him to do anything else. All Christians love the thought of the judgment-seat of Christ, every Christian who has the character of a Christian loves that thought. Is there one here tonight who would not like to have the Lord’s judgment about every mistake he has made? I would. What greater proof is there of favour? The Lord tells us of things that happened fifty years ago sometimes. Paul spoke of things being made manifest to God. Often a saint passes before the Lord’s scrutiny before leaving this world; that is the normal thing. One often notices with dying saints that there is a time when they are not bright. They are standing, as it were, at the judgment-seat, and the Lord is saying things to them He does not say to anyone else. With the ungodly their judgment comes after death. If we walk in the fellowship we judge ourselves, and ask the Lord to give us His mind. It can be done in a very short time, for much goes through the mind in a few minutes. The judgment session is soon over, but it is very effectively done. The tower of the furnaces has a good deal to say to us. We are not to suffer sin on our brother; I am responsible not to let sin on a brother pass. We often see people going wrong and do not tell them of it. All this stands in relation to the fellowship. If I suffer sin on my brother I am a traitor to the [p. 256] fellowship. The Lord would not let things run on unsettled for weeks, months and years; that is destructive of christian building. It is pulling the wall down, not building it up. This all has to do with the tower of the furnaces. What is wrong is not allowed to pass, but is put in the crucible.