CONSTRUCTION

^[p. 459] CONSTRUCTION

Haggai 2:5; Zechariah 1:20 - 21; Zechariah 4:6 - 10

There is one word that is specially on my mind, and that is construction; not reconstruction, but construction, in the sense of building up here what is of God and for God. I have read these scriptures not only because of what they say as to this, but also because, incidentally, what is said appears in the writings of prophets who were themselves constructors, men who not only conveyed the mind of God to the people, thus arousing their consciences, but who also laboured with their hands in the work of the building of the house of God. I have for this latter reason the more encouragement to read from these prophets, and I would further remark, dear brethren, that it is of special importance that we should take account of the prophets, because I apprehend that they represent in their testimony, among other things, the patience of God; He rose up early, as it is said, to send them, thus evidencing His longsuffering.

Now, lest it should be assumed that the Old Testament has no direct reference to us, it is well to bear in mind the statements of the New Testament, especially the one made by Peter, “to whom it was revealed, that not to themselves but to you they ministered those things, which have now been announced to you by those who have declared to you the glad tidings by [the] Holy Spirit, sent from heaven”, 1 Peter 1:12. The things that the prophets ministered were not ministered to themselves, nor even specially to their own generation, although each of them served, as is said of David, his own generation by the will of God, but it is formally stated that the things they ministered, they ministered not to themselves, but unto us, for they spake of the things that are now

“^[p. 460] announced ... by [the] Holy Spirit, sent from heaven”, 1 Peter 1:12. That scripture helps greatly in the understanding and bearing of the prophetic writings, so that the Christian can take account of them as his own heritage among the others, being, as it is said, “divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good work”, 2 Timothy 3:16 - 17. Thus beyond a doubt the Old Testament is established as having direct authority over the conscience and over the heart of the Christian.

In referring to Haggai and to Zechariah, one is encouraged in that way as seeing the bearing of these scriptures directly towards ourselves; supporting, I need not add, and confirming that which we find in the New Testament. The epistles directly addressed to Christians are amplified I believe in these Old Testament prophets. In turning to Haggai, a prophet evidently used of God to stir up the consciences of the people, in order that they might resume the work they had allowed to lapse, one is greatly interested in this remark, “The word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, and my Spirit, remain among you” The word remained, and also the Spirit remained. It is quite simple to make application of this to ourselves now, and I dwell upon it in order to make room for what I have to say in regard of construction.

God remains towards us what He was at the beginning; there is no change. Let us be assured of that. The apostles have gone, and leaders who have spoken unto us the word of God have gone, but there is no change in regard of the terms on which God is with us. The word which He covenanted with the people when He took them out of Egypt remained among them, and so also, alongside of that, He says, “my Spirit remaineth”. What wonderful assets!

^[p. 461] what incentives to activity according to God! what potential resources! firstly, in that which God was to them, and secondly, in the power of the Spirit of God who remained with them.

Many of us will be aware that there were two covenants made with Israel after they came out of the land of Egypt. The first was made at Sinai, or Horeb, and I may remark here that there is a distinction to be made in regard of the two mounts. The second covenant was made in the plains of Moab, forty years later, as you will find in Deuteronomy 29:1. I do not know which is referred to here, but I suppose the reference is general; it is not the demand of the law that is in view here, although I am not ignoring the fact that everything must be fulfilled, but, beloved friends, it is what lay behind the thought of the covenant, namely, God’s love. Compare Deuteronomy 33:3. This is included in what I do not doubt is alluded to here, that is, that what God was to them when He took them out of Egypt centuries before remained, and the power amongst them which corresponded with the Spirit remained also. Now, as I have said, the application of that to us is very obvious and I wish to bring it before you so that we may be assured as to the conditions under which we find ourselves, that there is no change as to the blessed Holy Spirit, who remains in each of us as believers, and in the assembly collectively.

I have no doubt that the first covenant made with Israel had reference, typically, to the lordship of Christ — His authority; it was a question mainly of meeting the conditions which arose on account of the state of the people; and for us the lordship of Christ involves our wills being subdued and the love of God being brought into our hearts. Christ has witnessed to the love of God in His death on the cross, and in going into heaven He received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, and shed ^[p. 462] this forth in order that that love should be placed in the hearts of believers. This is a question of the administration of Christ. He has brought the love of God into evidence by His death and He has placed it in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

The second covenant spoken of in Deuteronomy, I believe, involves headship. Let us, dear brethren, take account of headship. The lordship of Christ involves, as I have said, that my will is broken, that my heart is filled with the love of God and that I am protected from all enemies; in a word that I am saved. One can lift up one’s head, as it were, in the presence of enemies in the sense of the power that is in the hand of Christ. But further, this world is a labyrinth of evil, more so now than ever, and how are we to wend our way through it? How are we to find our place in relation to what God has set up in Christ? That is another side of the truth, and we need that side. If we are to move intelligently according to God, in relation to Him and to Christ, and to one another, we need to apprehend headship.

Now, I would point out that in Deuteronomy it is not, speaking generally, what Moses was commanded to say, though that is spoken of, but it is in the main what Moses himself said to the people, for he had affection for them. God loved the people and Moses loved them too. The covenant spoken of was consummated on the plains of Moab forty years or so after the first one, and after being written in a book it was placed in the ark of the covenant alongside the “tables” See Deuteronomy 31:24 - 26. We need, at this present time, to take account of what Christ can be to us in the way of counsel and guidance. It is a remarkable thing that in His address to Laodicea in Revelation 3, He offers counsel. He says, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold purified by fire” (Revelation 3:18) and so the Lord is prepared to accord counsel to ^[p. 463] us, and this involves His headship. Isaiah calls Him, “Wonderful, Counsellor”.

The book of Deuteronomy in that way instructs the people, not how to walk in the wilderness, but how they should comport themselves in the land of Canaan, a most important part of their education; and we have to be taught how we are to comport ourselves in regard of the new place into which we are brought, which involves our relationship with the Father and the Son and with the brethren. All this is bound up in the great principle of headship. It is quite obvious that the people did not pass over into Canaan from Sinai, although it is said there were only eleven days’ journey from there to Kadesh-Barnea, but they went by the way of mount Seir, which I have no doubt has reference typically to the brethren. The actual way, on account of the crookedness of the people, as we all know, was much longer and took a period of well-nigh forty years; but now all that is over, and the second covenant is made with the people, not as having to go through the wilderness but as having gone through it, and as having come to the confines of Canaan and about to pass over into it. I commend that covenant to you, for it is wonderful in the spirit of it. It is in this book that you have that remarkable expression, “All his saints are in thy hand, And they sit down at thy feet; Each receiveth of thy words”, and also “Moses commanded us a law, The inheritance of the congregation of Jacob”, Deuteronomy 33:3. No other people in all the world had direct communications from God save themselves.

Well now, all that remained with them, and the Holy Spirit as well, so that, as I said, potentially they had everything, and so have we; and when I say potentially, I mean the thing has to be developed in us; the Holy Spirit would lay it upon us to work out what we have. We have everything in that ^[p. 464] sense. We have the covenant, so to speak, that is to say, all that God is to us in Christ, and we have the Holy Spirit.

Having thus laid the basis of what I have to say, I go on to the passage in Zechariah. The ministries of Haggai and Zechariah were contemporary. The former aroused the conscience, thus setting the people in movement; the latter brought in the purpose of God in Christ, and hence the great principle of construction which appears throughout the book. I would call attention to the second chapter of this prophet in connection with the latter thought, and also to the word carpenters. You will observe that this is how God meets the horns of the Gentiles; the great Gentile powers that scattered Judah are met, not by warriors, but by carpenters. Nothing in a way could be more interesting to us than building. God Himself is, in a sense, the great Architect of every superstructure. It is said in Hebrews 3:4, “But he who has built all things [is] God”, and again, “Of which [referring to the city which has foundations] God is [the] artificer and constructor”, Hebrews 11:10. I think we are entitled to distinguish in regard of what He builds, and one is quite justified in saying that the first building of God was Eve. I mean it is in relation to her that we have the first direct statement in Scripture of His actually building.

I quite recognise, as I remarked, that God builds all things, and that in laying the foundation of the earth He necessarily had in view the thought of a building, but it is remarkable that in connection with the creation of the worlds it is the word framed that is used. “By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by [the] word of God” (Hebrews 11:3) and “he spoke and it was [done], he commanded, and it stood fast”, Psalm 33:9. Things were done in that way, but when you come to the woman, how different! It is the rib of Adam in the hands of God. What will He make ^[p. 465] out of it? What has God made out of the fruit of the death of Christ? What is He making? The assembly, she is His own direct handiwork, made with infinite skill. So we read that, “made he a woman” (Genesis 2:22) and next to the man, the woman was the most marvellous creature in the whole universe of God. The man was formed out of the dust, but the woman was builded. I just refer to that, and it is noteworthy, that from that point onwards you find the principle of construction with nearly all the men of faith. I ask myself, is my service, is my course constructive or is it destructive? Destruction is a comparatively easy matter, but construction requires skill, it requires material, it requires energy, it requires too, beloved friends, that we go by the pattern; for really one may say, administratively, there is only one architect of the assembly. I apprehend that Paul got the pattern from Christ. He says, “According to the grace of God which has been given to me, as a wise architect” (a wise one, divinely wise) “I have laid the foundation, but another builds upon it. But let each see how he builds upon it” (1 Corinthians 3:10) firstly how he builds upon it, and then secondly what he builds upon it. In other words, I have to consider, to use terms familiar to us, the specifications both in regard of dimensions and form, and I have to consider the material.

It is somewhat striking that this architectural suggestion should appear in the letter to the saints at Corinth, a city that had been renowned for its outward architecture, and I have no doubt that the thought of the Spirit was to check every tendency to imitate the world. So I would now bring to your attention, for I presume that every Christian has in some sense the thought of building in his heart; if not, he should have; I bring to your attention the consideration as to whether in your work you have the pattern. The apostle Paul in his ministry ^[p. 466] at Corinth had been told by the Lord that he had “much people” in that city. One thanks God for every Christian. I do not know any sight more lovely than the countenances of the people of God, those who have the Spirit of God. Balaam’s utterances confirm this. He said, “How goodly are thy tents, Jacob ... . Like aloe-trees, which Jehovah hath planted”, Numbers 24:5 - 6. The Lord loves to see the countenances of His people and so the thought of many brethren is suggestive and encouraging, for one thinks of the vast number that will surround the Lord Jesus, each of whom will be like Him, conformed to His image. What a sight in the glory; an innumerable company of sons, who, as the fruit of the work of the Spirit of God, are conformed to the image of God’s Son. What a sight for God and for Christ!

One delights in the number, as the Lord said to Paul, “I have much people in this city” (Acts 18:10) but then, amid that much people, the apostle begins to clear the ground for the building. Building is for God, and so Paul says, “I did not judge [it well] to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified”, 1 Corinthians 2:2. Away with all else, whatever it is, whether wealth, learning, or birth, as affording prominence in the things of God; the ground has to be cleared and the true foundation laid if things are to stand; so he says, “other foundation can no man lay besides that which [is] laid, which is Jesus Christ”, 1 Corinthians 3:11. The foundation he had laid was Jesus Christ, and no one can lay another. He had laid it in view of the great divine structure, and it stands. Now he says, “let each see how he builds upon it”, 1 Corinthians 3:10. I take that word to myself, I am to take heed how I build, and what I build. I have to know how, and I have to know what; that is, what material. So it is to be noted in Zechariah, that instead of armed warriors being used to meet these four horns of the ^[p. 467] Gentiles, God brings in four carpenters. And what have they come for? “These are come to affright them, to cast out the horns of the nations, which lifted up the horn against the land of Judah to scatter it”.

I apprehend that Paul’s ministry and Paul’s building sent terror into the leaders of the world; what could they do against these? If you follow the course of the testimony in Acts, it is astonishing to see how in principle everything came down before it; as another has said, Judaism fell before it, heathenism was overthrown, and philosophy had to give way. I do not say that Caesar gave up his throne, but in principle Paul brought down every high thing, and in place of that he set up what was for God, namely, an invulnerable structure which stands, and will stand, when all else will have passed away, and all human workmanship shall have passed away when this noble structure will appear, as the holy city, having the glory of God.

Well now, the prophet makes inquiry as to what the four horns which he saw are, and the angel says, “Those are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head”. It meant absolute subjugation! The very opposite to salvation for one who is saved does lift up his head, he has the helmet of salvation, so that he is not afraid. Then the answer is as referring to the four carpenters “these are come to affright them, to cast out the horns of the nations”. And so, beloved brethren, I would commend to you the importance of the work of the carpenters. If we are to meet things as they are, we must pay attention to building. The world is going in now for reconstruction and one can understand that, but the house, the building of God, is not a reconstruction, it is a construction. What God began with, that He is going on with, there is no change, and He will complete it. It is in that way,

^[p. 468] I believe, that the Lord would enable us to meet a condition of things that is unprecedented; the world is lapsing into a covenanted condition, and one may say one can understand the necessity for it in a way, for previous covenants have been disregarded, and treated as “scraps of paper”, but now the effort is to make them binding, to make them worth something. Are the people of God to be different? Has not God secured His covenant? Has He not brought in that with which we are connected in fellowship and by which we are bound together in indissoluble bonds? So that if the world comes to us with its covenants, it is to find that we are already committed; and what a protection this would be to us. I commend that to you; we need to be protected, and God helps in this by bringing to our attention the necessity of being true to all to which we have been committed.

But that is not all; we want to be builders, and that means that we must love. I must have love and you must have love. You say, you are putting us under bondage. No; because there is an infinite supply. I understand the perfect law of liberty to be that one can supply what is required, and the Christian loves to supply love, for he has it as having the Holy Spirit. All that God is to us remains, and the Holy Spirit is in us, and thus the supply is infinite. Let us then have vessels enough, let us enlarge our vessels, for the larger the vessels the greater the supply. A comparison of John 4 and John 7 shows that the supply in the Holy Spirit is unlimited; the first for deliverance and enjoyment, the second for testimony.

Now we come to the building, and, as I said, it must be according to the pattern. The apostle Paul began by disallowing every human pretension, and then he brought in what is positive, Jesus Christ, the order of Man that glorified God on earth. That is ^[p. 469] the Man who is the foundation, and that is the Man who is to be the Head of the corner, and all in the structure between the foundation and the Head of the corner must be altogether and only according to Him. It is said, “The fire shall try the work of each, what it is”, everything shall be tested. It is a strong expression — what it is. What is my work? The fire will test it.

I refer now to Zechariah 4, and my thought is to show you, that what is begun will be completed. The first covenant secured really nothing in the literality of it, so that this passage refers, as I have said, to a time in which things are completed, so that you will notice Zerubbabel sets up the headstone; the foundation is laid and the same man sets up the headstone; that is the completion. Now, to come short is to be shut out altogether according to Scripture. Of Sardis it is said, “I have not found thy works complete before my God”, Revelation 3:2. They had begun, but had not finished, and one would inquire, as the Lord did, “For which of you, desirous of building a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, if he have what [is needed] to complete it”, Luke 14:28. That is a word for every one of us, as to what we have set out to do. You need not be afraid of it, for it is a poor Christian who does not set out to do something, very poor; he has no purpose. Paul says, “Thou hast been thoroughly acquainted with my ... purpose”, 2 Timothy 3:10. What a purpose he had! He set out to accomplish something in the power of the Spirit of God, not in his own strength, for “the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63) even in Paul. In Christianity we have sufficiency wherewith to finish. Christianity is full measure, as Paul says, “According to the measure of the rule which the God of measure has apportioned to us, to reach to you also”, 2 Corinthians 10:13. That is the testimony in the power of it in my soul; it has reached unto me in that sense. Every Christian ought to be able to tell the power of ^[p. 470] Christianity, that it has reached unto his soul; the Holy Spirit has brought the love of God into your heart, and He has brought you to love God. The law did not do that. Christianity does that. It is full measure. Think of the Holy Spirit down here.

As far as I know, whatever springs up in the assembly in the way of error in some way or another disparages the Spirit of God. It is one thing that heaven will not admit of. Think of what the Spirit of God is! First the power in the Christian, as a well, a fountain springing up into everlasting life; is that not full measure? He springs up into everlasting life; and so in regard of testimony, it flows out, not merely as a river, but as rivers. What kind of water? Living water; the full measure from God. That is a very remarkable word in 2 Corinthians 10:13, “the God of measure”. But when it comes to the Spirit, “God gives not the Spirit by measure” (John 3:34) for the Holy Spirit is here personally; He is a divine Person. Is He not great enough to bring about the will of God; to accomplish every desire of His heart? He is. So if the foundation is laid, the headstone will be put on. Let us have no doubt about it.

In this day of small things these are the facts to emphasise for our encouragement. “And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; and his hands shall finish it; and thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things?” I commend that to you. The hand that laid the foundation also put on the top stone. The foundation is out of sight, it is what is wrought secretly in our hearts; in connection with it we come in self-judgment to disallow ourselves for Christ. That is the principle of the foundation and I build on that. And I would ask what is the headstone? It is ^[p. 471] Christ in the affections of His people. That is what I apprehend the headstone to be. It is Christ in all His perfection apprehended and loved and cherished in the hearts of the saints, and becoming the binding power amongst them. Let us have no other bond but that. It will stand against all the assaults of the enemy, and besides it is ornamental in the sense of grace displayed, for there is nothing really to exceed its beauty, that that Man should be held in the affections of God’s people, as an abiding influence and power there.

Thus the foundation and the headstone are in perfect agreement. I have often thought of Simeon in the temple with the Babe in his arms; a beautiful sight! When you come to Ephesians it is not the Babe in the arms of the saint, but as having arrived at a “full-grown man”, it is Christ in His full perfections known and loved and treasured in the hearts of the saints; that is what I apprehend the headstone to be, and so I commend to you the divine thought of “construction”.

The line is this, first we are bound together in indissoluble bonds, having been committed to this in fellowship; then by the power of the Spirit working in our hearts there will be love amongst ourselves, love one for another; and finally, Christ will have His place in our hearts according to all that He is, as the binding power, the Headstone of the corner. May God grant it to be so!