PRESSURE

^[p. 250] PRESSURE

Genesis 22: 9 - 14: 2 Chronicles 3: 1; Exodus 15: 23 - 25

These scriptures speak of certain things shown, or told of, divinely and hence they are read; also to link up with what is divinely shown to God’s people in the thought of pressure. Pressure is evident in these scriptures, not indeed in the actual verse in 2 Chronicles but in the section in 1 Chronicles to which they allude we have the pressure. Pressure is a means employed by God in His formative operations, and hence we are to know something of it, if we are to be formed according to the divine design for us. This applies to each of us and to all of us viewed as a whole. Pressure, from heat or from weight, in solid matter or water, is the means used. In the creation and in many other instances it serves to symbolise what God is doing in His people; for in truth He is operating on the line of new creation. The idea of the first and second applies. He takes away the first that He may establish the second; the second is what He has in mind; it is what is to remain, what is being established. The idea of pressure is seen in it just as it appears in the first. And so, dear brethren, I bring it forward that we may think of it, and not take ourselves out of the way of it, as God may see necessary to apply it, for in it He intends to carry on His great work of the second creation, or new creation. By pressure He effects formation, as I said; it may be seen constantly throughout the whole realm of the physical system, and in it as God places us and brings it upon us He would seize opportunities to show us what we may need in the pressure. Whilst He allows and causes the pressure, He also operates through our minds, for we are not inanimate material; we are ^[p. 251] constituted intelligent by God, so that we might know what He does. If we do not know at the moment we may know later: the Lord says, “What I do thou dost not know now, but thou shalt know hereafter” (John 13: 7). That is always an encouraging word! In speaking of pressure, dear brethren, one has in mind that the Lord as become Man, led the way. Gethsemane is symbolical or representative of the great thought of it. The Lord was always under pressure whilst here; He could not be in a world of sin without being under pressure, nor can anyone who is for God be in a world of sin without being under pressure. Then there is also the government of God, which, of course, is not sin. The government of God began early, it began as sin came into the world, a sort of veil through which God may, or may not, let us look. He has long experience in the use of it; it is the very opposite of sin, and is to counteract, or to limit, the working of sin, but it is pressure. No one knows better than God how to apply the principle; He is the God of measure, and in no circumstance is the idea of measure more used of Him than when He is dealing with His people by pressure. He knows exactly the pressure needed, every point of it is considered, every ounce of it. He has a design in the application of it, and the end of that design will be reached, but He is thoughtful and considerate of us and will not allow or order more than we can stand. What He seeks is to call our attention to what He is doing, so that He is operating on material that is not inanimate but intelligent, not unfeeling but feeling, and knowing what is proceeding.

Well, now, that would indicate what I have in mind; and Abraham stands out in this matter of divine showing, as also in the matter of divine pressure; he is the father of all believers. Some of ^[p. 252] you young people may not have thought of that, that Abraham is your father in the sense of being a believer. God, of course, is our Father, the Fatherhood of God comes out in Christ. We cannot attribute faith to God or to Christ in that sense, — not that the Lord Jesus did not walk by faith — but Abraham is representative of faith in the sense of being the great believer. He is the father of us all, we are told, from that point of view; and he is the father not only in that sense, but also in what goes with the thought of faith. And so in calling him out from Mesopotamia, God speaks of showing him the land. I think he is in that sense the first one to whom the land is mentioned: “The land that I will shew thee”. He would always have in his mind in his journey from Mesopotamia to Canaan the idea of the land as divinely shown. One would like to have that — the idea of things divinely shown. God may use instrumentalities; He does, He is doing it; and so in this well known chapter, God approaches Abraham and applies the test, and what a test! “Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, Isaac”. It is as if God would press the idea of the sacrifice he was about to make — “Thine only son, whom thou lovest”, making the test more poignant, if possible, and appealing to the affections of Abraham as to the attractiveness and loveableness of his son. One would invite special attention to the way in which God approaches the point immediately, not leading up to it gradually. He puts it straight to Abraham; you are going to be tested. He knew Abraham; He knew exactly how things had gone; He had followed him from the time of the promise of Isaac up to this moment and He understood every movement of affection and intelligence in the heart of Abraham. He waited the moment when Isaac would be all that a young man could be as an only son, for such he was, and as ^[p. 253] such he is regarded. God did not ask for Isaac when he was a babe. At that time Abraham was willing to keep Ishmael alongside Isaac. But now he had gone through the process of casting out the bondwoman and her son, and the boy Isaac had grown and found his way, embedded himself in the affections of his father, a love that perhaps never existed in man before existed in that father’s heart at that time. God awaits opportunities, and the opportunity had arrived to bring this peculiar pressure to bear upon Abraham. What is written across the chapter is the idea of the position being told or shown him. Moriah seems to mean that; certainly it does as it is found in Chronicles. So that the pressure proceeds accordingly with something that is shown, and the establishment of a permanent land-mark in spiritual history. That is another great point that He intends in dealing with us. Heaven’s records are full of the spiritual history of God’s people down here, of the effect of God’s work in His people down here. Would that we could take that in! It is a question of what heaven is working out indelibly for the location of positions, for the establishment of spiritual land-marks, for the perfection of spiritual history as needed in the records in heaven. And so Abraham pursues his way these three days with his beloved son. One need not say much about it, it is a well-known chapter. There was the full testimony, the three days, the full testimony to the test, that the test was continued in its most poignant effect on the patriarch as he pursued his way to the place shown, the place spoken of, the place to be seen. He made no mistakes when he arrived close enough to see it. The sight of it would only increase the pressure, only a few moments and the object of his affections would be gone. Think of the feelings of the man, and think of heaven watching with the ^[p. 254] utmost intensity as that hand was raised to slay that boy. Heaven arrested it, it never came back again to do its work. That is the position, dear brethren, and Abraham looks around and sees a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. We have here a great land-mark. This mountain is marked off for all the people of God throughout all generations that should follow, a great spiritual land-mark: “Jehovah-jireh; ... On the mount of Jehovah will be provided”. You see, dear brethren, in taking on the pressure as God directly places it upon us, what the result may be. Who knows but what this pressure may mean the establishment of some great spiritual land-mark that others will profit by? God works in a wise plan; He operates with each of us; He loves each of us. He thinks of us in relation to His great plan, and who knows but some great spiritual principle may be established as we submit to the government of God. And so, dear brethren, this opportunity brings out, as I said, “Jehovah-jireh”. And Moses who wrote about it hundreds of years later says, “as it is said at the present day, On the mount of Jehovah will be provided”. “On the mount of Jehovah” — who knew better than he? God had in mind that His people in all ages should have this great principle before them, there is a place where God will provide. Moses who was to be used to construct the tabernacle, to lead the people of God out of Egypt through the wilderness, would know this great principle. “On the mount of Jehovah will be provided”. As I look at a fellow christian and see how he is going on under divine pressure I am learning from that brother what God is effecting in him. What has happened to him is going to be recorded. The Holy Spirit will see to it that it will go down, that nothing will be lost, that others will profit by it. So we have land-marks established for the encouragement and the education ^[p. 255] of others. In what transpired in this remarkable chapter a mountain is called attention to, the mountain of the Lord. It is a question of the mountain of the Lord. We read as regards Joseph of “the best things of the ancient mountains ... the precious things of the everlasting hills” (Deuteronomy 33: 15). Here is one of the precious things coming down to Joseph, that is to say, upon the head of Christ, and that is in relation to all that belongs to Christ: the “myriads of Ephraim” and “thousands of Manasseh”, that is, the saints. It comes down to us for our profit through Christ in this way.

Now the second point is in 2 Chronicles. The first is a question of resource. We will all be tested as to what we are going to do next when we get in tight places. This is the great lesson of Genesis 22. It brings you to understand the place of divine resource so that you know where to turn, you never have to turn your face to the wall but you always have a way out. “On the mount of Jehovah will be provide”, as Abraham proved in the ram caught in the thicket. What a way out! It was the wonderful intervention of God when he was supremely tested. The ram was there. In 2 Chronicles what is in mind is the foundation of the house; it fits in with what I have been saying. The foundation is but little understood. The foundation that is alluded to here is a shown foundation; it has to be shown, and God is ready to show it. The Father revealed it to Peter, for instance, Peter says to the Lord, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16: 16). The Lord says, “thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly”. That was the foundation. Solomon’s foundation it is called here, though it was not shown to Solomon, but to David. We are to understand that Solomon is the counterpart of David. He comes in in the sense of a counterpart to work out what was begun ^[p. 256] in David, and one of the things is that David had had the plan of the house shown him. God would show it to every believer; it must be shown to us; the weakness of many is that they have not seen it. In chapter 21 of this first book many will remember, God moved David to number the people. Satan moved him, but God did too; it was a question of God’s government, a most solemn matter. He had to deal with Israel for some secret conditions, and he moved the king to number the people. We have to be on our guard about numbers, dear brethren, mere numbers. David sinned in numbering the people, because he wanted to find out the mere numbers, the number of persons, not the qualities, but the number. Then we find that God directed Gad, David’s seer, to offer sacrifices in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Jehovah directs David to the site as the sequel shows. David was quick to answer to the direction and he offered sacrifices which God accepted, a very fine point for the sinner, as we move under divine direction as afforded us. David was quick to own his guilt and accept the government of God, and immediately divine direction is afforded him. Let me say to anyone here, however great or small the offence, there is a way out. Gad was the immediate mouthpiece of God, and Gad directed David as to this matter, and David was quick to respond to the direction divinely given through him. He was being shown. Think of God being here tonight to show things! He may use me or He may use the Scriptures I have read. The Holy Spirit is here to show there is a way out for everyone who may be in difficulties in regard to his soul. There may be some such here. David was in straits; he says, “I am in a great strait”. It is a good, wholesome experience if our wills are at work. In love God will allow us to reach it. David ^[p. 257] was in a strait; and, how beautiful, he says, “Let me fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah, for his mercies are very great”. A second message instructs him to rear an altar on the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. He immediately proceeds to Ornan and buys the place. If God shows you something, you want every inch of it. Chronicles would indicate that David secured every inch of the place; we cannot afford to let one inch slip, we must get every inch of it. The idea is it is a wide place, not simply that I am going to be in it, but that it is a wide idea. David bought the place he was divinely shown. So, if you are in a strait, and God shows you anything, do not fail to take it, secure every inch of it so that it is yours forever. David paid the full price; he would not have it without cost. That is the trouble with us, we are not prepared to sacrifice; we are afraid of publicity perhaps, or some other consideration. If God is pleased to show us a way out, let us not allow one inch of what is shown to slip away. The idea of the house of God began with Jacob and is taken up by David in a most unexpected way, for he found the foundation of the house. He saw that Jehovah answered him in his offering. If you are going on in a self-willed way God will not answer you. Get out of the path of self-will into the path of divine recognition and acceptance. David saw that God had accepted him and he offers sacrifices. He was pleased to be there; he understood God. He could not go to the tabernacle; the sword is not sheathed there. If you pursue on the line of self-will, the sword is dangling over your head, but if you are in submission the sword is sheathed. We need to get on to that foundation; that is what God’s love is, that is where the saints are. Faith would say, “That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life” (Psalm 27: 4). No one desired ^[p. 258] it more than David, and immediately after he desired that, the sword was sheathed. God looked on David and saw how David was sacrificing, and He says to the angel, ‘Put the sword into its sheath’. The discipline is over, the lesson is learned, the foundation of the house of God, the residence of the love of God, of God Himself and of those He loves, is secured. You cannot afford to be outside of it; and so David, discerning that, says, “This is the house of Jehovah Elohim”. He has reached the spot, he had reached it through pressure, for it was divinely shown him through pressure. That is what comes out in chapter 3 of the next book. Solomon proceeds to build at the place shown and on the position that was shown. Let everyone take heed how he builds. So the Spirit of God goes on to tell us what Solomon’s foundation was and that the height of the porch was a hundred and twenty cubits. We can build to elevation on these lines, dear brethren, but if we build on other lines, down it will come. Not a stone shall be left, the Lord said.

Now the next thought is what we get in Exodus. Moses and the children of Israel had come under great pressure; theirs was a great victory, they reached the wilderness side of the Red Sea by divine power. It is a question of the death and resurrection of Jesus. God brings us through in Christ; but the waters were undrinkable, they were bitter waters. Moses and the children of Israel were in straits. The children of Israel were murmuring against Moses. What was he to do? It says, “Jehovah shewed him wood”. What He showed him was that the principle that came through the Red Sea was Christ entering into death and coming out of it by the power of God. It is the same Christ that came through the Red Sea. He entered into death and annulled its power that we might ^[p. 259] get out of it. It is the same Christ, only He is shown as wood (not a tree, though wood comes from a tree). It is a type of the humanity of Christ that the believer is shown. Many are content that they are converted, and have a little light as to Christ delivered for their offences and raised again for their justification, and leave it at that. Perhaps you intend to go on with the world; you have no idea of leaving it. You will never get this wood shown you because you are not in straits. It is as coming under pressure that you come to feel that you are thirsting and that there is no water. Do you say the water is not to your liking? I cannot say that is true of anyone here; if it were, you would not be here; but, maybe, you have in your heart to go along with the world, and if you do you will never have this wood shown you. God is ready to show it to you in this touching way. Christ has been cast into the water. He laid down His life of Himself; He entered into death of His own volition according to John; but here the figure is He is cast in by authority. That is to say He has tasted death for everything, He has been in it. The lover of Christ says, Well, I want that, I want to share with Christ. So my baptism means I have been baptised not only unto Him, but unto His death, and that the world is refused, that I say I reckon myself dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ. How changed everything becomes. The whole horizon is lighted up with satisfaction, no longer murmuring. I am sharing in His death and the Lord says I will make you a statute, and He does; and they come to plenty of beautiful fresh water, twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees. But I am only speaking of the pressure and of shown things running together; and as a thing is shown to you it leads you out of the pressure and you never forget it. You apprehend Christ ^[p. 260] as being in death Himself, you have part with Him, you would not have it otherwise, and the bitter waters of Marah are made sweet. That is all I have to say; I hope the Lord will use it for our blessing.