THE HOUSE OF GOD: HOW ENTERED BY THE BELIEVER.
[p. 474] THE HOUSE OF GOD: HOW ENTERED BY THE BELIEVER.
1 Chronicles 21:21 - 27; Genesis 28:11 - 17; Genesis 35:9 - 13
You can readily discern from the passages I have read that my thought is to seek to direct your minds to God’s house, and what I should like to make clear is, that to reach it in our souls, we have to be guided by certain inward marks, and not by outward or visible ones only. Of course, it is true that God’s house has certain outward features which can be taken account of even by the natural mind, but in order to reach it according to God, certain lines have to be followed which can only be discerned by those who have eyes to perceive divine things.
Now, what I hope to show is, that there are at least three leading initial features as to the house which have to be discerned before anyone can enjoy that place. The first has reference to the foundation, or, rather, the site of the foundation, and this is seen in the passage in Chronicles; that is to say, the spot upon which God’s house was to be erected is identified with the place in which man is accepted with God on the ground of sacrifice; this involving the judgment of sin. This place was not left to man to choose; it was divinely indicated to David as the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. David discerned by moral perception that this should be the site on which the house should be built. He says, “This is the house of the Lord God”. Here the sword of God was sheathed, as we see in verse 27. This is the first feature which I would dwell upon.
I wonder whether everybody here discerns that the sword of the Lord is sheathed? What the evangelist is privileged to announce is, that it is sheathed. It is not sheathed exactly for those who adhere to the [p. 475] legal system; the Jew, as having rejected Christ, is still under wrath, so you will find at the end of 1 Chronicles 21, that David was afraid to go to Gibeon. Now, I am very desirous that every soul here should see the point of distinction between the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite and Gibeon. If you do not, you will not be free from the sense of wrath; and, on the other hand, you will not be in the apprehension of God’s house.
Now, there are many people who in their consciences are not free from wrath; they are afraid of God. Is it not so? David, we are told, was afraid to go to Gibeon; he was afraid, and rightly so, for the sword of God was there unsheathed. Beloved friends, it is your privilege to be free from fear, but there is only one spot where you can be free, and that is where God has sheathed His sword. In having to do with God, remember that He is sovereign, and in sheathing His sword He did so on the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. This points to the moral ground of the atoning sacrifice of Christ.
Now, you may ask me: ‘Where shall I find the sword sheathed today?’ The sword is sheathed in Christ risen. In a sense, the Lord Jesus Christ when here in the flesh was the sword of God. This may not seem to correspond with the character of His ministry, but it is nevertheless true. He was morally the Executor of God’s judgment upon man. This may be traced in the gospels. I do not say, of course, that judgment was executed in a literal way, but it was executed morally; “now is the judgment of this world” (John 12:31), He said. The Lord Jesus Christ answered to the cherubim of glory; but happily He was also the Mercy-seat. If God comes into the midst of a world of sin, and He did come in Christ, everything must be judged; but the wonderful thing for man to know is, that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself bowed to the sword of judgment. In Him risen from the [p. 476] dead, man is accepted on the ground of sacrifice, and in Him the sword of God is sheathed.
Here in David we have a figure of Christ. It is true that he was personally guilty, but we learn from the corresponding passage in Samuel that God was dealing with the state of the people. David, here, comes forward and accepts the whole responsibility and, in this sense, he is a figure of Christ. At Gethsemane, the Lord takes this place. There He weighed all the responsibility, and He took the cup from His Father’s hand, not from man’s or Satan’s hand. He was the true Head of the people, and although infinitely free from sin personally, He accepted all its consequences, and on the cross exhausted the judgment. The sword is thus covered, or sheathed, in Christ risen. It will be made bare in the future when Christ will come out of heaven to execute wrath, but for the moment it is sheathed, and instead of wrath, there is a Mercy-seat for man. It is this that is announced publicly in the gospel, and not judgment. David may be regarded in two lights in this passage; on the one hand, he is a type of Christ, as I have been saying, and on the other, he is a figure of the believer. As viewed in the latter light, what we see in him is, that he acted in the intelligence of faith. Perceiving where man is accepted on the ground of sacrifice, he refuses to go elsewhere. I want you to put yourself in the position of David. Do not go to Gibeon! Christendom, as seen outwardly today, is at Gibeon. I have not any hesitation in saying that, for it has placed itself under obligation to keep the law of God. The tabernacle at Gibeon represented the old order of things, which was established at mount Sinai, whereas the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite represents the new order of things established in Christ as Man risen from the dead. Faith clings to the latter, whereas ignorance, seen in the pretence to establish one’s [p. 477] own righteousness before God in the principle of law-keeping, goes to the former.
I speak of it so that you may be awakened as to the position that vast numbers of professing believers occupy, as seen in the words, ‘Lord, incline our hearts to keep Thy law’. It is in principle Gibeon. David had faith, and hence would not go there. Are you not afraid to go to Gibeon? The sword of the Lord is there. Now, where are you, let me ask? Are you connected with some legal institution; some system which is built up in connection with the law? The sword of the Lord is there. You may reply: ‘You were saying a moment ago that the sword was sheathed in Christ, and how then is it unsheathed elsewhere?’ I reply that the sword is sheathed in Christ in regard to man as such. In John’s gospel we read: “he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him”, John 3:36. This unquestionably refers to the Jews as rejecting Christ and clinging to the old system. You see the fulfilment of it in 1 Thessalonians 2:16: “wrath is come upon them to the uttermost”. Whereas, on the other hand, christianity began, so to speak, at the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite; but it has drifted back and is, as I said, now at Gibeon. I would not stay there for an instant. If you are there, dear friend, I would beseech you to leave it.
The light of all these things in the soul of man is the true groundwork of the house. David says, “This is the house of the Lord God”. Remember that the site of God’s house is in the souls of believers, and what I have indicated above is the only true groundwork for the superstructure of the house. The house is built in God’s people. I have often heard people speak of the foundation of the house being laid, but it seemed very vague and abstract in their minds. I believe, as I have said, that the apprehension of man’s acceptance, on the principle of sacrifice, is a true groundwork for the foundation of the house. Paul speaks of laying the foundation in Corinth; he laid it in the souls of the saints, by presenting Christ to them in the gospel. He says, “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ”, 1 Corinthians 3:11.
I go on to Genesis 28 to show another feature of the house, and that is, you find in it God’s interest in you. Jacob is a wanderer. There are, alas! at the present time a great many such; that is, they have no spiritual dwelling-place. Jacob had a stone for his pillow. It is not to be wondered at that persons in such circumstances are discontented. But Jacob is made to realise that he is an object of interest with God. The heavens are opened and the angels of God are ascending and descending, connecting Jacob, as it were, directly with God. In this way we are made conscious of divine interest in us. I do not say that the heavens open upon each of us, as upon Jacob, or that angels are the agents by which God puts Himself in communication with us; but nevertheless, as in His house, we find ourselves objects of interest with God. Angels came to Jacob, whereas christians, who are greater than angels, express God’s interest in men today. Christians, being men, can sympathise with you. Elihu says to Job, “I am as thou”, Job 33:6. There are numbers of people around you tonight who can sympathise with you fully in whatever soul-exercise you may be passing through. The heart of God expressed itself in Christ as Man here upon earth, and there is a continuance of this in His people. God did not have men to express His interest in Jacob at Bethel, but now men, indwelt by the Spirit, form God’s house on earth, and in them His love is practically expressed. They express His sympathy and love to men. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit, and this [p. 479] works out practically in the house. Hence, this second great feature is, that you are made sensible of God’s great interest in you in His house. Jacob says, “How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven”. Well, I hope it is not “dreadful” to you; it is not to me. To those who love God, it is enjoyable as His dwelling-place; it is the gate of heaven.
I proceed now to Genesis 35. What I see there is, that the house of God is a place marked by divine communications. What appears here is evidently in advance of the two features we have been dwelling upon. The believer prefigured in Jacob has now turned definitely to the house, fully recognising it as God’s dwelling-place. Jacob had not been there for twenty years, still he knew the character of the place. Many have turned away practically from the house and have become wanderers. They have not forgotten it, but they prefer, alas! to live elsewhere. If there any such here tonight, God would say, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there”, Genesis 35:1. Jacob responds, but he felt he could not take his idols there; hence, he buries them under the oak, which was by Shechem. Many christians, alas! are hindered by idols; some objects occupy their minds other than God and His house; but in order to dwell in the house, we must bury them all. But what I wish to point out specially here is, that he found it to be the place where God revealed His Name to him. Here God answers a question that Jacob had asked Him when he returned from Padan-aram in chapter 32. Notice, that in chapter 28 He had told Jacob that He was the Lord God of Abraham and the God of Isaac; whereas, in chapter 35 He says, “I am God Almighty”. “Almighty” means that He is able to do everything to the accomplishing of His counsels. He says further to Jacob, “Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins”. The accomplishment of all this depended upon God’s almighty power. Jacob and his seed after the flesh, as we know, should disappear in death, but an innumerable seed shall be reckoned to him on the principle of resurrection. “Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel?”, Numbers 23:10. The house, viewed as I am now dwelling upon it, is a place of divine communication; we see that everything is to be established by God Almighty. He who is Almighty to Jacob is Father to us; and it is in the house that you fully realise what the name Father is; and this is the point to which the Spirit of God would lead us.
I believe that there are these three distinct land-marks by which we may be guided in the full enjoyment of the house: first, man’s acceptance on the ground of sacrifice; second, God’s interest in you made known; third, God’s Name revealed, and you in known relation to Him there in His house. May God grant that we may all know the house as thus indicated.