HOLINESS KNOWN IN THE HOLY ONE OF GOD
[p. 305] HOLINESS KNOWN IN THE HOLY ONE OF GOD
John 6:66-69; Numbers 31:1-8; Numbers 31:21-23; Numbers 31:48-54; 2 Chronicles 35:2-5
By the Lord’s help, I hope to speak on the thought of holiness, and holiness in the actual service of the Lord in His testimony. I begin with John 6:70, because the Lord brings in the twelve formally there, in saying, “Have not I chosen you the twelve?” The official side of the apostles is but little noticed in John, but it is noticed here under the numeral twelve; the Spirit giving it a place in view of Peter’s confession — Peter’s acknowledgement that Christ was “the holy one of God” The thought, however, of the twelve is immediately reduced in its official value, by the fact that one is said to have been “a devil”. I say reduced in its official value, because John has in mind the time when official distinction should have little or no place; the time when that which had that place would prove false: that is to say, he had in view our own time. Whilst the official side is weakened by the fact that one of the twelve was “a devil”, the service by the confession of the leading apostle, that is Peter, would be thereby rather enhanced.
The idea of holiness appearing here, in the expression “the holy one of God”, implies that the service should not be marred but rather enhanced; the very fact of one being a devil making it more imperative that there should be holiness in the service. That the Master is the “holy one of God” is asserted, and hence we look for holiness in the servant. I believe that the thought of “the twelve” is noticed to bring this feature within the knowledge of the disciples, for Peter was not speaking for himself alone: he was speaking for all. He says, “we have believed and [p. 306] known that thou art the holy one of God”. It was a fixed knowledge.
It is an important matter to have things certified by experience. John himself says, later, “we know that the Son of God has come”, it was a fixed matter in their knowledge; and not only has He come, but He “has given us an understanding that we should know him that is true” We know Him as true — another feature of our Lord that is to enter into service. He is the true one; and John says, “we are in him that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ” — and then he finishes with this “He is the true God and eternal life”, (1 John 5:20). How much is condensed into that statement! but it is a statement of fixed knowledge amongst the saints. So here Peter says, “... we have believed and known that thou art the holy one of God”. The element of holiness is to be henceforward amongst the saints. The nominal service of God has become a very wide matter; the apostle Paul says, “For if ye should have ten thousand instructors ...” (1 Corinthians 4:15): and there are as many and even more in christendom now. “Ten thousand instructors in Christ” but then it is a question of the quality of the instruction — whether the element of holiness enters into their service.
Peter, alluding to the twelve, said, “we have believed and known that thou art the holy one of God”. At no time henceforth when Peter stood up to serve, would he forget that. The Spirit of God would secure him in relation to that. He had already confessed Jesus to be “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). He had it by revelation: he had the truth of the Lord’s Person in a unique way; but he held it as a treasure in a treasury. He never speaks of Christ as the Son of God in his preaching as far as is recorded. You may inquire why I mention that. It may even be suggested to you that I am belittling the great fact of the sonship of Christ in saying that Peter did not [p. 307] bring it forward. But no! far otherwise! I mention it to show how great a servant he was! that he was not only a servant getting his message at the moment from the Lord, but that he had a treasure, and he was the treasury himself. He could keep a treasure. He kept it concealed until the time arrived, in the Lord’s ordering, for its announcement. He was not one of those who say everything they know in ministry. He was one that got his message as from the Lord and was under the guidance of the Spirit in his service.
The announcement that Jesus is the Son of God awaited another vessel. It is as if the Lord would say, Peter you have received this revelation from the Father; it is to be in your mind as a treasure in a treasury; you are to be enriched by it in your soul, and you are by it constituted a stone in the building, but when My time comes, I shall bring forward a vessel peculiarly fitted, to announce Me as the Son of God: — and that servant was Paul. He was fitted in like manner, for he says, “God, who set me apart ... and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, that I may announce him as glad tidings among the nations”, (Galatians 1:15,16).
Now we have him who is fitted for the service: what was revealed in him he is to announce, “as glad tidings among the nations” — and this he did. His first preaching was that Jesus is the Son of God. He made no delay. The great testimony must be rendered, and he rendered it. But then what a power the revelation of the Father would be in Peter’s soul as he stood up in Jerusalem, to know that the Messiah was no less than the Son of God — “the Son of the living God”; yea, that He was no less than God Himself! — “over all, God blessed for ever” (Romans 9:5). What a power that would be in the soul of Peter, in his service! But then, what also enhanced his service was this knowledge, that he and his fellow-servants,
the apostles, had “believed and known” that Jesus was the Holy One of God. How that would enter into those hearts and ears at Jerusalem as he stood up on that day as the feast of Pentecost was running its course! He stood up, the Holy Spirit having come, and he called upon the men of Judaea and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to hearken to his words. “Hearken to my words” (Acts 2:14), he says; they were words of truth; they were gospel; they were holy words. There was no lightness in that address, no trivial stories told; they were solemn words, spoken in the power of the Holy Spirit — spoken in holiness, and they brought about conviction in the hearers. Used of God these words laid a foundation of holiness in souls. The gospel should hold the germ of everything that is to be afterwards built up in the believer’s soul.
Now I want to show from the types, which always serve us in ministry, as they are intended, how this element of holiness appears in service; so I turn to the passage in Numbers 31:6. The servant there is Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron — a worthy example for us, especially the young men. The Lord is calling for you: He has need of you, but remember that He has need of you on His own terms. The ten thousand instructors abroad today enter on service, alas! very largely upon their own terms. Even as to doctrine now, men take orders on their own terms, even avoiding to commit themselves to the truth of the Scriptures although they may formally assent to an article of faith. Modernism — scepticism — is abroad. In it there is not the slightest room made for the element of holiness and for the Spirit of truth. In speaking about love, dear brethren, we often forget the love of the truth, but it is of the greatest importance. We forget too much that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth: and that the truth is to be loved. 2 Thessalonians 2:10, warns against those who “have not received the love of the truth”.
Phinehas stands out as an example for service. He appears here as a tried servant. Earlier he had proved his priesthood in his jealousy for God, and that is really what gives men a place among the people of God. He is concerned with the holiness of God’s people. Chapter 25 records the great exploit of this servant in a crisis, when the enemy was carrying the day and bringing in idolatrous practices. As it is today: the loosest principles are asserted brazenly among the people of God, and not only asserted, but adopted. The doctrine of Balaam has place, “who taught Balak to cast a snare before the sons of Israel, to eat of idol sacrifices and commit fornication”, (Revelation 2:14). It is the doctrine of Balaam. It is looseness — unholiness. Phinehas establishes his right to an everlasting priesthood by an exploit in holiness — by the use of the javelin against this dreadful state of things; and so he is brought forward here. This chapter tells us of the last battle under Moses. Moses is to die after this. A very remarkable thing! He is to have part in this great service first. It is a question of the authority of Christ at the end of the dispensation as I may say. The authority of the Lord Jesus is to be asserted, and this battle is to be marked by it.
And so Moses makes it a matter of the tribes. That is, it is an assembly matter. Battles today are all in relation to the testimony, and the testimony involves the assembly. We must bring the assembly forward — the saints here upon the earth. If war is necessary, the Lord has His own forces here. As He entered Gethsemane, He said to His own, “Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder”, (Matthew 26:36). The conflict is going on; there is no cessation of war, but it is under the authority of the Lord and it requires of every tribe a thousand men, so to speak. In principle, no one is to be left out. It is [p. 310] not a sectarian matter. Sectarian conflicts, although there have been many, do not require a thousand out of every tribe. This is not a sectarian conflict, it is a question of the whole of the saints of God viewed as the assembly, and they acknowledge the authority of the Lord.
In warfare we are apt to give way to our tempers — our feelings; we are apt to allow personal resentment a place. The element of holiness would save us from that; holiness checks all these eruptions. And so here Phinehas is selected: you will observe that “Moses sent them to the war”. The recurrence of the words war and thousand by the tribe, should be noted here. He “sent them to the war, a thousand by the tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, and the holy instruments, even the alarm-trumpets in his hand”. These trumpets are called “holy instruments”.
In Numbers 10 we have instructions regarding their place in the service. They are not called holy there. They are silver, and there are two of them. They were to be for the calling together of the saints; at the journeyings of the people in the wilderness; they were to be used for the calling together of the princes; and when the people went to war: they were to be used in the day of their gladness, in their set feasts, in their new moons: they were to be used in their burnt offerings, and their peace offerings. That is to say, the testimony of God is to be sounded out under all these circumstances. Whatever the calling together of the saints may be, it is a question of the rights of Christ being sounded forth. The trumpets were made of silver. The testimony is the assertion of the redemptive rights of Christ. He has a right to call us together. If we are to move, He has rights in regard to our movements. Our wills are never to be active in these matters. If we are to go to war, we are to have these holy instruments. If we [p. 311] are to have seasons of gladness, let them be occasions for the testimony to sound forth.
Some say there is no need of ministry under certain circumstances, but there is need of ministry. The most spiritual meeting does not preclude the idea of ministry. There must always be the assertion of the testimony — the sounding out of the testimony. And so, in our gladness, as it says, and our set feasts and our new moons — that is, as we make progress — in our burnt offerings and peace offerings, the rights of the Lord are asserted in the power of the Spirit, in ministry, in these trumpets.
Now we see them in the hands of this holy man Phinehas. Time would fail to go into the chapter in detail. It is a remarkable chapter. The point I would urge, for the moment, is the holiness that enters into this war against corruption. That is to say, in the history of the assembly the Balaam doctrine has been successful: idolatry and spiritual fornication have become the set principles amongst the nominal people of God. That is the point in this chapter. But then, the foundation of God stands: the assembly stands. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come”! (Revelation 22:17). In the holy war, seen here in type, all this is brought into view. We must never lose sight of the assembly — a thousand out of every tribe. Then the priest of God, Phinehas, with the holy instruments of God in his hand, even the alarm-trumpets. Think of these going into the battle! How could there be a battle for the testimony without them? There must be holiness in our service and testimony; it must mark all our activities, including conflict.
I want to show how successful this undertaking was. I believe we are in this very conflict. We are in the last days. These Midianites are typical of a great society. Look at the number of kings they had! Christendom has imitated the world. It has created [p. 312] ranks of office corresponding with those in the kingdoms of the world. From regal estate down to the humblest curate, it is the same principle. It is imitation and the union of the world and the church, and how are we to face it? As fighting His battles, the Lord is on our side — let us be assured of that. It is not a big army here — just twelve thousand men; but it is in principle universal, and, I may say, mutual — “a thousand out of every tribe”. Will is supposed to have been judged; it has no place. The authority of Moses, the priesthood of Phinehas, and the testimony sounded out by the holy instruments of God — thus victory is assured.
If you read through the chapter, you will be impressed with the great spoil accruing. I cannot go into it, but this spoil has to go through the fire and through the water. In the second part of the chapter, verses 21 to 24, as you will observe, the spoil is described in its component parts, of gold, silver, brass, iron, tin and lead — a very great variety of spoil. We may say, These metals are not affected; they do not take on impurities? But in the anti-type they do. They represent what is of God in the hands of the Midianites. That is to say, the great doctrine of the assembly — the great terms of the truth, have been in the hands of the Midianites; but they must not remain there. They belong to other hands: they were never designed for unholy hands. They were never intended to fit into the order of things that is called christendom now. They were intended for lovers of Christ: they were intended for the assembly of God. Hence they need to be passed through the fire, and that which could not be passed through the fire, is passed through the water. They must go through the death of Christ. So that we have everything now recovered through the wonderful intervention of God. We have everything that began at Pentecost, that began at Corinth,
[p. 313] Ephesus or other places where the truth was developed. We have got them all back in holiness, through the application of the death of Christ. They must go through that way. They cannot be held in a Midianitish way. God resents it. The truth must be held in holiness. The fellowship must be holy. The enemy is endeavouring with all his might, and in the most seductive way, to corrupt the fellowship, but God is resenting it, He is standing by us, as is portrayed in this chapter, and He has the victory.
Now I wish to show how all this spoil is regarded by the leaders of the army, the officers and captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds. They come to Moses and Eleazar and they bring their personal spoils. What an example for everyone of us! We could understand their taking it to themselves to enrich their own houses or tents, but they bring it to Moses and to Eleazar the priest — these precious things mentioned — the jewels of gold, the chains, the bracelets, the rings, the ear-rings and necklaces — they are all presented: they are for adornment. Why should the Midianites have them? Spiritually these adorning things belong to the people of God, and the Spirit of God puts them upon us. You will observe that they are brought into the tabernacle, and the saints are the tabernacle — the saints viewed as the assembly. So they bring them to Moses and Eleazar and they take them “all manner of wrought jewels. And all the gold of the heave-offering that they offered to Jehovah was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, from the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds”. A goodly sum! And it says, “Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah”. Now, dear brethren, see what a field is opened up to us in holiness in the conflict! Those who lead here [p. 314] are successful, for not a man is lost, and they bring every man his spoil, for the enrichment of the sanctuary of God. As the result of conflict our meetings are to be more spiritual, the brethren more intelligent, more holy. A spirit of judgment arises among us; unrighteousness is unsparingly judged, and holiness promoted.
I wanted to add to that the word in 2 Chronicles 35, to show how in all this conflict of the last days — for Josiah in type is drawing near the last days — the idea of holiness is insisted upon. In chapter 34:31 Josiah is said to have “stood in his place”; that is to say, the Lord has His place. Josiah made a covenant before Jehovah and caused all the people that were present to stand to the covenant. That is a great service of the Lord — to enforce the covenant; to cause us to stand to it. And now the passover was kept, and the king said unto the Levites who were “holy to Jehovah, Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built”. The Lord would encourage us against every effort of the devil to corrupt; that instead of allowing corruption we should pursue holiness, and the result will be spoil, to be used in the sanctuary. These spoils become adornments to the saints. But we must go still higher! The very highest level is to be maintained in our meetings. The Lord is coming and He is coming in His wrath, and who shall be able to stand? But He is coming according to all that He is, to the assembly, and He is looking to find in the assembly what He admires, what He loves! He is looking at the assembly on the level of sonship — that its members should know their place with God. And so Josiah causes the people to stand to the covenant.
The Lord wants to make men of us — that we should not be babes but grown men; that we should be true, as standing to the covenant. Love [p. 315] to one another involves faithfulness to one another. “And he said to the Levites, that taught all Israel, and who were holy to Jehovah, Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David king of Israel, built; ye have not to carry it upon your shoulders. Serve now Jehovah your God, and his people Israel; and prepare yourselves by your fathers’ houses, in your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son”. I leave this chapter with you: the teaching is so plain. It gives the highest level: that is the idea. It is not a question of Moses only, but of the holy ark in the temple that Solomon, son of David, built: and then all is to be according to the writing of David and of Solomon his son; things are to be on that level. The message of Josiah fits in here. He is going to finish with a high note! It is a question of David and of Solomon, the holy ark, the writing of David king of Israel, and the writing of Solomon.
In New Testament words, when the Lord Jesus comes, He says, “I am the root and offspring of David” (Revelation 22:16). David stands for everything that is excellent: that is the idea. The Lord Jesus appears in that light. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come”. Attention has been called to His Person, to what and who He is, and the enemy does not like that. The Lord has called our attention to the fact that His position in absolute Deity is entirely equal to that of the other Persons in the Deity; that He did not occupy a place of inferiority in the Deity. It enhances His glory in our hearts and minds. It enhances, too, the love that went so low as to become a Babe here in this world. All this serves to call out our affections, so that the holy ark is put into its own place — that is to say, in the temple which Solomon, the son of David, built. Evidently it had been taken out, but now it is put back. That is the position today, and the [p. 316] Lord would call upon us to stand firmly by it. As it says in Ephesians 6:13, “Having done all, to stand” — not to move one iota from the level to which God has brought us.