FAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE IN GOD'S HOUSE
FAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE IN GOD’S HOUSE
I have on my mind to show the result of faithfulness, and I have ventured to select these scriptures as exemplifying the thought. Moses can be taken as an example, above all others in the Old Testament, of faithfulness. The testimony of the Spirit in the New Testament in regard to this devoted man is, that he was “faithful in all his [God’s] house”; and if there is any place or connection in which faithfulness is tested, it is the house of God, for Satan is set against it, and unless those who compose it maintain self-judgment they will be prompted to act according to their own wills. As one ministers, therefore, in God’s house, faithfulness will certainly be put to the test, but notwithstanding all this, the comment of the Spirit in regard to Moses is that he was “faithful in all his house” — not only in one phase of it, but in all. He was a ministering servant, and he was faithful.
Now Moses presents a remarkable history, known to most of us, but always well worth considering — remarkable from his infancy. He was born of parents who had faith. Their faith saw in the child a reflection of Christ, he was “beautiful” (Hebrews 11:23), and so they concealed him. “They were not afraid of the king’s commandment”. Moses came into the world when the ruling power was under the influence of evil. Another king had arisen which knew not Joseph, and the form the evil took was the destruction of the males in Israel, i.e., that line must be blotted out.
The circumstances remind us of the conditions under which the assembly was established in the world. The enemy would destroy it, first of all he would destroy Christ, and the same murderous spirit reappeared [p. 420] against the assembly in Saul of Tarsus; as it was seen in Cain, in Pharaoh, in Herod, that spirit came out in Saul. He could do nothing against Christ personally, but he could do a good deal to the assembly. I refer to this for a moment — the virulence of the wicked one, seen in the stoning of Stephen, possessed Saul, so that he was not content merely to set himself against the assembly, in a corporate way, but he was “entering into the houses”. He would seek out every member of the assembly for destruction. I refer to it to show you what we have to contend with. In presence of that, what you see is the evangelical spirit. Saul was set for the destruction of the “candlestick” then the light would go; but while Saul was endeavouring to destroy the candlestick the light shone resplendently in Philip. In no chapter in Scripture is the evangelical spirit more manifest than in Acts 8, in the presence of the effort of the wicked one to extinguish the light. The candlestick and the light must be preserved. God introduced them here, and He preserves them.
Acts 8 presents both the candlestick and the light, and the wicked one set for their destruction, but they are preserved. Then in chapter 9 the kingdom is stressed. The enemy showed his hand in Saul; then the power of the Lord comes out. The kingdom appears in chapter 9 for the protection of the assembly and the light in it. From that day to this, they have been preserved, and shall be preserved — no power in this world is equal to the power of the kingdom of God. The latter is wielded by Christ for the protection of the assembly and the testimony, so that we find, as we pursue the history in Acts, that the light radiates: the great champion against it is converted, and becomes the light-bearer to the gentiles, to carry “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6), into the dark gentile world.
[p. 421] He could not have done it for a moment, except for the protecting hand of the Lord.
Moses was born in such circumstances as that, and his parents had faith, and hence “were not afraid of the king’s commandment”. They, in principle, baptised Moses, they put him into the water. Now you cannot baptise yourself, another baptises you; but when it comes to entering into fellowship, no one can do that for you; you have to put out your hand and commit yourself. We are living in the midst of baptised masses, but how many put out their hands to be identified with the interests of Christ? People are slow to commit themselves. It is cheering to see a man commit himself, answering in courage to his convictions. “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God”. Look at that! He put out his hand. How we thus see faithfulness in that early day! Moses deliberately commits himself to something. He had been committed to death, and when he became great, he committed himself to the people of God. You must think of that, in order to lay hold of the greatness of Moses. Moses’ mother had faith — and faith lays hold, in the Old Testament, of the light that precedes. Think of her exercise in regard to Moses, who was outwardly committed to the court of the world! God had his eye on that child, and when he was come to years, he put out his hand deliberately and answered to the faith of his mother. What a comfort an attitude in a child is to godly parents! What did he do? “He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God” (Hebrews 11:25) — that is fellowship. The people of God characteristically are bound to be in affliction, and Moses in his early years committed himself to them.
[p. 422] Have you put out your hand? I appeal as to this to every young soul here. Your parents have committed you to the death of Christ, they recognize that only through the death of Christ they can expect your blessing. Now, what are you to do? There are the people of God — Moses made his deliberate choice, he was a man of no mean parts, “mighty in his words and deeds” (Acts 7:22), in the court of Pharaoh; he had a position in this world far in excess of yours and mine — yet he chose to suffer affliction with the people of God; “esteeming the reproach of Christ”. Think of how the Spirit of God puts a name on what Moses esteemed. Moses could not have done it: it was the “reproach of Christ”, and he esteemed it greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; he truly came into fellowship. You will never rightly come into fellowship any other way; it is identification with the people of God, as marked off from the world by the death of Christ. God will help you in a special way as you take that position. Moses essays to accomplish deliverance for Israel, but he had to come into fellowship first; and then his education for the great service he was to render required forty years more. That is the man presented to our notice and I wish to show what an end awaits you, as you follow in Moses’ path.
At no point does his faithfulness shine as in Exodus 32. What was seen in Moses was the spirit of Christ. Where was faithfulness learnt? In Him who is “the faithful and true witness” (Revelation 3:14). Moses acquired that spirit by Christ anticipatively. He esteemed the reproach of Christ. There was another spirit in Egypt besides the spirit of the Egyptians — the Spirit of Christ was there. The reproach was not simply that those people were foreigners, that was not what caused the reproach. It was the reflection of Christ that elicited the reproach, and that is what Moses regards as the “greater riches”. If you consider any [p. 423] Old Testament man of faith, what was in him was the Spirit of Christ. They had light in regard to Christ. “Abraham rejoiced to see my day” (John 8:56). That kind of man appearing on Abraham’s horizon, caused gladness in his heart. All the men of faith in the Old Testament had light in regard of Christ. You will never be according to Christ in this world, if you do not read the gospels, and learn from Him going down into death to do the will of God. That is Christ — the faithful and true Witness; and you will be according to Him in the measure in which you learn Christ in the gospels. How God honours that spirit! Moses came into the camp with wonderful light; no one before him had such light as that man. Jehovah opened out His mind to him during that forty days in the mount. God gave him there a pattern of the system of things He had in His mind to establish; He also gave him the tables of the law, which represented his moral rights in this world, and Moses came down with all that. He broke the tables it is true, evidently without inquiring from God, but what could he do with them? We have to leave that, but he came into the camp, as I said, with all that light, and he was a true custodian of it. He was faithful above all others in his day.
Passing over what happened in the camp — a solemn reminder of the present moment — the judgment that he executed there, “Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp”. He was thinking about God, and he gave it a name: “The Tabernacle of the congregation”, as if in faith he laid hold of the mind of God as to it. Apostasy had marked the camp and hence the meeting-place for God and His people must be “without the camp”. “The Tabernacle of the congregation” was outside — afar off. A meeting-place was established for God and His people in spite of apostasy. Do we all understand this? — and a name given to it, “the Tent of meeting”. Where do you meet? It is a great thing to understand, that in the recovery of the fellowship of God’s Son and of His death, there has been a point established in these last days — I am speaking of light and principles — a point where God can meet with His people. Moses had the idea of the tabernacle in his mind, it had been unfolded in the mount; it was not yet made, but he pitched what represented it outside the camp, and called it “the Tabernacle of the congregation”. He re-established, on that principle, a place of meeting for God with His people. Think of that achievement! Think of what faithfulness accomplishes!
Are you in the light of that? In the light of that, you are extricated from all around you — all the apostasy and unfaithfulness of christendom. Those who sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, others stood at the door of their tents and worshipped. But where did they worship? In their tent doors. That is not the place to worship. The tabernacle of the congregation is the place to worship, and those who sought Jehovah, went there; they moved out. What an appeal to us! Many at the present time worship at their tent-doors, but you are not recognising, in doing so, the tabernacle of the congregation. That is where God meets with His people. I would remind you how Jehovah said, in chapter 20:24, “In all places where I shall make my name to be remembered, I will come unto thee, and bless thee”. This is God’s promise. Here you see Jehovah’s name remembered in the heart of Moses. The Lord’s name is remembered in His supper. God signalises this, and He descended in a cloud, and “spoke with Moses face to face”. What an honour! What distinction! There, in the presence of that host, Jehovah descends in the cloud, and speaks with his servant “face to face, as a man speaks with his friend”. We may depend upon it, if we are faithful [p. 425] to God, He will be faithful to us; if we honour God, He will honour us.
Christ has been honoured publicly in this sense. The gift of the Spirit to His disciples vindicated Christ. The Spirit brought into the world a testimony to the righteousness of God. “Of righteousness, because I go to my Father” (John 16:10), the Lord says. It was righteous to put Christ in heaven, because He glorified God here. The world did not see Christ go into heaven, they saw Him no more; they saw the effect of the Spirit here, as we see in Acts 2. No one could gainsay the power that was there. God honoured Christ by the gift of the Spirit to His disciples; it was due to Christ that God should thus vindicate Him publicly. He will do so again in a coming day, when He comes to be glorified in His saints, and admired in all them that believe.
In Exodus 33, Joshua remains in the tabernacle; he represents Christ according to what He is, in a hidden way, to His people now; outside of the world, which knows nothing of this. First, we see Christ as Apostle, how He honours God, and God honours Him. But Christ is also for His people: He says, “because I live ye also shall live” (John 14:19). Do you know Christ in that way? Your life is bound up with His. As David said, “he that seeketh my life, seeketh thy life” (1 Samuel 22:23). Your life is bound up with Christ. Joshua remained in the tabernacle. He departed not from within it. I want you to see what I speak of — Christ is to be known in a spiritual way, in a way that the world cannot know Him, as leading us into the wholly spiritual realm.
In Hebrews 8:1 - 2, you get, “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man”. The Lord has pitched the [p. 426] tabernacle. Joshua was in the tabernacle which Moses pitched. The Lord Jesus has pitched the true tabernacle, and He is minister in it. That is the position the Lord Jesus occupies at the present moment; He is Minister of the sanctuary. Joshua is also typical of Christ as the spiritual leader of the people, who put them in possession of the land. May the Lord exercise our hearts as to these great things!