HOUSES WHERE ROOM IS MADE FOR CHRIST
K. N. Pye
We have been speaking about the kind of man that God is looking for, man like Christ. The assembly is made up of localities, localities are made up of houses, houses are made up of individuals. We have spoken of manhood. What I would like to speak about now is our houses, what characterises them. A house is a place where affection is known. If we want to know the character of God’s house, we may refer to Luke 15. We find there the character of the atmosphere that is found in God’s house. It is not a house where there is penalty, it is not a house where everybody is on tenterhooks. It is a house where there is liberty and affection.
That is what God has in view and I think that is what is intended to be found in the Christian household; it is intended to be a place where affection is known. There is no fear, “Then are the sons free” (Matthew 17: 26), set free in the house. Sons are free in that area, there is no holding back but there is liberty. It is what is to be found in our houses, liberty, freedom, and affection.
I thought we would see that in Exodus, because each house had to have a lamb. So what was the predominant theme running through each one of these houses, for these four days? There is a lamb there. Do
you think the children would not have affection for that lamb? The lamb was not put in a pen and stuck in the corner—I do not think that was the idea. The lamb was there and it was there for the house. It was not there for one room, it was not there just for one person, the lamb was there for the house. Oh the affection that everyone in that house would have for that lamb.
The lamb would speak to us of Christ. What place does He have in our houses? You say, Well, I love Him. What place does He have in the house? is Christ at liberty in our houses?
That is what would be intended. The head of the household would set the lamb free. Christ would be at liberty in the house. He would be able to go around the house and He would affect every heart. If Christ is free in our houses He would affect every heart in the house. It is a test for those of us who are heads of houses. Is Christ really free in our house? If He is free in our house I think it would permeate everything. He is able for that. There was the lamb four days without blemish. Oh, the perfection of Jesus, and there He is in our houses.
One who has come near. I just wonder if we make enough room for Him? I feel challenged as I speak, but do we make enough room for Jesus in our houses? He was the Man who died, the perfect Man. Everything else fades into insignificance when you have a lamb like this in the house. If we make more room for Jesus in our houses I think we will find other things will fade away. I think all attention will be devoted to this Lamb. Well, is our attention devoted on Jesus, the Lamb without blemish?
We spoke of the perfection seen in Him in His attacking the enemy. When the enemy was tempting Him He was able to attack; perfection was seen in Him. Just think of Jesus being given liberty in our houses, the same One who was there in the temple, not in conflict now, but there at rest, hearing them and asking questions. That is the place Jesus would love to have, and we have to give Him room for that in our houses.
You say, I know the brother sitting next to me has that in his house. But what about your house? Is Christ at liberty there? Does He have His true place in your house? If you are of the character of manhood that is according to God, the character of manhood that is like Christ, I think you will find that Jesus will have this place in your house. One that is without blemish, One that is able to help. Jesus was able to help in every case. His mother, in John 2, said to the servants, “Whatever he may say to you, do” (v.5). He was able for that situation. We read,
“Jesus says to them, Fill the water-vessels with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
And he says to them, Draw out now”. The water was turned to wine. What joy comes into a house where Jesus has His true place. It is a house full of joy. God has that in view; He does not want something stinted. No, the music and the dancing went on in that house in Luke 15.
God has that in mind, that is His objective. What do we have in our houses? Do we have this objective? I think we will have it as we give Christ His true place, as we give Him the place that belongs to Him. We will not only have the affection that was seen for the lamb but we will have joy.
Here there was going to be turmoil in Egypt, the firstborn was going to be slain, but there was no indication of that in the houses of the children of Israel. Why? Because the lamb was there. Terrible things will occur in this world, a time of destruction will come. The assembly, of course, will be gone, but what is the situation in our houses now? Are we in accord with what the Lord is doing? Are we found as those who are waiting and watching for His return?
I think if we are found in that attitude we will have room for Him in our houses. “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male”, there is maturity, “a yearling male”, something is available of the prime, the very best. That is what we need to desire to have available in our houses; the very best for ourselves, the very best for those in them, and the very best for God.
The lamb is killed “between the
two evenings” on the fourteenth day of the month. They all kill it at the same time. You have the households, and then you have the locality merging into the assembly, it is all merging together into one entity. But then each one has to fill out that part, each one has to have that lamb and kill it. The appreciation of the death of Christ is something that should mean more to us. How much does the death of Christ really mean to us? Everything else in the house would pale into insignificance as we see the lamb that was slain. The choicest of what is of the flesh was the firstborn. The firstborn of the children of Israel were able to eat that lamb, while the firstborn of all of Egypt was slain. That is intended to affect us so we appreciate the greatness and fulness of the work of Christ. The firstborn, the choicest of the Egyptians, was slain, and yet it was preserved in the houses of the children of Israel because the lamb had its place and because the lamb was slain.
We need to look at our houses and see if everything there can be covered by the blood of Jesus. He had to die. If the blood was not on the door-posts and the lintel the destroyer would come into that house and the firstborn would be slain. The blood had to be there, that is outward, the blood that was put on the door-posts and the lintel could be seen outside. What testimony are our households to men? The neighbours go along, do they see the blood on the door-posts and the lintel? Not literally, but do they see that? Is it something that is obvious? I think it is a testimony that we bear. They see us leave for the meeting, they see our manner of life, they see our love for the Lord. Does that show them that Jesus has His true place in that house? You would look for that, because as they see that maybe something would work in their hearts, too. Maybe you could draw them into the appreciation of the Lamb, draw them into the appreciation of Jesus, the perfect Man, and a knowledge of the One who died for them, too. I think God would have that testimony rendered to men as we have the blood on the door-posts and the lintel.
Our houses are not intended to be morose places, there is to be joy there. Why is there joy?
Because the destroyer shall pass over. The victory has been secured by Christ. He has secured that victory. He secured it for the pleasure of God. So they were to take the lamb, and “eat the flesh in that night”; they were not to waste any time, they were to eat it that night. “Roast with fire”, shows the intensity of the death of Jesus, the intensity of what He went through, the suffering that He endured. It is intended to affect us. So they were to eat the flesh, roast with fire, and unleavened bread. There was nothing in the house of leaven, the first order of man had gone. This is the total removal of the flesh, unleavened bread, there is no leaven at all, nothing of the flesh seen at all, it is all gone. Then “with bitter herbs”, that is the end of things in this world, it is bitter, but the sweetness of the lamb roast with fire is there. That is what we should feed on in our houses, that Lamb roast with fire, the perfect Man who has done everything to fulfil the satisfaction of God. How perfect, how glorious, and He is available as food. What better to feed on! The children of Israel went into the wilderness and they hankered after the food of Egypt. I think they had maybe lost this joy that they had in this Lamb. God, of course, provided for them. Oh how good a God we have! He is always able to provide in every circumstance, but then we have to make room ourselves. So there they take it with bitter herbs. What is of this world is bitter, what is of Christ is sweet, the lamb roast with fire, not raw, not “boiled with water”, but roast with fire. What intensity of suffering Jesus went through. It is intended to affect us. The destroyer passing over was not a light matter. As we go through this world we know that our commonwealth is not of this world, it is of another world. Do we really appreciate what it meant for Jesus? I think we need to put a right value on the sufferings of Christ, the lamb “roast with fire”. The fire needs to be really hot, to roast the lamb. Jesus went to the very depths. Is that what we are feeding on? That is what we need to feed on, Christ. It is all there, it is all available, “its head with its legs and with its inwards”, everything there is good food.
So read the gospels and encourage the children, to do that, go and read the gospels. It is good food, it is Christ; learn about how Jesus walked when He was here. Then get on your knees and speak to Him and come to know Him where He is, and then you will become like Him here where He was. That is how you enter into it, but you have to feed on that, you have to partake of it. If you do not partake of it you cannot enjoy it. If you do not put food in your mouth you cannot taste it. Oh you need to put this food in your mouth and taste it. I think our houses should be like that, areas where you can taste that the Lord is good. So here they were to take it and eat it; “ye shall let none of it remain until the morning”. They were to eat it in haste, ready to go out, ready for an end of things in this world. Egypt was done with, they were to go forward, their loins girded, sandals on their feet, staff in their hand; they do not take it leisurely, they eat it in haste”. Why? Because they want to go out of Egypt. Oh, “our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens”, Philippians 3: 20. We are not of this world, we are of another world, a world where Christ has His true place. You go out into the world here and Christ has no place at all, they would love to ignore Him. “Crucify him”, they said, and it is still the same today. But in the houses of the saints it is intended that we can feed on Him, an area where there is room made for that Lamb, an area where affection can be known,
“it is Jehovah’s passover”. The firstborn were smitten, in the land of Egypt, but then when God saw the blood He passed over. Well, is He going to pass over our houses? He would pass over every house under the shelter of the blood. I would just like to challenge myself, and each one of us, that our houses are in accord with this, in accord with the Man that God has selected, the perfect Man.
I read in John because I think here you see a house where affection was known. It says in the previous chapter, “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus “(John 11: 5). He loved these three individuals. He loved to go to Bethany; He went to that place where He could be free, where affection was known. Martha and Mary said, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died” (John 11: 21, 32). They knew that if Jesus had been in the house Lazarus would not have died. I would like to apply that to ourselves, if Jesus has His true place in our houses it would preserve us from things in this world. They knew that. When Jesus comes to the tomb Lazarus is raised from the dead. Then Jesus “came to Bethany, where was the dead man Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from among the dead”. There therefore they made Him a supper. It does not say they made a supper for themselves and Jesus happened to be there. That is not what it says. It says, “There therefore they made him a supper”. What is our objective? When we come together, our objective should be that there is something for Christ. He meets His own after He was raised and He says, “Have ye anything here to eat?”, Luke 24: 41. They gave Him part of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb. Oh how fine it is to have something for Him! Would that we are found like this in an attitude where our houses can be occupied with making something for the heart of Christ.
Martha served, there is no discord here. Martha is serving, she is occupied in bringing what is necessary for Jesus. Lazarus is at table, enjoying things with Christ. That is what is intended to be in our homes. In our houses it is intended that the householder can bring out of his treasure things new and old (see Matthew 13: 52). I think these treasures would relate to our experience with Christ and experience with God. We can bring them out and they are for the pleasure of Christ. Mary did that, she brought out this treasure. It was “a pound of ointment of pure nard”. That is the treasure she brought out, in the house, for the pleasure of Jesus. She
“anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment”. I think if we make room for Jesus in our houses, the whole house will be filled with the odour of the ointment, it permeates everything. Make room for that Lamb, have affection for Him. Other things will be gone, there will be no room for them, because the house is filled with the odour of this ointment. There is an area where there is joy and happiness. There is room for Jesus and the house is filled with this wondrous answer, an answer that satisfies Him, and satisfies the heart of God.
May we be found in character like this and may our houses be found like this. I think it comes about as we start with ourselves, being men that are like Christ. We find that it would follow through into houses that are available, where room is made for Christ, so that there should be this answer in the house being filled with the odour of the ointment. That permeates then to the local assembly and there is an answer that satisfies the heart of God. May we be found in this character and may we be exercised to have our houses available so that Christ may be magnified in them. May it be so, for His name’s sake.
Address at Toronto
6 June 1998