GOD'S TESTIMONY AS LIGHT IN THE SOUL OF MAN
GOD’S TESTIMONY AS LIGHT IN THE SOUL OF MAN
Hebrews 11: 39; Hebrews 12: 1 - 3
I do not think that I need make any apology for turning to this well-known scripture, in order to introduce to you the subject about which I desire to speak. There is a kind of fascination about the passage which makes it difficult to me to leave the chapter alone; and what interests me is that the testimony of God exhibits the true character of the world to come. And we are allowed to see the witnesses through which the testimony of God has shone out in this world from the time that sin came into it. The testimony of God came out both before and after the flood. In considering the passage before us, I desire that we should see also how the testimony of God affected those who are brought before us.
And further, I want to refer to what the testimony of God is now that it has reached its height, as we have come to it. It gives me the idea of a vast arch built up piece by piece, and now complete. We have come to the crown of the arch — to the keystone; we have it in its completeness; we are in the full blessedness of God’s testimony, which shines out through faith.
I may remark that what is presented in the epistle to the Hebrews is confirmatory of what is presented elsewhere. We may see there what is to be seen in other parts of the scriptures. When the Spirit of God addresses Himself to the Hebrews, He presents things in one light, and in addressing Gentiles He presents substantially the same things in another light.
John presents Christianity as do also Paul or Peter, but in a different light from that in which they present it. God’s word is one — the work of one blessed Spirit. The part of the apostles was to present the [p. 297] truth in the light in which the Spirit of God gave it to each. We have great gain in this, and though we learn in detail, yet all the teaching becomes one in the soul of the Christian, in the power of the Spirit of God.
I pass on now to the two points that I wish to bring before you; i.e., the testimony of God, and the way in which the witnesses were affected by that testimony. No one could have the testimony without being affected by it. We see how it shone out thus in Abel, Enoch, Noah, and others named.
The interest of the eleventh chapter is in seeing the testimony of God shining out, faith discerning the foundations of the world to come; for God gave expression in detail to what was in His thought.
In the attempt to build the tower of Babel we have man’s will coming out. They set to work to build a city for man’s glory — that was man’s will and purpose; but at the same time God had His own will, and that shines out from time to time through faith.
I will touch on two or three salient points in the eleventh chapter to show what the testimony of God was in detail; then I will endeavour to open out a little what the better thing was that God foresaw for us. We read that the patriarchs died in faith, not having received the promise. God had in this a purpose — viz., that they were not to be made perfect without us for whom He had prepared some better thing. I should like that we might see a little more clearly what the better thing is, and how saints are properly affected by it. How far we have been actually affected by it may be another question, but it is well to see what is its proper effect.
In reverting to the patriarchs, the testimony of God to Abraham was, that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. There was here the light of a distinct purpose on God’s part of blessing to all the nations of the earth. The promise was given [p. 298] to Abraham, but I take it up in connection with the seed, because that is really the important point, for my impression is that God intended to intimate how blessing would be secured to all the families of the earth in a risen Christ. That was His testimony, and faith apprehended it. The true idea of faith is of divine light in the soul. God gave to Abraham His testimony, and Abraham believed it, and thus had light in his soul and was affected by the light. God does not intend light to be ineffective. Abel and Enoch had light, and they were affected by the light. As to the latter “he was not”, for God took him. The church is now in the light of translation, and if saints were in the power of it, man as such would not be seen in it. That was the practical bearing of the testimony which Enoch had. Noah had the testimony of the way of salvation through impending judgment; he had light from God that judgment was coming, but that there was a way of salvation. In Abraham, as I have said, the point was “In thee ... shall all the families of the earth be blessed”; and this was confirmed when in figure Isaac was raised from the dead. Every attribute of God had been met, typically, in the sacrifice, and then the promise that all the families of the earth should be blessed, was confirmed to Abraham’s seed.
The effect on Abraham was, that his aspirations went beyond the testimony, i.e., he sought two things — one was a city, and the other a country. And on the other side, he became a stranger and a pilgrim here. “He looked for a city”, and he sought a country; he saw that God was even greater than His testimony, i.e., God was not limited by His testimony; and in fact a city and a country were necessary to His promise. A city is the symbol of rule, and a country I might speak of as an expanse for liberty and enjoyment. That was what Abraham foresaw. The city that he looked for was one that “hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God”; and the country he sought was heavenly. He looked for a city and country having these characteristics, and in that way he traded, so to speak, on the goodness of God; and it is added, “Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city”. It is our privilege to know that we shall have our part in that heavenly country where there will be full expanse and liberty, and we shall form part of the city, of which Abraham does not form part, though he will have the good of it.
I pass on now to Moses. The testimony of God which Moses apprehended was, that God had a people here. The first principle of God’s purpose which we have seen was that all the families of the earth should be blessed in a risen Christ, and then we have the fact that there is a people of God here on this earth. Moses “was a proper child” himself, his parents “were not afraid of the king’s commandment”; and when he came to years he discerned and was affected by the testimony of God. This so touched Moses that, seeing God’s people in reproach, he chose to be identified and to suffer affliction with them rather than to be separated from them for the pleasures of sin. I understand from the fact of God’s people being in reproach that they were not favoured by the providence of God; had they been thus favoured, they would not have been under the oppression of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. The resolve of Moses was to share in their reproach and not to be countenanced by the world. I need not say that when Christ was here He too was in the place of reproach. There was no reproach for Moses in the house of Pharaoh; but he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter because he would not disown his people for the kindness of the world, and “he had respect unto the recompense of the reward”. That was the way in which things worked with Moses.
[p. 300] But there came a crucial moment in Egypt, a night to be much observed, when the destroying angel passed through the land. God’s people had been in reproach, and now the judgment of God was to fall upon the oppressor, while those under the shelter of the blood were secured from the judgment. And a further moment of the same kind occurred at the Red Sea, when the people of God passed safely through as on dry land, and the waters overwhelmed the Egyptians. In our case, we have seen God’s testimony in Christ’s going into death; God’s love has reached us in the place of death, and we have passed through in triumph to receive assurance of that love by the Holy Spirit. Thus the people who had been in reproach were completely vindicated.
The next point that I notice in the testimony of God is the falling down of the walls of Jericho, after they had been compassed about for seven days. Those who went round them became pretty well acquainted with the walls by the seven days’ survey. The truth is that the foundations on which the power of the enemy rests are rotten. Satan trades on man’s ignorance of God. When the strongholds of the foe are reached, they need only to be compassed about, like the walls of Jericho, and they will fall down flat. The heart of Rahab did not fail, her faith was firm; she took in the situation, and could say, “I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you”; and thus we have in result the intervention of God in the salvation of a Gentile and her family.
We pass over a long period until the times of the Judges, and then we get some striking examples of the energy and patience of faith. There was a testimony of God still bound up with Israel; God had not ceased to regard or care for His people, although a point in their history is reached when their state was at the very lowest — “every man did that which was right in his own eyes”.
In Samuel’s time the links of relationship with God were broken, for the ark of God was taken by the Philistines, and Israel’s glory was departed; but the ark was recovered in God’s mercy, and under David was brought to Mount Zion.
A point I would notice is this: that no testimony of God is lost in a subsequent testimony — no succeeding testimony swallows up a previous one. Can we suppose that God will give up any part of His purpose — for instance, that in the seed of Abraham all the nations of the earth are to be blessed? Nothing can set that aside. Again, have not the walls of Jericho fallen down? Depend upon it that the one who attempts to build them again will bring on himself destruction. The word of the Lord abides for ever.
What we come to now is this: that all the detail of the past converges in the testimony of this moment, and it is that which I wish here to bring before you. The testimony of God in our day is of a glorified Christ; and that, I think, is the better thing which God has foreseen for us. It is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ that is now presented.
All will probably remember the word of the apostle in 2 Corinthians, at the end of chapter 3, and the beginning of chapter 4, where we read: “But if also our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in those that are lost; in whom the god of this world has blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving, so that the radiancy of the glad tidings of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine forth for them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus Lord, and ourselves your bondmen for Jesus’ sake. Because it is the God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine who has shone in our hearts for the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”.
[p. 302] I understand that to be the light of God’s testimony at this moment. The apostle speaks of it in 1 Timothy as “the glad tidings of the glory of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted”. It was not entrusted to him merely for himself, but to make known to the saints; it shone out in Paul, and the apostle preached the gospel not merely to sinners, he preached it for the building up of saints. If you approach unconverted men, you must approach them with the light of the gospel; but the saints have also to be built up in the gospel of the glory of God. It is a purpose that is served to a large extent by the faithful evangelist.
What I understand by the gospel of the glory is, God’s satisfaction in the complete bringing to pass of His will and purpose of blessing in the hands of One in whom He is perfectly revealed. The will of God is all that which is in His heart to bring to pass; all is centred in the One in whom God is effulgent, and there only is God fully revealed. Where did God shine out in all His fulness? I believe it was in the death of Christ. He went into death to bring into it the testimony of God’s love. God is effulgent in Christ; the glory of God shines in the face of the One to whom is committed the full accomplishment of God’s purpose.
I wish I could say a little more about the glory of God. I feel for myself how little I am affected by it. God has been revealed, and every attribute of God magnified. The love of God was revealed in Christ, but it was made effulgent at the cross. The Son of God came here to make God known, and He did this; and as the Man who glorified God, He has now gone up to God. He came out that God might be effulgent; and, on the other hand, as the Man who has glorified God, has gone in to God — one and the same blessed Person, but viewed in two distinct lights. That is what faith apprehends. Faith is now the light of the [p. 303] glory of God in the soul, and if we are rightly affected by it the result will be most marked. Where the word has entered the soul, and brought in the light of the love of God, that man is completely subdued to God — he loves God; and the moment a person loves God a most wonderful and complete revolution is produced in him.
Many have been affected by the grace of God, but I do not think we have been so much affected by the love of God. God has come out in love that He may secure man’s heart for Himself. He will have the love of man, He has set Himself to gain the heart of man — but how? By making known His love. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. The believer is in the light of the glory, and he rejoices “in hope of the glory of God”.
I ask, is your heart in the light of this glory? The testimony of God now is the light of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
Now I want to say a little about the way in which we are affected by this. I judge there are two special ways set forth — one in Hebrews 10, and the other in chapter 12.
As far as I understand it, Hebrews 10 runs parallel with .the epistle to the Ephesians, and chapter 12 with that to the Philippians. They bring before us the ways in which we are properly affected by the light of the glory of God.
The first way in which, as seen in chapter 10, we answer to the light of the glory of God is in our acceptance of the calling which God has given us. As sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, we have, as sons, boldness to enter the holiest by His blood — the new and living way which He hath dedicated through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.
I will say a word about the “new and living way”. Christ made that way by coming out from the heart of [p. 304] God to the cross, to bring the light of God’s love. We travel the same way in our souls, only in the opposite direction, i.e., from the cross to the heart of God.
We enter the holiest; but let us remember that we go in as priests, not as common people, nor even as Levites, but as risen together with Christ. We are sanctified — but how? By our extinction; by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all — that involves your extinction after the flesh. You go into “the holiest” as priests, i.e., as formed by the love of God. It does not follow that because you go to the meeting, you go into “the holiest”. You must not think that “the holiest” is synonymous with the meeting. True, it is the privilege of every Christian to enter “the holiest”, but you must enter as priests, in conscious association with Christ.
I very much doubt whether anyone who fails to apprehend the calling of God enters “the holiest”. I do not say that such have not a title, but as priests you must of necessity be on common ground with Christ; you are risen with Him — delivered from the rudiments of the world; and not only that, but you are formed in the divine nature by the Holy Spirit, so as to be fit companions for Christ.
In Ephesians you apprehend the calling of God. We are said to be raised up together, and made to sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ; but the “heavenly places” are not exactly the idea of “the holiest”.
God has been pleased to give us a place in the scene where Christ is for the satisfaction of His love. If you enter “the holiest”, you enter the scene where everything is in perfect correspondence with God.
In chapter 12 there is another effect of the light, viz., you are running a race — you run to the place where Christ is; and that is the idea which we find in chapter 3 of Philippians. And in running the race [p. 305] you get more distant at every step from all that man esteems here; at the same time you get nearer and nearer in soul to where Christ is. It indicates not exactly the entering into the calling, but a man getting more and more apart from all that is of account in this world, and becoming consciously nearer to Christ in glory. There is a goal before him, and that is the idea presented in the race.
And let me draw attention to what appears so strikingly in chapter 3 of Philippians, viz., purpose. This is a point of very great importance with saints, and one in which I doubt not we are defective. The apostle writing to Timothy says, “Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience”. Many a saint is lacking in purpose, though at the same time wishing to go right; and the purpose of the heart does not come out so much in the acceptation of the calling as in running the race. There are certain things here in which one may have been glorified as a man, but there is a goal now presented to the saints, and that is Christ in glory; He is the end before us, and to reach Him means complete and eternal happiness. When we reach Him we shall have left all that is earthly behind us, and it will be unfailing satisfaction to the soul.
God has come to us in grace to make known His love to our hearts, that they may be full of confidence in Him; and one effect is, that, severed in spirit from all here, we run to where Christ is, and with the object of finding what God has found, viz., His glory — complete satisfaction for our hearts.
Another thing is that you have to run the race “with patience”. There is this admonition connected with it, to which we need to give heed — we are called to lay aside every weight, and sin which doth so easily beset us, and to run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus.
[p. 306] I think that what we have of this world’s goods, though ours providentially, may like many other things be possibly a weight. A rich man’s wealth may be a weight. If a man is running a race, every weight would be an encumbrance. To a man who is settling down in this world things here are not weights; but when you start in the Christian path, then they become weights. I can understand a Christian being a rich man — the Scriptures contemplate such a thing; but in such a case it needs much grace and wisdom to know how to use riches, so that they may not be weights.
And besides this there is “sin which doth so easily beset us”. I understand sin to be the activity of the human will; and all that has to be firmly put aside — it is so close at hand, that it soon gets hold of us. Every working of your own will must be unsparingly refused; if you allow it you will be greatly hindered in running the race, and the race has to be run with patience.
What makes a man impatient is that he cannot compass his will. If I see impatience in a man, I know it springs from his inability to give immediate effect to his will, and impatience is a sure sign of moral weakness.
The two great principles seen in the epistle of James are, patience and no will. “Let us run with patience”, and then there will be the acceptance of God’s will — “Looking unto Jesus”. He accepted the will of God here in the fullest possible way, and He is now “set down at the right hand of the throne of God”.
It is a blessed thought that we are running to the place where Christ is; He has reached the goal, and our happiness will be found in reaching in spirit the place where Christ has gone.
May God give us each to see what the testimony is, and its effect in accepting the calling, so that we may [p. 307] be worshippers; at the same time running with patience the race, so that things in this world become more distant, while we ourselves come morally nearer to the place where Christ now is — at the right hand of God.