Let us now
gather up in a positive presentation - even at the risk
of some repetition - what we believe to be the essence
and substance of that testimony for which the Lord has
ever reacted, and would now react, in a day of
declension. There are three words which represent this
testimony, and these three words may be clearly seen to
govern and interpret the whole of the Scriptures. There
is no part of the Scriptures which does not relate in
some way to one or more of the objects which these words
denote. They are, in the Old Testament: THE ALTAR, THE
HOUSE, THE NAME; or, in the New Testament: THE BLOOD, THE
CHURCH, THE SOVEREIGNTY.
THE
ALTAR AND THE BLOOD
Every
reaction and new beginning that has come from God has
been by an altar. The first of these was that of Abel,
although there must have been an earlier shedding of
blood, when the consciousness of being uncovered led to
God’s clothing or covering the expelled two with
skins of animals. Then, when that world was wiped out in
judgment by the flood, a new beginning was made with
Noah’s altar. When there was nothing of a
distinctive character speaking for God in the days of
Abram, the Lord laid His hand upon him, called him out as
an elect instrument, and brought him to an elect land;
and there, with the man and the place of His new
beginning brought together, an altar was erected. There
was a brief lapse when Abram went down to Egypt, but on
his return the original ground was re-taken with a
reconstructed altar.
Thus a
distinctive seed was marked out; and some four hundred
years later, that seed being constituted a corporate
testimony against world-wide misrepresentation of God, an
altar was the conspicuous factor, initially and
continuously. It is significant that, although many
thousands of lambs were slain on the night of the
separation of that people from Egypt, the record always
speaks in the singular, never in the plural. It was
always “the lamb” or “a lamb”. In
God’s sight there was only One Lamb, and although
every threshold was an altar, there was only one Altar in
Heaven’s view. (The word in Exodus 12:22, translated
“bason”, is in the Hebrew
“threshold”.)
This truth
of new beginnings with the altar can be clearly seen
afterward in the case of the receiving of the Law and the
pattern of the heavenly things by Moses. The great altar
of the Tabernacle and Temple governed the life of Israel
for many years, until the times of declension set in, and
then each movement back toward God was marked by the
altar coming again into its place. It was so in
Elijah’s stand, in 1 Kings 18; and it was so with
the revival under Hezekiah, in 2 Chronicles 30. It was so
again with Josiah - 2 Chronicles 35. But hardly had
Josiah passed off the scene than his work fell in ruins.
Judgment fell, Jerusalem was destroyed, the Temple burnt,
and the people went into captivity. After seventy years a
remnant returned, and we read in Ezra 3:3 that the first
thing that the remnant did was to “set the altar in
its place”.
This is
God’s new work in reaction. We have not gathered in
every instance, but only enough to indicate, and perhaps
establish a recognition of the principle. We leave the
matter of the altar there for the time being, while we
consider the essential element in the altar, which is the
BLOOD.
The
testimony of the altar is the testimony of the Blood. As
we approach this sacred thing, may we urge our readers to
give it the most careful heed? Here we touch the heart of
everything. There has been nothing so assailed as the
testimony of the Blood: by ridicule, by a sneer, by
intellectual superiority, from one direction; by an
ignorant and false refinement which pretends to be
shocked, from another; by a merely rationalistic and
philosophical interpretation, which sees no more than a
crude system of ritual and rite by which a universal
religious instinct expresses itself - a form and idea
which belongs to times of immaturity and unenlightenment
- from yet a third; these and many other modes of assault
from its opponents. Then from its would-be friends it
suffers in numerous ways, ranging from the ritualistic
and sacerdotal debasement, which has names and forms
without life and power, to the other swing of the
pendulum, marked by a superficial, cheap, frivolous,
noisy, jazz-chorus singing about this most holy and
sacred thing – “the precious Blood”.
There is
nothing in the universe more bitterly hated and more
terribly feared by the adversary than the Blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. But if it is to be a mighty operative
factor in life and service, faith must have as
intelligent a basis concerning it as possible; and we are
especially concerned with the vocation of the people of
God here! Let us then see what the Blood stands for.
THE
MEANING OF THE BLOOD
There are
two aspects of this whole matter of the Blood. One
(concerning which we have already said something) is that
a death has taken place, and in that death one whole kind
of humanity has, in the mind of God, been set aside. This
relates to “Him who knew no sin... made... sin on
our behalf” (“in our stead”) (2 Cor.
5:21).
The other,
about which we shall now speak more particularly, is that
which sets forth the inherently incorruptible life of
God’s Son made flesh. If all that is said about the
Blood relates only to death, then its sacredness cannot
be understood, but becomes a supreme problem. We have
dealt with this aspect in the book entitled “The
Centrality and Universality of the Cross”, but we will point out the
essential elements here:
Firstly,
let us note the sacredness of life as in the blood. We
are now familiar with the scriptural teaching that
“the life... is in the blood” (Lev. 17:1), and
“the blood is the life” (Deut. 12:23). There is
a tremendous emphasis in Scripture upon the sacredness of
blood. Indeed the word ‘soul’ is often used
interchangeably with both ‘blood’ and
‘life’ and all the characteristics and values
of the soul are associated in the same way with the
‘blood’ and the ‘life’. But the blood
as the life is related in a peculiar way to God, as
representing His specific prerogatives. Thus the whole
matter is gathered up in a reservation and a provision as
laid down in Leviticus and in John’s Gospel.
In
Leviticus the Lord repeatedly stresses that blood is not
to be drunk. This role would be broken under a penalty of
death (Lev. 7:26,27, 17:10-12). The law concerning blood
and its sacredness was carried so far that if a man went
hunting and killed a quarry, he was to pour out the blood
on the ground and cover it over with dust (Lev. 17:13).
He was not to leave the blood exposed, but honour it,
show it the same reverence, as he would the body of a
fallen man.
Now does it
not strike you with a great force of significance that,
when we have repeatedly read: “Ye shall eat no
manner of blood... Whosoever eateth any blood... shall be
cut off”, then we turn and read in John 6:5:
‘Except ye drink the blood of the Son of Man, ye
have no life’? Surely the very first thing which
this implies is that the whole question of life has been
shut up by God to the Person and Cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is the life of the Person, and gives to the
Person a uniqueness and distinctiveness which no other in
history has ever had. Then it gives to the Cross of the
Lord Jesus a unique and supreme meaning and value, in
that it was there that He shed His Blood and poured forth
His life; releasing that life to be received by all who
believed on the Person and accepted the meaning of His
Cross.
The
spiritually blind Jewish religious leaders of John 6
would naturally be very scandalized at His words about
drinking blood, and would revert to the tradition of the
letter of Leviticus. This would be because on the one
hand they did not realise the meaning of that
reservation, and on the other hand they did not recognise
who Jesus was. To recognise the Lord Jesus is to be
lifted above law into life.
The thought
of the sacredness of the Blood as the life is that of the
Divine relationship of it: that is, that it is bound up
with the Lord and no man can touch it. All of a piece
with this is bound up with the Lord and no man can touch
it. All of a piece with this is –
THE
HOLINESS OF THE BLOOD
We are
familiar with the injunctions concerning the spotlessness
of the offerings of old – “without spot, or
blemish”. There was a sense in which the priests
were expert fault-finders! Their business was to find
fault if they could. The discovery of a blemish in a
proffered sacrifice meant its immediate rejection. Their
eyes were as the eyes of God in this matter. A beast was
passed only after the most scrupulous investigation, when
the formula ‘It is perfect’ was pronounced over
it.
Such,
likewise, then, was the blood, and this is the testimony
of the holiness of the life of the Lord Jesus, and
consequently of the nature of that Divine deposit within
the born-anew child of God. We are not perfect or
spotless, but the life from Him in us is, and by its
vital activity through faith and obedience we are to be
conformed to His image, and are assured that one day we
shall be like Him. Blessed be God, we have the earnest of
perfection. This precious Blood does cleanse.
This leads
us at this point to say a brief word on
THE
SHEDDING AND SPRINKLING OF THE BLOOD.
If we are
not mistaken, the shedding relates to the whole question
of sin, guilt, death, judgment; and by the shedding there
is remission, and the whole ground of salvation is
secured.
The
sprinkling is that by which we are brought into living
vocational fellowship with God. The Tabernacle and
Priesthood of old represented, not only Israel’s
salvation, but Israel’s priestly ministry in the
nations. They were meant to be “a kingdom of
priests”, and God’s ministering instrument
among and to all nations.
Hence there
was a special significance given to the sprinkling of the
blood. Although the Tabernacle was perfect as a
structure; although the “pattern” was carried
out to the last detail; although the priesthood was
complete in number and adornment: nothing and no one
could function until every part - altar, laver, table,
curtains, candlestick, golden altar, mercy-seat, vessels,
instruments, ear, thumb, toe, etc. - had been sprinkled
with the blood. It was regarded as a higher function to
catch the blood for sprinkling even than to slay the
sacrifice and thus shed the blood.
Nothing
lives in the service and ministry of God, save in virtue
of sprinkled blood. Oh, that men would see this
today! The most perfect structure, the most complete
outfit, the most ornate edifice, the most extensive
organization, the most fastidious order, and the most
devout purpose will all fail to function in the eternal
interests of God, apart from the virtue of the precious
Blood of the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit - the Fire of
God - is indispensable to spiritual life and energy, and
He only comes where that Blood has been sprinkled. The
Blood and the Spirit are one, and always go together -
one as the preparation, the other as the attestation.
Calvary precedes Pentecost. The Cross is the way to the
glorifying. To be crucified with Christ is to have put
away that “flesh” upon which the Holy Oil may
not come. God is never going to quicken and vitalise what
He has for ever put away; neither will He glorify and use
in His service that which is of man.
Whatever
the means and methods or necessities which come in their
course, the one all-inclusive object of the Divine
reactions is to have that in the earth which is wholly
and undividedly of God. To this end it is essential
that the Cross be wrought so deeply into the experience
of the Lord’s servants that they shall come to utter
despair as to themselves and all else, and send up a full
heart-cry for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. To such a
crisis the Lord will work by all manner of means, slowly
breaking down all other ground of confidence, and writing
‘failure’ on all other resource.
The
testimony of the Blood, the Cross, then, is the testimony
of that which is uniquely, wholly, sacredly of God in
absolute holiness.
THE
INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE BLOOD
The next
related factor in the Blood as the Life is its
incorruptibility and indestructibility. These elements go
together and are one. What is incorruptible is
indestructible.
This is a
life over which death has no power. Death has been met in
the power of this life. Hades has been entered and
plundered in the power of this life. Satan and his entire
kingdom have had their might exhausted by the power of
this life. He who was and is this Life, now lives for
evermore, as the Testimony to the universal triumph of
His own Blood over every force that has stood in the way
of God’s end.
By this
imperishable life He has perfected salvation. Nothing of
old was ever perfect, because the mediators constantly
changed by death; death breaking in all the time meant no
completeness. But this High Priest perfects for ever,
because He lives after the power of an endless,
“indissoluble” life. Therefore He is able to
save to the uttermost, i.e., the ultimate and
final end (Heb. 7:16, 23-25).
By this
imperishable life He has bound His own to Himself. They
share this life by new birth, and they will never die.
Death is not cessation of being; it is something
spiritual. Life triumphant over death is spiritual, and
means ascendancy over sin, self, Satan, death. In other
words, it is power and victory.
By this
indestructible life the Lord Jesus has inaugurated a
ministry and a work which will persist to its ultimate
consummation, in spite of every force of earth and hell
which may be hurled against it. Mighty empires and
powerful hierarchies have been brought to ruins in
setting themselves against that which He said He would
build. “The gates [i.e., counsels] of
Hades” have NOT prevailed, intensely as
they have striven.
It is a
blessed thing to be in and a part of that work which
shall abide for ever. For a man’s work to go to
pieces when he is withdrawn is no compliment to him. It
only means that it was MAN'S work, not
God’s. Like kingdoms, men rise and wane. Are we
seeking to make a name for OURSELVES? This is
very short-sighted, at best. The testimony to which God
is reacting relates to a work which stands and persists
when every destructive force has spent itself. This
testimony, and such a work, is in virtue of the Blood of
the Lord Jesus.
There are
all kinds of alarms today because of rapid and drastic
changes. Historic creeds are being treated as mere scraps
of paper, and that by leading ecclesiastical
representatives. Hoary institutions and traditions are
rapidly losing their hold and influence. Organized
Christianity is markedly on the wane. The maintenance of
the religious system is demanding all the resource,
acumen, wit, ingenuity and even cunning of men. There
never were so many 'attractions', schemes, popularising
methods, etc., to keep up the ‘church’ (?).
Even in fairly evangelical quarters the appeals for help
are so numerous that it is becoming - as someone has said
- a matter of not being able to afford to go to church.
All this
and much more speaks of failure and defeat, but the Lord
will have that in the earth which is His triumph. To
“contend earnestly for the faith which was once for
all delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3) is something
more than to contend for orthodoxy of doctrine; to
champion an evangelical creed; to be a
‘fundamentalist’. It is to recognise and
fervently seek to secure for God that upon which His own
heart is set: namely, a people of the Altar, the Cross,
the Blood. A people who have been crucified with Christ
in spiritual reality and apprehension, and whose life is
an abiding testimony to Calvary’s victory over all
Christ’s foes, within and without, and from whom
there flows to the ends of the earth the stream of
Divine, holy, mighty, energizing and indestructible life.