Holy in Christ Part 5

Worship Him in the beauty of holiness, as He dwells in the high and holy place. And as you worship, listen to His voice: 'Thus saith the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, _with him also_ that is of a contrite and humble spirit.' It is as the Spirit strengthens us mightily in the inward man, so that Christ dwells in our heart by faith, and the Father comes and makes with Him His abode in us, that we are truly holy. Oh, let us but, in true, true-hearted consecration, yield ourselves to be, as distinctly as was the tabernacle or the temple, given up entirely to be the dwelling of the Most High, the habitation of His Holiness. A house filled with the glory of G.o.d, a heart filled with all the fulness of G.o.d, is G.o.d's promise, is our portion. Let us in faith claim and accept and hold fast the blessing: Christ, the Holy One of G.o.d, will in His Father's Name, enter and take possession. Then faith will bring the solution of all our difficulties, the victory over all our failures, the fulfilment of all our desires: 'The tent, the heart, shall be sanctified by my glory; and I will dwell among them.' The open secret of true holiness, the secret of the joy unspeakable, is Christ dwelling in the heart by faith.

BE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY.

We bow our knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus, that He would grant unto us, according to the riches of His glory, what He Himself has taught us to ask for. We ask nothing less than this, that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith. We long for that most blessed, permanent, conscious indwelling of the Lord Jesus in the heart, which He so distinctly promised as the fruit of the Holy Spirit's coming. Father! we ask for what He meant when He spake of the loving, obedient disciple: 'I will come and manifest myself to him. We will come and take up our abode with him.' Oh, grant unto us this indwelling of Christ in the heart by faith!

And for this, we beseech Thee, grant us to be strengthened with might by Thy Spirit in the inner man. O Most Mighty G.o.d! let the spirit of Thy Divine Power work mightily within us, renewing our mind, and will, and affections, so that the heart be all prepared and furnished as a temple, as a home, for Jesus. Let that Blessed Spirit strengthen us to the faith that receives the Blessed Saviour and His indwelling Presence.

O Most Gracious Father! hear our cry. We do bow our knee to Thee. We plead the riches of Thy glory. We praise Thee who art mighty to do above what we can ask or think. We wait on Thee, O our Father: oh, grant us a mighty strengthening by the Spirit in the inner man, that this bliss may be ours in its full blessedness, our Lord Jesus dwelling in the heart.

We ask it in His Name. Amen.

1. G.o.d's dwelling in the midst of Israel was the great central fact to which all the commands concerning holiness were but preparatory and subordinate. So the work of the Holy Spirit also culminates in the personal indwelling of Christ. (John xiv. 21, 23. Eph. iii. 16, 17.) Aim at this and expect it.

2. The tabernacle with its three divisions was, as of other spiritual truths, so the image of man's threefold nature. Our spirit is the Holiest of all, where G.o.d is meant to dwell, where the Holy Spirit is given. The life of the soul, with its powers of feeling, knowing, and willing, is the holy place. And the outer life of the body, of conduct and action, is the outer court. Begin by believing that the Spirit dwells in the inmost sanctuary, where His workings are secret and hidden. Honour Him by trusting Him to work, by yielding to Him in silent worship before G.o.d. From within He will take possession of thought and will; He will even fill the outer court, the body, with the Holiness of G.o.d. 'The G.o.d of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved entire, without blame. Faithful is He which calleth you, who will also do it.'

3. G.o.d's indwelling was within the veil, in the unseen, the secret place. Faith knew it, and served Him with holy fear. Our faith knows that G.o.d the Holy Spirit has His abode in the hidden place of our inner life. Set open your inmost being to Him; bow in lowly reverence before the Holy One as you yield yourself to His working. Holiness is the presence of the Indwelling One.

Ninth Day.

HOLY IN CHRIST.

Holiness and Mediation.

'And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the _holy_ things, which the children of Israel shall _hallow_ in all their _holy_ gifts; and it shall always be upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.'--Ex. xxviii. 36, 38.

G.o.d's house was to be the dwelling-place of His Holiness, the place where He was to reveal Himself; as the Holy One, not to be approached but with fear and trembling; as the Holy-making One, drawing to Himself all who would be made partakers of His Holiness. Of the revelation of His Holy and His Holy-making Presence, the centre is found in the person of the high priest, in his double capacity of representing G.o.d with man, and man with G.o.d. He is the embodiment of the Divine Holiness in human form, and of human holiness as a Divine gift, as far as the dispensation of symbol and shadow could offer and express it. In him G.o.d came near to sanctify and bless the people. In him the people came their very nearest to G.o.d. And yet the very Day of Atonement, in which he might enter into the Most Holy, was but the proof of how unholy man was, and how unfit to abide in G.o.d's Presence. In himself a proof of Israel's unholiness, he yet was a type and picture of the coming Saviour, our blessed Lord Jesus, a wondrous exhibition of the way in which hereafter the holiness of G.o.d should become the portion of His people.

Among the many points in which the high priest typified Christ as our sanctification, there is, perhaps, none more suggestive or beautiful than _the holy crown_ he wore on his forehead. Everything about him was to be holy. His garments were holy garments. But there was to be one thing in which this holiness reached its fullest manifestation. On his forehead he was always to wear a plate of gold, with the words engraved on it, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. Every one was to read there that the whole object of his existence, the one thing he lived for, was, to be the embodiment and the bearer of the Divine holiness, the chosen one through whom G.o.d's holiness might flow out in blessing upon the people.

The way in which the blessing of the holy crown was to act was a most remarkable one. In bearing HOLINESS TO THE LORD on his forehead, he is, we read, 'to bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow; that they may be accepted before the Lord.' For every sin some sacrifice or way of atonement had been devised. But how about the sin that cleaves to the very sacrifice and religious service itself?

'Thou desirest truth in the inward parts.' How painfully the worshipper might be oppressed by the consciousness that his penitence, his faith, his love, his obedience, his consecration, were all imperfect and defiled! For this need, too, of the worshipper, G.o.d had provided. The holiness of the high priest covered the sin and the unholiness of his holy things. The holy crown was G.o.d's pledge that the holiness of the high priest rendered the worshipper acceptable. If he was unholy, there was one among his brethren who was holy, who had a holiness that could avail for him too, a holiness he could trust in. He could look to the high priest not only to effect atonement by his blood-sprinkling, but in his person to secure a holiness too that made him and his gifts most acceptable. In the consciousness of personal unholiness he might rejoice in a mediator, in the holiness of Another than himself, the priest whom G.o.d had provided.

Have we not here a most precious lesson, leading us a step farther on in the way of holiness? To our question, How G.o.d makes holy, we have the Divine answer: Through a man whom the Divine Holiness has chosen to rest upon, and whose holiness belongs to us, as His brethren, the very members of His own body. Through a holiness which is of such efficacy, that the very sins of our holy things disappear, and we can enter the Holy Presence with the a.s.surance of being altogether well-pleasing.

And is not just this the lesson that many earnest seekers after holiness need? They know all that the Word teaches of the blessed Atonement, and the full pardon it has brought. They believe in the Father's wonderful love, and what He is ready to do for them. And yet, when they hear of the childlike simplicity, the a.s.surance of faith, the loving obedience, and the blessed surrender with which the Father expects them to come and receive the blessing, their heart fails for fear. It is as if the blessing were all beyond their reach. What avails that the Holy One is said to come so nigh? their unholiness renders them incapable of claiming or grasping the Presence that offers itself to them. Just see how the Holy One here reveals His way of making holy, and preparing for the fellowship of His Holiness. In His Elect One as Mediator, holiness is prepared and treasured up enough for all who come through Him. As I bow to pray or worship, and feel how much there is still wanting of that humility, and fervency, and faith, that G.o.d has a right to demand, I may look up to the High Priest in His Holiness, to the holy crown upon His forehead, and believe that the iniquity of my holy things is borne and taken away. I may, with all my deficiency and unworthiness, know most a.s.suredly that my prayer is acceptable, a sweet-smelling savour. I may look up to the Holy One to see Him smiling on me, for the sake of His Anointed One. 'The holy crown shall always be on His forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.' It is the blessed truth of Subst.i.tution--One for all--of Mediatorship; G.o.d's way of making us holy.

The sacrifice of the worshipping Israelite is holy and acceptable in virtue of the holiness of Another.

The Old Testament shadow can never adequately set forth the New Testament reality with its fulness of grace and truth. As we proceed in our study, we shall find that the holiness of Jesus our sanctification is not only imputed but imparted, because we are _in Him_; the new man we have put on is created in true holiness. We are not only counted holy; we are holy, we have received a new holy nature in Christ Jesus.

'He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all _of One_; therefore He is not ashamed to call them brethren.' It is our living union with Jesus, G.o.d's Holy One, that has given us the new and holy nature, and with that a claim and a share in all the holiness there is in Jesus. And so, as often as we are conscious of how unholy we are, we have only to come under the covering of the Holiness of Jesus, to enjoy the full a.s.surance that we and our gifts are most acceptable. However great be the weakness of our faith, the shortcoming in our desire for G.o.d's glory, the lack in our love or zeal, as we see Jesus, with Holiness to the Lord on His forehead, we lift up our faces to receive the Divine smile of full approval and perfect acceptance.

This is G.o.d's way of making holy. Not only with the holy place, as we have seen, but with the holy persons too, He begins with a centre, and from that in ever-widening circle makes holy. And that this Divine method will be crowned with success we may be sure. In the Word we find a most remarkable ill.u.s.tration of the extent to which it will be realized. We find the words on the holy crown once again in the Old Testament at its close. In the day of the Lord, 'there shall be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.' The high priest's motto shall then have become the watchword of daily life; every article of beauty or of service shall be holy too; from the head it shall have extended to the skirts of the garments. Let us begin with realizing the Holiness of Jesus in its power to cover the iniquity of our holy things; let us make proof of it, and no longer suffer our unworthiness to keep us back or make us doubt; let us believe that we and our holy things are acceptable, because in Christ holy to the Lord; let us live in this consciousness of acceptance, and enter into fellowship with the Holy One. As we enter in and abide in the holiness of Jesus, it will enter in and abide in us. It will take possession and spread its conquering power through our whole life, until with us too upon everything that belongs to us the word shall shine, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And we shall again find how G.o.d's way of holiness is ever from a centre, here the centre of our renewed nature, throughout the whole circ.u.mference of our being, to make His Holiness prove its power. Let us but dwell under the covering of the Holiness of Jesus, as He takes away the iniquity of our holy things, He will make us and our life holy to the Lord.

BE YE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.

O my G.o.d and Father! my soul doth bless Thee for this wondrous revelation of what Thy way and Thy grace is with those whom Thou hast called 'Holy in Christ.' Thou knowest, O Lord, how continually our hearts have limited our acceptance with Thee by our attainments, and conscious shortcoming has wrought condemnation. We knew too little how, in the Holiness of Him who makes us holy, there is a Divinely infinite efficacy to cover our iniquities, and give us the a.s.surance of perfect acceptance. Blessed Father! open our eyes to see, and our hearts to understand this holy crown of our blessed Jesus, with its wondrous and most blessed, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

And when our hearts condemn us, because our prayers are so little consciously according to the will or to the glory of G.o.d, or truly in the name of Jesus, O most Holy Father, be pleased by Thy Spirit to show us how bright the smile and how hearty the welcome is we still have with Thee. Teach us to come in the Holiness of our High Priest, and enter into Thine, until it take possession of us, and permeate our whole being, and all that is in us be holy to the Lord. Amen.

1. Holiness is not something I can see or admire in myself: it is covering myself, losing myself, in the Holiness of Jesus.

How wonderfully this is typified in Aaron and the holy crown.

And the more I see and have apprehended of the Holiness of Jesus, the less shall I see or seek of holiness in myself.

2. He will make me holy: my tempers and dispositions will be renewed; my heart and mind cleansed and sanctified; holiness will be a new nature; and yet there will be all along the consciousness, humbling and yet full of joy: it is not I; Christ liveth in me.

3. Let us lie very low and tender before G.o.d, that the Holy Spirit may reveal to us what it is to be holy in the Holiness of Another, in the Holiness of Jesus, that is, in the Holiness of G.o.d.

4. Do not trouble or weary too much to grasp this with the intellect. Just believe it, and look in simplicity and trust to Jesus to make it all right for you.

5. _Holy in Christ._ In childlike faith I take Christ's holiness afresh as my covering before G.o.d. In loving obedience I take it into my will and life. I trust and I follow Jesus: this is the path of holiness.

6. If we gather up the lessons we have found in the Word from Paradise downward, we see that the elements of holiness in us are these, each corresponding to some special aspect of G.o.d's holiness: deep Restfulness (ch. 3), humble Reverence (ch. 4), entire Surrender (ch. 5), joyful Adoration (ch. 6), simple Obedience (ch. 7). These all prepare for the Divine Indwelling (ch. 8), and this again we have through the Abiding in Jesus with the Crown of Holiness on His head.

Tenth Day.

HOLY IN CHRIST.

Holiness and Separation.

'I am the Lord your G.o.d, which have _separated_ you from other people. And ye shall be _holy_ unto me, for I the Lord am _holy_, and have _separated_ you from other people that ye should be _Mine_.'--Lev. xx. 24, 26.

'Until the days be fulfilled, in the which he _separateth_ himself unto the Lord, he shall be _holy_.... All the days of his _separation_ he is _holy_ unto the Lord.'--Num. vi. 5, 8.

'Wherefore Jesus also, that He might _sanctify_ the people through His own blood, suffered _without the gate_. Let us therefore go forth unto Him _without the camp_, bearing His reproach.'--Heb.

xiii. 12, 13.

Separation is not holiness, but is the way to it. Though there can be no holiness without separation, there can be separation that does not lead to holiness. It is of deep importance to understand both the difference and the connection, that we may be kept from the right-hand error of counting separation alone as holiness, as well as the left-hand error of seeking holiness without separation.

The Hebrew word for holiness possibly comes from a root that means to separate. But where we have in our translation 'separate' or 'sever' or 'set apart,' we have quite different words.[3] The word for holy is used exclusively to express that special idea. And though the idea of holy always includes that of separation, it is itself something infinitely higher. It is of great importance to understand this well, because the being set apart to G.o.d, the surrender to His claim, the devotion or consecration to His service, is often spoken of as if this const.i.tuted holiness. We cannot too earnestly press the thought that this is only the beginning, the presupposition: holiness itself is infinitely more; not what I am, or do, or give, is holiness, but what G.o.d is, and gives, and does to me. It is G.o.d's taking possession of me that makes me holy; it is the Presence and the glory of G.o.d that really makes holy. A careful study of G.o.d's words to Israel will make this clear to us. Eight times we find the expression in Leviticus, 'Ye shall be holy, for I am holy.' Holiness is the highest attribute of G.o.d, expressive not only of His relation to Israel, but of His very being and nature, His infinite moral perfection. And though it is by very slow and gradual steps that He can teach the carnal darkened mind of man what this means, yet from the very commencement He tells His people that His purpose is that they should be like Himself--holy because and as He is holy. To tell me that G.o.d separates men for Himself to be His, even as He gives Himself to be theirs, tells me of a relation that exists, but tells me nothing of the real nature of this Holy Being, or of the essential worth of the holiness He will communicate to me. Separation is only the setting apart and taking possession of the vessel to be cleansed and used; it is the filling of it with the precious contents we entrust to it that gives it its real value. Holiness is the Divine filling without which the separation leaves us empty. Separation is not holiness.

But separation is essential to holiness. 'I have separated you from other people, and ye shall be holy.' Until I have chosen out and separated a vessel from those around it, and, if need be, cleansed it, I cannot fill or use it. I must have it in my hand, full and exclusive command of it for the time being, or I will not pour into it the precious milk or wine. And just so G.o.d separated His people when He brought them up out of Egypt, separated them _unto Himself_ when He gave them His covenant and His law, that He might have them under His control and power, to work out His purpose of making them holy. This He could not do until He had them apart, and had wakened in them the consciousness that they were His peculiar people, wholly and only His, until He had so taught them also to separate themselves to Him.

Separation is essential to holiness.

The inst.i.tution of the Nazarite will confirm this, and will also bring out very clearly what separation means. Israel was meant to be a holy nation. Its holiness was specially typified in its priests. With regard to the individual Israelite, we nowhere read in the books of Moses of his being holy. But there were ordinances through which the Israelite, who would fain prove his desire to be entirely holy, could do so. He might separate himself from the ordinary life of the nation around him, and live the life of a Nazarite, a separated one. This separation was accepted, in those days of shadow and type, as holiness. 'All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord.'

The separation consisted specially in three things--temperance, in abstinence from the fruit of the vine; humiliation, in not cutting or shaving his hair ('it is a shame for a man if he have long hair'); self-sacrifice, in not defiling himself for even father or mother, on their death. What we must specially note is that the separation was not from things unlawful, but things lawful. There was nothing sinful in itself in Abraham living in his father's house, or in Israel dwelling in Egypt. It is in giving up, not only what can be proved to be sin, but all that may hinder the full intensity of our surrender into G.o.d's hands to make us holy, that the spirit of separation is manifested.