The Assembly of God Part 6

2nd. As revealed at the pa.s.sage of the Red Sea. There it is fully manifested that G.o.d is _for_ His people; He has completely overcome their enemy and freed them from his power forever. The prince and his hosts, who ruled over them unto death, are drowned in the sea. G.o.d's people have pa.s.sed out of his dominions, and can now go on with G.o.d in perfect freedom. No condemnation remains. Henceforth, to faith, Satan is a vanquished foe. G.o.d's people are delivered; they can now, in settled peace, worship, praise, and serve their G.o.d. Blessed, holy deliverance and service! Rom. vi.-vii. gives the full teaching of this aspect of the death of Christ.

3rd. As seen in the pa.s.sage of Jordan. There is no judgment to escape there; no foe pressing behind. It is a question of entering the good land which is just across. It is the death of Christ here as _the ending of His people's history_ _as children of Adam_; that, by resurrection, He may now introduce them, as having died and risen with Him, into the place of glory where He has gone. By this it can be said, "As He is, so are we in this world" (I John iv. 17)

Col. ii. 10-iii. 4, is the New Testament doctrine of this precious truth. ED.]

PART IV.

The more deeply we ponder the typical instruction presented in the river Jordan, the more clearly we must see that the whole Christian position is involved in the standpoint from which we view it. Jordan means death, but, for the believer, a death that is _past_--the death we have gone through as identified with Christ, and which, through resurrection, has brought us on the other side--the Canaan side--where He is now. He, typified by the ark, has pa.s.sed over before us into Jordan, to stem its torrent for us, and make it a dry path for our feet, so that we might pa.s.s clean over into our heavenly inheritance. The Prince of life has destroyed, on our behalf, him that had the power of death. He has taken the sting from death; yea, He has made death itself the very means by which we reach, even now, in spirit and by faith, the true heavenly Canaan.

Let us see how all this is unfolded in our type. Mark particularly the commandment given by the officers of the host. "When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your G.o.d, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it." The ark must go first. They dared not to move one inch along that mysterious way, until the symbol of the divine Presence had gone before.

"Yet there shall be a s.p.a.ce between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: _come not near unto it that ye may know the way by which ye must go_; for ye have _not pa.s.sed this way heretofore_." It was an awful flood ahead of them. No mortal could tread it with impunity.

Death and destruction are linked together. "It is appointed unto men once to die; but after this the judgment" (Heb. ix.) Who can stand before the king of terrors? Who can face that grim and terrible foe? Who can encounter the swellings of Jordan? Who, except the Ark go first, can face death and judgment? Poor Peter thought he could; but he was sadly mistaken. He said unto Jesus, "Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, _thou canst not follow Me now_; but thou shalt follow Me afterwards."

How fully these words explain the import of that mystic "s.p.a.ce" between Israel and the ark. Peter did not understand that s.p.a.ce. He had not studied aright Josh. iii. 4. He knew nothing of that terrible pathway which his blessed Master was about to enter upon. "Peter said unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow Thee now? I will lay down my life for Thy sake."

Poor dear Peter! How little he knew of himself, or of that which he was--sincerely, no doubt, though ignorantly--undertaking to do! How little did he imagine that the very sound of death's dark river, heard even in the distance, would be sufficient so to terrify him, as to make him curse and swear that he did not know his Master! "Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for My sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, the c.o.c.k shall not crow till thou hast denied Me thrice."

"Yet there shall be a s.p.a.ce between you and it." How needful! How absolutely essential! Truly there was a s.p.a.ce between Peter and his Lord. Jesus had to go before. He had to meet death in its most terrific form. He had to tread that rough path in profound solitude--for who could accompany Him? "There shall be a s.p.a.ce between you and it: come not near to it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not pa.s.sed this way heretofore."

"Thou canst not follow Me _now_: but thou shalt follow me _afterwards_."

Blessed Master! He would not suffer His poor feeble servant to enter upon that terrible path, until He Himself had gone before, and so entirely changed its character, that the pathway of death should be lighted up with the beams of life and the light of G.o.d's face. Our Jesus has "abolished death, and brought life and incorruptibility to light by the gospel."

Thus death is no longer death to the believer. It was death to Jesus, in all its intensity, in all its horrors, in all its reality. He met it as the power which Satan wields over the soul of man. He met it as the penalty due to sin. He met it as the just judgment of G.o.d against sin--against us. There was not a single feature, not a single ingredient, not a single circ.u.mstance, which could possibly render death formidable which did not enter into the death of Christ. He met all; and, blessed be G.o.d, _we are accounted as having gone through all in and by Him_. We died in Him, so that death has no further claim upon us, or power over us. Its claims are disposed of, its power broken and gone for all believers. The whole scene is cleared completely of death, and filled with life and incorruptibility.

And hence, in Peter's case, we find our Lord, in the last chapter of John, most graciously meeting the desire of His servant's heart--a desire in which he was perfectly sincere--the desire to follow his beloved Lord. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake He signifying by what death he should glorify G.o.d." Thus death, instead of being the judgment of G.o.d to overwhelm Peter, was turned into a means by which Peter could glorify G.o.d.

What a glorious change! What a stupendous mystery! How it magnifies the cross, or rather the One who hung thereon! What a mighty revolution, when a poor sinful man can, by death, glorify G.o.d! So completely has death been robbed of its sting, so thoroughly has its character been changed that, instead of shrinking from it with terror, we can meet it, if it does come, and go through it with song of victory; and instead of its being to us the wages of sin, it is a means by which we can glorify G.o.d. All praise to Him who has so wrought for us! to Him who has gone down into Jordan's deepest depths for us, and made there a highway by which His ransomed people can pa.s.s over into their heavenly inheritance!

May our hearts adore Him! May all our powers be stirred up to magnify His holy name! May our whole life be devoted to His praise! May we appreciate the grace and lay hold of the inheritance.

But we must proceed with our type.

"And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pa.s.s over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee." Joshua stands before us as a type of the risen Christ, leading His people, in the power of the Holy Ghost, into their heavenly inheritance. The priests bearing the ark into the midst of Jordan typify Christ going down into death for us, and destroying completely its power. "He pa.s.sed through death's dark raging flood, to make our rest secure;" and not only to make it secure, but to lead us into it, in a.s.sociation with Himself, now, in spirit and by faith; by-and-by, in actual fact.

"And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your G.o.d. And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the _living_ G.o.d is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites.... Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth pa.s.seth over before you into Jordan."

The pa.s.sage of the ark into Jordan proved two things, namely, the presence of the living G.o.d in the midst of His people; and that He would most surely drive out all their enemies from before them. The death of Christ is the basis and the guarantee of everything to faith. Grant us but this, that Christ has gone down into death for us, and we argue, with all possible confidence, that, in this one great fact, all is secured. G.o.d is with us, and G.o.d is for us. "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" The difficulty of unbelief is, "How shall He?" The difficulty of faith is, "How shall He _not_?"

Israel might wonder how all the hosts of Canaan could ever be expelled from before them: let them gaze on the ark in the midst of Jordan, and cease to wonder, cease to doubt. The less is included in the greater.

And hence we can say, What may we not expect, seeing that Christ has died for us? There is nothing too good, nothing too great, nothing too glorious, for G.o.d to do for us, and in us, and with us, seeing He has not spared His only-begotten Son, but delivered Him up for us all.

Everything is secured for us by the precious death of Christ. It has opened up the everlasting flood-gates of the love of G.o.d, so that the rich streams thereof might flow down into the very depths of our souls.

It fills us with the sweetest a.s.surance that the One who could bruise His only-begotten Son, on the cursed tree, for us, will meet our every need, carry us through all our difficulties, and lead us into the full possession and enjoyment of all that His eternal purpose of grace has in store for us. Having given us such a proof of His love, even when we were yet sinners, what may we not expect at His hands now that He views us in a.s.sociation with that blessed One who glorified Him in death--the death that He died for us? When Israel saw the ark in the midst of Jordan, they were ent.i.tled to consider that all was secured. As our Lord also said to His disciples before leaving them, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world;" and, in view of His cross, He could say, "Now is the prince of this world cast out." True, Israel had, as we know, to take possession: they had to plant their feet upon the inheritance; but the power that could stem death's dark waters, could also drive out every foe from before them, and put them in peaceful possession of all that G.o.d had promised.

PART V.

In closing this series of brief papers on Gilgal, we must turn our thoughts to the practical application of that which has been engaging our attention. If it be true--and it is true--that Jesus died for us, it is equally true that we have died in Him; as one of our own poets has sweetly put it:

"For me, Lord Jesus, Thou hast died And I have died in Thee: Thou'rt risen--my bands are all untied, And now Thou livest in me.

The Father's face of radiant grace Shines now in light on me."

Now this is a great practical truth--none more so. It lies at the very foundation of all true Christianity. If Christ has died for us, then, in very deed, He has taken us completely out of our old condition, with all that appertained to it, and placed us upon an entirely new footing. We can look back from resurrection-ground on which we now stand, into the dark river of death, and see there, in its deepest depths, the memorial of the victory gained for us by the Prince of Life. We do not look forward to death; we look back at it. We can truly say, "The bitterness of death is past."

Jesus met death for us in its most terrible form. Just as the river of Jordan was divided when it presented its most formidable appearance--"for Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest"--so our Jesus encountered our last great enemy, vanquished him in his most fearful form, and left behind, in the very centre of death's dark domain, the imperishable record of His glorious victory. All praise, homage, and adoration to His peerless name! It is our privilege, by faith and in spirit, to stand on Canaan's side of Jordan, and erect our memorial of what the Saviour, the true Joshua, has done for us.

"And it came to pa.s.s, when all the people were clean pa.s.sed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, _out of every tribe a man_. And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, _out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm_, twelve stones; and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging-place where ye shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, _out of every tribe a man_. And Joshua said unto them, Pa.s.s over before the ark of the Lord your G.o.d, into the midst of Jordan, and take you up _every man of you_ a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it pa.s.sed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be _for a memorial_ unto the children of Israel for ever" (Josh. iv: I-7).

The great fact was to be seized, and practically carried out by the whole a.s.sembly, "of every tribe a man"--"every man of you a stone upon his shoulder," a stone taken from the very spot where the priests' feet stood firm. All were to be brought into living personal contact with the great mysterious fact that the waters of Jordan were cut off. All were to engage in erecting such a memorial of this fact as should elicit inquiry from their children as to what it meant. It was never to be forgotten.

What a lesson is here for us! Are we erecting our memorial? Are we giving evidence--such evidence as may strike even the mind of a child--of the fact that our Jesus has vanquished the power of death for us? Are we affording any practical proof in daily life that Christ has died for us, and that we have died in Him? Is there aught in our actual history, from day to day, answering to the figure set forth in the pa.s.sage just quoted--"every man of you a stone upon his shoulder"? Are we declaring plainly that we have pa.s.sed clean over Jordan--that we belong to heaven--that we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit? Do our children see aught in our habits and ways, in our spirit and deportment, in our whole character and manner of life, leading them to inquire, "What mean ye by these things?" Are we living as those who are dead with Christ--dead to sin--dead to the world?

Are we practically freed from the world--letting go our hold of present things, in the power of communion with a risen Christ?

These are searching questions for the soul, beloved Christian reader.

Let us seek to meet them honestly, as in the divine presence. We profess these things, we hold them in theory. We say we believe that Jesus died for us, and that we died in Him. Where is the proof--where the abiding memorial--where the stone on the shoulder? Let us judge ourselves honestly before G.o.d. Let us no longer rest satisfied with anything short of the thorough, practical, habitual carrying out of the great truth that "we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in G.o.d." Mere profession is worthless. We want the living power--the true result--the proper fruit.

"And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. And _those twelve stones which they took out of Jordan_"--stones of peculiar import--no other stones could tell such a tale, teach such a lesson, or symbolize such a stupendous fact--no other stones like them--"those twelve stones did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? then ye shall let your children know, saying, _Israel came over this Jordan on dry land_. For the Lord your G.o.d dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were pa.s.sed over, as the Lord your G.o.d did to the Red Sea, which He dried up from before us, until we were gone over: that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your G.o.d forever."

Here, then, we see Israel at Gilgal. "Everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua." Every member of the host had pa.s.sed clean over Jordan--not one had been suffered to feel the slightest touch of the river of death. Grace had brought them all safely over into the inheritance promised to their fathers. They were not only separated from Egypt by the Red Sea, but actually brought into Canaan across the dry bed of the Jordan, and encamped in Gilgal, in the plains of Jericho.

And now mark what follows. "And it came to pa.s.s, when all the kings of the Amorites which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were pa.s.sed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. _At that time_"--note the words!--when all the nations were paralyzed with terror at the very thought of this people--"at that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee _sharp knives_, and circ.u.mcise again the children of Israel the second time."

How deeply significant is this: How suggestive are these "sharp knives"!

How needful! If Israel are about to bring the sword upon the Canaanites, Israel must have the sharp knife applied to themselves. They had never been circ.u.mcised in the wilderness. The reproach of Egypt had never been rolled away from them. And ere they could celebrate the pa.s.sover, and eat of the old corn of the land of Canaan, they must have the sentence of death written upon them. No doubt this was aught but agreeable to nature; but it must be done. How could they take possession of Canaan with the reproach of Egypt resting upon them? How could uncirc.u.mcised people dispossess the Canaanites? Impossible! The sharp knives had to do their work throughout the camp of Israel ere they could eat of Canaan's food or prosecute the warfare which of necessity belongs to it.

"And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circ.u.mcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. And this is the cause why Joshua did circ.u.mcise. All the people that came out of Egypt that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.... And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circ.u.mcised: for they were uncirc.u.mcised, because they had not circ.u.mcised them by the way.... And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you.

Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal ("rolling") unto this day. And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the pa.s.sover on the fourteenth day of the month, at even, in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the pa.s.sover, unleavened cakes and parched corn, in the self-same day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year."

Here, then, we have a type of the full Christian position. The Christian is a heavenly man, dead to the world, crucified with Christ, a.s.sociated with Him where He now is, and, while waiting for His appearing, occupied in heart with Him, feeding by faith upon Him as the proper nourishment of the new man.

Such is the Christian's position--such his portion. But in order to enter fully into the enjoyment thereof, there must be the application of the "sharp knife" to all that belongs to mere nature. There must be the sentence of death written upon that which Scripture designates as "the old man."

All this must be really and practically entered into if we would maintain our position or enjoy our proper portion as heavenly men. If we are indulging nature; if we are living in a low, worldly atmosphere; if we are going in for this world's pursuits, its pleasures, its politics, its riches, its honors, its fashions, and its distinctions--then, verily, it is impossible that we can be enjoying fellowship with our risen Head and Lord.[VII.] Christ is in heaven, and to enjoy Him we must be living, in spirit and by faith, where He is. He is not of this world; and if we are of it, we cannot be enjoying fellowship with Him. "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth" (I John i. 6).

This is most solemn. If I am living in and of the world, I am walking in darkness, and I can have no fellowship with a heavenly Christ.

"Wherefore," says the blessed apostle, "if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, _as though living in the world_, are ye subject to ordinances?" Do we really understand these words? Have we weighed the full force of the expression, "living in the world"? Is the Christian not to be as one living in the world? Clearly not. He is to live, in spirit, where Christ is. As to fact, he is obviously on this earth, moving up and down, and in and out, in the varied relations of life, and in the varied spheres of action in which the hand of G.o.d has set him. But his home is in heaven. His life is there. His object, his rest, his proper _all_, is in heaven. He does not belong to earth. His citizenship is in heaven; and in order to make this good in practice from day to day, there must be the denial of self, the mortification of our members.

All this comes vividly out in Col. iii. Indeed, it would be impossible to give a more striking exposition of the entire subject of "Gilgal"

than that presented in the following lines: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of G.o.d. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye have died, and your life is hid with Christ in G.o.d.

When Christ our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." And now comes the true spiritual import and application of "Gilgal" and its "sharp knives"--"Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth."

May the Holy Spirit lead us into a deeper and fuller understanding of our place, portion and practice as Christians. Would to G.o.d that we better knew what it is to feed upon the old corn of the land, at the true spiritual Gilgal, that thus we might be better fitted for the conflict and service to which we are called!

FOOTNOTE:

[VII.] The reader may here remark that "the old corn of the land of Canaan" is a type of Christ risen and glorified. The manna is a type of Christ in His humiliation. The remembrance of Him in the latter is ineffably precious to the soul. It is sweet to look back and trace His way as the lowly, humble, self-emptied man. This is to feed upon the hidden manna--"Christ, once humbled here." Nevertheless, a risen, ascended and glorified Christ is the true object for the heart of the Christian; but to enjoy Him there, the reproach of this present evil world--all conformity to it--must be rolled away from us by the spiritual application of the circ.u.mcision of Christ. He was not conformed to this world, and we must be prepared to identify ourselves with Him in this.