<< Back |
Chosen no: R-3605 a, from: 1905 Year. |
Change lang
| |
The Great Company In The Court.
SOME matters connected with the
Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices and the typical services connected
therewith seem still to be obscure to some of the dear friends who apparently
are giving earnest heed to their study. To all such we recommend a fresh
reading of the pamphlet published by our Society, devoted to this topic, and
also a fresh reading of the references made to it in MILLENNIAL DAWN, Vol. VI.
pp.126-132. Matters of this kind require deep and careful study to be
understood by any, and, of course, were never meant by the Lord to be
understood by everybody. The Apostle clearly indicates that only those begotten
of the Spirit can ever properly and correctly appreciate and understand
spiritual things. Others may hear or read and partly understand and appreciate,
but can never be expected to grasp matters fully. Amongst WATCH TOWER
readers, however, we have hope that there are many who are spirit begotten, and
our endeavors in this article and always are on behalf of these. The Lord's
time and way for reaching others are our time and way, and we wait patiently
for the development of that feature of the divine plan in its "due
time."
THE
ANTITYPICAL LEVITES
We have already pointed out that
only the members of one tribe of Israel, the tribe of Levi, were
permitted within the sacred enclosure outside the Tabernacle tent, called the
"court," and that of this tribe only the priests were permitted to
enter the holy places. We have shown that those priests typified the Royal
Priesthood, of which Jesus is the High Priest and his faithful ones the under
priests, and that the Levites in general represented the household of
faith--the justified. We recognize a difference between the priests of the
present time and those of the future; for any now recognized as priests who do
not perform the sacrifice will be cut off from that special privilege and
honor, and will constitute what in Revelation is pictured as a "great
company." Those who have taken the step of consecration and been accepted
of God and been made partakers of the holy Spirit, cannot ignore their
covenant, they cannot return to human conditions. They must go on to perfection
on the spirit plane or be hopelessly lost in the Second Death. There is no
middle ground, because the terms and conditions upon which the Lord will
receive them on the spirit plane are as reasonable as any he could make for
them on the human plane.
When during the Millennial age the
whole world of mankind will be granted an opportunity of coming into full
accord with their Creator, it will be on condition of their absolute obedience
to his law of love--not merely a perfunctory obedience either, but an obedience
from the heart. Any who will not by the close of the Millennial age reach that
proper condition will assuredly be amongst those who will die the Second Death,
as pictured in Revelation 20:9and Matthew 25:46. Nothing can be accepted of the
Lord as righteous that is in any degree in sympathy with sin. And that same
rule which will then apply to the world is during this Gospel age applicable to
the great company. It will be required of them that when brought into straits
they shall at least prove loyal to the principles of righteousness, that they
shall not deny the Lord nor the principles of his government, whatever the cost--otherwise
they will be unworthy of eternal life on any plane. The case with the little
flock is recognized as being still different: the overcomers delight to do the
Father's will to such an extent that they make haste at the sacrifice of
earthly interests to lay down their lives in the service of the King and his
brethren and all the principles of righteousness.
ONCE
CONSECRATED, ALWAYS CONSECRATED.
The difficulty with some of the dear
friends seems to be their unsuccessful attempt to identify this great company
with the typical Levites. Let us, therefore, examine this point. They query,
How can these, who have already made a sacrifice, be represented by the Levites
who did not sacrifice? We reply that the great company do not sacrifice. Their
covenant, their agreement, [R3605 : page 233] was
to sacrifice even unto death, and had they faithfully carried out that
agreement they would not be of the great company but of the little flock, the
overcomers, the Royal Priests. From God's standpoint they never carried out
their covenant, and hence cannot be recognized as priests, and therefore,
although for a time recognized as priests in a tentative way, their failure to
perform the sacrifice hinders them from being ultimately received as
priests--it separates them from their brethren and constitutes them a different
class, a class who have consecrated but who have not performed in harmony with
that consecration.
Nevertheless, this great company
class will not consist of persons who have repudiated the Lord, who have sinned
wilfully, who have despised the covenant: on the contrary, at heart they are
still in sympathy with righteousness, loyal to the Lord, but they do not
develop that consuming zeal for righteousness which would constitute them
overcomers in the Scriptural sense. They love righteousness and hate sin, and
yet they do not deal with these principles in that thoroughgoing manner which
would constitute them copies of God's dear Son. So long as they hold on to the
Lord, so long as they love him and love righteousness, they shall not be
utterly condemned of him even though repudiated as respects a share in the
Bride company, the little flock. Thank God, No! All who love righteousness and
hate iniquity in any measure shall have fullest opportunity of demonstrating
this, and shall be accounted worthy of life everlasting, and unquestionably
this company is a "great company," as the Scriptures indicate--far
more numerous even than the little flock, as the Levites in the type numbered
thousands in proportion to the five chosen from amongst them to be priests.
If, then, the Royal Priesthood were
all originally of the household of faith (Levites in the type) before their
covenant of sacrifice as priests was accepted of the Lord, what would they be
if failing to sacrifice they were put out of the priesthood? We answer that
they would still be Levites after they had lost their priestly privileges,
after their names had been blotted out as respects membership in the body of
Christ, after their crowns had been apportioned to others; as respects the
Kingdom they would still be of the household of faith unless they had wilfully
and deliberately repudiated the Lord and his grace. They would still,
therefore, be represented in the tribe of Levi.
IF
JUSTIFICATION WERE LOST
We have already pointed out that as
our standing as members of the Royal Priesthood is at the present time
tentative, subject to change if we do not sacrifice, so likewise our
justification is in the present time tentative --dependent upon our continuance
in a condition of faith and obedience. We see again that justification by
faith, as it operates during this Gospel age, is merely with a view to bringing
us into a relationship to God which will permit us to consecrate ourselves for
the Royal Priesthood. Were it not the divine purpose to select the Royal
Priesthood there would be no present call to justification by faith, but the
whole world of mankind alike would share in the blessed arrangements of the
divine plan for the future age, namely, an actual justification, an actual
restitution, an actual making perfect, such as the world will experience during
the Millennial age--a justification by works cooperating with faith. Thus it is
written respecting the world's judgment in the Millennial age that they will be
judged according to their works.--Rev. 20:12.
On the contrary, we of this Gospel
age are assured that our judgment will not be according to works impossible to
us under present conditions, but according to faith, with which our works will
cooperate to the extent of our ability. In a word faith is now the standard of
test, and such works as we can present merely attest our faith: in the coming
age works will be the standard and perfection will be demanded, while faith
will cooperate and approve the works.
If, then, it be granted that the
only object of justification by faith now is to permit the believer to present
his body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, his reasonable service,
it follows that those believers who never reach the point of such a
consecration receive the grace of God (justification) in vain. It does not
accomplish for them the only purpose, the only object, for which it was
intended. And it follows that such justification by faith lapses or becomes
null and void within a reasonable time if it be not exercised, if the consecration
which it was intended to make possible be not offered to the Lord. This being
true, it would seem that those whose justification lapses because not used in
consecration will at the time of the lapsing cease to be considered as typified
by the Levites; they drop back from the Levites' position to that of Israel in
general, representing the world, just as those who do make the consecration and
for a time are recognized as priests drop back from the priestly position if
they fail to go on and complete the sacrifice.
Now, then, view the situation. See
who ultimately will constitute the Royal Priesthood--that it will be only the
little flock who have gladly and loyally laid down their lives in the service
of the King and after the example of the High Priest, Jesus. Likewise note that
the only ones who will ultimately constitute the antitypical Levites will be
those who make consecration and fail to attain the priestly degree through
their failure to make a proper sacrifice--"a great company."
THE
LORD'S GOAT AND THE SCAPE-GOAT
We have already set forth in
Tabernacle Shadows that the work of this Gospel age, this antitypical Day of
Atonement, began with the sacrifice of the bullock, which represented our Lord
Jesus. The blood of the bullock being taken within the Most Holy by the High
Priest, appropriation of its merit was made on behalf of the members of the
High Priest's body, the under priesthood, and on behalf of the entire household
of faith, the antitypical Levites. Next in order came the [R3606 : page 234] two goats, both bound, consecrated
at the door of the Tabernacle, representing all who consecrate themselves to
the Lord, and how ultimately they would be divided into two classes--the little
flock and the great company. The course of the little flock, the Royal
Priesthood, was typified in what was done to the "Lord's goat." As
that goat was sacrificed after the same manner as the bullock, its fat burned
upon the altar, its hide, etc., burned without the camp, and its blood taken
into the Most Holy and sprinkled, so with the entire company of the little
flock: they pass through the experiences of the High Priest, they suffer with
him, they are hated with him, they go to him without the camp bearing his
reproach. But as a bullock has much fat and a goat is very lean, so our Lord
had much love to offer upon the Lord's altar, while his followers altogether
have very little, and that little is acceptable merely because the High
Priest's previous sacrifice opened the way, covered its blemishes and made it
acceptable.
It has required this entire Gospel
age to do this sacrificing of the Lord's goat, and its blood has not yet been
presented before the Father by the glorified Christ, --Head and body.
Next we have to consider the
scape-goat. It represents a consecrated class, because it as well as the other
goat was tethered at the door of the tent, devoted to sacrifice. It represents
a class, however, that does not go to sacrifice, that does not go without the
camp and bear the reproach with the bullock, a class whose fat does not go upon
the altar, a class whose blood will never be sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat. It
represents the great company of the consecrated who fail to make their calling
and election sure, but whom the Lord's mercy rescues from the second death
because they also trust in him, because they love righteousness and hate
iniquity, even though they did not display the proper amount of zeal in
connection with their love of righteousness to merit their being classed with
the overcomers, the Royal Priesthood.
THE
SINS BORNE BY THE SCAPE-GOAT
The Scriptures show the priest
laying his hands upon this scape-goat and confessing over it the sins of the
people, and that then it was taken into the wilderness and left there under
that load. This we have interpreted as the delivering over of the unworthy
members of the Church to the power and control of the Adversary, that their
flesh might be destroyed, that their spirits or life might be ultimately saved.
In other words, the life which was not sacrificed was destroyed, the sufferings
which were not voluntarily taken up in harmony with the consecration are
nevertheless inflicted; and if those sufferings are rightly received and if as
a result loyalty to the Lord is ultimately demonstrated, that spirit shall be
saved "so as by fire," coming through great tribulation --"a
great multitude whose number no man knoweth" shall "come up out of
great tribulation and wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the
Lamb"--the Levites, a glorious company, but occupying a lower plane in the
divine plan for the world's salvation, occupying a subordinate place to the
Bride in the glorious work of uplifting the world of mankind during the
Millennial age.
Some who do not grasp the matter
clearly, who have not learned how to apply types and antitypes, may say that
the scape-goat never went into the Holy and therefore could not represent the
great company class. We answer that neither did the goat go into the Holy nor
did the bullock go into the Holy. The bullock represented our Lord as a human
being, not as a spirit being; the goats represented the Lord's consecrated
people as human beings, not as spirit beings. The point to be noticed is that
the one goat followed the bullock to sacrifice and the other goat did not. The
blood of the Lord's goat, therefore, was sprinkled by the High Priest upon the
Mercy Seat, while the blood of the scape-goat was not so sprinkled.
A
TIME OF TROUBLE
As to the signification of the
confessing of the sins of the people upon the scape-goat: the sins thus
confessed upon the head of the scape-goat are assuredly not the sins for which
atonement is made by the blood of the bullock and of the Lord's goat. The
atonement is made for original sin and all of its blemishes and imperfections
as they affect the race of Adam. There are other sins than these for which
atonement is not made, which are not to be forgiven, but on account of which
divine wrath has been more or less manifest throughout the past six thousand
years, and will be especially manifested in the great time of trouble such as
was not since there was a nation nor ever shall be again, and which is now
nearing. That trouble is spoken of as the pouring out of the vials of wrath upon
the world because men have not lived up to their knowledge and opportunities
and privileges. It will come as a natural effect from natural causes, and yet
will be retributive punishment upon the world. In that, we understand, the
great company will be given a special place, a special share. That will be the
time in which every man's work shall be tried "so as by fire," this
being applicable specially to the Church.
True, some of this great company
class have been turned "over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,
that the spirit might be saved [that they might be saved as spirit beings] in
the day of the Lord Jesus" all down through this Gospel age. But the
proportionate number of these has probably been small as compared with the
number who to-day, under the greater light and opportunity and privileges which
we enjoy, have consecrated themselves, yet hold back from the completion of
their sacrifice. The portion of this Day of Atonement picture which relates to
this great company class is not different from that which relates to the other
classes. For instance, the sacrifice of the Lord's goat is not represented as
being accomplished until the very last member of the body of Christ shall have
suffered with the Head, until the final work in that connection, the sprinkling
of the blood of the Lord's goat upon the Mercy Seat shall have been
accomplished, and until the last member shall not only have consecrated but
shall have finished his sacrifice. [R3606 : page 235]
LORD,
CHOOSE MY CROSS FOR ME.
"It was a time of sadness, and
my heart,
Although it knew and loved the better part,
Felt weary with the conflict and the strife,
And all the needful discipline of life.
"And while I thought on
these--as given to me,
My trial test of faith and love to be--
It seemed as if I never could be sure
That, faithful to the end, I should endure.
"And thus, no longer trusting
to his might
Who says, 'We walk by faith and not by sight'--
Doubting, and almost yielding to despair,
The thought arose: My cross I cannot bear.
"Far heavier its weight must
surely be,
Than those of others which I daily see:
Oh, if I might another burden choose,
Methinks, I should not fear my crown to lose.
"A solemn silence reigned on
all around,
E'en Nature's voices uttered not a sound;
The evening shadows seemed of peace to tell,
And peace upon my weary spirit fell.
"A moment's pause, and then a
heavenly light
Beamed full upon my wondering, raptured sight;
Angels on silvery wings seemed everywhere,
And angels' music thrilled the balmy air.
"Then one more fair than all
the rest to see--
One to whom all others bowed the knee--
Came gently to me, as I trembling lay,
And 'Follow me,' He said--'I am the Way.'
"Then speaking thus, He led me
far above;
And there, beneath a canopy of love,
Crosses of diverse size and shape were seen,
Larger and smaller than mine own had been.
"And one there was more
beauteous to behold,
A little one, with jewels set in gold;
Ah, this, methought, I can with comfort wear,
For it will be an easy one to bear.
"And so the little cross I
quickly took,
But all at once my frame beneath it shook;
The sparkling jewels--fair were they to see,
But far too heavy was their weight for me.
"'This may not be,' I cried,
and looked again,
To see if there were any here could ease my pain,
But one by one I passed them slowly by,
Till on a lovely one I cast my eye.
"Fair flowers 'round its
sculptured form entwined,
And grace and beauty seemed in it combined;
Wondering, I gazed, and still I wondered more,
To think so many should have passed it o'er.
[R3607 :
page 235]
"But O! that form so beautiful
to see,
Soon made its hidden sorrows known to me:
Thorns lay beneath those flowers and colors fair,
Sorrowing, I said, 'this cross I may not bear.'
"And so it was, with each and
all around,
Not one to suit my need could there be found.
Weeping, I laid each heavy burden down,
As my guide gently said, 'No cross--no crown.'
"At length to him I raised my
saddened heart,
He knew its sorrow, bade its doubts depart.
'Be not afraid,' he said, 'but trust in me,
My perfect love shall now be shown to thee.'
"And then with lightened eyes
and willing feet,
Again I turned my earthly cross to meet;
With forward footsteps, turning not aside,
For fear some hidden evil might betide.
"And then, in the prepared,
appointed way,
Listening to hear and ready to obey.
A cross I found of plainest form,
With only words of love inscribed thereon.
"With thankfulness I raised it
from the rest,
And joyfully acknowledged it the best;
The only one of all the many there,
That I could feel was good for me to bear.
"And while I thus my chosen one
confessed,
I saw a heavenly brightness on it rest,
And as I bent, my burden to sustain,
I recognized my own old cross again.
"But O, how different did it
seem to be,
Now I had learned its preciousness to see,
Yes, now no longer will I say,
'Perhaps another is a better way.'
"Ah! henceforth my one desire
shall be,
That he who knows me best shall choose for me,
And so whate'er His love seems good to send,
I'll trust it's best--because he knows the end."--Unknown
W.T. R-3605 a : page 232 – 1905 r