A Brief Outline of Lectures on Hezekiah
Now the Hammer and the Ax
Read carefully 2 Chronicles 30.
2 Chronicles 31:1-21Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities. 2And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the Lord. (2 Chronicles 31:1‑2)
Yes, “Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves.” As with the Thessalonians, they turned first to God, then from idols. We must be purged worshippers first within the veil, before there can be power for testimony without. This is God’s way. Then Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests, and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service. And did not the ascended Lord give gifts, every man according to his service? (Eph. 4). The Holy Ghost distributing to every man severally as He will (1 Cor. 12). Is He not the same Lord above? Is He not the same Spirit here below? “Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:1717Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17)). However the church may have failed — doors shut and lamps put out — have not as many as have been gathered to Christ found the Father the same; the Lord, the Holy Ghost the same? “No variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Let us, then, in faith wait on the Lord, and He will put both priests and Levites in their courses, every man according to his service — for worship or service. This brings us to the question of
Fruit
Read 2 Chronicles 31:5-115And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. 6And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps. 7In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. 8And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and his people Israel. 9Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. 10And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store. 11Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the Lord; and they prepared them, (2 Chronicles 31:5‑11).
How beautifully the order is still brought out! Now is the time for fruit. And what abundance did the children of Israel bring; of corn, wine, and oil, and dates. And the tithe of holy things consecrated unto the Lord their God, and they laid them by heaps; or, heaps, heaps. As all fruit must be in the power of resurrection to be perfect, so in this type, “In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.” What a principle this is, and so little understood: “Dead to the law by the body of Christ: that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead: that we should bring forth fruit unto God” (Rom. 7:44Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. (Romans 7:4)). “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection” (Phil. 3:1010That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (Philippians 3:10)). The Holy Ghost could not be given to dwell in us until Christ was risen from the dead and glorified. And if the Spirit could not be given until then, how could we have the fruits of the Spirit? What a contrast this is to man under law! But is it not a universal fact, wherever the doors are shut, and the lamps put out? Yes, wherever men are not led by the Spirit, they are invariably placed under the law, for fruit-bearing. Just as the opposite is also true, even as it is written: “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Gal. 5:1818But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. (Galatians 5:18)).
How little is this true, only resurrection — foundation principle, in the power of the Holy Ghost, for fruit-bearing, understood. We might meditate on this with great profit. Has anything occurred answering to these heaps, heaps of fruits? The doors have been opened again by a full gospel. The Holy Ghost is again owned in the assembly; the immutable perfection of the believer, by the sacrifice of Christ, again revealed. Joy and worship, the result. The Lord’s supper again as it is written. The Lordship of Christ owned; and the blessed fact again enjoyed, oneness with the risen Christ. The Holy Ghost known and owned as sent down to lead and guide. All this, not the work of men, but the hand of the Lord. Now, can it be denied that the blessed Spirit, now owned again, has poured forth such a stream of Christ — exalting ministry, by tongue and pen, as the church never knew since He was set aside at the close of the apostolic age? This, not for money, or worldly applause, but the Holy Ghost, leading the children of God thus to serve in consecration to the Lord. Spiritually, we may say with Azariah, “Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed His people; and that which is left is this great store.” Now this is a notable fact, that since the Holy Ghost has been known, and oneness with the risen Christ believed, the most astonishing numbers of tracts and pamphlets, books and periodicals, have been sent forth, without any sectarian motive, but “unto the Lord,” and for the food and edification of His people. “Tracts, periodicals,” said a brother to me the other day; “I do not know what to do with them; it is impossible to read them all.” I dare say it would have been impossible for Hezekiah to have eaten all the oxen, and rams, and heaps, heaps of fruits. But was that God’s intention? And, my brother, you may have mistaken the Lord’s intention; it may not be that His only thought is, that you should eat all the heaps, heaps of precious fruits, thus laid up in the chambers, or depots, of the treasuries of the Lord, but send them out to others.
(Continued)