(Notes of an Address.)
IT is not because there is any connection between these scriptures that I have put them together, but rather that we find in them such a striking contrast. Still there is one blessed, solemn fact true of both.
The first is a scripture very familiar to us in the ministry of the Gospel: we have in it a display of the pure, Divine, unmeasured grace of Jehovah, in dealing with one found in His presence. Now, in Rev. 20 it is entirely a different scene. There is no grace there. There is no judgment in Zech. 3, and no grace in Rev. 20. In the first scripture it is all grace, the infinite, unmeasured grace of God; in the second, it is infinite, eternal, unmeasured judgment, — and with one of these two scriptures everyone must have to do. You will be found actually, really, personally in the circumstances of one or other of these two scenes: if in the first, never in the second; but if you despise the first, surely in the second will be your place.
If you are unsaved, whoever you are, you all stand on the one common level before God of “There is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Rom. 3:1212They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Romans 3:12)). That is what God thinks about you, and that is the only thing worth thinking of. What your friends and neighbors think of you, is of no moment in the light of God’s eternity. If the hour of your dissolution were at hand, the one question would be, What does God think about me? Have I a robe suitable for the presence of Him who is “of purer eyes than to behold iniquity”? You never can know a rest that never can be broken, a peace that never can be disturbed, unless in quietness before God you can say, I am suited for God’s holy presence forever.
Here we have a kind of picture of what goes on in the presence of God. The angel of the Lord was Jehovah’s representative. Joshua’s condition was, “clothed with filthy garments.” When you are found in the position of the 1St verse of Zechariah 3, your eternal blessing is secure. You may be ignorant, and without peace, but when you have reached that circle of blessing, discovered here to our souls, your eternal blessing is secure — it is the presence of God.
But you say, Are we not always in the presence of God, for “in Him we live and move and have our being”? That is another thing altogether. We are ever in God’s presence in one sense, as the Psalmist says: “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead me” (Psa. 139:7-137Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. 13For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. (Psalm 139:7‑13)). But it is another thing when the soul, really alone before God, has come to this: Now I am near to God, before Him, and I must have to do with Him. You may often have a doubt about the present, and anxiety about the future, but do you ever say, I should like to know how God would treat me if I were alone with Him? I want you to gather up the answer to that now — how God treats a soul when alone with Him in the day of His grace. In Revelation 20 they are standing before Him, but not in the day of His grace — they stand alone before God. It is a solemn reality that you will sing forever the praises of Christ in heaven, or forever and ever you will wail in deepest anguish in those depths beneath.
What hinders people from getting into God’s presence? Often it is will and pride which keep them from coming to an issue with Him. God is calling souls now, in the midst of all the confusion and turmoil and restlessness of this poor world. He calls, He sends out His Word and His servants to bring men into His presence. Do not despise His Word. Have you ever refused and despised those earnest, tender words of Christ to come to Him? Let this be the moment when you turn and come into His presence. God follows men in their circumstances. If they will not hear the voice of His Word, He will bring the voice of sickness. If that is unheard, He will speak louder, and send trials — perhaps the death of a loved one. It is a solemn thing to watch God following up, in the persistency of Divine grace, the soul that strives to get away from Him. Adam was driven out of God’s presence, and his firstborn child turned his back on it, “he went out from the presence of the Lord;” and you are either in Cain’s position, outside, or in God’s presence forever. Would you like to come into that enclosure where all is light and love — to be alone with Him? You can be alone with Him in your house; or in the street your heart can turn in reality to Him. A person who has ever been with God can never forget it, and it is there he has been able to form a judgment which is according to God.
You know the question that was raised when God came down into the garden of Eden, “Where art thou?” Oh that God would raise that question with you! In the name of my Master, I ask you, Where are you? Are you getting on in the world, and living without Christ? Do you begin and end your day without Him, and never dream of thinking of Him? If you tell the truth, I fear you must answer, I live a godless life. A godless man means a man without God — a man governed by one principle, one thing commands his life, his own will, his own good pleasure. You are godless, if you are unsaved and unconverted. “Where art thou?” God will ask you where you are. You may despise Him in this day of grace, but you never can escape the certainty of judgment. You may live your life without Him, and die without Him, but then it will only be to be called up in the judgment to render an account to God of all that you have done here.
Thank God, His presence is open to you now in grace. God’s blessed Son was here once. Eighteen hundred years ago He walked through this world, and any broken-hearted sinner could get an audience with Him as He passed along. He never turned away; on the contrary, Divine love was seeking out cases of woe. He brought in His Person all we could ever want, and He sought only an occasion wherein to lavish His goodness. And what Christ was then, He is now in heaven, though He was refused on earth. Solemnly and justly has it been said, that if you refuse His grace and go down to the abyss of that everlasting misery, you must pass the open door of heaven, — you must hear the song of joy that fills it, and then pass by! You say you love your own way. It is sin you love, and everything connected with yourself; you love the world, where all is darkness. When Judas went out, on the eve of the Lord’s betrayal, there is a little word in John 13 which says much: “And it was night.” It was the darkness of night in this poor world.
Joshua is the high priest, and the high priest was always the representative of Israel in relation to worship and atonement. He is standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan is there too. There is no Satan in Revelation 20:1212And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12). When men and women stand before the great white throne, Satan is not there. Before the dead hear their final doom, Satan has met his (see Rev. 20:1010And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)). He gets his judgment before the great white throne begins, for when souls stand before God in judgment, Satan’s resisting power is not wanted there. They have been deceived, and they have refused the voice of the Saviour. But to you I would say, Remember that to whom you give your ear you give your soul. If you say, I give my ear to my Saviour, and I listen to what He says, your soul is safe forever. Satan leads only in that path which ends in destruction, and he does all now that he can to hinder you. There is a moment in a man’s life when decision for God and for Christ becomes the serious question before him. Is it to be Christ and eternal glory and rest forever? or the world and my little delights of the moment? “Where art thou?” Will you say, in answer to this question, I turn to God now?
Did you ever know a man turn from idols to God? I have known many men turn from God to idolatry. Whatever has God’s place in your heart is an idol. If there is anything here enthroned in your heart that is not Christ, it is your idol; and when you come into the presence of God, that idol must go — your Saviour claims the first place. Is not Christ worthy of it? Satan will try to prevent you from going into God’s presence, and even when you get there, he will be there too to accuse you. People make too little of Satan, and he delights to be made little of; but he is really the mightiest power on earth, except the Spirit of God. He has a power which will bind you down to hell, unless the Saviour deliver you. Could you snap the chain of your sins? No, but the moment that in your helplessness you cry to the Saviour, the Lord rebukes him. “And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan.” Make it a question of the Saviour and Satan, and you will soon see who is the strongest, — let God grapple with him. Go to God as you are, go in your ruin, defilement, and misery. Satan will follow you up; he knows he is losing you — he knows he is lost forever himself; pride took him from that high estate, and now, with all the malice he possesses, he hates seeing a soul being led into blessing. He knows the joy of God’s presence, and all the substantialness of what God has to give. Notice how he stood at Joshua’s right side; he knew where to level his shafts of accusation.
When you get into God’s presence you will say, Thank God, I am inside, anyhow. I often think of those words of David in 1 Chron. 20:13. It was a moment of anguish, “I am in a great strait.” He might have said, My sin has brought me into it; but here I am, what am I to do? Now, say with David, “Let me fall now into the hand of the Lord, for very great are His mercies; but let me not fall into the hand of man.” I love that word in relation to the Gospel in a peculiar way, because it says “Now.” Is it, let me now climb into the hand of the Lord? But I have no strength in the moment of my misery! No, I can just “fall,” because those hands are under me. Almighty arms are under you, almighty hands and almighty love. Will you fall into them now, and let the devil’s accusations be answered by the living God? Faith is no profound effort — you have just to cast yourself, as you are and where you are, on God’s mercy.
“A brand plucked out of the fire” (vs. 2). God tells all the truth. He does not flatter Joshua; He never flatters people in His presence. He is a God of truth and holiness, and light and majesty, and He will show you what you are, in your misery, defilement, and uncleanness. But He rebukes Satan; He does not rebuke Joshua. God never rebukes a sinner in His presence; He will condemn the sinner in the day of judgment, but He blesses him in the day of His grace. Keep these two principles, grace and judgment, before you. He has not a word of fault to find with poor Joshua. Ask any who are saved, How did God treat you when you were alone with Him? Exactly as He treated Joshua. Words would fail to tell of His grace and goodness. Did He find fault with you? No, He blesses according to the infinitude of His grace and love; He is only too delighted to have you there. What He did for Joshua, He will do for you, and more. All the evil and departure of Israel never could make God forego His choice. What is a brand? It may be a beautiful piece of carved wood that you have put into the fire, but how does it look when it comes out? Everything a brand touches it defiles, and that is our condition morally before God. Yet this is the object of sovereign grace.
Have you ever noticed that Joshua never said a word? He did not do or say anything, or seek to justify himself. If he had said anything at all, it would only have been to pour out the confession of his sins. He is in the best condition in which a man could be, just standing there to let God have His way with him. Do you know why you do not get blessing? Because you will not let God have His way with you. Bow, and God will bless you forever. Have you learned this? Have you ever been alone with Christ, and learned that everything about you is filthiness? Filthy is a terrible word, one we should never use, were it not in God’s Word; and that is what your goodness and righteousness is before God! Now, God says, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” It is a wonderful thing the delight that God has in giving His instructions for blessing; and Joshua allows them to do with him exactly as they will. He does not say, I used to lean on that prayer, it was a really excellent bit of goodness; or, I used to value that good work. No, he lets every bit of goodness be taken, and surely he was glad to get rid of filthy rags in God’s presence.
And now God speaks in infinite love and grace to Joshua: “Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.” All this was in view of the cross. What did God do with that iniquity? He caused it to find its judgment on Calvary’s cross, when Jesus died. If anybody has to be kept out of heaven because of my sins, it is my Saviour who bore them in His own body on the tree. Change of raiment means holiday raiment, costly raiment. “I will clothe thee.” God does everything for the sinner. The best raiment, is the same thing as the “best robe” in Luke 15:2222But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: (Luke 15:22). The servants knew where the best robe was — it is Christ. The change of raiment is Christ; it is divine, positive, eternal, subsisting righteousness before God. I want you to put this question to your souls — Where am I before God? You are either in your own righteousness, or wrapt up in Christ forever. Righteousness is looked at in two ways in Scripture. The negative side is God accrediting me to be righteous down here, not bringing anything to my charge; the positive side is that we are made the righteousness of God in Him. The first mention of righteousness in the Bible is in Genesis 15, where it says Abram “believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteousness.” When man was driven out of the garden of Eden, God took care that he should not leave without carrying on his back something that told of infinite grace. Righteousness expelled him, but grace clothed him.
“And the angel of the Lord stood by.” God has such infinite joy in blessing souls. It is not only what you lose yourself, but in refusing blessing you rob God of a joy He wants to have; and there is no joy greater, in one sense, than this which we get here — “the angel of the Lord stood by.” Then (vs. 7) instructions are given for Joshua’s walk. Walk must come after conversion. First, the unconditional blessing of the sinner, and then all blessing for the saint is conditional. The love of Christ is always true to me as a believer, but we do not always enjoy it, for my enjoyment of it depends on my behavior. That is the saint’s responsibility.
Remember these two principles — it must be standing before God in grace, or standing before Him in judgment. God wants you to stand before Him in the day of His grace. If you refuse that, He will summon you into His presence in judgment.
THE LATE E. P. C.