We now advance to the laver. It stood between the brazen altar and the door of the tabernacle. We have the substance of this shadow in John 13. At the consecration of the priest, the entire person was washed at the laver; but this washing was never repeated. It was the sign of regeneration. “The washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” We may be restored more than once, but we can only be regenerated once.
In all who would draw near to God, regeneration is the first and indispensable thing. We must first be right as to nature, and then as to practice. “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” But though we cannot trace or explain the operations of the Spirit in the new birth, there is no need to be perplexed, or troubled with doubts as to the blessed reality. The word of God is plain. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And again, we read, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” The soul that has faith in Christ Jesus, has been washed in the laver of regeneration, and is capable of worshipping and serving God.
After the priests were duly consecrated, they only washed their hands and feet at the laver; but this they did every time that they engaged in service, or drew near to worship. What a lesson for thee, O my soul! Weigh it well. Dismiss it not in haste. Dwell on the great practical bearing of these words, “ Every time they engaged in service, or drew near to worship” Regeneration is not enough of itself for the worship and service of God; nay, more, the full assurance of pardon outside the camp, and of acceptance inside the court, are not enough; there must be personal purity—the sanctification of the heart to God, or communion, with Him will be interrupted. Holiness becometh God’s people — God’s service — God’s worship — God’s house, forever. No change of dispensation can alter this. “ It shall be a statute forever to them.”
On pain of death, the priests were commanded to wash their hands and their feet at the laver, according to the ordinance of God. They might not always see a need for it, nevertheless they were to wash. Neither would any sort of water do, it must be the water in the laver of brass. Here, again, my soul, learn another lesson; for I know of no symbol, more fraught with practical lessons than the laver. Learn then, that no human resource—no merely human notion or effort, however apparently wise and prudent, can supply that which fits us for the worship and service of God. And many who are content to trust Christ for justification, believe that sanctification is a matter of attainment by their own efforts; hence their disquiet, and often great trouble of soul, because they see no progress. But we must learn to find all in Christ, and make progress in our knowledge of Him, and of what we have now in Him. The laver, most likely, was filled with water from the smitten rock — from the same wounded side the cleansing water and the justifying blood both flowed.
The hands and the feet characterize our works and our ways; and if we would go on happily with God, all these must be tested by His word. “ Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word......By the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.” (Psalm 119:9; 17:49BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. (Psalm 119:9)
4Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. (Psalm 17:4).) The word of God, acting upon the heart and conscience, through the light and power of the Holy Spirit, answers to the typical use of the laver. It is “the washing of water by the word.” But if we allow in our works or ways that which the word of God condemns, the freshness and power of our christian character are gone. Solemn consideration! Would to God it were more considered! How often, alas! it happens, that for some trifling vanity, Christ is lost sight of, the blood of atonement, and the water of purification are forgotten, communion is interrupted, spiritual weakness follows, and, it may be, doubts and fears. Under such, circumstances, we can only drag heavily through a service which we may not be willing openly to give up, and in some circumstances, such spiritual deadness must prove a drag upon others.
As the importance of this subject cannot be over-estimated, we shall give in full, the word of the Lord thereon. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal; and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: when they go into the tabernacle of the congregation they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord. So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.” Exod. 30:18-2118Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. 19For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 20When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord: 21So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations. (Exodus 30:18‑21).
The force of these solemn warnings, seems to be embodied in the Lord’s words to Peter, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.” He does not say, observe, thou hast no part in me, but, no part with me. It is not a question of life in Christ, but of fellowship with Him. The meaning of the figure is plain — in going through this world of temptation and sin, after our conversion, we contract defilement by the way, which Christ only, as our Great High Priest, can cleanse away. But we must be open and unreserved in our confession to Him. We must put, as it were, our soiled feet into His hands, that He may wash them, and wipe them with the towel wherewith He is girded. We can keep no secrets from Him. The condition of the feet proves where we have been. Deliberately to allow or indulge in anything, whether in thought, word, or deed, that is contrary to Him, defiles the conscience, hinders communion, and weakens our christian energies. But in the midst of much conscious weakness and failure, even with much watchfulness, let us not forget the blessed truth—the rest-giving truth—that Christ is our sanctification. In the sin-offering, we see Him as our sin-bearer; in the burnt-offering as our risen life and acceptance, and in the laver as our complete sanctification. “Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 1 Cor. 1:3030But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30).
True, He has gone to heaven, but He thinks of us there. The glory of the upper sanctuary takes not away His heart from us, nor hinders Him from waiting upon us in our need. “He loved the Church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.” (Eph. 5:25, 2625Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (Ephesians 5:25‑26).) This is what He is doing now, though in glory. But His love is the spring of all, and He willingly serves for the end which He has in view. Thy love, Ο most blessed Lord, is unwearied, in spite of all our carelessness, or even our heartlessness. We stand “clean every whit” before the face of God, through thy precious blood; and now thou art careful to maintain us in communion and service by the water of purification: but both, we know, flowed from thy wounded side. Blessed fruits of thy death for us.
Should not thy daily experience, Ο my soul, tend to deepen thy love and esteem for thy Lord? and should it not also lead thee to greater watchfulness and self-denial, lest thou shouldst grieve Him? “He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked — to purify himself even as he is pure.” How couldst thou get on one hour without Him? Think on thy many unworthy thoughts and feelings, not to speak of thy doings. And yet He keeps thee clean — “clean every whit” — clean according to the presence of God — clean according to all those relationships into which thou hast entered in Him. He girds Himself for this lowly service, though in heaven, and He restores communion and power to serve God, by the Holy Ghost and the word. Oh! wondrous, gracious, matchless love, that can thus serve in spite of everything! “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:11My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (1 John 2:1).
We now approach, through the door of the tent, to the golden altar. By regeneration we enter into an entirely new state of things. “I will wash mine hands in innocency; so will I compass thine altar, Ο Lord.” (Psalm 26:66I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord: (Psalm 26:6).) There were two altars; the “brazen altar,” and the “ golden altar.” To those, no doubt, the psalmist refers when he says, “Even thine altars, Ο Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.” Both were made of Shittim wood, which sets forth the holy humanity — the perfect manhood, of the Lord Jesus. Incarnation lies at the foundation of all His work for us, and of all our blessing in Him. The one altar was overlaid with brass, the other with pure gold. The over-lying shadows forth His Godhead, but in distinct aspects. We have the same Jesus in both, but shadowed forth in different circumstances. In the one, humiliation and suffering; in the other, exaltation and glory.
At the brazen altar, we see the lowly Jesus presenting Himself, of His own voluntary will, through the eternal Spirit, without spot to God. Infinite holiness and justice feed upon the ascending offering, with perfect complacency; and grace — boundless grace — flows out from the God of righteousness to the chief of sinners. It is a sweet savor of rest to God — “God is glorified in him.” And it is the ground of the believer’s relationship, acceptance, and fellowship with God and the Father.
At the golden altar, we see the once lowly Jesus crowned with glory and honor. It is now the exalted Christ in His ascended glory, whoever lives to make intercession for us. The brazen altar had no crown, but the golden altar had “a crown of gold round about.” In His humiliation He was mocked with a crown of thorns; in His exaltation He is crowned with glory.
The golden altar is the symbol of priestly worship. There is no question hereof pardon, of personal acceptance, or of sanctification. These important questions were all settled outside the house of God. Praise, thanksgiving, adoration, worship, ascend to God continually from the golden altar. Our prayers and our praises come up before God, in all the sweet fragrance of the ascending incense. When the holy fire of God tested the sweet incense “beaten small,” it found nothing there but the rich fragrance of the preciousness of Christ. But when the same fire tested Nadab and Abihu, alas! for poor fallen nature, no sweet incense was found there. “Our God is a consuming fire.” “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. “Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” O, reader, is thy peace made with God? If not, Kiss the Son — be reconciled to the Son — be friends with the Son, before the testing time with the holy fires of God’s justice come to thee. “Our God is a consuming fire.” But when the holy fire of God’s judgment tests the Son, all ascends as sweet incense. Nothing but perfection is found in the Man Christ Jesus. His Person, work, character and ways, all, all ascend to God as a sweet-smelling savor; and, oh! blessed be His name, the prayers and praises of the friends of the Son ascend, and are accepted, and shall be fragrant forever in His sweetness.
Unworthy is thanksgiving, a service stain’d with sin,
Except as Thou art living, our Priest to bear it in.
In every act of worship, in every loving deed,
Our thoughts around Thee center, as meeting all our need,
A bond that naught can sever has fix’d us on the rock, —
Sin put away forever, for all the Shepherd’s flock;
And, Lord, Thy perfect fitness to do a Savior’s part,
The Holy Ghost doth witness to each believer’s heart.
As dews that fall on Hermon refreshing all below,
The Spirit’s holy unction doth all Thy beauty show.
Ah then, how good and pleasant to worship, serve, and love,
To rise o’er all things present, and taste the joys above.
Having thus glanced at what our beautiful Psalm alludes to, we can now better understand the exclamation of the psalmist in the fourth verse: “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; they will be still praising thee.” Blessed indeed, we too may exclaim, and blessed shall they be forever. They are dwellers, not visitors, in God’s house. “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” This is true, blessedly true, of all who trust in Jesus now. But though God’s children are all priests by birth, as were the sons of Aaron, they are not all, alas priests by consecration. (See Exod. 29) Comparatively few know their priestly place at the golden altar. Many of them are doubting as to whether their sins, root and branch, were all consumed outside the camp; and, consequently, such are afraid to come within the court, and as for being assured of their full justification and sanctification in the risen One, they gravely doubt and fear that such blessedness can ever be their happy lot. Hence that state of soul which answers to priestly consecration at the laver, and happy worship at the golden altar is unknown and unenjoyed. They are not priests by consecration.
Our text is plain. “They will be still praising thee.” Doubts, fears, unsettled questions, all are gone. Such cannot exist in the holy place. All, of course, who are in Christ must be, in God’s account, where He is; but all who believe in Christ, do not know and believe that they are in Him, as being one with Him now. When the state of our souls answers to what is symbolized by the holy place, we can only praise. “They that dwell in thy house will be still praising thee.” Then we are happily near to God, and have communion with Him, in the glorified Christ, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
The symbols of the holy, and most holy place, speak volumes as to our perfect blessedness in Christ. On the one side, as we worship at the golden altar, before the vail, there is the table of show bread — the communion table. We are nourished with the bread of life. The incarnate, crucified, risen, and eternally living one, is the center and source of our communion. We are one with Him in resurrection. “The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”
On the other side, there is the candlestick of pure gold, shedding its seven-fold light on the communion of saints; the center shaft of pure gold, shadowing forth Him who is the source of all light in testimony, through the power of the Holy Ghost. The rent vail reveals the ark of the covenant; this type was Israel’s grand center of old — the Antitype, Christ Himself, is ours now. In fine, the Christian is placed at the very center of God’s wide circle of grace and glory, but he cannot see — he can never see its limit.
With a full heart, and a thankful heart, thou canst truly exclaim, Ο my soul, “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they will be still praising thee.” But the heart does also exclaim, Oh! why do so many still stand outside? Why do so many still prefer the wretched husks of the far country, to the fatted calf in the Father’s house? Still there is room — still there is an open door — still there is a ready welcome — and still the voice of unwearied love cries — and cries to all who will listen to His voice — “Come, come, enter while there is room — him that cometh I will in nowise cast out.” May God clothe with power His own word, both spoken and written, that many precious, immortal souls may be gathered in. Amen.