HOW much spiritual wealth there is that really belongs to us, but which we do not really possess." What a large extent of our inheritance we allow to remain un-appropriated. How many a Ramoth is truly ours, as far as title goes, but which is by no means ours when it is a question of enjoyment!
Spain, in the days of old, inscribed upon her coinage the motto, "Ne plus ultra," which means "Nothing beyond." She imagined that finality had been reached, and that no more territory remained to be explored and appropriated. Then came the discovery of America, and Spain lifted up her eyes and perceived her mistake. The motto on her coinage was changed to "Plus ultra"—"More beyond.”
Does any Christian reader of this book imagine that in being saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ he has reached the ultima thule of spiritual blessing? Is there no more territory to be possessed? Is the assurance of our eternal salvation the consummation of every hope, as far as present realization is concerned? Must we adopt Spain's ancient motto, and say, "There is nothing beyond,” or can we perceive, rising before us, heights of blessing yet to be possessed and enjoyed?
Ramoth-Gilead belonged to the children of Israel by a two-fold title.
Firstly, it was theirs by the gift of God. It was part of that goodly land which God had promised to their fathers, and which He bestowed upon them in the days of Joshua.
Secondly, it was theirs by conquest of Moses. He it was that took it out of the hand of the Amorites, and won it for the people of God's choice.
But these things are also ours by the work of Christ. He laid the broad foundation of our blessing by His atoning sufferings upon the cross. By His death He opened the floodgates, that the stream of eternal love might reach us. By His finished work He won for us our everlasting inheritance.
It remains, however, for us to appropriate the wonderful and infinite blessings that are ours by the gift of God and the victory of Christ. When I speak in this way of "appropriation," I do not merely mean that we have to believe that all is ours. The Israelites, in Joshua's day, believed that the land of Canaan was theirs; they had no doubt that it all belonged to them. But it remained for them to go in and possess it, for it was only theirs in actual possession so far as the soles of their feet trod upon its soil (Josh. 1:33Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. (Joshua 1:3)).
In order that we might appropriate, possess, and enjoy all the wealth of what is given to us by God, He has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. The Spirit of God alone knows the things of God, and we have received Him that we might know (in the sense of conscious knowledge and enjoyed possession) the things that are freely given to us of God (1 Cor. 2:1212Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (1 Corinthians 2:12)).
Of course there are some things that we have no title to. These we cannot appropriate, any more than a visitor to the Tower of London could appropriate the Crown jewels. For instance, we have no title to deity. We shall never partake in that, nor share the Godhead glory of the Lord Jesus, though it will be our ineffable delight to behold it. Nor have we any title to the place and condition of angels. A man may sing as loudly as he pleases:
“I want to be an angel,
And with the angels stand;”
but it is impossible. It is not one of the things to which we have title, and which are for us to take possession of. There is much that is ours, however. We know it, but our knowledge does us little good, because we do not appropriate.
An Indian spy, who rendered valuable service to the United States Government during the Civil War, was rewarded by a certificate which entitled him to a yearly pension. When he received the certificate, he regarded it as a kind of charm, put a string through it, and wore it round his neck as long as he lived. But he never drew a dollar of his pension!
Do we not very often treat our spiritual blessings in this manner? We sing:
“Count your blessings, name them one by one,”
and we are able to make quite a long list of the things contained in our eternal inheritance: we know they are all ours, and yet they are of no more present use to us than the Indian's pension certificate was to him.
One may object that in our case it is not a certificate, not a promise of blessings, but the blessings themselves that are given. Very true; but suppose that the Indian, instead of having the certificate given to him, had been presented with the actual dollars. If, instead of using the money and getting present benefit from it, he had hidden it in a cupboard, and boasted of being the possessor of so much gold, his action would have strikingly resembled that of many Christians to-day. They read in the Scriptures that such and such a blessing belongs to the children of God. They are sure then that it is theirs. They look down, perhaps, on any of their fellow-believers who are not aware that so much wealth is theirs. They affirm to all and sundry that to them this great blessing belongs. And their words are true. It is all theirs. But this is not appropriation or conscious enjoyment.
In the scripture before us, the king of Israel could truly say, "Ramoth is ours." It was no doubt on the list of the cities that belonged to Israel; but the fact was, they were allowing the enemy to rob them of the present good of it. "Ramoth is ours," says the king, "and we be still and take it not.”
“Ramoth," be it remarked, means "Heights." In studying the meaning of names in Scripture, we must be careful not to give rein to our fancies, however. But without attaching undue importance to names, we may remark that the meaning of "Ramoth" suggests that there are heights of blessings and heights of privileges for us to consciously possess. By "blessings," we mean those things that are ours in connection with Christ—Forgiveness of sins, Deliverance from the power of Satan, Justification, Eternal Life, Membership of the body of Christ, Co-heirship with Him, Acceptance in Him as our place before God— all these are our blessings.
"Privileges" are things that are ours while on earth, but which do not necessarily continue forever, though some of them undoubtedly do. It is a great privilege to serve the Lord, and to be connected with the testimony of the gospel; a great privilege to have access to God in prayer, and to be able to enjoy sweet communion with Him. Are there not "heights" yet to be possessed in connection with such privileges as these? Are there not possibilities with regard to communion with God that make our hearts throb with intense longing as we contemplate them?
As we think of our many ineffectual and powerless prayers, do not heights stand out before our souls' vision yet to be scaled? How little we know practically of the effectual, fervent prayer that avails much! How far we oftentimes are from having "power with God" in our supplications! Then, as to service and testimony, do we not often resemble the toiling disciples who had nothing to show for their long night's fishing? Young Samuel, whose every word was as a well-directed shaft, seems to have reached a Ramoth " that lies far beyond us (1 Sam. 3:1919And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. (1 Samuel 3:19)). Alas, our words often resemble India-rubber balls flung against a wall, rather than arrows guided to their mark by the Holy Ghost.
But why should these Ramoths be un-appropriated and un-possessed?—Why? Our scripture suggests a reason. "We be still!" Lack of spiritual energy is often the cause. Love of ease and fear of hardship make us say, Oh, it is a day of small things, we must not expect too much. And so we go on our way apathetically, and we "take not" the heights of privilege that are ours in title, and might be ours in actual possession. Earthly pursuits and the cares of this life come in to hinder. Ah, how these days of rush and bustle hinder the Christian! There is difficulty in finding time to be alone with God, and like Samson, we lose our Nazariteship and get shorn of our power.
The University of Upsala, Sweden, has lately built a sound-proof room. Absolute freedom from outside noises is secured by a thick foundation of read and cement, and walls of felt, cork, and asbestos. The room is so quiet that one can hear the beating of one's heart and the creaking of one's muscles. In a spiritual sense, we need to get into room like that, away from the sounds that are falling upon our ears all day, away from the strife and turmoil of the world, away from the incessant babbling of tongues. With the hush of God's presence upon our souls, we need to get low before Him, search our hearts, humble ourselves, that we may gather spiritual energy for the taking of the Ramoths" that are ours.