Walking in Agreement (iv)

God met His people at the Altar of Incense. “Thou shalt make it a perfume…and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle…where I will meet with thee,” (Exod. xxx. 35, 36). This Altar was in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle, and was used day by day for the daily offering of incense (Luke i. 9). We can see the spiritual meaning of it in the Psalmist’s words, “Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as the incense” (Psalm cxli. 2). The underlying thought is that of worship and communion, for the incense rose day by day in the Tabernacle, so the people of Israel were to worship and commune with their God day by day. The spiritual meaning for us is evident: we are called to daily communion with God through prayer and His Word. In prayer the soul speaks to God; in the Bible God speaks to the soul, and this is another of the meeting places with God. God meets us by appointment in daily worship and spiritual communion.

This everyday experience of prayer and meditation is at the root of all genuine Christian life. It is only as we “wait upon the Lord” that we shall “renew our strength” (Isa. xl. 31) and glorify God day by day.

Walking in Agreement (iii)

God met His people at the Altar of Burnt Offering. “A continual offering…at the door of the tabernacle…where I will meet you” (Exodus xxix. 42). The Burnt Offering was offered in the outer court of the Tabernacle by morning, and it was wholly consumed on the altar. The predominant spiritual meaning was not propitiation, though that element was included, but consecration. It implied the whole-hearted devotion and complete surrender of the offerer; as his gift was was wholly consumed by the fire, so his life was to be wholly dedicated to God. The Christian counterpart of this is very clear in the New Testament. As propitiation is seen in Rom. iii. 25, so consecration is seen in Rom. xii. 1, “I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice.” In this whole-hearted surrender of soul God meets with us, and we are thereby enabled to walk with Him.

It is possible that one secret of our failure to walk with God lies just at this point. We have accepted our Lord as the propitiation, but we have not surrendered wholly to Him as our Master and Lord; and yet He can never be wholly our Saviour unless He is also our Lord. The woman with an issue of blood attempted to obtain the blessing of healing without giving Jesus Christ credit in open testimony and confession, and in like manner it would seem as if many professed Christians desired to obtain the benefits of Calvary without yielding their lives to Him in grateful devotion as their Master and Lord. But as long as this is the case, there can be no walking with God. He must be Lord of all if we are to have fellowship with Him. Whenever, therefore, we are prepared to say from the heart, “Here we offer and present unto Thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice unto Thee,” we shall find that He will meet with us and enable us to walk step by step…

Walking in Agreement (ii)

God met His people at the Mercy Seat. “There I will meet with thee” (Exodus xxv. 22). The Mercy Seat was in the Holy of Holies, and was approached only once a year by the High Priest alone. He brought the blood of sacrifice with him, and sprinkled that blood in front of and upon the Mercy Seat; the Holy Ghost thus signifying that God and His people were now at peace, reconciled on the basis of sacrifice. The predominant thought of the Mercy Seat was that of propitiation, and in that propitiation God “met His people by appointment.” For us today the spiritual meaning and antitype are found in the Cross of Christ. “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood” (Rom. iii. 25). God meets us by appointment at the Cross, and fellowship with Him is only possible on the basis of that sacrifice. The intimate connection of the believer with the Cross of Christ is not to be limited to the moment of conversion, or even to the elementary experiences of the Christian life. The death of Christ touches the Christian life at all points and at all times, and is concerned with the deepest and most mature experiences of the Christian soul. The teaching of the Apostle Paul (Rom. vi.; Col. v.) clearly connects the death of our Lord with the whole course of our Christian life. We are not only justified by His blood (Rom. v. 9), we are also sanctified thereby (Heb. xiii. 12). Never for an instant can we get away from or pass beyond the power of the propitiation of Calvary; it is there that God continues to meet with us day by day, and at this meeting place we have the first part of a truly blessed walk with our Heavenly Father.