Holiness and Indwelling.
'And let them make me _a holy place_, that I may _dwell_ among
them.'--Ex. xxv. 8.
'And the tent shall be _sanctified_ by my glory, and I will
_dwell_ among the children of Israel, and will be their God.'--Ex.
xxix. 43, 45.
The Presence of God makes holy, even when it descends but for a little
while, as at Horeb, in the burning bush. How much more must that
Presence make holy the place where it dwells, where it fixes its
permanent abode! So much is this the case, that the place where God
dwells came to be called _the_ holy place, 'the holy place of the
habitation of the Most High.' All around where God dwelt was holy: the
holy city, the mountain of God's Holiness, His holy house, till we come
within the veil, to the most holy place, the holy of holies. It is as
_the indwelling God_ that He sanctifies His house, that He reveals
Himself as the Holy One in Israel, that He makes us holy too.
Because God is holy, _the house_ in which He dwells is holy too. This
is the only attribute of God which He can communicate to His house; but
this one He can and does communicate. Among men there is a very close
link between the character of a house and its occupants. When there is
no obstacle to prevent it, the house unintentionally reflects the
master's likeness. Holiness expresses not so much an attribute as the
very being of God in His infinite perfection, and His house testifies to
this one truth, that He is holy, that where He dwells He must have
holiness, that His indwelling makes holy. In His first command to His
people to build Him a holy place, God distinctly said that it was that
He might dwell among them: the dwelling in the house was to be the
shadowing forth of His dwelling in the midst of His people. The house
with its holiness thus leads us on to the holiness of His dwelling among
His redeemed ones.
The holy place, the habitation of God's Holiness, was the centre of all
God's work in making _Israel_ holy. Everything connected with it was
holy. The altar, the priests, the sacrifices, the oil, the bread, the
vessels, all were holy, because they belonged to God. From the house
there issued the twofold voice--God's call to be holy, God's promise to
make holy. God's claim was manifested in the demand for cleansing, for
atonement, for holiness, in all who were to draw near, whether as
priests or worshippers. And God's promise shone forth from His house in
the provision for making holy, in the sanctifying power of the altar, of
the blood and the oil. The house embodied the two sides that are united
in holiness, the repelling and the attracting, the condemning and the
saving. Now by keeping the people at a distance, then by inviting and
bringing them nigh, God's house was the great symbol of His own
Holiness. He had come nigh even to dwell among them; and yet they might
not come nigh, they might never enter the secret place of His presence.
All these things are written on our behalf. It is as the Indwelling One
that God is the sanctifier of _His people_ still: the Indwelling
Presence alone makes us holy. This comes out with special clearness if
we note how, the nearer the Presence was, the greater the degree of
holiness. Because God dwelt among them, the camp was holy: all
uncleanness was to be removed from it. But the holiness of the court of
the tabernacle was greater: uncleanness which did not exclude from the
camp would not be tolerated there. Then the holy place was still holier,
because still nearer God. And the inner sanctuary, where the Presence
dwelt on the mercy-seat, was the Holiest of All, was most holy. The
principle still holds good: holiness is measured by nearness to God; the
more of His Presence, the more of true holiness; perfect indwelling will
be perfect holiness. There is none holy but the Lord; there is no
holiness but in Him. He cannot part with somewhat of His holiness, and
give it to us apart from Himself; we have only so much of holiness as we
have of God Himself. And to have Himself truly and fully, we must have
Him as the Indwelling One. And His indwelling in a house or locality,
without life or spirit, is only a faint shadow of the true indwelling as
the Living One, when He enters into and penetrates our very being, and
fills us, our very selves, with His own life.
There is no union so intimate, so real, so perfect, as that of an
indwelling life. Think of the life that circulates through a large and
fruitful tree. How it penetrates and fills every portion; how
inseparably it unites the whole as long as it really is to exist!--in
wood and leaf, in flower and fruit, everywhere the indwelling life flows
and fills. This life is the life of nature, the life of the Spirit of
God which dwells in nature. It is the same life that animates our
bodies, the spirit of nature pervading every portion of them with the
power of sensibility and action.
Not less intimate, yea rather, far more wonderful and real, is the
indwelling of the Spirit of the New Life, through whom God dwells in the
heart of the believer. And it is as this indwelling becomes a matter of
conscious longing and faith, that the soul obeys the command, 'Let them
make me a holy place, that I may dwell among them,' and experiences the
truth of the promise, 'The tent shall be sanctified by my glory, and I
will dwell among the children of Israel.'
It was as the Indwelling One that God revealed Himself in the Son, whom
He sanctified and sent into the world. More than once our Lord insisted
upon it, 'Believe me, that I am in the Father and _the Father in me_;
the Father _abiding in me_ doeth the works.' It is specially as the
temple of God that believers are more than once called holy in the New
Testament: 'The temple of God is _holy_, which temple ye are.' 'Your
body is a temple of the _Holy_ Spirit.' 'All the building groweth unto
an holy temple in the Lord.' It is--we shall later on learn to
understand this better--just because it is through the Spirit that the
heart is prepared for the indwelling, and the indwelling effected and
maintained, that the Spirit so peculiarly takes the attribute of Holy.
The Indwelling Spirit is the Holy Spirit. The measure of His indwelling,
or rather of His revealing the Indwelling Christ, is the measure of
holiness.
We have seen what the various degrees of nearness to God's Presence in
Israel were. They are still to be found. You have Christians who dwell
in the camp, but know little of drawing nigh to the Holy One. Then you
have outer court Christians: they long for pardon and peace, they come
ever again to the altar of atonement; but they know little of true
nearness or holiness; of their privilege as priests to enter the holy
place. Others there are who have learnt that this is their calling, and
long to draw near, and yet hardly understand the boldness they have to
enter into the Holiest of all, and to dwell there. Blessed they to whom
this, the secret of the Lord, has been revealed. _They know_ what the
rent veil means, and the access into the immediate Presence. The veil
hath been taken away from their hearts: they have found the secret of
true holiness in the Indwelling of the Holy One, the God who is holy and
makes holy.
Believer! the God who calls you to holiness is the God of the Indwelling
Life. The tabernacle typifies it, the Son reveals it, the Spirit
communicates it, the eternal glory will fully manifest it. And you may
experience it. It is your calling as a believer to be God's Holy Temple.
Oh, do but yield yourself to His full indwelling! seek not holiness in
the first place in what you are or do; seek it in God. Seek it not even
as a gift from God, seek it in God Himself, in His indwelling Presence.
Worship Him in the beauty of holiness, as He dwells in the high and holy
place. And as you worship, listen to His voice: 'Thus saith the high and
lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the
high and holy place, _with him also_ that is of a contrite and humble
spirit.' It is as the Spirit strengthens us mightily in the inward man,
so that Christ dwells in our heart by faith, and the Father comes and
makes with Him His abode in us, that we are truly holy. Oh, let us but,
in true, true-hearted consecration, yield ourselves to be, as distinctly
as was the tabernacle or the temple, given up entirely to be the
dwelling of the Most High, the habitation of His Holiness. A house
filled with the glory of God, a heart filled with all the fulness of
God, is God's promise, is our portion. Let us in faith claim and accept
and hold fast the blessing: Christ, the Holy One of God, will in His
Father's Name, enter and take possession. Then faith will bring the
solution of all our difficulties, the victory over all our failures, the
fulfilment of all our desires: 'The tent, the heart, shall be sanctified
by my glory; and I will dwell among them.' The open secret of true
holiness, the secret of the joy unspeakable, is Christ dwelling in the
heart by faith.