We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened;
perplexed, yet not unto despair;
pursued, yet not forsaken;
smitten down, yet not destroyed;
always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.
For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, I believed, and therefore did I speak; we also believe, and therefore also we speak;
knowing that He that raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present us with you.
For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound unto the glory of God.
Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;
while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
That is 2 Corinthians 4.
And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.
So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.
But David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.
Moreover the brazen altar, that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord: and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it.
And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar before the Lord, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it.
The place where Solomon offered these thousand burnt offerings was at Gibeon. But we are told quite plainly that the ark was in the tent at Jerusalem.
At this time, the tabernacle of the congregation was at Gibeon, and the ark of the covenant—the ark of the testimony—was not at Gibeon. The great altar was there. That is where Israel had to go if they wished to offer sacrifices on behalf of all the people.
But the entire story is not told in these verses. Let us go back to 2 Samuel.
Well, let us look at 1 Kings 3.
And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
Is there not something odd about this scene—the great high place? What about the high places among the people? God’s contention with Israel, all the way through, was: tear down the high places. They were forbidden to worship in the high places.
And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern justice;
behold, I have done according to thy word: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there hath been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor.
And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream: and he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
Now, what happened after these thousand burnt offerings in Gibeon, before the tabernacle of the congregation? God appeared and said, “What would you like Me to give you?”
Solomon asked for a wise and understanding heart because he had to judge and take care of all God’s people. The Lord said, “I am going to give you just that because you have asked for it. And because you have not asked for a lot of other things, I am also going to give you riches and honor.”
Something happened here. Solomon woke from that dream and said, “Oh, I have made a terrible mistake. I offered a thousand burnt offerings at Gibeon, but the vital thing I have not done is to come before the ark.” So he went down to Jerusalem, where the ark of God was, and he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the ark.
What made the difference? Solomon received an understanding heart. He saw something that he could never have seen through natural understanding.
You know, I think the Lord is beginning to do that for many of us. I think at our last retreat, as the moments came along the way, something happened. Some of us are still wondering, “What was that that happened?”
We know that in some unique ways the Lord manifested His presence, and some of us will never be the same.
Some of us are saying in our hearts, “I wonder why the members and the workers and the fellowships abroad cannot always see that thing?” And I want to tell you right now, brothers, because God’s purpose for us is that presence.
What the church needs, brothers and sisters, is not revival. I have to tell you that. I have been in revivals. I have been one of the central figures in several revivals where lots of things were done, lots of shouting, lots of happenings; and you come around six months later, and everything is right back where it was.
The church does not need revival. That must do the job. What the Lord must have, what the Lord will have, is a people among whom the Lord God can abide.
I am going to start a series of messages on the ark—what it means, what happened to it, and what kind of history led up to this point where the tabernacle of the congregation is in one place and the ark is in another place.
We will see how the Lord took steps and what He did. Then we will come to the end of the temple.
Hannah was the first step. Consider the great joy that was in her heart when she left that little boy with Eli the priest, and made that prayer which our brother read this morning. She was there because God had someone who believed enough to make that first step toward getting the ark back to its rightful place in an entirely new temple.
Dear friends, this is the problem in Christianity today. There are a lot of wonderful people and a lot of good things going on, but the unique, all-governing purpose and glory that God intends His people to enjoy is their strength.
It is the testimony of Jesus, as we shall see, because this word is the ark of the testimony. Without the ark, there is no real testimony—the testimony of Jesus of which we are speaking.
You can go among God’s people in many places and find people getting saved. The altar is there. They are getting food; the table of showbread is there. There has been some light; the candlestick, in some measure, is there. They are finding cleansing because the laver is there.
But the real enjoyment of what the Christian life is supposed to be—you know, that part—if you know anything at all of the ark, no matter how many of these other things are going on, without the central meaning of the ark, we are hungry and needy.
Thank God, there was something going on at Gibeon. The people rejoiced when they went there to offer their sacrifices. But, friends, they had to leave Gibeon, leave the tabernacle of the congregation, and go down to a small tent in Jerusalem—or a little hall in Linear—to find out where the ark was and make their offerings there.
We can engage in a lot of Christian activity, in a lot of things—music, good works, and so on. But the deepest part of us is simply not met. That is the history of so many Christians today.
They will say, “My heart specifically knows what I want to be finding in Christ.” The question is whether we are willing to pay the price.
We cannot bring the ark back into the tabernacle of the congregation. But we, God’s overcomers, will be instrumental in bringing it into His new temple that He is building. We are not to go back.
The ark never came into its rest again until there was a new temple: new laver, new candlesticks, new table of showbread, a new holy place, and a new most holy place.
They did not make a new ark. That ark finally came through to its resting place in the holy of holies of the temple. It was exactly the same. The testimony never changes. The testimony of Jesus will not change.
What do you think you are going to be doing unto the ages of the ages? I do not know how; I do not know in what environment; I do not know under what conditions. But you and I will be carrying the testimony of Jesus to the ends of God’s universe.
He has not told us very much about it. I think if He tried to, it would stagger us. He has put a lot of it in symbolic form. But it will be the unchanged testimony, the very same testimony that we bore here this morning as we came to the Lord’s table. We will still be saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”
But right now, I want you to see—it may upset your central nervous system a little bit—that it was not God’s order for the tabernacle of the congregation to be in the high place of Gibeon while the ark was in a tent in Jerusalem.
We are going to see all the convulsions among people and nations that were necessary to get the ark back into its rightful place. We want to apply those things in real ways. We want to look at the people involved: Hannah, Samuel, David, and the secondary characters in this whole drama.
The first thing, friends, is that we must see and understand what God is after. You must say in your heart of hearts, “I know there is a lot more to the Christian life, to the fellowship of God’s people, to the corporate expression of Christ, than I am at present experiencing.”
You and I must go to God and say, “Lord, how can I do my part? What is my ministry? What is my contribution? How can I become personally involved in bringing the ark back into its place?”
Of course, it was not one person, nor was it two or three people. We were all there, as it were. Evidently, a lot of fear had gone on before. Perhaps we had lost our conceit and our officiousness, and some of us were even willing to go down there by personal testimony.
And God set up an order of things that He could bless. Dear friends, the order of things that God puts us in—you have got to find it.
When we were children playing certain games, we used to say, “Oh no, I have got a walkover.” Otherwise, no matter what you do, you will lose. You know, there is definitely a right way in which to walk.
Find out the ways of God. Discover what it is that He wants. Get ourselves into that position, and the blessing is going to be there.
Contrary to what the enemy seems to tell us, God is anxious. You really do not need that walkover. As a matter of fact, I will tell you a secret: He is only waiting to get half a chance—only half a chance.
In spite of many faults and many deficiencies, as we have just learned, the grace of God is such that He will bless wherever He can. Oh, He delights to give that kind of blessing. Then we say, “The glory is here.”
This is what is missing, friends, from all that area where there is so much going on that seems to be good and successful, and yet there is not the real glory of God.
Let us go to Exodus 25. We will not be able to cover a lot of ground today, but we need to make a start.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they take for Me an offering: of every man whose heart maketh him willing ye shall take My offering.
So they brought the offering together. We know this story. How much material did they get? More than enough. The people came with a willing heart, and after a while the workmen came to Moses and said, “Tell the people to stop giving. We have so much material, we do not know what to do with it.”
So the word went around, and they stopped bringing material for the building of the tabernacle.
The first thing Moses was to make was an ark.
And they shall make an ark of acacia wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.
And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four feet thereof; and two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it.
And thou shalt make staves of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.
And thou shalt put the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, wherewith to bear the ark.
The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.
And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
The ark was supposed to be carried. The staves were there because it was to be carried by men. Only men could carry the ark. We shall see more about that later.
And thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold; of beaten work shalt thou make them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat.
And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony.
This is the meaning of the Lord’s humanity: the kind of humanity He had, the type of human being that He was.
Twenty-six years ago, our brother came to Southern California. I have told you something of my history at that time. I was trying very hard, but I had a woefully wrong idea of what type of a man the Lord used.
When he first came, the congregation was asked to sit upstairs because there were so many people coming. I remember sitting there on that first day, and I heard him bring a message on the Gospel of John. I do not remember many of the words, but I still remember the impact.
We had a lot of preachers come through the house. They were fine men—missionaries, a seminary president, and others. But there was nothing like this.
Our brother showed us how the Lord Jesus was always bringing things to an impasse, letting everything come to a place where there was no way through. Time after time, that is what happens in the Gospel of John, and then He Himself is the answer to that difficulty.
You know, I thought something must be wrong with me, because other people I talked to were not getting the thing out of it that I was getting. The conviction was tremendous. I thought, “This must be some man. This must be a holy man bringing this word. He must be so holy and self-abnegating, like a preacher from another world.”
After the morning meeting, he came around to meet all the young brothers. I expected someone rather unworldly—perhaps cold. But I will never forget: I walked up to shake hands, and I was looking at a dime-store pencil sticking out of his pocket.
I asked him, “What is that funny word?” He said, “You think that is a real pen, sir? Yep, that is it.” That was Christ.
He said, in effect, “It is just a pen. I like it. You have a little clip there to hold it all together so it does not get lost.” And I thought, “Something is badly wrong with us. There is something badly wrong with my standard.”
It took me three or four years to discover what was wrong with my estimation of what true manhood in Christ was all about.
After I began to tell some of the brothers and sisters with whom I was in fellowship what I was discovering about real manhood in Christ, one of them said to me, “You know, you can have all this upon you as an elder.” He was angry—very angry—because I had just destroyed his conception.
Dear friends, one of the biggest things among Christians at the end of the day is a wrong conception of what a true, consecrated, spiritual man or woman of God really is.
A lot of the reason we have so much difficulty with the testimony is that we are trying to imitate our conception of what a Christian really ought to be. In spite of the examples God gives us and the illustrations of Scripture, we go off in our safe, highly restrictive view.
Where is the step out? Where is the step in? There are a lot of things you will walk into when there is the ark, the testimony, the light, and the impact. Trying to live up to a stereotype, the Lord is trying to blast us out.
I can make that a lot more impressive than I can live it.
So there was a real humanity here, just as real humanity has any kind of humanity to do. Then there was the gold. People say, “Well, that is Christ, and that is not us.”
Brothers and sisters, let me tell you: some of you may not know it, but I have seen a sheen of gold around your personality and your life. What is happening? Pure gold, yes—gold leaf.
What is this? No matter what you say, no matter what you do, it comes through.
When the divine nature settles into a life and begins to take control, there is an impact of that measure of gold that nothing in the world can quench or hide.
The testimony—the tables of stone—were within the ark. Maybe, at least for a while, it had something else in it, which we will talk about later.
Over all, it had a golden crown, the two cherubim, and the mercy seat. The high priest sprinkled the blood once a year for the sins of the people.
It was the place of the oracle—the place where God spoke. Jesus is the audible voice of God.
Wherever this ark is really at rest in a tent provided by God’s people, there is the speaking of God. This is the thing you will miss most of all if you go out into the systems today.
I am not speaking from mere supposition. I am speaking from sorry experience. I have gone from place to place, up and down and all around, even into back alleys and small rooms, looking for the word of God.
There are a lot of Bible people, a lot of fine preaching, and a lot of expert homiletics, but not the speaking that comes from the oracle—from between the two cherubim over the ark.
How exceedingly scarce is the word that God speaks today—the ministry by which we can say, “The Lord has spoken.” When He recovers His people, they will build this place from which God can speak. Oh, He has so much to say.
Every day, the first thing in the camp when they got up and moved on the journey was the ark of God. Every evening, they knew when to stop. They had the pillar of cloud, but they stopped when the ark stopped. They learned to follow that ark.
But for thirty-eight years after the ark was built and after their journey began, there is not one word of mention of the ark. That thirty-eight years is very significant, is it not? What do they represent?
The last mention of the ark in the wilderness is in Numbers 14. I am going to close very soon here. I did not get nearly as far as I wanted to get today. There is a lot more to say, actually.
But they presumed to go up unto the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
What happened here? They had been in the wilderness for two years, and the spies had gone into the land. Joshua and Caleb gave a good report, but the people listened to those who brought a bad report, and they turned back in unbelief.
God said they were to go back down into the wilderness. The next day they said, “Well, we were wrong about it. Now we are going to go up.” They were warned not to go, but the ark and Moses stayed in the camp. They went out, met their enemies, and were defeated.
They turned back into the wilderness, and for thirty-eight years there is no mention of the ark until they are finally ready to cross the Jordan.
Let us turn to Joshua 3.
And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap.
And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, the priests that bare the ark of the covenant being before the people;
and when they that bare the ark were come unto the Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water—for Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest—
that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan: and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.
And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the nation were passed clean over Jordan.
Now, this matter of bringing the ark into its place, I might say in conclusion, is a very serious and solemn thing. Here are these priests. No one but priests can bear the testimony. We will hear these matters in the days to come with more exposition and more explanation.
The real testimony of Jesus cannot be borne by hirelings. The real functioning of ministry brings men to a place where they go through death.
Bringing the people into the land is something that must be done. These priests had to take the ark on their shoulders, with those staves, into the Jordan.
What does all this represent? We read that part of 2 Corinthians 4 concerning Paul’s ministry. He said that was his ministry:
For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
Dear friends, the people who are going to bear the ark are the people through whom the broader people can go over on dry land into the great land which is Christ.
This is something more than a theological matter, because this is a matter of experience: going through this, standing in this, and maintaining the testimony.
While you are in the midst of this, others may not know you at all. As a matter of fact, one of the first things you will have to do is get rid of your theology as a useless extra burden and find something infinitely more real.
The number-one thing God needs in His purpose for this balance is people who know how to function, carry the testimony, and bear the ark where there is nothing but death all about.
The most powerful, useful, and energizing ministry will come out of our lives at the time when things go down everywhere.
Trying to clean this out of all theory, does it not? Trying to bring this to the place where we are completely set aside, where, unless God does something, nothing is done.
That is an awesome place to be, at least for the first few times. But then you discover it is the only way to get anything done.
The rest of us could not go and stand there. We could not do it. You know why? We have too much theology, too much knowledge, too much Bible, too much experience. We know how things ought to be done. We could tell the folks exactly what they ought to be doing.
Nothing would happen. It is a decision.
If we go off and try to stand against the power and might of the River Jordan in our own strength, it will overwhelm us. But there was a plurality of men who could bear that ark on their shoulders, stand in the midst of the water, see the waters piled up, and let the people go through on dry ground.
They stood there long enough for the whole company to go through. That is saying quite a lot.
Well, I hope you have got a small picture of what ministry is in this sense: having the testimony, knowing what it is, understanding the process, understanding the meaning of the manna, the tables of stone, the rod, the mercy seat, the cherubim, the wood, and the gold.
All of these things have to be present every day. That needs to live for us. That is not just theology or typology.
I am sure there are many of us sitting right here this morning who are beginning to see, through unusual and painful experience coming to our home, our family, and our life, that there is no other way.
You may go to someone who promises to solve every one of your problems and gather ten thousand people together to hear it. They may pay sixty dollars for the course. But the biggest problem is still there—you.
Here is a time when the Lord is going to have to deal with us as a people. He has some very deep and real lessons to teach us, stripping away all this religious nonsense.
We are in a real battle. There is no more serious reality than this: if we know the worth and value of it, we make a transaction with Him—whatever it takes, we are ready for it.
Perhaps we cannot say we are ready for everything, but we can say we are willing. I am willing, and I think most of you are willing. I think that is why we are doing this.