IN the first chapter the Apostle, for various reasons, tells that God spoke to the fathers by the prophets, that His first way of speaking to men on earth was by the prophets to the fathers, and what has he in view in telling them this? The great prophet, Jesus Christ, was now come, and there was an end to prophecy and prophets. God of old spoke to men on earth through the prophets, through many prophets, and at various times, but now He speaks in these last times to us by Jesus Christ, the only prophet in New Testament times. Under the Old Testament there was a prophet of the Lord here and there, and when anyone came with a difficulty, he would enquire where was a prophet; but now since Jesus Christ came as the great prophet, you do not hear any person saying, “Where is the prophet?” When the Spirit of God sends forth to places the word to awaken sinners, they shall then enquire after the one prophet, and if any enquire after a prophet now, the only answer that can be given them by the messengers of Christ is—”Here is the only prophet, Jesus Christ.” The same may be said as to His priesthood, but I am not going to speak of that, but now to show that Christ was more glorious than all the prophets who spoke to men before He came into the world. You will see that the Apostle now, as the Jews thought a great deal of these prophets, and of that dispensation, begins to make a comparison between Christ and three parties; and first, he compares Him with God the Father, and he tells them that He is equal with the Father: “He is the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of His person.” He is the very same in nature as God. The second party compared with Christ is angels, and then he shows that God said several things to Christ that He never said to angels: “To which of the angels said He at any time; Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.” God speaks of them as worshippers of the Son. God alone, and not angels, is the object of worship, and it is said, “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” Third, he compares Him with men. Angels were in some way employed by the Lord in the Old Testament dispensation. God deals with us in these last times through His Son, and when comparing Him with men, he mentions the greatest man they had in the Old Testament—Moses. The Jews thought much of Moses. They thought him the greatest man. “We know that God spake to Moses, but as to this fellow.” The Jews thought that Moses was the greatest man, and he was really the greatest man, in the Old Testament Church. Was not Abraham, the father of the faithful, greater? No. We believe that Abraham was great, but Moses was greater in respect of his official capacity. We shall see this, as we proceed. Abraham was a great man, but Moses was greater. Moses was the mediator, the typical mediator of the Old Covenant, and when we consider this—that Moses was entrusted with the building of the Old Testament Church, his building of the tabernacle, and, as an instrument in the hand of God, of instituting all the services of the tabernacle. This was not given to Abraham to do, great as he was, and in this respect we may truly say that Moses was the greatest man that was in the Old Testament Church. When Paul saw that the Jews thought that he was the greatest man, he brings him forward, and now he says about Moses, “Moses was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a son over His own house; whose house are we.” We shall endeavour to say something on the following three points:—
I.—The house spoken of.
This house means the Church of God. We have been reading and singing what the psalmist said of this house:—
“One thing I of the Lord desir’d
And will seek to obtain,
That all days of my life I may
Within God’s house remain.”—Ps. xxvii. 4.
And he speaks in another place: “I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” So that the Church is called the house of God, and this is what is meant here, “for Moses was verily faithful in all His house.” The Church sometimes means believers, “the Church of God,” and at other times it means the Church as to its outward organisation or the means of grace which God has set up on earth. It is in this latter sense we are to speak of it, and not as meaning believers, for Moses is said here to be a servant in the Church, and this means that he was a servant in the tabernacle, the place of worship. We have no account of a church where all the congregation met to worship Him, till the tabernacle was set up by Moses. There was no congregation such as we have now. How did God’s people then worship Him? They did not meet as congregations, they worshipped as families. Each head of a family was a minister or a priest. We read of Abraham building an altar to the Lord wherever he went. This was the case till they were brought out of Egypt. At the passover there was a lamb for every family, and when the family was small two families might join together for the lamb. They were to be seen in families, not in large congregations, as we are now. It was when the Lord took them out of Egypt, and when He gave the law on Mount Sinai, that we see all the families of Israel met together, and there was a place of worship or church set up, and the first place of worship was the tabernacle.
There is the Church under the Old Testament, and the Church under the New. As to the former, we may refer you to the giving of the Law—the moral law and the ceremonial law. Everything was given by the Lord to Moses on Mount Sinai, and the law of the sacrifice was given to him also. There were many things in the worship of God then that we have not now. In the New Testament Church we have, as the means of grace, three things, instead of many things which the Old Testament Church had. We have only a few. There is simplicity, and there is a worship of God in spirit and in truth. The outward means which Christ set up in His Church are the Word, the two Sacraments of Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper and prayer. These are the means of grace which Christ set up in His Church. Wherever these are there are the means which Christ set up in His house. “Moses was verily faithful as a servant, but Christ as a son over his own house.” “Where two or three are gathered together,” Christ says, “there am I.” It is said of Moses that he was a servant in the house. Moses was a servant in the house, but the house was not his. Moses was a servant in the house, but Christ is a Son over His own house.
II.—Moses’ relation to this house.
You will see that the Apostle has something in view when he mentions this to the Jews—when he mentions the difference between Moses and Christ—the relation in which Moses stood to the house, and the relation in which Christ stood to it. Moses was a servant, and he was a servant employed by God in the erection of the tabernacle; but the house was not his own. Not only that he was a servant, but he was a faithful servant in the house of God. It is a great honour to be a servant. Paul says, in speaking of this, “I thank Jesus Christ, my Lord, who counted me faithful in putting me into the ministry.” Abraham was great, Moses was greater. Abraham served God in his own family, Moses served God in the visible Church. The psalmist says: “God loves the gates of Zion, more than the dwellings of Jacob.” It is a great honour and duty to serve God in the family, but it is a greater honour to serve God publicly in His Church. This is not what the world thinks of the servants of Christ. They count them the offscouring of all things. The world despises the servants of Christ. To be a servant in the house of God speaks the highest position on this side of heaven. Truly, of all who have been engaged in God’s service, eternity will be required for the servants of Christ to see the wonder—the wonder it was that God ever called them to serve Him in His Church. Moses was a servant. Peter speaks of this in his epistle—”Peter, a servant of Jesus Christ,” and “an apostle of Jesus Christ.” Those who are called to be servants of Jesus Christ, as Moses was, their service will never cease. They are only learning to serve God on earth. They are only apprentices. All their services are a beginning. Even with those who have been engaged for scores of years, it is but a beginning. The servants need to be comforted more than any. They need to be encouraged, notwithstanding their failures. It is only a beginning, and it is a beginning by the grace of God. Paul says: “I thank our Lord, Jesus Christ, who hath enabled me for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,” and he speaks of Moses to show that he was inferior to Christ, yet he speaks of him as a great man. He was a servant, but then he was a faithful servant. He was faithful not in some things, but in all the house of God. Paul speaks under the inspiration of God’s spirit. Moses was faithful from first to last. He did not say that Moses was in himself perfect, but he was perfect in his work as a servant.
How was his faithfulness shown? It was shown in the building of the tabernacle, and it was shown in this in two ways. God gave him a pattern according to which he was to build the tabernacle. Just as when a man is to build a house he gets a plan, and he gives it to the servant, and says: “Build it according to this.” Moses was faithful in that he omitted nothing in the erection of the tabernacle which the plan required. He left nothing out, not the least thing that the plan required. His faithfulness was seen in this, that he added nothing to the plan, and if you read the last chapter of Exodus you will find it often said: “As the Lord commanded Moses.” This is the testimony of the Holy Spirit to Moses, the servant of God. “See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee on the mount.” Now, say that when Moses was building the tabernacle, he had many servants and men employed in building it. Say that a man came round one day when Moses was building the tabernacle, and said: “You might have left out this thing and that, and you might have improved on the plan.” Moses would say: “I am not the Lord of the tabernacle at all, I am a servant.” Say a man had a servant. The man went from home one day, and a stranger looked at the house, and came and said: “You better pull down that part of the house. Make this change and that change.” What would he say: “Do you not know that I am a servant in this house, and no changes are commanded by the master.”
The Apostle has something in view when he says that Moses was a servant, and a faithful servant. Moses was faithful as a servant, and only as a servant. He was faithful, not only that he built the tabernacle according to the pattern; but had to do with the service that was to be conducted in it, and with the men that were to be employed in the service of the tabernacle. Who were to be the servants? If one was to come round and say: “Who are to be the servants in this house”? He would say: “I don’t know, I am only a servant, and as a servant it is entrusted to me, and I am to employ the servants that God mentions,” and He mentions them: “Go and anoint Aaron and his sons.” He did not go to anoint any other but Aaron and his sons. How much of the faithfulness of this man of God is shown here! He will not pour the anointing oil on the head of any but those whom God commanded him to anoint. His faithfulness is seen in this, that he anoints those whom the Lord commands him to employ. His faithfulness is also seen in that he will not allow any beast to be sacrificed but what the Lord commands. The very beasts are ordered—lambs and rams, and other creatures. If you read Exodus and Leviticus you will see doves and other creatures mentioned. There was another matter also, namely, how the service of God’s house was to be conducted, and if he saw that it was not conducted according to the rule that God gave him, he was not to allow that. Moses showed his faithfulness in rebuking Aaron sharply when he came down from the mount. He was faithful in the tabernacle, in the choice of beasts and every other thing pertaining to the service. He went always by the rule in everything, by the plan and pattern showed him on the mount. Aaron, though a great man, was not faithful, like Moses, in all the house of God.
In the New Testament Church there are servants like Moses. God has a church now, and there are servants in it, and there is a service to be conducted in God’s house; and it is required of servants now that they will be, as Moses, faithful in God’s house. There are many who profess to be servants of God now, and they think they can add members to it as they please, and they say, “We have no pattern now.” But, yes; the pattern we have is the example of Jesus Christ and His apostles, and everything in regard to servants and service must be conformed to God’s word. Nothing must be introduced unless we have a command. Some say they have a pattern, but the pattern Moses had he received it from God; but there is a pattern which men devise for themselves. What is it? If a thing is not forbidden, they say it is allowable. That is the pattern of unfaithful servants. Even the prophets had a pattern: “Thus saith the Lord.” What men do we find appointed by Jesus Christ? Does He authorise the Church to accept all worldly, unconverted men? As sure as He asked Moses to anoint Aaron as a man of God, so surely is the same rule to be followed now. No one is to be employed but those who are born again, and not only so, but called to be ministers of Jesus Christ. We do not mean to say that these must be apostles now. That came to an end. These were to be employed that God might give a revelation through them, but when that revelation was completed, their work came to an end. No one can stand up now and say, “I am an apostle.”
With regard to the services, where can we find in the service of Christ and His apostles an organ in the Church? Oh! no. There was no such thing, and there are many things in the service of the Church now which cannot belong to the pattern of Christ’s Church. They were to do all things whatsoever He commanded them—not what wicked men say. That is the rule we ought to remember, and, as we are God’s servants, we ought to see that it is done according to God’s word. Moses was a servant. What is the character of many who profess Christ now? It might be said, this minister and that minister is an unfaithful servant, for he brought into the service of God things which God did not command. If an angel from heaven were to go from church to church in many places, what would he say, so to speak, on going back to his Master?—”It is very unlike Moses, for instead of the Psalms of David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, there is a hymn book composed by uninspired men.” I can tell from my knowledge of the churches that many ministers and congregations are far from being faithful. It may be said: “What business have you to speak thus?” What business have I to preach the Gospel? Aaron might say to Moses: “What business had you with me?” Moses says: “I cannot be a faithful servant if I pass by your transgression.” Ah! there is a different character, which may be given to many who profess to be servants in the Church now.
Before we leave the second head in relation to the house—Christ says, “The servant abideth not in the house for ever.” It was to the Jews the Apostle wrote this epistle. “The servant abideth not in the house for ever.” Moses left the house, and you know when a servant leaves that his service ceases. Moses left the house: is it that he left the Church? I mean more than Moses personally. Moses and the ritual that God gave him has no place in the Church now. The servant is away. When did he leave? Not till the Master dismissed him with a blessing. Moses left the house, but I do not speak of the time. He died when the Master of the house came to pull down the house and to build another on the same foundation. See what the Apostle has in view. The Jews were not at all willing that the house should be taken down, but Paul says: “Moses was a servant only,” and when the anointed, Jesus Christ came, He pulled it down. When the Lord of the house came He commanded the old house, having answered the end for which it was built, to be taken down. Paul says Moses had no right to break down anything that God commanded him to set up under the Old Testament, but when the Master of the house came you see that He abolished the ceremonial law, and He had a right to do this. Moses was the servant, but Christ was the Son, and had a right over His own house. Here it is that the Apostle speaks to the Jews that old things were to pass away, and that all things were to be made new, when Christ Himself came. When He is about to come, and before He came, He says: “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast Thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me. I delight to do Thy will, O my God” (Ps. xl.).
See then what Paul preaches in this epistle. He preaches that the service of Moses ceased, that he left the house, that he gave place to the Son, when He is the Son over His own house.
III.—Christ’s relation to the house is that He is the Son.
God speaks to us by and in His Son. The servant now can be dismissed, and a faithful servant he was. We are sure, as we have said, that He dismissed him with a blessing, and that He rewarded him with a crown of glory.
Jesus Christ is a Son over His own house. He pulled down the Old Testament Church. He built a new house, the New Testament Church, and He built it on the same foundation. He Himself was the foundation of the Old Testament Church. I do not speak of two Churches that was typified in the sacrifice. He laid the foundation of the New Testament Church in His own blood, and now, as the house belongs to Himself, it belongs to Him to say what is to be in the house. There are societies formed which have as their aim to make the service to please themselves. This ignores the right the Son has in His own house. These societies are unchristian, and Moses would not take upon himself to do such a thing. The Son has come, and He is Lord over His own house.
The Son, as Mediator, was appointed over His own house, and Paul tells us that, as Moses was faithful, the Son, who was appointed by the Father, is faithful also. Oh! could we expect anything of the Son but this? Moses was a valuable man, but still he was only a servant. There was no defect in the work God pointed out to him. As an evidence that it was perfect it lasted the time appointed, and God was satisfied with it. God showed satisfaction with the work of Moses for many centuries, till Jesus Christ, the Son, came. The Son, as Lord of the house, is faithful. God, the Father, entrusted everything to Jesus Christ. Then the word of Jesus Christ is the rule by which everything in the Church is to be regulated. To the law and to the testimony. And what is its message? “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”
THERE was a great dark cloud of vanity before mine eyes, so that I could not see the sun of justice, and the light of truth. I, being the son of darkness, was involved in darkness: I loved my darkness, because I knew not Thy light: I was blind, and loved my blindness, and did walk from darkness to darkness; but, Lord, Thou art my God, who hast led me from darkness and the shadow of death, who hast called me into this glorious light, and behold, I see.—Augustine.