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Most instructive are the actions of Josiah, when his heart and conscience are under the influence of God's Word. Not only did he personally bow down under God's Word, but he influenced others to do likewise. This is always the case when our spiritual work is real. It is impossible for us to feel the weight and solemnity of truth and not seek to bring others under its action. No doubt a quantity of truth can be superficially held in the intellect—in a speculative, notional way. But, this kind of truth has no practical effect; it does not touch the heart and conscience in a Divine, living fashion; it does not affect life and character. And, since it does not affect the soul, its presentation will have little or no spiritual power on others. True, God is sovereign, and, therefore, He may choose to use His own Word even though it might be spoken by one who really does not feel its influence. But, in what way are we most likely to affect our hearers? Unquestionably, we are most likely to affect our hearers by being deeply affected ourselves—our hearts under the power of that solemn word, "the Lord is at hand."

 

Please do not misunderstand. We do not mean to say that a preacher's manner can, in and of itself, convert a soul. Tears cannot quicken earnestness; cannot regenerate. It is "not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord." It is only by the powerful action of the Word and Spirit of God that any soul can be born again. This we always seek to keep in mind. At the same time, we understand that God blesses earnest preaching and souls are moved by it. Preaching today seems to be either too mechanical or too flamboyant. We need more earnestness, more depth of feeling, more study, more secret time with God, more intensity, more power to weep over the souls of men; a more influential and abiding sense of the awful doom of impenitent sinners, the value of an immortal soul, and the solemn realities of eternity. A preacher once asked a famous speaker how he produced far more powerful results speaking fiction, than the minister could by preaching truth. The reply of the famous speaker is full of force. "My friend," he said, "the reason is obvious: I speak fiction as though it were truth, whereas you speak truth as though it were fiction."

 

We are persuaded that earnest, faithful preaching is one of the special needs of this age. There are a few here and there, thank God, who stand before their audience each week, having studied long and worked hard to be a channel of communication between God and their fellows. Such men are bent on their work—not merely on preaching and teaching, but on saving and blessing souls. The grand business of the evangelist is to bring the soul and Christ together; the business of the teacher and pastor¹ is to keep them together. It is true that God is glorified and Jesus Christ magnified by the unfolding of truth, whether men will hear or not; but should this fact be allowed to interfere with the ardent desire for results? No; the preacher needs to look for results, and should not be satisfied without them. He should no more think of being satisfied year to year without results than the farmer thinks of going on from year to year without a crop. Some preachers are successful in preaching their hearers away, content to say, "We are a sweet savor to God." This is a great mistake; a fatal delusion. We need to lean on God for the results of our work; to wait on Him; to agonize in prayer for souls; to spend time in secret with God; to throw all our energies into the work; to preach as though the whole thing depended on us, although knowing full well that we can do nothing; to make sure that our words are fastened to God's Word, as a nail in a sure place. While there may be exceptions, still, as a general rule, a God-fearing preacher, will, sooner or later, reap fruit.

 

The foregoing line of thought arose from contemplating the interesting scene in the life of Josiah presented at the close of 2 Chronicles 34. It will be profitable for us to dwell upon it. Josiah was thoroughly in earnest. He felt the power of truth in his own soul, and he was not satisfied until he gathered the people, so the light that had shone on him might also shine on them. He did not, he could not, rest on the fact that he would go to his grave in peace; that his eyes would not see the evil coming upon Jerusalem; that he would escape the tide of judgment that would soon roll over the land. No; he thought of others, he felt for the people around him. Because his own personal escape was based on true penitence and humiliation under the mighty hand of God, so he sought to influence others to penitence and humiliation.

 

Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

 

Here is a moral lesson that we, with all our light, knowledge, and privilege, desperately need. Josiah felt a responsibility to those around him. He did not put his light under a bushel, but rather allowed it to shine for the full benefit and blessing of others. This is even more striking, because the great truth regarding the unity of all believers in one body had not yet been revealed, yet the child king's heart reached out to others! The doctrine contained in that one brief sentence, "There is one body and one Spirit," would not be known until long after the times of Josiah, even after Christ had taken His seat at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens.

 

But although this truth was "hid in God," nevertheless there was a national unity in Israel. This unity can always be recognized by the faithful, no matter the outward condition of the people. The twelve loaves on the table of show-bread in the sanctuary were significant figures of the divine type of perfect unity; the perfect distinctness of the twelve tribes. This is seen in Leviticus 24, and should be deeply pondered by every serious student of Scripture and earnest lover of God's ways. During the dark and silent watches of the night, the seven lamps of the golden candlestick threw light on the twelve loaves arranged on the pure table by the hand of the high-priest according to the commandment of God.²

 

It was on this grand truth that Elijah the Tishbite took his stand, when on Mount Carmel³ he built an altar "with twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be thy name" (1 Kings 18). Hezekiah regarded this same truth, when he commanded "that the burnt-offering and the sin-offering should be made for all Israel" (2 Chr. 29:24). The Apostle Paul referred to this precious truth, when in the presence of king Agrippa he spoke of "our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night" (Acts 26:7).

 

If any one of those men of faith had been asked, "Where are the twelve tribes?" Could he have given an answer? Could he have pointed them out? No; because the nation was divided—its unity broken. In the days of Elijah and Hezekiah there were ten tribes and the two; in Paul's day the ten tribes were scattered abroad, with only a remnant of the two in the land of Palestine. Was the truth of God made of none effect by Israel's outward condition? No; "our twelve tribes" must never be given up. Unity back then and unity today must be based on faith. It is as true now as it was when Joshua pitched the twelve stones at Gilgal. The Word of our God will stand forever. Not one jot or tittle that He has spoken will ever pass away.

 

Change and decay may stamp the history of human affairs, death and desolation may sweep like a withering blast over earth's fairest scenes, but Jehovah will make good His every word. We may not understand or grasp His full meaning or see how He can work things out, but no power on earth or in hell will ever be able to hinder God's Word. What makes us so sure? How can we speak with such absolute certainty? Simply because God has spoken it!

 

It is of utmost importance that this should be clear, because in our age there is a tendency to loosely handle the Word of God, thus dishonoring our Father. Today religious systems take unwarranted liberty with God's revelation, forgetting or perhaps denying that our God says exactly what He means, and means exactly what He says.

 

Expositors and serious students of Scripture should ponder this. It is far more than this. It is a question of the integrity, value, and power of the Word of God. If we allow ourselves to be loose and careless in reference to one Scripture, we are likely to be loose and careless with another, causing our sense of the weight and authority of all Scripture to be sadly enfeebled.

 

The child king Josiah recognized this great principle. He proved to be no exception to the general rule, that all the pious kings of Judah regarded the unity of the nation of Israel, never allowing their thoughts, sympathies, or operations to leave the narrow range of "our twelve tribes." The twelve loaves on the pure table were always before the eye of God and the eye of faith. It was not a mere speculation; a non-practical dogma; a dead letter. No; it was a great influential truth. "Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel." This action was in harmony with his pious predecessor, Hezekiah, who commanded that the burnt-offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel.

 

Consider the application of this to your soul. Do you heartily believe in the doctrine of the unity of the body of Christ? Do you believe that there is such a body on this earth now, united by the Holy Spirit to its divine and living Head in Heaven? Do you personally hold this great truth from God Himself, based on the authority of Holy Scripture? Do you hold as a cardinal and fundamental truth of the New Testament the indissoluble unity of the church of our Lord?⁴ One might ask, "Where is this to be seen?” This is a good question, since there are seemingly numberless sects, parties, and religious systems—all claiming truth. Still there is that imperishable sentence, "There is one body and one Spirit." Mark the words!—"There is." It does not say there was at one time and there will again be "one body." Neither does it say that the “one body” exists in Heaven. No; it clearly says, "There is one body and one Spirit." It is here, now. Is this truth of God's Word hindered by the condition of things in the religious world? Has God's Word ceased to be true because we have ceased to be faithful? Will any one undertake to say that the unity of the body was a truth only for apostolic times; that it has no application now?

 

There is no doubt that appearances argue against this truth; but what truth is not argued against in our age? But the faithful know that appearances do not build faith. Did Elijah build on appearances when he erected his altar of twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob—even though at the time being divided? Did King Hezekiah build on appearances when he issued the commandment that the burnt-offering and sin-offering be made for all Israel—though divided at the time? Did Josiah build on appearances when he carried forth his reformatory operations—into all countries pertaining to the children of Israel? No; they built on the faithful Word of the God of Israel. That Word was true whether Israel's tribes were scattered or united. If God's truth is to be affected by outward appearances, or by the actions of men, then where are we? Or what are we to believe? Actually, if we allowed ourselves to be affected by outward appearances, we could not commit our souls with calm confidence to hardly a truth in the entire compass of God's revelation.

 

The only ground on which we can believe anything is this one eternal clause, "It is written"! This is a vital principle. Christians hold on to, admit, and reverently believe this, because it is written, "There is one body and one Spirit" (Eph. 4). This is as clearly revealed in Scripture as “the faith of Christ,”⁵ or any other Biblical truth. Do outward appearances affect our salvation?⁶ Are we to call in question these precious truths because there is so little exhibition of their purifying power in our age? May God help us believe the Holy Scriptures because God revealed it, because it is God's Holy Word.

 

Footnotes:

¹ “And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11). This is a characteristic Pauline insertion, prompted by his mention a moment earlier of Christ "filling all things," which of necessity meant that he filled the church.  How did Christ do such a thing?  He did it in the manner in view here, through the faithful preaching of men in all generations who would declare the saving message. F .F. Bruce observed, there are two pairs of offices in view here: apostles and prophets, and evangelists and pastor-teachers. The first pair, apostles and prophets, were effective in the founding of the church, and the second pair, evangelists and pastor-teachers, are required in all generations.  The omission of "some" before "teachers" indicates that the meaning is teaching-pastors, or pastor-teachers. The failure of some to see that the word "pastor" is a New Testament synonym for "elder" or "bishop" has led to some rather fanciful comments, such as: “The fact that neither bishops nor elders are mentioned is an indication that we are still some distance removed from the developed organization that we find around the turn of the first century.” All kinds of scholarly misconceptions are evident in a remark like the above.  God's “organization” of His church did not "develop" but was given from the very first.  Paul ordained elders among the churches established on his first missionary tour (Acts 14:23).  In fact, the verse before us says: "He gave," that is, the Lord gave the offices mentioned, including that of elder or bishop, called here pastor-teachers.

² For more information on this subject, see The Tabernacle in Additional Resources section of StudyJesus.com.

³ For more information on Elijah, see Elijah – Servant of God in Additional Resources section of StudyJesus.com

⁴ For more information on the church of our Lord, see God's Church in A Religion Library section of StudyJesus.com.

⁵ When we understand Romans 3:21-26 we understand the Gospel, all of Romans and the Bible.  The 1885 English Revised Version changed “the faith of Christ” to “faith in Christ” in Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16, 2:20, 3:22; Ephesians 3:12; and Philippians 3:9.  In his Commentaries on the Old and New Testament, Coffman concludes that the King James Version is a correct translation of all these verses, a fact confirmed by the total agreement of the Emphatic Diaglott in each case.  James Macknight, Adam Clarke, as well as other older commentators, also agree with the King James Version translation of these verses—“the faith of Christ”, like the “faith of Abraham” in Romans 4:16.  On this subject, a full-time minister wrote: “God provides righteousness to those who believe.  If through the faith of Jesus—everybody would be saved.”  A Bible professor wrote: “Both ideas . . . are biblical . . .” An elder of the church wrote: “The believer's faith causes him to respond to that perfect justification which is and was brought by Christ in His obedience to God's will of offering His son as the perfect atonement for all mankind (sins).”  We concur with the elder, older commentators, and Coffman, whose commentary on this verse is a scathing rebuke of many modern-day professors and preachers, pointing out that we should stay with the King James Version in this verse, because changing it represents the same tampering with the Word of God that resulted in the monstrosity of changing “the righteousness of God” to “a righteousness” (Rom. 3:21 & Rom. 1:17).  Coffman writes: “the true Scriptural justification by faith has absolutely no reference to the faith of stinking sinners, but to the faith of the Son of God.  The only end served by this change was to bolster the faith only theory of justification.”  He further writes: “the true grounds of justification cannot ever be in a million years the faith of fallible, sinful people, would appear to be axiomatic.  How could it be? The very notion that God could impute justification to an evil man, merely upon the basis of anything that such a foul soul might either believe or do, is a delusion.  Justification in any true sense requires that the justified be accounted as righteous and undeserving of any penalty whatever; and no man's faith is sufficient grounds for such an imputation.  On the other hand, the faith of Jesus Christ is a legitimate ground of justification, because Christ's faith was perfect.”  In the absolute sense, only Christ is faithful—“Faithful is he that calleth you” (1 Thess. 5:24).  Only He is called “the faithful and true witness” (Rev. 3:14).  The faith of Christ was also obedient; a perfect and complete obedience, lacking nothing.  Therefore, we conclude that the sinless, holy, obedient faith of the Son of God is the only ground of justification of a human being—Christ only is righteously justified in God's sight.  How then are we saved?  We are saved “in Christ,” having been incorporated into Him—justified as a part of Him. Our study prompts agreement with Coffman's conclusion that faith is not the ground of our justification; it is not the righteousness which makes us righteous before God.  The “faith of the Son of God” is the only basis for our justification, and that faith is definitely included in the “righteousness of God” mentioned in this verse.  Even the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ shows the principal constituent of God's righteousness.  In conclusion, God's righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ—His absolute, intrinsic, unalloyed righteousness—implicit in His perfect faith (mentioned here) and His perfect obedience (implied).  The contrary notion that God's righteousness is some imputation accomplished by the sinner's faith is unfounded.  Any righteousness that could commend itself to the Father and become the ground of anything truly worthwhile would, by definition, have to be a true and genuine righteousness. That righteousness was provided by the sinless life of the Christ, summarized in this verse as “through faith of Jesus Christ,” the idea being much clearer in the King James Version, “The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ.”  We concur with Coffman on this subject, including his final conclusion, “. . . the word believe in this verse refers to sinners” faith (believer's faith) which is no part of God's righteousness at all, but, like baptism, is but a mere condition of salvation—being neither more nor less important than baptism.”

⁶ For more information on salvation, see God's Salvation in A Religion Library section of StudyJesus.com.

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