Nor is this all we learn from our type. “The seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.” Were we to clothe this figure in New-Testament language, we should quote our Lord’s words when He says to us, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. v. 16.) Wherever the true light of the Spirit shines, it will always yield a clear testimony to Christ. It will call attention not to itself, but to Him; and this is the way to glorify God. “The seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.”
This is a great practical truth for all Christians. The very finest evidence which can be afforded of true spiritual work is, that it tends directly to exalt Christ. If attention be sought for the work or the workman, the light has become dim, and the Minister of the sanctuary must use the snuffers. It was Aaron’s province to light the lamps, and he it was who trimmed them likewise. In other words, the light which, as Christians, we are responsible to yield, is not only founded upon Christ, but maintained by Him, from moment to moment, throughout the entire night. Apart from Him we can do nothing. The golden shaft sustained the lamps; the priestly hand supplied the oil and applied the snuffers. It is all _in_ Christ, _from_ Christ, and _by_ Christ.
And more, it is all _to_ Christ. Wherever the light of the Spirit—the true light of the sanctuary—has shone in this wilderness world, the object of that light has been to exalt the name of Jesus. Whatever has been done by the Holy Ghost, whatever has been said, whatever has been written, has had for its aim the glory of that blessed One; and we may say with confidence, that whatever has not that tendency—that aim, is not of the Holy Ghost, be it what it may. There may be an immense amount of work done, a great deal of apparent result reached, a quantity of that which is calculated to attract human attention, and elicit human applause, and yet not one ray of light from the golden candlestick. And why? Because attention is _sought_ for the work, or for those engaged in it. _Man_ and his doings and sayings are exalted, instead of Christ. The light has not been produced by the oil which the hand of the great High-Priest supplies; and, as a consequence, it is false light,—it is a light which shines not over against the candlestick, but over against the name or the actings of some poor mortal.
All this is most solemn, and demands our deepest attention. There is always the utmost danger when a man or his work becomes remarkable. He may be sure Satan is gaining his object, when attention is drawn to aught or to any one but the Lord Jesus Himself. A work may be commenced in the greatest possible simplicity, but, through lack of holy watchfulness and spirituality on the part of the workman, he himself, or the results of his work, may attract general attention, and he may fall into the snare of the devil. Satan’s grand and ceaseless object is to dishonor the Lord Jesus; and if he can do this by what seems to be Christian service, he has achieved all the greater victory for the time. He has no objection to work, as such, provided he can detach that work from the name of Jesus. He will ever mingle himself, if he can, with the work; he will present himself amongst the servants of Christ, as he once presented himself amongst the sons of God; but his object is ever one and the same, namely, to dishonor the Lord. He permitted the damsel in Acts xvi. to bear testimony to Christ’s servants, and say, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation;” but this was simply with a view to insnare those servants and mar their work. He was defeated, however, because the light that emanated from Paul and Silas was the genuine light of the sanctuary, and it _shone_ only for Christ. They sought not a name for themselves; and inasmuch as it was to them and not to their Master that the damsel bore witness, they refused the witness, and chose rather to suffer for their Master’s sake than to be exalted at His expense.
This is a fine example for all the Lord’s workmen; and if we turn, for an instant, to Acts iii, we shall find another very striking illustration. There, the light of the sanctuary shone out in the healing of the lame man, and when attention was drawn, _unsought_, to the workmen, we find Peter and John, at once, with holy jealousy, retiring behind their glorious Master and giving all the praise to Him. “And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, ‘Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly _on us_, as though by _our own_ power or holiness _we_ had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified HIS SON JESUS.’”