COMMITTAL TO THE WILL OF GOD

J.Renton

Luke 22: 39-46; Genesis 40: 14, 23; 2 Samuel 17:15-18 (first part); Esther 2: 21-23.

I desire to speak about how at times certain responsibility falls upon us: certain matters involving the will of God may lie on any one of us to do. If we are faithful God can use us in a certain situation.

We need to see that, while God works out His purpose and His counsel, He is never disappointed and He is never taken by surprise. We were speaking last night about one of the names of God being The Same; no matter what comes in, no matter how the enemy attacks, God is never surprised, He is never taken aback, He is never disappointed and everything will go through according to His mind. God is never diverted by what happens; He always has the initiative and proceeds with it in spite of anything that might come in to hinder. Now that is God's side of every matter. Along with that there is our side. At some time any one of us might find himself or herself in a position where something depends on that one to do, and God would count on such a one to act rightly in those circumstances. What I have to say ought to encourage anyone who finds himself or herself in a certain situation. The test is whether in that situation I am going to be committed to the will of God or whether I am going to fail Him.

Now we begin with Luke 22 because we find the Lord Jesus Himself in a certain situation. We find Him in a situation, dear brethren, where everything depends on Him - everything. The weight of responsibility on the Lord Jesus in this section who could estimate? The whole matter of the will of God, the whole purpose of God and all His counsel, all His plans depended on the Lord Jesus in this situation in which He was. We could not of course think of the Lord Jesus failing and yet we are to admire, we are to adore our Saviour who was in this position where everything for the glory of God and everything for the blessing of man depended on Him. So it says, "he was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and having knelt down he prayed". Think of the perfect dependent manhood of Jesus! He is presented here as the dependent One who counted on His God. What a faithful Servant He was! We need hardly say that, we all know He was, and yet to view Him in this situation would encourage any one who finds himself in any position of responsibility. What responsibilities lay on the Lord Jesus at this moment.

He is facing death, He is facing the bearing of the judgment of God, He is facing being forsaken. Satan is bringing his power to bear against Him. Think of the Lord Jesus in that situation, and He is there in perfection. He was a real Man and yet God's purpose was as safe in the hands of the Lord Jesus at this moment as it ever was. All that God had planned for the maintenance of His own glory and for the blessing of every person in every family which has been secured and will yet be secured depended on the Lord Jesus at this moment. He was facing the matter of God's will. "Having knelt down he prayed, saying, Father, if thou wilt remove this cup from me". The Lord Jesus is in perfection shrinking from what faced Him. We ail know what it is to shrink from what faces us in certain situations but that would not be perfection, but it was perfection in the Lord Jesus. Who He was, the kind of Man He was must necessarily shrink from what faced Him. And yet would He flinch? He said, "but then, not my will, but thine be done". Then it says, "an angel appeared to him from heaven strengthening him". Think of the Lord needing strengthening at this moment. It shows, dear brethren, the reality of His manhood. He was a real Man here and the whole responsibility of carrying through the will of God depended on Him. I say again, God's purpose, God's plans were as safe in the hands of Jesus at that moment as when these plans were made or at any moment in the history of eternity and time, all God's purposes were as safe in the hands of the Saviour in Gethsemane as ever they were. What a perfect Man He is, what a model for us, what a subject for our contemplation, our adoration! This would give us strength: to see the Lord Jesus in the perfection of His dependent manhood facing a situation where everything depended on Him. It would strengthen us to face some little situation, some little difficulty that confronts any one of us at any time. You can see the intenseness of the conflict here: "an angel appeared to him from heaven strengthening him. And being in conflict he prayed more intently. And his sweat became as great drops of blood, falling down". This is manhood in perfection. This is manhood in conflict such as we shall never know, the depth of which we shall never know, for it is our Lord and Master in conflict here. Then it says, "rising up from his prayer" - rising up from the depth of conflict, rising up from that depth of anguish in which He was involved in Gethsemane, "rising up from his prayer, coming to the disciples, he found them sleeping from grief". Oh what a model we have, dear brethren, what a Man, what a blessed, perfect, dependent Man that we need to get our eye on and keep our eye on to encourage us to face any situation whatsoever! We need to be formed in this kind of manhood, and we will be as we contemplate the Man we desire to be formed after, and the Spirit will help us in that formation. There is a need at the moment for manhood of this kind. We were speaking in the reading in 2 Peter 1 as to certain features: "in your faith have also virtue"; these features are features of manhood according to God. Think of what virtue there was with Jesus here! Was there not faith? Was there not virtue in His faith? Was there not courage when He rose up from His prayer and moved forward to be the victim, to undertake all that the will of God involved at infinite cost to Himself - rising up from His prayer He proceeded! What a blessed theme of contemplation we have in the Lord Jesus!

Now we come to this incident in the book of Genesis. The situation spoken of here involved this cup-bearer. He had received certain benefits from Joseph, he knew Joseph, Joseph interpreted his dream and encouraged him. Joseph gave him a message of peace and you might say he was the means of preaching the gospel to him. Joseph gave that man glad tidings which he was glad to receive. And Joseph asked one thing from this man, just one thing. He said, "Only bear a remembrance with thee of me when it goes well with thee". He makes a request: Joseph says in effect, 'I have preached the gospel to you, you are going to be liberated; you had a vine before you, your head is going to be lifted up and you will be restored to your office'. That was glad tidings for this cup-bearer because he was troubled. Joseph says, "Only bear a remembrance with thee of me when it goes well with thee ... and make mention of me to Pharaoh". Had not this cup-bearer reason to have Joseph in his heart and to look for an opportunity to bring Joseph in? Have we not reason to, dear brethren? Have we not reason to think of the Lord Jesus and all He has accomplished for us? Have we not reason to look for opportunities to bring Him in? Instead of that it says, "the chief of the cup-bearers did not remember Joseph, and forgot him". That is our frailty, our weakness, our self-occupation, our self-interest. Instead of looking for opportunities to bring him in, the cup-bearer did not remember him and forgot him. How ungrateful! Can we put ourselves in that position? Can we see how ungrateful we have been? Have we not arrived at how unfaithful we have been?

Now, this cup-bearer was the necessary link between the situation which arose and the introduction of Joseph. Joseph was unknown and it was the cupbearer who eventually was the link, who was the means of introducing Joseph to the critical situation which arose in the next chapter. Pharaoh dreamed a dream and there was no one to interpret it; and as far as Egypt was concerned no one knew about Joseph except the cup-bearer who ought to have been the link but he did not remember Joseph and forgot him. But he comes to it; he comes to it in repentance. When the situation arose and there was no interpreter, this chief of the cup-bearers remembered about Joseph and was the means of introducing Joseph into the critical situation. How valuable to know the true Joseph in this day, the interpreter, the One who makes all things clear! We were speaking about the Lord Jesus as Head, source of wisdom, love and power. There may arise locally a situation where there is need to bring in Christ. We read, "Then spoke the chief of the cup-bearers to Pharaoh, saying, I remember mine offences this day". He becomes the means of introducing Joseph who takes over the whole situation. Instead of calamity he takes over the whole matter, explains it all, and takes charge of it all, and becomes the great administrator of food in the land of Egypt. He explained about the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine. I have no doubt we have had seven years of plenty in the history of the testimony in the ministries, and we are now in the seven years o{ famine, but whether you are in the seven years of famine or the seven years of plenty makes no difference if you know Joseph. There was as much available under Joseph in the years of famine as there was in the years of plenty. The fact is the famine became the means of bringing Joseph into pre-eminence. As long as there were seven years of plenty Joseph was the administrator and he laid up the grain, but he became indispensable when the years of famine came and the word was, "Go to Joseph" . The cup-bearer seems a very flimsy and very slender link, and yet through repentance he became the means of the introduction of Joseph to the whole situation and the whole situation changed. He was not like our Lord and Master in Luke 22, he was not marked by perfection, very far from it. Two full years elapsed before a situation arose when he remembered about Joseph. It reminds us of our own frailty, our own unfaithfulness, how unfaithful we have been, and yet a certain situation has arisen in which we can have some part, and we are privileged to have some part, in the introduction of the true Joseph.

In 2 Samuel we can see that being in a certain situation where the will of God is involved does not necessarily depend on age or experience because here a maid is a link. It is "the maid" whoever she was, some unnamed young sister who becomes the link between Hushai and David. There was need for a link there to fill its place and it was seen in this little maid. There was a little community with the ark in Jerusalem, secretly, where Absalom reigned publicly, and the link between that community with the ark in Jerusalem and David in rejection was the maid. It says that Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel for they might not be seen to come into the city. This has been spoken of as a kind of secret service; secret things are going on about which the enemy knows nothing. It is always a comfort to realise that the enemy, Satan, is a creature and has certain limitations. He is not almighty, he does not know everything. There are certain things he has not the capacity to understand or appreciate. Think of Job for instance. All Satan could see about Job were his circumstances and his possessions and his health. He did not know what reserves God had in Job. Therefore Satan acts in the circumstances thinking that that is all that matters, but there was depth in Job which came to light and which Satan had not the capacity to appreciate. The mysterious links in affection that the saints have together Satan does not understand. The work of God in the believer Satan does not understand and does not have the capacity to appreciate. Now that is a great comfort. He knows what we are in the flesh because he has had a hand in producing that. It was the poison of the serpent instilled in to Adam and his wife that has marked the whole race. He understands that all right.

He understands how the flesh reacts to certain situations, but he has not the capacity to understand the work of God, and motives and desires according to God. Therefore there are certain secret things that proceed that Satan does not have the capacity to understand or appreciate, and that is always a great comfort to have before us. So there is a certain secret order of things in Jerusalem that Absalom knew nothing about, and that secret order of things in a few in Jerusalem was a means of the overthrowing of the whole Absalom power. A link was necessary in this chain and a little maid was that link - a young person. Hushai needed to send this message to David, Hushai was in Jerusalem, one of this little community we were speaking about, and David was in rejection, and the priests' sons, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, stayed by En-rogel, they might not be seen in the city; but the maid took the message, the maid formed that link. Now dear young believer whoever you may be, I would like to encourage you to be committed to the will of God, to be committed to what is right, to be committed to the promotion of the Lord's interests here. Things may look dark and confused but I would like to encourage every young person here to have some part in the Lord's interests at the present time of whom the maid is an example.

Now I have only a few words to say about the book of Esther. It is a very interesting history. Mordecai is found sitting at the king's gate, that is, to use Christian language, he was standing by the rights of Christ. Whatever happened, Mordecai sat at the king's gate, he was faithful there. Two men sought to lay hand on king Ahasuerus, and because Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate he learned of it and he told Esther the queen, and she told the king in Mordecai's name, and the matter was investigated and found out and they were hanged on a tree, "And it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king''. That little statement is of all importance: "it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king". It forms an important link in this book. Then it was forgotten about. There is a certain lapse of time: the first verse of the next chapter says, "After these things king Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him". But before Haman the enemy of the people of God is established, this regarding Mordecai was written in the book of the chronicles before the king. The fact that this was written in the book of the chronicles before the king became the means of the overthrow of the whole Haman system. It seems to be a little incident, and it was forgotten about, but if you read the history you will find that it is afterwards referred to. I have heard this book spoken of as a drama, but it is real life. It is not a drama out of any man's imagination, it is a drama which actually happened, and many things like this have happened in the history of the testimony. Haman is promoted, and Haman has his way; you would think that Haman is just going to remove the Jews from the face of the earth, so much power is given to him, but before he is advanced a certain thing was written in the book of the chronicles before the king. Haman made the gallows fifty cubits high. Who were the gallows for? For Mordecai who sat at the king's gate. Who was hanged on the gallows? Haman who made the gallows. How did it come about? Because the king could not sleep and he sent for the chronicles and he read about Mordecai. He said, " What honour and dignity has been done to Mordecai for this?" It became the whole turning point in the history. I want to point out that some little incident that might appear insignificant, where somebody is faithful, becomes the means that God uses to overthrow the power of the enemy.

I think all this should encourage us. No incident is too small, no expression of faithfulness to God is too small. God takes account of every one of them. You may remember that the Lord said regarding His disciples, "ye are they who have persevered with me in my temptations", Luke 22: 28. Let us be like Mordecai, be committed to sitting at the king's gate. Let us be jealous for the Lord's rights in His absence. Who is jealous to provide conditions suitable to Him down he re in localities? The Holy Spirit is. I say without hesitation, the Holy Spirit is committed to the maintenance of the Lord's name and the Lord's pleasure here in His absence, and He will encourage and help us to fill out the part that belongs to each one of us in the history of the testimony while we are still here. May the Lord help every one of us.

BROOKLYN NY

12 May 1973