LOVE
[p. 166] LOVE
1 John 3:11; 1 John 3:14; 1 John 3:16; Esther 3: 8, 9; Esther 4:1 - 5; Esther 4:10 - 17; Esther 5: 1 - 3; Esther 10: 3
I have been thinking, dear brethren, of love. We have been reminded of it today in our consideration of Exodus, and how in the type of the Hebrew bondman we have it in its ascending feature, love for his master; and in its descending feature, love for his children; and in its horizontal feature, love for his wife. I wish to speak of it now in the latter aspect, for it is that feature that promotes mutual feeling, love for the brethren, love for the brethren developing into love for the brotherhood.
I wish to show how this leads to the full test, and our answer to it in the laying down of our lives. In this we correspond to Christ as seen in the wonderful type, so well-known to us, the type of the Hebrew bondman. He leads the way in love in all its phases, going so far as to death, having His ear bored at the door, so that He remains a bondman for ever — His master’s bondman. He leads the way in love, as in all else, and in love, as we have noted already today, that meets successfully every exigency or emergency of the testimony, every difficulty. Love never fails! And it will not fail in its relation to the brethren. Now this chapter in John’s epistle brings out the idea of the brethren; not simply ‘brethren’, not simply ‘Christ’s brethren’ as elsewhere, but ‘the brethren’. There are such in this world; they are said to be God’s children; they are called that. In this epistle we have the children of the testimony in chapter 2, as we may say, ‘John’s children’; and in chapter 3, the children of God — “See what love the Father hath given to us, that we should be called the children of God. For this reason the world knows us not, because it knew him not”. But we are [p. 167] called that. In the gospel of John we have title to take that place as before God, and before men, too; but in the epistle we are called that, and that is the manner of the love. The children of God are also the brethren; not here the brethren of Christ, that is not the point, but the brethren, persons of that distinction. The very great fact that there are such, dear brethren, and their prominence and importance, their quality, are indicated in the fact that as loving them we know that we have passed out of death into life. Any of us here who does not love the brethren, does not know that! We may speak of it, and quote the Lord’s words that “he that hears my word, and believes him that has sent me, has life eternal, and does not come into judgment, but is passed out of death into life”, John 5: 24. We may quote that, but that does not give me consciousness of the transition, of having passed out of death into life; whereas love for the brethren does. Hereby “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren”. Not the persons we meet in society, not our relatives after the flesh, but the brethren, these people. Other scriptures show us what they are, what marks them, but this scripture assumes that they are known, “the brethren”.
Peter tells us to “love the brotherhood”, which would mean the same persons only in other conditions, like the Jews, of which I hope to speak presently, who banded themselves together in the province of Ahasuerus, against their enemies; they could not be withstood. So that there should be no fear with such a people. If we view them as the brethren, we view them in family relations and affection. If we view them as the brotherhood, they are irresistible — they cannot be overcome. So being amongst them, and loving them, is the position we covet — it is a state and condition to be coveted — to love them and be of them.
[p. 168] Well now, I want to show from Esther how this works out, how in loving them and laying down our lives for them, we are promoted spiritually. Promotion spiritually is an aspiration to be encouraged, would there were more of it, and less aspiration of material promotion! They do not go together, beloved; one destroys the other. So that John tells the one to whom he writes the second letter, that he wishes that he should prosper and be in health as his soul prospereth. An excellent balance! Any material prosperity is detrimental, and is material upon which the enemy will not fail to act to our detriment.
Now as I said, I want to show from Esther how this works out. How love for the brethren, and martyrdom, if need be, for them, involve spiritual promotion. So I refer to the word “Jew” in this book as suggestive of the brethren in reproach, for they are in reproach if they are truly in the state and position of brethren. The world knows us not as children, and we are not to marvel if it hates us; it hated God, it hated the Father and the Son — such is the world. It is futile to dwell on the inconsistency of hating us without a cause, it is waste of time; the flesh will ever hate us without a cause, even in persons known to be christians. It considers not consistency at all. So the Lord says, “They hated me without a cause”. We are not to marvel about the hatred. It implies that we are ‘Jews’. As the word ‘Hebrew’ in Exodus signifies the reproach of Christ attaching to His people, so the word ‘Jew’ in Esther signifies the same in other, although very similar, circumstances.
So I take up the idea of the ‘Jew’ in Esther as denoting this feature. According to Romans the apostle says the Jew is not a Jew who is one outwardly in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is so inwardly, in spirit, whose praise is of God and not of men. Circumcision is in the spirit, it is a spiritual idea, it [p. 169] is a Colossian idea. There are those who say they are Jews and are not; but there are those who are.
The Lord deals with those who are not; they lie, they are of the synagogue of Satan; He says to Philadelphia, “Behold, I make them of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie; behold, I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet, and shall know that I have loved thee”, Revelation 3: 9. Notice that: “before thy feet”.
Thus the Jew in Esther is the believer in reproach.
Mordecai is said to be a Jew. He was in the palace, he was there in the government of God; his genealogy is given so that we might know that he had a pedigree although in the palace of Shushan. We are told that he was a Jew, and that he had a pedigree, and then we are told that he was a man of family affections. A great feature in John’s ministry is family affection.
So that he had such family affection as led to sacrifice; he took Esther up as his daughter — his cousin as we speak — evidently much younger, but in an unselfish, family way, he took her as his own daughter — a very tender way to take up those who are parentless.
That is Mordecai the Jew, that is to say he is that, he represents that in a very positive and full way.
‘Mordecai the Jew’, that is to say, a brother marked by family affection and unselfishness. I do not mean natural family affection brought into the house of God; Nehemiah calls that “household stuff”. That is not Mordecai at all. He is ‘Mordecai the Jew’, a sufferer in reproach.
Well now, I have read to you Haman’s description of the brethren. It is not heaven’s description of them, it is Haman’s description, but he is forced to say some things that are true. There can be no mistake as to who these people are, our enemies themselves being judges; there is something there that is distinctive. Haman would have them [p. 170] destroyed, and was almost successful in his efforts, but there was Mordecai the Jew, a man who takes his life in his hands for the brethren, and the result is that Haman goes down and Mordecai goes up!
There is no God in sight in this book; even prayer is not mentioned in this book, and yet there is a most wonderful evidence of divine working! One of the most striking features of the book is seemliness, that is to say, God is not brought in where the circumstances of His people are dishonouring. We speak to Him, of course, we seek Him, of course, but make no parade of a God in such circumstances. The circumstances deny Him, as though He were asleep, and truly He was in figure, as when the ark was in the Philistine land, when it says, He “awoke as one out of sleep”, Psalm 78: 65. But there is not a word of that in Esther. God never actually sleeps: “he that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep”, Psalm 121:4. He is ever vigilant, but He knows how to keep out of sight, and those who love Him know how to keep Him out of sight too, if the circumstances are dishonouring.
So Haman apparently was successful in his efforts, but Mordecai the Jew stands out when he heard of the awful disaster that was pending on the brethren.
Are there not some here that know something of brethren’s disasters? There are! Some of us, many of us, here do not know war; God would teach us war, it is one of the features of our education. As the psalmist says, He “teacheth my hands to war, my fingers to fight”, Psalm 144: 1. The disasters of our brethren are most sorrowful, but this is a threatened disaster, one that never occurred! Often God allows things to come so near that we gain by them just as if we had passed through them. It is His way. If He brings things into evidence as pending, it is well to go through them anticipatively. We gain the [p. 171] lesson and the sorrow never occurs! Such is our God! Such is the school of our God!
So Mordecai hears of the decision of the king, and he puts on sackcloth and cries with a loud and bitter cry. Where does he cry? In his own house? No, it does not say that; he cries in the city, in the gates of the king. He put his life in his hand when he might have shielded himself and shirked his responsibility; he took his life in his hand and garbed himself in sackcloth and cried. It is a very solemn matter, beloved brethren, as to our relations to the brethren, what they are worth to us; are they worth laying down our lives for them? I know what they were worth to Jesus; He laid down His life.
Well now, I want to show you that in thus taking up this attitude, we lead others on. That is one great feature in christianity, the feature of leadership and influence. We do not want to go alone, we want to carry the brethren. If we love them we do not wish them to miss anything, if there is promotion we do not wish them to miss it. There is plenty to do, you know! Belshazzar would have Daniel understand that he could promote him, but Daniel said, “Let thy gifts be to thyself”. There are plenty of them with God! He can promote, He has honours of His own to bestow, and we do not wish the brethren to miss them. The apostle Paul spoke about a crown of righteousness that was laid up for him, and not only for him, but for all who love the appearing of Jesus. It is not the rapture, as we say, but the appearing; “all who love his appearing”, 2 Timothy 4: S. So we do not want the brethren to miss anything. There is great promotion ahead. Esther was queen, but on sufferance, a poor position! We do not want a position like that. I am not disparaging her place, it was under the government of God, but she was consciously on sufferance, on a sandy foundation! Mordecai would lead her on further. She would [p. 172] seek to modify the reproach, which is always evident in unspiritual or half-hearted people amongst us.
She would say, Do not be so extreme, do not wear sackcloth, do not put ashes upon your head! She could afford to wear other clothes; I do not suppose she had any sackcloth in her wardrobe. I wonder if the sisters keep sackcloth in their wardrobe? Mordecai had it, apparently, but Esther sent other raiment; she would have him take off the sackcloth and wear other clothes. She would defeat the whole position in the book. It shows what half-hearted people are, persons who do not go all the way.
But Esther was not immune from the influence of a spiritual man. “A brother is born for adversity”.
How admirable is his message to her, for she was only a Jewess. It was her glory, although concealed for the moment; like many of us she concealed that which was her true glory, and put on something else; that is of no honour at all, it is degrading spiritually.
Now Mordecai says, Do not think that you will escape; who knows but that you are raised up for this very purpose; and mark you, if you do not act, somebody else will. God is not bound to act through you, but it is your privilege. He may have to get somebody else, but He appeals to you. Is your place in court of any value if the brethren are destroyed Where will you be? Will you be content to be alone in court, in your social relations? Can you get along without the brethren? Somebody else will come forward if you do not. Mordecai says, Will you shirk your responsibility? It is an appeal to come forward and identify ourselves with the brethren in their reproach — whatever it may involve, even the cost of our lives.
Esther understood, she sent back word, she was not blind to the fact that it did mean possibly her life, “If I perish, I perish”, she says; and she begged Mordecai and his companions to fast with her and [p. 173] her maidens for three days. You see the seemliness, the comeliness of this woman; she says nothing about prayer. Can we doubt that she understood the word? Doubtless she did, but they all had such a sense of the reproach, and how God was dishonoured by the whole position that they were secret in regard of God. They understood the mystery — becomingly!
So she takes her life into her hands and goes into the court of the king’s palace, and is accepted. She went the right way, she went the way of death, beloved; there is no other way; both she and Mordecai went through death in their spirits — laying “down our lives for the brethren”. Well, the result shows that the movement was successful. I do not go over that; you are no doubt conversant with the history of Mordecai, but what I want to show now is the promotion. Do not think that it is not worth something; it is, beloved. Divine promotion is to be desired.
So in the last chapter you have Mordecai’s promotion, but in the previous chapter Esther stands out peculiarly. She does not lose her queen-ship, she remains queen; it was hers under the government of God, and she adorns the position in a moral sense; she lays down her life for the brethren. What comes out in chapter 9 is the establishment of a great feast among the people of God. This is something to be noted, for every divine movement, every divine deliverance of the people of God, establishes a landmark. How great a thing it is to have part in a divine landmark! Those of us who have been through things understand what landmarks are. There are the ancient landmarks, without saying who set them up, that are not to be removed, they are all to stand; they represent the cumulative effect of the testimony, and they stand in the souls of the spiritual. There are the ancient ones, and then there are the ones that are afterwards set up; these are most interesting. The great outstanding epochs in the history of God’s [p. 174] service are not to be removed. We should challenge our hearts if we appear to set aside anything that God has given, and be careful as to what we may think is not divinely given, for we must not move the landmarks of our fathers; they refer to great spiritual epochs and the outstanding results of the assembly.
We know what the world makes of ancient things the world is dotted with symbols of these unhallowed things; the whole world is dotted with memorials.
I only refer to that to explain. Are there any spiritual ones? There are; they are most interesting. They are not to be interfered with; they represent what is cumulative. What we want is to establish a land mark, not to set up something for our own distinction; it is the outcome, the inevitable result, of an exploit.
So a feast is set up by the decree of Mordecai and Esther; on the fourteenth and fifteenth days they rested and made them days of feasting and joy. So it was established that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar yearly, “the month that was turned to them from sorrow to joy; and from mourning into a good day”, a disaster that turned to a most signal victory! That is a landmark!
It is added to the many that have gone before. How great an honour it is to have part in the establishment of a landmark! Who has part in it? Those who love the brethren, those who lay down their lives for the brethren! How great an honour!
Now we come to the last chapter; Esther is not mentioned, Mordecai is the great feature of the book.
He has established his promotion, next to the king; he has reached that position on moral grounds, a wonderful spirit of devotedness, may we cherish it more! He is great amongst the Jews, amongst the despised people; a thousand times greater than to be great amongst the people of this world, which is what most aspire to. The less the heart aspires to, the better; a name in this world, a little bit of glory [p. 175] like Simon Magus, like Alexander and Diotrephes and others. The one Person to be pre-eminently great is Christ. “He shall be great!” All other greatness is nothing. All promotion is on the line of sacrifice. Those who are great are under the reproach of Christ’s name. Not that Mordecai made a point of being great himself; it was the outcome of his devotedness for the brethren — “great among the Jews”, a despised people, who would have found no entrance in many houses, in society, but they are great morally, and they remain great, their greatness goes through! What other greatness does?
So Mordecai is great amongst the Jews, and accepted of all his brethren; he served them well; he laid down his life for them. Well they might think him great and acceptable! But now they are his brethren — not simply the brethren, they are his! They formed themselves into a band and no one could withstand them; that was the brotherhood. But now they are his brethren, belonging to him in family relations, and he is acceptable to them all. What a great thing that is! There is no doubt that such devotedness brings about acceptance among the brethren. If one is not acceptable among the brethren, it is very likely he has not laid down his life! We do not want to be men like Absalom who had no male seed, who would erect a monument to himself, a poor thing! Mordecai has seed, and he speaks peace to them; he passes on peace — like Jesus, “Peace unto you”. There is participation in that, “I leave peace with you; I give my peace to you”, John 14: 27. The Lord bless His word.