COMFORT FOR THE DOWNCAST

E. M. Walkinshaw

Luke 24: 13–27, 36–39; 1 Thessalonians 4: 14–18

It does seem, beloved brethren, that God’s testimony has always been beset by difficulties.

God Himself comes into it, of course, and greatly strengthens those who are committed to it, but publicly it has always been beset with difficulties and it seems to me, as we have said before, that in the power of it, it is known generally in a few. We like numbers, but in testimony God does not always work in numbers but rather in a few. It is therefore a great privilege, if a responsibility, to have a part in God’s testimony.

I wanted to speak of these persons and the Lord’s approach to them because often we find ourselves rather like them, that is to say downcast. It is a great thing when you find the brethren cheerful; but nevertheless often we find ourselves like these two persons—downcast.

It has been thought that they were husband and wife. In some localities you just have that—maybe your family. In some places the brethren are very few and far from one another.

Around here, of course, we can get to one another comparatively easily, and we are thankful for our brethren. In some places on the other side of the water they are hundreds of miles apart. I think there are four persons with us in Winnipeg, hundreds of miles from their nearest brethren. So we can understand that at times such persons might become downcast, but I believe it is at such times that Jesus Himself draws near.

Have you noticed the way in which “Himself” is brought out in this passage? It is not that He sends someone else to comfort them, although sometimes He will do that as He sends His messengers. But it says, “Jesus Himself drawing nigh, went with them; but their eyes were holden so as not to know Him”. You think of the word “Himself”; I think it is added to bring out His personality. It is to indicate that it is not a representative, but rather that it is the Person Himself, understanding the difficulties in which they were and the fact that they had become downcast; and as understanding those difficulties He Himself gave a personal touch to them.

If we think of the circumstances that surrounded them there was hardly ever anything so dark and distressing. The Saviour had been crucified. The Object of their affections had been taken from them—the One upon whom they had pinned their hopes was dead; all was dark. The scripture referred to earlier regards the whole order of things as morally in death when Jesus was dead. It says, you remember, “Having judged this: that one died for all, then all have died” (2 Corinthians 5: 14); all have died: That is to say, when Jesus was dead everything was in moral death here, and in darkness. I suppose publicly there was never such a tragedy in the history of time as when Jesus was crucified. It was a travesty of justice that He ever should have been; but what a tragedy, what darkness there was! Could there ever have been in the history of the testimony a darker time than when the Saviour Himself lay in death? Everything morally was in death.

Therefore you can understand the feelings of these persons. They are conversing about what had happened, as we often do, but Jesus comes into the conversation Himself; the same lowly Man, acting here in priestly grace. He is not officially the priest, as we know, but acting in that simple, lowly way in which He had served individuals; in which He had served twos; in which He had served threes; in which He had served companies. He Himself draws near and enters into this simple conversation.

I believe, dear brethren, that the Lord enters into our conversations. Sometimes we are not aware of it, but He would have us to be aware of it. The questions that arise in our reading meetings when we are so few—Who raises the questions? The Lord does not do the answering here; He raises the question. He says, “What discourses are these which pass between you?” It is a searching question is it not? Then you think of Him patiently moving with them and their saying to Him, ‘Are you a stranger in Jerusalem?’

He was that, was He not? What a Stranger He ever was here! And as a lowly Man, with every delicate feeling of a man. He walked with them as a Stranger. As you know, Jeremiah refers to His strangership here (Jeremiah 14: 8). The poet also says, ‘A houseless, homeless Stranger, Our sorrows all to share’. Is He a Stranger that you do not know? He says, “What things?” and I believe in our conversations, dear brethren, such as we have had today and such as we have in our localities, the Lord comes into the enquiry. We say we look for the answer, and of course we do. We are thankful to Him when we receive it; but I believe that the Lord enters also into the enquiries that are raised in our meetings, all with a view to profit.

They go over the history of things, telling Him what had happened; how certain persons alleged that Jesus had risen from among the dead and certain other persons had not seen Him, and how they had hoped—I often think of that, something now put far from them. We had hoped, but now we hope no more! The gospel reaches persons like that, does it not? We sometimes sing, ‘For those who but for Christ had hoped no more’. These persons, going back home, downcast, had given up hope, but the priestly service of Christ continues.

The Apostle and High Priest of our confession remains in heaven. He has been installed there by God. He has reached the position which the purpose of God requires and all is sustained in Him. Is He different from what He was on the road to Emmaus? Are His feelings different?

Does He serve in a different way? Oh, but you say, He is in the great position of the official

“Minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched, and not man” (Hebrews 8: 2). Does that give you an impression of distance? It could do; it could give you the impression of an official Person, and of course He fills out an office, because that is what it is. But, beloved brethren, His feelings towards us and His service for us are just the same as towards those two persons going home in despair.

But then He is quite severe in what He says. “O senseless and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken—Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” Had they been enlightened, and following the course of the prophetic word, they would have understood. Yes, and what about you and me? Have we followed the course of the prophetic word? A week or two back a brother in Bexley was reading to us from Mr. J. Taylor’s ministry when he was in a very large company in a certain city. He was speaking about the way in which God works out the truth in a few, and as you read it you begin to see that it was prophetic. Why, you say, is it appropriate for a man ministering to a large company of persons to speak of God working in a few? It is prophetic! How sad what has happened in this particular city. There are now only very few with the truth there.

If we had followed the course of the prophetic word, dear brethren, we would have understood that God works in a few and His testimony almost invariably is held in power in a few. He is going to have His numbers, of course. He is going to have them in the day to come, thousands and tens of thousands. Why, heaven and earth are going to be filled with praising families in the day to come, all based on the redemption of our Lord Jesus Christ; but when it comes to testimony it is another matter. Thousands of persons will be only too ready to be near to the King of Kings when He is in honour, but how many are prepared to follow the rejected Nazarene? That is another story, is it not?

Here these two persons are going home and Jesus is speaking severely, but they still listen. Sometimes when I read the scriptures I think I would like to have heard the Lord speak—to have heard the intonation, not only what He said, but how He said it. Would He have said it as severely as I read it, or suppose it to be? Would the intonation be as I would like to put it?

Sometimes we have heard persons make it sound very savage. I expect you have heard it in the years gone by—using the passage itself almost to frighten the life out of the brethren; but that is not the Lord’s intention. I think if we had heard the Lord say it we would have found it was “always with grace, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4: 6). Paul says, “So as to know how ye ought to answer each one”. Not what you ought to say, but how you ought to say it, and I have often thought I would like to have heard how the Lord said things.

Take another example—“Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites” (Matthew 23: 13). I wonder if He would have said it as I might say it, or how would He have said it? The only way, dear brethren, in which we can ever discover how the Lord said things is by giving place to His Holy Spirit who will enable us to say things as Jesus would. Then they will be effective.

So here He says, “Senseless”, but I think He would have said it with grief; not angrily, but with grief—“Senseless and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!

Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” Then it says, “Having begun from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself”.

I expect you have heard the story of the brother who raised an objection to Mr. J. Taylor’s extensive use of the Old Testament. In conversation Mr. Taylor said to the brother, ‘Well, you know, I feel I would like to have been present when the Lord interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself’. I understand that won the brother over. He saw immediately that the fulness of the Scriptures is in Christ. So the illustrations we drew during the reading from Gideon, Jephthah, and others were perfectly justified. I think the Lord is helping us to understand from all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

Then it says, “He made as though He would go farther”. I sometimes wonder how far I may have gone. I wonder if we are prepared to go farther in patient, untiring service. On this day, it says, He made as though He would have gone farther, but they constrained Him to abide with them. We might have thought that they would have been only too pleased to have seen Him go, from the way in which He had spoken to them; but I think His opening up to them the Scriptures must have affected them. If you look through this passage you will find interpretation, and then later on you will find understanding. It, is one thing to have the Scriptures interpreted, it is another thing to have your understanding opened so that you should understand them. And then later it speaks of power. The Lord give us these things, dear brethren; He gives us the interpretation, He opens our understanding, and He gives us power.

Now, I believe that we should each be exercised, and it is becoming an increasing exercise to me, to enter into the experience of that of which the Scripture is but the intelligent expression in the letter—in other words, to have an experience like these two people. They are not here now; they are with the Lord. But you are here and so am I. Who is it written for? It is written for you and for me so that the reality of the experiences that these persons had should be ours.

You might be in the slough of despond, as Bunyan calls it. You might be in the depth of depression sometimes, but the end, through the patient service of the Lord, is that you should be in the company, at peace. So they get back there. It has often been said that it was not the interpreting of the Scriptures that set their feet towards Jerusalem; it was the manifestation of Himself. He made Himself known to them. It says Jesus Himself drew near and then in verse 36 it says He Himself stood in their midst. I think it is to bring out the personal service of Jesus Himself, not through servants, although, as we have said, He uses them, but the personal touch that He Himself brings.

So He says, “Peace be unto you”. Now, I think, dear brethren, the Lord would assure us. These people were thinking all sorts of things, I suppose. They were thinking, like the two. What has happened? Why all this turmoil? Why have the disciples forsaken Him and fled? Why has Jesus been crucified? Why is all outwardly dark and come to ruin?—the Person that we loved, ignominiously crucified?

All these questions had been arising, but He says, “Why … it is I myself”. So, firstly, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them and then He Himself stood in their midst. “It is I myself, Handle me and see”. I believe we need to take note of Mr. Taylor’s emphasis on the fact that at the Lord’s supper it is Himself who comes. We apprehend Him by the Spirit; nevertheless in His Supper it is Himself who comes. It is not Michael, although I suppose if Michael visited us we should think that it was an honour. But what an honour when Jesus said, “It is I myself, handle me and see”.

He wants us, beloved brethren, in these dark days to be in the verity of christianity, in the conscious enjoyment of all that He has brought to us, and He says therefore, “Peace be unto you”. And how many were there? You ask yourself the question, How many were there then?

Do you think there were as many as we have in this room today? I very much doubt it. What do you think? As far as I can see you would have perhaps the eleven, and these two—we do not know with any definiteness who the other was, but one was Cleopas. I have very strong doubts if there were as many persons in that company when Jesus stood in the midst as we have here.

So you see we have occasion to rejoice because, if you like, the numbers have increased. We are always thankful for that, but at the same time let us understand that the Lord is serving individuals and is prepared to serve in the testimony out of sight. He served those persons, to use Mr. Darby’s words, who are better known in heaven than they are on earth.

These persons were well known in heaven although rejected on earth, as their Master was, and I think we are to be the same. We are not to seek something spectacular or great, but to seek above everything to be aware of the presence of Jesus Himself.

Now all this is going to culminate in what we read in Thessalonians. The apostle says, “If we believe that Jesus has died and has risen again”. I suppose we all believe that. Does everybody here believe that Jesus has died and risen again? You see it is no question of taking some religious ground. You might say, Well, of course I believe it.

I was speaking to my senior officer the other day and in the course of conversation he said, ‘Well, the grave-yard, you know Mr. Walkinshaw, is full of indispensable people’. I said, ‘Yes, you have told me that before. The only indispensable Person was the One that was brought out of the grave-yard. Now you think of that’. He accepted that, but whether he is a believer in his heart that Jesus died and has been raised from among the dead, I do not know.

He just commented, ‘Well, yes, that is so; that is a very profound statement’, but he said no more. He might take some religious ground, as we might, but I wonder if we are in the living faith in our souls that Jesus has risen again.

Some said, “The Lord is indeed risen and has appeared to Simon”. How can we be disconsolate if we are linked with the living Man in another world? So it says that, if we believe that, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.

How many there are that have fallen asleep, and God is going to bring them with Jesus when Jesus comes for us. I suppose at that time their spirits will be united to their changed bodies; they are coming with Him. For Paul goes on to say, “For this we say to you in the word of the Lord, that we, the living, who remain to the coming of the Lord, are in no way to anticipate those who have fallen asleep”.

Now notice, it is “the Lord Himself”. He does not send Michael, although he may be there; it says “archangel’s voice”. As far as I know, there is only one archangel; there is only one named in Scripture anyway, and that is Michael. Nevertheless it is not the archangel that comes for us with delegated power and authority to change us. No, the Lord comes Himself with that character of voice. He is not going to leave that to anyone else. In the same way that those who have fallen asleep have been put to sleep by Jesus and through Jesus, so He is coming Himself and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

Beloved brethren, what a prospect; the Lord is coming! The Lord Himself shall descend; as I think Mr. Raven said, ‘The next vibration of the power of God will be at the descent of Jesus’. And it is the dead in Christ. You notice it is not ‘in the Lord’ it is “in Christ.” That means, we would understand, that every believer will be caught up. None will be overlooked; no one covered by the blood will be missed, none that belong to Him at all—there will be no mistakes there—but the dead in Christ shall rise first. “Then we, the living who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air”.

What a meeting, dear brethren: Are you looking forward to it? Or have you something you would like to finish before He comes, maybe some interesting project, perhaps some business deal, something that the enemy might use to postpone if possible the coming of the Lord? This was not so with Paul, and I think that the Lord is so working with us that it is not so with us either. We shall be glad to see Him—not to get out of the troubles and exercises and problems—how we are going to get through, and the like—but for the very sake of seeing that blessed Man whose face was once marred more than any man’s and His form more than the children of men—what He suffered: We are going to see Him as He is, and when we see Him we shall be like Him. What a day that will be, dear brethren.

So Paul is speaking here about meeting—the Lord in the air. We are going to meet the Lord in the very place of Satan’s power—“the ruler of the authority of the air”—and in principle when we go in with the Lord the devil will come out, and when the devil comes, out he will come down here. The earth is bad enough at the moment with all that man is doing; it will be worse then, but we shall be with the Lord. He is going to keep us out of the hour of trial that will come upon the whole habitable world. Notice, He is going to keep us out of it; not take us out of it but keep us out of it, so that the assembly will never be in it. Although we are in troublous times—we have our exercises and our problems, and many things that come upon men come upon us—nevertheless, as having our confidence in God, we can be maintained in His testimony.

May the Lord help us, dear brethren, to see that His personal service to us, however few we may be, however isolated, is intended to keep us in His testimony until He comes. May He cheer every one of our hearts, and if they are already cheerful—as some here evidently are, from what I have observed—.may we be even more so, because Paul says to these Thessalonians, “Even as ye have received from us how ye ought to walk and please God, even as ye also do walk, that ye would abound still more” (1 Thessalonians 4: l). So if you are very cheerful, may the Lord keep you very, very cheerful, and may He strengthen, encourage, and up-build us to go on in His testimony until that glorious moment of triumph when we shall see Him as He is and be like Him. May it be so, for His name’s sake.

Chippenham
10 March 1973