THE LORD JESUS FOUND WHERE HE IS LOVED
THE LORD JESUS FOUND WHERE HE IS LOVED
JT What struck me in this chapter is the fact that the wise men found the little Child with His mother. The Spirit of God pursues this connection in the chapter; the angel directs Joseph to take the young Child, and His mother, and flee into Egypt and then, Herod being dead, to take the young Child and His mother and go into the land of Israel. It struck me as indicating the connection in which [p. 10] the Lord is ever found; He is found where He is loved. As here in this world He was the subject of God’s unceasing care. If we see the place that Jesus has in the mind of heaven, as shown in the chapter before us, it will lead to a corresponding care for Him in our hearts. I thought especially in this connection of David in the Old Testament, for he represents our side, and his great aim was to prepare a place for the ark. There were no specific directions, it was a spontaneous act of his own. In the wilderness there were specific directions, for there it was a question of God’s care for the ark. When we come to the time of David, the ark had been twenty years without attention; it had never been cared for by Saul. David, in his house of cedar, was led to think of the ark; it was in unsuitable surroundings, and there was a very great discrepancy between David’s circumstances and those of the ark, and so he goes through exercise of heart with regard to it, and the prophet says to him, “Do all that is in thine heart”. I thought that if we pursued this line it would help us.
Rem David distinctly connected the ark with God.
Ques Would the ark indicate the place Christ has in our affections?
JT The arrangements made for it in the wilderness [p. 11] show the place it had in God’s heart. In connection with this we have angelic attention overshadowing the mercy seat; but in David’s case, it was spontaneous desire, without divine direction or command, to have a place for the ark.
Rem David was not allowed to make a place for the ark, but his desire was right, and God approved of it.
JT It is a great thing to have a right idea in the heart, for then God helps you. It is very beautiful here, Jesus is found where He is loved; love is in evidence, love suited to the occasion, the mother’s love for the little or young Child. The love seen at the outset is the love suited to the moment. The chapter is interesting, too, inasmuch as it indicates how we are guided to the Lord. Many have light as to where the Lord is, as the wise men had, but it is another matter to find Him. I refer to that as it has a practical bearing. As we follow we appreciate the means of guidance. The star would not have guided them to where the Lord was hated. This is a point of practical importance; they do not find Jesus where He is hated.
Rem The star guided them to the right place.
JT There is nothing said as to the star guiding them to Jerusalem. Souls assume things often without guidance: they are so lost in man’s system, that they assume, on account of the prestige which attaches to the system, that the Lord is there.
Rem If the Lord is our object, the Spirit will guide us to Him even if it be into a place of reproach.
JT It is well to inquire if there is any love for Jesus in a place. I would not stay with a company that did not love Jesus.
Rem One could not breathe there.
JT If a company loves Jesus, His rights are owned. “Surely the Lord is in this place”, says Jacob. “This is none other but the house of God,
[p. 12] and this is the gate of heaven”. The presence of heavenly beings indicated that God was there. If the Lord is not in a place you do not want to stay there. You know whether He is loved or not by the indications. Man’s systems are not characterised by love for Christ. The idea of love for Christ is that the Spirit pervades: By the Spirit all pervading. The tabernacle was anointed with oil. I should not commit myself to a circle in which love for Jesus does not predominate. The proof of love for Him is that His commandments are kept. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me”. That is really the test. The world is characterised by hatred of Christ; if we love Him we shall be separate from it. In this chapter Jerusalem is under Herod’s influence; “he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him”; that shows the influence of Herod. In the second epistle of John, verse 6, we find that love walks according to His commandments. Well, look for that in the company; it is very important, for it is the proof of love. Christendom cannot say it has not His commandments, for the light is all round; therefore His commandment is the test.
Rem I suppose it would involve testing and affliction, and going against the current.
JT The Psalmist said, “Lord, remember David and all his afflictions”. He would not go into his house; he would not give sleep to his eyes nor slumber to his eyelids until he had found a place for the Lord. Think of the afflictions David went through in view of that!
Rem David was in affliction on account of the ark.
JT David got light from the outset, he had tidings of the ark when a youth. “Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood”.
Hearing of it is one thing, finding it is another; but when it is brought back, Saul’s daughter despises David. The house of Saul is characterised by neglect of the ark. Michal despised what God approved. All that Michal can do is to despise, but God graciously limited the house of Saul. “Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death”. It shows that the first order of man, although anointed, can never appreciate the ark; but where he expresses enmity, God limits his influence. Michal had no issue and Saul becomes extinct in time. In the next chapter, David sat in his house and said to himself, ‘There is the ark on account of which I was dancing. I have a house of cedar and yet the ark dwells in curtains’. If we have a better place than Christ it should exercise us. Of course, on God’s side, we get, “In them (the heavens) hath he set a tabernacle for the sun”. God has prepared a place for Christ, but what place has He here? It is a great thing when the Christian is safely guided past all pretension to the spot where there is love to the Lord. When the magi saw the star, the star of Jesus, for Jesus was the Object, not Bethlehem, “they rejoiced with exceeding great joy”. They have no doubts now; they had misgivings at Jerusalem; the atmosphere there was not suited to Christ. There was a remarkable test at that juncture. These men had come from the East, but the atmosphere was not right at Jerusalem; they must have felt it. Herod was all hypocrisy; he pretended that he wanted to come and worship Christ. If the heart has misgivings there is no certainty as to things being right; but the presence of the Lord carries its own conviction. What a joy to find the spot where there is suited affections for Him! The next thing we see is that the one who loves Jesus has treasure. The wise men opened their treasures; they had not come empty.
Rem They had found a suited Object upon which to bestow their treasures, like Mary’s box of ointment.
JT The Lord’s people should be concerned about having something to present, and should not be content with a ready-made service. We should all be contributors.
Ques What do you mean by we should all be contributors? Is your thought that there is a tendency to leave things to the older ones?
JT It is entirely a mistake to do so. God enjoined His people that none should come empty; we ought to have something to bring.
Ques Something to express audibly?
JT Not exactly. If a sister has something in spirit, it lends power to the meeting; it is not limited to any special ones. It is a great thing to have a treasure to open up. The assembly is our testing-place; our poverty comes to light there; that is where we are measured as to whether we are rich or poor. It is a humbling thing if we are not ashamed of being poor.
Ques May not the fact of what you are saying keep many silent? If we have not a treasure we cannot open it up. We cannot work things up.
JT I think, with many, the things of God are a kind of business. You can lock up your shop and leave it, but you cannot do that with the things of God. You have to bring something. There are exercises attendant upon secular appointments, but if you have God with you, you gain strength thereby, and next time you come up stronger spiritually. You come in with your basket of firstfruits; you have something; you yourself are the basket.
Rem In our difficulties during the week we find the support of the priest.
Ques I suppose, in connection with what you are speaking of, we have the type of the Levite and the common person?
JT The Levite was contributory to the priest. The exercise of a servant adds to priestly power.
[p. 15] Every service undertaken, if one is supported in it by the Spirit, makes him stronger spiritually. So, as to daily vocation, stay in it with God. If God is with you, you get help in it, it adds to you as a Levite and a priest.
Rem These men brought treasures: gold, frank incense and myrrh; they did not get them at Bethlehem.
JT I have often thought of the Lord when they had that last feast with Him. He says, as it were, ‘This is to be continued without me’. How are they going to have it if He is going away? He shows them how. He rises from supper, takes a towel and begins to wash their feet. He shows them how they can have the next feast. If there is not the service of love there can be no feast.
Ques The service of love is feet-washing?
JT There is care one for another. If we would feast we must have something to feast on; if it is a love-feast as Jude speaks of them, you must have love. It is not that you expect it from others, nor do you leave it all to one or two, that would be a poor thing.
Ques What do the gold, the frankincense and myrrh signify?
JT They are suited for the moment. The Spirit records that these men brought suitable gifts.
Ques Would you say that in Matthew we get the mother’s care for the Child, and in John the Son’s care for the mother?
JT In Revelation 12 the Man-child and the woman are both objects of care.
Ques Would the fact that the mother is spoken of so often convey the care of God over Israel?
JT The mother is alluded to on account of her care for the young Child. God keeps the mother in evidence while the Child requires attention and affection, but the mother is taken care of by God,
and more especially because the mother’s affection was necessary for the moment. It is not the mother and Child, it is the young Child and His mother. The Child gives dignity to the mother; it is a very beautiful thought. It does not say they found the Child, but that they found the Child with Mary, His mother. They found Him where there was affection suitable for the moment.
Rem It is evident that the ark was what engaged the mind of Jehovah when He gave directions for the making of the tabernacle.
JT Yes. The ark was the leading feature in connection with Israel. Israel was never according to the mind of God until the time of David, for the ark never had its true place until he came.
Rem That was great gain to David spiritually.
JT God would bring this to pass with regard to Christ. The ark is taken care of, but is it so in our hearts? God says to David, in effect, ‘You have a right thought. I am with you, and I will build you a house’. It shows that God takes account of what is in our hearts. God has prepared a tabernacle for the ark, but how about our hearts? Is the ark out in the cold as far as your heart is concerned? The bride in Canticles is too lazy to open to her Beloved. He is out in the cold, and she has made no provision for Him.
Rem It is very beautiful, the way the Lord answers David’s heart; the house was dear to David’s heart.
JT One may rejoice at seeing the star, but it is another thing to come into His presence; there the heart is bowed in worship.
Rem In verse 12 the wise men are divinely instructed not to return to Herod.
JT God is taking care of the young Child, and so He does not allow the wise men to return to enlighten Herod. It is a wonderful moment in the [p. 17] history of these men; they find themselves in the presence of the Lord in the sphere where He is loved, and they present their gifts to Him, but not like Jacob; he promised to give a tenth; we can understand that, however, for he says, “How dreadful is this place!” Genesis 28: 17. The Lord is found where He is cared for. It reminds us of the cherubim protecting the mercy-seat. When you come into the house, into the Lord’s presence, there is no question of giving a tenth like Jacob; he kept nine parts for himself.
Rem Paul gave everything; he was wholly given up to Christ. Mephibosheth says, “Let him take all”.
JT It would help us greatly if we were exercised about having a treasure to open up; there is no reason why we should not. We have the Holy Spirit in us; He is the power. David says, “I speak of the things which I have made touching the king”, Psalm 45. It is not something we have heard from others, or even read in Scripture. David had composed something. It may be but a few words, but if you have found out something about Christ in a new way, you can give expression to it in the assembly, and that is what the Lord looks for.
Rem If we knew Him better, He would have a larger place in our affections.
JT What wealth there would be if every one had a composition about the king!
Rem It might be expressed in a few words.
JT One has observed that when there is the audible expression of real exercise, there is power and there is response.
Rem The word “inditing” in Psalm 45 might be rendered “bubbling up”.
JT Yes. It must come out. It shows the spring is there; the Holy Spirit.
[p. 18] Rem Things here tend to swamp the sense of divine love.
JT If we see the Lord as the Ark of the covenant, we see the One in whom every divine thought is expressed, and when that One has a dwelling-place in the heart, the language of the heart is, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord”. That is the entire thought, it is not simply what He is to me in my circumstances; it is what He is in His own sphere.
Rem So, in Romans, eternal life in Christ Jesus is the entire thing, and also the love of God in Christ Jesus.
JT If we see eternal life in Christ Jesus, we see what the entire thought of life for the whole universe is, and so as to “the love of God which is in Christ Jesus”, and that enlarges our hearts.