EXTRACT
Ques. Should what has been formed within shine its brightest at the close of one’s life?
JT It should! These verses lead in an outlook of victory. As elder brothers and sisters are luminous it is an encouraging example to younger ones.
FI Is there the thought of not having a will of our own in the word ‘earthen’?
JT The vessel is subservient, under the Lord’s hand.
FI The apostle Paul was thus.
JT And to Peter the Lord said—“When thou shalt be old ... another shall gird thee, and bring thee where thou dost not desire”, John 21: 18. Age helps us to subjection and dependence.
FP “Many shall be purified, and be made white, and be refined”, Daniel 12: 10.
JT More and more dependent. With young men it is largely a question of using their minds. That is not enough; they may be fleshly and not spiritual. But as we grow older the will recedes and there is more dependence. ‘What can I do?’ one cries, in this fragile state of things. If He does not help, what can you do? Yet “we have this treasure”. We are thus trustworthy from His point of view. “My grace suffices thee; for my power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of the Christ may dwell upon me”, 2 Corinthians 12: 9. That is what the elder brethren come to and they are thus richer.
Ques. Is “this treasure” (2 Corinthians 4: 7) connected with “this very thing” (2 Corinthians 5: 5)?
JT God has wrought us for it and has “given to us the earnest of the Spirit” in the meantime. As your natural energy is coming to nothing, you are consciously greater than the body you have now.
CAC Will you say what your thought is as to “Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4: 10)?
JT It contemplates the fact that the Lord had His dying in view. It was the Lord’s attitude of mind in view of the cross. The believer is thinking of the dying of Jesus; it puts us into correspondence with Him. He had taken a body in order to terminate His life. It was especially before Him from the transfiguration onwards. “The dying of Jesus” dignifies the weakening of our bodies.
CAC His dependence had in view His going into death. He also had “the path of life” in view (Psalm 16: 11).
JT Mary of Bethany seized the thought in anointing Him (John 12: 7).
CAC Moses and Elias “spoke of his departure”, Luke 9: 31.
JT Yes, “two men ... appearing in glory, spoke of his departure which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem”—not that He was to be murdered. Moses would be conversant, through the types, with the dying of Jesus.
CAC It would give character to the very spirit of the man of God, as with Moses in Psalm 90, taking account of the frailty of human life.
JT “So teach us to number our days”. “The days of our years”, namely, seventy to eighty. But Moses himself was never a dying man from that point of view. Moses and Aaron both went up to die! They were not tottering old men! And the sacrifices were not of decrepit old creatures!
CAC “Our outward man is consumed” (2 Corinthians 4: 16); that is in the service of love, rather than natural decay, in keeping with the Lord’s own path.
JT “While we look not at the things that are seen” (v.18). The outlook into eternity gives character to an old brother or sister. It is victory!
CAC One would covet that exceedingly.
JT In Deuteronomy Moses was vigorous when he died—“His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated”, Deuteronomy 34: 7. And with us decline can be warded off in dependence upon God.
CAC It is exceedingly precious that it can be warded off. It is most encouraging for us, so that we should not drop down to decrepitude.
JT Deuteronomy was written in the eleventh month of the one hundred and twentieth year of Moses’ life.
CAC And John’s gospel was written towards the end of his life, probably A.D. 96–97. John is said to have lived until he was one hundred. If so, there is no sign of spiritual weakening with him!
JT That is very suggestive.
CAC John, Peter and Paul were all retained here till old age. We read of “Paul the aged” and of Peter as “old”. There is special comfort in that for old brothers, advancing in years.
JT Let us go out in freshness! As knowing the possibilities, let us pray to God to be kept from them.
J. Taylor (Vol. 84, pp.84–87)
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