THE NEW COMPANY AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS – HOW FAR DO WE ANSWER TO THEM?
In John 20 and 21, we have the account of three different occasions on which the Lord appeared to His disciples after His resurrection. In connection with each of these appearings a different company comes into view. The first is the Christian company of the present day. The two other companies belong to a future day. The second is the Jewish company who will be brought to light at the appearing of the Lord; they will come into blessing on seeing the Lord; they are represented by Thomas. But their blessing will not be the same as that of saints of the present day: the Lord said, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”. The third company are seen in the one hundred and fifty-three fishes taken out of the sea through the efforts of the disciples under the direction of the Lord. They represent the saved from among the nations, who will be brought to light through the work of Jewish missionaries in a future day, see Rev 7: 9-17.
My purpose in this paper is to consider the first of these companies as represented by the disciples, chap 20: 7-23. They represent the new company formed by the Holy Spirit in the present day, that is, the church.
1. What distinguished them from the rest of men was that they loved the Lord Jesus. What characterised the rest of men, Jew and Gentile alike, was that they hated the Father and the Son. This is as true of the world to-day as then; the whole world lies in the wicked one and is characterised by hostility to God and to His Christ, always most manifest in the religious part of the world. John in his writings recognises only two classes—those who are of God and the world. “We are of God, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one”, 1 John 5: 19. Jew and Gentile together form one great system controlled by the devil, who is its prince and god. The Christian is not of the world, he has been separated from it by being drawn to Christ. However low down he may be, every Christian loves Christ; he can say, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee”. This is the secret of everything else. If this love wanes in our hearts, we shall be defective in everything; that is where failure begins. His love never varies; He says, “Abide in my love”, John 15: 9.
2. They were a separated company. The love of Christ separated them from the world; there could be nothing in common between them and the world which had crucified their Lord. They were a holy company. Love promotes holiness. In proportion as we love the Lord, we hate all that is contrary to the Lord; there is holy jealousy for His name and glory. He is “the holy, the true” (Rev 3: 7); love appreciates Him in this character and seeks to answer to it. What He is becomes the test as to our associations and our conduct, and we appreciate those who are jealous for His honour.
3. They were a united company, united in the bonds of holy love. If we love Christ, we must love those who are His. Love is the real bond of practical unity. The order is, first holiness, then unity. If there were more holiness among saints, unity would be more realised. Holiness involves, first, the judgment of what is evil within, the inward workings of sin; and, secondly, separation from evil associations without, see 2 Cor 6: 14; 7: 1; 2 Tim 2: 19-22.
4. The Lord identifies Himself with this company. He came into the midst. He does not identify Himself with any other company at the present time. He has nothing to say to the world; after the world had crucified Him it saw Him no more. But there was a company to whom He could say, “I will come to you”, John 14: 18. There are still “His own”, which are in the world. He delighted to come where love welcomed Him. There is nothing else for Christ here.
5. His presence brings peace and joy, His presence dispels fear. With Him we are in the company of the Victor, every enemy has been vanquished; all that came in by sin has been removed in His death, we share His triumphs; hence in His presence all is peace. He had been the Man of sorrows, but now He is the Man of joy, He calls His people to share His joys: “That they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves”, John 17: 13. He had taken His part in all the afflictions and sorrow which sin had brought into the world, and in His death He had put away that which had brought in all the sorrow. Now, in Him risen, God has established new conditions of life and blessing for men which can never be affected by sin, death, or Satan’s power. All is of God, and all is eternal. He is the beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead. Here we have the introduction of a new day, the beginning of a new world. It is in this we live and find our satisfaction and joy, a joy which none can take away from us. We may well be glad in seeing Him in resurrection and power.
6. He breathed into them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. The new company is animated with the life of the last Adam, they are of Him. He is no longer alone in the new order of man, the Sanctifier and the sanctified are all of one. It is now “I in you”, life in power and energy. It is thus that we are made capable for the enjoyment of the new conditions of life, capable of communion with divine Persons, the Father and the Son. Nothing could be greater or more wonderful for saints than this; it places them above angels. Grace not only sets us in the most blessed relationships with divine Persons, but at the same time makes us capable for these relationships in the life of the Son of God, capable of reciprocating the love of the Father and the Son.
7. What we have spoken of prepares the way for what follows. The supreme privilege of the company is living association with the Son of God, according to the message sent to the disciples by Mary, “I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”. He is not ashamed to call us brethren; we are the brethren of the risen, ascended Son of God. This is according to what He had said, “In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you”, John 14: 20. “I will declare thy name to my brethren”, Heb 2: 12. This being so, we must eventually be with Him, and like Him. That is our destiny, the Father’s house is our place for eternity.
What a wonderful company this is! No other can be compared with it. In the church God will display in the coming ages the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness to usward. In this company Christ finds His present delight; it is the object of His special love. It is the Father’s pleasure, too, to have a company capable of knowing Him, of responding to His love, and of having communion with His mind. The church has its special place in relation to Christ and to the Father, a place which will be peculiar to it throughout eternal ages. May God by His Spirit enable us to enter into and to enjoy this grace more and more, even now, so that we may fully answer to the characteristics of this new company to which we belong, especially when we come together on the first day of the week. This should at least be an exercise to all saints, that we should answer to His mind and be for His pleasure.
December 1912
From Helps for the Poor of the Flock vol 18 (1913)