IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUANCE
IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUANCE
Daniel 1: 21; Acts 26: 22, 23; Hebrews 13: 1
One would desire to speak a little of the importance of continuance at the present time. It is manifest that we are living in a day when many are going back, even outwardly, from what was once held and for which men of God have suffered in this land as elsewhere. What marks the position publicly is a turning away from what has been maintained, and the Lord would appeal to us, as He did to His own when here. It says, “From that time many of his disciples went back,” and the Lord said to His own, “Will ye also go away?” and Peter says, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” In spite of the darkness and apostasy that are setting in, in spite of our own failures and inconsistencies, shall we not also say, “to whom shall we go?”
I would like to speak a little of what would help us to continue, for the Lord loves those who continue, though He does not ignore our weakness and need of adjustment. He says, “Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.” How the Lord would value our continuance, and would help us to be amongst those who continue, as the end of the assembly’s sojourn is in sight.
One is conscious of the tremendous efforts of the enemy to baffle and turn away the young. What a privilege is open to us, therefore, to continue to the end. One of the great features with Joseph was that he continued. We think of him sent out from his father’s house, having before him the known will of God, and he pursued it at Shechem, at Dothan, and in Potiphar’s house, where he said, “how should I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Genesis 39: 9. He pursued it in the prison, bringing the mind of God into evidence. He pursued it when he was exalted in Egypt and in his dealings with his brethren. “Continuance” can be written over Joseph’s history, and he is a blessed figure of Christ. In the prophet Micah it says, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel,” Micah 5: 2. From that lowly spot, Bethlehem, One would come forth, and from infancy would tread every step for God. He continued perfectly as He began, to the last step of the journey. “Unto me” could be written over the whole of the Lord’s pathway through this world, and He would help us to continue.
I referred to Daniel in the scripture read because it says, “Daniel continued unto the first year of king Cyrus.” He is introduced to us in the days of Nebuchadnezzar and he goes through to the reign of Belshazzar, of Darius, and of Cyrus, the day when God came in publicly for His people. Some of us think it is easy enough to continue when everything is bright, but Daniel continued in the most testing circumstances and in one of the darkest days in the history of God’s people. So Daniel “continued,” and later on it says of him “this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian,” Daniel 6: 28. What was the secret that enabled him to go on in the midst of tremendous tests, and never to turn back until God came in? I would like to touch briefly, and necessarily in a limited way, on what lay behind Daniel’s public history, on what enabled him to continue, as affording us help to do so even if the day gets darker and more testing, for there is always provision made for us.
First of all, Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s meat nor with the wine which he drank. He determined that he would not feed upon that which the world feeds upon, nor enjoy its pleasures. Let us likewise determine that we will not defile ourselves with what provides food for the lust of the flesh, or the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life. It is a matter of reaching the thing in our minds. Everyone would admit failure and weakness, but it is a question of the attitude of our mind. In the world, a luxurious diet is provided for men, a kingly diet that will build up giants, as it was in the end of the period before the flood. It says “There were giants in the earth in those days,” Genesis 6: 4, and the same characteristics are arising in men today — giants in pride, in lust, and in covetousness; but Daniel determined that he would not eat the king’s meat.
In the books that are available, in the newspapers, in the religious activities of the world, there is much of the king of Babylon’s food, and it needs determination on our part that we will not eat it. Then there are the joys that stimulate this world. I do not want to touch on what they are, but we do not have to go far to find “the wine which he drank.” Daniel determined he would not have that, but what he chose was pulse and water, that which would bring into evidence features of Christ; nothing to make a man great in this world, nothing to develop that which men take account of, but that which would secure the features of Christ in men.
There is no question but that we take character from what we eat. If a man eats what is corrupt, he becomes corrupt; if we feed upon Christ, the inevitable result will be that features of Christ will be seen. Pulse and water is no doubt a reference to Christ in His lowly, blessed character, something like the manna, and Daniel comes out in His character. If he had turned aside to eat the king’s food and to drink his wine, he would have been missing at the end, but it says he continued to the reign of Cyrus.
Another feature that greatly helped Daniel was that he was in touch with the God of heaven, his outlook was not towards the earth. Over and over again he speaks of “the God of heaven” — a magnificent title for us to take account of in these days. How magnificent is the order, the rule and the beauty of heaven, and what a wonderful sphere it is! As God said to Job, “Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? dost thou determine their rule over the earth?” Job 38: 33. It is only on earth that there is confusion, and there man’s will and lust and pride mar everything; but Daniel could speak of, and his soul was set upon, the “God of heaven,” and nothing would divert him. One has often thought of what is said of Martin Luther, that repeatedly he said, in face of the mightiest powers of the earth, “God is in heaven.” This assurance sustained him in the presence of the greatest opposition, as it sustained Daniel. What language for us, too, to take account of as the religious, the international, the social, the commercial world all tremble, everything shaking that can be shaken, how blessed to rely upon the God of heaven! Heaven will not fail and God’s omnipotence and supremacy will not give way. In the power of that Daniel continued until the reign of Cyrus.
Another feature is that he opened his window towards Jerusalem three times a day, and kneeled down and prayed and gave thanks “as he did aforetime.” The Spirit of God takes away the veil from one of the secrets of Daniel’s life in saying, “as he did aforetime” — this was his custom. We often hear today about customs among God’s people. Would that this custom of Daniel’s was increasingly one of them. A man like that is bound to go through. “They shall prosper that love thee,” says the Psalmist, of Jerusalem, Psalm 122: 6. “If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill,” Psalm 137: 5. Daniel did not forget Jerusalem, his outlook was not himself, or his own blessing or service, but it was the city of God, the assembly, in other words. Jerusalem lay in ruins at that time, but yet his outlook was towards it, and he looked out upon God’s interests. He pursued them thus, and closed the day accordingly — he kneeled down and prayed. One would like to have heard his prayers, and indeed we have some of them recorded by the Spirit of God. They were not prayers such as Jacob’s, or some of ours. Jacob said, “If God will be with me, and keep me ...of all that thou wilt give me I will without fail give the tenth to thee,” Genesis 28: 20-22 (N.T.). That was not Daniel’s prayer, as recorded later in the book; his prayers fill one with delight, and yet shame, as to oneself, as one takes account of his holy interest and longings for blessing on Jerusalem.
Then it says he gave thanks. If we do not give thanks we shall drop out; for murmurers and complainers always drop out of the testimony. In the darkest day there is always reason, not only to pray, but to give thanks, as viewing the work and the thoughts of God, and His delight in bringing to pass His own will. A man who prays and gives thanks with his windows open toward Jerusalem will go through to the end, he will not be diverted.
Then we are told that Daniel understood by books; they had a great place with Daniel. I plead with the young especially; what place have the books with you, and first of all the Scriptures? One of the books that Daniel read and understood was the prophet Jeremiah. He paid great attention to the Scriptures. Do we read the Scriptures? If we do not read them we shall fail in the testimony. They are given “That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works,” 2 Timothy 3: 17. If we have not the Scriptures in our minds we are deficient, they should always come first, but when it says that Daniel understood by the books, I have no doubt it is a reference to ministry that God was giving in that day. The end of the first book of Chronicles refers to the history and the time that passed over David. It says “the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer,
and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,” 1 Chronicles 29: 29. If we do not pay attention to the ministry that the Lord gives in our day, as well as to the Scriptures, we shall not continue as Daniel did, as one who valued the books.
When the princes, the leading men in Darius’ day, sought to terminate Daniel’s position in the testimony, they examined all his affairs and they found that he was faithful. When they looked into the matter of his stewardship under Darius, they found they could not touch him on that account, for he was faithful in everything. We shall certainly drop out if that is not true of us. If our individual history with God is not marked by faithfulness in the positions of trust in which we are placed, in our relationship as husband or wife, parents or children, masters or servants; if the enemy can touch us in any of these, we shall not continue. Daniel’s enemies searched into everything and they found they could only touch him in relation to God. What heart-breaking exposures we have had of those who appeared to continue outwardly, but who had a history of unrighteousness. Be not deceived, sooner or later we shall publicly fail if the enemy can touch us on any matter of unrighteousness. The knowledge that puffs up, and the ability to retain things in the mind avails nothing. As Daniel was found faithful in his position as steward, so we must maintain integrity in the responsibilities placed upon us, or we shall not continue. The young men, especially, are open to the enemy’s attempts to damage them in their early days, by committal to unrighteous principles and acts, so that they are lost to the testimony.
I want to pursue the thought a little further with regard to Paul. What marked that beloved servant was, that he also continued. He says, “Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day.” Did he have an easy path? Had he no tests? If any of us want to be humbled, just read the list of trials through which he continued. He started in a path from which he never went back. He says, “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; ...in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, ...in perils among false brethren”; but he steadily pursued his course, and what sustained him? He says, “Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue.” The help which is from God travels only one way, and as Paul was travelling upon the same road, he got the gain of it. When he surrendered his own will and bowed to the Lord Jesus Christ, he handed everything to Him — his body, his affections, his time, his labour, his money — he gave everything to Christ. The help which is from God is found on that road. Help which is not from God will not enable us to continue. If we seek help from the natural man, or from any party gathered round ourselves, that is not the line of continuance. The line of continuance is getting the help which is from God, and that involves subjection to Christ, a surrender to His claims in relation to all that we have and are. Divine help is available to all such. As Paul was standing on his trial, he says, “I continue unto this day”; however dark the day was, he would go on to the end.
In the epistle to the Hebrews, the apostle in appealing to the saints, in his closing word says, “Let brotherly love continue”; those affections that flow between brethren. There is to be love, the highest kind of love, which comes from God. In brotherly love we are told to have love, 2 Peter 1: 7, but nevertheless brotherly love is important. The apostle says that the love that is proper between brothers is to continue. How beautifully it continued between Paul and Peter — Peter speaks of him as “our beloved brother Paul.” Brotherly love does not ignore things that are wrong, for there was a moment when Peter, the first of the apostles, dissimulated and also influenced Barnabas, for it says, “even Barnabas was carried away too by their dissimulation,” and Paul rebukes Peter and withstands him to the face. Nevertheless,
brotherly love continued. One speaks sympathetically as having known something of it, but the rebuke is not to destroy brotherly love. Whether we are having part in the rebuke, or are being rebuked, we are to be careful that brotherly love continues. The Psalmist says, “Let the righteous smite me, it is kindness; and let him reprove me, it is an excellent oil which my head shall not refuse,” Psalm 141: 5. It is an act of kindness when the righteous smite us, when we are rebuked by such, and one who is rebuked by a righteous man comes out in greater dignity than before, for it becomes as excellent oil. So Paul rebuked Peter to the face when he was to be blamed, yet the affections of Paul towards Peter were not impaired; and I believe the affections of Peter’s heart were rather increased.
It is long after that incident that he speaks of him as “our beloved brother Paul.” What a value he put upon the ministry of Paul! He spoke of his writings as scriptures, and containing many things “hard to be understood”; beyond his own ministry, but there was the right flow of brotherly love maintained towards Paul who had rebuked him, and I am sure on Paul’s side there was no diminished affection for the first of the apostles. So in closing this epistle he says, “Let brotherly love continue.” The enemy would seek to destroy those holy affections that should flow between brethren and thus prevent our continuance in the testimony, so that there should be no Daniels to continue, no Pauls obtaining the help which is from God. The enemy seeks to break up brotherly love so that we might be diverted, but the apostle says, “Let brotherly love abide,” or “continue,” even if it be that we have to accept a rebuke from the Lord or from His servants. Let the bonds of brotherly love continue and be strengthened in the hearts of the brethren, so that we may each one of us “pursue” as the stars in their courses. The stars in their courses fought against Sisera, we are told in Judges 5: 20, and every “star” has a part in the overthrow of the power of evil, if it keeps in its course.
One would appeal to one’s brethren — let each of us go on in our course, holding Christ adoringly in His supreme place, so that each proceeds in his course in relation to the service of the Lord and His people, and let the bonds of brotherly love continue until He comes.