EXPOSURE AND ATTRACTION
EXPOSURE AND ATTRACTION
Genesis 41: 9-13; Esther 7: 9, 10; Luke 23: 39-43; Colossians 1: 19-22
I have no doubt that we have all at times been delighted to contemplate the Lord Jesus Christ as the great centre of the universe of God. How delightful it is to all the saints, I am sure, to gaze into heaven, as it were to look through that door opened in heaven and see with the eye of faith the Lord Jesus Christ, the centre around which stands every creature that has a place in God’s universe.
We are not told in Revelation 4 and 5 that there was any command for the elders or living creatures, or indeed for the angels to surround that throne; we are not told that they were commanded to utter their praise and worship, the secret being that there is such an appreciation of Christ in that blessed scene and of what He has done, that He is the centre there.
One desired to say a few words that the Lord might be pleased to use to help us to be more definitely drawn to Him. The Lord said, as recorded in the gospel by John, “I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me.” Something was about to transpire that would be so powerful in its influence over the hearts of men, over the hearts of His own, that it would draw all to Him. Then we are told that, “this he said, signifying by what death he was about to die”; not only that He would die, but “by what death.” We are ready to take account of the wondrous fact that He died for us. The apostle preached that, “Christ died... and that he was buried.” These two great facts stand out and we are reminded of the meaning of them continually. Death is the termination of life here in flesh and blood, burial takes place that what remains may be put out of sight; as Abraham said, “that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” Nobody can evade these two things. Children do not live long before their reality must be seen and known, that death is here — the termination of responsible life in flesh and blood, and burial must follow; what remains must be put out of sight.
One has wondered for oneself whether “what death he should die” is taken much account of, whether the bearing of the cross is sufficiently regarded. It was in the being lifted up, not simply and only death, that there is such drawing power, as the Lord said, “I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me.” I speak for myself, one is more ready to face death and burial than to face what being lifted up means. Being lifted up is exposure. I believe the natural heart is more ready to accept death and burial than exposure. Exposure is a terrible thing to the human heart. I understand that is what is meant by the Lord’s words, “I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me.” Lifted up implies being exposed to reproach and open shame. As we think of what death He should die, and as we take into our hearts that it was for us, we are to feel the drawing power that holds the hearts of all! What an awful thing it is to be hanged! The human mind shudders at the contemplation of being hanged. It resents it. In parts of the world the thing literally is abandoned because of the intense resentment of man’s heart to exposure. Quite another matter for persons to die secretly, to be surrounded by love and care and all that human wisdom can provide, but being hanged is another matter altogether. Being hanged means that there is exposure before all; and that such a one is unfit to be on the earth. I wonder whether we have come to that. In the book of Genesis, chapter 40, we read of the two men in prison; one man, Pharaoh’s baker, was unfit to live, and the only adequate punishment was that he should be hanged. The other man, the king’s cup-bearer, was released by the king’s favour to minister again to Pharaoh. The book of Genesis works that out for our instruction.
You see the beginning of the two men with Cain and Abel; the same two men in character that we read of in Genesis 40. Think of what must have been in Eve’s heart as she said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” What intense feelings must have been hers as the character of that man developed, and she learned he was a murderer. He was of the wicked one and slew his brother. That is one feature of the baker who was hanged; another comes out in Ishmael. Again you have the two men viewed from another aspect in Ishmael and Isaac. Abraham says, “O that Ishmael might live.” What must have been the feelings of Abraham’s heart especially, and also of Sarah’s, as the true character of Ishmael developed and became exposed. He is a mocker of Isaac. He has no place in his heart for Isaac — he mocks him, he is a wild ass of a man, his hand against every man, and every man’s hand against him. What intense feelings must have been Abraham’s as all these things came to light! Then we have Esau and Jacob. Isaac loved Esau; right up to his closing days he would have blessed Esau, but look at Esau! A profane person, a man who puts no value on what is of God, a man who for a mess of pottage would sell his birth-right. Whether Esau valued it or not, it is there to be valued. I think Isaac comes to the setting aside of Esau afterwards, when he says of Jacob, “yea, and he shall be blessed.” They appear again in Reuben and Joseph. The Spirit of God in the Chronicles puts them together, the first-born was Reuben, but the birth-right was Joseph’s. When Reuben was born Leah said, “See, a son.” Think of her hopes. Think of what was in her heart as she looked upon her son. “See, a son,” she said. Think of what must have then been in her soul and Jacob’s too. “Reuben,” he said, “thou art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: unstable as water, thou shalt not excel.” He had to learn that Reuben was not to be trusted. The most sacred relationship on earth could not be trusted to Reuben’s care. These four men — Cain, Ishmael, Esau, and Reuben — give us features of the baker, who was hanged. The only thing to do with man after the flesh, that which is in every one of us, according to divine light, is to hang him. Not simply is he to die, but he is to be exposed before the gaze of all as one unfit to live, as one under condemnation, as one in the place of the curse.
Then the butler. His history runs through to Joseph. It begins with Abel, a man who to minister to God, would die if need be — righteous Abel. A man to whom to minister to God’s pleasure was more to be desired than to live; bringing a more excellent sacrifice to God than Cain’s. He appears again in Isaac. Isaac was one who was prepared by subjection to his father to travel with him to mount Moriah. Without any trace of rebellion Isaac was prepared to be laid on the altar and to be offered to God. He is continued in the butler, and is a man of whom Sarah said, “God has made me laugh: all that hear will laugh with me.” Think of the merriment that Isaac brought into the hearts of many. The one through whom the blessing of God would extend to every family. The butler appears again in Jacob. A man who loved the blessing of God, whatever may have been his wrong-doings in the way he sought it. Jacob was a man who loved the favour and blessing of God more than anything else. The history of this butler appears also in Joseph, the man who could be trusted. If Joseph stands out in one way more than another, it is as one who could be trusted. Reuben was unstable as water, but the birth-right was Joseph’s as one who could be trusted in every position. Look at him! You find he does not falter. He says to his master’s wife, “how should I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” So the butler comes out of the prison still to be the king’s cup-bearer. One loves to think of the Lord as the One who will always bring pleasure to God. The Lord Jesus Christ never ceased to minister to the heart of God.
In the book of Esther the same principle is worked out. Genesis is the beginning, the work of God coming to light in the souls of men individually. There is no tabernacle there, no sacrifices being brought to the tabernacle and the priesthood set up. Genesis expresses the work of God in us individually, and what can we bring if that is not there? What do you think Cain could have contributed to the tabernacle, what could Esau have brought, or Ishmael, or Reuben in his unjudged state? What kind of offerings would any of them have brought? The baker — what kind of element would he provide. The great lessons of Genesis must precede all, and when you come to the book of Esther, a day that corresponds now with the closing day, the day of brokenness, of lawlessness, of captivity, still these two men appear again, and the same issue is worked out. There is one man that must be hanged. What a man Haman was! A man descended from one who would have challenged the rights of the throne of God. He was a murderer, a Cain, an Ishmael, his hand against every man, a wild ass of a man, a profane person, a traitor. Every feature of the first man was there in Haman. The king’s wrath is only pacified when his true character is exposed, when he is hanged, when the gallows that he made for Mordecai finds him on it as exposed to all in Ahasuerus’ kingdom. The true character of Haman is manifest; whereas the true butler is there still in Mordecai. A man who would die before he would give up the rights of God; before subjection to the will of God should be set aside. Mordecai would die. Mordecai bowed not to Haman, the Agagite, an Amalekite, and so at the end of the book it is recorded that Haman is hanged and Mordecai exalted. “What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour?”
In Luke 23 we have the same position again. There are the robbers and one admits that he deserves to be hanged. Think of him accepting it! “We indeed justly.” He sees in his history what was like Cain, what was like Ishmael, a lawless man, wild ass of a man, he sees Esau in it; he has lived his life in disregard of God. He sees Reuben in it, wholly untrustworthy, a robber; but there is just this difference, he accepts the exposure. “We indeed justly.” What an exposure! Not simply to die, but to be hanged! “One of the malefactors which were hanged.” Someone else also was hanged, “whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.” There is Someone else there. The dying robber finds One at his side. Scripture speaks of the cross, but it also speaks of His cross. Words that should vibrate in every heart — “His cross.” It says in John, “he bearing his cross went forth.” Not simply the cross; the cross may be connected with what man provided, but His cross. Why His cross? The passage I read in Colossians speaks of “the blood of his cross.” Why His cross? The robber thinks of that when he says “this man hath done nothing amiss.” Why is He exposed? Why is He in the place of judgment, in the place of curse? Why is He put to open shame? He accepted it. It was His cross as accepting it. There is only One who has been crucified for us; is there any wonder therefore that the Lord said, “I, if I be lifted up out of the earth,
will draw all to me.” But this He said signifying by what death He was about to die. The apostle Paul was prepared to accept the exposure. He says, “I am crucified with Christ.” That is what I believe we need to realise if we are to contribute to the assembly, if we bring spiritual sacrifices, if we are rightly to be in the family of God. It must begin with this, we must accept the exposure. “I am crucified,” Paul said, not literally, but in his judgment of himself, in his judgment of the flesh. He accepted that the crucifixion of Christ was his crucifixion. He says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” He also tells the Romans that our old man has been crucified. I think it is very important, especially for those of us who are young, to accept it. The “old man” is in the singular, because he is in every one of us, he is in you and in me. We are told to put off the old man with his deeds, Colossians 3: 9, but this will only be done as we realise that the only thing fitting is that he should be hanged. The exposure is accepted humbly, as the only fitting thing for that man. Now as having reached that judgment like the dying robber, what do I bring into the assembly? If we think of that man as one who reached this judgment in his soul, what would he bring into the upper room if he had remained here? What a holy love for Christ he would bring in! What a judgment of sin also! What lowliness would mark him! “We indeed justly.” He had accepted that he should be hanged, but he found One who was crucified for him. How humbly he would come into the upper room, what a sense of mercy he would bring with him! These are elements of great value in the upper room, for the individual saint to bring, a heart that delights in Christ and loves Him, a heart that has learned that the only thing that can be done with the flesh, the only thing adequate for what I am naturally, is to be hanged; not simply to die and be buried, but to be hanged. When you get a believer on these lines, what an asset he is to the assembly!
One desired to present these few thoughts to us. I know very well that there is nothing we shrink from more than exposure. I believe most of us would rather die and be buried than be exposed, but the blessed Lord Jesus Christ has accepted the exposure. “He bearing his cross,” and thus He has made peace. All that was against God, all that disturbed was settled then. He has made peace by the blood of His cross, so that we might be presented holy, unblamable, and irreprovable in His sight as in attachment to Himself.
One would earnestly desire to be helped of the Lord to accept the meaning of the cross, the meaning of exposure, the full meaning of “I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me. But this he said signifying by what death he was about to die.”