OUR POSITION ON THE EARTH
[p. 388] OUR POSITION ON THE EARTH
John 10: 16; Hebrews 13: 20 - 21
The subject I desire to bring before you this evening is a large subject, it is our present position on the earth. I am not referring to our heavenly calling, but to our present position on the earth. A former evening I was dwelling on what Christ had done for us, and our own individual portion - clear of everything; in the acceptance of the Beloved, with a home in the Father’s house to the delight of His own heart. All this belongs to every believer. What I have now to present is the position of believers here upon the earth. I refer to “the flock”, as it is in this passage in John, “There shall be one flock, one shepherd”. It is translated ‘fold,’ but the first person, as well as I remember, who translated the Greek into English, translated it ‘flock’; but those who followed him were afraid to adopt it, because it would convey that there was no fold now; but only “one flock, one shepherd”.
I will turn first to John. The difference between John and Paul is very interesting, and worthy of your attention. John is God’s side, and tells you what God gives. Paul conducts you into what God gives, so that he looks at you in keeping with what God has done. Therefore he speaks of the great Shepherd of the sheep working in you what is well pleasing in His sight. There is no lack on God’s side at all.
Now I must ask you to keep your Bibles open, because I wish to show the connection of passages.
First, you must be assured that there had been a flock of God upon the earth (Israel), and that there is now a flock, but of another order; and you will find in Hebrews that the flock is still continued, but after a new order. As the Lord says, “Both he that [p. 389] sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren”. He has brethren after a new order, and the brethren after the new order are the flock. I am not speaking of the church, but of those who are of the church.
But turn now to John 9 and you will see what light effects. The blind man has faith in the sent One; he washes “in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation, Sent”. He has faith, and he goes and washes, and gets his sight from that Blessed One who is on the earth, whom no one will understand or accept, although His works testified who He was. The power of God was there; a man who had light could see, That is God’s work. As the blind man said afterwards, “If this man were not of God, he could do nothing”. But how did the people, the old flock, receive Him? The blind man is led out of the old flock and led into the new. And this is the course every one must go through. Well, he gets light, and instead of his neighbours rejoicing in his gain, they bring him to the Pharisees, and the Pharisees condemn the work because it was done on the sabbath day. The Jews are not satisfied, and they call his parents, to hear what they will say. They are afraid to stand for him, and say, “he is of age, ask him”. They are afraid of the religious element. There is the religious element in this day, too, and you must get outside that religious element. The Jews cast him out. They had already refused the Source of light, and now they refuse the man who had got light. He is now outside the religious order under the law. This man had been blind, but he received sight from Him who was on the earth, the Light of the world, if the world had eyes to see; but it had not eyes to see; though their not seeing Him did not make Him any less the Light Now this man cast out from the synagogue is in the solitude of light, outside everything of the religious [p. 390] man on this earth - a grand place, beloved friends. And let me exhort you (as Paul said to the Hebrews, “Suffer the word of exhortation”), if you have never been in the solitude of light, outside the religious man - not the worldly man merely, but the religious man - you have never found your true place upon the earth. The first step is, you are outside of the religious man. If you have not been in the solitude of light you cannot know the great things made known there.
Well, in verse 35 we read, “Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” He had seen the end of all perfection in man. “He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee”. The last time they met he did not see Him; he sees Him now, and that is one of the effects of light, he sees Him; and “every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life”. “Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him”.
Now this man is one of the new flock, that is his position on the earth. You are not left on this earth merely as emigrants on the way to heaven. You are left here to be for the Lord, sent into the world by Him, as you get in the last chapter of Hebrews: “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach” - the reproach of a Man dying on the cross. That is the reproach our Lord bore, that is what He was in the sight of men, and that is what you are called to bear.
I turn now to chapter 10. That chapter opens with telling us that the Lord came into the fold. “To him the porter openeth”. He did not remain in the fold. But “when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them”, “putteth forth” is the same word as “cast out” in the previous chapter. The Lord did not stay in the fold; He went in, He was entitled to go in, He magnified the law and made it honourable, but He does not remain there; on the contrary, He leads His sheep out; that is a thing you must distinctly lay hold of.
For our practical course I shall presently turn to the Hebrews. I am now showing you God’s side.
Let us turn to John 10: 9. There you are told where you are, and the change which has taken place. Now it is of all importance to understand the change; the sheep are of a new order. “By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved”. To be saved is not known in the fold. They were preserved and that is all. If you were in the fold, keeping the law for a thousand years, and then left it, you would be lost, you would be under the judgment. In this verse I get the christian charter, if I may say so. “By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out” - that is, he is at liberty. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”. There are no walls, and he finds pasture. There is no pasture in the fold, that is a misconception that has obtained from modern customs; because now in agricultural districts they fold the sheep on turnips in order to feed them. But that is not the idea of a fold here. An oriental fold was simply four walls built in a square in order to protect the sheep from the wild beasts, something like a country pound. The Lord states the contrast, they “shall be saved”, and not only saved, but at perfect liberty, they “shall go in and out, and find pasture”. I do not dwell longer on this, because it will come out fully when we come to the practical side. In the end of verse 10 the Lord says, “I am come that they might have life, and might have it abundantly”. Here we have the moral state of the sheep. This is a very great thing; would that it were known to all our christian friends! Would that [p. 392] I could address all of them on the face of the earth tonight! I should say to them, If you do not see the immense difference between a sheep, a really converted soul in Israel before Christ came, and a sheep called by Him since He came, you have not apprehended His gift, namely, “I am come that they might have life, and might have it abundantly”, which He fulfilled when He rose from the dead, and breathed upon His disciples. He tells you in the next verse how He brings it about: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”.
Then in verse 14 He states a very important change as to the relation of the sheep to Himself. He is the good Shepherd, and He not only bears the judgment of the responsible man, and gives life in Himself who has borne the death due to us, which is a most wonderful thing, but more, in verses 14 and 15 He says, “I am the good shepherd, and I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine”. The same kind of knowledge subsists between the Shepherd and the sheep as subsists between the Father and Christ. Now, beloved friends, where could you find such a portion in the whole range of the Old Testament? Ponder it, “I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine, as the Father knows me and I know the Father”. That is the nature of our intimacy.
In verse 27 the Lord completes the new position, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them life eternal, and they shall never perish, and no one shall seize them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one can seize out of the hand of my Father. I and the Father are one”. Not only does He “give them life eternal, and they shall never perish”, but that is not all. Seeing that they are down in a world of difficulty, where Satan is, He adds, “No one can seize” [the same word as is used earlier in the chapter] “out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me” - see the place the Father has - “my Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one can seize out of the hand of my Father”. That is your preservation. The new order of sheep must have a new preservation. A fold would not do. Just as if a horse were changed into an eagle, a stable would not suit it. The Jewish fold would not suit the sheep of the new order. In His hand, in the Father’s hand, that is the greatest favour that could be known. You may not realise it, but it is yours; just as a man asleep does not see the sun shining, but who is to blame, the sun or he? The sun is shining, but he is asleep. And so it is with christians who do not know this wondrous position, far beyond anything that could be known in the fold. You may say, I never knew that. Well, you ought to have known it. The Lord expects us to know His will concerning us.
Now, beloved friends, I turn to the Hebrews to see our own side in relation to this great position in which we are set. I begin at the first chapter, because I want to show the moral condition you start with. In the third verse we read, He having “purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high”. If you take your place on the earth, you must take it as a redeemed people. Israel was in figure a redeemed people. The line is continued, but in a new order. It is an unbroken line in one sense, only there is a great difference in its character. God had spoken by prophets, but He now speaks by the Son. We have looked at His side, very insufficiently I know, but I trust it will induce you to study the scripture for yourselves, and I look to the Lord to turn this little into much for you. The first thing to apprehend in faith on this new ground is that, having purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. The moment you are occupied with sins in the assembly, you have left your new position. You start [p. 394] with His having purged your sins, there is no more remembrance of sins; and there is a stronger word. The worshipper once purged, has no more conscience of sins, that is, God has no more claim on me for sins; if He has, there must be a fresh sacrifice, which cannot be, for by one offering He has perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Christ our passover has been sacrificed for us.
Now you cannot understand your position on the earth unless you believe that your sins are gone. I have already presented to you that you are out of the fold; you are saved, you are at liberty, and finding pasture; you are in the greatest intimacy with your Saviour, the same kind of intimacy as there is between the Father and the Son; you have received eternal life; and you are preserved in the most perfect way on the earth, you are in the hand of Christ and of the Father. Hence, if you refer to sins, you have gone back to the sheep in the fold, and therefore some say, ‘Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable sinners.’ Such an one does not apprehend the new position.
Being assured of the first - sins being purged - we now come to the second, that, while your sins are gone, there are infirmities. But before touching on infirmities, let me show you the position you occupy here now with relation to the Lord. We read in Hebrews 2: 12, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee”. That is the twenty-second verse of Psalm 22; twenty-one verses describe what He went through on our account, and in verse 22 He turns round and brings in a new thing altogether, as much as to say, I have cleared away all on your side; now I will unfold to you from God’s side. He is in the midst of the assembly; and hence we read in chapter 3, “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus”. There He is, and in verse 6, He is Son over God’s house, “whose house are we” now upon the earth. The apostle is showing how far the christian is beyond the Jew. Now we come to Hebrews 4: 11, “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief”. The apostle looks at us here upon the earth; in fact, we ‘run’ on to heaven in Hebrews: the word is, “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest”. Where are you going? This does not come out in John 10, because there it is only God for us, and how He cares for us here on the earth. But when we come to our side, the practical side, I find that everything depends on the object that is before us. Where are you going? You are going to God’s rest. It is here that infirmities are encountered, which is the second thing. But infirmities are not sins. An infirmity is a man’s natural weakness on the earth. There are three great classes; the pressure of circumstances, bad health, and sorrow - bereavement. There are given to you two great helps - namely, the word and the sympathy of Christ. The word discovers your motives and sets you right. In John 13 it is to detect you, but here it is to direct you, to put you on the true road - the road to God’s rest. Israel had not received the word in faith, hence they turned back. Therefore we read, “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it”. I am now presenting to you how you are here on the earth, not to stay on the earth, but to travel through it as God’s people, His assembly. We are going to heaven, and, as in Israel’s time, the tabernacle was in the midst of the people as they journeyed to Canaan, so now we are actually connected with the true tabernacle, and the house of God here on earth, and we are going on to heaven. The epistle to the Hebrews shows the failure into which christians have generally fallen. A christian often begins brightly and then loses ground because he is not going on to [p. 396] heaven, but seeking something on the earth. Thus the ten thousand of Gideon’s army were tested. “Bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there”. Water is an earthly mercy. Only three hundred men stood the test - they had a higher object than the mercy for the day. Many are turned aside in this day by earthly mercies. You have the word to set you right; it will direct you to the right course, and also expose the varied hindrances in your way.
Next, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”.
Here the great thought before us is Jesus the Son of God. It is interesting to connect this with John 9: 35. He has now passed through the heavens. He is not now in your circumstances; He was in them; and He ministers to you from the height where He is.
If you were in the water and a rope were thrown to you from a ship, if you laid hold of it, you would be brought to the ship. So that to you still here, it is of great importance that He has passed through the heavens. To you, weighed down by the pressure of circumstances, or by bad health, or by sorrow, He can say, I am wholly out of it, I have gone fully through it, and I will help you out of it. He not only supports you under the pressure, but He cheers you with Himself, you know Him now by the Spirit sent down from heaven. Suppose that you are in a storm under some pressure, and you read of the Lord in a storm; He was asleep. But merely to read that He was asleep will not put you to sleep. You see the Lord can sympathise with you, and if you receive of His grace you will be tranquil in the storm. He was asleep in [p. 397] the storm because He rested in His Father. He is not in the storm now, He has passed through the heavens, so that He not only sympathises with you and enables you to be calm, but you, by the Spirit, taste of company with Him; you are brought to His side. As the Lord was here on the earth, we, as His people, are bound to be. Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace for seasonable help.
As a rule, circumstances are not altered for us until we learn the grace of Christ in them. Like Paul and Silas in the prison they are supported there by the grace of Christ, and special mercy was subsequently vouchsafed to them. It is wonderful how little our hearts enter into the sympathy of Christ.
Next let us read Hebrews 8: 1, “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man”. All the chapters between the fourth and the eighth are taken up with describing our High Priest, One who sympathises with us in our infirmities. It is not merely that you are supported, but you are brought into company with Himself, that is your place in Hebrews. We have seen that in John 10: 14, 15 it is the intimacy between Him and us. But here it is from your own side, your infirmities, because if you are engrossed with them you are not enjoying intimacy with Him.
Well, I need not dwell longer on this subject, because one’s heart must be exercised about it in order to understand it. Mary, in John 11, is in deep sorrow because of her brother’s death. Jesus sympathises with her and walks beside her, so that in chapter 12 we find that she has passed right over to His side; she is not thinking of her sorrow now, but thinking of Him; she is in company with Him, and [p. 398] that is the greatest gain. This I know is above all human thought, I cannot explain it. You will never understand divine things but outside the natural mind. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God”. Trying to understand has done damage to many souls. You can enjoy what the Spirit of God gives you, though you cannot explain it to others. And therefore no one can explain to you anything divine; he can state clearly to you the word of God, but the Spirit alone can open out its meaning to you. If I were to try to explain “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding”, I should only show that I did not know it. How could I explain what “passeth all understanding”? And yet you would know that you had it, because you enjoy it. It is not by your natural reason; but “we have the mind of Christ”. That is very different from a man’s mind, and therefore, the spiritual man judgeth (discerneth) all things.
Now in the second verse of chapter 8 we read, “A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man”. As you are in company with Him, and enjoy His presence, you are associated with Him, the Minister of the holy places.
In chapter 10 you will find still more. We read in verse 19, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus”. You are in the presence of the Lord, the High Priest over the house of God! That is your wonderful position, even while on this earth, because the house of God is here, and it is over this house the great Priest is.
Thus you are in the holiest of all; there is no veil; you taste of heaven, though still on earth. His presence is your home, even in your own room; how much more may you enjoy the Lord’s presence in the midst of the assembly! You remember He is “a great priest over the house of God”. I would ask you now, Do you apprehend your position on earth as to infirmities,
[p. 399] that you have a High Priest passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God? And as you know His sympathy you are in His company, and you are sharing the oil of gladness that He has; you are also in the house of God, and He is a great Priest over the house of God. Hence, not only in your own room may you enjoy the presence of the Lord without a shade, and know that you are fit for His presence, but, like the consecrated company in Leviticus 8, you are in company with Him in the holiest of all. And when you thus enjoy Him, though you have not yet gone to heaven, you have a taste of heaven, and we ought to have a taste of heaven in the assembly. Morally it is heaven itself. God grant that our hearts may know it better. Aaron’s sons went in in company with their father. We go in in company with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the great Priest over God’s house, and we can say what Aaron’s sons could not - He died for us. Hence the first act in the assembly is to remember Him in death; our hearts revert to what He was for us.
Lastly, I turn to chapter 12. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”.
I need not remind you that the tabernacle was heavenly; there was not a pin of it that was not heavenly in type; and we have now to do with the true heavenly. In the assembly you find that, though you are on the earth, you have to do with heavenly things. He sustains me here, and He maintains me there. He, the Author and Finisher of faith, is in heaven, and your faith is derived from where He is.
As we read, “Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec”. As I may say, the Captain is on shore, that is, in heaven, and though you are not there yet, you have tasted of His company, the heavenly Man, you have His Spirit, and He is your life. Now for the race, you run on to Him where He is.
Chapter 11 had set forth the traits of faith; remember the word ‘trait,’ because the general impression is that chapter 11 sets forth the examples of faith. Traits of faith acquaint you with faith. Noah would have the same faith as Abraham if he were in Abraham’s place. The point is to convince you of the wonderful qualities of faith. Have you faith in Jesus? “Ye believe in God, believe also in me”. The apostle shows them - the Hebrews had the Old Testament scriptures - all the way from Abel down, the qualities of faith. And faith is the power, the horse figuratively, which is to carry you to Jesus where He is. He has gone all the road Himself; and therefore you are told that the greatest obstruction that could be, the cross, was in His way; thus the cross is used here. “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross” (that He might get to the top), “despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”. You will find many a difficulty in the way, but if you walk in faith you will be able to say, “By my God have I leaped over a wall”. It is a race, and you are to “lay aside every weight”. If you have too much business, lessen it; anything is a weight if it hampers you. “Ye .. . took joyfully the spoiling of your goods”. I have seen Him, I have tasted of the presence of the heavenly One, and now I am running on to Him, and I lay aside everything that would hinder. A weight is outside; the sin is inside; it is not any particular sin, but the nature that is in you. Faith has power to overcome opposition, and you have now to confront every opposition. “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin”. You have not died yet. If you had died, you would have finished your race. You say, I had a great pressure this morning, and the Lord bore me above it, and now I am facing every difficulty, every obstacle, looking out unto Jesus. I am going on to that wonderful spot where He is. I am not seeking for some little spring in the wilderness. No! but I am going straight on to heaven, and power is given me before I start. Keep looking out unto Jesus, looking to the end of the race, the goal. You will be surely borne on to it, if you keep your eye on Him. And you will be found in the practical path set forth in chapter 13; you “go forth to him without the camp, bearing his reproach”.
Well, as I said at the commencement, it is a very large subject, but the youngest here can, I trust, apprehend the outline of it, and understand better the great position in which grace has set you, how far it is beyond anything that ever was before on the earth in relation to God, as His house; it is altogether new.
The Lord grant, beloved friends, that each of us may apprehend better what is our new position on the earth, for His name’s sake.