KEEPING DIVINE THINGS
[p. 339] KEEPING DIVINE THINGS
2 Timothy 1: 14; John 17: 12; John 12: 7; 2 Kings 4: 42
The message which I believe I have from the Lord bears on the idea of keeping what is of divine importance. I hope to show the importance of preserving in integrity whatever may be entrusted, or whatever may be of one’s own spiritually, intended to be for God in service, or intended for His people. I would urge upon all the acceptance of the sense of responsibility to God and to men, that is to the saints. Irresponsibility is rather what marks us, alas! It may seem unfair to make such remarks in the presence of so many who, I am well assured, are lovers of God. The fact that we are here indicates interest in divine things, but large numbers are often misleading in this respect. Whilst general interest may exist, yet a test, especially one ordered of God, if applied, might bring a certain disillusionment and a corresponding disappointment. Gideon had, you know, an army of thirty-two thousand to fight the Midianites, a fair army, although the opposing one was exceptionally numerous, but numbers may prove a hindrance rather than a help, and that is exactly what we have presented in Judges 7. We have nothing recorded as to Gideon’s feeling of disillusionment, or disappointment, that his army should be reduced, and may well assume that he accepted the divinely proposed test with humble obedience. But it disclosed that, however apparently willing these thirty-two thousand men of war were, personal considerations outweighed divine considerations, and some thirty-one thousand seven hundred of them had to be sent, as we may hope, shamefacedly, back to their homes, leaving the conflict to be waged by three hundred. The two tests were divine, but they brought to light the sad spectacle of the army of thirty-two [p. 340] thousand returning to their homes, save for three hundred men.
I mention all this because I would call attention to the irresponsibility that one observes, whilst not in the least degree minimising the great work of God that is seen at this moment in this hall, part of the great result of God’s work by His Spirit. It is a spectacle for the eyes of heaven; I have no doubt about that. My remarks are not in any way disparaging, but rather to further stimulate us to a sense of responsibility to God and to men, so that anything, small or great, that may be entrusted to us may be kept and may be available as needed.
The first scripture appears in a letter to a young man upon whom responsibility was laid. In view of the days in which he was to bear it, this burden was peculiarly great. The great servant Paul was about to lay down his commission and to depart, as he says himself, to be with Christ, and the epistle to Timothy is particularly intended to help this young servant in the discharge of the great obligations that were put upon him. The apostle could speak of the good deposit which had been entrusted (2 Timothy 1: 14). To analyse this deposit is not the purpose of this meeting. Timothy would understand that it was of great value, such value as could not be appraised really by man. It is called by the apostle “the good deposit entrusted”. If one might venture a word or two on an analysis of it, one might say in general what is alluded to is the great truth particularly entrusted to the apostle Paul. He urged Timothy to have an outline of sound words which he had received from the apostle. These words are said to be held “in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus;” a very important word for those who are serving in any way in the truth. This injunction as to the good deposit would suggest the truth as a whole, which had come in through the great servant, who is the writer of the letter.
[p. 341] So that we are in the presence here, dear brethren, of the truth, and especially what God in these last days has opened up as recovered for us and put into doctrinal form such as is intelligible to us. The burden implied, as bearing upon ourselves, is that this is to be kept, not simply in our bookcases. Great as the value of books is, and great as the importance of brothers and sisters having books calculated to aid them in their spiritual education, yet the deposit is not what is in books. I mean the allusion is to what is in ourselves, and what is to be kept thus by the power of the Spirit of God. For that is what it says: “Keep, by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us” — a very beautiful statement, a very significant statement, a statement that implies a condition of soul in which the Spirit of God is not characteristically disturbed. The ground of divine dwelling is that there are suitable conditions, and the Holy Spirit is here alluded to, as dwelling in us. Where this is so we may avail ourselves of Him, in every sense in which we need Him. I am speaking now of keeping what we have by divine teaching, by understanding given by the Lord; what we have as a good deposit in the knowledge of the revealed mind of God, both as to truth and principles. Now this obligation is put upon us. What Timothy had received he was to pass on to faithful men, who should teach others also; for passing on divine things implies teaching. It is the divine way of inaugurating depositories here for heaven’s thoughts. Teaching is the divine way, so that there should be treasuries for God in this world, that is to say, persons who keep things, and who do this not by mental effort or memory, but by the Holy Spirit. Of course our minds come into it, for the renewed mind of a christian is employed by the Spirit to keep in order in his own soul that in which he is instructed, in which he is taught. At the same time the affections also are engaged, so that the believer is a treasury of God. Nowhere [p. 342] is this thought so significantly set out as in this verse, “Keep, by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us, the good deposit entrusted”.
I pass on to John 17 to speak of another trust; that is, persons. In the typical teaching of the book of Numbers relative to the Levites, we are taught what the Gershonites were to carry — for the word carry is the key. It is burdensome work. Levitical service is burdensome. The Gershonites in the main had to look after the curtains, which curtains had to do with concealment and demarcation. In other words they point to divine principles by which the people of God, that is the assembly, is to be controlled and governed. I allude to these as entering into the good deposit, but I speak of it now, dear brethren, as over against the charge of the Merarites. These latter had to do with the boards and other subordinate things which symbolised persons. For to have an order of things reflecting heaven, a figurative representation of things in the heavens, we need both heavenly principles and heavenly persons, for the tabernacle represented a heavenly order of things. So we find in the service allotted to the Merarites, the items were given by name. The word is significant, for obviously the items I allude to refer typically to persons. I mention all this so that you may understand what I have in mind, that we have to keep persons, and of course, the first person to be kept is oneself. That is quite obvious; for how can I undertake to keep another, save as I have learnt to keep myself? We are told that better is “he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Proverbs 16: 32).
You can see therefore how great one is, even initially, as coming into the truth of christianity, as he learns to rule his own spirit. For one can never be of use in the divine system of things save as he begins thus to keep himself, to rule his own spirit and correspondingly to keep himself pure. Many other things could [p. 343] be said in that connection as to the individual. What is in mind is to show that we are to keep persons, and that no christian, however young, should say like Cain, that he is not his brother’s keeper. The saints of God are precious beyond words. The more we see in the Scripture heaven’s appraisement of the saints, the more we shall see the truth of what I have remarked. The more one looks into and applies the thought of keeping, the more one gets the divine viewpoint and applies the impressions received in his relations with the brethren, the more attractive the brethren become, the more lovely they are. I may say here in a very simple way, that unless we begin to see them thus and respect them and then love them, we shall really never serve according to God. We may serve in a careless official way, but I can assure you, if you do not respect the saints, you will never love them, and if you do not love the saints you will never serve them according to God. But the more you look at them from the divine point of view, and the more you search for the virtues in them, search for the Spirit in them, the more lovely they become and the more worthy of your service. Not only so, but like Abraham our father, the great believer, you will risk everything to rescue a brother. The Lord speaks of this subject to His Father — in, as I may say, a conversation — from His side at least. That the Father was responsive to every word that the Lord said in this wonderful chapter is unquestionable. We cannot conceive anything but the most intense interest in heaven as these words were uttered by our Lord Jesus Christ as He lifted up His eyes to heaven, saying, “Father”. The theme of His remarks, after verse 5, is almost entirely the saints, and in verse 12 we come to the question of keeping. He is entrusting them to His Father to be kept; in dependence, putting His own, as He is about to be taken from them, into the hands of the Father; and then He says, “When I was [p. 344] with them I kept them in thy name; those that thou hast given me I have guarded”. What a record! What an example for us, dear brethren, in the keeping of the saints — in as far as one is competent, and as I said the responsibility rests upon every brother and sister. We talk about care meetings, and, of course, they apply to what we are speaking of but let us not forget that every saint is to have care of the brethren, that no saint, no sister, no brother, can say he is not his brother’s keeper.
If I can set the brethren in movement by what I have been saying, with the sense of this responsibility, I believe that I shall do much under God, to the end that all should begin to move in care. That word in care must not be officialised, nor must it be attributed to certain, or all the brothers. It belongs to every saint. This is seen with Andrew, for instance. John the baptist looks on Jesus as He walks and says, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1: 36). Andrew follows. He abides with Jesus that day, according to the Lord’s invitation, and then he finds his brother Simon. That is the spirit of care, the spirit of interest by which the saints have to be kept, and this works out particularly in the way we regard those that are already in a position of safety, at least ostensibly. The Lord Jehovah says, “Yet will I gather others to him, with those that are gathered” (Isaiah 56: 8); that is a promise. But then those that are gathered have the first claim upon us; they have to be kept. That is the principle that, according to the mind of God, pervades the fellowship. The saints have to be kept, whether by example, or by word or by influence. The responsibility attaches to each of us to keep the brethren. The Lord says, “not one of them has perished”, and remarks significantly, “When I was with them”. It is while He was here, where the influence to snatch them from His hand was present all the time. It is through the world that the saints are stumbled. “Woe to the world because of offences!” (Matthew 18: 7). The world is calculated to stumble the saints, that is to cause them to fall, to set snares for them, and hence the Lord here alludes to that position. So that under these two heads you can see I have in mind that the Lord should lay upon us the obligation to keep the good deposit by the power of the Spirit that dwells in us, and then to keep the brethren; for these two thoughts run together. The truth which heaven delights in requires the brethren. We need them and in as far as it lies in us we must keep them, keep them, of course, on divine terms. Any other effort is worse than useless. Keeping persons for the sake of numbers and the like is pernicious. It is keeping the brethren as the Lord kept them, on divine terms.
Now I go on to 2 Kings 4, and I wish to speak of the food that is to be ministered to the Lord’s people. The Lord lays great stress on food and says of the servant who ministers a portion of meat to the household, one whom He “on coming shall find doing thus. Verily ... he will set him over all his substance” (Matthew 24: 46, 47). What a great incentive the Lord gives us in that word to have food for His people and food “in season;” that is the food that is needed this very day. The importance of supplying this food, of keeping it from poisonous influences, from damaging or discrediting things is obvious. This very chapter, indeed the previous paragraph, tells us in a most striking way, how the food provided for the people of God may be poisoned. All will remember the incident of the great pot that the prophet directed to be set on, and how one went out and gathered a lapful of wild gourds of the field and shred them into the pot. Someone uncontrolled by levitical principles, by the need of accuracy, and of testing everything by Scripture, brings something in that is poisonous. I mention that before speaking for a moment of this man from Baal-shalisha. He is over against this incident. Aside [p. 346] from the intervention of God through the prophet, there must have been disaster in the wild gourds. He gathered a lapful and shred them into the pot. The man of God was able to meet the danger, directing that meal should be put in the pot, and the food was preserved, the poison was nullified. This is one of the most important lessons for fathers and mothers in regard to their children. The schools and universities are just full of poison. We cannot control the schools, we cannot reform the world, we are here to go through in spite of it. That is the principle, and if our children are in any way obliged to come within the range of these poisons, the obligation rests upon parents to watch and have the meal ready. In the divinely appointed way to bring in what Christ is; the pure holy divine humanity of Christ, presented in testimony to children, nullifying these terrible poisons that are so current. The man from Baal-shalisha is set over against all this and how good it is to have food brought in from that land! The name would indicate a land entirely subservient to a ruler, where there is no disorder or irregularity such as is seen in the gathering of the wild gourds. This man comes in from that land with first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, barley being first-fruits of the crop, but not sheaves of barley, but bread — loaves — meaning that the fire had been applied so that the barley was constituted food. Twenty loaves and then fresh ears of corn, and then “in his sack” is added.
That is what I want you to notice. If you will read in the New Translation (a provision the Lord has made for us in these last days) you will see this man carried the food provided in his sack. He had this food and he brought it from a certain place that indicated order and government, where things were done properly. The assembly is a reflection of heaven and should be marked by things being done properly. The Lord has sway there — it is a question of the Lord and what He has [p. 347] commanded in His word and the Spirit of God is free there, so that we can trace to the source what we get and what we hear. There is no question about this man, he is trustworthy, and he says in effect, I have good food, and he gave it to the man of God so that he could give it to others. Poisonous things must not affect it, so he brought it in his sack. It is of the greatest importance in ministry that what we have to present must be kept from defilement, from poisonous influences, from wrong thoughts. That it is the pure product of heaven ministered and developed in a believer, in a minister’s soul, by the Spirit of God. Thus he brings the food in his sack. I can take those loaves and spread them about the table. I do not have to examine them, for they have been kept. I am confident that I can partake of this food and I can invite others to do so, and so Elisha said, “Give the people that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah: They shall eat, and shall have to spare. And he set it before them, and they ate and left thereof, according to the word of Jehovah”.
I wish you would just dwell on this beautiful picture, dear brethren, as regards food. How it inspires confidence! Of one who ministers, the saints should be able to say, We have confidence in that man. This is most important. If you are to serve the saints you must establish confidence in their hearts. What can you do for the saints unless they have confidence! This man inspires confidence. He has the loaves of barley and the fresh ears of corn, but he has them in his sack. He is careful and considers for others. He is a man of integrity; he provides such food as is edible at the moment, and it was greatly enlarged. God will not enlarge what is adulterated. He will enlarge what is the pure product of the Spirit of God and nothing else.
There is one other thought, which is found in John 12. We never tire, as many dear brethren here would testify, in referring to certain persons in Scripture, and [p. 348] Mary of Bethany is one of these. She is one of the outstanding figures in the Scripture and she is mentioned here for the last time. She disappears from Scripture full of glory. How we all would love to disappear in that way! It is said of Jesus that He was “received up in glory” (1 Timothy 3: 16), and that is in measure what everyone should aspire to, to finish in glory, and Mary, in the way in which I am speaking of her, disappears gloriously. She disappears in worship. She is criticised, and no one who is an outstanding person spiritually escapes criticism. Everyone who makes everything of Christ is persecuted. The greatest test is, what a man makes of Christ. She made everything of Christ, not only in public, but in private, and that is what the Lord alludes to in the verse I read. She was criticised, but the Lord defends her. Indeed He and Judas are the only ones who speak in this passage. Lazarus says nothing, Mary says nothing, Martha says nothing, neither does Jesus say anything until we have this criticism. Judas says, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He breaks the silence. Some brethren think that an assembly meeting is only good as there is activity, as there are hymns and praises given, but there is not one word said in this wonderful scene at Bethany, as far as the record goes, until Judas speaks. One would not like to be in his company to disturb this holy, this spiritual silence. That is what he did, disturbed it rudely, viciously. He was a thief and had the bag. What a disturbance when a man like that dares to speak and break up a holy season of silence in the presence of Jesus! Then the Lord speaks. Not that He turns on Judas, the time had not come to expose him. The Lord simply says, “Suffer her to have kept this for the day of my preparation for burial”. What a jewel that is and how perfectly set! The Lord did not turn on Judas and say to him what he deserved; thus the lustre of this scene is preserved. It brings out the secret history of [p. 349] the worshipper, and there is no true worshipper who has not a secret history; I mean a secret history with God, known intelligently. The Lord says of Mary that she has kept this for the day of my burial; she understood. We do not hear of Mary at the sepulchre saying in unbelief that they had taken the Lord away, that was Mary Magdalene. She disappears from Scripture here; she disappears in glory; she had filled the house with glory and with the spirit of worship, and she disappears with the Lord’s commendation. Like Enoch she was not, for God took her, as it were. She had this testimony that she pleased God, she was justified in what she did, and what she did was to keep what she had for the service of Christ, free from all defilement, and use it on Him in the appropriate time. We have no alabaster box here, we have it elsewhere, but not here; attention is thus called to the integrity of the worshipper. She thoroughly considered for the One she adored, and kept the ointment with which to anoint Him free from corruption. She loved our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption, she kept it free from all taint for the day of His burial, and she seized her opportunity. She understood exactly the circumstances, for although it was some days hence that He was going to die, she had kept it for the day of His burial, and she understands when to use it.
May God bless this thought to us as to keeping.