THE CHRISTIAN'S OUTLOOK
THE CHRISTIAN’S OUTLOOK
Genesis 42: 1; 2 Corinthians 3: 18; 2 Corinthians 4: 18
What is in my mind at this time is to consider the thought of what christians are to be looking at, characteristically. The Lord spoke of the eyes of His disciples, that they were blessed because of what they saw. Things that exceeded what had been seen or heard. What is in view now is that we should not be wanting in blessed eyes, and in the use of them as blessed; that we may be looking at hallowed things, eternal things, not at the passing defiled things of the world.
The verse in Genesis challenges us as to why we look at one another. Jacob challenged his sons as to why they looked at one another; meaning that among other things activity was needed to provide corn for the family of faith, and not idle occupation with one another. So Jacob says, “Why do ye look one upon another?” He spoke as in the light of the supply of corn that existed, and that it should be availed of. Much more enters into the query of the patriarch. More even than he could define at the moment, for as yet he was unaware, at least as far as the record goes, of the foul crime committed by these sons of his. Their looks at one another would carry some thought of that crime — indeed it is difficult to conceive how they could ever be free of it. We may not be at all guilty of such a crime, and yet it may be there are those here who have not yet come to Christ, nor acknowledged the guilt, attaching particularly to the Jew, but by extension to all men, the guilt of the murder of Christ. There are those who are guilty directly in this world, and it may be there are some here who as yet have not settled that matter, nor any matter of sin between God and their souls. You can only have a defiled [p. 362] look; your look can never radiate heavenly light or heavenly love toward another; but the generality of us here, thank God, are otherwise, we are brethren who have come to judge conduct so gross, so inexcusable as the murder of Christ. The Lord says, “They have both seen and hated both me and my Father ... They hated me without a cause” (John 15: 24, 25).
Most of us through grace have judged this. Instead of hatred to Christ we have come to love Him, knowing His love for us, for it is said, “Hereby we have known love, because he has laid down his life for us” (1 John 3: 16), and our looks characteristically are not those unjudged looks of murderers, or liars, or deceivers, such as the ten sons of Jacob bore at this time; but still there may be some trace left of these features of the flesh. The Spirit of God is pleased to give us several lists of sinful features, and it is well to go over them at times, some of them less serious, less wicked than others. It is wholesome to go over them because of the deceitfulness of our hearts, the meanness of them at times. So that in going over the lists given by the Spirit we may discern the secret chambers of our hearts, and see whether there are any of these things lurking there. For the Lord says that out of the heart of man all these terrible things proceed, not as entering into it, but as coming out of the heart of man. So it may be that we are looking at one another, not with the eyes of affection; and it is a challenge to our hearts as to why we look at one another. Not that we should not look at one another. Jacob did not at all imply that brothers dwelling in love should not look at one another. We certainly should. “Iron is sharpened by iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend” (Proverbs 27: 17). The countenances of our brethren as energised by the Spirit of God are delightful to look at. We shall be looking at each other eternally, in measure at least. We shall, of course, be looking at Christ. He will be the supreme One, the chiefest among ten thousand,
[p. 363] the altogether lovely. But still we shall be looking at one another. I certainly hope to see certain ones whom the Spirit of God has delineated in the Scriptures in the testimony of God. It is one of the prospects before those who are exercised in this way:
Nor what is next Thy heart
Can we forget;
Thy saints, O Lord, with Thee
In glory met. (160:8)
It will be no small part of our enjoyment then, nor should it be any small part of our enjoyment now, looking at each other with eyes of spiritual affection, and clothing each other with the best thoughts of heaven, as the bondmen of the father clothed the prodigal with the best robe. How attractive we become when it is so! The Corinthians were comparing themselves with themselves: looking at one another. There were local men there who headed parties, and if they looked at one another, it was largely to say, ‘Such and such a one is not of our group’. How poor it is to look at one another in any sense in that connection! Such and such a one does not think as I do. The house of Chloe was concerned about these things in Corinth. There were other devoted ones. Indeed in all the epistles overcomers are in evidence. The overcomers are with God, and the house of Chloe should be regarded in this way. They were concerned as to these partisan conditions. You can understand as she would go to the meeting, she would look at this leading man and at that leading man, and at their followers, and observe how they looked at one another. A black cloud might come over the countenance as one turned to look at the opposite party leader or party follower, whereas a countenance would brighten as the favoured leader would come in. I am only seeking to portray how brethren may be seen looking at one another in a way that is objectionable.
Then another thing: we need to look at one another rightly so that we may determine the sovereignty of God. It may be that we have not thought of this.
[p. 364] His sovereignty works out in two ways; firstly, to obtain the number that He desires. We are not privileged to know all the sons of God on earth today. There are many more on earth who belong to Christ than we have any practical knowledge of, but if one were able to know all the saints, he could work out the sovereignty of God from that. Secondly, sovereignty shows that God is not governed by human tastes, or predilections, in His choice. In fact He has in mind, in His calling of men and women, to bring to nothing what is great in their natural estimation. God has poured contempt on all human pride. He is saying, I do not respect persons; for although exalted personages were saved in the earlier days, thank God, though not many noble indeed, but there were some. God would say, I have made My own choice and in making My choice I do so entirely according to My eternal counsels. I will have everyone I choose like My Son. There will not be one there but in entire accord with the Son of God; all will be conformed to His image, and it is that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Whilst that is true, those called are in the main from the lower strata of society. But this fact does not belittle the saints. Far otherwise, for if a king were saved and fully accepted the truth, he would regard himself, like Paul, as less than the least of all the saints. So that there is no thought whatever of lessening the saints. We cannot be lessened. There is no family in the universe to be compared with the saints forming the assembly, whatever the strata of society from whence we are drawn. God has made us according to His own mind; He has clothed us already in His own mind with the most exalted thoughts. James says, Let the rich glory in his humiliation. There is therefore no thought whatever of disparaging anyone. If we are spiritual, the greater we may be in this world, humiliation is our glory. Let him glory in his humiliation and the poor in his elevation. Not that the poor [p. 365] believer is to be made rich in this world’s goods, or exalted in the society of this world, by his christianity. God has no such thought as that christianity should exalt a man socially. If he glories in his elevation, it is the elevation that God gives him spiritually, and the greatest elevation is to be conformed to the image of God’s Son; to be His companion in heaven, and that belongs to the poorest person in this world who is a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. We should look upon one another in that way; we are told to do it. “Consider your calling, brethren”. See the kind of people that have been called. The great majority are called from the lower strata of society. It is our glory, so that we should not vie with one another as to our cars, our houses, our dress, our businesses. If we look at one another from this point of view, Jacob’s question comes close to us, “Why do ye look one upon another?”
Then we must look at one another as regards the temple of God in Corinthians. “Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3: 16). How changed the appearance of a brother or sister in our eyes when he is clothed as being of the temple of God! Think of what that means. It means that the light of God shines there; it is the oracle. Some of you perhaps have never thought that there is such a thing as the oracle of God. There is. Every saint belongs to it. As at Corinth, so the saints of God in this city are, in principle at least, the temple of God. The mind of God as to any matter may thus be obtained. It is most important to view one another in that light, and not to suffer any unholiness in any of us, that we might be functioning as the temple of God. So that when we come to our Bible readings, for instance, as the brethren proceed on their way recognising the Spirit, one after another speaks, and the mind of God is unveiled, and it will he said, ‘I never saw it in that light before!’ What is the secret of that? The temple. How important that every saint should be there! “Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
Then again there is the body of Christ. We, being many, are one body, all partakers of the one bread in the Lord’s supper. As sitting down in the assembly we are to regard each other in this way. I am speaking of lifting up your eyes and looking upon the brethren. It is a privilege. The saints are clothed with the dignity of the anointing, having the Spirit of God, as they issue forth from their houses and wend their way to sit down in assembly, where we are in the apprehension of Christ in heaven and of one another as members of His body. We are privileged to look around on the saints in this sense. Heaven is looking down. I am not speaking of theories, I know that it is so. God looked down from heaven, we are told. He looks down now and He sees groups of saints anointed by His Spirit, as they sit down together in assembly and they are delightful to Him. It is delightful to the spiritual eye too, to look around and see the brothers, sisters, and young people sitting down together in assembly. The world knows nothing about that, they know nothing about the phrase “in assembly”. It is beyond them. It is spiritual. As we look at one another with anointed eyes we see the beauty of the saints. The beauty of the Lord our God, we are told, is to be upon us. This precludes mere natural feelings. As I said at the beginning, we must have clearly before us not to look at each other on any partisan lines, or lines of personal preference, or friendship. Personal friendships are very dangerous amongst us. We must cultivate the ability and habit to clothe the saints with divine thoughts. “Bring out”, says the father of the prodigal, “the best robe and clothe him in it”. He says that to his bondmen.
Having said so much about Jacob’s remark, I go on to speak briefly of the two passages in 2 Corinthians, and the first follows properly after what I have been saying about looking at the saints and clothing them with divine thoughts as the body of Christ. It brings us into unity, into personal touch with each other in a spiritual sense, so that there is a real collective thought present; and the saints move in that thought. The second epistle contemplates ability to look at the glory of the Lord. I would seek to enlist the brethren’s sympathy in a few remarks on chapter 3, for it is crucial. It is the link with what is public; that is, the anointing, as I have been speaking of it, of the saints coming together publicly. It is the link between what is public and what is spiritual, what is outside the view of the natural eye. All in the chapter hinges on the Spirit and the remarkable combinations of the Lord with the Spirit. As the apostle touches on the new covenant he says, “Not of letter, but of spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit quickens”. That is the keyword — the Spirit. That is the spirit of the new covenant. Then he proceeds to the thought of the Spirit of God, and he says that the ministry of the Spirit subsists in glory. The Lord would have us to take this in, because it is what is presented to us spiritually and what subsists, as we are told, in the Spirit. It exceeds the glory of the first covenant in the sense that the second subsists in glory; whereas the first was merely a passing external glory on the face of the mediator. In fact, the apostle says it has no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth; by reason of what is brought to us in the new covenant, the Lord being the Spirit of it — and in His gracious way with us giving effect to it in our hearts. We are thus changed; not externally as Moses was, but actually changed.
[p. 368] You say, That is by looking at the glory. That is true, but only partially so. “We all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit”. You see, therefore, that looking at the thing in itself is not the great formative power. It is only partially so. It is, as it were, material for the great Workman. Our part is the use of our eyes, our spiritual understanding — to be occupied for the moment exclusively with the glory that is presented to us objectively, thus becoming material for the great Workman, not here the Spirit of the Lord, but “the Lord the Spirit”. He is working all the time. He is working according to pattern. So we have at the back of all this the remarkable statement about a Man, that He is a Spirit. The last Adam is a quickening Spirit. No other man is called a spirit save Christ. A man of Adam’s race is a tripartite being, with spirit, soul, and body, but of the Lord Jesus Christ it is said, He is a Spirit. We must understand what distinction attaches to Him. It is not that His humanity is denied. His humanity is as real as mine, sin apart, but nevertheless the last Adam is a quickening Spirit. He functions as a Spirit, and that does not set aside what He said to His disciples, “A spirit has not flesh and bones as ye see me having” (Luke 24: 39). He is a real Man, but functions as a Spirit, “a quickening Spirit”. You see what we are brought into: how the Lord is operating in us as occupied unitedly with His glory; for it is “we all”. The Lord the Spirit would bring us to the idea of oneness in this remarkable way, effecting a transformation in us, for the word signifies, as many of us here know, a real change. We are changed into the same image. I believe that carries the idea of sameness to one another, as it does also that we are made like Christ — from glory to glory. You see how the Lord is gradually, here a little and there a little, bringing the truth of the glory of the covenant home to us, attracting us, and showing us that as [p. 369] coming into it, seeing it and looking at it undividedly, the formation goes on. The formation is not merely by our looking; it is by the Lord the Spirit. The authority of Christ is in it, and yet the Spirit of God is in it.
Well now, the third passage is intended to appeal particularly to the spiritual. Of course one does not assume there are those here who are not spiritual, but still we have to admit that there are grades amongst the saints, and the apostle said indeed that he could not speak to the Corinthian saints as spiritual. He said they were babes, not, however, simply babes, but “babes in Christ”. One does not criticise anyone here in suggesting that there are grades of spirituality or grades of knowledge in the people of God. What one has in mind is that whilst we constantly appeal to the young amongst us, yet there are the spiritual, they are listed in heaven. Here the apostle presents the truth that marks the spiritual, in the same way as he does in chapter 3. He puts it as if some were occupied looking at the things that are not seen. “While we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen”, some are doing that. He had just been speaking of what he calls “an eternal weight of glory”. What a word that is! He says, “For our momentary and light affliction works for us in surpassing measure an eternal weight of glory”. The idea of weight here is not burden. There will be no burden-bearing in eternity at all. That is a levitical thought in the wilderness. The idea of weight here is substantial; it is not evanescent, nor superficial — it is substantial. Does it not attract your hearts? An eternal weight of glory! Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is over against this. In chapter 11 of this epistle the apostle gives us a list (it is only a part) of his afflictions. As having read the list we may wonder at his estimate of it, but this is how he speaks of it. What is the affliction of any of us? A mere featherweight as compared with Paul’s sufferings. But however severe our afflictions may be, they must be [p. 370] classified as light. I have been speaking here of suffering and of taking our share; not that we seek suffering, but whatever comes, let us not shirk it — let each take his share. It is a great investment, dear brethren, for the more of it we experience for Christ, the more the eternal weight of glory; for suffering works to this end.
Then the apostle connects that with “while we look not at the things that are seen”. I know well enough how we look at the things that are seen, and in a certain sense we are bound to, but the older we get, as we walk with God and get glimpses into “that world and the resurrection”, the less seen things are to us. Every advanced brother should be able to say something about that. For the idea of experience enters into leadership; that is, going before as walking with God, and thus being able to convey to the younger, not only by word at the Bible reading, but by countenance, general demeanour and the lightness with which we touch things here, that we really are occupied with the unseen; that we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen. One would love to be able to lead on a little in this way, that the brethren should see in a practical way that seen things may become less and less, and eternal things become more and more. That is how the apostle brings it in here. He does not go as far as to say that seen things are defiled, wicked, but in saying the best you can about them, they are temporal; they come to an end, and then what is there? What prospect is there when a man comes to the last days, having only viewed the seen things? The very thought of it is distressing. He has no brightness in his outlook at all. But think of the christian! The apostle speaks of himself later as “Paul the aged”, but what an outlook he had! He began with an outlook, having had visions and revelations of the Lord, and the vista of glory became more and more. He speaks of an eternal weight of glory. It is not weight in the sense of burden, as I said, but [p. 371] solidity of glory; as when we speak of a fine metal, we speak of the weight of it. It is valuable, it is substantial.
That is what I had to present to you and I leave it with the brethren and take it home to myself. What is one looking at? What is one’s outlook? The apostle says, “always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4: 10). As soon as one takes this ground, God says, I will help you. So that this passage says “we who live are always delivered unto death on account of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh”.
Then in this closing verse, as I said before, in looking at eternal things, the weight of glory opens out before us. So that if one comes to dissolution, as the apostle contemplates here (not indeed that we should be unclothed, but clothed upon), that is, if this tabernacle has to be dissolved, it is our wisdom to accept it in the government of God. Moses in his well-known prayer (Psalm 90), calls upon us to number our days that we may acquire a wise heart. So that if dissolution comes, and of course it will, unless the Lord comes first, one is looking at this eternal weight of glory, and death is gain, for to depart to be with Christ is far better.