"PART WITH ME"
“PART WITH ME”
I have read this scripture that we might, by the Lord’s goodness, meditate upon what the meaning of “PART WITH ME” is. In the last lecture, any who were here will remember that we were learning how Christ is formed in us; the Christ owned in His right place in each of us, like Isaac in Abraham’s house. It is a wonderful moment, because you are free from the intruder; and you can say, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me”; a new order of person lives in me. Hence you are not only free of the old, but you are in the new. The apostle illustrates this to the Galatians (who were trying to improve themselves), by the type of the day when Isaac was weaned and Ishmael cast out, which doubtless describes a moment which ought to be known to every one of us, that is, when Christ is acknowledged in His right place. It is a festive moment, a moment of deep joy; it must be so, because in true righteousness Christ is in His place; hence the apostle adds, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free”.
You must know the two subjects which I have already dwelt upon before you can address yourself to “PART WITH ME”. One is the marvellous acceptance in which you are with God; the other is liberty. You are to His full satisfaction, because He has accepted you in the Beloved. It is on this ground you are accepted. It is not on the ground of a man who had not offended, but on the ground of the Man who glorified God in bearing the judgment upon man. The acceptance could not be greater, it could not be improved, it is unalterable. That is the first grace, and if there be any imperfection in the apprehension [p. 421] of it, there must be an imperfection in liberty. The first is that God has removed everything of the man under judgment from His own eye in the cross to His everlasting glory, so that His heart can in all its fulness greet the prodigal. The second grace is, that God has given you the Holy Spirit; and now Christ gets His place in your heart: “Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage”. Now you are free, and now you progress; and you do not progress till you come to this. You now are occupied with Christ as He is; now you begin to know “PART WITH ME”.
Two lines open out to every believer when he is in liberty, but not before he finds liberty. One is that as he is liable to infirmity, the question necessarily arises, How am I to be borne above my infirmity? The other, as I am on the earth where Christ is rejected, the question arises, Where is the Lord to be found? You see that one plainly relates to yourself, and the other to the Lord. There are two lines, though you will find by-and-by how they converge.
The first is, as I have said, that you are liable to infirmity. I do not refer to sins, because Christ having purged our sins, sat down; there is no more offering for sin. It is most important to know that if you are not cleared of your sins, you cannot have to do with the High Priest, He who will bear you above your infirmities. In Christendom all is leavened, for the priest or minister is looked at as between the congregation and God, thus the truth is reduced to man’s level. The truth is that you are already set in the fullest acceptance with God, and you are in true liberty. Next, as you are in a scene where you can be oppressed by infirmities — not sins — you want to know how you can be above your infirmities. I turn to Hebrews 4: 14, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into [through] the heavens,
[p. 422] 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, apart from sin”. (Correct reading.) Infirmities cover a large class of suffering; there is the pressure of circumstances, the pressure of impaired health, and the pressure of bereavement; this is not sin, but infirmity. As the Spirit of God leads every one who has acceptance with God, and the liberty of the Spirit, the question arises, How am I to be borne above my infirmities here? Then you learn that it is through having part with Christ that you are borne above your infirmities. In Hebrews 2: 11, we read, “Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren”. In a former lecture you saw that you were in liberty when Christ was living in you; here you find we are His brethren. May your heart enter into the great fact that you are now of His generation; as He said, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” — His brethren; and you cannot speak of sin in connection with Christ’s brethren. You are “Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling”. I say to the youngest believer, If you enjoy acceptance and have liberty, you have Christ living in you; you can say, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not 1, but Christ liveth in me”. You have been freed from the old “I”, and you have received another, even Christ Himself to live in you. You are now of His kindred. It is plain from Scripture, that if you are not of His kindred you cannot understand His sympathy, you cannot have part with Him.
You get in Leviticus 16 the type in Aaron and his sons; Aaron had to offer for himself and his house: “Whose house are we”. Many refer to their old nature in one way or another, but if you have part with Christ [p. 423] you are upon entirely new ground — in liberty; you are free of the old: “And if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live”. You are on new ground, and now you can say that you are of His kindred. The only thing Abraham’s steward was sworn to was that the bride for Isaac must be of his kindred. Many have the idea that Christ is our elder Brother. No; that is not correct, we are His brethren, He never was our Brother; and this is a very great difference. “Both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified are all of one”. He is not ashamed to call us brethren. He liveth in you; but you have infirmities. Well, you have a High Priest which can be touched with the feeling of your infirmities; who was in all points tempted like as we are, apart from sin. But where is He now, beloved friends? He has risen from the dead, He has passed through the heavens, and has gone within the veil. Hence in order to get His sympathy you must have part with Him. When you are with Him you are borne above all your infirmities. He draws you to Himself. He alters nothing in this place, but He draws you out of it. First the word exposes to you everything inconsistent with Him, for you cannot have part with Him if there is any darkness at all. “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do”. “The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”. It is light; it clears away all darkness. I am looking at the great result of having part with Him who in all our afflictions was afflicted, but who is now out of them; and the fact of having part with Him where He is assures me of His sympathy, because He was tempted in all points as we are, apart from sin, and He is now out of them. It is not that you are out of them, but when you have part with [p. 424] Him, who is out of them, you are borne above them. If you have His sympathy, you have part with Him; when you drop out of communion you do not enjoy His sympathy. I am dwelling long on this point, because it is of great importance (I hope to show you presently what it culminates in) that you should know that the effect of His company is that you are borne above every pressure; you have part with Him.
If I look at the Old Testament, I find a variety of cases in which God has relieved a person under pressure; for instance, Elijah, or Ruth, or Daniel; but here it is not that He removes the pressure, but He bears me above the pressure; the pressure is there, but I am borne above it, because I am in company with the One who is out of it. I have part with Him. No one who has not tasted of it knows what it is. It is illustrated in the case of Mary of Bethany. She, in the blank which was caused by the death of Lazarus, so learnt in that walk to the grave what the Lord was to her, that when she knew that He was to die she was a great deal more affected by the prospect of His death than by the death of Lazarus. That is a pattern which you get in the gospels, but I want to press on you the wonderful reality, that you have passed to Him outside of all here. “We have a great High Priest, that is passed through the heavens”; gone out of it all. He was in it all, and if you are in company with Him, the simple result of being in His company, of having part with Him, is that you are borne above the pressure. That is the first point connected with the first line. I hope to be able to return to it afterwards; but it is the main point, that in all the pressure which the saints are going through, the first thing to learn is, that if you have part with Christ you will be borne above that pressure. I do not say it will end there; I will come presently to what it culminates in; but this is the first step.
Now I come to the second, and that is, I am in a [p. 425] world where Christ is not, and I want to know where I am to find Him. I am speaking entirely of the individual now; I ask, Where do you find Him? You will find Him only in the assembly. Now I come to His side, if I may so say. In the first line it is about myself, and about my own pressure; I must have part with Him to be borne above it. But now I am looking for Him here. A young believer may say, I do not see anything for the Lord here, I see everything contrary to Him: where shall I find Him? I am not speaking of going to heaven now, but of finding Him here. You will find Him in the assembly. We get a pattern of it in John 20; He came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and “then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord”. Let me dwell upon this for a moment, because I believe that, like the first step in relation to Him as the Priest, so is the first step in relation to Him in the assembly, it is the important step; and if you do not take the first step, you will never reach the second. The first step is — the Lord is risen, and He is outside all the ruin and misery of this world; He is the “chief corner stone”, “disallowed indeed of men”. But where can He be found on earth at this time? There is only one spot here in which the Lord can be found, and that is in the assembly; and there He is supreme. He is risen from the dead. He educated Peter for this in Matthew 14. The Lord was walking on the water; He had changed His position; when He was here with us, He was in the ship and asleep; tranquil; but now when He is rejected, as you find in the early verses of Matthew 14, He takes new ground; He sets forth that He is above all the power of evil here; and therefore He is educating Peter for the assembly, for in chapter 16 He says, “I will build my assembly; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”; and that is the only place where He would be. I can understand a believer saying, Well, I have got immense comfort [p. 426] from being really with the Lord outside of all the pressure that lay upon me here; but now it concerns me that here I am in a place where the Lord is unknown. Where shall I find Him? You can only find Him in the assembly. Surely any devoted heart, however young, would say, I should like to join Him where He is. Like Mary Magdalene, she had the right sentiment, though she was ignorant. She could not find Him, and she was inconsolable without Him; and the Lord then makes Himself known to her. But I only take that as a sample. I ask a young believer, Would you like to join the Lord here upon earth? Peter said, “If it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water”. That is an immense step, I admit; but it is not the step that I would put before a young believer; I would put before him affection. If you have affection to join Him, I know the step you will have to take: that you will pass outside of man, out of all the ruin and misery of this world; you will pass outside of man, because Christ is outside; He is “disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, precious”; and if you join Him, you do take a momentous step. But then, like the disciples in John 20, you will be glad when you “see the Lord”. I think saints think too lightly of the assembly; they have not really learnt the immense nature of the blessing of getting into the presence of the Lord risen from the dead. Just for a moment think what it is to be in the presence of One risen from the dead, risen out of all the depths of man’s misery! The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord, and the Lord breathed on them and said, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit”; they must be there in His life. But I do not pursue that; I present it as the first step. It is interesting for any one who studies the subject, to know that John 6 occurred at the same time as Matthew 14. You may say they are very different. Yes; I believe one is God’s side, and the other is our [p. 427] side. But I do not wish to expound so much as to point out the new course of the believer who has found the rest of acceptance and the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free; that is, I have learnt that in company with Christ I am made consciously sensible by Him, that I am above the pressure that lay upon me here; and, beside that, I have found the spot here upon the earth, outside of everything, where He is, and my heart is glad that I have come to that spot where He is, outside of everything, and Son over God’s house.
Now having spoken of the first step in those two lines, I turn back to the first line to see, as I said, where it culminates. It is very blessed when the heart lays hold of it, to see how the two lines coalesce. Christ draws you to Himself to have part with Him above all here, and to conduct you into the Holiest of all. Here it culminates — you have boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus. You may say, It is so wonderful, we shall never be up to it. The Lord grant that our hearts may be so touched with His grace that we cannot be satisfied with anything short of it. Christ Himself is the antitype of the Holiest. To the Gentile, it is described in 2 Corinthians 3: 18, “Beholding the glory of the Lord”. In the type there were only the golden box with the cherubim of glory, and the golden censer. The antitype is Christ. So that when you join the Lord in the assembly you are in the Holiest, for He is the antitype of the Holiest; you see the Lord’s glory. Here the priestly service culminates. Then follows the result which is the race; you now run on to Him. Instead of looking for anything in this world, you are like Israel after Numbers 21, making for Canaan. In the race you are “Looking off unto Jesus, the author and finisher of 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”.
[p. 428] Now let us turn to the second line. Read John 14: 18 - 20: “I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you”. I trust that many here know the joy of joining Christ in the assembly; nothing can satisfy a true heart in a scene like this but to have part with Himself outside of all the ruin here. He says, “I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice”. “I will not leave you comfortless”. “You” embraces the whole company. Remember, I began with the individual, for it is individually we learn the Priest but when you enter the Holiest, you know Him, “The great Priest over the house of God”; you are in company now. You enter the assembly individually, you, a living stone, are built in, “If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious; to whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, precious”. Now you are built up. The Lord grant that each of us may know better by the Spirit of God the great joy which Peter had when he joined Christ walking on the water. Surely you are thankful to see Peter taking the step. I do not present the step to a young believer; but I say if you have affection for Christ, you would like to join Him, and you would not be deterred by the step. You cannot join Him without taking this immense step. It could not be possible otherwise. I do not deny that you may have been helped spiritually at the meeting, but unless you have taken the step to join Him, you have not experienced the joy of having part with Him where He fulfils the word, “I will not leave you comfortless [orphans]; I will come to you”, “Because I live, ye shall live also”. Now note how it culminates, “In that day you shall know” — (now it is about Himself) — “that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you”. I am not going to attempt to [p. 429] explain this blessed announcement; I only say that wonderful things are now revealed to you by the Spirit, and this is the culmination. But then you cannot have it, but as you have PART WITH HIM.
Before I proceed, I just refer to an interesting point in John 14: 22, 23: “Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him”. I refer to this because one might say, In this wonderful place, “Part with me”, collectively, is there anything for the individual? Now this is for the individual. In the rest of the chapter it is all “you” collectively that is used. But in these verses it is, “If a man love me, he will keep my words”. Generally we are looking to the Lord to do something for us, to receive a mark of His favour, some temporal mercy. But here He gives the highest favour in part with Himself; to the company He says, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you”. I will come to you, and acquaint you with Myself, and how you are in relation to Me. Surely any one who dwells upon verse 20 will know how profound it is. I do not attempt to explain it; it embraces immensely more than you imagine. Then in verse 23 we see the portion for the individual, “If a man love me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him”. As another has said, ‘They will have a room in your heart’. It is not that He is always there, but He has a room there; it is His room.
Now you will be prepared for the result of all this grace. We find it in John 14: 26: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you”. The Spirit of God revives to the disciples Christ’s ministry here, so that the result, having part with Him in the assembly, is that you, as we read in chapter 15, come out in service, fruit-bearing; you are in that sense a branch of the vine, bringing forth fruit on the earth where He was rejected.
Now I should like to recapitulate the blessings of each line, and I trust that you will follow me prayerfully. The first line is, that when you are under pressure here, and have part with Christ, you are borne above it, because you have part with Him. And this culminates in your accompanying Him into the brightest spot, the Holiest of all, so that you can behold the Lord’s glory with so much effect that you are transformed into moral correspondence with His pleasure at the time. I am speaking now of the effect of having part with Him. Like the disciples at Emmaus, they saw the Lord; He did not give them any directions that we know of; but the effect of seeing Him was that they went off to Jerusalem; the fact of being in His company made His interests paramount with them. Hence the practical result on that line is, that laying aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, we run with patience the race that is set before us. We look for nothing here, but we are looking for everything where Christ is. We are not come “to the mount that might be touched and that burned with fire”, but we “are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God”, etc.
In the other line you pass outside of all the ruin and misery of man, to find the Lord in the assembly on the earth, and you are there outside of all here, for you have part with Him. Then is fulfilled, “I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice”; “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you”. You sit under His shadow with great delight; you have part [p. 431] with Him; and this culminates in that you come forth to bear fruit here as His disciples. It is not merely relief now; you begin with being borne above the pressure here, and this culminates in your being absorbed with Himself; you are so attracted to Him who is outside of all here, that you are not looking for anything here; you are running on to Him. Then in the second line you have joined Him in His assembly, you have part with Him there, outside of all the ruin and the misery of man; you have tasted of the reality of His words: “Because I live, ye shall live also”; and you are in a sphere altogether unknown to man. You are so absorbed with Him, outside of all the ruin, that, like the queen of Sheba, “there is no more spirit in you”, you are beside yourself. If Christ were thus known in the assembly, how you would long for it! You could truly say, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD”. In Christendom the most advanced go to church to enjoy their salvation; they have no true idea of the house of God. The house of God is where He is; “the habitation of God through the Spirit”; and hence there you would learn His mind, as 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”. He unfolds the Father; you cannot worship until you are in His presence.
I need not add more. I have tried to present to you the blessedness of having PART WITH HIM, how it begins; and if you are led to dwell upon it before the Lord, you will be thankful that there is such a portion for you while on the earth.