LOWLINESS OF HEART AND LOWLINESS OF MIND

N. J. Henry

Matthew 11: 28, 29; Philippians 2: 1–4; Colossians 3: 12–15; Acts 20: 18–21, 35; 1 Kings 19: 19–21

I would like to speak as to lowliness. It is not a character that comes out in the first man. It characterises the second Man, of whom we read in scripture. As far as I can see He is unique in that He is lowly in heart. Christ did not have to absorb any characteristic while here. He came with everything. I think of the root out of dry ground in Isaiah 53, for He did not require anything in what He found, but He brought every moral, glorious feature into expression in His manhood. That should touch our hearts. I suppose that would be one way to stimulate our hearts to answer to His call, to come to Him; you will find something in Christ you will find in no other. When we come to the epistles you get lowliness of mind, but with Christ it was lowliness in heart. I think that is a very blessed feature, to see that Christ stands out, and He sets out every moral feature that is intended to be produced in the believer, and only that. It will be reproduced by the Spirit in the believer.

He says in Matthew 11, “Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest”. I know that has generally been applied to those in service, but I would say, in any burden, or labour relating to the testimony of God today, you are invited to come to Christ. There is not a heart here that does not have some form of burden that relates to the testimony; maybe the working out of things in the household, bringing up of families in the expected love and guidance and admonition of the Lord. There are certain concerns that fill the hearts of brothers and sisters relating even to the household that require the sense of rest from Christ. I think we have a sense of that, beloved brethren, when we come together on Lord’s day morning. The Lord takes us on—that is beautiful! Dear brother and sister, He knows your burdens, He knows your concerns, He knows your worries; maybe the family getting on, maybe not assured of their salvation, maybe not come into the testimony of our Lord; these are things that you carry before the Lord and He would say simply, Come to Me.

I think this chapter proves that you learn from Christ in nearness; you do not learn at a distance; do not stay away—you will not gain by staying away from Christ. If you come to Him you will get a rest, a peace which you will get nowhere else but in the presence of Christ. When He was here in flesh, men and women and children came, and they found something that could not be found anywhere else. When He blessed the little children brought to Him, I am sure something lasted in their lives. You cannot come into contact with Christ without something being imparted. I might not be able to impart anything to you, but Christ can; because He is the source of every moral feature that is pleasing to God. So, He says here,

“Take my yoke upon you”. When you come near to Christ there is a hold on you; you will walk in step with Christ. It says that Enoch walked with God. God’s step was adjusted to the step of His creature. Just think of that; that is grace. Jacob said he would not push the little ones too much. If you go too fast it will be too much for them, but think of God coming down to the pace of a man—speaking reverently—and whatever the pace Enoch was able for each day. That is very precious. God considers for us. Christ here is considering for you, and He says, Walk My pace; He will give you power for it, the power of the Spirit. And He says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me”. I do not doubt every step would be a learning point if you are under the yoke of Christ. You are not looking at the world, you have received no direction from the world for your walk, it does not know how to walk, it has ceased to walk, it is running to the sink of corruption, as Peter says. But with Christ’s walk you learn everything from that walk, and He says, “learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart”. Beloved brethren, can I attract you to Christ today? I say simply, Can you be attracted to Him today? He is lowly in heart; it is characteristic of Christ.

When you come to the new man you have to put on lowliness. It is a feature of the new man, but with Christ it was characteristic. He says, “I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”. It is not that you are a free-lance; you will not be given freedom from everything; you were a bondman to sin in Romans before; you are now bondman to righteousness. It is a transfer to something that is intensely pleasurable and happy to your new state. You have a new state in Romans 8; you are not viewed in flesh, you are in Spirit; you have a new state and it is the walk that is suitable to that new state, you are bondman to righteousness. And here it is “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”. I feel tested to speak of lowliness; it is not a feature of the first man, it is a feature of the new man; a moral feature of the new man; it is characteristic of the second man. Lowliness comes into the three collective prison epistles, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. They all refer to lowliness. If you are given the height of the calling according to Ephesians, if you have some idea of the purpose of God in Ephesians, you will need to be marked by lowliness. Brethren, having such a high calling we cannot be other than here in lowliness.

When we come to Philippians, he says, “let nothing be in the spirit of strife or vain glory, but, in lowliness of mind, each esteeming the other as more excellent than themselves”. Would that not correct many of our problems? Would that not sort many local difficulties if we actually esteemed the qualities of others rather than ourselves? We are cast close together in the walk we are given; we are being cast out of the world; worthless in the eyes of the world; they do not understand us and we come together as despised people as far as the world goes.

We find our links very close together, and we have to start esteeming the qualities of others, it is the spirit of lowliness; it is the lowliness of mind. In Philippians 2, it refers to the mind that was in Christ Jesus, it was the attitude of His mind. It is the attitude of our minds as we take on the features of the new man, that it is in lowliness of mind, something we take on in our attitude to our brethren.

Standing for the truth does not mean we disregard our brethren. Look at men who have gone before, who had to stand and suffer for the truth, and yet with respect they could refer to persons who were opposing them; they did not unchristianise them. Think of the attitude; in other words, it is the rights of Christ that have to be stood for; but we have holy regard, if at all possible, to save our brethren in relation to these rights. It says, “each esteeming the other as more excellent than themselves; regarding each not his own qualities, but each those of others also. For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”. You come back to the great model for the saints, the model in God’s world.

It is interesting that the persons the apostle sends to these assemblies must have been wholly in keeping with his mind. He speaks here about Epaphroditus. You can understand Epaphroditus going in that spirit. Paul would not send someone that was inconsistent. If he is going to send Timothy to Corinth and it involved upbraiding the Corinthians, the Corinthian kings, he sent someone who was working the work of the Lord, but he was in the right spirit.

Think of the lowliness that would have marked Timothy as he approached the Corinthians.

He would not have a superior air, he would set out morally what the apostle was giving in the truth. When you come here to Philippians I think Epaphroditus is that; he is sorrowful, he says that he was “distressed because ye had heard that he was sick” (Philippians 2: 26), he felt for his local brethren. He came to the apostle, and the apostle was enriched through it, and he was sent back and he had the appropriate spirit to what the apostle said in his epistle.

When you come to Colossians it says, “Put on therefore, as the elect of God”. He has spoken about the new man and then he says, “bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any should have a complaint against any; even as the Christ has forgiven you, so also do ye”. Do you see the standard? And to Colosse. This letter would be read in Laodicea, and no doubt Laodicea would have heard of Tychicus who brought it. Because of the adjusting character that was in the Colossian epistle, the threats that were there, and the warnings he gave them, Paul said of Tychicus, “whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that he might know your state”, Colossians 4: 8. He would be in keeping with the lowly mind, and find out the state of the saints in Colosse, so that he could report back to Paul. It is a responsibility these persons had to be sent to these cities, to Ephesus or to Corinth or to Rome. Think of what Phoebe was in keeping with the Roman epistle. It is interesting to look at the persons that Paul sent; they would have to set out moral features that he referred to in his epistles.

In chapter 20 of the Acts he says that “I arrived in Asia, serving the Lord with all lowliness, and tears, and temptations, which happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I held back nothing of what is profitable, so as not to announce it to you, and to teach you publicly and in every house, testifying to both Jews and Greeks repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ”. What an ambassador Paul was; I suppose we see the greatest lover outside of Christ; he is a remarkable servant; but I think in moral features he was remarkably in keeping with the testimony he received. I do not think God would give His testimony rightly and fully unless there was a moral ground in the person He uses for it. Look at the preparation of servants of old; think of the prophets in the Old Testament, what they went through personally before they served. They went through real exercise with God before they were sent to testify. Isaiah knew that his testimony and ministry would not be received even before he went, that their ears would be blocked and they would not receive his testimony; but still the testimony had to go out and he was prepared for it. Think of chapter 6 of Isaiah what he went through preparing him for service.

We are praying for the younger men coming on. Thank God there is gift there, but we want to see it enlarged. Younger men with gift in the gospel; so needed for these closing times, and I think the finishing touches are taking place just now. But remember, in asking for gift remember there will be appropriate exercises that the Lord will put you through to fashion you for it. It is a sobering thing to take things up from the Lord. We were hearing recently about taking the Lord’s name, naming the name of the Lord, that is a very big responsibility; but in service, if you are taken up to do anything for the Lord, remember that He will have the appropriate activity and action with you before you do it. Dear younger ones, commit yourselves to prayer and reading. Do not waste time, devote yourself to reading the Bible, “through encouragement of the scriptures” (Romans 15: 4), and the helpful ministry; just bathe yourself in it and you will find there will be a reward, there will be exercise, and then you will be ready to serve the saints.

In Acts 20 the apostle says, “I have shewed you all things”, all that he had spoken about, the counsel of God that he had not shrunk from announcing, all that he had done, going round from house to house. There was no partiality with the apostle, he did not go to one house and not to another. He says, “remembering that for three years, night and day, I ceased not admonishing each one of you with tears” (Acts 20: 31). Also he says, “and to teach you publicly and in every house”, he was not partial, he wanted the good, the well-being of the saints. And now he says, “I have shewed you all things, that thus labouring we ought to come in aid of the weak”. We sometimes like the strong, do we not? We like to be identified with the strong; Paul was identified with the weak, that was the lowliness that marked him. He says, “we ought to come in aid of the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive”. What lowliness; where did Paul hear that from? Someone must have told him the words of the Lord Jesus. I think they would come out in expression in the early church, and if it was expressed in the early church we want some feature of that at the end. Someone said that today, the moral features of the beginning should be coming out. We expect the ruin, we cannot change the ruin, we cannot change the world, but we can judge ourselves; we can separate and have some even small feature at the end that reflects what was at the beginning. He says, “it is more blessed to give than to receive”.

I want to touch a moment on 1 Kings 19. This man Elijah had somewhat given in his paper of resignation. He said, I alone am left, this man of God who had served so well, who had so much opposition, Ahab and Jezebel, what opposition! There is probably no parallel opposition in the Old Testament like what was set out in Ahab and Jezebel—that was the enemy that he had to witness against and he suffered from. He says, I alone am left. He had forgotten about Obadiah, he had forgotten about a few, but there are far more because God says to him that there were seven thousand that had not bowed the knee to Baal or kissed him (1 Kings 19: 18); they had not committed themselves to it. God knew they were there. He was told to go and anoint Elisha in his stead and what qualities he is going to find in Elisha!

He comes to him and finds him ploughing with twelve yokes of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. I think that is coming in in aid of the weak, because it is the end of a line; to maintain the standard at the end of the line is more difficult than setting it at first. In the twelfth he is carrying the whole thing before him in his heart, I think that is considering for the weak, helping the weak, strengthening them. I think it is the spirit of Christ coming out, he has moral qualities that Elijah recognised, and he put his mantle on him, and left. He never said anything. There would come a time when Elisha would rend his own mantle, he would rend it himself, he would come out in the spirit of that man, a double portion of his spirit.

Think of what this man was going on to, he would cover different places. You need to go to 2 Kings 2 to find the places they went through. Elisha accompanied Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel, to Jericho, and to the Jordan, and he asks for a double portion of his spirit. He was attracted by him, he asked for a double portion of his spirit, and Elijah said, “Thou hast asked a hard thing” (2 Kings 2: 10), but it was not impossible with God. Elisha got what he asked for, and he came out in the same spirit and power as the one who was taken up. That is what is left with us, the spirit of the One who has gone up. The mantle of Elijah fell from him.

Elisha rends his own mantle and takes up Elijah’s. Elijah used his own power; Christ rose up, blessed be His name He had power the third day He rose again. He had the power to rise out of death. He was the resurrection and the life, and now He leaves that power and Paul says to believers that death is yours. There is nothing to hinder the saints of God, the power is on our behalf. So this man showed the right qualities. I think lowliness is an important feature with us, beloved brethren. If it is linked with the highest of our blessings, we have to be marked by that moral feature. I cannot say much about it, and Mr Darby says, ‘O lowliness, how feebly known’ (Hymn 138). It attracts me rather than the pride of the human heart. Not to take an imitative spirit, but the genuine lowliness that is the mark of the new man, trust what I have said is right and encourages us all, for His name’s sake.

Address at Havering
14 July 2007