DISTINCTIVENESS

J. Spinks

Numbers 19: 1–6; 2 Timothy 3: 10–17

I have in mind to say a little, dear brethren, as to what is distinctive, and, of course, the mind immediately goes to Christ, the Lord Jesus. Unique and incomparable, He stands out alone as God’s ideal. One feels very inadequate in seeking to speak of this great matter, for who can compass the greatness of Christ? Our apprehension of Him is at best feeble but, thank God, it is there. Thank God for the appreciation of Christ that there is in the hearts of His saints! The time was when there was no beauty in Him that we should desire Him. That is the flesh, which is not only incapable of appreciating His glories but indeed despises Him. He is not a Man that we would naturally appreciate but is the One upon whom God could open the heavens to announce, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight”, Matthew 17: 5. What a Man is Jesus! He will engage our hearts eternally. How the heart wells forth in the contemplation of Christ! What a need there is, dear brethren, especially for those of us who are younger, to find time to contemplate the blessedness of Christ, His unique humanity, His work, His many glories. Unless we have some impression of the greatness and glory of Christ we shall not stand in these difficult days.

I should like to impress our hearts with the greatness of Christ in His distinctiveness, the red heifer being a wonderful type of the Lord Jesus. There are many types in the Old Testament which bring out the glory of Christ, but there is something here which is very beautiful and distinctive. What is red is normally associated in scripture with what is distinctive, which led me to this scripture—“Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without blemish, wherein is no defect, and upon which never came yoke”. There was only one Man of whom this could be said. Think of the holy perfections of Christ. Think of the manhood that could be tested and tried. The enemy tested Him with everything that was within his power, the Lord allowing Himself to be tested. What grace was in that, dear brethren—the Man who is Himself over all, God blessed for ever, allowing Himself to be tested by Satan. There was not an element in the Lord that could fail to answer to the test. He said, “The ruler of the world comes, and in me he has nothing”, John 14: 30.

Then it says, “Ye shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring it outside the camp, and one shall slaughter it before him”. What impresses me is, ‘one shall slaughter it before him’.

It goes on to say in verse 5, ‘And one shall burn the heifer before his eyes’. I think it implies that the Spirit would keep the death of Christ freshly before us. Eleazar would have had to witness this. You will remember that when the Lord was in Gethsemane He chose three disciples to be with Him. Think of the untold agonies of the Lord Jesus as He contemplated the sufferings of the cross. His sweat falling to the earth as great drops of blood. Think of these three men who were chosen to take account of that. The Lord was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw; they could go so far, but

there came a point where the Lord had to go the whole way alone. How affecting it is! As the hymn says—

‘None could follow there, blest Saviour’ (Hymn 298)

I think the Holy Spirit would bring all this up to date in each of our hearts, that we should contemplate the glory of the humanity of Christ, the way He went, His sufferings. It says,

“And one shall burn the heifer before his eyes; its skin and its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall he burn”. I would like just to leave an impression of the completeness of what Christ did on the cross so that we should be cleansed from every defiling element.

After that it says, “And the priest shall take”—this is something the priest has to do—“cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the burning …”. As we allow the Spirit of God to impress us with the greatness of what Christ has done in removing every vestige of the first order of man as before God, we find that we can cast these things in. It means that we come to God’s judgment in regard to the first order. These things speak of man in the flesh; the cedar-wood is the pride of man; the scarlet is what would distinguish man.

We all like to be distinguished by something, do we not? Naturally none of us likes to be put completely out of sight; we all like to hold on to something, even the hyssop, fleshly humility. How difficult it may be to cast in the hyssop! You think of the features of man in the world which would make him stand out. In the light of the cross of Christ everything has to go.

As we take account of those words that came from the lips of the Lord Jesus, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Psalm 22: 1)—who can give an answer to that? Thank God, the believer can give an answer—“And thou art holy, thou that

dwellest amid the praises of Israel”. Thank God, the believer, by the Spirit, is intelligent as to the way that Christ has had to go. Christendom seeks to attach the Lord’s name to many things that are abhorrent to God, to a vast system where all these things that mark man are seen in their supposed glory, but the cedar-wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet have all to go. O, dear brethren, how difficult it is to relinquish what belongs to these! But then if we go through the exercises of Romans the believer comes to it—“But if, by the Spirit, ye put to death ...” (Romans 8: 13)—there you are using a divine Person, speaking reverently, to have done with these things that belong to the first order. Then what is the result? You come through to life. Life in yourself? No, life in another Man! Oh there is liberty and freedom in coming through to this kind of life, the life that is in Christ Jesus.

Well, God has that in view for every one of us. You know, there is nothing in this life really to bring in lasting happiness and liberty, but when you get through to the life that is in Christ Jesus you come through to a great sphere where everything is vibrant with life, where there is joy and peace; “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”, Romans.14: 17. It is all in the range of the Holy Spirit.

These are wonderful things. Dear young ones, I would address myself to you especially, commit yourselves to this. You will prove that what I am saying is the truth.

I read in Timothy because here we have a young man being addressed. This speaks of the time when Paul’s ministry had been set aside, when the church publicly was in breakdown and ruins, but here is a young man to whom Paul addresses himself; not a

young man of renown or great personality—he would very likely be timid and was obviously not a strong man physically. He was one that very likely you would not pick out in a crowd, but that is the kind of young man in whom God is going to bring out this great feature of what is distinctive. I do not mean in the sense of making a great impact in the world, but I speak—

about distinction as God views it, something that is delightful to Him. You think of a world in which men are going their own way; there is a whole list of things at the beginning of this chapter—“difficult times shall be there; for men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, evil speakers” (2 Timothy 3: 2). In the world these things are seen more and more every day. What it is for God to have a young man who can go against the stream, who can stand out—and I could use the phrase ‘in moral glory’, for I have no doubt that there is a moral glory in it; not that it is to attract any glory to ourselves, but it attaches glory to the One who can make a man stand and be designated “man of God”.

So the word “thou” in verse 10 is emphatic, bringing out the point that there is something there that stands out in the scene where everything is so obnoxious to God—“Thou hast been thoroughly acquainted with my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what sufferings happened to me in Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra”. This young man was acquainted with the testimony and the way in which it had been brought through in power. You dear young ones, I would urge you to acquaint yourselves with the course of the testimony because you will find in doing so that God is supporting a line of things that He is going to bring through and maintain for His own glory eternally.

I was struck in reading about Abigail. She was acquainted with the testimony. She acquainted

herself with the acts of David. She was attached to a churlish man, Nabal. That is the position in which we are, attached publicly to something that has brought great dishonour on the Lord’s name. This is something from which we cannot escape. Abigail was married to Nabal; in one sense it was something that she could not avoid; but then she had a knowledge of David and she could speak of him as one who had enemies, but Jehovah was supporting him.

That is what I would impress upon us. Take account of the testimony and you will find that there is a line that the Lord is supporting. Commit yourselves to that. It brings in suffering.

Paul says, “All indeed who desire to live piously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked men and juggling imposters shall advance in evil” (2 Timothy 3: 12, 13). If we looked at that naturally it would bring in despondency, because what is wicked and evil apparently has the ascendancy; the whole world lies in the wicked one. But Paul is encouraging this young man and he says, “But thou, abide in those things which thou hast learned, and of which thou hast been fully persuaded”.

I would like to pass on this encouragement. If you have been brought up in an area where Paul’s ministry is held dear, thank God for that. I would just put it to you—“Abide in those things which thou hast learned … knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the sacred letters, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus”. What a sphere to come into; what a sphere of salvation! The Spirit will give you wisdom and He will give you power; He will give you understanding. That is the feature that marked Abigail—she was a woman of discernment, a woman of understanding. Paul says earlier in this epistle, “God has not given us a spirit of

cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion” (1 Timothy 1: 7). God would fit us for the testimony. A spirit of power would make you stand in relation to all that is adverse so that you can find your way as led by the Spirit of God. God is able to maintain you in the pathway of His will in a sphere where there is so much against you.

Then Paul says, “Every scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good work”. The footnote says this involves being ‘complete as to qualifications’. God being who He is, He requires something distinctive to represent Him here; not the kind of qualifications that Christendom has taken up—a university degree, a knowledge of theology; all that kind of thing is valueless in the sight of God. He takes account of a man who in lowliness and humility commits himself to what is here that is of the Lord Jesus. God will help such a man—young man, it may be. God will take account of you and He will help you to stand. He will help you to be here as a man of God. I think that is a beautiful description; I think it is one of the greatest things that could be said of any man that he can be described as a ‘man of God’. At the beginning God said, “Let us make man”

(Genesis 1: 26); you think of God setting up man, the perfection that was there in Adam. Sin has come in, causing degradation and distance, but God, by the Holy Spirit, can rescue a man and support him, take him away from the whole system of things that is around and make him stand so as to represent Him rightly. Think of a young man in his office, or a young person at school, feeling weak but relying on the help of the Holy Spirit to represent God.

These are great things, dear brethren; I would I knew more of them by experience, but may every one of us take account of these things, take account of what is for us. It is a great thing to be aware that the Spirit of God is for us. Then you think of Christ on high sanctifying Himself in regard to His people; “I sanctify myself for them”. He says, John 17: 19. The Lord Jesus has set Himself apart in order to serve His people. So we have the priestly love and intercession of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit down here, and the Father’s love and care and compassion. From the divine side there is nothing lacking; it only involves, dear brethren, that we lay hold on these things, that we take account firstly of Christ and His greatness and moral perfection as the great object and pattern, and then by the Holy Spirit are helped to be conformed to that.

May the Lord help us in these things. They are very great, and I suppose we all feel that we come far short, but the great thing is to strive earnestly. Lay hold on these things, and ask the Spirit to help you. Thus we shall all be helped together and will go on together in the great things of God. May the Lord help us in it for His name’s sake.

Address at Kilmarnock
23 July 1977