LOVE SEEN IN CHRIST AND IN THE SAINTS
P. Buchan
I feel, dear brethren, that the Lord would use the occasion of the burial of our brother to lift us up into the area of His own love. He says, where we read, “No one has greater love than this ...”, and then in Philemon we have the expression, “above a bondman, a beloved brother”. We are touching the realm of divine affections, what is above, what is spiritually elevated.
The love of Christ is so great; it has proved itself to be so. He says so touchingly, “No one has greater love than this, that one should lay down his life for his friends”. He has put His hand on our dear brother and taken him to be with Himself. It is a mark of His love; He loved him and died for him, and, having completed His work in him, has taken him.
The Lord Jesus in John 17: 24 says, “Father, as to those whom thou hast given me, I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world”. Those affections which are flowing, and were active before the foundation of the world, have come into this scene to touch our hearts, so that, in the hour of sorrow, beloved, it is that love which flows into this meeting to lift us up, to learn and prove it in a fresh way. Our brother proved it in difficult and suffering circumstances here, and that self-same love is his present portion. What a comfort it is to every one of us here who is in sorrow.
When we come to Philemon it is to help us to take account of what is “above a bondman”. It is the assessment of a spiritual man, Paul. He is helping Philemon rightly to assess a brother and to lift him up, as it were. We have the unique expression in this epistle, “for love’s sake”
(Philemon 9); it is the “way of more surpassing excellence”. It is flowing in Paul and was to flow in Philemon, and it is flowing in our hearts here today, so that we can speak of our beloved brother as “above a bondman”. That is what he was, you know, “above a bondman, a beloved brother”. He was that to me, and I have proved his love too. He was a sufferer; his spirit was formed in suffering; he was marked by the spirit of Christ, the spirit of Jesus.
Let us learn to love and to assess one another rightly, and develop in these affections. I think the Lord would use this occasion today to draw us increasingly together. May it be so for His name’s sake.
Word at the burial of Mr. Drummond Wallace, Glasgow
19 February 1985