RUN, SPEAK TO THIS YOUNG MAN
[p. 128] RUN, SPEAK TO THIS YOUNG MAN
Matthew 19:16 - 22; 1 Samuel 30:11 - 16; Zechariah 2:1 - 5
In purposing to preach the gospel from these scriptures, I have in view, specially, young ones — young men and young women. I have selected these scriptures because they refer to young people. In each of them a young man is mentioned. Young men are in great demand, and in no quarter are they in greater demand than in heaven. You will remember how the great vessel through whom the light of heaven came to us — Paul — is first introduced in the Scriptures as a young man. He is introduced as one who witnessed the death of the martyr Stephen. Not only was he a witness of that crime, but he was consenting to it. In Acts 7 it is said, “the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul”. Acts 7:58. In the next chapter it is said that Saul was consenting to his death; and in speaking to King Agrippa later he admits fully that he held the clothes of those who killed the Lord’s martyr Stephen. Then when any of the saints were arraigned for judgment he gave his “vote” against them.
Such is the early introduction of the great vessel through whom the light of God came into the Gentile world, and I have no doubt that these facts are recorded in order that throughout the gospel period any young ones who may be opposed to the Lord — and, as opposed to the Lord, opposed to His people — may see that even for them salvation is available. Saul says he was an insolent, overbearing man; so that if there are any here who have been hitherto in any way opposed to the Lord and to His people there is salvation even for you. The Lord would say to you, as He said to that young man as he was found in bitter hostility to Him and to His people,
“Why persecutest thou me?” Acts 9:4. And not only would He raise that question, which is for you to answer in the secret of your soul, but He would say to you, “It is hard for thee”, Acts 9:5. You have a hard time of it.
It may be that your parents are Christians, and some of your brothers and sisters, and you have a hard time of it, for in the secret of your soul you know they are right. I know whereof I speak. In the secret of your soul you know well that your parents are right. They have accepted the gospel; they have profited by the gospel; they are enjoying it, and you know they are enjoying it; so that it is hard for you. Instead of resenting your attitude, or reproving you, we would, in the spirit of Christ, express our feelings, that yours is a hard way. Whatever your exterior, yours is a hard, difficult path, and the Lord would relieve you as He did Saul. But then it may be there are those here who are not outwardly opposed. This young man in Matthew 19 comes to the Lord, and instead of using language of opposition, he says, “Good Master”. You have nothing to say against the Lord; your thought is that you should maintain outward respectability in your religion. You do not wish to be regarded as an infidel. You speak of the Lord Jesus, in terms, it may be, of respect, and you would like to get some benefit from Him. You see that benefit from Him is available. Indeed, what we call the civilised world has become such through Christ. You may not think so. The knowledge of Christ, as men take it up, has a certain benefit in their account. Christianity, as it is outwardly regarded, is an asset in this world. No one can deny that the nations that have accepted Christ are far better off commercially and socially than those who have not. It is well worth their while to pretend to honour Christ.
So with this young man; and so, it may be, with [p. 130] someone here. You are not opposed to Christ; you see He is a benefactor in this world. You are not thinking of your eternal welfare at all; you are thinking of enjoying what you have. It may be a good position, a loving wife and family, or possessions and friends. You wish to enjoy all these things, and you see that Christ can help you; that it is to your advantage to be on favourable terms, as one may say, with Him and with His people. But that is very nauseous to Christ. He has no interest in it. He did not come into this world to improve it. He did not come to make people more comfortable in their domestic affairs, although that flows from true Christianity. He came into this world, as Paul says, to save sinners — to save them. So He has no interest at all in your proposal.
Hence He meets this young man on his own ground. The young man wishes to live — to have eternal life. He says not a word about his sins; not a word about having to meet God after death. “Good Master”, he says, “what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” And the Lord meets him on his own ground, and gives him plenty to do; for if men in this world seek to benefit by Christ, He is not going to let them off. Christendom is not going to be let off easily. If they have undertaken to settle matters with God on the line of doing, then they have to reckon with God on the line of doing; and God keeps books, so that He may have written down accurately all their doings.
The Lord does not go into details with this young man. He could easily have pointed out that in no case had he kept all. When the time comes we shall see that God is not disposed to let Christendom off because Christ has been outwardly owned. In it despite has been done to the Spirit of grace, and the grace of God has been turned into lasciviousness. Men have placed themselves on the line of doing, and God will take them up on that line. They will have [p. 131] to say to Him on that ground. The books were opened, and the dead were judged according to their works. This young man doubtless shall appear in that day, and then the Lord will go into details with him. He shall find that matters have been analysed in the books, and his assumption that everything in the law has been done and kept shall be tested.
In the meanwhile, as he pretends to have done everything, the Lord says, “Sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me”. The Lord is not going to accommodate you if you are just seeking to enjoy what you have here. He says, If you are on that line, the end of it is, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and come follow Me, and you shall have treasure in heaven. Inside these gracious words of Christ one may find the gospel wrapped up, for if he were to find treasure in heaven, it could be only on the ground of the death and resurrection of Christ. But instead of this the young man, having great possessions, turned away sorrowfully. He turned away without eternal life — without any hope of it, and without hope of treasure in heaven.
Now look, young man or young woman, tonight, are you prepared to take on this responsibility? This passage is not intended to put you on the line of doing. It is intended to put you entirely out of court, as you are quite unable to do anything. God, as it were, binds men’s hands and shuts their mouths so that they might know that they can do nothing. This passage, therefore, was not intended to convey that the gospel in any sense is on the line of doing. The passage is intended to shut you out entirely as on that line. But the Lord is there with His treasure in heaven for you. The young man went away. What are you going to do about this matter? In a few moments we shall all be dispersed, and some of you here tonight will be placed under a new obligation,
[p. 132] for Christ is once more presented to you as the only Saviour. You will be put under a new obligation as to what you are going to do. Are you going to prefer your possessions to Christ and to eternal salvation?
Well now, from the chapter in 1 Samuel, I want to show you a young man of a very different type. He had no possessions. He is found in the field. It was well for him, as he confessed, that he had fallen sick. It may be that in this company there are those of this type. You have fallen sick; sick, it may be, of yourself, sick of this world. This young man confesses himself to be a young man of Egypt. In his day he would have been a young man of the world. He would go in for all the sports of his neighbourhood. He would be aspiring to excel in these matters. He would seek to shine in society in so far as he could. He was a young man of Egypt, and all these things go with such. Egyptian fathers and mothers train up their children for Egypt. They school them, and set before them the one object — to become something in this world. He confesses this; he confesses that he was a young man of Egypt.
Be true to yourselves, young people here, and true to God, and admit that your lives have been spent in the world and for the world; that you have been neglectful of God, and of Christ, and of the gospel; that you have been regarding your eternal welfare as a matter of naught. You have been bartering your heritage, like Esau, for a mess of pottage. That is what you have been doing. It is an immense thing to learn to confess. The man I am speaking of confesses that he is a young man of Egypt, and that he was a servant of an Amalekite. An Amalekite is a man that deals in the flesh — in what the flesh lives in, and Satan works through that; so that young men and young women are held in slavery. He admits it: but he is found in the field. He has turned sick.
[p. 133] Many of us know what this means. He has turned sick, and so he has been neglected; he has been cast off.
As soon as you become exercised and begin to get sick of things the world has no more use for you. Happy for you if it is so — if your old friends and companions are beginning to cast you off. You begin to talk about God and Christ. You have misgivings about what you have been engaged in; you are coming to see there is nothing in it, and they quickly let you go. You are of no value now; for if you are not wholehearted in a thing what use are you? You just spoil it. The world is not interested in those who are concerned about eternal things. It is well when the light of God begins to agitate your mind and conscience so that it is so.
This young man was left in the field sick; but they brought him to David. That is what we are here for tonight. We are not here to preach a sermon simply. If this meeting has any end in view it is to bring souls to Christ. They brought this man to David. Our David is the theme of the gospel. We know what our David has done. He has slain His Goliath. He has entered into death, and has destroyed him that had the power of death. He has dealt effectively with all that was against us. Indeed, Christ has taken on all the liabilities of man, being a Man; and now in heaven He has bread and water — what man needs. He has effected propitiation. He has propitiated God in regard to our guilt. He is our propitiation. As John says, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and ... also for the whole world”. 1 John 2:2. He is the propitiation for the whole world, so that He has disposed of our guilt.
The wonderful declaration of the gospel is forgiveness for all. Repentance and remission of sins are preached in His name among all the nations. But He has more even than these things. This young man [p. 134] needed food. He needed bread and he needed water; and they gave him bread and made him drink water. Christ is all this for you. This young man was left. What hope was there for him? None. But they brought him to David. Our desire tonight is to bring you to Christ. He has the bread. “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world”, John 6:51. Think how far-reaching it is! “Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life”, John 6:54.
Then it says, “They gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins”. There is a great deal more that Christians have than you have any idea of; for there is not only ordinary support proposed in the bread and the water, but there is the sweetness of the fig. There is that sweetness that comes in in the gift of the Spirit. What God proposes is to give you His Spirit; as it says in the Acts. All that obey Christ receive the Holy Spirit. He gives the Holy Spirit to those that obey Him. So that there is not only the water for refreshment, but there is the sweetness of the love of God brought into our hearts — shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us. Then the raisins, I suppose, point to that which revives and refreshes us, so that the believer is set up in life. This is the proposal of the gospel. They brought him to David, and this is the result.
But is that all? He is now under David’s command and direction; in David’s service instead of that of the Amalekite. He has David for a master; and oh! what a master he was. I may say in passing that David has no idlers in his service. There are a great many idlers who profess to belong to David. David, I suppose, was the greatest organiser. I think he stands out as the greatest organiser, taking up the most varied and diverse materials, and organising them into the most extraordinary army that ever [p. 135] fought. The idea of an idler is foreign to David and his regime; and I say to Christians that directly you are made to live you are enrolled.
This young man is useful immediately. He knows where his previous master is and his army. You can tell another your experience, and you can help him. It is not a question of gift. It is a question of conveying to others your own experience, and in that way you will be of great service to the Lord. You may be used in delivering others. David does not revive this young man and send him away. Did he do so he might fall away to the Amalekite again. There are those who speak about evangelising, who send their converts hither and thither, like the ostrich which lays its eggs in the sand and forgets that the foot may crush them, as Job says. That is not evangelising. Evangelising is to bring a soul under the direction of Christ so that he is in His service. Otherwise you are left to drift into the world, and some beast, so to speak, comes and crushes your life out. See Job 39:13 - 16. The ostrich has no regard for its offspring. This young man came into the service of David. I say that for every Christian here.
Now we come to the passage in Zechariah, where we see another young man. These young men, indeed, may be set out as a series. The first has gone off having no hope of anything — no hope of life now or in the future. He has gone away sorrowful because he has possessions. He is not an opposer of Christ outwardly, but he has gone away from Christ. The second is taken up and brought to David and is made to live, and he is in David’s service, under David’s tuition. Jerusalem would come into his mind, for you remember that when David slew the giant he took his head to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is in his mind; it was the city of the great King. We cannot be under the influence and tuition of Christ without thinking of what is in His mind. The nearer you get [p. 136] to the Lord — the more you discover what is in His mind. Jerusalem was in David’s mind. I need not go into details. Those of us who are Christians and read our Bibles know how important Jerusalem was in David’s regime. It was his city, the city of the great King.
This young man, as he is called, is interested in Jerusalem. It suggests progress. As a young man is brought under the influence of Christ he begins to think of Christ, and of Christ’s interests, and they are very wide. You find here in Zechariah 2 a man with a measuring line, and a young man wants to know what he has that for. What is it for? It is to measure Jerusalem. Did you ever think of that? In order to pray aright you have to learn the extent of Jerusalem. It is the chief interest of God on the earth. I mean His saints today, the assembly; and the assembly is composed of all saints. Every truth sent of God belongs to the assembly, and the scripture says, “The Lord knoweth them that are his”, 2 Timothy 2:19. He knows the length and breadth of Jerusalem, and He wants you to know it.
Think of the privilege, dear brethren, of being brought into accord with His mind! The man with the measuring line says, “To measure Jerusalem”. “Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof”. Are you interested? It may be that New Zealand is the extent of your Jerusalem. It is well if you love the saints in this Dominion, but there are many others. The more you love the Lord the more you appreciate the extent of His possessions on this earth. You think with Him. If you think with Him, you pray; and so this young man wants to know, and the answer is, “to measure Jerusalem”. Then he says, “Behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him”. It is as much [p. 137] as to say, the first angel did not give him all the information that he could have given.
God is bent on instructing us in full measure, that we might know the length and breadth and the height and depth; and so as the one angel departs another comes and says, “Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein”. It is as if the young man, being attentive to heaven, moves, so that he should at once receive full information. You see there is no lack with God. If you wish the information you will get it. If you are interested in the full extent of the purpose of God He will give you the light about it. There is no excuse at all for any of us being defective in divine intelligence, for God is ready to give it to us. “Run”, He says, “and speak to this young man”; not now to tell him the length and breadth, but that it should be full of men; as it says, “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein”.
The light of the purpose of God keeps us from despondency. Many of us become despondent. We think things are so small. But we must be with God, as one has been seeing lately in regard to Noah. He had eight souls. “Wherein few”, says Peter, “that is, eight souls were saved by water”. 1 Peter 3:20. That is how salvation comes, and therefore there are not many. It is by water. That is to say, salvation is by death, and hence the few; but they are the few of privilege. Do not forget that. Think of the antediluvian world, and picture in your mind all the hills and mountains in the world in those days as the flood rises and rises, and of those poor people screaming for safety — for salvation, and there is no salvation; and the ark rises on the breast of the flood with the eight souls in it who had the truth. It is the few of privilege; and so it is today. If you are a Christian in the ark you belong to the few of privilege.
[p. 138] Peter writes that to the Christians in his day, so that they might see the great advantage they had. It says, “Are there few that be saved?” Well, apparently there were few. If you think of the millions of inhabitants of this earth at the present time, Christians are in the minority, but it is the minority of privilege. But then, as I said, the purpose of God contemplates not few but many: “Ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands”. Revelation 5:5. That is the purpose of God. So that Jerusalem is to be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein. There is no need of walls in that city with multitudes of men and cattle.
Then follows, “I will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her”. That, I apprehend, is a present word. What need we fear? “I will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her”. This is a word for the young man who is interested, who is a believer in Christ, and has come under the influence and tuition of Christ. The whole purpose of God is opened up to him, so that he has victory every day. He is not concerned about the fewness. He has the mind of God as to the ultimate result, and then it shall not be few, but many.
Pages 139 - 260 “Divine appearings”. Brisbane and Newcastle, 1925 (Volume 72).