DIGNITY AND BEAUTY
[p. 348] DIGNITY AND BEAUTY
Genesis 14:21; Genesis 22:20 - 23; Genesis 24:4; Galatians 1:15,16; Galatians 3:26; Galatians 4:6
I have before me to speak about the dignity and distinction with which each believer is regarded in the mind of God, and in the mind of Christ, and that this dignity and distinction underlie the principle of the assembly. The Canticles serve to show how the assembly regards Christ in His dignity and distinction. In her description of Him, which that book affords, He is regarded by the bride as the outcome of acquaintance, as “white and ruddy”, and the “chiefest among ten thousand”. Song of Songs 5:10. And then she is regarded by Him, in the same book, as the only one — “the only one”, He says, “of her mother”. Song of Songs 6:9. I mention these facts at the outset so that you may see how the thought I have suggested works out. Further, the marital relation between Christ and the assembly is contingent on a previous family relationship. She is spoken of as His sister: “My sister”, and then, “My spouse”. Song of Songs 4:10. So that the family link existed first, and I wish to show in what I am saying that this must be so.
Hence I take up the passages in Genesis, especially, because they speak of Abraham, who represents the family idea. He is, indeed, the great progenitor of the faithful — of all the faithful. They are all accredited, in Romans, to Abraham. He is, it is said, “the father of us all”. Romans 4:16. And so I apprehend in view of this God appeared to him. He is the first, indeed, as far as I am aware, to whom God is said to have appeared. The divine appearance is in view, and no thought has come out in revelation more precious and more far-reaching than the family idea. It is a primary thought, and primary thoughts with God are those that abide. They descend to the plane on which He develops His testimony in order to set [p. 349] aside the power of evil in this world. They run on collaterally with mediatorial thoughts, such as the kingdom. And, indeed, in the believer now, they rise up according to the level of his spiritual power to their own proper level.
So that in referring to Abraham and the appearance to him of “the God of glory”, Acts 7:2 as Stephen tells us, we are on a high altitude. We descend from it later in Jacob, in connection with whom these other details work out. Here we are on a very great altitude. One dwells with peculiar pleasure on that far distant occurrence in which the “God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia”. Acts 7:2. God intended, in that occurrence, to convey to Abraham some feature of Himself, and subsequent appearings would show that the family, which was God’s primary thought, entered into that appearing.
But immediately Abraham — being in the mind of God — joins in the war, not for gain, nor for reputation, but in order to recover his brother, he is confronted in the recovery with the distinction between persons and property. We may be assured that the appearing of the God of glory involved persons and not property; not that God is not infinitely rich in property, not that He told Abraham he was not to have the inheritance, for he was — he was to be heir of the world. Think of the extent of the property of the patriarch. He had, as it were, the title deeds of the world, but what would all that be without the people! And so he is confronted here with the distinction between persons and property — I apprehend, a very real test to Abraham. He had just undertaken an important military enterprise, staking his all, as one might say, the result, doubtless of long training, viz., three hundred and eighteen souls born in his house. He staked his own life, and the lives of these men, in order to secure one brother. If there is an [p. 350] erring brother here tonight, the spirit of Abraham, possessing every true follower of Christ ( of whom Abraham is but a type), says, ‘We want you’. As the apostle Paul, who is the great example of this, says, “I seek not yours, but you”. 2 Corinthians 12:14. In the spirit of Christ, the saints who love Him, seek an erring brother. And so Abraham staked his life and the lives of his three hundred and eighteen servants, not to aid the king of Sodom, not to join in the world alliance, but simply and only to secure his brother. He sought not property or the spoil of goods, but he sought his brother. He secured Lot, and not only Lot, but others, and he is challenged with this by the king of Sodom, “You take the property, give me the persons”. Alas! there is no evidence that the persons were really available to Abraham. I have no doubt that they all went to Sodom, for poor Lot is later found in the gate of the city. But I speak of what confronted the patriarch at this moment, the idea of recovering persons. If there is one here tonight who has erred, has turned aside, being captivated in any way by this world, the spiritual desire of the saints is for your disposal for God, and not for the king of Sodom; for the Lord Jesus came for persons. He had you in His mind when He died, as Abraham had Lot in his mind as he set out with his trained servants, and pursued the foe well nigh the whole length of Palestine, and secured his brother near Damascus. He had me in His mind, as the apostle (one of the persons) says, He “loved me”. I never tire quoting that, He “loved me, and gave himself for me”. And so the Lord seeks you. At times one becomes oppressed with the thought of the many Lots, valuable persons with souls, for whom Christ died, but who are not available. The Lord has wonderful thoughts concerning you. Did He put it into the heart of Abraham to pursue the foe and rescue Lot; so that he should sit in the gate of Sodom?
[p. 351] No, beloved, He did not. What an opportunity there was for that erring brother to right himself with Abraham! Why, he was indebted to Abraham for his life, for all his property, for all that he was. What an opportunity for him to adjust himself with Abraham! Whatever his doubts might have been about Abraham, surely they must all be dissipated now, for there was evidence that he had practically laid down his life for him. There is, however, not a word of Lot being available as a brother. And so I would again repeat, if there are any erring ones here, the Lord would impress upon you what you cost Him. He did not die for you that you might be a prosperous man in this world, that you might have a reputation, that you might sit in the gate of this world. No, He had other thoughts. He had infinitely more precious thoughts for you.
I proceed for a moment to Galatians, and then come back again to Genesis. I see another man pursuing his way through Palestine. He is not seeking to rescue his brother, but has murder in his heart, and is commissioned by the high priests in Jerusalem to bind the members of Christ. He is “smitten” outside the city of Damascus, and inside the city he preaches in the synagogues that “Jesus is the Son of God”. Acts 9:20. What has he in his mind? He says “God was pleased to reveal his Son in me”. I do not apprehend that it is a question exactly of the deity of Christ (that is preserved by the evangelist John, and Paul, indeed, is true to it), but the revelation of God’s Son in his soul had reference to men. What, therefore, did the apostle have in his mind? That the Son of God should take up the people, the persons! I know of nothing more to be commended, beloved, to our souls, than this preaching of the Son of God, “that I may announce him”, he says, “as glad tidings among the nations”. The Son of God claims the persons; Abraham did not contend for [p. 352] the persons, but the Son of God enters His claim, the persons are His. He would say, ‘I died for you’. It is not as the mediator who gave Himself a ransom for all; it is more personal than that. The Son of God impresses you that He knows you individually, has given Himself for you, and claims you. He will not admit of the claim of the king of Sodom. He is announced as the glad tidings among the nations, and He claims the persons.
We will now proceed further in Galatians, to show how the apostle Paul’s ministry sets forth the rights of the Son of God. I do not know of any theme more precious than the theme of the Son of God. It is His personal claim for you. It is His own language in Matthew 17:27, “Me and thee”. Think of all that enters into that word ‘Me’. “Take that”, He says, “and give it to them for me and thee”. Can anything be more precious to a lover of Christ than that thought? He wishes to link you up with Himself in a personal way, and to dignify, distinguish and beautify you, so that you might be a suitable companion for Him — a suitable member in the family of God.
So we find in the gospel of John, in a very striking way, what supports this line. The blind man in chapter 9 is outside. What I am saying appeals to those in solitariness, and I do not believe anyone is of any account in a moral way unless he experiences solitariness. That is, outside of the society of this world; we are cast out, or we have left it deliberately. When Jesus heard that they had cast him out, He said, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” John 9:35. You see how personal it is. I ask myself the question over and over again — do I believe on the Son of God? This is not historical. It is a personal matter for every soul to face. The man in chapter 9 of John is one of the persons. He is now outside of the range of the king of Sodom, so to speak. They cast him out,
[p. 353] and Jesus the Son of God is going to take him up, and he says, “Lord, I believe”, John 9:38 and he worships Him. That is John’s point of view. Paul would say, “Ye are all sons of God by faith”. You see how the ministry of the Son of God by Paul establishes the great principle of Sonship. “Ye are all sons of God by faith”. It is a matter of light in one’s soul, and that for the youngest believer in this company, as for the oldest. It is the mind of God for you. The Son of God claims you in that light. I am dwelling on this side in order to reach the passages in chapters 22 and 24 of Genesis.
We shall never understand the assembly as suited to Christ unless we understand the personal dignity and distinction in which we are held in the mind of God, and of Christ. It is a matter of light, I insist, for every one of us, and the light entering into the soul, lifts it from its poverty and degradation into the height of divine love, for light in itself will not suffice us. We need more than light if we are to reach the character of Rebekah. If we are to put on the grace and dignity of Rebekah, we must understand the spirit of adoption. The apostle says in Galatians, “Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother”. Galatians 4:26. I connect that with the verse read in chapter 3 — it is an abstract idea, and refers, I apprehend, to the light in which I am held as belonging to the sons. The mind of God about me from the very outset, from the moment that He took me up as a believer in His Son, is that I am a son.
But that is not enough. We need the Spirit. I apprehend the idea of “the mother” lies in the Spirit. You cannot have the influence — that feminine influence, that maternal influence — aside from the Spirit, so He says, “Because ye are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying Abba, Father”. It is in the apprehension of the spirit of adoption, beloved, that you come into the gain of “the mother”, and I understand that is of all moment for the development, in a practical way, of the dignity and distinction which are essential to us as forming part of the assembly. Gideon is told, as he inquires what manner of men they were that were slain at Tabor, “They are like you”. Now, in that answer I believe we have reference to Christ, who is the model for the sons. Everyone, it says — mark the individual distinction — is as the children of a king. Gideon says, “They were ... the sons of my mother”. Judges 8:18,19. We do not take on the character of Christ merely by the acceptance of the light. The character is contingent on the reception of the spirit of adoption, so that you are brought to say, “Abba, Father”. Now you are registered in heaven. As that precious cry of relationship with God reaches heaven, as I may say, one is registered there as among the firstborn ones. The Lord says, “in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven”. Luke 10:20. One has to be known personally in heaven in order to form part of the assembly of the first-born ones. We are the bride of Christ, who is to be brought to Him. She is composed of those who have the known status in heaven, not simply as a matter of light, but as a matter of formation in Sonship. Your voice has reached heaven, “Abba, Father”. It can only be by the Spirit. So that you have the known status of personal dignity and distinction there. The assembly of the first-born ones, registered in heaven.
Now I come back for a moment to the passage in Genesis, and what we discern is that, whilst Abraham evidently did not have Lot, his brother, he has the tidings of the birth of Rebekah. I wish you to note, dear brethren, that it is a matter of light to Abraham. As Isaac, figurative of Christ risen, appears in chapter 22, the light of Rebekah comes to Abraham. She existed. I understand it refers to the fruit of the [p. 355] ministry of Paul, which produces such a personage as Rebekah. The Spirit of God gives a picture of her in the chapter, and then, again, we have by the servant of Abraham a repetition, as if she should be practically brought close to our eyes, according to what she was. What for? In order that we might measure and see how far we have progressed in the feminine thought. How far have we understood and assumed the personal dignity that belongs to each of us as a son? It is in the apprehension of sons, and in the possession of the spirit of Sonship, that the graces of Rebekah appear. Abraham knew now that she existed; it was told him, so that he was not acting in the dark; he knew what he was saying. He took a note that it must be one of his kindred. He had not any doubt about it in his mind, for she was there. She had been there, and the servant discerns her, knowing what her traits would be. He had her clearly in his mind, and directly he meets her he recognises her. So that now, in the sons developed, as I apprehend by Paul’s ministry, you have the assembly. How beautiful the picture! One dwells on it because of the meagre thoughts, dear brethren, that we have of what is suitable to God. In prayers, in praises, and in demeanour, it oft appears as if we assume that anything will do for God. Let our minds be disabused — anything will not do for God.
In the Canticles, we have at least three descriptions of the bride by the bridegroom. Why these descriptions? Why these detailed delineations of her, first from the head down, and then from the feet up? What do they convey to us, His delights in all these details? If there were a spot, He could not say, “There is no spot”. He says, “There is no spot in thee”. Song of Songs 4:7. He has His ideal, and is not going to give it up. He has the means of bringing about His ideal. I return to the thought of persons — personal dignity and distinction as underlying the truth of the [p. 356] assembly, so that while the bride speaks to Him in His personal dignity and distinction, He can reciprocate and speak similarly to her, “My sister, my spouse”. Song of Songs 4:9. As the days draw to an end, the truth is coming out that the Lord intends to have the assembly. He is not going to be defeated. It is no question of quantity, but of persons. “The crowd of names”, it is said, “was about a hundred and twenty”. Acts 1:15. He knows my name. He looks for that dignity which He clothes with a name. I apprehend one hundred and twenty names signify one hundred and twenty varieties of life, and all the fruit of His grace. Then these names are to be dignified further, and beautified, and I would urge that no one here should be outside of what is going on, of what the Lord is doing. He is operating on the lines of life. He is white and ruddy, according to the bride’s estimate of him. There is purity there, and the evidence of life. He is “the holy, the true”, and He looks for correspondence. He looks for holiness and for evidence of life, and thus there is material that He can form, dignify, beautify, and set up organically, so that He has an assembly. He is working to that end. It is not a question of quantity, although one loves to think of the many, but of the quality. You see how much the Spirit of God stresses the characteristics of Rebekah. She is in every way in correspondence with Isaac. And so, as we read, “the marriage of the Lamb is come”. Revelation 19:7. Revelation contemplates it prophetically. “The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready”. Revelation 19:7. She has become like the virtuous woman, who is industrious; she has everything that is requisite for readiness.
May God help us to understand the dignity that belongs to us individually, so that we may function in the energy of love, and in wisdom in that in which, as we are told, the all-various wisdom of God is displayed.