THE LORD JESUS AS MASTER
J. Renton
2 Timothy 2: 19–22; 2 Peter 2: 1–3; Jude 3, 4
I wonder if we all realize the wonderful time that we live in. There has never been a time like it. We are in a dispensation when the glad tidings of the glory of the blessed God are being proclaimed; this has been so for nearly twenty centuries, which shows wonderful patience and long-suffering on the part of God. The very best that divine love could devise is presented for the obedience of faith in the glad tidings. God is proposing to bless men, offering forgiveness, proposing to view believers as justified, as free from their past history of sins—as free from sins as Christ is. He is prepared to give the Holy Spirit; a wonderful gift is the gift of the Holy Spirit! He is prepared to bring us into His family as His children, as His sons, to form part of God’s house, to form part of the body of Christ. We could never have thought of such blessing as God has devised. We may have thought that getting pardon would be enough, but God has the richest, fullest thoughts of blessing for us, and all are available at the present time.
This has been so for nearly twenty centuries, but now we are near the coming of the Lord Jesus, what we speak of as the rapture, when the Lord Jesus is coming for His own. Therefore this is a very wonderful time to be in. We might have lived at the time of Pentecost; that was a wonderful time too, when believers had all things common; when those who had wealth came and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and there was administration for thousands in Jerusalem. But Paul’s ministry was not known then; it was a transitional period.
This is a far more blessed time than Pentecost. Then, dear friends, we might have lived at a time when there was persecution, when we could not have had meetings like this, when believers had to have conventicles among the hills. Who has brought these conditions of liberty about? The Lord Jesus has. He writes to the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia, “I have set before thee an opened door” (Revelation 3: 8), a door that was shut and is now opened, which must include conditions such as we enjoy, the privilege of coming together unmolested, able to meet in peace and quietness. That is a wonderful blessing the Lord has bestowed upon us, therefore this is a very encouraging, and a very blessed, time.
Those of us who are older are looking for the Lord to come; we expect to be here when the Lord comes, but as to the younger persons here, I can say with good assurance that you will be here when the Lord comes. What a prospect that is! I wonder if it is the prospect of every one here, or are we thinking of living here and making a fortune maybe, going on our own way, being prosperous on the earth. It is a far more blessed prospect, dear friends, to be here when the Lord comes, for the Lord has far more in store than we have any idea of.
We might have lived in the Dark Ages, when believers, genuine believers, were labouring to be assured of forgiveness. We are living in the light of justification by faith, light recovered at such cost, and let us appreciate the fact that we are allowed to come together unmolested, no one disturbing us. It is not so, of course, in every country of the world; it was not so in this country a few centuries ago; but it is now, and let us appreciate our occasions of coming together to read the Scriptures, for the breaking of bread, for the preaching, for prayer; let us appreciate these great privileges.
I have said something about the blessedness of the time. I desire now to say something about the difficult and serious time we are in. We are living in a time when the Lord is about to come for His own, but the Lord is also about to deal in judgment with what is going on in this world. We have to face that too, and it is a very sobering thought. There are two ways by which you can tell that the Lord’s coming is soon—one is to know what is in the hearts of believers, for many believers in the world today are looking forward to the rapture; that is what is inside. Then there is what is outside, with lawlessness increasing, trouble all over the world; what is it pointing to? It all points to the fact that the Lord is about to deal with every opposing element, and that is a serious consideration.
Now, what is the answer? How are we going to get through in this difficult time? I read these three scriptures because they refer to the last days. In 2 Timothy Paul says, “This know, that in the last days difficult times shall be there” (2 Timothy 3: l); we are in these last days. They were not in Paul’s day; he says, ‘difficult times shall be there’, and we are in them now. He goes on to say, “for men shall be lovers of self”. Is that not true? Could anything be more true than that men are lovers of themselves? “Lovers of money”; is that not true? “Boastful, arrogant, evil speakers, disobedient to parents”. Is that not true at the present time? Is it not a feature of young people at the present time? They are encouraged to go their own way, not to follow their parents, not to do what their parents do, to have a mind of their own and go the way they want
to go. “Ungrateful, profane, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, of unsubdued passions, savage, having no love for what is good, traitors, headlong, of vain pretensions, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God”. Is this not true at the present time? These scriptures in 2 Timothy, 2 Peter and Jude deal with the conditions in which we are publicly at the present time, which believers speak of as apostasy, persons who have been enlightened, who have known the way of righteousness, and turned from it to their own way. That is a very solemn thing.
Do you think God will deal with that? Of course He will. Will God go on with that for ever?
No, He will not, and soon, very soon, He will deal with the whole scene. It is a very solemn thing to think of Europe and this country, for no one who has heard the gospel and refused, or put it off, will come into blessing. There will be no second chance. We have a wonderful opportunity now. There could not be a more glorious opportunity than is presented now. If that is refused, or put off, there is nothing but judgment. But we are living in the most blessed time there could be. I do not know of any time in which I would rather have lived than now. I think every believer here would say the same, especially in view of the Lord coming soon.
What is the answer? I have read these scriptures because it is significant that in each of them the Lord is presented as the Master, the Master. Dear friend, we need a Master. We need to be committed to a Master; the only way of salvation at the present time is to be committed to the Master. We do not like the idea of slavery, do we? There was the abolition of slavery; we can understand that, but to be a slave would be a most blessed thing if you had a good master.
Is it not told of a slave who, when liberation was brought about,
could not think of anything better than continuing to serve his master? That was because he had a good master. You could never have a better master than the Lord Jesus. Oh, what a blessed thing it is to be a slave to Him, to be committed to Him, to be at His disposal at any moment; there is nothing more blessed, dear friend, there is nothing that would give us salvation, joy, satisfaction, like being committed to this blessed Master.
Now this Master is presented in 2 Timothy as Christ Jesus. You will find it over and over again; about eight times there is reference to Christ Jesus. In Him there is every blessing available. Life is in Christ Jesus; God’s own purpose and grace are given to us in Christ Jesus; faith and love are in Christ Jesus; grace is in Christ Jesus; salvation is in Christ Jesus; everything for our blessing and for our good is in Christ Jesus. It is a very blessed title; it involves that He is the Christ, God’s anointed and appointed Man. He has been made both Lord and Christ. He has undertaken the great work of redemption on behalf of God as the Christ, and He is going to take up and accomplish everything for God’s eternal pleasure and satisfaction; but Christ Jesus means that He has a place in my affections. The Lord is the Christ, whether you like it or not; whether men like it or not. He has been made Christ; and whether persons are subject to Him or not makes no difference. He is the Christ in any case, the Christ of God who is going to accomplish every thought that God ever had in mind, including judgment; the Christ will see to all that. But Christ Jesus, involves the personal name of Jesus.
I wonder if you have an appreciation of the Lord Jesus as Christ Jesus. It is the Lord in His present position as anointed. God’s anointed and God’s appointed Man, but along with it there is a personal appreciation of Him—Christ Jesus. I would like to give some impression of the Lord as Christ Jesus. Everything for the glory of God, and everything for the blessing of men is in Christ Jesus, and He is to be my Master. I am to be entirely subject to Him, at His disposal, my will subdued, His will dominating, serviceable to the Master. Oh, what a Master to have! Dear friend, we need such a Master; the Lord said Himself, “No servant can serve two masters”, Luke 16: 13. That means no one can be a slave to two masters. Such a one could not be loyal. If I am a slave my master’s interests are my interests, my master’s matters are my matters; my master’s business becomes my business, and my outlook is to promote what is for my master. Slavery was abused by dominating and selfish masters, but, Oh, this Master. Christ Jesus!—I would like to commend Him to every one here, that we might be subject, that we might own Him as Master. I wonder, dear friend, do you ever address, privately, the Lord Jesus as Master? Do you ever say ‘Master’ to Him? That would be a test. He is a blessed Master.
There is another master, the devil and Satan. You are either under the one Master or under the other. You are either building up Satan’s system, or you are helping to build up the system of Christ Jesus; there is no middle way. It is either the one or the other. If you have any part in building up Satan’s system I will tell you what will happen; he will take all the advantage of your service to him and leave you. Satan is the meanest master that ever there was; he will even take advantage of any weakness we may have. How mean he is! But, Oh, Christ Jesus! I would like to encourage every one here to own Him as Master, as the hymn says,
‘As Lord and Master in thy heart enthrone Him,
Life everlasting, peace and joy to know’.
(Hymn 409).
This is the Master that I would commend to you, Christ Jesus; there is every blessing in Him.
You might look around and see ruin and fragmentation among believers; even amongst so-called brethren what a fragmentation there has been; but the firm foundation of God stands; nothing in Christ Jesus fails. Dear friend, Christianity is a great success; you might think otherwise, but it is a great success. The glad tidings is going to secure persons who will form part of the holy city coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.
Wonderful things are being secured by the glad tidings at the present time.
Paul writes, “The Lord knows those that are his”; that is true, and is a comfort; every one here that is His the Lord knows; then he says, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”—“every one who names the name of the Lord”, whether he is real or not, but the Lord knows and appreciates every one who is really His, every one who owns Him as Master. Thank God for every one who is real, but there are many who name the name of the Lord and are unreal. Reality is proved by “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”. It goes on to speak about vessels to honour and vessels to dishonour. Would you not like to be a vessel to honour in this Master’s business? “If therefore one shall have purified himself from these”, that is from vessels to dishonour, “in separating himself from them, he shall be a vessel to honour, sanctified”; that involves separation. We may not like to hear about separation but there is no other way to be serviceable to the Master except to separate from vessels to dishonour, persons who have their part in building up Satan’s system, no matter how little the part they have. Such a one, “in separating himself from them”, “shall be a vessel to honour, sanctified, serviceable to the Master”. Oh, would you not like to be serviceable to this Master, Christ Jesus, in whom every divine blessing is available to be enjoyed? This epistle speaks about the Holy Spirit—“Keep, by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us, the good deposit entrusted” (2 Timothy l: 14). All the blessings that are there in Christ Jesus are to be enjoyed now in the power of the Holy Spirit and are available to us at the present time. “In Christ Jesus” means that all is absolutely secure; no enemy can attack what is in Christ Jesus.
In 2 Peter and the epistle of Jude you will find other accurate descriptions of the conditions in which we are at the present time, therefore Peter speaks about the Master. He speaks of the persons who “deny the master that bought them”. “The master that bought them” is this Master we are speaking about. He has rights to every one. He has rights as Creator and as Redeemer. This Master has sovereign and supreme authority, which is God’s idea of a Master. One who has despotic rule. A true slave would never challenge the rights of the master, but here there are persons who deny the Master that bought them. Now the Master in this epistle is spoken of as Lord and Saviour. You will find in every chapter the expression Lord and Saviour. If we are going to be saved from the present current course of things, if we are going to be maintained in joy and in the blessings that are in Christ Jesus, we shall need the Lord and Saviour.
This is written to believers. You might think that only sinners need a Saviour, but I can tell you that believers need a Saviour. The last section of this epistle says, “Ye therefore, beloved, knowing these things before, take care lest, being led away
along with the error of the wicked, ye should fall from your own stedfastness—but grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen”. (2 Peter 3: 17, 18). Growing in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour is the way we are going to be saved, preserved from the present current apostate course of things. The Lord and Saviour, dear friend, is to be owned by you as your Master. He has rights over you, and where these rights are ignored then chapters 2 and 3 of this epistle show what is going to happen to this world. But great blessing comes from owning Him and His rights as the Master that bought us. What it cost Him!
Think of the cost, the price paid, “the Master that bought them”. He has these rights over us and He is prepared to be our Lord and Saviour at this present time. May we grow in the knowledge of Him. There is no other way, because the other line is decline and “being led away along with the error of the wicked”, but we are to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3: 18).
In the epistle of Jude we have again mention of the Master; it says, “denying our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ”. The Lord Jesus is presented in this epistle as our Lord Jesus Christ.
This epistle supposes a community in the midst of the corruption and general departure, a community who own ‘ our ... Lord Jesus Christ’. It says, “denying our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ”; it is a collective idea. We are to be faithful, committed to the Master individually, but we come into a fellowship of persons who own our Lord Jesus Christ.
Believers who genuinely owned, recognized, and were subject to our Lord Jesus Christ would be in unity; they would be all together. That is the appeal that Paul makes to Corinth, where they were divided. Paul appeals to them, “I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all say the same thing”, 1 Corinthians 1: 10. To each one He is Lord and Master, but there is a fellowship of persons who own our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus in Jude 17 we have “But ye, beloved, remember the words spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ”, and then in verse 20, “But ye, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit ...”. This is this fellowship of persons who own our Lord Jesus Christ as their Master. What a fellowship this is! I would like to be in this fellowship—“praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God”. How rich these thoughts are! What wonderfully attractive features! “Building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life”. There is something to go on with, the enjoyment of life, enjoyed individually and enjoyed in fellowship among those who own our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jude finishes by saying, “But to him that is able to keep you without stumbling, and to set you with exultation blameless before his glory, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, from before the whole age, and now, and to all the ages. Amen”. What has been before the whole age cannot be interfered with; and what is to all the ages will come about in God’s good time; but the test is now, “and now”—whether we are prepared to own our Lord Jesus Christ as Master. I would encourage every one here individually to address the Lord Jesus as ‘Master’. We speak together of Him as Lord; that is right; but individually He is to be our Master—we wait for instructions, just as a slave would. Every morning a slave would come to his master. Is that how we set about our day? Do we ask the Master for instructions? Are we committed to Him?
Do we own His rights always? It is a very blessed thing to be a slave to this Master, Christ Jesus, Lord and Saviour, and our Lord Jesus Christ. I would commend Him to you. It is an opportunity you have, which every one has, of committing himself or herself to such a blessed Master now. Do not miss the opportunity, dear friend, do not put it off. Submit to this Master; submit to His rights; be prepared to forego your own will; submit your will to His will. It is the only way of salvation; the only way of enjoyment. Having one foot in the world and one foot among believers does not bring joy and does not bring satisfaction. Nothing brings satisfaction but full-hearted committal to the Master, and I commend Him to every one here in view of your blessing, and in view of the blessing of others, for His name’s sake.
Preaching at Edinburgh
15 March 1987