“PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF JEHOVAH”

A. M. Hayward

Psalm 116: 15; Revelation 14: 12, 13; Malachi 3: 16, 17

I was interested, beloved brethren, in the thought of this occasion being taken account of in heaven. We feel the loss of our beloved brother. It affects a very wide area, and we might say God feels it. It is not like an ordinary death; it is the death of one of His saints. He looks down many a time on Auckland city, and other places, and He sees this one, and that one, and they are beloved of Him. They are filling up the position here of testimony to Christ and to Himself, and the death of any one is of great moment to Him—“precious”. So we can reckon we have heaven’s sympathy with us at this time. We feel the blank—there is a blank. It is not only a private, family affair, it is a matter in which the beloved saints of God as dwelling together and loving one another, cherishing everything that is for God’s glory, feel that a blank has come in. What it must have been to the blessed God as He looked down on this earth after the burial of Christ—What a blank! You might say the one green spot had departed and God looked down—how precious was that death in His sight! We might say, there is much comes from it—that is true, glory to God follows; but God feels the blank even in this death, and I do not doubt He would have us to feel the blank. He would be sympathetic with us in it and support us in it.

“Precious in the sight of Jehovah is the death of his saints”. It is not a question of gift, or any special features, but holy ones, persons who are apart from the world and who are before God, just, pious, those who look to God in a scene where men

turn away from God. How precious! How delightful to Him! And then to find one missing! I was thinking of Malachi as giving a still further reason for the preciousness. “They spoke often one to another”. In a world that does not care to speak about Christ, does not care to speak about God, there are those He looks down upon as pleasurable”—they ... spoke often one to another and Jehovah observed it and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name”. I do not doubt that speaking one to another includes ministry. How often we have heard our beloved brother speaking—and heaven has listened—at a time when people do not care to speak about Christ, or to hear someone speaking about Him. Heaven would listen and a book of remembrance would be written—something special, particularly for the last days. It “was written before him for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name”.

How delightful to heaven must have been the closing character of our beloved brother’s ministry—‘the Man and the woman’. He was very full of that thought, and God is filled with that thought. It was purposed before time began—the Man and the woman were in His mind.

The Man was introduced in the blessed Lord in incarnation; what a moment that was! I do not know whether it may not be that to which the Lord refers in saying, “for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world”. He asks the Father to make provision for us so that we might see His glory which “Thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world”. I have often wondered whether this is not only that He loved Him as a divine Person, though of course that was ever true, but whether it was also in view of His purpose before the foundation of the world as to His incarnation. He loved the thought of man according to His own purpose and delight and now He has Him as Man in His presence for ever.

Then you cannot think of Him without thinking of those whom the Father gave to Him, those whom He chose in Christ, again, “before the world’s foundation”. Think of the beauty of the church, the woman, the bride. No wonder she is such a glorious vessel in the light of heaven, greater than anything else in creation, the greatest created thing ever brought about, and she will be so for ever. The Lord is not created; He is supreme; but she is a created thing and yet she is “the fulness of him who fills all in all”. Think of that! What a majestic vessel the church is! Our brother was often engaged in this thought and loved it.

What is next said is, “and they shall be mine ... when I make up my jewels” or, “a peculiar treasure”. That is a future thought. God lays claim to every, one who magnifies Christ. “They shall be mine ... when I make up my jewels”. We are carried on to the future—“jewels”. How every one will shine in the light of that which they have appreciated of Christ. God will bring them forth in glory. There will not be an aspect lost, every feature will be brought out in brilliance in that day. The city comes down out of heaven, having the glory of God—substantially in the saints—every one a precious jewel and shining in the light that each has received from Christ. He is so wonderful and can fill and characterize every individual element of that vessel, each one different and yet all the same; all alike in relation to Himself and yet all shining in different, glorious features. Our brother will have his portion then;

“they shall be mine”. The Lord is going to gather up His jewels and meantime He says, “I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him”.

We may say our brother’s life is ended somewhat suddenly, to our minds, but we can depend upon it, God was sparing him. A very delicate man and yet year after year God kept him going; He spares His son that serves Him. I believe God is doing that for every one who will serve Him—He will spare such. We have to face the vicissitudes of life here, but yet there is the care of the blessed God in pity and compassion. Commiseration is the idea of sparing—taking account of the vicissitudes and yet supporting us as a son serving his father.

Then one had in mind the passage in Revelation. It is a very beautiful touch. It reminds one of the Thessalonians. They had tender hearts. They were afraid that those who had died would miss something by having died before the Lord came. We are expecting the Lord. The desire arises strongly in our hearts, maybe, to be here when He comes. We might think one had just missed it by two years, ten years, or twenty years. The tender hearts of the Thessalonians thought those who died before were missing something, but the apostle assures them they were not. ‘The dead in Christ shall rise first’—wonderful thought!—“The dead in Christ shall rise first”. Our brother will share the pre-eminence of that; from Abel right down to that day, the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we shall be changed. Think of the magnificent array of victory over death. The dead in Christ, and those who are changed, all standing upon the earth. What a triumph for the blessed God! It may be just for a moment, but it will be here on this earth, God’s magnificent evidence of triumph over death by resurrection. In Revelation this blessedness is spoken of to the Jews just before the Lord comes to establish the millennium, but it serves us too as confirmed by Paul, comforting our hearts that those who die first, before the rapture, lose nothing. He speaks comfort to their hearts, as Paul does to ours.

In verse 12 it says first of all, “here is the endurance of the saints”—in a most trying time just before the end. We may expect that. “Here is the endurance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus”. What a wonderful position to be in just at the end! The professing churches have gone far from the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Would you not like to be found amongst such as endure and keep? “Here is the endurance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice out of the heaven saying, Write, Blessed the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth”. There is no loss for our beloved brother; he is the gainer. He will be among those who awake first. He will be on the earth in resurrection first; but now it is the time of patience, a time when we may regret anyone going, but “Blessed the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit ...”. As if to say, I have watched over you and developed the feelings of God in your heart, and the love of Christ; I have helped you in your service. The Spirit rejoices over our beloved brother as he has entered into rest. He has helped him through and developed features of Christ there, and the Spirit confirms the blessedness.

“Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; for their works follow them”. They will come out in their jewel character, each one in his own colour and light from the precious thoughts of Christ which they have been able to gather. I thought it might encourage us to keep these three steps in mind—the feelings of God for one gone out of the ranks, the treasure to be gathered, and the blessing upon those that rest.

Now others need to step in to fill the ranks. I do not think that Rebecca lost any jewel by which she was adorned for Isaac by the servant; she carried all through to Isaac. I do not believe the church loses a gift—it may be redistributed in less quantity may be, but the same character should be carried through to the end; so we each need to put our backs into the matter and to be ready to take up things for the Lord and to stand in faithfulness to Him, and God will see that we are supplied with all the necessities supplied by the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit loves to adorn Rebecca and bring her right through to Isaac.

Word at the burial of Mr. J. Collie-Smith, Auckland
17 December 1949