THE REST OF OUR TIME
J. Webster
1 Timothy 4: 13–16; Psalm 73: 1–5, 13–26; 119: 97–104; Hebrews 10: 23–25
We are in the last days, beloved, and we do not know how many days might be left. Peter says that we can spend the rest of our time for the will of God (see 1 Peter 4: 2). That would encourage us all here, young ones and older ones, that we might be here as persons who are committed to the will of God and committed to the testimony of our Lord. There are gods many and lords many, the world is full of them, but Paul says, “to us there is one God, the Father ... and one Lord. Jesus Christ”, 1 Corinthians 8: 6. It is said in another scripture that other lords have had dominion over us; that is true but now, as believers, we have come to know the One Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. What a Lord He is! What a Master He is! He is One who has set out the pathway of the will of God in absolute committal, involving giving up that life which was so precious to God. Think of the life of the Lord Jesus as Isaiah speaks of Him, “he shall grow up before him as a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry ground”, Isaiah 53: 2. The Father watched Him growing up. We have Him referred to at the age of twelve, then at the age of thirty.
That blessed Man who was here for the will of God laid His life down in love. It says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children”, Exodus 21: 5. Think of His love for His Master! His love for God! The Lord Jesus moved here as a Man dedicated absolutely to the will of God; morning by morning He had His ear opened to hear the word of God. In John 11, when Lazarus had died, it says of the Lord Jesus that He remained two days in the place where He was. Another has said that He waited for the Father’s word to go there. He did not go until it was the Father’s time; every step of the Lord Jesus was in relation to the will of God. He is not here, He has gone out of this world by way of the cross, and He is now the centre of another world. I wonder if we all appreciate something of the One who is centre of that world, the Son of God. It says of Saul that after his conversion he straightway preached Jesus, that He is the Son of God. He is the centre of another world, where you can fix all your hopes with absolute certainty and assurance. There are joys connected with that world which are not mingled with the sorrow which marks this world.
Think of the features that mark this world, illustrated in the men that came to David in distress and in debt, and of embittered spirit (1 Samuel 22: 2). The world is full of those kind of things at the present time. It says that the whole world lies in the wicked one. But there is another world, in which the Lord Jesus is calling us to have part. It speaks of those who are counted worthy to have part in that world and the resurrection.
In the meantime, until the Lord Jesus comes, we are left to tread our pathways through this world. He has been here and men refused Him; they said, We will not have this Man to reign over us. They would have Barabbas rather than Christ. People had to make a decision between Barabbas and Christ, and I think they would have chosen anybody rather than Christ.
They would not have this Man to reign over them, and we see the results in this world presently even with the best that men can do. We pray for men, and we pray for those that rule in view of conditions of peace where the people of God can find their way through; but in spite of all their efforts you think of the conditions which prevail in this present world.
There is a day coming when this blessed Man, into whose hands the Father has committed everything, will rule over the whole scene. God says, This is My Man. He is capable of ruling the whole world. He will do that in a day to come, and those who suffer with Him in the present time, will be with Him in that time. What a prospect that is beloved! Does it not fill your heart to know that the One whom men refused will
come amid His holy myriads. In the meantime we are left in this world and my exercise for myself and for all of us, especially the young people growing up, is that we are committed to the Lord Jesus.
I read these scriptures that refer to reading and prayer and meditation and assembling ourselves together. These are important matters, and I think our committals are seen in our manner of life. They said of the Lord Jesus at one point, Whence has this Man all these things? They wondered where He got it all, and there is something about a Christian which men do not understand. The best thing, if you are committed to the Lord Jesus, is to go on quietly in your links with Him.
I read this scripture where Paul is exhorting Timothy, “Till I come, give thyself to reading”. The matter of reading is very important. We are in a very privileged area in this country. There are some countries where persons have to learn another language before they can get the benefit of some of these books that we have in the English language. We are living in a very favoured position with so many books on our bookshelves. I would encourage us to go in for reading. I am not saying what we should not read but rather what we should read. Paul speaks in the second epistle to Timothy, instructing him to bring the books, especially the parchments (2 Timothy 4: 13). Paul had his books, and Daniel understood by the books certain things. If you want to understand you have to read the books, and especially the Scriptures. We may look back on our histories and feel how much time we have wasted, but we have the rest of our time. This applies, of course, as much to the sisters as it does to the brothers; you have to read the books and read the Scriptures. There is no substitute for the Scriptures, and the more you read them the more you realise how much there is to know, and how little your knowledge is.
I have been impressed lately, in reading Mr Taylor’s
ministry, with the width of knowledge that marked the man in relation to almost any subject that came up in the meetings. I believe it really was by occupation with the things of God. I believe God would give us that kind of knowledge as we follow up things in the word of God. In Luke 4 it says of the Lord Jesus, “he found the place where it was written” (Luke 4: 17). So we feel tested sometimes as we have to go to concordances, but there is nothing wrong in using such helps to locate a scripture. I would encourage our young people here to spend a little time in reading the Scriptures, and a little time in reading the ministry. Mr Taylor, Mr Coates and others have served well in ministry in the history of the testimony. So Paul says, “give thyself to reading”. Then he says, “Occupy thyself with these things; be wholly in them “. The footnote refers back to Luke’s gospel where the Lord Jesus said at the age of twelve, “did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father’s business?” (Luke 2: 49). The Father’s business was what the Lord Jesus was occupied in; He was a carpenter, son of a carpenter, but He was occupied in His Father’s business. So I would encourage our young people to go in for reading; spend some time in reading the Scriptures every day. You find that you learn a little as you go on; you gather up something in your own treasury. The Lord said to the disciples, “Have ye understood all these things?”, and they said, “Yea, Lord”, and He said, “For this reason every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a man that is a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old”, Matthew 13: 51, 52. So you gather things up and you have a treasury; you can bring out from your treasure things new and old. When you come to the meetings you can bring something out of your treasury.
I refer to Psalm 73 which refers to the matter of prayer, and that is essential. Along with the reading of the Scriptures and the ministry there needs to be prayer. There is no substitute for it. The Lord Jesus, especially
in Luke’s gospel, is marked by praying. You might say that the Lord Jesus was God and knew everything, but before He selected the twelve apostles it says that He spent the night in prayer to God. I refer to Asaph because I have felt like Asaph sometimes as he says, “my steps had well nigh slipped”. He was looking around and he saw persons in the world who had no problems, but just took life as it comes. In one sense the Christian feels things more deeply and keenly than persons in the world. There are a lot of burdens to be carried by the believers and sometimes it may be that you look around and think that all the problems are where you are. That is what Asaph felt when he looked around and said, “I was envious at the arrogant”. It is one of the things that marks persons in the world. Certain things mark the last day as Paul says to Timothy, “men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant ...”, 2 Timothy 3: 2. Arrogance and pride are features of this world, and marked Saul of Tarsus before his conversion.
So Asaph was envious of them, but then he says in Psalm 73: 17, “Until I went into the sanctuaries of God; then understood I their end”. There is an area that you can go in at any time, beloved. Whatever the circumstances in the world around you, whatever your circumstances might be, you can go into the presence of God where everything is tranquil and at rest; there are no problems there, everything is at peace in the presence of God. Asaph was a singer, and he went into the presence of God. It has often been said that when you go in there God may not change the circumstances but He changes you. So Asaph came out, obviously the circumstances were still the same, but he got a different view of them; and you can do that. It says of David that he went in and sat before Jehovah. Think of going in there, maybe not that you want anything, but just going into the presence of God. You get a view of Christ when you go in there, the Man with whom God is absolutely satisfied. He has accomplished everything for God, He has gone in and sat down there. So you can go into the sanctuaries of God and when you come out you will get a different view of everything in this world. Men look around in this world and see the prospects, great opportunities in the world. But it does not last for ever, it only goes on for a time. Moses chose rather to suffer affliction along with the people of God than to have the temporary pleasures of sin. They are only temporary, but men look at them and they see the opportunities; but the lover of Jesus looks around this world and sees a world which has rejected Christ.
Asaph says when he comes out, “Truly thou settest them in slippery places”. We should feel for persons around, God thinks about men, He is the preserver of all men. Matthew tells us, “he makes his sun rise on evil and good, and sends rain on just and unjust” (Matthew 5: 45).
What a God He is! He is thinking about all men and we should feel for men. We are told to pray for kings and those in dignity. When Asaph came out from the presence of God he saw that these persons were really in a very dangerous position. Paul says, “having no hope, and without God in the world”, Ephesians 2: 12. What a position to be in! We should value, beloved brethren, the position that through grace we have been brought into, and we should be in it as committed to it, as “not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner”, as Paul says (2 Timothy 1: 8).
Then he says, “How are they suddenly made desolate! they pass away, consumed with terrors”. What do men have without Christ? So we should not envy men in this world who may be prospering materially, but we want to go in for the things which are eternal. So as he comes down, you might say he is forgetting about the wicked, he says, “Nevertheless I am continually with thee—thou hast holden my right hand”. You get an impression that there is something far better. Forget about all that you see around in the world; there is something better and it is connected with another Man in another world. He says, “Nevertheless I am continually with thee—thou hast holden my right hand; Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel, and after the glory, thou wilt receive me”. What a prospect we have, beloved! Then he says, “Whom have I in the heavens? and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth—God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever”. It is what God can be to us. It says in Corinthians, “Wherefore come out from the midst of them, and be separated, saith the Lord ... and I will be to you for a Father”, 2 Corinthians 6: 17. Think of what God would be to us! even when things are difficult in this world.
Now in referring to Psalm 119, I was thinking of the matter of meditation because it is something that we need to pay attention to. I think it links with the clean animals in Leviticus 11, which had a cloven hoof and chewed the cud. The cloven hoof means that we are marked by the feature of separation; it is essential that we are not going on with this world, as you might say hand in glove with the world; we are separate from the world. But then they chewed the cud, and I think that links with this thought of meditation. The expression ruminate has been used. We turn things over, these wonderful things of God, we turn them over in our minds and think about them. It says of Mary that she “kept all these things in her mind, pondering them in her heart”, Luke 2: 19. I think God helps us in that way if we think about the things of God. We need to take a little time to turn over these things. Paul says, “Think of what I say, for the Lord will give thee understanding in all things”, 2 Timothy 2: 7.
We are living in a busy world, we do not have time for this and that and the next thing, but if we want to prosper spiritually we have to take time for these things. So let us take time to think over the things that we read in the Scriptures. The Lord is taking account of persons who are interested. What tremendous opportunities are open for interested persons! Are you interested in these things? We want to arouse one another’s interest in these things, especially our young
people; these are things that are far better than any opportunities in this world. We have to do with things in this world and we are not making little of that, but do not let us neglect the things which are so important, which are unseen but are eternal.
The psalmist says here, “Oh how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day”. The Lord Jesus had it in His heart, “thy law is within my heart”, Psalm 40: 8. You think of the Lord Jesus, the One who was the perfect model in everything. He had the law of God in His heart.
He knew it, but He had it in His heart. Do you love the law of God? I wonder how much we think about these things. Maybe some impression from these meetings today has come home to you. Think it over, turn it over in your mind and do not let it go. It says in Matthew 13, the wicked one comes and catches away what was sown in the heart; he takes it away lest it bear some fruit for God. If you have some impression from these meetings, even if it is just one thing, hold on to it, turn it over in your mind and think about it. He says, “Thy commandments make me wiser than mine enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers; for thy testimonies are my meditation”. I just want to leave this thought that the psalmist was meditating upon God’s precepts, meditating upon them all the day. We can turn these things over in our mind at any time. I think it is very important that we go into God and pray, and take a little time to think about these things.
Persons get worried, we all do at times worry about things, and it is a great preservative to think about these positive things. Paul says, “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are noble ... whatsoever things are of good report”, we often think about the things that are of bad report, but “whatsoever things are of good report ... think on these things ... and the God of peace shall be with you”, Philippians 4: 8, 9. I think it is a great preservative to be thinking about these positive things that we get in the Scriptures and in the meetings.
I refer now to this word in the epistle to the Hebrews, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together”. It is an important matter. It is very encouraging, I find, how the young people support and attend the meetings, and we just want to encourage one another, as it says here, “by so much the more as ye see the day drawing near”. The day is drawing near; we may not have the opportunity of being here as committed to the interests of our Lord, the testimony of our Lord, for very much longer. This dispensation has run on now for nearly two thousand years and we may not be much longer here in a world which is adverse. In the world to come, every adversary will be put under Christ’s feet, there will be no evil occurrent. The present time is when we can have the privilege of being committed to our Lord in a world which has rejected Him.
So it says, “Let us hold fast the confession of the hope unwavering, for he is faithful who has promised”. God is faithful, He abides faithful. Then it says, “let us consider one another for provoking to love and good works”. It does not involve much skill to provoke in a negative sense, that is very easily done, you can just say a word out of place, and you regret it as soon as you have said it. But provoking one another to love and good works calls for skill. How could we do that? Just provoke one another so that somebody does something right without even thinking about it. Then it says, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom is with some; but encouraging one another”. We are in a sympathetic area where we can encourage one another to go in for these things, they are well worthwhile. Chapter 12
of this epistle tells us to have our eyes looking steadfastly on Jesus the Leader and Completer of faith. What an object He is! Let us have our eye upon Him, and let us go through in the time that remains, whether it is long or short, as committed to Him. Let us occupy ourselves with these things; these are simple things, but they are essential. If you want to prosper spiritually you have to give some time to reading, prayer, meditation and assembling with the saints. These are very wholesome matters, and I commend them to us all, especially our young people. We would like to see our young people prospering. May it be so for His name’s sake.
Address at Aberdeen, Scotland
2 September 1995