THE VALUE OF A MODEL
[p. 143] THE VALUE OF A MODEL
Luke 7: 44; 1 Corinthians 4: 17; Ephesians 3: 1 - 4
I have in mind to present the idea of a model, knowing that God works on that principle. Even in the formation of the creation of man God wrought on this principle: He had Christ in His mind. He intended that what He had in His mind — wisdom expressed in man — should find some expression beforehand in Adam. The book of Proverbs shows that wisdom was there in all God’s operations. We have brought out in the gospel of Luke divine wisdom in One come near to us, come so near and outwardly in such a small compass that He may be known from every point of view. John says “the Word became flesh” without breaking up for us into detail what the incarnation conveyed. He was concerned about the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he hastens to tell us that having become flesh He dwelt among us, and “we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father”, chapter 1: 14. We are introduced to the Person immediately, but in verse 18 His relation to the Father is made prominent: He stands in a unique place, the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father. But Luke presents Him in relation to man, and identifies Him in His genealogy with men. So Luke, in his own divinely taught way, breaks up for us in beautiful and effective detail, the manner of the incarnation, and the wisdom attaching to it. We find Him at eight days old in the arms of a priest in the temple, and thus the light radiates, not yet exactly from the Babe, but from the prophetic words uttered by the Spirit from the priest. And so the Lord is presented to us until He appears at the baptism of John. These chapters to which I allude radiate with divine wisdom — wisdom was there, had come nigh to man in the most intimate possible way, not only in Mary but in the arms of Simeon. One commends these chapters as food for young ones, especially young priests,
[p. 144] so that they might develop and see how wisdom develops in that blessed Babe. There was increase in wisdom and stature there, so that at the juncture when spiritual individuality began to shew itself, He asserted His Father’s claims. He had been in the most intimate relationship with men, but now He asserts that He must be about His Father’s business. We see wisdom emerges into spiritual individuality, and this is of all moment in relation to other issues of the testimony. Mary says, “thy father and I have sought thee”, but He makes no allusion to Joseph, He says, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” That was not Joseph. There is the emerging into the spiritual — not that the Lord was ever anything different, only as a model. He was subject to His parents later on, but at this point He was realising His individual responsibility; at twelve years old there was the detachment from the natural to the spiritual. Mary says, “Thy father and I” — she was on natural lines. He says, “My Father’s business”.
Then we have, “Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age”. This was not merely historical, but the consciousness in Jesus Himself of full maturity: He is the vessel of wisdom’s wondrous ways. In chapter 4 He enters into the synagogue. We find Him oftener in the synagogue in Luke than elsewhere, because grace would triumph over the religious prejudices. That prejudice rose to positive murder in the first synagogue, nevertheless He entered into it, and took what was of God, He took the Bible. We may be thankful if there are Bibles in the synagogues around us even if there is hostility. Thank God the Bible is appointed to be read in churches. The Lord took the roll of Scripture, and acting in wisdom He turned to the page in Isaiah, and read it and sat down. It was as if He were reminding them of the dispensation about to be inaugurated, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on Him. We see the skill in the Lord in His first ministry, how He carried the whole [p. 145] synagogue with Him; nevertheless there was a murderous opposition to Him; but He was there and they bore Him witness of the words of grace that proceeded out of His mouth. What a testimony! I mention this to show how Luke would bring out the wisdom of God in a Man.
Simon invites Him into his house. A Pharisee was as opposed as the synagogue; nevertheless his house was open to Christ, and wisdom says, ‘I will avail myself of that’. There is nothing narrow about wisdom it rises above every opposition to bring God in, and so He goes to Simon’s house. Now He not only Himself expresses wisdom, but He has a product, a woman; that is what He was after, He would bring in the children of wisdom: “Wisdom is justified of all her children”. As the Lord proceeds to speak to Simon, He turns to the woman. Can the Lord turn to me as a model? He turns to the woman, He knew what was there, He knew all about her, she had justified wisdom in the Pharisee’s house, in a hostile scene. God would bring about the justification of wisdom in an atmosphere of bitter opposition. He says to Simon, “Seest thou this woman?” Can the Lord call attention to anyone in Teignmouth in that way? Persons that do misdeeds occupy us: we are, alas, obliged to be occupied with misdeeds; but if we have to be the word is, ‘Is there a wise man among you?’ At Corinth there was apparently no such one. Wisdom is the principal thing. In the days of David one woman saved the city. She in her wisdom went to the men; she did not act arbitrarily, she carried the men with her in what she was doing. She called to Joab over the wall, and she charges him with the disposition to destroy the inheritance of the Lord. She was concerned about the city and would save it; she did not wish to protect the wicked person, the rebel, she secured his head and cast it over the wall. No divinely-wise person shelters a wicked person. We must see to it that the inheritance of the Lord is saved as well as the wicked dealt with. The spirit of the wicked may be saved in the [p. 146] day of the Lord: it is according to the power of the Lord that the spirit of the believer is saved, though his wickedness has to be dealt with. So this woman in her wisdom saved the city. Here the Lord has a woman to call attention to. I do not know anything more important than that, in a locality, there should be a person, even if only one, whom the Lord can call attention to, “Seest thou this woman?” He calls attention to her as a lover of Himself. She was such a lover of Christ and expressed wisdom by her love, for wisdom is the handmaid of love. She was a lover of Christ and a child of wisdom, she justified wisdom in a hostile atmosphere, and the Lord called attention to her. She knew He was in the Pharisee’s house; wisdom’s children know every movement of Christ, she knew He was there but we are not told how she knew. If you were in heaven every movement of Christ would be interesting to you. The angels in heaven are interested in every movement of Christ; He is supreme there and commands every intelligence, they know what He is doing. She knew He was in the house, and she entered the house. His presence was enough for her, and in that chilly atmosphere she expressed wisdom and love. Open rebuke is better than secret love, we are told. There is no expression of secret love; it is what is expressed that justifies wisdom. It was not secret love with this woman, it was open, and she expressed it, so the Lord has in her a model. I think this woman is Luke’s model of what answers to Christ, she is the product of the presence of wisdom in this world. The Lord had seen everything she did, Simon had not. It is of the greatest moment that there should be at least one person in each locality to whom the Lord can call attention. The Lord turns to Simon and tells him the meaning of what she did. She is a model for us of a lover of Christ. The Lord could call attention to her to rebuke Simon; He rebukes the Pharisee by the model.
Now at Corinth the model was wanting; there was no [p. 147] one there that the apostle could refer to in his letter as one to be noted; so he says, ‘I have sent to you my child Timothy’. With the letter in which there were the mind and light of God there was a model. The first epistle to the Corinthians brought in the mind and light of God, but it was a dark situation. The assembly at Corinth had become corrupted and damaged; the enemy had been at work and fleshly principles had been introduced, and open wickedness was allowed, so the letter brings in light on that dark situation. When darkness is working, nothing is more refreshing than light. God said, “Let there be light” but there was more than light, there was the model. “I have sent to you Timotheus, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who shall put you in mind of my ways as they are in Christ”, 1 Corinthians 4: 17. Now we have the principle of representation, one who represents Christ; Paul did, he represented the authority of Christ, so the epistle is couched in the language of authority; he could have come with a rod, but instead of that he wrote; nevertheless the letter was couched in the language of authority, and Timothy was to represent that, he was to represent Paul. How great a thing it is to represent the Lord in any way! The idea of representation at the present time must involve moral weight, not only that I know how to love but I exercise wisdom in my love and I have moral weight. With moral weight goes moral authority. We cannot have the assembly without some representation of Christ. I am not speaking of anything beyond the reach of anyone here. Timothy was a simple believer, a timid young man who had to be stirred up himself, yet he was Paul’s child. Such a one as Paul could delegate and send to Corinth as representative of him. The importance of the representation of Christ in a locality is great, that there should be something that speaks of the authority of the Lord. If you run through this letter you will see how authority marks it and how it enters into detail: the question of marriage, idolatry,
order at the Lord’s supper, ministry, even the collection of the saints — all these things and many others are written of authoritatively. So the apostle says “If any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord”, 1 Corinthians 14: 37.
Now I want to say a word in closing about the model in understanding. We have had love expressed in wisdom, and authority in a representative, a delegate, one who had in mind what the apostle was and could express it. Now in Ephesians I think we have a model in understanding: we want a man who knows. John says, “We know”. There is a remarkable word in Ecclesiastes which says, “What man is, is known”, chapter 6: 10. It was no doubt intended for our time when men pretend to think that what a man is, is still in doubt, but Solomon says, ‘What a man is is known’, the whole truth is out. There is no need of further investigation, in regard of him. We do not need to dig in the earth for evidence of what man is. It is important in assembly matters that we should learn what man is; if so we do not expect much from him. How much expectation we have of one another. The knowledge of man would set that aside, there is no use in expecting anything from anybody according to the flesh. In John 2 it says, the Lord “Knew what was in man”, and in chapter 3 “We speak that we do know”. He has come down from heaven and speaks authoritatively of things. He has spoken of earthly things, now He says, I speak of heavenly things. We have the idea in the Lord of One who knew. Here was a Man in lowly guise outwardly but He knew. Now Paul calls attention to himself as a man who knew and he wished the saints to know. He wanted the Ephesian saints to know that there was a man on earth who knew the mystery. The Ephesian saints were the most advanced assembly; they were instructed, and yet the apostle intimates to them that there was more than they had. He [p. 149] had written before and he calls their attention to that and says, “Ye can understand my intelligence in the mystery of the Christ”. Elsewhere he wished that they should understand the mystery, but here he wished them to understand his intelligence in the mystery in order that they might become like him. If he could understand, why could not they? So we have a model in intelligence, one who knows. The Lord would impress on us that we should seek knowledge. One said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4: 6) and that same prophet tells us that those who knew the resurrection said, “Then shall we know”. It is in the apprehension of the resurrection power of God to raise Christ that we see full knowledge. Think of what Christ is! Is that all known to you? Think of the range of knowledge there is! The apostle says that “Ye can understand my intelligence”. One man had it anyway, so it is within our range. Think of the vast range of things set before us, “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord”. Think of Christ going forth out of death. How much do I understand of it? He is going forth as the morning dawn. The prophet goes on to speak of coming things, coming as the latter rain on the earth. So the knowledge once begun would continue, we should continue on to know. The apostle in Ephesians would attract the saints by opening up a vista of things in Christ; he says, “ye can understand my intelligence in the mystery”. One man anyway had intelligence of the mystery.
So we have a model of love, a lover of Christ; then a model representative of authority; and a model of intelligence. I believe with these three in any locality you have the means of maintaining things for God — discipline, church order, and all that comes within the range of church administration and responsibility; everything would be adjusted according to God.