SPIRITUAL FEELINGS
[p. 258] SPIRITUAL FEELINGS
John 12: 27 - 32; John 13: 21 - 26; John 11: 33 - 38
The word ‘trouble’ occurs in each of these scriptures, calling attention to the Lord’s feelings in respect of the circumstances given. I wish to speak of these, not merely in their abstract character, but as having a bearing on us. Scripture always has a current bearing, and while these scriptures afford food for the deepest and holiest contemplation of our Lord Himself, they bear on like circumstances now, so that Christ becomes expressed in a relative way in those who, like Him, feel such circumstances, as they may be in them. I may add here that the understanding of any scripture requires that we must be in some sense in the circumstances to which it applies. The things of God are never taken up in a merely academic way, but as one is in the circumstances, either in spirit or actually, to which any scripture applies, one understands it. We are certainly in circumstances corresponding with these three scriptures, at least in some sense; whether we have weighed them, whether we have measured them, whether indeed we have taken account of them at all, is the question for each heart. As soon as we take account of what is current in relation to Christ and His people, we shall find occasions of deep feeling. Occasions of joy, thank God, are not wanting, but also occasions of sorrow. As we begin to weigh things as they bear on Christ and His people, placing ourselves in the circumstances as He would, or as He did, we shall begin to find movements of feelings such as are depicted as in Him.
It is a poor thing, dear brethren, if we should be behind the saints of Old Testament times. In the Old Testament we have a whole book devoted to the expression of feelings of sorrow. I do not refer to the Psalms; they indeed afford wonderful evidence of the deepest feeling, the Spirit of Christ taking account of [p. 259] circumstances, whether existing actually or anticipatively, and expressing feelings correspondingly. I refer to the book of Lamentations. We have no book exactly like it in the New Testament, but that does not mean that there is not that which corresponds with it in our times, for there is. No dispensation is equal to this, and the richness of feeling that properly belongs to the assembly exceeds all feelings found in others. It must be so, for the assembly is no less than the body of Christ, and as His body has His own feelings worked out in it, and that on the highest level. So that normally saints of the assembly, as placing themselves in relation to Christ, will not fail to express these feelings. The book of Lamentations indeed points to assembly feelings. The first allusion in the book is to the city — the city that had been full of people — made desolate. We cannot quite say that now; we cannot speak, thank God, of absolute desolation; yet there is something that corresponds. There was a time in which this suggestion applied, when hardly any assembly feature was apparent; such was the desolation. Jeremiah alludes to the captivity, not only of the ten tribes, but of Judah; that is to say, complete desolation; and that rightly measured, not by merely natural sorrow, but by the Spirit of Christ in an intelligent man like Jeremiah who weighed things in relation to God. It was not simply that the nations had come up in their ferocity and destroyed Israel; no, it was a question of the judgment of God, “Is it nothing to you ... ?” says the Spirit of Christ in the prophet, “Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow”. But who caused it? It was that which Jehovah caused in the day of His wrath. Such is the kind of sorrow, beloved, that God values, the sorrow that takes account of the righteous, governmental action of God. There was no sorrow then like it. It was the Spirit of Christ in the prophet. So today, surely, we are not to be behind Jeremiah in the feelings of Christ as regards is [p. 260] what is dear to His heart — the public condition that marks the assembly.
Now. I want to show how these three scriptures set out three particular occasions of sorrow: first, in regard to the judgment of God, an element that is never to be at a distance from us. Those who love God respect His judgment; they never keep it out of view; they never hide it; they never forget that “our God is a consuming fire”. The first scripture has reference to that. The second scripture has reference to the failure of a brother — the betrayer, indeed, in this case; for while I am speaking of Judas as a brother, which he was ostensibly, he was at the same time the son of perdition. Here he is viewed as one of the twelve. Then the third scripture refers to the consequences of the government of God on others. The bearing of the first two is on oneself, how oneself may be affected; the bearing of the third is on others, how others are affected.
Now I refer to the first scripture — perhaps one of the most solemn — the nearest we get in John to the forsaking. My object is not to dwell on the forsaking or the work of atonement so much as to call attention to Christ in these circumstances, that we in our respective little measures may know how to hold ourselves, and how to move and act in circumstances similar, however small the measure may be — circumstances which occasion the direct dealings of God; not, indeed, in our case as retribution, but as discipline. No one who has to do with the assembly will fail to recognise that such circumstances constantly arise. We have to learn everything from Christ, not only by what He says, but by what He does, and by what He is, in any given circumstances. This wonderful chapter is full of precious testimony, corresponding with the last days, for they were the last moments of His life in public testimony.
We do well to put ourselves in the circumstances of chapter 12, beginning with Bethany, the place of love.
[p. 261] There is a ray of glory centring in that village; and when I speak of Bethany it is not to speak of something at a distance, but rather to show the place of love. Bethany is that; it is the place of sorrow, indeed, but it is the place of love; and wherever there is such a place we shall find a ray of glory shining out. God would take advantage of what there might be in our gatherings to cause His glory to shine. We see the Lord moving into Jerusalem on an ass of His own selection, His own finding. Each of us surely would place himself so that the Lord might find him, and through him ride into His capital, as it were. It is not a question of bringing the believer into the assembly, but of bringing Christ in, and of bringing Him in gloriously, involving that one is wholly at His bidding, wholly available for His finding; for He makes use of no one in this gospel to find the ass; He finds it Himself. Let no one think that he is hidden from the eyes of those who might push him forward and give him a place. You are not hidden away from the eyes of Jesus, and He will not fail to find you, if you are available, and He will use you for this very purpose. As He rides into His capital upon the ass they acclaim Him. How glorious is the honour involved in the figure of being used of Christ in this way to enter into His capital. His own city! The incident according to John was to be understood when He arose from the dead, and entered into heaven; we are told explicitly that the disciples did not understand it then; they did not understand it until Jesus was glorified. Jesus is glorified, beloved; we are in the time of understanding all things. There is nothing outside of our range now of what God would have His people to know. Jesus is glorified, the Holy Spirit is here, and every occurrence among us is to be understood.
The Greeks come up, and when Andrew and Philip serve in relation to them, the Lord says, “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified”. But how?
[p. 262] What questions arise in this glorious chapter! How is the Son of man to be glorified? He must fall into the ground and die; so that the Greeks are to be had by Him, not on their own terms, but on His. Naturally, they would make their terms, for they had much to their credit according to man; but the Lord is to have them on His own terms. Let no one work on national lines; it is all coming to nothing, and all that goes with it. All the national glory of today is coming to nothing. “He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal”, verse 25. Then the Lord says, “Now is my soul troubled”; that is to say, with regard to all that had come into view; the riding into Jerusalem and the Greeks. In spite of outward appearances the judgment of God rested on it all. Was that nothing? What did Jesus think of it? Why was His soul troubled? He was facing all that. There was the judgment of God; no one could weigh it as He did, and so He says, “Father, save me from this hour”. I mean to convey to you, dear brethren, that in a like circumstance, however little it may be like it, the question arises, what is one to think? One cannot but recoil from the judgment of God, even though it be discipline. One cannot but feel the hand of God; it is right to feel it; it is right to be troubled about it. It is the troubled brother that will get the relief; it is the troubled brother who will become the leader out of it, and will glorify God in it. Is God to gain any glory out of it? Is this a mere incident? No, dear brethren; nothing happens incidentally or accidentally in the assembly. It is a question of the house of God and the glory of God. But who is to feel these things? How is God to be glorified in a circumstance save by my feeling it and being troubled about it; not because it affects me exactly, but because of its general bearing. Things do affect me, even though I have not had a hand in the occasion, and I cannot but feel their effect. If I feel it, I am troubled;
[p. 263] and if I am troubled I speak to God; and if I am in the presence of God I say to Him: I am here because of this. I do not wish I were somewhere else. If I am in the midst of the trouble, I am here because of it, so as to glorify God in it. That is how the Lord felt in regard of it: He said, “Father, glorify thy name”; and immediately the answer from heaven is, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again”. Is that not encouraging? It is God’s habit to glorify His name; He has done it a thousand times. How great it is to have any little part in the glorification of the name of God. Jesus had part in this supremely. How could God be glorified on earth without Jesus? But now the Spirit of Jesus is here, for that is the great thought as corresponding to Old Testament times. It was the Spirit of Christ, then going backwards, now going forwards. But much greater is the thought now that the Spirit of Christ is here, even the Holy Spirit Himself is here indwelling us. How great a thing it is to be in any little circumstance, however small, into which the glory of God enters — the government of God, the discipline, and then the glory of God, and the assurance that God has glorified His name, and will do it, and will keep on doing it.
Let us have ears to hear that voice from heaven. I am not over-straining the passage, dear brethren. There is the voice from heaven; the Holy Spirit is here, and He is constantly speaking. There were those who said it was thundering; they had the natural ear, an ear untrained in the things of God. It is a very important matter that we should know how to try words and sounds. The natural ear is untrained. Some said it thundered, speaking of the Father’s voice. Was it thunder to Jesus? No, it was the Father’s voice to Jesus. Others said, An angel spoke. They were nearer the mark, but it was the Father’s voice. The Lord said, “Not on my account has this voice come, but on yours”. What happened was for a testimony, for an example; it is for us. In what precedes, there is the suggestion that God will bring us all into it; it is the idea of bringing people into it. The testimony is going on, and the passage would bring us into it; and this involves a trained ear, so that we discern the voice. Then the Lord adds, “Now is the judgment of this world”. He was troubled, not indeed because of that, but because of His part in it; He was to go through the thing vicariously. He bore the full weight of divine wrath; He had that in His mind. But that did not set aside the judgment of the world. The vicarious sufferings are for faith; only those who have faith come into the good of them — no others. The world remains, although it be regarded as reconciled for the moment. The judgment exists, although not at present applied; but we see the relation of the judgment of God to the current developments of this world. Take it as it stands: “Now is the judgment of this world”, and apply it to any given circumstance among us, dear brethren; it means that God passes over nothing. Moses says, “blot me ... out of thy book”, Exodus 32: 32. No, God says, the man that sins shall be blotted out of My book. Let no one think he will escape; the sins will be written there, and if not judged now, he will come under the hand of God; and God’s judgment is inexorable. He will find out the sinner; nothing will be left unsettled in all these matters; we may be sure of that.
“Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince if this world be cast out”. The prince is to be judged. How comforting that is to faith! What an incentive to us to take each his place in the circumstance, and go through it with God; and we shall become vessels of divine glory. “I both have glorified it, and will glorify it again”. The sin will be dealt with, and the author of the sin will be dealt with, for God will leave nothing unsettled.
[p. 265] The next passage is a question of the defaulting of a brother. No one can be in Judas’s place exactly now; not that there is not such a thing in the history of the assembly as betrayal; I think there is, but it is more a question of a system. God would have us to discern the Judas feature in the history of the assembly. He would have us discern the denial, too — the denial of Peter, for that also applies to the history of the assembly. I am now speaking of incidents in which we find defaulting brethren. How are we to act? One great feature in chapter 13 is to bring out what the brethren are to be to one another. My soul is troubled at the activity against me. I am sorry for the person, too; the person who offends is a greater object of pity than the person offended; you may be certain of that. The more spiritual I am, the more I shall regret any offence offered to me, not because it affects me, but because it damages the offender. The Lord was on this line. How He would have Judas! His heart is unchanged; He gave Him the sop. But He says, “one of you”. How searching that is! That is to say, the principle applies at any time in regard of the capability of our hearts to betray; the more spiritual we are, the more we shall discern the meanness of our natural hearts, and how easily one may come under the influence of the devil without the least thought of so doing. Moses was told to cast his rod on the earth and let it go; and as soon as it was released from the hand of God, as it were, the rod became a serpent. How solemn that is! How important it is to search our hearts, and hold ourselves in relation to God! If I seek to extricate myself from the hand of God I come under the influence of the devil immediately — a most solemn matter. Then I put my hand in my bosom, and it comes out leprous, showing what is there. It is that we might judge what is there, and not trust it for a moment. That is the principle of John 13, “One of you”, the Lord says — one of such persons. The most honoured men who ever [p. 266] trod the earth were these twelve men. One of such men, the Lord says, shall betray me. How am I to act in circumstances like that? The Lord gave Judas the sop. There is nothing in the way of hardness with Christ in these circumstances; He would bring out how unchanged He was, that He was not going to allow Himself to be affected by the terrible situation. He remained Himself; that is the thing, that one is sober and balanced, and holds oneself in that spirit, keeping oneself in the love of God by praying in the Holy Spirit.
The third thing is how a thing affects the brethren. Trouble or sorrow arising amongst us is like a pebble cast into a pond; the circle widens, and widens, and widens. In chapter 11 it is the Lord’s feelings in regard of the effect of sin on others. It is not sin or judgment in which He had His own part vicariously; that is chapter 12. In chapter 11 all this trouble arises from what He saw in others. He saw Mary weeping, and He saw the Jews weeping, and He was troubled. Am I callous, or am I tender in my affections and feelings in regard to what I see in others? Others are feeling things. Jesus was troubled because of the effect of the incident on Mary and on the Jews. How much of that we see now!
How the dear brethren are troubled by certain things that happen! Is it nothing to me — am I a mere passer-by? “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?” Lamentations 1: 12. I cannot be like that; Jesus was not like that. It was His matter, but the feelings that arose in His blessed heart and mind were occasioned by what He saw in others, by what He saw in Mary and in the Jews. It is to bring out the wonderful character of His humanity, and the depth of feeling that belonged to it. He was troubled; He groaned in spirit; and then, beloved — how it touches the heart — Jesus wept. He was just like the others in that respect, though the word for weeping here, as applied to Jesus, is not ‘wailing’; it is nothing forced or determined in the way of emotion. It is just [p. 267] tears — tears coming up spontaneously, from the very depths of His being. Such is Jesus! The others wailed, rightly so, but He wept. He was brought into what existed feelingly.
The Lord was moved by the feelings of others; and that surely should affect me, so that I cannot be callous as to the suffering of others. If I can help in regard to the removal of what is troubling them, I am prepared to do it, “Where have ye put him?” says the Lord. He came to the tomb; and they said that Lazarus was four days dead already; corruption had begun. It was a hard matter in their minds; but Jesus came to the tomb, and He groaned at the tomb. He was not indifferent to the hardness of the matter. He knew how hard it was; but it was not too hard. He was equal to it; and so, beloved, if we face things, He will make us equal to them. He did what others could not do; but what others could do in this incident, He let them do. He said, “Lazarus, come forth”. He left it to others to take off the graveclothes. I suppose if the Lord is acting, one has little more to do than to remove the grave-clothes; and the first thing is to remove the handkerchief that is around his face. Let us look at the brother; let us see his face; let us see him as he is! It was the handkerchief that was “bound round” his face; it was not on his head, as in the Lord’s own case. In chapter 20 it is “the handkerchief which was upon his head”, not about His face, as in chapter 11. It is a question, not of headship, but of the value of a brother, what he is like to look at; he is worth looking at. We cannot afford to lose the brother, he is so valuable; that is the idea.
The Lord would have us to be a feeling people; and if we feel things as He did, we shall have victory after victory, and God will glorify His name, and will glorify it again and again.