WORD BY MR. STANLEY MCCALLUM
WORD BY MR. STANLEY MCCALLUM
2 Chronicles 35:24 - 26; John 14:15 - 17; John 16:19 - 22
You will see, dear brethren, that thoughts of sorrow and joy enter into these passages from which we have read. At this time we are not without sorrow and grief, for while we do not sorrow as those who have no hope, yet there is sorrow and grief in our hearts as, in holy affection, we enter upon this service in connection with the burial of one so greatly [p. 568] beloved. He is beloved in heaven, but beloved here on earth. What a loss the assembly has suffered in the departure from our midst of this great vessel! He was a man honoured, indeed, of God, and signally raised up in relation to the last features of revival in this dispensation.
I have read about Josiah that we may see the feelings that entered into the occasion of his death. It says that “all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day”. Josiah was a remarkable man who was raised up of God, whose service and ministry related to the last revival in the Chronicles, which was peculiarly marked by the distinctive place into which the ark was brought, according to the writing of David and Solomon. We can see something analogous to this in the days in which we have lived, dear brethren, in regard to the service and ministry of this great vessel in affection for whom we are gathered here at this time. Think of the extent of the feelings expressed in the words, “all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah”. It was the time for feeling such a loss; and it is now a time to feel the greatness of our loss! What a loss it is, as we think of all that has entered into the last fifty years of such unique and distinctive ministry! Think of all that we have had brought to us in regard to the truth through the service of our beloved brother! And then it says, “Jeremiah lamented for Josiah”. What a feeling man Jeremiah was! Jeremiah, too, was a minister — what a minister he was! And what a time it is now for those who serve to take account, feelingly, of the loss that has been sustained through the departure of our dear brother. Jeremiah was a priestly man. Priestly feelings would help us to rise above the pressure of a sorrow like this, but the heart of a priest enters,
[p. 569] feelingly, into the inestimable loss that is ours at the present time. We can visualise, in some measure, the grief throughout the assembly at the loss of such a vessel who served us so well and so faithfully. He has been a model to the flock. He not only ministered in power and with authority according to the commission he had, but he set out as a living exponent of the truth all that he had brought forward in the truth. So that we are entering into this matter feelingly now, as it says, “All the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations”. As we think of the service of song and of those that are linked with it, we think of the distinctive part our brother’s ministry has had in relation to it. His ministry has given character to much that is embodied in the service of song as we have it at the present time; so that, as singing men and singing women, we take up this service appreciatively, entering into this great matter feelingly at the present moment. It says that they “spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day”. So that, from this viewpoint, dear brethren, we are not without sorrow; we are not without grief, as we think of the loss that has been suffered by the whole assembly.
I have read from John 14 to remind us of another set of circumstances. The Lord Jesus was about to go away and He was reminding His disciples that it was expedient for them that He should go away. What feelings were in their hearts! They had accompanied and surrounded Him in His pathway here. But He brought home to their view another Comforter, the Paraclete, as He said, “I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see him nor know him”. What comfort this brings into our hearts! As we sorrow in relation to the great loss the assembly has suffered we are reminded [p. 570] that there is One with us who abides with us for ever. The Holy Spirit, that wonderful Comforter from on high, will never leave us! The last words that one heard our beloved brother express publicly were spoken in a meeting in Plainfield last November. One remark which he made in the reading that afternoon was. ‘The greatest thing that I know of at the present time on earth is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the assembly’. What a fact that is, dear brethren! He is with us now; and He is in us; He is to be with us for ever! What a Friend! Our beloved brother used to say, ‘Our greatest Friend on earth’. We used to sing, ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus’. How true those words are as we think of Jesus on high! But then, what a Friend we have in the Holy Spirit, also! So that, as we think of the vicissitudes ahead — of what may be before us — as the Lord Jesus contemplated what His disciples would face, we would be reminded of the presence of the Holy Spirit who will journey with us through all the vicissitudes of the wilderness, whatever they may involve. He is never to leave us; going on with us in all the way; and what holy communion we can enjoy with Him! What a word that is for our hearts, dear brethren, as we think of His desires for the saints and for the assembly, that they be not as sheep without a shepherd. What a word to our hearts! A divine Person is here in sovereignty to take charge of our affairs, the Paraclete. What a comfort and stay it is to our hearts that this wondrous Person, this divine Person, the Holy Spirit, is to be with us for ever! Servants come, dear brethren, and servants go, but this blessed Person remains with us for ever! What a wonderful comfort it is to know this! How we should be helped more and more in our regard for Him! Our brother’s ministry signally pointed to the need for honouring the Spirit. We might say it was the climax to all his ministry — this present, blessed [p. 571] touch as to the Spirit objectively, a Person to be known and worshipped, to be spoken to and communed with. What a legacy has been left in this ministry for the assembly! May we be helped, dear brethren, to follow it through and have our hearts stayed by it.
I read the last portion to remind us of the truth of the resurrection world. While we mourn over the loss of our brother and are comforted by the sustaining service and presence of the Holy Spirit, our hearts are also filled with joy as we anticipate what the full result of the wonderful power of resurrection will be. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “And ye now therefore have grief; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice”. What a word that is, dear brethren! I want to apply it to what is immediately before us now. Our beloved brother looked expectantly for the rapture. And we are expecting it to take place at any moment — when we shall see the Lord face to face. There may be grief connected with the present little while and all that enters into the assembly’s sojourn through the wilderness, but what a word from the Lord when He says, “Ye will be grieved” (I am applying the principle to ourselves) “but your grief shall be turned to joy”. He spoke of the figure of a man being born into the world. I know that this alludes to the resurrection of Christ, but think of what the resurrection day will bring forth in its fulness! Think of the full effect of resurrection power, not only as it has applied to Christ, but as it will come into view in regard to the saints! Our brother will be amongst those who will be raised first, as it says, “The dead in Christ shall rise first; then we, the living who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall be always with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17). We shall see Him, dear brethren, the One whom our brother loved and whom we love;
[p. 572] we shall see Him face to face and we shall be like Him!
May the Lord encourage our hearts as we sorrow. Grief fills our hearts on the one hand, because of this great loss, but on the other hand we have the sense that the Holy Spirit is continuing with us. And also, we have before us, in prospect, the full application of resurrection power when we shall find our part together with those who have gone before, in actually seeing the Lord face to face.