SPIRITUAL PERSONALITY
It is good to remember that the holy city, which will be so glorious when it comes down out of the heaven from God, is composed of the saints of this dispensation, each person being a subject of the work of God, and this work in each one being associated with the work in the others, the result is a complete and glorious whole. Notwithstanding this, nobody’s personality is lost because it is said—and these are the very words of the Lord—that we have names, names written in heaven; that is, each of us is known based on his own personality, not his natural personality, but his spiritual personality, the result of God’s work in him. And this will not be limited to the assembly, although the assembly, the city we have spoken about, is the greatest of all the families, the masterpiece of God’s operations. But personality will appear also in other families, in the saints of the Old Testament, for example.
So I want to talk a little about personality in a spiritual sense, so that we may be expanded in our perspective on God’s work in the saints, what He has already done and what has not yet reached the final glorious condition that we may have, in the very, very near future; an impression of the glory of what is ahead of us and also what is so wonderful in the work of God that He is currently pursuing and of which we are all subjects.
So I have read this passage in Luke because it places before us Peter and James and John, and also Moses and Elijah; and I read these two verses in Philemon because they introduce us to Paul and, if we talk of personality in these days, it cannot be done without mentioning Paul. The passage in Luke shows us how very interesting and glorious the work of God in His saints may be, a work that has as its result the formation of a distinctive personality in each person. The One who gives character to all that is produced by God’s work in the saints is Jesus. That is why, as soon as Peter had expressed himself unguardedly, putting the Lord Jesus at about the same level as Moses and Elijah (he indeed placed Jesus first, but he said: “one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias...”), a cloud came and overshadowed them. And “there was a voice out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him”. It seems that the voice coming from the cloud was jealous of the glory of Christ, not able to accept any suggestions placing Him at the level of others. That is why, if we think of the distinctive personality of each as the subject of God’s work, we always keep in mind that God is working to produce the features seen in Christ. “This”, says the voice, “is my beloved Son: hear him”.
Moses and Elijah were comfortable in glory and they spoke, it is said, with Jesus: “two men talked with him, who were Moses and Elias, who, appearing in glory, spoke of his departure which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem”. This act would perfect everything Jesus had done. Think, beloved brethren, of the way Moses and Elijah spoke of Christ’s death, “which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem”. When we begin to think about all that was involved in the death of our Lord Jesus, anyone other than Him is overshadowed. Think about how God’s holiness was established by the death of Christ. The death of our Lord Jesus Christ at the cross demonstrated in an absolute way the holiness of God and His horror of sin. No one could have taken this place; it was beyond the possibility of man; but Jesus took it and the holiness of God was fully vindicated by Him. He could say: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” and provide Himself with the immediate answer: “And thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel”, Ps 22: 3. How important it is that God’s holiness is vindicated, for God has in view, beloved brethren, a universe of blessing where there will be no trace of sin, where everything will be in accord with God’s holiness, because it was established once for all at the cross; and that has its permanent effect with regard to men, in the glory of redemption. But if this is to be the case, it is only because God’s holiness has been perfectly established at the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So we can understand the voice that says: “This is my beloved Son: hear him”! Obviously with regard to His Person, He is unique; of no other man could it be said: God’s beloved Son! The very name of Jesus speaks of His unique personality; that very name expresses the truth of His Person, a Person of the Deity. So the name of Jesus, while we think of what it means, compels our hearts to bow in adoration. At the end of the Book of Revelation it is said: “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify these things to you in the assemblies. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star” and immediately after, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come”. This is what the Spirit works to produce in the saints in the present day. He prepares us so that we are ready to say “Come”, to say it in complete sincerity, with the ardent desire that He should come, that He should come without delay. And we would like things to be done promptly so that it is not necessary to wait until they are settled.
But there is another thing: “his departure which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem”. What an accomplishment! See how God’s righteousness was to be established. Where would we be if that had not been accomplished? Jesus is constituted by God as a propitiation by faith in His blood. What a glorious aspect of Christ, that He is the propitiation! God could now come out in the glory of His mercy by the fact that in the death of Jesus, by His blood, God’s righteousness was established; and it will continue in the whole universe of blessing. All the saints, the saints of the Old Testament and New Testament saints who share in the world of blessing, will find it on the basis of pure mercy. This is not the only reason why the death He was going to accomplish in Jerusalem is such a wonderful fact. So many things are included! Divine love was perfectly expressed and in an undeniable way. The glory of redemption is wonderful. We will see something of its greatness, we will see the glory of it in a coming day, when the universe will be filled with families, heavenly families and earthly families, each family standing in God’s presence on the basis of mercy, mercy being itself established on the basis of righteousness, through the death of Christ.
So therefore they spoke of “his departure which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem”. What an accomplishment! All the moral excellencies of Christ shine in His death; they had shone, in truth, during His life, but in His death things reached their highest degree. The power of Satan was there in all its fulness, the wickedness of man also in order, if it had been possible, to divert the Lord Jesus from the path of God’s will. He followed it firmly to the end—all the details of that path that led Him to death, as also the details of His death itself, resplendent in glory.
That is why, dear brethren, when we begin to think of a heavenly personality, of a personality which attaches to the saints in the detail of what God has done and operates in them, we must always keep in mind that what gives a distinctive character to God’s work in all saints, whether in the days of the Old Testament or in this dispensation, is one of the features that shine in their perfection in Christ. “This”, says the voice from heaven, “is my beloved Son”—unique in His Person, unique in His moral excellence. “This is my beloved Son: hear him”. But then God allows us to consider that the saints themselves make up the system of glory He is about to bring out and in which He will make His dwelling; this is very interesting and should have its effect upon us now, for it is important that we exercise ourselves to take into account God’s work in each other. If we do so, it will not be difficult for us to esteem others as more excellent than ourselves; and that matters greatly for our walk together. We learn, in humility of mind, to esteem others as more excellent than ourselves. This is not a matter of mere humility, but of a very real humility, resulting from the fact that we see the work of God in each of the saints. If you start to take into account the distinguishing features of the work of God in each other, as far as it is possible to do so, you will find out what will lead you to say: This person is more developed than me in such and such a spiritual trait. God uses these findings to help us walk in humility of mind, believing others more excellent than ourselves.
Thus it is said to us in this passage: “And it came to pass after these words, about eight days, that taking Peter and John and James he went up into a mountain to pray”. Peter, while having his own distinctive personality, is a representative of us all. In John l we see how Andrew found his brother Simon, and “led him to Jesus”; and “Jesus”, it is said, “looking at him” (the note in the English version says ‘looking carefully’), that is, Jesus wanted to take into account that which was to be the characteristic trait in Peter. Without doubt, this feature was not obvious at the time, but the Lord could take into account what was going to be the distinct line in Peter and, in a sense, in all of us. So then the Lord said, “Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas (which interpreted is stone)”. Before talking about Peter in his particular personality, I would like to talk about this feature—a stone—as being what exactly describes each of us according to God’s thought, each of those who have been redeemed. I would like to speak especially to young people among us, the youngest who have been brought to Christ. The Lord considers each of you to be a stone. If you have been brought to Christ and sealed with the Holy Spirit, this is how the Lord considers you—a stone. You might say: How important is it to be a stone? Peter, in his epistle, shows us. It is said first that we come to Jesus Himself “as unto a living stone”, and he adds; “disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious”, 1 Pet 2: 4 KJV. I ask every young person who has been brought to Jesus to weigh these words carefully. Christ is the living Stone, and we are living stones, which suggests that we need to be built, according to what we then read, “a spiritual house … to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”. But when Peter mentions the fact that we come to Jesus “as living stones”, He is “disallowed indeed of men”. There is nothing exaggerated in this expression, dear brethren, and I would ask you to take this into account; “but chosen of God and precious”—the apostle is wishing to show that there is a very clear moral line between what God thinks of Christ and what men think of him. You have been drawn to Him. You have come to Him, and it is essential that, in your mind, you take into account the fact that God has associated you with the One who as Peter says, was “chosen of God and precious”, and living. That is what is going to determine your attitude towards the world that rejected him. It is essential that you are very clear as to the question of your absolute identification with God’s estimation of Jesus, and the fact that He was “disallowed indeed of men”. It is essential that this be well established with you, that you are on His side as having been sovereignly drawn and given to Jesus, and you need to identify yourself absolutely with Jesus according to God’s estimation of His Son, taking into account that the world rejected Him.
And what is your attitude? Are you fully committed to the fellowship? It is one thing to be engaged in fellowship, to be committed to the fellowship, because that is what clearly determines your position. You therefore subscribe to the terms of association: fellowship carries in itself the idea of association. God’s intention is not that His saints continue an isolated path, He has called them to something collective: He has called us, it is said, “to the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord”; and by partaking in fellowship you identify yourself with the association, you understand its statutes; it involves the fact that you are faithful to Christ and His death. Would there be a greater one than this in the world? And while you do so, you begin to realise that you are an essential member of a body—an association that God has established on this earth. A stone is not a unit detached from the other stones of the building, it is an integral part of the building. Do not forget that. God wants all the ‘living stones’ to be available to make up the entire building, this living structure, a spiritual house in which spiritual sacrifices are offered acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. That is what must be our supreme interest on the earth; everything else is secondary. You have been brought to Christ, and the Lord would like to give you a name as He did for Simon: “thou shalt be called Cephas (which interpreted is stone)”. You will tell me that a stone can be very similar to another stone, and this is true in human affairs, but not in the things of God. Whatever it is, a stone in God’s building is an integral part of the building—do not forget that. You should not exclude yourself from these things. God has called you to be part of the building and you are an indispensable part of it, if you have learned to love Christ. You may say: I am afraid I do not love Him enough. That is not the issue; He loves you and has given Himself for you. If you have some appreciation of Christ’s love, in whatever measure you have the ability to respond to this love, you certainly have a different appreciation from that of the world, and as a result you are made capable to perform your function in this house that God has here on earth. I would like now to ask the dear brothers, and the sisters as well, to take into account this simple fact of being a stone. The Lord gave this name to Simon: “thou shalt be called Cephas”—a stone. It is very important for us to understand that we have been made a living and integral part of the structure of the building here on earth, of this spiritual house, in which spiritual sacrifices are offered for the pleasure of God.
Peter has his distinctive personality. There is what Peter represents and that is true of all of us but Peter had his own personality. You remember how the Lord told him, while He was working in view of Peter’s restoration: “Feed my lambs”; and then: “Shepherd my sheep”. To feed the lambs and shepherd the sheep is an undertaking much greater than fishing. Peter had been a fisherman and the Lord had told him that He would be catching men; and of course, fishing in the spiritual sense of the word is an important matter; but to feed lambs, to shepherd the sheep and feed them calls for a constant renunciation of self to serve in persevering love until the end of the way. To feed the lambs, to shepherd sheep, is to take care of them vigilantly, fetching the sheep if they stray. In committing this office to Peter, the Lord honoured him with His confidence. And at the end, He tells us that He is going to make Peter a perfectly completed part of the building. That is who we all are, in a sense, but He gives Peter this remarkable word: “When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst where thou desiredst”—that is to say that even in service it is possible to be marked by self-will and independence (the fact of girding oneself has service in view, I think). It is a solemn word that the Lord addresses to Peter: When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst where thou desiredst”; then He adds, “but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and bring thee where thou dost not desire. But he said this signifying by what death he should glorify God”. What a thing to see the perfect result of God’s work in Peter! So he finishes his race down here in absolute submission to the will of God, even if it implies suffering and reproach for him. And, in doing so, he glorifies God. It was indeed something distinctive as to Peter. It is remarkable and very encouraging to see that, despite the ups and downs in Peter’s spiritual life, it is recorded, for us, that he ends his course by glorifying God, this distinctive feature of glory attaching to him as a result of God’s work in him.
But then we have James and John. In this gospel, I cannot say why it is said: “Peter, and John, and James”. In Matthew and Mark is “James and John” and in the gospel of Mark it is told to us that the Lord surnamed them “Boanerges, that is, Sons of thunder”. It does not refer to what they were by nature, as has often been suggested, for the Lord never attributes a name to natural features, you can be assured; the surname refers to what they were spiritually, or what they were going to become spiritually and I have no doubt that James and John represent features of testimony among men, features the force of which cannot be ignored: thunder is the voice of God that He makes men to hear, whether they like it or not. It is a voice that He directs through all the heavens, as is said in Job. That is what thunder is; and James and John, I think, both represent features of testimony among men, features that cannot be denied and which have their expression in the two assemblies of Smyrna and Philadelphia. As for Smyrna, there is little said of it, except its poverty and tribulation, and railing of its opposers are mentioned. But the line in evidence with Smyrna is that they were faithful, faithful unto death; it is the feature that is seen in the apostle James. There is very little said of what he did and his service, but what marked him was that, the first among the apostles, he had to endure martyrdom. This highlights in him this feature of readiness to die rather than abandon the truth, and that is a testimony that cannot be contradicted; and that God has maintained through the ages. It is not only this feature that stands out in James. I think it is very important to see in these two apostles the features of testimony that cannot be contradicted, and which find their expression in Smyrna on the one hand and Philadelphia on the other.
What is true in John is that he continued in life, he went on in the testimony in life and that is the feature that marks Philadelphia: the power of life, the recovery of things in the power of life by the Holy Spirit. The Lord said to them: “Hold fast what thou hast”. He says, “I come quickly: hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown”. We have to stand firm and alive until the Lord comes; that is what Philadelphia represents, all the features of life, every feature proper to the assembly, kept alive in the power of the Holy Spirit, and maintained until the Lord may come. This is very important, dear brethren. I spoke about John as being associated with James in the expression of these two features of testimony, but John has his own distinctive personality. John is someone who understood love and who appreciated love, someone who was not concerned with his love for Christ as was Peter, alas! at the beginning, but someone who was content to enjoy the love of Christ, which kept him in nearness to Christ and qualified him to receive light from Christ at a critical moment. Peter was not up to asking the Lord who it was that would deliver Him up, but John, on the breast of Jesus, was well qualified to ask: “Lord, who is it?” What a stimulus for us, dear brethren! Perhaps we are very absorbed with many legitimate occupations, but what do we know of Christ's love? Do we enjoy it? Paul knew something about it and he enjoyed it: he said: “the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me”, Gal 2: 20. Not that I want to individualise ourselves beyond what is suitable, but there is such a feature in John, namely that he appreciated Christ's love and, therefore, he was constantly maintained in nearness to Him. Thus, although not perfect, as with all of us, John highlights the general idea of someone who finds himself resting in the enjoyment of Christ's love and is kept in nearness to Him.
But then there is Paul. Paul says, writing to Philemon: “being such a one as Paul the aged”. It is a touching reference to himself: someone who had aged in the service of Christ. His age is not mentioned, but from history we understand that Paul had not become very old; you could not consider him very old in his day, any more than today. But he was, according to him, “Paul the aged”, someone who had aged going on faithfully in the service of the gospel and the ministry of the assembly, having had a walk consistent with that. Think about how Paul speaks of himself to the elders of Ephesus in Miletus. He traces what his service had been among them and how this service had been accompanied by tears night and day. What a service! a living sacrifice! It could be that none of us know anything of such a service. I mean we may have a very small share of the exercises of the testimony, a share that represents only a very small proportion of any measure of self-sacrifice. What is this compared to Paul's measure? And what is it compared to the measure of the Christ? But Paul is allowed to tell us, by the Spirit: “Be my imitators, even as I also am of Christ”. So he said, “being such a one” in order to direct their thoughts to all that had been in his life to that day. In what he says to the elders of Ephesus in Miletus we find, “for three years, night and day, I ceased not admonishing each one of you with tears”, Acts 20: 31. He then speaks about the purity of his service: “I have coveted the silver or gold or clothing of no one. Yourselves know that these hands”—these are Paul's hands, now an old man—“these hands have ministered to my wants, and to those who were with me. I have shewed you all things”. In his whole ministry, Paul had brought out what was needed from one end to the other, starting with fundamental things—repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ—then the gospel of the grace of God and the kingdom of God, to all the counsel of God. Paul had outlined in his ministry the full extent of the purpose of God. But, alongside his ministry, the apostle commended it by example—an example of love seen in the apostle himself. And if we do not love, dear brethren, we are nothing. We would do well to put ourselves in the presence of this fact: If I do not have love, I am nothing. That is what scripture says, see 1 Cor 13: 2. That is why, while it is important to follow the line of the truth; important to be intelligent in the truth as far as this is possible for us through the Spirit; important to stand firm for the truth and to focus on principles—all of this is very important—it is also of the greatest importance that there should be in us a formation in love, formation that the ministry aims to produce. The end of ministry is to form in love a vessel capable of expressing the glory of God, a vessel characterised in all its features by the number twelve, which speaks to us of the extraordinary possibilities of using love in activity among the saints. So he says: “these hands have ministered to my wants, and to those who were with me. I have shewed you all things, that thus labouring we ought to come in aid of the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive”. It is something like a voice from heaven saying: “This is my beloved Son: hear him”. Paul, in a sense, presents himself to us, but in the end he seeks to direct attention to Christ rather than to himself, Christ being the One from whom Paul had learned all that may have shone in him; and all that shines in the saints as a result of God's work is none other than what has been seen in Christ Himself.
I think, dear brethren, that all this is to encourage, awakening in us some sense of the glory of what God is currently operating and to our own part in that. We should be quite willing to be subject to the ways of God towards us if we began to understand the importance of the moral greatness of what is working in saints at the present time. Everything I have spoken about in relation to ourselves and Peter, and James, and John, and Paul, all relates to the constitution of the assembly which is, as we have often said, the masterpiece of God's operations, because it is the body of Christ, the fulness of Christ. But then, the glory of God in a day to come (I mean what will be manifested in glory) is not limited to the assembly. The assembly is, without a doubt, the most glorious vessel, but Scripture speaks of every family named of the Father. How vast is the extent of the glory that God has before Him! Can we understand only a little of what will happen to these other families? Moses will have his place in one of them, Elijah will also have his place in one of them; so will Daniel. These things are wonderful when we think of God's work in them both. Think of God speaking to Ezekiel of Noah, Daniel, Job, naming these three men who had been marked in a particular way by the line of righteousness; two of them, Noah and Job, had left the scene of testimony for hundreds of years, although they are still with God—for all live to God. But Daniel was alive when God spoke to Ezekiel of Noah, Daniel, Job. Do you think Ezekiel was impressed? Do you not think he was interested in hearing God tell him about Noah, Daniel, Job? He would say to himself: Daniel is living right now. I then therefore think of Daniel in the light of what God is telling me about him, and I have no doubt that this produced in Ezekiel the great desire to be at Daniel’s level, not in a spirit of emulation, but with the thought of reaching his level of practical righteousness.
God likes to speak to those in whom He operates. On another occasion He spoke to Jeremiah and said: “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul would not turn toward this people”, Jer 15: 1. In this case again, Moses and Samuel had left the scene of the testimony hundreds of years before; but God possessed them as alive to Him and He can speak of them by name. He had indeed said to Moses: “I know thee by name”. But He can speak to Jeremiah of Moses and Samuel. Jeremiah had to have a judgment of the state of affairs in Judah, when the state was, at that time, with no possibility of recovery. And God had to say to Jeremiah: “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me”, such great intercessors they were, men who had power to God. He said, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul would not turn toward this people”.
But think of Moses and Elijah on the mountain with Jesus, appearing in glory, speaking with Him in holy intimacy, speaking of His death that He was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Think of Moses going from Pharaoh in chapter 11 of Exodus, the man Moses, as he is called, going out from before Pharaoh, in a glowing anger. Are we animated by such feelings about the world? Moses’ wrath was justified by the fact that the world of Egypt was holding back the people of God in slavery. Do we have such feelings for the world? Is it holding us captive one way or another? Does it hold saints back in bondage, so that they are not free as God would like to have them, free for His own service? Moses was animated by a glowing anger because of this: he goes out from before Pharaoh in a glowing anger. Such was the man Moses! But in chapter 12 of the Book of Numbers, while Miriam, his sister, and Aaron, his brother, had spoken against him, it is said “the man Moses was very meek, above all men that were upon the face of the earth”. Humanly, Moses had been marked with striking features; glowing anger when God's rights were challenged; meekness if it were his own rights. God desires to bring such things before us in order to give us some impression of the moral glory that will be seen in the world of glory where we are going to enter. Different families will all shine with distinctive features; although the assembly will shine in more glorious features than all the distinctive features of other families because they will have been formed in it in secret by the full revelation of God in Christ.
Elijah was there, too. You will tell me: Elijah had fled from Jezebel; this is perfectly true, but he faced everything in the death of Christ, thank God. As a man of God, think of Elijah, alone, on Mount Carmel, facing eight hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the Asherahs, standing alone for the maintenance of God's rights! Can God forget that? Definitely not.
I mention these two men only, Moses and Elijah, because they were there in the incident that we read, bringing before us the idea of spiritual personality, the result of the work of God, and we think of all these spiritual personalities associated together.
I mentioned Paul who says, “These hands,” and this indicates a distinctive feature. In the book of Daniel, at the end of chapter 6 it is said; “This Daniel”. What Daniel? The Daniel who, as a young man, had purposed in his heart that he would not be polluted with the king's delicate food, these dishes that were to make him a good Chaldean and annihilate his personality as part of God's people. He purposed in his heart that he would not pollute himself—that is how he began—and he continued his long career until old age, in fidelity to God; and the Spirit of God says, “This Daniel,” as if to encourage us to take into account the Daniel and the features evident in him, the fruits of the divine operations.
There is much to engage our interest when we start thinking about the things of God and God’s world that is going to be revealed. If we devote ourselves to these things we will see our souls prosper and we will be able to take an ever happier part in God's service, able also, by grace, to maintain His rights with an ever greater energy in all practical exercises that arise in the testimony and in the assembly day by day. We will be greatly encouraged and stimulated if we take account of God's work that marks each of the saints with a distinctive personality, all being according to the Model, Jesus: “This is my beloved Son, hear him”. So, with this in mind, we have the privilege of taking into account the great diversity, diversity in every detail, which adds to the interest of the whole subject and that will shine in glory in the day to come.
CROYDON
28th May 1960
From Paroles d’Édification Mutuelle, November 1962
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