HOW BELIEVERS REGARD ONE ANOTHER

 

Leviticus 7:8; Philippians 2:1-11; John 13:34,35; Ephesians 4:15,16

 

We spoke in the reading meeting about how God regards us, our acceptance in Christ. I now want to speak about how as believers we regard one another. I want to speak from these scriptures to the end that we might see one another as God sees us.

We referred in the earlier meeting to the burnt-offering. The passage we have read in Leviticus is part of the law of the trespass offering. We spoke about the intimate connection between the offerings, and how this passage as to the skin of the burnt offering comes in at the end of the law of the trespass offering. That offering was needed where something had happened to offend against the rights of God or against the rights of someone’s brother, or neighbour as it is put. This note is added, “And as to the priest that presenteth any man’s burnt-offering”. We are not to think that this is somehow exclusive to one class of persons: it is worth reminding ourselves that in the present day, scripture says “ye are all God’s sons by faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal.3:26) so that each believer is and has the capacity to be a priest. This passage therefore applies to all believers, not exclusively to a small group.

“As to the priest that presenteth any man’s burnt-offering, the skin of the burnt-offering which he hath presented shall be the priest’s for himself”. The skin would involve the covering. We know that the offering itself was not to be eaten, the ashes were taken to a clean place (Lev.6:11); but the skin was reserved for the priest. That suggests to me that when we look on a believer, we see them as clothed in the worth of Christ. The brethren with whom we gather are together often and that is good. One of the results of being together is that we get to know one another. We know things about one another and largely they will be positive, and we might know one or two things that are less positive. But the starting point is that we are to see one another as God sees us. That does not mean that there is never a requirement for adjustment, or that if something needs to be taken up it should be overlooked, but the starting point is that we see one another as God sees us.

Sometimes we speak about the weak brother, the brother for whose sake Christ died (see 1 Cor.8:11), and the emphasis may be placed on the fact that a person is weak. But I suggest that we are to emphasise, as regards every one with whom we are associated in fellowship, and every believer, that they are the brother or sister for whose sake Christ died. And no one is on any different footing. In Exodus it speaks about the half shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary. Each was required to present the same amount – it says that the rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less (chap.30:13-15). Each is redeemed on the basis of the death of Christ, each is one for whom Christ died. All are on that ground and all have that standing. A believer may or may not be personally in the enjoyment of their acceptance before God but that does not alter the fact that they have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and God has forgiven them on account of that.

Our scripture says that “the skin … shall be the priest’s for himself”. A feature of impressions we gain of Christ is that we can share them, but it is essential that each of us has something for ourselves. We cannot go through our Christian life depending on the impressions that others have; we must have something that is our own. If you or I meet another believer, it is a good thing to speak about an impression of Christ that we have enjoyed, because you will find that they too have something for themselves. You may be able to impart something to them, and it is good to listen also, so that we learn about what they have for themselves. I would encourage everyone here to seek impressions of Christ for yourself. Jabez appears in 1 Chronicles 4:9,10 and his request to God is, “Oh that thou wouldest richly bless me, and enlarge my border”. He wanted to have more of the inheritance. Was that a little selfish? Did it mean that because he had something more, someone else had less? That is not the way Christianity works. One way to look at it is that our border is upwards, and so there is no limit to it. I do not encroach on your border by getting an impression of Christ, because you can have it too. We can all have distinctive impressions of Christ. Sometimes we may receive a distinctive impression when there is no one else there. You might have had the same impression, I do not know, but we can both have it for ourselves. The blessings of Christianity are measureless: everyone can have them, and no one misses out. When we look at one another as persons who are clothed in the worth of Christ, and who have impressions of divine glory, that is a good starting point for any conversation.

In Philippians, Paul the apostle says, “If then there be any comfort in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and compassions”. Beloved, this is not an ‘if’ of doubt. Is there any comfort in Christ? I am sure that everyone present today could speak of the comfort that there is in Christ. Then, “if any consolation of love”: the consolation of the love of divine Persons, the consolation of the love of one another, brings great comfort. The apostle goes on, “if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit”. What other fellowship would there be if it was not in the power of the Holy Spirit? “If any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and compassions”. The inward feelings of believers, resulting from what is formed inwardly, are of great moment to God.

The Lord had inward feelings, because of who He was. When He saw a man who could not speak, it says, “he groaned, and says to him, Ephphatha … Be opened”, Mark 7:34. He groaned, He felt it inwardly. When He was at the grave of Lazarus it tells us that He wept (John 11:35). He did not weep because the situation was hopeless. He was there to demonstrate the glory of God in the raising of Lazarus. He wept because He felt for those who were weeping. He wept because of His sympathy with those who felt the sorrow. He knew He would and could raise Lazarus and yet He wept. Why weep when He knew He had the answer? He wept because He felt for those that were there. Such are the inward feelings of the Lord.

Such also are to be our inward feelings, beloved, for one another. When we hear of a sister or a brother who is suffering, do we not feel for them? When we hear of one who is going through difficulties, do we not feel for them? When we hear that someone has gone away, do we not feel it? Of course we do. I do not think Paul is saying ‘If this is true, please demonstrate it’. But he says, “fulfil my joy”. He says, in effect, ‘Bring it out in all its fulness’ – “that ye may think the same thing, having the same love, joined in soul, thinking one thing”. How can this be so? Paul’s appeal to the Corinthian saints is that they might be perfectly united in the same mind and the same opinion (1 Cor.1:10). How is this to be arrived at? I think the answer lies in the last clause, “thinking one thing”. If we are all thinking about the Lord Jesus then other matters fall into place, “that ye may think the same thing”.

I am not suggesting there are such, but there should not be schools of opinion (Gal.5:20). Christianity is not a matter of logical argument. I notice that there is an increasing tendency even in Christian circles to think that certain matters are open for debate, that they are for discussion, and different conclusions may be reached. That is not how Christianity works. When Paul wrote, “as the truth is in Jesus” (Eph.4:21) that was the standard of truth then and it remains the standard now. If a brother or sister is not sure about something and asks a question, that does not mean that the matter is being debated. It is right to seek help from others. But when for example the scripture says, “Because of this a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be united to his wife … This mystery is great, but I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly” (Eph. 5:31), that is the standard of marriage in scripture and there is not another one. It is not a matter for debate, or of taking account of what may be common at the present day. The divine standard remains.

When the scripture says, “male and female created he them” (Gen.1:27), that is the standard and it remains so. Our relations with one another are greatly assisted by the recognition of the divine standard in all matters. Christ is the Head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman (1 Cor.11:3): that is the divine standard, “and the Christ’s head God”. Were I to start to abandon the divine standard, I may end up undermining the fundamental truth that Christ’s Head is God. We are assisted greatly in our relations with one another if we maintain the truth.

The passage in Philippians goes on to speak about what may come in as a result of persons’ inclinations. “Let nothing be in the spirit of strife or vain glory, but, in lowliness of mind, each esteeming the other as more excellent than themselves”. When we are young, we can say that another brother or sister is more excellent than I am because they are better taught in the truth, and that may well be true: it is good that the younger should have respect for the elder. But as I go on, I find more reasons, not fewer, to think that the brethren are more excellent than I am. The more we get to know believers, and particularly those with whom we walk in fellowship, because we are closest to them, the more we come to understand why they are more excellent.

God helps us in this. He points out to us positive features about one another. The Lord has called home dear local brothers recently whom we greatly valued and witness was borne to what they had contributed under the Lord’s hand, but it would be sad if we had to wait until a person was taken to be with the Lord before we heard positive things about them. If we have something positive to say about one another, the best time to say it is now. If we are thankful for something that a brother or sister does or says, take the opportunity to thank them for it. If a young person serves in some way, perhaps largely unseen, we should make sure that we thank them. These are simple things.

There are examples we know of persons who fill out what is said here, as to “regarding not each his own qualities, but each those of others also”. It does not say that you are to dismiss your own qualities, but that you are not to regard them, while you do regard those of others also. If you have an impression of Christ that the Lord has given you, then you should use it. The scripture says, “there is that withholdeth more than is right, but it tendeth only to want”, Prov.11:24. “More than is right” means more than is suitable, and that “tendeth only to want”. If the Lord has given you something to do, then you should do it. If you are asked to preach and you are able, then do it. You might say ‘I do not feel particularly able’. No one does, but the Spirit is here to help us. If there is a service you can carry out, brothers as well as sisters, then I would encourage you to do it and the Lord will take account of it.

When I was young, I did not value sufficiently being often in the houses of other brethren. That kept us in the environment of what is right. It was not that we were made to do hours of bible study, although studying the scriptures is very valuable, but we were in an environment of safety. The children of Israel were given instructions about building their houses, and there was to be a parapet for the roof (Deut.22:8). A parapet is a wall that surrounded the flat roof, and in the houses of these times people went up on the roof. The parapet meant that you would not fall off. Is there something in my house that would put one of my brethren in danger, or is it a place that protects them? I believe it is so in the houses of the saints, but I commend the importance of this to us all: make sure that the parapet on your roof is in good repair, and that would include regarding one another as more excellent.

How is all of this to be done? The answer is in the verses following: “For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus; who, subsisting in the form of God, did not esteem it an object of rapine to be on an equality with God”. Another translation renders “an object of rapine” as ‘robbery’; it means that He was not taking up a place or position that did not belong to Him. It says “to be on an equality with God”: He is on equality with God. It says of Him in Romans 9:5, “who is over all, God blessed for ever”. That is who He is. He took nothing that did not belong to Him by being on equality with God, but despite that He “emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form, taking his place in the likeness of men”. Subsequently we read, “and having been found in figure as a man, humbled himself”. Why did He humble Himself? So that the love of God might be seen in its fulness. He humbled Himself because none could humble Him, and having humbled Himself, He became “obedient even unto death”. That does not mean that He obeyed death, but He obeyed His Father’s will even to the extent of going into death – “and that the death of the cross”.

We are speaking about how we regard one another, and have noted that each brother and sister is one for whom Christ died. Not only did He die, but it was the death of the cross, involving shame, ignominy and suffering. The outward suffering we read of, and we can take account of it to an extent, but the inward suffering was beyond measure. Scripture says, “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour”, Matt.27:45. No one could see, no one could follow, no one could bear what He bore in the death of the cross. It is not that He obeyed death. When it comes to the point of His death, it says He bowed His head and delivered up His spirit. His spirit was His own. He is distinctive in that, and He delivered it up because He had the right to do so. It is my impression that He bowed His head because even the very portal, the gate of death, was something He had made and He was greater than it. He had to bow His head to go in, and in doing so He broke the power of Satan and came out in victory in resurrection. Every believer is bought by that work, and we look on one another in that way.

It says too that He “has washed us from our sins in his blood”. As we have been reminded in the reading, the objective in the gospel is not simply our being set free. He “has washed us from our sins in his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father”, Rev.1:5,6. As we look on one another, we are looking on what Christ has done and what He has secured for the Father’s glory now and eternally. It is no surprise, then, that it is ordained of God “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow”. This is the time to bow the knee to Jesus. There is a time coming when all will have to bow. They will have no choice in the matter. They will bow and it will be to God the Father’s glory, but the blessing is in bowing now. As we look on one another, we should regard one another as those who have bowed the knee to Jesus.

In John’s gospel we have read the Lord’s words: “A new commandment I give to you, that ye love one another”. This is very interesting, as is all that the Lord says. You might ask, why is this a new commandment, given that there is the commandment in the Old Testament that “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”, Lev.19:18. What makes this a new commandment? It is this: “as I have loved you”. The best that could be commanded in the law was that you should love your neighbour as yourself; that is, be as good to your neighbour as you would be to yourself. There is nothing wrong with that – the law is holy and just and good (see Rom.7:12). But there was never an example like this before: “as I have loved you”. Do you know how much the Lord has loved you? I know He loves me. I cannot say how much He loves me because I cannot exhaust or measure it, but I can say that as time goes by, I appreciate His love more. And He says, as it were, ‘now I want that same standard of love to apply to your feelings for one another’ – “as I have loved you”.

It was and is love that gave everything. “By this shall all know that ye are disciples of mine, if ye have love amongst yourselves”. Love is to be taken account of by others – there is a testimony to love. People should be able to tell how much we love one another. Men and women in the world do see it. There is a testimony in the fact that we love one another. There is glory to God in it. “Love amongst yourselves” is love in circulation, in activity. God’s love is never static; it is active. Grace is the activity of love in adverse circumstances, and of the fulness of Christ we all have received and grace upon grace (see John 1:16). We can well afford to have love amongst ourselves, having benefited from such grace.

In the passage in Ephesians, we have “holding the truth in love”. It has been said in teaching that the truth is our bond because it is the standard and that is right. My love might ebb and flow, and it cannot be regarded as the standard; but “holding the truth in love” is how we adopt the standard. Love too is a bond, so it is not that the truth is our bond to the exclusion of all else. Love is a bond. What that conveys to me is that we should seek to touch or handle the truth only in love. The truth is of great value. It is to be handled and held in love. That does not mean a dilution of standards, or letting go of principle. We must maintain divine principles, but that must be done in love because we hold the truth in love. It is so that “we may grow up to him in all things, who is the head, the Christ”. Growing up to Him in all things is consequent on “holding the truth in love”. And “the Christ” is God’s anointed, to whom we are to grow up so as to become like Him.

The Lord held the truth in love. He demonstrated it practically when He was here. The woman in John 8 was brought before Him, and He stooped twice: He held the truth in love. He said, “Neither do I condemn thee”, but He also said “go, and sin no more” (v.11). He held the truth in love, love that was sufficient to take Him to the cross so that forgiveness can be offered. Another example is His own words on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”, Luke 23:34. He did not say that they had not sinned, but the Lord applied the grace of Leviticus 4 in saying they did it through inadvertence (v.2). He did not overlook the sin, but He was willing to die for those who had put Him on the cross. He was holding the truth in love that God’s righteousness might be upheld, His holy claims of justice answered to.

“From whom the whole body, fitted together”: we have been fitted together, beloved brethren, and we have been put where we are by the Lord. We are not saying that no one should ever move location for good reasons, but we have been fitted together, and connected. It is possible for things to be fitted together but not connected. If you were to fit a block of wood between two metal components, they are fitted together but they are not connected. You could not pass an electric current from one side to the other, because the parts are not connected. But the saints in the body are “fitted together, and connected by every joint of supply”. A joint moves, it is flexible. A joint of supply is not rigid, but it is available – “connected by every joint of supply”. You might think that the analogy to the body, used by the apostle, falls down here because some parts of the body are connected to others but not everything is connected to everything else. But in fact, every part of the human body is connected to the head, because if it was not it would fail in its function. And every part of the body is connected to the heart because otherwise there would be no blood flowing and that part of the body, or perhaps the whole body, would die. So we are connected with one Head and we are joined in soul.

The thought of “joined in soul, thinking one thing” that we spoke about earlier links with “according to the working in its measure of each one part”. Nobody can be done without. What is in view is “each one part”. There are parts of the human body so small that they can hardly be seen, but if they are not there the body would not function. If you have a deficiency of iron in your blood, I do not suppose you could see that at all, but you would soon know because the body would not work properly. Do not think that you do not matter in the body of Christ. Each one part is to be “working in its measure”. These words are important: “according to the working in its measure” means that each part is doing something in relation to the measure that God has given. It specifically says, “of each one part”. The scripture might have said ‘of each part’. Scripture does not waste words, and if it says, “of each one part”, that means that the Lord is taking account of us as individuals. If we have something to do, then let us do it.

When we come to glory, when the Lord claims His church and takes all His own to be with Him, I think we will see “each one part” clearly, and what “each one part” has contributed. But we can encourage one another at the present time to do what the Lord has given us to do, so that “the whole body … works for itself the increase of the body”. That is another important matter: the body does not take instructions from outside itself. I give an example of this. There was a time when the government required persons to serve in the armed forces, to take up arms and be willing to fire a weapon and kill someone. Brothers generally came to it that that was not what a believer should do, and they asked to be relieved from the requirement to bear arms. Some went to prison for refusing to take up arms. But the government provided for this and arranged that those who had a conscience about bearing arms were allowed to be what was called ‘conscientious objectors’, which meant that they had to do military service but were not required to take a weapon. How does that relate to what we have read? The scripture says that “the whole body … works for itself”. The instruction to bear arms came from outside the body, from the lawful authorities, but it was inconsistent with the truth held in love and therefore could not be taken on.

I say that because in these days the law requires us to accept certain things which scripture would call unlawful. We may be expected to approve certain things that scripture says are not to be approved of, and indeed it would call them wicked. What are believers to do who seek to be governed by scripture? Firstly, we can help one another. If you are not sure what to do, ask a brother or sister. Secondly, the law of the land cannot tell you what to think, nor can it tell you what to believe. I believe that what the scripture says is true through and through. I further believe it is unassailable and that God will see to it that a way through will be kept open for believers until the Lord comes. I might not know precisely what to say in any given circumstance, but I can say what I believe to be right. No one is asking that believers enter into protests, or seek to make points in public. But if I may give you an example, I know a young sister who was at school when there was a lesson about creation, and various theories were presented. Afterwards, each pupil was asked to prepare a sheet of paper about what they thought. The young sister prepared a sheet that said, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth ... And on the first day …’. She went through the six days of creation, a line at a time, and that is what she submitted. The teacher laminated the sheet and put it on the wall. So there was a testimony.

Say what you believe to be true; you do not need to argue about what is not true – just stick simply to the truth. It may not be easy, but you will be given in that hour what to say (see Mark 13:11). We can encourage one another, and can point to scriptures that help. We can encourage one another. “The whole body … works for itself the increase of the body to its self-building up in love” is an encouragement. You do not need to look for love outside the body. It is all there, and you do not need anything else because Christ is the Head. There is nothing further that you require.

I trust that the Lord may encourage and bless us, for His name’s sake.

 

Address at Birmingham

9 March 2024

 

Paul Gray