KNOWLEDGE

^[p. 91] KNOWLEDGE

John 6:67 - 69; Hosea 6:3; Zechariah 11:11

I have in mind to speak about knowledge, as in the expression “the knowledge of the Holy”, involving spiritual knowledge — a very wide and great subject. I shall endeavour to be concise, for in no sense could anyone be exhaustive, in fact, no one should attempt to be exhaustive in addressing the people of God as to Christ and His things. We can only know in part, and understand and speak in part, for speaker and hearers are necessarily limited; and the Lord graciously presents the truth to us in part, or in parts, taking account of our limitations, and specially as to our capacity for retention. Take, for instance, the garments of the high priest; in the types they are brought before us in parts, necessarily so, one garment covering him altogether, as you might say — the cloak; for personal beauty and line and grace are not what are prominent in service, but efficiency. There is, therefore, a great covering garment, which could not have been on the Beloved One who is described in the Song of Songs — for the spouse speaks of him in part according to his personal figure, graces, members: that is a question of love, of reciprocated love. But in service that is not the prominent thought, but efficiency. The garments of the high priest are given separately and are severally described, so that we may take them in severally and, according to our measure, piece them together and see them all in order upon him. I mention that, dear brethren, to illustrate what I have in mind before I proceed. There is no question of presenting anything exhaustive, but what may serve in part that we may learn; for each of these meetings is intended thus, that we should learn one thing at a time — we are scarcely ^[p. 92] able for more; not that each one may not get some feature for himself, but generally that is the intent in these meetings.

So I take up Peter to illustrate how knowledge is acquired, “the knowledge of the holy”, as I may say, for that is what he had in mind in his answer to the Lord’s enquiry. He places faith before knowledge, for the knowledge of God and of Christ and of the things of God and of Christ, heavenly things, can only be taken in or possessed by believers. The natural intellect may go some way, but the natural mind never has a right thought on the things of God. I doubt very much whether any creed gives the right thought of any doctrine, the right spiritual intent in it; all must be on the principle of faith, and in truth faith is what is impossible to the natural man. Faith has not to do with what is visible, the bearing of it is upon what is invisible, and that is necessarily outside the range of the natural mind. So Peter here is one of “the twelve”, he appears as representative of the twelve whom the Lord had chosen: He says, “Have not I chosen you the twelve?” — he is representative of them in this particular setting. And in his answer to the Lord’s enquiry, “Will ye also go away?”, he indicates plainly for us the way of knowledge. So we should pay strict attention to the words, which indeed the Authorised Version does not give correctly, but in the New Translation it reads, “We have believed and known” — that is spiritual history which ought to set every believer in motion as it is presented to him. It is well to be directed back to your spiritual history; we are very fond of reverting to our birthdays and to anything that gives us distinction since those days — the camera helps in that way, as well as the autograph album — but it is well to take a retrospective view of one’s whole spiritual history. A believer is an entity, he is a known entity in heaven — a very great fact — he is in the ‘Who’s Who’ book there certainly. Much perhaps is known there that even he has now forgotten. It is a great comfort, in one way, that things are not forgotten, that nothing is omitted there. I believe the histories of God’s people are a perfect delight to God, as He is able to view them abstractly — to view them apart from what may be discreditable; not that He omits that either, a solemn matter! — but God takes account of His own abstractly, that is leaving out, as He alone can, what is not to be included finally. God can afford to do that, speaking reverently, and indeed, I can afford to do it as to myself too. It is a poor thing to pursue a line and keep adding to what must be left out finally — yet, alas, one can do that. John’s first epistle is intended to teach us how to think abstractly; how to reckon with God according to His work in us, how to understand that, as Christ is, “we also are in this world” (chapter 4:17) and that “every one begotten of God does not sin”, that he “keeps himself and the wicked one does not touch him” (chapter 5:18). That is a part of our education, beloved friends, that is perhaps little understood, but it is a very great part; that one is entitled, and indeed required, to take a view of one’s spiritual history, to go over it: that is what the wilderness, in one sense, is intended to teach us — the wilderness in the book of Numbers. It is after they reach what we speak of as the springing well, a well that sprang up after it was digged. Digging is a process that is not seen at the beginning, it is a habit you acquire, meaning the removing of what hinders the springing up of the Spirit. There is something within that is wonderful — let it come up, give it vent! You acquire the habit of removing what hinders, and what follows on that is movement. After the digging here, they moved on, as you will remember, until they got to Pisgah, which, as we are told, “looks over the surface of the waste” (Numbers 21:20); that is, it is a sort of retrospective view of ^[p. 94] the wilderness — as to what God has been to them in it. You may take account of all that history as to what God has been to you, and what you have been to God. How Caleb would have loved to do that! Caleb and Joshua came out of Egypt, and entered into Canaan, they represent the spiritual element in the christian that goes right through. Take Joshua — how he would revert to his companionship with Moses on the mount, and what hundreds of things he would recall! And so Caleb — on the confines of the land — looks back some forty or forty-five years and tells Joshua what he was then; he did not forget. That was history, spiritual history. And, having reviewed it and put it in its order in the present — what a present! — what does faith say? “What hath God wrought!” (Numbers 23:23) — that is what faith says; not what I have done; I have to put my hand upon my mouth in regard to that, and cover it; I may have much to be ashamed of, but “What hath God wrought!”. In spite of what I have done, in spite of what I have been, He carries on His work. A study of the book of Deuteronomy will fill your soul with this line of things. The blessing of Moses the man of God is not anticipative, it is retrospective; the things he speaks of in the tribes were in some sense practical, that is, they denote what God has wrought, and that leads to praise. “At this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!”. Heaven knows all that; God is eternally occupied, every day, and every hour, and every minute, with His own work; far transcending the interest He had in the great physical system is His delight in the work He is carrying on moment by moment in myriads of persons, with the great result to bring into view, what He has wrought!

Well now, I think Peter gives us the clue to this; he says, “We have believed and known”. What have they believed? and what have they known? That ^[p. 95] the One who was despised amongst them and had been rejected of men was the Christ. You may say, ‘No wonder Peter knew that, for the Father told him’; but that is not the point here, the point here is past spiritual history. “We have believed and known that thou art the holy one of God”! — that was what they had come to. That is to say, it is a question of faith first, faith in the Lord Jesus as to who He was; not yet, what He could do; faith in His saving work will come in later; the point here is who He was. How can I start out in the field of knowledge save as I get to the Centre of it, to the Source of it, to the Sustainer of it? And that is Christ — who He is — “the holy one of God”. Beginning with Him, there is no end really to the knowledge — it ever widens and deepens. “Thou art the holy one of God”, Peter says, “we have believed and known” it. I would again suggest, dear brethren, the importance of looking back in this sense, and seeing how you have begun, and whether you have been building up on a right foundation in regard to the knowledge you have acquired.

Well now, the Old Testament ever supports what we get in the New, and in the book of Hosea we have, “We shall know”; this is, as I may say, the spirit of prophecy; but it is also the spirit of the remnant, and it is a great matter to come into possession of the spirit of the remnant. There is, in the Old Testament, the Spirit of Christ, the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of the remnant. The spirit of the remnant is a humble, broken spirit, with nothing vaunting about it, for they are just a remnant, marked by tears as to what had been, joy as to what will be, and present comfort in what is, for God never forsakes His people: the spirit of the remnant marks what has been, and what will be, and what is. That is, there is enough to sustain faith in the darkest period of the history of God’s people. The prophets ^[p. 96] are of immense importance in that way, the spirit of Christ in them is full of victory, of battling with every possible difficulty and overcoming it; that is the spirit of Christ. It was remarkably portrayed in the passage in Zechariah, a most vigorous chapter on the part of the Spirit of Christ, even as to the destruction of the shepherds, that the poor of the flock might be saved. So in Hosea 6, the remnant speak of revival, of being raised up: “the third day he will raise us up”, a beautiful understanding of the principle of resurrection. “On the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before his face” (verse 2). What confidence! what victory indeed, there is in that! And so it goes on, “And we shall know” — one would love to see the young brothers and sisters moving in this way — they are, I believe, but there is a great lack of energy in following things up: the Spirit of God is active constantly in bringing things out for us, bringing things to our attention. The apostle says to Timothy, “Thou hast been thoroughly acquainted” or, as it may read ‘hast fully followed up’. It is rarely that one meets with a young brother who fully follows up the thread of the testimony, that which God is continuously and constantly presenting by one and another. We cannot afford to miss any of it. “Thou hast been thoroughly acquainted”, says the apostle, “with my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings” (2 Timothy 3:10). I believe Timothy would read every letter that he heard Paul had written; I believe that he would seek to hear every address that Paul gave, every word that he spoke. That was the attitude of Timothy, and it is the attitude that is proper to our time; it is urgent that nothing should be omitted that the Lord gives. So here, “We shall know”, that is the statement, there is no doubt about it — then “we shall know” — why should not I know if others do? Why should I be ignorant if others ^[p. 97] know? I know of no reason why any one of us here should not know; it is a question of diligence. Here the spirit of the remnant says, “We shall know”, but it does not stop there — “We shall follow on to know” — that is resolve. Resolution is a great matter in the things of God, as in all else — “we shall follow on to know”. And then it adds for encouragement — the spirit of the remnant says, “His going forth is assured as the morning dawn; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain which watereth the earth”. That is the expectation, dear brethren. How beautiful and exhilarating is the thought! Think of the Lord Jesus, for instance, as He rose from the dead, His going forth, what that meant — it was truly the dawn of morning. Did one have the opportunity of watching with intelligence the movements of Christ, His going forth, how exhilarating and refreshing it would be! how full of hope is His going forth! And then His coming “as the rain”; how the Lord comes in on His people refreshing us, as He does! Many of us know it. These things are set together as incentives to us in following on. Let us not be weary, beloved, in following up the things the Lord gives. There is no thought of His relaxing in this respect, the ministry will go on. I see the Lord preparing for it in the many young He is raising up to serve as it is going on, and He is preparing them that it should go on, and it is for us generally to follow it up. “We shall follow on to know Jehovah”, and there will be ample recompense for us in His going forth and His coming upon us as a refreshing rain causing fruitfulness to God, and refreshment to ourselves.

Then in chapter 11 of the prophet Zechariah, we have, as I said, great vigour in the Spirit of Christ. This often appears amongst us: occasions arise which call for vigour — vigorous dealing with what is opposed; and for discrimination too; so that the ^[p. 98] poor of the flock come distinctly into view. That is a great matter, to bring them clearly into view — the poor of the flock. They are called in this chapter “the flock of slaughter”; that is to say, the saints of God, as faithful in any given time, are viewed thus: they are always exposed, as the apostle said, “We are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” (Romans 8:36). But then he adds, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (verse 37). The poor of the flock are regarded peculiarly in this chapter. Jehovah says, “Feed the flock of slaughter, whose possessors slay them without being held guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah! for I am become rich; and their own shepherds pity them not”. How vigorous that is! The servant’s business is to feed the flock of slaughter, and the true servant will see that he does; he said, “I fed the flock of slaughter, truly the poor of the flock ... And I destroyed three shepherds in one month”. How vigorous he was; and in times like these vigour is required, in facing things, but making sure of the flock, the poor of the flock, and providing for them. That is the spirit of the shepherd, providing for the poor of the flock, and, in providing for them, the Lord in spirit says, “The poor of the flock that gave heed to me knew that it was the word of Jehovah”. It is a comfort to every servant that he may be assured of this, that if he feeds the poor of the flock, they will, as it says, give heed to him. You may be sure of that. Of course this is speaking of Christ, in the full sense of it, but then all the under-shepherds necessarily take character from Christ, and if I feed the flock, they will wait upon me; it is to their advantage to wait upon him who feeds them, but they do it in love. How the poor of the flock were attached to Christ when He was here! Take those women who followed Him from Galilee — that was a long way for women ^[p. 99] in those days, there was very little provision, I apprehend, for travel. They followed Him to the cross; they stood by the cross of Jesus; they followed Him to the limit, as I might say. What comfort it would have given to the Lord as He hung there to look upon them! How attached to Him they were! Luke says they “ministered to him” in following Him. They did not look for recompense, nor for their travelling expenses; no, they thought only of Him: they ministered to Him of their substance, they waited upon Him! Did they have any doubt as to Him? None; they “knew”, it says, “that it was the word of Jehovah”. Is there not a great lesson in that for us all? As fed by the Good Shepherd through the under-shepherds, we wait upon them, we feel how essential they are to us, every one of them, and “the poor of the flock” discern “the word of Jehovah” — they “knew”, it says, “that it was the word of Jehovah”; no less than that! Not simply the word of an ordinary rabbi, which term Judas could use — no, they would say, like Mary Magdalene, “Rabboni”, my Teacher; or they would say “Lord”, like Mary of Bethany; they would sit at His feet. Did Mary of Bethany ever question, think you, what Jesus said? Never; it was to her “the word of Jehovah”. And as I am ministered to, I minister, I wait upon those that minister, and I have discernment; I know the word of the Lord when I hear it. “The poor of the flock that gave heed to me knew that it was the word of Jehovah”. Let others say what they will, the poor of the flock know; that is an immense thing that there are some anyway, who are fed as the poor of the flock, who know the word of the Lord. The servant can be assured of this, dear brethren, that those that are ministered to, those that are fed, will discern; the poor of the flock will discern the true ministry, they will discern the word of God, that is, the word of Jehovah, as it says here.

^[p. 100] That is all I have in mind, dear brethren. There is much, as I said before, that could be said on this great subject. If one were to go into Ephesians, for instance, with one’s little ability, what a field there is! The principle there is just what I have been saying; the apostle says, “Having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is in you, and the love which ye have towards all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you at my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory” — think of all that, think of what was in his mind — “would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him, being enlightened in the eyes of your heart, so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe” (chapter 1:15 - 19) Who can go over that wonderful field? But it is for us and the Holy Spirit would lead us on; if we follow on to know, we shall get into that great Ephesian field of knowledge. How infinitely beyond any field of scientific knowledge, so-called, is the knowledge of God in His great thoughts. And the Holy Spirit in us would give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him!