"DO NOT WEEP"
E.C.Burr
The hymn we sang -
'Our hearts Thou dost console, O Lord' –
and some of the things that our beloved brother has just said to us, impressed me to refer to this scripture which has come to my notice in reading some other ministry. It seems to me that the powerful effectiveness of this simple word of the elders might be a word to us at the moment: "Do not weep". There is a time to weep, the wise man tells us that (Eccles 3: 4), and how much we have known it. There is a sense in which the time to weep is persistent. There are things that we know of things that have entered into our personal histories and that have entered into assembly history, things as to the state of the world; all of which things enter into the tears which God puts into His bottle. And we think of, and are moved by the tears of the woman which she used for the purpose of washing the feet of Jesus, and with Peter's tears, and Paul's tears, and Timothy's tears. There is a time to weep, we remember that, and as I say, in one sense it is persistent. But at this moment, which is perhaps one of the most critical moments in the history of western Europe (I suppose we are all familiar with the interpretation of Revelation which indicates that it unfolds the way God deals in judgment particularly with the area where the testimony has been, western Europe) "one of the elders says to me, Do not weep". That, beloved, in English, is three words of one syllable, one of the simplest expressions you could possibly get, "Do not weep". And the reason is given: "The lion which is of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the book, and its seven seals". That is to say one Man has been identified who has the capacity to open this book and to solve every problem that is in it. If it were thought that at the moment there was one man who could solve a single one of the world's problems, he would be made everything of, people would entrust him with everything and in confidence. If there were a man who could solve the problems of today - economic problems, currency questions, labour questions, industrial questions - the world would let him do almost anything. But, beloved, we know a Man who can solve every problem in the universe; not only every political problem, but every assembly problem and every personal problem; and it is because the elders are familiar with such a One that they say, "Do not weep". And I have the impression, especially being encouraged by what our beloved brother has said to us, that the Lord might say that to us at the moment, "Do not weep".
Well, you say, am I not to weep about the divisions of the past? There is a time to weep, but there is a time not to weep, "Do not weep". Why? Because we know One who has the remedy to each one of these problems in His own hand. When the seven seals are opened - and He has the power to open them - you might think that in some sense problems have been made more difficult, but actually the opening of the seal is only to bring out the reality of the issues with which this One, "the Lion which is of the tribe of Juda, the root of David", has to deal. But the injunction remains, "Do not weep".
And as we contemplate what we would regard perhaps, as slowness in judgments, slowness in recovery, slowness in repentance (for repentance will be needed), as we think of our own natural relatives and others who have turned out of the way, there is much of sorrow that enters into our hearts, but the Lion of the tribe of Juda has prevailed to open even those books. And the elders say to John, "Do not weep". Maybe we think, too, of localities where things are very small, where things look naturally as if they might get even smaller, as if possibly the breaking of bread might die out. Would you take this word, too, from one of the elders, "Do not weep". Why? Because the same One has the remedy to every situation in His own hands. He has prevailed, "has overcome so as to open the book, and its seven seals". He does not open the book to create interesting reading or interesting subjects for conversation, let alone gossip; He opens the book with the intention of dealing with every issue that is recorded in it. "And its seven seals": they are opened one by one. We have the account of it later in the book, we have the woes and the trumpets; the seals, He has overcome so as to open them. Maybe when they are opened, as I say, things for the moment look worse, but the elders still say, "Do not weep".
Have you, beloved brother and sister, such a link with the Lord that you can accept from Him the word in relation to the whole present situation of the testimony, "Do not weep"? I think it links with the way that we have been encouraged by what has come to us tonight, the standing perfect and complete in all God's will. You might say, We are so reduced, how could that be possible? But Epaphras did not give up praying for it, and God is working in ways that we know not how - the scripture uses that expression, "he does not know how", Mark 4: 27. And the elders say in that connection, "Do not weep". Well, beloved, the Lord Himself would say to us that exigencies and distresses may appear to be what they may, but one of the elders said, "Do not weep". And I think the Lord would encourage us tonight, so that we are not downcast by anxiety as to when the Lord may work or what He will do when He does work, but we would accept restfully from one of the elders - one of those who, as it has been said, is intelligent as to what he says, for when the elders worship they can say why they worship - who knows why he says what he says, "Do not weep". I think that the Lord would further encourage us tonight by turning our eyes from the sorrows and the burdens which necessarily remain and the tears which remain in relation to that, and He would say to us "Do not weep" because He has the remedy for everything in His own hands. Well, may He encourage us, for His Name's sake.
LONDON
18 September 1973