JOY IN THE LORD IS OUTSIDE EVERYTHING HERE

JOY IN THE LORD IS OUTSIDE EVERYTHING HERE

The light in which we see ourselves, and in which alone there is any good in seeing ourselves, reveals to us that which hinders us from being true to what we really are, even children of the light. As we are of God the light is our true place, and its power is to disclose to us everything unsuited to itself. “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1: 5). In the light, we hold the light like the diamond, and are assured that it is our proper element; and it makes manifest everything that is not of itself. It exposes the hindrances which prevent the diamond from being filled with the light. If the clay and crust be removed from the diamond, it will tell its own tale. This the light removes, and then the fruit of it “is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5: 9).

One great hindrance arises from a very common and sad mistake - namely, seeking joy in the Lord humanly, instead of spiritually. There is such a thing as receiving the word with joy, humanly. Many true-hearted have suffered much here. They did for awhile rejoice without discovering the enmity in them naturally. There was a conviction that God is worthy of all the affections of the heart; and so long as they were not diverted from Him, the conscience was satisfied, and all went on happily, and there seemed to be progress because there was joy; but when something occurred to test the will, either in the loss of what was valued, or anything falling out contrary to their desire, then ^[p. 19] the enmity came out, and all the joy was gone, and the conscience became thoroughly dissatisfied. If it had been simply spiritual joy and love for the Lord in the Spirit, His will, whether in affliction, bereavement, or disappointment, while felt as severing one more distinctly from nature, and everything here, would at the same time only deepen in the soul the sense of its resources in Christ. In the one case, the test, like fire to stubble, carried away in toto that which it tested; while in the other, the gold became more distinctly apparent. When Jonah sat under the gourd, undisturbed and sheltered, all was bright, and he was pleased and thankful; but destroy the gourd, and there is wrath and vexation, a disclosure that his resources were really in what pleased himself, and not in God. To find them in God, the gourd must wither.

There are stages in the history of many, like to that of the. widow of Sarepta. During the first year of her acquaintance with Elijah, all went on smoothly; it must have been a happy time. The barrel of meal wasted not, nor did the cruse of oil fail; during that period there was no trial to nature, for though the prophet sustained her, it was in natural mercies that the widow’s resources lay. But when death comes in, when her only son dies, there is no remembrance of the joys of the past year. Her sin, brought to remembrance, oppresses and overwhelms her broken heart.

There is really no complete deliverance from sin, while what meets nature is the solace of the heart. As with Job, the comforts go first; the ability to enjoy them, next; and lastly, he loses sight of himself in the presence of God. If we be spiritual, the removal of that which ministers to nature only deepens and increases the spiritual; but if we have drawn our enjoyment from the mercies or expectations here, the break up and scattering of them must needs not only betray the insufficiency of what we had counted on, but it must also expose the innate insubjection and rebellion of our ^[p. 20] nature to God. So much so, that the once happy one is not only unhappy because of loss, but also because of the evil and wilfulness brought to light, where everything seemed right and orderly before. The only remedy for this is simple occupation of heart with Christ in glory.

But in another way we may also lose ground. It is said of tithes (Deuteronomy 26: 14), “I have not eaten thereof in my mourning”; that is to say, nothing due to God has been limited or relinquished because of sorrow. When I make my sorrow an excuse for inattention or slackness in God’s service, I am eating the tithes - His due, His rights. This is a common fault, and one commonly excused, but of great loss to the soul, because God, who alone can comfort those who are cast down, is neglected at the very time when He ought to be the object and rest of the heart. This inattention or slackness will betray itself in everything. Zeal for God’s house is dormant, and the very time is lost in which one would secure the needed succour from God, because one turns in on one’s self. His service is neglected, and He is unsought when most needed.

There can be no real progress, but as we reach and enjoy Christ outside and apart from the things that are seen; and if I am really there, I am outside that which suits nature. Revive or seek what suits nature, and you can never be in a full clear sense of its end before God.

How could you enjoy nature, and at the same time rejoice that your old man is crucified with Christ? Revive it for the heart, and you revive it for the conscience. If you seek resource in nature, you will not have rest of heart in God. The Lord lead you to find the rest of your heart in Himself, as you already know that the rest of your conscience is there.