FIELDS

^[p. 17] FIELDS

1 Corinthians 3: 6 - 9; Genesis 27: 26, 27; Proverbs 24: 27

I have the scriptures in Corinthians especially in mind, and have read in the Old Testament to amplify, and perhaps clarify, what is said there by the apostle. The scriptures taken together treat of the idea of a field, that is a portion of the earth which is set apart as profitable, which may be sown in and reaped with a view to a crop. The thought of a field has a wide and varied meaning in Scripture. In Matthew 13: 38, for instance, it is said to be the world, so that it is very wide, the world viewed as capable of cultivation, capable of receiving seed and producing a crop. Then we find it also as containing treasure secured by purchase, so that rights are acquired over it. Then we find it in many other connections, that is as characteristic of what is convertible, the beasts of the field. We find, as already alluded to today, the field of Ephron, a field that commands peculiar interest as, whilst it is a burying-place, it points to resurrection. A wide area is secured, at least an area called a field, called that several times, and the trees in it, all that was in it secured with care, money paid out for it, a testimony as we have already had today to the power of God, whilst it has the grave too, in the light of the death and resurrection of Christ, who as it is said, annulled death and brought life and incorruptibility to light through the gospel. That is the field, whether it be where the saints as together bury a loved one, or whether it be whence the saints who are buried come forth at the quickening word of Christ to resurrection, to life. The Lord through redemption has rights, which He now uses in respect of the burial of loved ones, for they are all His, His dead, but as “the section of the bush” proves, as He called it Himself,

^[p. 18] it is the life realm, all live to Him, He says. God is not the God of the dead but of the living, so they are all as good as raised. Faith understands that and that field will glow in life and glory as the Lord Jesus descends from heaven and awakes the sleeping saints and changes the living. No one will see anything, the whole scene will be dominated by the power of God; no power can cope with that and we shall go up without any molestation or hindrance.

Then there is the field of Hanameel which Jeremiah bought, pointing to the future when fields and vineyards shall be bought and sold and the title-deeds secured. There are no title-deeds mentioned in regard to the purchase of the field of Ephron, but it is a public matter. We are told the price secured; it is a public matter secured to Abraham, secured to faith; in other words it cannot be infringed upon or interfered with, a matter that should be in our hearts as we bury our dead. The field of Hanameel, on the other hand, is sealed by writing, part sealed and part open. The deeds, as I may call them, are lodged in an earthen vessel, no doubt alluding to the living saints today who have the treasure in earthen vessels, keeping every thought of God in their hearts; whether for themselves or for Israel all the promises are yea and amen in Christ, cherished in the hearts of the saints now, so that the title deeds of the field are always secure. Everything thus is viewed, dear brethren, for us; victory is in all these things, but it is all a matter of faith, faith sustained in life by the power of the Spirit of God.

These two fields, as I said, present certain features, but the verses I have read refer to the saints, the saints viewed as a field, or husbandry. Husbandry is a similar thought, an area cultivated by God, and in which He is operating. Even in a debauched worldly city like Corinth God would have what He regards as His husbandry treasured. No one can infringe upon ^[p. 19] it with impunity. As the apostle says, “Having in readiness to avenge all disobedience when your obedience shall have been fulfilled”, 2 Corinthians 10: 6. There were those who were entrenching on the rights of God there, but they should come in for their deserts for God’s husbandry is not to be touched by a foreign hand.

Well now, I want to comment on the verses in the Old Testament so as to lead up to this point, so that the brethren may see, whether it be in Cambridge or any other city or town or village where the saints are, that God has His husbandry. As the Lord Himself says in another setting, “My Father is the husbandman”, a very solemn fact and yet very comforting, for a father suggests, grace, and yet severity. Love indeed must be severe where there is that which damages; it is not love to treat lightly that which may be in the child or the saint and which damages the vineyard or the husbandry. It is not love at all. There must be skill in the way love acts, but love will act with the utmost severity, as the apostle says, “I would that they would even cut themselves off who throw you into confusion”. So the Lord announces to Paul, “I have much people in this city”. That is what He alluded to, He had them, not yet actually, but potentially; that is to say, it was like a field, as I hope to show in a moment, a field prepared of the Lord. There is the smell of it, not yet a crop, but the smell, known to God, of a field that was to be fruitful. Now these remarks bring me to Genesis 27, a well-known scripture and one which fits peculiarly in what I have in my mind; one may touch, in dealing with it, on the individual believer, in the manner in which Isaac regards his son. The affection conveyed in Isaac’s invitation to his son is touching, and I need not remark that it is not a mere historical matter, but one to be used at any time, bearing indeed directly on us, for these two men so prominent in the chapter are,

^[p. 20] as the sequel shows, the true or real brother and the false brother. This thought runs down the Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi, and indeed from Matthew to the Revelation, the thought of the genuine brother and the false brother. A comparison of the blessing will help us; the scripture says that Isaac blessed them both by faith, but a comparison of the blessing will show how the one is the real brother and the other the false, although Esau had every opportunity as every normal brother does. Heaven spares nothing that would help him, to make him real, so that Esau is blessed but he is not kissed, he is not said to be kissed, nor is he called near, and his blessing is just what he should have without any thought of giving, whereas Jacob’s blessing is all a question of gift. Esau shares in great advantages in the fatness of the earth and the dew of heaven, but says Isaac, “It shall come to pass when thou rovest about, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck”, that is Jacob’s yoke. “When thou rovest about” meaning what we call loose or independent brothers. I am not saying they are not christians; I am only speaking of the character of roving about, no submission to heaven, or ordering by heaven; none takes his place by divine appointment, thus each becomes independent; he breaks off the appointed yoke, which is very common in our days, a thing to be avoided. Is anyone here on the line of roving about? It is a warning; you may think you have got liberty but it is simply independence. On the other hand Jacob is called near by faith, for now Isaac is in the full position of faith and blesses, as representative of God. He draws near, how touching for young people, how God would call you near. “Come near ... my son”. Then he says, “See, the smell of my son”, a word that has to be quoted because smell is a matter of great sense and helps as to decisions, the smell you find. Here it is the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed, that ^[p. 21] is to say it is a christian, it is a christian acting in the divine nature, not yet perhaps having the crop in view, but potentially the thing is there. “The smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Jehovah hath blessed”, pointing to a future crop, and what a crop!-the crop is sure to come. And in the end we have the solemn fact that Esau is hated; there is no crop. Jacob is loved. “I loved Jacob”, alluding to what came out in his history, whereas Esau is hated, alluding to what came out in him. He had every opportunity to bear a crop, for God is wonderfully gracious to Esau making provision for him, as in the book of Deuteronomy he was not to be touched, but later the prophetic history denounces him. No nation is more denounced; we see God’s hatred of falsity among brethren. So there is urgency that young brothers and sisters should see to it that there is the evidence initially, in our faith, of the blessing of God, that is to say that kind of blessing which ensures a crop and makes you worth while for the virtuous woman to add you to her territory. It says, “A woman of worth” in Proverbs; she considers a field, she does not take on any field. Esau was a man of the field but he is not said to be a field which the Lord has blessed; a common man, he is not himself a field. The point is today whether the person himself is a field, that is what Jacob was. Faith makes the person himself a field, something that God can cultivate with a view to the crop. There is always seed-time, and seed-time is utterly worthless unless there is harvest time, seed-time and harvest. Sowing seed, except we get a harvest, is futile, and there is no harvest except the field is blessed of the Lord. There must be the latent power and activity in the field and that can only be by the work of God; so the virtuous woman considers the field. That is, the brethren enquire about anyone who seems to be blessed of the Lord; she considers a field and then acquires it, not joining “field to field” as we are told elsewhere, selfishly to add to our glory, but acquiring something for God that is the value of a field; the saints are of value in this respect; there is something, some crop, for God. God sows the seed of what He intends to secure; the earth is to bring forth. The farmer sows, but he does not know how the crop comes; the earth has latent power. There it is and the virtuous woman acquires a field: she has a crop in mind. Well now, that leads to Proverbs, to the verse I read. We are enjoined “Prepare thy work without, and put thy field in order”, that is yourself according to what I am saying. The brethren of course are to look after you as you come into fellowship; we see there are elders in the church and they would have an eye to the field, but then the point here is yourself. You are a potential field; there is a crop in you, as it were, but initially something hinges on yourself, it is your own responsibility: “Prepare thy work without”. It is a public matter evidently, I suppose including confession. No true lover of Jesus would fail to make known publicly his allegiance to Jesus, and he would have other public things in order, the regulation of his conduct, his business affairs, family affairs, and personal affairs, for remember too, there is a scrutinising eye in the assembly, so that a time will come for those eyes to look over you. In fact, you are better known in heaven than you may think, and in the assembly too, for they have been watching you; the field to be acquired. It may be that the time will come when you will have to show yourself, that is another thing. The Lord says to the cleansed leper, “Go, shew thyself to the priest”. Jehovah says to Elijah, “Shew thyself to Ahab”, as if to say, Elijah is a greater testimony after going through the experience of 1 Kings 17. Show yourself; God is concerned about our public appearances, and how much the question of practical righteousness enters into this! It is forced upon us ^[p. 23] at the present time; so much has happened to discredit the testimony. The garment of the wife of the Lamb, the fine linen, is the righteousness of the saints. How dreadful is the opposite of that, unrighteousness of the saints; it is a dreadful, sorrowful, subject; so that one is to see to oneself. John says, “If ye know that he is righteous, know that every one who practises righteousness is begotten of him”, 1 John 2: 29. It is a trait of the divine nature in us, so that you have this thought as I said, “Prepare thy work without, and put thy field in order, and afterwards build thy house”. How much might be said of that, as applying to an individual christian! For building is by love in relation to the brethren; they build by love. “Love edifies”. Let us not assume that without things being right publicly, things in order.

These remarks I think you will see, dear brethren, connect with the verses I have read in Corinthians, which verses contemplate the idea that I am speaking of, husbandry, or a farm, or a field, as collective, the saints collectively, not an individual but the saints as a whole in that town, and what brings the subject up in the apostle’s mind is that there were partisan conditions in Corinth; such are wholly inimical to the idea of a crop. What can you have with such conditions? Where partisan conditions exist the door is open for the enemy; there were wicked persons in that meeting; it was in a vile state, so that the apostle is led on to speak about this matter of husbandry by the fact that some in the place were saying that they were of Paul, and others of Apollos, or perhaps other names which he does not use. Now Paul planted, that was all he did in this respect, a great work, of course. The Lord had told him that He had much people in that city, that is He had husbandry in His mind and Paul was to sow the seed which would bring in the crop, and the crop would come. It was a very fine work and took eighteen months, I suppose; the idea was to ^[p. 24] see the time for a crop, seed-time and harvest. We must remember the harvest; so Paul stayed there eighteen months, and the crop was there. It says Paul planted, but Apollos came in; there was no divergence between Paul and Apollos. It is very beautiful to think of two labouring brothers united in their labours, just aiming at one thing, that is the crop. “The planter and the waterer are one”: that is very fine. Oh, that that were so, that every one in the field today was actuated by that one thought. “The planter and the waterer are one”. To illustrate the fact Paul says that he begged Apollos to go to Corinth and that he was not minded to go. You might think he was not one with Paul but he was; it was the depth of sympathy that he had, that he would not go lest there might be this very thing, putting him up against the apostle; love would not admit of that, taking advantage to obtain a reputation among them. It would quickly put him into prominence if he were to intimate that he was not quite with Paul, but he was with Paul. Thank God they were one, dear brethren. We must be on our guard against putting labouring brethren against each other in our minds; it is a sure way to put them against each other, even if they are not so already. It says, “comparing themselves with themselves”; it is not love doing this in regard of work being carried on. If a man can do a thing well and do it in love, let him do it, give him scope to do it; that is the principle. Paul had scope at the beginning and he planted; Apollos came in and he watered. It would look indeed as if in the Acts the apostle Paul was comforted as he arrived at Ephesus. I believe he had a sense that Apollos, as far as he could, was holding the ground for God in the husbandry. It is very beautiful when brethren can move thus. The planter and the waterer are one; the increase is from God. It may be planted and watered but there can be no increase without God, that is the ^[p. 25] correct thought, it is what is for God, so that he says, “Ye are God’s husbandry, God’s building”, that is what they were and the same thoughts apply as in Proverbs 24, that the field is to be put in order. The enemy came in and damaged things at Corinth and so in many gatherings that one might name; the field has to be kept in order; love must prevail, whether in those who come and water, seeking to serve the saints, or whether in those that are prominent locally. The field has to be kept in order and I believe that is why the letters to Corinth are so full of order, so full of directions, the public aspect of things must be right. It is futile to talk about building unless we have public order, unless the field is right, so to speak; so you have the apostle giving instructions when he was there and he praised them because they kept them.

It is a question of the field. Then he wrote other instructions, and says, ‘I will give you more when I come’. It is to keep the public state of things right, including practical righteousness and order and then the building. They were God’s building, but there could not be much said about it; there was only the foundation but the foundation was there, thank God, and well laid. He was a wise architect who laid the foundation. “Other foundation can no man lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ”. That is a question of apprehending, dear brethren, the kind of man in Christ, that is the foundation at Corinth, not the Son of God, Christ the Son of the living God as in Matthew; that is not the side presented. The foundation is the order of man that shone out in Christ, Jesus Christ. There is no other foundation; it is a public matter, what comes under man’s eye. Paul could speak about the foundation being there; it was there. No one else could lay another, but as to the superstructure he could not say anything; he makes no special mention of that but he goes on as to building. Now building is by love, building or edifying ^[p. 26] one another. Let each take heed how he builds; there is the thought of that in every locality, dear brethren. The word is as to the field, the husbandry, and then as to the building. The husbandry must be taken care of, the field must be put in order, which involves practical righteousness, and then the brethren getting together in love, edifying one another, as it says, in love.

Well, that was all I have to say, and I think you will have followed. The Lord is helping the brethren and is greatly desirous of building, as it says in Ephesians, a beautiful expression, being edified in love. It is a poor thing to be burdened, to have a beautiful house but with the lawn and garden and walks, everything in disorder, irregular; it is incongruous; have the field in order, have the public side in order, then the living conditions, the house, building in love, so that there is no incongruity about the position of any gathering, but everything pleasing to the eye of heaven.