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DEFINITENESS

James S.Gray

What is in mind, beloved brethren, is to speak a little of definiteness of speaking, definiteness of committal in speaking and in conduct in the light of our calling. This family of the Rechabites is a remarkable family, but the text of the scripture seems to suggest that what is prominent about them is obedience. I want to encourage my brethren along with myself as to obedience, obedience to the Lord Jesus, obedience to His word and His commandment, and as to definiteness in it. These people might have said, Well, we have been brought into the house of Jehovah, right into this privileged chamber; we are asked to drink wine; we might just do it on this occasion. No, they are definite in their word: ''We will drink no wine". You will understand me: as to its bearing on us I am not speaking about wine literally, but they are definite in the commandment which was given to them by their father. I would like to seek encouragement as together, beloved brethren, as to definiteness, firstly in relation to the Lord Jesus personally and the great love which He has expressed towards us. I think that we could think of Him first of all as to definiteness. You will remember that it is said of the Hebrew bondman: "But if the bondman shall say distinctly, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go free; then his master shall bring him before the judges, and shall bring him to the door, or to the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall be his bondman for ever" Exod 21: 5, 6. Now, that is the committal of Jesus, committal in obedience to all that the will of God required. He loved it, He lived by it; He enjoyed communion with His Father and fulfilling His will, and He said in that holy, precious hour when death was before Him, "If it be possible let this cup pass from me, but not as I will, but as thou wilt", Matt 26: 39. That was the obedience of Jesus. What example, what pattern He is for us beloved: "obedient even unto death" (Phil 2: 8) because the will of God was in His heart. He treasured every one of God's thoughts and would carry them through in spite of everything.

I think that we could consider the application of this commandment in Jeremiah 35 to ourselves in our day, for example as to the Lord's supper. It is really an appeal of love. I wonder if there is any true lover present who is not taking the Supper. You love the Lord Jesus, do you? I speak to myself as to others, but I trust that we are each definite in that, not unsure as to whether we will really commit ourselves to Him or not. How worthy He is! Who else has suffered for us as He has? Who has faced the agony of death that we might be eternally blessed in the presence of God? Oh, dear brother, dear sister, be firm, be definite in your committal to Jesus. He has done all for you. Let it be seen that you belong to Him! But if you are a true believer, are you taking the Supper? This family was obedient. Nothing would turn them aside. Love would seek the mind and the will of the One who loves us and would carry it out whatever the cost. The Lord and the Spirit may help us to be deepened in our appreciation of the Lord Jesus for what He is and for what He has done for us, but it is to promote definiteness of committal to Him on our side. It will mean that there are things you cannot do. Perhaps that may stand in the way of some true believers being prepared to commit themselves to the Lord's supper. I would seek to encourage you, if you are in that case, that it is far better to be definite in committal, because if you are half-way you will get nothing. You will really lose everything if you go half-way, but committal to the Lord Jesus in His supper, according to His desire of love, is what will lead you into satisfaction and the enjoyment of His own ministrations through His word.

It seems very striking that this family should be put through this test. I suppose it is to manifest, as the later part of the chapter shows, what God had in mind. God had a message for His people who were rebellious at the time and were not listening to His word, and first of all God says, Now, you see how this family has hearkened to the word of their father. So far as I can see, it could have been something like two or three hundred years between the time when their father gave them this word and this test - a long time! When the test comes, they are firm: "We will drink no wine". Why? Because of the commandment of their father. I think we could link that, in its application to our present time, with the determination to do nothing which is aside from the will of the Lord who has bought us and who claims us in all His authority in grace and in love.

I make the appeal to any who are not yet committed to the Supper that you might see the advantage. Read the end of this chapter! See God's promises that "there shall not fail to Jonadab the son of Rechab a man to stand before me, for ever". That is to say, I think, if we could link the thought of standing with preparedness to serve, that God is going to hold true persons available for His service to the end.

We might consider also the teaching of the apostle Paul. He says, "If any one thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognise the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord's commandment", 1 Cor 14: 37. Am I going to stand by it? Am I going to put it into practice? Am I going to seek the Holy Spirit's help to stand firmly in it with grace and power, and to do what, in principle, the Father has commanded? That is what this family did. They said, 'We are not going to be turned aside: the commandment of the father is sufficient: we will continue it: time may have passed but we are going to stand by the fulfilment of the commandment of our father in firmness and definiteness.

Now the Lord Jesus has given His commandment to us in much teaching through the apostle Paul and others, from the glory, but the apostle Paul's teaching is in he inspired word of God. Let none question the teaching of Paul! The beloved apostle had his teaching from the glory. He says, "have I not seen Jesus our Lord?", 1 Cor 1: 9. He was one who was in touch with the Man in the glory and his teaching was from there, and he speaks of it in this way, that it was the Lord's commandment.

Well there is instruction for our lives, beloved brethren. I am not going to go into detail. I wish simply to convey an impression of the great advantage and blessing of following the wonderful pattern in Jesus of definiteness of speaking and of action and of committal to al l that God's will requires. We will be tested but the Holy Spirit will help us. The teaching of Paul has become the inspired word of God. "Every scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete," 2 Tim 3: 16. Dear brethren, let us seek to be complete! Let us seek to stretch forward but, in stretching forward, let us remember that there is this commandment which the Lord has given through His beloved apostle, and He would have us to keep it. Better to take the Supper, dear fellow believer, and be committed to the Lord Jesus and look for help and instruction as to the teaching of the apostle Paul, the teaching as to the assembly and its heavenly calling, and the place which the saints have as linked with Christ glorified as the light came to the beloved apostle, "Why persecutest thou me", Acts 22: 7. Better to be identified with the Lord Jesus and to be committed definitely to Him and to His commandment through His beloved apostle and in all the Scriptures. The brethren will remember that the apostle Peter refers to that when he speaks about "our beloved brother Paul". He says, "according as our beloved brother Paul also has written to you ... among which some things are hard to be understood, which the untaught and ill established wrest, as also the other scriptures, to their own destruction", 2 Pet 3: 15, 16. That is the context there, but he says, "as also the other scriptures", so that the commandment of the Lord is conveyed to us in the word of God and its power by the Holy Spirit in His present activity.

So let us, beloved, freshly commit ourselves to all that the commandment of the Lord involves! Let us not seek to go in directions which are not suitable for Christians! I am not speaking of what is thought right in a certain narrow circle of a few brethren. I am speaking of the truth according to the apostle Paul, the truth according to the Holy Scriptures, and the claims of the Lord and Master who has given Himself for us, "that he should deliver us out of the present evil world" (Gal 1: 4) and “giving us an inheritance among them that are sanctified", Acts 26: 18.

I just speak for a moment about this word that comes to Jeremiah about the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. God says, "Will ye not receive instruction to hearken unto my words”. The point is the words that Jonadab gave to his family "are performed; and to this day they have drunk none". You say, Well, things are broken up. No, the truth remains, and the Scriptures remain, and the heavenly calling of the saints remains in its glorious character; and the way of blessing and the way of enjoyment is to be committed to it in faithfulness. Just as the family of Rechab did it for the sake of their father's word, so let us do it out of love for the Lord Jesus, and, might I say too, out of respect for those who have gone before, for those who are really fathers to us in this wonderful period of privileged revival in which we find our part.

I am hardly qualified to refer to the martyrs - those who suffered rather than give up the truth - but we have also the example of those, as the scripture speaks of them, "men who have given up their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ", Acts 15: 26. Is that not attractive? He rewards you: He certainly does. The reward is greater than anything that may be given up, but, beloved, we need to be definite about it. We need to say, This is the line of the truth which has been revealed and I will stand by that. You will be greatly tested by it. I am, and no doubt others feel the same, but, beloved, think of what has been, shall I say, invested in the way of faithful committal and unfolding of the precious things of God to us! It is not only what is in the books, precious as they are, every one of them; it is what is carried down in saints who walk in the light of the assembly, truth which is powerful to set us free from bondage here and give us liberty for the service of God.

You will remember that the apostle Paul speaks in that scripture to which we often refer, addressing Timothy as to the need for committing things to faithful men, "such as shall be competent to instruct others also", 2 Tim 2: 2. That is the kind of thing I have in mind, beloved, that we might respect those who have gone before and carried the truth and brought it through in expression in their lives. Brethren will well remember beloved Mr Raven's statement of truth that the testimony is maintained by our walking in it; that is to say, that the truth is to be in expression in each of us so that there might be that which is under the eye of God continued here. I am not suggesting it is narrow or in a small circle - I trust the brethren will understand - but the truth is available for all of us and our responsibility is to accept the obligation of obedience to the commandment on this line of what has gone before.

God says, "I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking" - how touching that is! "And I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending". Think of God, as it were, putting care and energy into all His expenditure of love towards us in what He has given. Are we going to give it up? Let us commit ourselves freshly to what God has given to us in the wonderful recovery of the truth of the Lord's supper and the light of the assembly and Christ glorified and the heavenly calling of the saints!

Let us commit ourselves freshly to it as our possession, that which belongs to us, and to all saints, and let us faithfully maintain it and turn from other things which might divert us. So, as I said, there is first of all this word that there is here in this family a testimony for God. Here is a family that has kept a word. Others have had God's patient and continuous sending of the prophets and speaking His word, and they have failed to keep it. Do we stand out, beloved - I speak as to ourselves as Christians - do we stand out as different from the course of things here? This family did. They were seen to be different. They stood apart, and they stood apart because of the commandment of their father. Well, let the commandment of the Lord Jesus, His claims in love, move us to seek to be different in character and in power and in conduct in our walk here until the Lord comes!

The result is, according to the final section, that Jeremiah gives this word from God to the family: "Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his injunctions, and have done according unto all that he hath commanded you; therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, There shall not fail to Jonadab the son of Rechab a man to stand before me, for ever". Let us see that God desires to be served! Let us see that continuance is on the line of committal to the Lord's commandment! There is great reward. If God seeks that the committal which He desires on our part is to make way for our being available for His service, He also would say, There is something in store for you. It is not only a question, important as it is, of seeking to be serviceable to God now. What a privilege that is, beloved! But it is this wonderful prospect. It says, as we read, "God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he has prepared for them a city". These are persons who have "confessed that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth", and I ask myself, have I confessed that? Abraham confessed it. He confessed that he was a stranger and a sojourner. Earlier in this chapter it says, "for he waited for the city which has foundations, of which God is the artificer and constructor" (v 10). He had something permanent in view. He was not diverted by what was around. His brother Lot - he was actually his nephew - was one who was prepared to go a certain way in the direction of the world and to dwell there, and he even had to be almost dragged out of a city which was about to come under the judgment of God. But Abraham confessed that he was a stranger and sojourner on the earth. He accepted God's word in obedience and he had the promise for the future. The point of this paragraph is that these persons who exercised faith did not actually come into the possession of the things promised. Our position is different from that. Actuality we await, but we come into possession now through the power of the blessed Holy Spirit who is able to open up to us the precious things of God. Think of what God has prepared for those that love Him! It says here, "For they who say such things" - (I suppose that was confessing that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth, the reference is to those mentioned in detail by name in the earlier part of the chapter) - "All these died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them from afar off and embraced them". I do not know how far that would go, but their faith was living. They believed God; Abraham believed God. He believed God as to the multiplying of his seed "as the stars of heaven in multitude" (v 12).

Then it goes on to say, "For they who say such things shew clearly that they seek their country". Well, that is really my burden for the moment, beloved brethren: "they who say such things show clearly that they seek their country". Where is your country? To which country do you belong? The beloved apostle says, "for our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens, from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour" Phil 3: 20. What a prospect and hope that is! Is that your commonwealth? Are your associations of life in heaven, beloved? Oh that we might find this more attractive, that the One who is there may attract us! As the hymn-writer says,

'A beacon us heav'nward attracting -

To meet Thee, the Hope of our heart! '

(No.131)

Well our associations of life are there already and the Holy Spirit would have us to go in for them. What is it that we are seeking? I speak to myself: what am I seeking? Am I seeking Christ? Am I seeking the things of God? They are very rewarding. They are satisfying to the soul. They are preservative in many ways. I tell you, beloved brother or sister, if there are any who are doubtful about full committal to the Lord Jesus, you will find the rewards much greater than you thought. You will find the rewards of the knowledge of God and of the love of Christ and communicative love in the circle of the saints more rewarding than you ever believed. Commit yourself to the Lord Jesus! Commit yourself to the path of faith! Have a definite purpose in your life! Have faith in God that He will provide for you! Show clearly that your country is not here but is in heaven where Jesus is!

It says: "but now they seek a better, that is a heavenly". Well, that is scripture's support for what I was saying, that they seek "a better, that is a heavenly"; and the things of God are better. Perhaps I could ask some of the younger brethren when they last read the epistle to the Hebrews from beginning to end. Read it and count up how many times you find the word 'better'! As you read it, remember that it is a book about "we have" and 'let us", and you will find it very encouraging and feeding and rewarding. What I am suggesting, beloved brethren, is as to what "we have" and seeking to encourage my brethren and myself on the line of "let us". Let us go in for the things of God! "But now they seek a better, that is, a heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he has prepared for them a city". There is something permanent, something lasting in view. We can have the earnest the enjoyment of it now, but wonderful permanent blessings and enjoyment are in view. The house of the Rechabites were prepared decade after decade to live in tents and not to have this or that because of the word - of their father; they stood out as different and they had that precious word that permanence would be maintained in their family as the result. What God has in view for us in our time in the path of faith beloved which we must each individually take for ourselves, is that we might show clearly by our conduct and the things that we do and the language that we use that we have a heavenly country, and then God will not be ashamed of us. Think of the touching character of that word that "God is not ashamed of them". Oh what men of stature, what women of stature were these men and women of faith in the old dispensation! - Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Sarah and others. Think of them! God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God: we have that in the Scriptures - "the God of Abraham". How precious that God should link Himself with a man in such a way. But my desire is that we might by our life and conduct show clearly that we seek our country, which is bound up with this city: "for he has prepared for them a city".

The word comes to me as to Philadelphia: "He that overcomes, him will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more at all out" - that is the thought of permanence - "and I will write" - another thought of permanence - "upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven, from my God, and my new name", Rev 3: 12. Well, there are things there, beloved, which might not even yet have been unfolded to us in their fulness, precious as is the teaching we have had as to them. But God would encourage us to go in for the heavenly things because they are very rewarding, and if we do so, we shall stand out as different, but the reward will be that God will not be ashamed of us to be called our God. May God bless the word!

LONDON

15 December 1990

READY CHILDREN

It is instructive to think about the various persons in the Bible who, when called, made the short rejoinder, "Here am I". The speakers differ much in age and in other ways as well. Even the lightnings, in God's marvellous description of nature's wonders in the Book of Job chapter 38, say "Here we are". Elsewhere God speaks of Himself as "I am HE, that saith, Here am I". The prophet, Isaiah, was told that God in His grace would be ready, when by the Glad Tidings of peace, His people would seek Him again. Isaiah for his part, when there was a call for someone to prophesy to the people of Israel, said, Here am I, send me.

One of the younger ones whom we should consider is Joseph. Scripture tells us that, whilst still in his 'teens, he was willing when called to go out into the surrounding country and seek after the welfare of his brothers, and of the flocks. He said to his father, "Here am I”. But his brethren were jealous of him and, sad to say, whilst serving them he suffered evil at their hands. We can but be reminded by these events that Jesus suffered similarly from His own nation - even unto death. However, just as Joseph later became, at thirty years of age, the ruler of all Egypt, so the once despised Jesus has been made both Lord and Christ.

Samuel was but a boy when he had to do with his God. He was ready in unusual circumstances to answer "Here am I" several times to the strange calls made to him as he lay on his bed in the temple precincts. At first he thought that it was the priest, Eli, who was calling him, but in fact God was graciously giving to Samuel a prophecy relating to the whole people of Israel. Referring to Israel reminds us of Moses, an older man and in much earlier times, who had the unique favour of beholding a thorn-bush on fire yet not burnt up. As he was looking there was a voice calling "Moses, Moses" to which he replied "Here am I" and he was entrusted with the welfare of the people.

There are other instances. Can you find them?

J.C.Evershed

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