FIRST PRINCIPLES
[p. 53] FIRST PRINCIPLES
I have read this passage for two reasons — first because it introduces the baptism of John, and secondly, because it introduces the thought of Christ abiding: I wish to connect these two things. If the Lord abides, it is in connection with first principles. So it is said here that He went beyond Jordan, where John baptised “at the first”, and abode there.
Now John baptised elsewhere later. We find a disputation at the second baptising between one of his disciples and a Jew about purification. But we find no such occurrence at the first baptism of John; that introduces to us what may be called first principles. It opens up, indeed, a wide set of circumstances, because it gives the occasion on which the Lord Jesus Christ is owned publicly by the Father. As God looked down and saw the remnant moving from Jerusalem, from all parts of Judea, from the different countrysides to the Jordan, it afforded Him pleasure, as indeed any such movement does at any time or in any place, where men are moved in regard of God. We learn in Luke there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repents, so that we may be assured, as these repentant Israelites moved from different sections of the country, there was interest in heaven.
But One comes (we are told), among the others, emerging from the obscurity of private life — not indeed that He was ever obscure from the divine eye, from the Father’s eye, but obscure in regard of men. Even John the baptist, His relative after the flesh, had to say, “I knew him not”. John 1:31. So He comes and proposes to be baptised. Think of the Lord of glory — He, as it is said, by whom all things were made, and who upholds all things by the word of His [p. 54] power — humbly moving to the Jordan in relation to His people, the people of Jehovah, as they moved.
John says, “I have need to be baptised of thee, and comest thou to me?” Matthew 3:14. One admires the saying. But the Lord says, “Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us” Matthew 3:15 — not it becometh ‘Me’, but “it becometh us”. He associates Himself with the accomplishment of righteousness — “It becometh us”, He says, “to fulfil all righteousness” Think of what that was to God! There was One who had it in His heart that not one iota of righteousness should be left out. He says, “All righteousness”. Thus John submits and Jesus was baptised.
And coming out of the water He sees the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descending in bodily form. Marvellous event! The Holy Spirit in bodily form as of a dove — and it abode upon Him. And the Father’s voice says, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight”. Matthew 3:17. That was what took place when John baptised at the first. Think of all that lay behind the sending of the Holy Spirit on that occasion, reaching back as it did and covering all men from that moment to Adam. Upon none could the heavens open; to none could those words be uttered, “This is my beloved Son”! What lay behind that? The freshness and vigour of a life that from its infancy, from its very first movements, was devoted to God. He was cast upon God from the very outset in dependence. And He grew up; as it is said, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant”. Isaiah 53:2. He grew up before God, before Jehovah, as a tender plant. Think of the freshness that met the eye of God in that tender sapling.
The Psalmist speaks of the trees of the Lord being full of sap. Never was it more true than in that holy Babe, and in the boyhood and manhood of Christ. He drew nothing from the soil around; He was as a root out of a dry ground, but there was that [p. 55] constant greenness, as one might say, for the eye of God. So the Spirit coming down, and the voice, told of what lay behind for God.
Then the dependence that marked him as a man. Arrived at the age of thirty, about to enter the service of God, according to Luke, He prayed.
Now, all this came out where John baptised at the first. Hence the Holy Spirit would recall us to what is at the beginning: as John says, “That which was from the beginning”. 1 John 1:1. That is what the Holy Spirit would engage us with today. If He is to bring about a state of things answering to the mind of God at the end, He will engage us with what was at the beginning. John says to the little children, “If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father”. 1 John 2:24. The Lord would bring us back to that, He would keep before us that which was from the beginning. Thus the result is apparent: the Lord resorts thither. “He went away again beyond Jordan, into the place where John baptised at the first, and there he abode”. John 1:28.
Having said so much about the beginning, I want to say a word about the abiding. John does not present the Lord as a visitor to this world. He says, “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” John 1:14; it is not visited. You will find throughout this gospel references to the Lord’s abiding. But having told us who the Word is (”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God; all things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made: in him was life and the life was the light of men” John 1:1 - 4), he adds, “The Word became flesh”. John 1:14. Think of what is wrapped up in that! He became that in which He could be near to us, that in which He could dwell with us. So he says, “And dwelt among us; and we contemplated [p. 56] his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father, full of grace and truth”. John 1:14. It was such an one as that.
We can well understand therefore as Paul presented the truth, in affection to the Thessalonians, how they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God — the God whom the Son made known — and to wait for His Son from heaven. It was the same whom the apostles contemplated. An only One with the Father. He was with the Father to be contemplated. I cannot define what that meant, but I can understand the apostles being detained as they companied with the Lord and saw the relation that existed between that Man and God as His Father. Such is the privilege. He went in and out amongst them; He ate and drank with them; He spoke with them; He was weary with His journey; and yet here it states, “We contemplated his glory, the glory as of an only-begotten with a father, full of grace and truth”. John 1:14. That was their privilege.
And thus He was presented; and God in Him was presented in the gospel. Indeed the gospel is not rightly presented unless it is thus first, what God is in Christ, and then what Christ is with God. That is what I apprehend to be the gospel. We must have the latter. We shall never understand the greatness of what we have come into unless we apprehend what Christ is with God. “We contemplated his glory, the glory as of an only-begotten with a father”. John 1:14. “With”. It is what He is “with”. Think of beholding that what He was with God. And then to know that One moving in and out with them, dwelling among them. That is what John presents: not a visit; that is not John’s point of view, but it is always, “We know that the Son of God is come”. Not come and gone, but come.
And so He comes to dwell. Hence in chapter 2 we have, “Where abidest thou?” John 2:38. The Lord did not [p. 57] there say, I have no place to lay My head; elsewhere He did. When one sought to follow Him He said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head”. Matthew 8:20. But that statement is not found in John. John is dealing with the Lord Jesus coming into this world as the Son, and He has got an abiding place; and hence it is, “Come and see”. John 2:39. It is a spiritual place. Would that we could know more of that request — “Come and see”.
In John it is always available for us, for John supposes a work of God in the soul. In Luke it is Christ come into manhood to seek men — He came where the man was, fallen among thieves, in a half dead state; but that is not the abiding place. Neither is an inn an abiding place. With John it is “Come and see”. He has an abiding place outside the ordinary reckonings of man. One has to learn where it is. John is entirely on spiritual lines. Not that the others are unspiritual, of course, but John supposes there is a work of God in the soul, and on the ground of that He can invite you to come. So the Lord says, “Come and see” — a wonderful invitation that may be heard today! The Lord would invite its to come and see where He abides.
John tells us that “they abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour”. John 2:39. From that point you get movement on their part. Andrew seeks Simon; Philip seeks Nathanael. So that you have purpose as the abiding is understood. There is movement according to Christ. But the first thing is “Come and see”. I would appeal to every one, especially the young — if you are to know the abiding place, the word is, “Come and see”.
The Lord, it is said, went over beyond the Jordan where John baptised at the first; and He abode there. “And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle but all things that John spake of this man were true”. John 10:41. That is, the gospel is in connection with the abiding place in this evangelist. “And many resorted unto him”. It is not that He seeks them out, but they resort to Him. And then, what comes out is that whatever John said about Him is known to be true. So I would say to every young one here, if you want to be sure about the things that you have heard (and we have had much ministry), the certainty or confirmation is in the abiding place. They say, John did no miracles, but what he said about this man was true. It is an immense thing to be sure of a thing. How are you to be sure? Not by remaining outside at a distance.
One has great sympathy with many of the Lord’s people who know nothing about the abiding place. They are clinging to Scripture — and one is thankful that the scripture has authority — where would any of us be without that? Scripture truly has authority and should command us, but then there are many of God’s dear people who are not confirmed. As the apostle said to the Corinthians, “He that stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God”. 2 Corinthians 1:21. We want establishment, and one has great sympathy and consideration for dear brethren who know nothing about the abiding place. They are wanting in confirmation. Here they say that John did no miracle, but what he said about this Man was true. It is an immense thing to have that in your soul: to be confirmed in everything that you have heard in the way of ministry according to Scripture. It says here, “many believed on him there”. John 10:42. It is a point of great importance where you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
From the point of view of Luke, the Lord comes in and meets the soul, the individual soul; if one goes astray He leaves the ninety and nine and goes after the lost one and places it on both shoulders and takes it home rejoicing — that is Luke: he found the lost [p. 59] one on the mountains. And from that point of view it is no question of where you may be, nor indeed is it in any sense from a geographical point of view, but it is a very great matter as to the moral surroundings where you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Many true believers in Christ are at a great disadvantage because they believe on Him in surroundings that have been corrupted with bad teaching. Many of them are dwarfed, as I may say, maimed and underdeveloped, because they have not believed on Him “there”. You say, Where? In relation to first principles. It says, they believed on Him there.
I would say to young people whose parents have walked in the light that you have a great advantage. You have come to believe on the Lord in surroundings that do not admit of evil, of moral evil or spiritual evil. You have a great advantage and you should cultivate it. It is open to you to be like those who believed on Him in this place: they believed on Him where John baptised at the first: and there He abode. It is an immense thing to come to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ where He abides, and where first principles are maintained.
And one would say to the elder ones, how important it is if our young are to be brought up aright and develop into young men and fathers that the elders should maintain first principles. John says, “I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning”. 1 John 2:13. I would like to be a father. John has a word for the young people specially; he addresses them by themselves. And then young men also are addressed by themselves: and then the fathers. There is a word for each. And so John’s word for the elder ones is, “Ye have known him that is from the beginning”. 1 John 2:13.
Many elder ones, who have been long on the way, recall reminiscences of the service of certain servants [p. 60] which are interesting, but rich as are such reminiscences they do not constitute a father. One cannot but remember that Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, could recall many of Elisha’s exploits but to whom is he recounting them? to a wicked king. What link could he have with such a man as that? He had immense opportunity. He could not only have recounted the exploits of Elisha, he knew his faith and devotion. He had evidently come into favour with those in high places through his relations with Elisha, but they did not add to him, nor did it indicate that he was in accord with what was at the beginning. What was at the beginning? Elisha says to one of the kings, I would not look at you were it not for Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat feared God.
So with Naaman when he came to Elisha: Elisha did not even come out to see him. These were the features from the beginning that Gehazi had forgotten about. We may grow old and be able to recall the exploits of others, yet be devoid of the qualifications or features of the fathers. What are these? The knowledge of Him that is from the beginning. No servant is now from the beginning. Jesus is from the beginning. The knowledge of Him that is from the beginning is what marks a father. As I have already said, what marks the Lord at the outset was that which marks Him still. The Lord remains ever what He was — “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever” Hebrews 13:8. The knowledge of Him today is the knowledge of Him as He was at the beginning. It is thus the fathers know Him.
May the knowledge of Him that is from the beginning preserve us in vigour, in vitality, and in freshness, that we may have maturity of judgment, that we may have experience. Those who know the Lord in that way have what young men cannot have — they have experience. So that is the experience of those who know the Lord according to what He [p. 61] was when He was baptised. The soul ever reverts to it as loving Him. He is the Father’s Son; it is the same One that the Thessalonians waited for. There is thus carried in the soul that first freshness and energy, and, I was going to say, in our service there is found brevity or pointedness that is edifying.
I think that, as John the baptist is the model servant, Mary of Bethany is the model worshipper. She represents one that knew the Lord. She had a pound of ointment, the intelligent apprehension of Christ rightly measured, and suited to the occasion. That is remarkable intelligence — spiritual intelligence. The Lord explains it. He says of Mary, ‘She hath kept this against the day of my burying. Let her alone’. You may be sure that in the Lord’s service, or in the Lord’s worship, the worship of God, that which is the outcome of love shall be taken into account and approved according to its value by Him. He was going to die. Those feet that had been anointed in Simon’s house were again anointed, but this time because they were going into death. Mary knew that. They were carrying that blessed Man into death. She anointed Him for His burial. It was an action of intelligence, and it was so regarded by the Lord Jesus.
That is all I would say, the Lord abides where first principles are maintained, and He is to be believed on there.