THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE DISPENSATION OF FAITH
[p. 274] THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE DISPENSATION OF FAITH
2 Timothy 1: 8; Revelation 19: 10; John 1: 35, 36
I have it in view to consider the subject of how God would bring about at the end of the dispensation of faith that with which the dispensation began. I read from the epistle to Timothy, because that letter was written for the last days. It may be inquired, why such a young man should be taken up in this way; why not an older one? It is because he was the only available one; the great point is availability. Paul says, I have no man like Timothy, one who would care how the saints got on; there must be progress if we are to be here for the pleasure of God. So Timothy being the available one is made trustee of the great treasure; he is reminded that “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”, 2 Timothy 1: 7. “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord”. The apostle speaks of our Lord.
Some of us have been made to feel the authority of the powers that be, and we must not despise government, for it is of God. The enemy is working at present to overthrow government. Whilst thrones fall and dynasties come to nought, Christians cherish their own Lord. The expression “our Lord” gives the suggestion of the seed royal which remains. You will all remember the spirit that came to light in Jezebel and Athaliah; the first was bent on the destruction of the prophets, the destruction of the word of God. This spirit is abroad today, and I earnestly beseech you to beware. Then we get Athaliah attempting to exterminate the seed royal. The contrast to this spirit we find in Obadiah, who “took an hundred prophets and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water”.
[p. 275] It is of great moment that the word be preserved, not only the Scriptures, through the providence of God these have been preserved to us, but the direct word from God that comes through the prophets among us must be preserved, as well as the principle of administration in the house of God; the Lord’s word conveying to us His mind and His authority.
“My yoke is easy, and my burden is light”, (Matthew 11: 30) touches our hearts: how sweet just to turn to Him whom we regard as our own Lord. If discipline brings us to Him, how well worth while. If today we have been brought to a deeper apprehension of Christ as Ruler, we have indeed something for our hearts to contemplate. Mary says, “they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him”. (John 20: 13) Thank God they cannot do that we know where He is; and Peter, in Acts 2, tells the Jews where He is, “This Jesus hath God raised up whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear”.
When the Lord was down here the link had been formed in their hearts with Him, so Peter says in his next address, “And he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began”. We know the link which binds us to Him, He is hid in our hearts, and as the Seed Royal is hid in the heavens.
I want now to speak to you of the testimony of our Lord. He has made good the thoughts of God for us, but I am speaking of Him now in the position of Administrator. Paul says, “we all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory [p. 276] even as by the Lord the Spirit”, 2 Corinthians 3: 18. It is a question of what God is. The testimony of the Christ refers to what He has accomplished in regard of the counsels of God, and there will be the shining out in the ages to come, and all will bring glory to God in the assembly, through the ages of ages.
Paul says in Ephesians 4, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called”. Think of being detained in the prison at Rome for the Lord’s service, that he might be a vessel used for the making known of God. So he says to Timothy: Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner. The point is, that he is His prisoner, the prisoner of the Lord. Do we know what it is to look into the face of the Lord and see what God is? “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”. Authority in liberty carries with it the love of God. Love always goes along with authority in Christianity, and authority is absolutely necessary to the Christian. As I look into the face of that blessed Man I see it radiant with the love of God, love is never out of accord with authority. Moses says of God that “He shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints; from his right hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand ... ... And he was king in Jeshurun”, Deuteronomy 33: 2 - 5. Moses was king in Jeshurun; he had that place in the affections of God’s people.
“Let your loins be girded about ... ... and ye like men who wait theirown Lord”, Luke 12: 35. There is nothing so attractive; the Lord ruling in the affections of His people, and as we look at Him we learn how to rule ourselves. I cannot understand a Christian who cannot rule himself. Christians are not a democracy; I beseech you to banish such a thought entirely and for ever. One learns to rule [p. 277] oneself as one beholds the face of Christ, and as you are taught to rule yourself you come under the lordship of Christ. He becomes King in your affections and there is no place for your own will; you are owning the authority of your Lord. That is what I understand by “the testimony of our Lord”, what God is as made known to the assembly; God’s love is made known in Christ. “The testimony of Jesus”, Revelation 19: 10. We are now engaged with a Man in respect of what He is before God, not ruling from God, but what He is to God. “The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus”. This is the antidote to Antichrist.
In John’s epistle there is much more addressed to the babes than there is to the young men and fathers. I think it would give us the position at the present time; there are many more in the babe state than young men and fathers, and the babes in Christ are exposed to the influence of the many Antichrists. May we drink deeply into the spirit of Christ in order that we may be fortified against these evil influences.
When you come to Jesus, you have come to a Man and one instinctively turns to Luke. Simeon came into the temple by the Spirit. There is no guarantee against anything apart from the Spirit. Simeon, by the Spirit, announces the mind of God in regard to the Child Jesus. Then in chapter 4, Jesus got into the synagogue, the local meeting house, and “when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”. Note the perfection of grace; Jesus stands up, reads and sits down. “And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth”. Have Him before you in what He was as Man.
John brings in the walk of Christ. This afternoon we were looking at Thessalonians, and the word, “how ye ought to walk and to please God”. John [p. 278] brings before us the pattern of how we ought to walk. John stands, and two of his disciples with him. We sit to listen, but we stand to look. Zacchaeus climbed to look, and it was well worth while climbing to see Jesus. “Looking on Jesus as he walked”, John says, “Behold the Lamb of God”. Now Jesus is walking, and I would ask you to look at His walk. God raises up ministers to call attention to His walk. John, “looking on Jesus as he walked, saith, Behold the Lamb of God! and the two disciples followed Jesus”. There is movement, and I would call your attention to the walk of Jesus that you might follow Him. I must not set aside the truth of the cross in my walk. That ye might know “how ye ought to walk and to please God”. Watch the manner and the dignity of His walk. John the baptist had claim to a great place in this world, but he refuses it all; he sends his disciples after Christ by his ministry, and I appeal to you tonight to follow that blessed One.
It will not be long before very strong claims will be put forward by a man, and we need to be fortified to withstand the claims of that man. The fortification is to have the testimony of Jesus in the heart. This is food for the priests; as we feed on that Man we are brought into the good of reconciliation, and to be here for the pleasure of God. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men”.
We are together loving one another here for the pleasure of God and so preserved suitable for translation as the time for it draws near. Men patterned after Jesus are the ones who are ready for translation. Those holy courts above will be peopled by such. Beloved brethren, how important it is that we should pick our steps, follow in His steps, that we may be here as those who love His appearing.