THE BROTHERLY COVENANT
[p. 9] THE BROTHERLY COVENANT
Hebrews 13: 1; Deuteronomy 2:1 - 9; Amos 1:9
My thought is to speak a word about the relationship in which the Lord has set us as brethren, a term which is, thank God! now current among us, and the fact that it is current and appreciated shows, that there has been recovery amongst the people of God. The exercise is that what has been recovered may continue; not only the relationship, but that which belongs to it, that is, the love that is suited to it, brotherly love, and so I would wish to enlarge on the subject by the Lord’s help, especially as found in the epistle to the Hebrews, which is not a formal, apostolic epistle, but one written on the ground, as one might say, of mutuality. The writer begins by saying, “God having spoken... to the fathers in the prophets, at the end of these days has spoken to us”. He is not assuming that he had any special official place, but having a message involving an exhortation, he delivered it on the ground of mutuality.
In writing his apostolic letters, Paul usually associated with himself a brother, and this is especially so in corrective letters. You will recall that in writing his first epistle to the Corinthians he associated with himself “Sosthenes the brother”, and in the second letter, “the brother Timotheus”; that is, combined with his official position as an apostle, there was the brotherly representative. Those who have to do with military matters know how at the tribunals a military representative is there, representing the claim of the military authorities, and while, of course, this is very different from what a brother suggests, I name it as illustrating the idea of association in acting. Although Paul was a brother, he was also an apostle, and as an apostle he represented the authority of Christ; the authority [p. 10] of Christ was vested in him, as it had been in the twelve.
It is a point of great interest in the opening of the Acts to see how Peter on the day of Pentecost stood up in his official capacity as an apostle not associated with the hundred and twenty; that is, with the brethren as such, but with the eleven; “But, Peter standing up with the eleven”, (Acts 2: 14). They were the ones who had been commissioned to announce the glad tidings, and it is said of those who believed through Peter’s testimony, that “they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship“(verse 42); they were brought into a new system which superseded that established by Moses. Instead of Moses’ seat, it was Christ’s seat, represented in the apostles; that was how matters stood at the beginning. When we come to Paul, we find that he is careful to associate with his authority the brotherly spirit. There was one linked with him in writing the letter to the Corinthians who had the heart of a brother; that would tone the letter, not that any modification was necessary, for Paul had the heart of a brother, but he would by this means assure the brethren to whom he was writing that what he wrote was not out of keeping with the spirit of a brother; so we read, “Paul, called apostle of Jesus Christ, by God’s will, and Sosthenes the brother”, (1 Corinthians 1: 1).
You will find this principle of associating others with him common in the different epistles of Paul, but especially in the corrective ones, and it is worthy of special note that when he wrote to the Galatians he mentions not only one brother, but “all the brethren with me”, (Galatians 1: 2) It was not only the affections of the brethren, but their solemn judgment as to an error that was about to rob the people of God of their liberties. It is a serious thing when all the brethren, or the brethren generally, are of one mind about a matter. That which belongs to Christ, His [p. 11] rights, and the liberty of the saints were threatened and therefore the apostle associates with him in his letter to the Galatians “all the brethren”. “Paul, apostle...... and all the brethren with me”. I call attention to this, dear brethren, so that we may see how the spirit of the brother is to pervade everything in Christianity, from authority down to the relations in which we stand one toward another.
When we come to the epistle to the Hebrews, it is not the authority of the writer that is in view, but the mutuality that should mark the people of God. When I speak of mutuality, I speak of what we have in common in the way of possession. The early Christians began, according to Acts 2, with holding everything in common; “all things” were in common. The principle was so pronounced amongst them that even their material possessions were held in common. Paul distinguishes in that regard in 1 Timothy and elsewhere. In writing this epistle, the writer speaks of the spiritual things which Christians have in common, and they are very much greater, I need not remark, than material things, for they are enduring, and they become a binding element amongst the people of God. I suggest for your consideration expressions which recur frequently in this epistle, “we have” and “let us”. We have things in common. It is not that he says, “do you”, but “let us”, and that leads on to what I may call in the language of Scripture, the “brotherly covenant”.
I do not know whether you have noticed the expression, but it occurs in the scripture I have just read from Amos, “Tyre...... remembered not the brotherly covenant”. The principle of covenant is very pronounced in the epistle to the Hebrews, and I think that this principle helps greatly in the formation of mutual relations and bonds; indeed, in this as in all else, we have to learn from God. According to Thessalonians, it is God who teaches us to love one another, ye “yourselves are taught of God to love one another”, (1 Thessalonians 4: 9) and so I believe that the brotherly covenant must be the outcome of what God is to us in Christ.
In this epistle you will find the thought of covenant alluded to in different connections. It is said of Jesus that He became Surety of a better covenant; that is, a better one than the first, and it is established on better promises. Let us not shelve these promises for a later day. They are for us in the principle of them, and so also is the “better covenant”, (Hebrews 9: 6) of which Jesus is Surety. Primarily it is consummated as regards the house of Israel and as regards the house of Judah, but Jesus is the Surety of it, and, moreover, it is later said, we have come to Jesus the Mediator of it, we have come to that Man; and in the last chapter of this epistle we read that the God of peace “brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep in the power of the blood of the eternal covenant”. (Hebrews 13: 20) Note eternal covenant; that is to say, one which is never to be broken, for it is not dependent on us, it is effectuated through the blood of Jesus; it is dependent on God, for Jesus is brought again from the dead in the power of the blood of it, and He is the great Shepherd of the sheep. What a Shepherd for the sheep to be under the care of! We have to take account of the Lord in these various connections.
We have to know Jesus in every connection, and what a study for our hearts to contemplate Him in these varied ways. He is Surety of a better covenant, He is Mediator of a new covenant, He is the One who has made the covenant effective, and then He is the great Shepherd of the sheep whose blood sealed the covenant! How important to know Him too as the One who has come out of the grave in the power of the everlasting covenant! The covenant is a question of the love of God all through, what His [p. 13] love is to this people and what it provides. How every shepherd, as knowing the great Shepherd of the sheep would be concerned that the saints should not miss anything of that love! It is all to be brought to the sheep; they are to be nurtured in it. As Israel in the future will be brought up under the “apple tree”, that is, under Christ as the. Mediator of the new covenant, so we now as Christians are brought up under the nurture of Christ, nourished in the love of God. We have to learn Christ in these relations, and as learning Him we come to apprehend the idea of covenant, and in this way we learn to maintain the brotherly covenant.
Now the assembly began with that, but all were not true to it. Tyrus is the figure of such; whatever the covenant relations may have been, Tyrus disregarded them, “and remembered not the brotherly covenant”: His punishment on that account is, that “I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre”. Am I aware of the fact that I am in relation to my brethren in a holy covenant? It is from God that I learn what the thing is. At what cost, beloved brethren, has God brought in the thought and made it effective for me in the Mediator! Think of what the life, of Jesus here upon earth was to God! He who grew up, as it is said, as a tender plant, He who was ever green for God, whom He regarded as His “only One”, His Elect, in whom His soul delighted! It was that One whom God gave up. The life was in the blood, but what a life was the life of Jesus! God gave that up in order to make His thoughts effective for you and for me, and now, am I not to be according to that? If that precious life was surrendered by God, and that precious One brought up from the dead, in the power of the blood of the eternal covenant, as the great Shepherd of the sheep, what effect has that on me? What about my life? My life after the flesh is of no value surely; it is forfeited by sin. God’s word to Adam was “dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return”. (Genesis 4: 19)
But then I am a Christian and a Christian is born of God; he is born of water and the Spirit, and made to live too in the power of the Spirit in the life of Christ; viewed thus he is not dust; there is in him something for God, something that abides. What am I to do now with that life? Paul tells us: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your intelligent service”. (Romans 12: 1) “The body is dead on account of sin, but the Spirit life on account of righteousness”. (Romans 8: 10) The body in itself is dust, but it is of great value now in that it is animated by the Spirit of God. See what a Christian is for God, what he is now as emancipated from sin, living in the Spirit; the Spirit being life! There is that which is to be for God. So the body is presented, not a dead sacrifice, but a living sacrifice. That is all the fruit and effect of what I see in God, made good to me in the death of Jesus, who was brought again from the dead in the power of the blood of the everlasting covenant. My life is to be thus devoted to God.
It is in that way I enter on the ground of the brotherly covenant. I have love in my heart. God has placed His love there, and what for? That we should be like Him; as David said, when established in his kingdom, “Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (2 Samuel 9: 1) It was a brotherly covenant, for Jonathan had made a covenant with David, “he loved him as he loved his own soul”, (1 Samuel 18: 3) and David in his lamentation over the death of Jonathan said: “thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women”, (2 Samuel 1: 26) and now he would show kindness to the house of Saul for Jonathan’s sake. So with the sense of the love of God in my heart I look at the brethren, and I act [p. 15] to show the kindness of God, and the love of God for Christ’s sake. That was what Christians were at the beginning, but, alas! as with Tyrus, the covenant has been broken; there have been those who have been untrue to the bond in which the Lord has set us. “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not revoke its sentence”, Jehovah said; the punishment is irrevocable. As the Lord says to Thyatira, “I gave her time that she should repent, and she will not repent”. (Revelation 2: 21) That is God’s way; there has been the transgression; the brotherly covenant has been broken; and then the punishment is fixed. I only cite the case of Tyre as an instance.
The Lord has His eye on everything that is going on down here in the sphere in which His name is publicly owned; He walks “in the midst of the seven lamps”. (Revelation 1: 12) When He comes to Philadelphia He finds there the brotherly spirit. I have no doubt that the very name suggests it, and in it He has His place. I make bold to say that the Corner stone is in Philadelphia, for everything is for Christ; it is what is after Christ. He said, “thou hast kept my word”; and “thou hast kept the word of my patience”. The promises to the overcomer are connected with what belongs to Christ, “the temple of my God...... the name of my God...... the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my new name”. Such is what He offers to those who are marked by brotherly love.
Well now, in reading the passage in Deuteronomy, I wanted to show how God has respect to the rights of brethren. I have no doubt in my own mind that mount Seir refers to the place of the brethren. You will remember that it is said in this book that “there are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea”. (Deuteronomy 1: 2) I believe it is true spiritually, that the way into privilege is via the [p. 16] brethren; in that sense Colossians precedes Ephesians, for finding the Christian circle leads on experimentally to the heavenly place. The other way is a long way round and involves much exercise, and that may be necessary, but the divinely short way is via mount Seir.
I do not refer to the passage for that reason, but, as I said, to call attention to the fact that God has respect to the rights of the brethren. You may say to me, I did not know we had any rights. If I claim any I am in a false position, but I must recognise that you have rights, and so the word here is “Command the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir ... meddle not with them”. I have, therefore, to respect the brethren: they have rights: if I regard them according to God, there are no people who have such rights as the brethren. In the first epistle to the Corinthians “all things” are said to be ours, and amongst them the servants, the ministers, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas. Must I meddle? must I interfere? In Christendom the thing is reversed; you hear of certain men speaking of their flocks, whereas the truth is that the minister belongs to the congregation. If the Lord has graciously supplied a means of help for His people at the present time, let us not meddle, yea; rather let us see to it that the saints get all there is for them; they need it.
Then it goes on to say, “I will not give you of their land”. You may say, It refers to Esau; it does, but he is regarded here as representing the brethren, and there must be no interference; their land is given to them according to the counsel of God, and we must not take it away from them. You may say, There is very little in this brother or in that one; but remember this, the Lord is able to make him stand, and the ministry he has received [p. 17] from the Lord he is responsible for, and the Lord will hold him to account for it, and that ministry is the property of the brethren. Then the reason given why God will not give them of their land is “Because I have given mount Seir unto Esau as a possession”, and further it adds, “Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink”. I do not pursue the passage. I bring it forward in order that we may see that the brethren have divinely given rights, rights granted to them in the sovereignty of love, and no one must meddle with these. Let the Lord have a free hand in His own heritage. Paul could say, “I have planted; Apollos watered; but God has given the increase”. (1 Corinthians 3: 6)
And now, dear brethren, I have said to you what I had in my mind, and in conclusion I come back to that one verse, “Let brotherly love continue”. (Hebrews 13: 1) I believe that that one feature is to mark the last days. There was a wonderful beginning for Christianity, and I believe, morally, there is going to be a wonderful ending, and one of the best evidences of it is that the bride says “Come”. The Spirit takes the lead in this, but the bride is with Him. It does not say, The Spirit and the bride shall say, Come, nor is it let them say, Come, but “the Spirit and the bride say, Come”. (Revelation 22: 17) It is characteristic. It marked the assembly at the very beginning, and the passage indicates clearly that it will mark her at the end. I believe, that as the conditions in the world become more marked by the features of Antichrist, the saints, as they are exercised to maintain separation from all that bears that character, will be led on more and more in unison with the Spirit to say, “Come, Lord Jesus”.
I commend to you the brotherly covenant, the importance of being bound up in the mutual bonds of divine love, so as to be fortified against the [p. 18] covenants of the world; it is in this way that brotherly love is seen to work out, and we are exhorted to let it continue, and I am encouraged to believe it will. Scripture says “he that has endured to the end” (Matthew 10: 22); it is not how one begins, it is how one finishes. If I have begun my Christian career in the enjoyment of the fellowship and the affections of the saints, let me keep there; the apostle says to the Thessalonians, “The Lord make you to increase, and abound in love one toward another”, (1 Thessalonians 3: 12) and this verse says, “Let brotherly love continue”, let it abide. May God grant that in His grace it may be so with each one of us, and to this end bless His word.