DIVINE SPEAKING
Luke 10:38-42; 24:24-35; Jeremiah 6:16;
These scriptures, I am sure you will have observed, are about divine speaking. God is speaking now, in the person of His Son. He spoke before through prophets, spoke through others, but He “at the end of these days has spoken to us in the person of the Son”, Heb.1:2. We sang just now of the Lord’s voice:-
‘Blest Lord, Thou spakest! ‘twasThy voice
That led our hearts to Thee’ (Hymn 47).
You may say, ‘I heard the Lord’s voice during a preaching’, or ‘I received a tract in the street’, or maybe ‘a colleague spoke to me of the Lord Jesus’, but really it was His voice, His speaking. I trust that everyone in this hall today has heard the Lord’s voice, and that it has attracted you to Himself, that you have received Him into your heart, received Him as your personal Saviour. He is speaking to you, but that is not His only objective. It is but the beginning, because He loves you, and He is continuing to speak to you, and to speak to each one of us.
I read these passages about the Lord Jesus speaking, first in relation to two individuals, two sisters. Then we see Him speaking to two who were in a house, two persons who had received Him into their house; and then we read of God speaking to His people. The Lord is speaking in various ways. He might seek to speak that He might recover me, recover us to Himself. He might seek to speak to encourage you, as having hearkened to His voice already. He would seek to maintain you according to His mind. In the last passage we read, He is speaking to a local assembly. Think of the various ways the Lord is speaking at this present time.
I read about these two dear women here. One “received him into her house”. That was much credit to her, because there were those who would not receive the Lord Jesus. His face was set “to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51), and on account of this He was not received by the Samaritans. But this dear woman received Him into her house. Her sister was there; it says that she “sat down at the feet of Jesus” and He was speaking to her and she was “listening to his word”. What a wonderful discourse this was. We are not told the detail of it, but I am sure it would have included His speaking of the kingdom of God, His own pathway, the way that His feet were taking in commitment and the way that it was going to lead. It was going to lead into death, it was going to lead into suffering so intense that we cannot fathom or fully comprehend what His sufferings meant to Him. But, as Luke earlier describes, they were the “days of his receiving up”, Luke 9:51. He is now in glory, but first He was going to the cross. It meant that pathway of deepest woe for Him, in His love, not only as a Saviour for you and me, but in His love for His Father, so that the Father might secure what was ever in His heart for each of us, and secure His assembly. Think of what was in that for the Father, in what Jesus says, “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?”.
Mary was listening to the Lord’s words. It is a great thing, and a very blessed thing, to sit at the feet of Jesus, to be totally in subjection to Him and just listen to Him, and be absorbed with what He is saying. This had great results: we see in John chapter 12 how it bore fruit. The Lord Jesus said here, “Mary has chosen the good part”. Think of what Mary provided in the odour of the ointment that she poured forth, anointing the feet of Jesus (John 12:3). Here she was at His feet listening to His word and later she anointed His feet. As at His feet, she honoured Him, and she had part in the way that the house was filled with the odour of that ointment. The Lord is seeking to speak to you so that there should be a glorious response, a full response, for the heart of the Father. That is the way the Lord would speak to you, speak to you affectionately and engage you with Himself. But then coming back to Martha, she was receiving the Lord Jesus, but she was yet to seek Him for who He was, she was yet to choose the good part. No doubt she did later, because we see in John chapter 12 that she was seen serving Him there in total lowliness and subjection, because He had the first place in all of their hearts there; He had gained them for Himself. We read in Luke chapter 11 verse 9 locally just a few days ago. The Lord says there, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you”. The Lord is seeking, the Lord is looking. He is seeking that you might ask, and as asking, it shall be given to you; “seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you”. That implies that I really desire something from Himself, and that I move in relation to what I am looking for, and He will surely answer.
In chapter 24, we see the Lord recovering two persons. The Lord is faithful in what He says. He is speaking to these two people and He is listening to them. He does not say much to start with. Our brother was speaking of the lowliness of Jesus. Think of the lowly place He took here in His attractiveness, prepared to listen to two people who are pouring out their complaint before Him. They were confused, they were going in the wrong direction, they were going away. How ready the Lord Jesus was there, ready in His priestly grace to meet their condition, and He speaks. What He says might sound very severe, and it was very severe, remarkably severe. What would you feel if the Lord said to you, “O senseless and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!”. Senseless! Slow of heart! Well, we have to come to it; it has been true anyway. He says it, it is true. Come to it, own it before Himself. I think that at this point, their hearts were beginning to burn; the Lord was reaching into their hearts, and then He speaks of the glorious way that all the Scriptures speak of Himself. Oh, what a wonderful occasion this was. On this journey, although they were still going in the wrong direction, in His grace He opened the Scriptures; “he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself”. We read Leviticus 16 on Wednesday about the day of atonement, and in that chapter, you see in the type of Aaron that Jesus alone, He alone, has effected God’s glorious work when I could do nothing. No other man was allowed inside the veil when that work was going on, that wondrous, once and for all work of the Lord Jesus as atoning for my sins before God. You see there that the cloud of incense was upon the mercy-seat, and you see the way that God has provided in Jesus the way of recovery to Himself through the gospel: the blood is upon the gold (v.14).
Think of how the Scriptures, page to page, cover to cover, speak of the Lord Jesus. He will interpret to you in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. How does He do that now? It is by the Holy Spirit. What a gift we have in the Holy Spirit, to interpret the Scriptures. They speak continuously of Christ. And so, these two return to Jerusalem. What caused them to be turned round, what caused them to go back? It was as He took this bread and broke it, and “gave it to them”. Although this is not the Supper, for the cup is not mentioned here, it does speak of Him taking the bread and breaking it, and we are reminded, are we not, of what He says in Luke 22:19 that “This is my body which is given for you”. Does that touch your heart, that He has given Himself for you, for me? How much He has done for the glory of God. Then think of the way in which He does this in His tender grace, of all that was conveyed in the way He handed this loaf to them, as a housefather1; His giving. How the Lord would reach into your heart. Their hearts were burning and now the eyes of their hearts were opened to see Him, who He is. The Lord would, in tender patience and priestly skill, reach into your heart and recover you. Where to? To where He is owned as the Centre. And so, where did they go? They took a long time to go away, but I do not think it took them long to get back. They came back to their brethren, to where there were the eleven “gathered together”. Who gathered them? The Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus gathered them, and these two persons, as having had to do with Him, were part of that gathering process. Why? Because the eleven say, “The Lord is indeed risen and has appeared to Simon”. The two who returned related “what had happened on the way, and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread”; they gave their own account of their recovery. Oh, what joy this must have produced in that gathered company, in that gathering. It is a fine word, ‘gathering’, the gathering of the saints together in relation to the Lord. He is gathering. If I am not gathering with Him, I am scattering – that is a solemn word (Luke 11:23). We need to be gathering with Him, but first we have to come to Him to see things as He sees them. He is our High Priest; He opens to us all that is on His heart, all that is appropriate to the approach to God. How the Lord Jesus would help us in this gathering process.
I read from Jeremiah, as a result of a brother’s drawing attention to this scripture in his household reading. I have been thinking about it, that God was speaking here to His people who had gone astray. What does He say? “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the ancient paths”. Ask. We may say, where have we gone wrong? Why are we in such a state as we are? Is it that we have left the ancient paths, that they are not the same as they should be to us? What are the ancient paths? If you look back in the history of the testimony, if I look back to what helped my parents to make a definite commitment to the Lord Jesus, and to the fellowship into which they were called, it meant that they took a very definite path. It was a path of separation, a path of separation to the Lord Jesus. They are ancient paths, but God says, “which is the good way”. Why is it the good way? If you do not understand, ask. Ask older brethren. Ask those who know what these ancient paths are in vitality and commitment, and you will get an answer: “Ask, and it shall be given to you”, Matt.7:7. Do not be afraid to ask. Ask as to the conviction of others who have trodden this path, a path that is vitally important. Why is it important? In Matthew’s gospel, the Lord comes into the midst (Matt.18:20), and what is the basis for that? It is gathering to His name. If I am gathering to His name, what does that mean in vitality and reality? It means that I must depart from iniquity. I must separate from that which is hateful to Himself. That is the injunction for the assembly in our day, the charter for the true believer, that we are to “withdraw from iniquity”, 2 Tim.2:19. That is the good way. But there is a promise; God says, “ye shall find rest for your souls”. It is like the promise to David when he enquired of Jehovah (1 Sam.30:8). He asked for the ephod, and there was a definite answer; “thou shalt ... certainly recover”. Think of what it is; “ye shall find rest for your souls”, and “Seek, and ye shall find”, Matt.7:7. There is a way of blessing, a way of recovery, a way of being brought over to God’s way. But there were those who said, “We will not walk therein”. This is no longer asking, this is an expression of self-will, and that is a warning to us. Are we going to refuse what God is saying? Are we going to refuse this way of recovery and revival? The Lord loves to speak, and He will speak tenderly to you. Do not refuse what He says.
I read from Revelation because we see the Lord’s speaking to this company, a company that He loved. There was a moral basis for why He loved this company distinctively, and He gives the reason for it. This is what He says: “I know thy works”. The Lord knows. The Lord knows what is in our own local places; He does know, He gives His appraisal. He has the right to give His own appraisal of what He finds, and He will tell you what He finds if you open your ears to Him to listen to what He has to say. What He says is, “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an opened door”. It is a wonderful thing. I think characteristically they were knocking, and the door was being opened. The Lord was doing it, and if the Lord opens the door, no one shall shut it. No one can shut it. That is a wonderful thing; what a privilege. And He says “because” – this was the reason – “because thou hast a little power, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name”. Yes, they had a little power – power, as our brother was exhorting us, to move in response to what the Lord was saying. Power is needed to deal with evil. The Lord cannot vouchsafe His presence if evil is not met, but the little power was in Philadelphia and the Lord honoured it. That is His appraisal, that they have a little power and have kept His word. Kept it; not only listened but kept His word, and “not denied my name”.
What is the outcome? It is what He says about them. This company was delightful to Him; they “shall know that I have loved thee”. The emphasis is on “I” in what the Lord is saying. “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee out of the hour of trial, which is about to come upon the whole habitable world”. Think of the way that the Lord would maintain us, protect us from danger, as we listen to what He has to say, listen to His appeal, and consequently receive confirmation and encouragement. The Lord would speak that we may be encouraged as we take the way that is pleasing to heaven, as we take the way of recovery, as we find our place in the way that is pleasing to God. We see that the Lord would encourage us, confirm us in what is pleasing to Himself. His affection for His own comes out here, and He says, “I come quickly”. The Lord is coming soon. He may come today. “I come quickly: hold fast what thou hast”. Why does He say that? Because the enemy is against the truth, the enemy is against vitality of love for Christ. He is against the throne of Jah, his hand “is on the throne of Jah”, Exod.17:16.
The Lord’s exhortation to the dear saints in this place was, “hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown”. There is still need for overcoming. There is need for overcoming in every place. But what a privilege, as result of overcoming, that He personally would write upon you, write upon you what is so precious to Him, and He writes the name of His God. Think of the name of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. He writes that name upon the one who overcomes. The appreciation of the greatness of all that is revealed of God becomes part of your being. The door is open. Go in, dear brother, dear sister, go in through the door that the Lord Jesus would open to you as you desire to be here for Him, and He will write upon you, not only the name of His God, but “the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem”. All the counsels of God, the purpose of God, are in view of Christ being glorified and the assembly being formed in the power of the Holy Spirit. How she will shine in the day to come, “having the glory of God” (Rev.21:10), coming out of heaven. Think of what it will be, and the joy of it, the vitality of it. The Lord would write upon you, personally, as a “pillar”, a pillar in your local gathering, “my new name”.
Well, God has given Jesus a name that is “above every name”, Phil 2:9. Every knee shall bow. What a day it will be publicly when every knee shall bow, but that name is written on the heart of the one who overcomes. May we prove what it is to listen, to hear what He would say to us personally, hear what He would say to our households, hear what He would say to the saints at large in view of recovery and what He would say to us in our own localities. As seeking to take up our responsibilities, as difficult as this may seem to be, we shall find He gives the needed grace and strength to fulfil them.
May the Lord help us for His name’s sake.
Aberdeen, Scotland
19 August 2017
J.B. Ikin