GARMENTS

Paul Martin

John 19: 23,24; Luke 8: 43-46; 2 Timothy 4: 13; Revelation 3: 1-6

It will no doubt be clear that I would like to say a word as to garments. These passages bring out the thought of garments in different settings. I was impressed in the week in Matthew's Gospel where it says that they took His clothes off Him and put upon Him the robes, "And when they had mocked him, they ... put his own clothes on him" (Matt 27: 31), put His own clothes on Him. It is a wonderful thing to ponder that - His own clothes. These passages bring out firstly perhaps the character of the Person, the character of manhood that was manifested in Jesus, secondly, the power that there is in the heavenly system which through wondrous grace we have been caused to come to appreciate. In Timothy we have the thought of measure and finally, in Revelation, the thought of purity. I would like to touch on those four aspects briefly.

These four garments that I am speaking of here never clash, they blend perfectly together. It is striking when we come to the Lord Jesus - and He should always have the first place in all things - it says they "took his clothes, and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and the body-coat; but the body-coat was seamless", it was seamless, "woven through the whole from the top". It was of one piece. I think it brings out the perfect character of who was here, it was of one piece, seamless, woven through. Every feature that God looked for in man was seen there in perfect expression in Jesus, every feature. There was not, I might say carefully, in this garment one distinctive feature over against another. It was woven. In the manhood of Jesus, His consideration for God, His service to God blended perfectly with His feelings for man. What wondrous manhood! I doubt whether we could say that of another, but it was seen in Jesus. Think of Him sitting at the well in John 4, He was thinking of the Father's praise, the Father seeketh worshippers. What perfect weaving there was that come into expression when that woman appeared, all the grace that was in the heart of God flowed out to that soul in order that she might take up her part in what was so dear to His heart in the worshippers. What perfect weaving, beloved. His grace that flowed to man was never at the expense of righteousness, for grace and truth subsist through Jesus Christ. His righteousness was never at the expense of grace. It was woven, and the character of the weaving was a heavenly one, it was woven from the top. Oh the perfect, heavenly features of Jesus, a Man moving through this scene that did not belong to this scene. "I am from above", He says. What a weaving was seen, the heavenly order of manhood, it was seamless. In the perfect humanity of Jesus, could I say reverently, there was not one unfinished thing, there was not one broken thread. Often with us we have to say there is, but with Him never. The weaving was perfect. What a Man! Dear young one does Jesus mean everything to you? I speak to you: I know this is not the preaching, but you will excuse me, do you know this blessed Person of whom we are speaking? The wonder of the weaving of this garment is that He knows you and that He has feelings for you and while coming into such a scene as this and not belonging to it He glorified God in it. How wondrous He is. He glorified God, "I have glorified thee on the earth" (John 17: 4). What a weaving, beloved, what a weaving. Mr Darby says,

"Disease, and death, and demon,

All fled before Thy word" (Hymn 189)

The power was there to heal them all and through it all He glorified God on the earth. He came in to undo the works of the devil that He might secure in man an answer that would be for God, and secure for God an answer that He would find ever in men made like Himself. "And is it so, we shall be like Thy Son?" (Hymn 247). Of course, that life had to be laid down in death, the condition had to be laid down in death, but the order of humanity goes through, "this same Jesus". I love that reference, “this same Jesus", (Acts 1: 11 A.V.). Do we know Him? The One who was here is the same Jesus in a new condition. The disciples had to learn that in the next chapter, Mary had to learn it, that He was now in a new condition, but it was the same Jesus. I come to Luke because I would like to touch briefly on the fact that it is the same Jesus that is to be in expression in testimony, the same Jesus. Here it is not exactly a woven garment, that is not what is emphasised. This woman touches the hem of His garment, the hem. She took such a lowly place. You say, 'So she should'. So should I. "Low at Thy feet Lord Jesus, This is the place for me". You say, 'Oh, I have got beyond that'. I pray you might come back to it. We shall never know what it is to take up our part with Him in the realms of wondrous privilege unless we are constantly kept at His feet in the spirit of humility. This woman comes to that, and she touches the hem. There is that here, dear brethren, that is drawing from an exalted Christ. There is a system, a heavenly system, that is here. He is no longer here, He is glorified. How worthy He is! And as glorified, He has not ceased to serve in relation to His people. Think of the wondrous service of Jesus, untiring, unceasing, "He that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121: 4), serving His saints, serving the assembly because He loves it. How wondrous that in His service, He serves each one of us too with wondrous grace. How would you get through, dear brother, how can you get through without the consciousness of the administration of divine grace from an exalted Christ? That is where it is coming from. Oh, you say, 'I enjoy what I get amongst the brethren'. I would not under-estimate that, that is really what we are speaking of, but its source is a glorified Man, giving character to all that is here and giving power to all that is here, for what comes out in this passage is that the power is here, Christ glorified, the Spirit here. "Power has gone out from me", the Lord Jesus says, He knew it, no-one else knew it, "I have known", I is emphatic, "that power has gone out from me". I believe it links with what was said earlier that one aspect of the death of Jesus was that the Spirit might come, and with all that is there in that blessed Man, every moral feature and trait that is there in Him, should come into expression here in the testimony and persons might come to prove the power of what is here, drawn from a heavenly Christ. I believe you get a touch of it in Corinthians when the simple person comes in he says, "God is indeed amongst you " (1 Corinthians 14: 25), he falls down and does homage to God. What an answer! Where does he touch it? He touches it in the heavenly company where the power is flowing, in the local company where the power is to be known. The Psalm brings it out, "... how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Like the precious oil upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, upon Aaron's beard, that ran down to the hem of his garments" (Psalm 133: 1,2). The anointing that we touched on earlier is in view of Christ being rightly represented here in the scene of His absence, and that the power that there is in that heavenly Man should be proved in the company here. I might ask myself in my local setting - and we may ask ourselves - is what is done reflective of Christ? Is it Christ that is seen? 'Oh', you say, 'we had to do it anyway. Is it Christ that is seen? There is to be the hem of the garment. There is to be a dignity and a glory, and if we move in such a way, there will be power because we will be consciously drawing from Christ exalted, in the power of the Holy Spirit. All that is there in that Man has come here in the gift of the Holy Spirit. Let us lay hold of that. We do not need to resort to anything lower. We have everything in Christ glorified and the Spirit here, and however broken the day, if the Spirit is made way for and the headship of Christ is known, there will be power, and power to the end. I touch on it briefly, but I trust the brethren will perhaps ponder it, that there is a system that is established, not a man-made system, but the system was established because Christ has been exalted and the Spirit is here. Christ must be the Head of everything for God's pleasure. He is the Head of every principality and authority, that will soon be displayed, but He is the Head of the church. Oh, think of the wonder of what is flowing now from an exalted Christ. It calls for sensitivity in our feelings, sensitivity in the way we move that we might know what it is to be drawing consciously from Christ. You think of Paul, it says, ''the Spirit of Jesus did not allow" (Acts 16: 7). What movements were afoot, great movements, and Paul was with God in His exercise in what was to be done and the way the Lord was moving, but it says, ''the Spirit of Jesus did not allow". You say, 'Paul, should you not have gone forward anyway? Great things were before you ', but he says, ''the Spirit of Jesus". Oh, beloved, it is not outward power, it is inward moral that is in expression in the company where the Spirit has His sway and Christ is drawn upon as Head.

Now I come to Timothy to speak of Paul's clothing. I used to think that Paul forgot his cloak. It says, "The cloak which I left behind me in Troas at Carpus's, bring when thou comest". I do not think Paul forgot it. He left it there for a purpose. Carpus I looked it up in our brother's concordance before I came out - means fruit, and I have no doubt that Paul left his cloak to exercise Carpus as to bearing fruit. He speaks elsewhere of fruit abounding (see Phil 4: 18). That is what divine Persons are looking for that there should be fruit. When I was younger, we often used to hear it said that you take root downwards and bear fruit upwards. You do not hear it much now, but it is still true, take root downwards and you bear fruit upwards. The fruit is for God. The man coming with the basket of firstfruits was conscious of that. I know he says, "A perishing Aramaean was my father" (Deuteronomy 26: 5), but he was conscious that coming from such a background there was to be fruit Godward. I think Paul left his cloak with Carpus to exercise him as to his measure. It was not only the cloak that he left, it was also the books. I speak carefully because I am tested by it probably more than anyone, but what Paul said and what he wrote was the same measure as his cloak, and I believe the Lord would help us that we might be exercised that our measure might correspond to what we hold as teaching. Paul did not just assent to the truth, he went in for it; he lived it. The truth as presented - I speak carefully, guardedly - is of no use unless it is lived in the hearts of each one of us. Of course there is the side where the objective presentation of the truth is right and is serviceable, but the object in view in the presentation of the truth is that it might become part of our lives, and Paul left both his cloak and his books with Carpus. No doubt Carpus would have looked at them. His interest would have been awakened. He lived in Troas. Paul had discoursed there till midnight. Think of what Paul had unfolded; they had come together to break bread and Paul had discoursed until midnight, and he left an impression of that with Carpus, but he had left his cloak as well, and we are never greater than our cloak. That is our measure. It may be what men see but it is what God knows, that is a man's measure. It is not just what I say. You might say to me, 'How does my measure increase? I would like to grasp the heavenly range of the truth', and I believe we would all be united in that too. We would like to grasp the heavenly range of the truth better. Could I say, dear young brother and sister and those with us who may be a bit older, first make good what you have. You may have laid hold of something. We had an impression in the reading maybe. Make it good in your own soul first. Get on your knees alone and ask the Spirit to help you that you might have a greater appreciation of it, not only in my mind but that my heart might be affected by it and that it might become part of my constitution that will provide substance for me becoming a worshipper. God is looking for fruit, and He is looking that we might bear more fruit. That does not come by human effort, but it comes through dependence on the Spirit in the spirit of self-judgement that all that I am naturally has had to be removed, has had to be out of sight that the Spirit might fill my soul with the glory of the One who fills God's heart. As I feed upon Him, I find that there is increase in what is for God. You think of the touches that Paul brought out in his ministry which had never been made known before, and he opens them up in a way that brings out his own appreciation of them. He never had the books of ministry that we have He had things, of course, from the Lord primarily, and his own appreciation of it grew with Paul, and you can see in his account of his conversion that his own appreciation of it grew as he grew, and I believe, dear brethren, the Lord would have us to take account of what is our true measure. This was Paul's measure, and he left his cloak behind that Carpus might be exercised that what he said might be the same measure as what he was, and that what he was might be the same measure as what he said.

Now I come to Revelation. I want to speak about white garments. In the previous chapter you have a white stone, that was secret. In Pergamos the Lord gives a white stone. That is a secret thing. Have you one? Have you a white stone in your pocket? That is what the Lord gives in Pergamos, and on it is a name written which no one knows but he that receives it (see Revelation 2: 17). They were suffering, suffering in the absence of Christ, suffering in the sphere where He had suffered, and the Lord says, 'I will give you a white stone'. That is a great comfort. You may be alone in the office, the only one that bears witness to the Lord Jesus, or even in your class at school. Have a look on that white stone. No-one knows about it, it is a secret between you and the Lord. Put your hand in your pocket and look at it, and there is a name written on it, and no-one else knows about it. It is the Lord's appreciation of you. He gives you a sense of it, that the Lord loves you and values you. You may be in the midst of unfaithfulness, you would desire to stand faithful to Him, He will remind you if you have the white stone in your pocket, that there is a secret between you and Him which would give you the desire to be faithful to Him. But, that is secret. But the garments, the white garments, are outward, they are public, and they relate to our associations of life. The Lord Jesus says, "But thou hast a few names in Sardis which have not defiled their garments", a few names, not many, but there were a few and they have not defiled them. Why was that? Because they loved Him. They wanted to hold themselves available for Him. That is the reward. It says, "and they shall walk with me in white". They wanted to hold themselves available to Him here in the scene of is rejection, and the Lord Jesus says, 'I will have you walking with me where l am in the scene of privilege', "They shall walk with me".

Beloved, how white are your garments? James says, "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, to keep oneself unspotted from the world" (James 1: 27). The Lord Jesus appreciates that. I may say, 'Well, it does not matter if I put my hand to this or to that'. Does it not? The Lord Jesus appreciates it if I keep my garments white. Others may not, but He does, and He has secured us for Himself at such cost. Think how much the Lord Jesus has done. He has given everything. He could not have given more. He has suffered in a way that He could not have suffered more. He did it for you, dear friend, because He loves you, and He would have you and me to walk with Him in white. Let us keep ourselves from the whole system that is around us, associations of life, the company that we keep, the things that we hear and what we read, they all affect our constitution and they will rob us of our measure if we allow them, but let us keep our garments white. It is only if I love Him that I will desire to do it, only if I love Him that I will be exercised to do it. The Lord has not asked you to live in a monastery. You might say, 'That would be easy to keep my garments white in a monastery'. Would it? They would be tainted by yourself. He has asked us to live in the power of a glorified Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit here in order that we might, out of affection for Him keep ourselves unspotted from the world. He will have a heavenly company; He has a heavenly company. In Hebrews we have come to "heavenly Jerusalem" and to the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven. Let us be exercised that our walk should be in keeping with it. "He that overcomes, he shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life" - what an assurance! You may feel so weak, you may feel I suppose, as we all do, that we could have done things better, I could have represented Him better. The Lord values every little bit of overcoming that is done for Him. It says, "He that overcomes, he shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life, and will confess his name" - I think this is a wondrous comfort that the Lord Jesus confesses persons' names - "before my Father and before his angels". Think of that. We are going through a scene where everything is against Christ. The appeal is that we should keep ourselves from it, but the comfort is that the Lord Jesus is speaking of your name and of mine before His Father and before His angels. What wondrous grace! All the resources of heaven are behind you, dear friend, as you seek to be faithful to Jesus. The resources of the Father, the resources of Jesus serving on high as Priest, are all available to you if you seek to be faithful to Jesus, but, added to that, there is the resource that we have in the Spirit here that would strengthen you, not only in the desire, but strengthen you in order that you might be able to walk as suited to Him. We ought then, Paul says, to do the things that are pleasing in His sight. May the Lord help us!

I refer briefly to these garments. There is a lot more in them that could be weighed over, but to think of the perfection of what was woven in the humanity of Jesus, to be conscious of having our part as touching the system of power that is drawing from an exalted Christ, to know what it is that our measure should be in keeping with what we hold, and to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. May the Lord help us. For His Name's sake.

KIRKCALDY

11 June 1994