THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF JESUS

E. M. Walkinshaw

Matthew 11: 25–30; 21: 1–5; Revelation 5: 6–10

I am impressed with the wonderful attractiveness of the Lord Jesus. He is not a Person who holds aloof, or is distant from man, but He comes so that God Himself might be known in the heart of man. That is a tremendous statement to make, that God should be known in the heart of man. The Creator of the universe desires to be known in the heart of man, in what we would call the seat of man’s affections. The Lord Jesus is so attractive. To the Jews, of course, He was not that when He came—“He is despised and left alone of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their faces”, Isaiah 53: 3. Such was Jesus here. Yet He is attractive; He has become attractive to all those in whom God’s Spirit has worked. Persons born anew have different desires and thoughts, a different outlook. I suppose it is a question of how far we may let them develop. There is much in this world that gets in the way, and many of our spiritual desires are hampered and clogged so that they do not develop. New birth in John’s gospel (John 3: 3–8) underlies spiritual manhood. That is what God has in mind for all of us—spiritual manhood, heavenly manhood. It begins with new birth.

I would encourage each of us to be with the Lord to allow the desires and thoughts of the new nature—if I may call it that—to develop. We have spoken of the Lord’s words and His commandments, and they are not grievous (1 John 5: 3). They are not grievous because God has given us a nature that is suited to them. That is the divine nature (2 Peter 1: 4). They are grievous to the flesh, but the more we make room for the Holy Spirit to develop our spiritual tastes, the more we shall find that Jesus is attractive to us—and the more we shall desire to be in His company. It has been well said that the Lord desires our company more than He desires our service, because He is a very real Man. He is no different now from what He was when He sat at the well of Sychar in John 4. His character is no different, nor His feelings, nor His affections. His condition is different, but not His desires. He was lonely then. As far as some of us are concerned, He may still be lonely.

How much do I seek His presence day by day? As brethren will know, I am now retired from a secular occupation. I therefore challenge myself as to how much more time I give to His company not how much more time I can use in service, but how much more time do I give to His company? I would suggest to all of us that we seek His company more and, as Mr. Darby says, speak to Him and with Him as with a familiar Friend. Now the Lord desires that constantly. I would suggest again that we learn to persevere in prayer (Colossians 4: 2).

Persevere in it. You find you are weary and tired. We all get that way. He knows our frame, that we are dust (Psalm 103: 14), but let us persevere in

prayer. I think as we persevere in prayer we shall find that in His grace He will as a consequence draw us into His presence, into the presence of God. That is the holiest. We have title to enter by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10: 19); we have power to enter by the Holy Spirit. Now the great question is, How far do we give room to the Holy Spirit to enable us to enjoy our title?

The presence of God must be wonderful. When I think of it objectively, as we say, I think,

‘Well, God’s immediate presence must be ecstasy!’ If I wrote down on paper what I thought about the presence of God I must say that it cannot be other than ecstasy. I ask myself, ‘What is my practical experience of that?’. That reminds me of some words of Mr. J. Taylor, that the early saints no doubt enjoyed ecstasy. Ecstasy, he added, belongs to Christianity. Is it possible in these days to enjoy it? I believe it is. The Lord would have us to know what it is to be outside this scene of turmoil, strife, problems—personal, maybe household, maybe assembly difficulties—and to be abstracted in the power of the Spirit into the world where there are no difficulties, and where there is no pressure. I believe, dear brethren, we must be exercised to be set for such an experience, and wholly committed to the Lord.

In the first passage I read Jesus makes a simple appeal. He says, “Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest”. How burdened we become about our circumstances! I do, anyway, at times become burdened about many things; but I believe that what the Lord really has in His mind is those who are burdened by the conditions of God’s people. Conditions were very bad when He was speaking. The great religious organisation was going on, with all its ordinances and sacrifices, following the pattern, I suppose,

of the law of Moses. The Pharisees were at their work, but the whole system had rejected Jesus, and He was outside of it. God’s people were scattered. They were under the Roman yoke. There was a good deal.to labour and be burdened about, and the Lord says, ‘Come to Me. I am outside of it all’, so to speak. Jesus is outside of it all today. If we are labouring and burdened, Jesus would bid us come to Him. He says, “I will give you rest”. It is a great thing to have rest, in the sense of restfulness—not simply rest physically, because sometimes we have time to rest physically and we are not able to rest, not being restful. In the midst of all the difficulties that exist among God’s people generally, it is a great thing to come to Jesus and for Him to give us rest. That is a personal touch. The Lord Jesus is outside the turmoil, and we can find Him there.

I think, if you care to follow it up, you will find a similarity with 2 Timothy 2—the whole ecclesiastical system gone, and the faith of people being overthrown, but the firm foundation of God stands, and there is the Lord upon whom we can call (2 Timothy 2: 19, 22), to whom we can come, One who is outside and who bids us come to Him. So He becomes attractive to us. Let me ask you simply, Is Jesus attractive to you? He adds, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls”. First He gives the personal touch, then “ye shall find rest to your souls”. Notice that He does not say, ‘I became meek and lowly’. In some places He speaks of what He becomes, that which He was not before, according to the meaning of the word. He says, “I became dead, and behold, I am living to the ages of ages, and have the keys of death and of hades”, Revelation 1: 18. But here He says, “I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”.

I would love to be with the Lord Jesus like that outside the camp (Hebrews 13: 13), morally outside the great cities, outside the religion of the world, if you like to call it that, outside its commerce and politics. Jesus has had to denounce the cities because of their rejection of Him, and He is outside of them. Our place, dear brethren, or perhaps I might say our privilege, is to be outside with Him. Then He brings us into rest and liberty. We no longer labour.

There are dear believers who are really puzzled at the conditions in the world. They were expecting that, as the gospel was preached continuously, so gradually the influence of the kingdom of God would change the face of the world, and Christ’s kingdom would gradually gain ascendancy and take over. They are sorrowfully disappointed, because they have not understood the secrecy of the testimony, that now is not the time of public display. They have not understood Christ’s rejection, and the fact that He will come to take away His people, and then set up His kingdom. But for those who are in the light, the ruin and the confusion and the worsening of things in the world are to be expected. In fact, if things did not wax worse and worse (2 Timothy 3: 13 A.V.) we could not believe the Bible, could we? The Bible tells us that things shall wax worse and worse, “juggling imposters” deceiving and being deceived. We get them at our doors. They tell us all sorts of things. What an expression it is in that scripture, “juggling imposters”! 2 Timothy 3: 13. It is said that the quickness of the hand deceives the eye; that is the idea. That is how these persons twist the truth of the Scriptures, “leading and being led astray”.

But if you come to Jesus, if you are anchored to Him outside the camp, you come to One who is

meek and lowly. Now, He is the King. Note that in Matthew’s gospel He is the King. Yet the gospel in which Jesus is presented as the King is the only gospel which speaks of Him as being meek. You do not expect a king to be meek; you expect him to be in pomp, and glory, and power. You do not expect him, as in our second scripture, to be riding on an ass. Jesus is called meek, yet He is the King! “Thy king cometh ... meek, and mounted upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass”. Think of Jesus coming into Jerusalem like that, with all power at His disposal, yet marked by this lowliness. He did not assert His own rights, though He could have done. He held to the rights of God. What an appeal! I find the presentation of Jesus in these two passages extremely attractive. If the Queen of England were passing through Bristol people would want to be in the streets to see her. We pay every respect to the Queen. We are thankful for her, believing that she is a believer. In any case, we would respect her position and status as of God. But think of Jesus coming, meek. The Queen would come, of course, attired as a queen. I doubt if you could say she would come as Jesus comes here—meek and lowly, riding on an ass. Think of the character of Jesus, coming into Jerusalem like this—the King, yet coming down to show His subjects how they should themselves behave. He the King, but Himself a lowly, subject Man, showing those of His kingdom just how they should behave here.

Is Jesus attractive to you? He is becoming more attractive to me. You may say that is because I am getting an old man. It may be, and perhaps the time of my being with Him is not far off.

But I can say He has been attractive to me for many years, and He is becoming increasingly so. That does not set aside natural affections, responsibilities or privileges. I do enjoy those things, but there is the spiritual, and I think the Lord would have the spiritual to gain the ascendancy. Now, the younger people here are more natural than they are spiritual. That is evident, because no one is born spiritual. You are born natural, but as you go on the Holy Spirit will work with you so that, while in your early years you may pay a lot more attention to what is natural than to what is spiritual, gradually, especially as you speak to Him, the spiritual will gain the ascendancy and take precedence. “First ... that which is natural, then that which is spiritual”, 1 Corinthians 15: 46. So there is much that is natural. I suppose some of the young men here would prefer to be playing football. That is natural. But the Spirit of God develops tastes with us so that, eventually, instead of preferring to be playing football, or swimming, or whatever it may be, we prefer to be among God’s people when they are assembled. That is because new birth, the new nature, is asserting itself. How wonderful that is!

I want to speak of the Lord Jesus in Revelation 5. First of all He is referred to as a lion (Revelation 5: 5). I have sought help to speak on this passage before, but I could not say that I felt too successful, because Revelation is a difficult book. Nevertheless, the Lord helps us in it. In the verses just before those we read, there was a book to be opened, and no one was found worthy to open the book. Notice what it says, “I saw on the right hand of him that sat upon the throne a book, written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to break its seals? And no one was able in the heaven, or upon the earth, or underneath the earth, to open the book, or to regard it”. No one could do it: what a situation to be in! There is a book to be opened and seven seals to be dealt with,

and nobody can do it! This is the problem in the world at the present moment. Who can resolve all these problems—political, economic, educational? Who can introduce law and order? Who can insist on what is right? No one, it says, in the heaven or upon the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book or regard it. They could not even consider doing it, never mind doing it!

John says, “And I wept much” (v.4). It is a good thing to weep. We have been reminded of the weepers of Scripture. Joseph was a weeper—a great administrator, but he was a weeper.

David, too. There has been weeping in the history of the testimony of God. There are many dear brethren sitting here who have wept. I am convinced of that. And not simply over their own matters, but over matters relating to the Lord’s interests. John weeps much, but one of the elders says to him, “Do not weep. Behold, the lion which is of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the book, and its seven seals”. One Person, one Man, and only One. No one else is capable. Do you know the name of this One, the Overcomer?

His name is Jesus. He it was who said on earth, “Come to me … for I am meek and lowly”, the One who came riding upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. He is the only Man who can resolve all the problems of the universe.

I think Mr. Darby says somewhere that there is around us a whole system of moral relationships where everything is out of order, and which proves by its very greatness that it cannot be resolved save by God stepping into it. That is what is all around us. Jesus is the One who will bring in order. The Lion of the tribe of Juda turns not away for any (Proverbs 30: 30). The root of David—the One from whom David sprang—is the One who will open the book. It has touched me often that that is what the elder says—“the lion … of the tribe of Juda … has overcome”—but John does not see a lion, he sees a Lamb standing, as slain, in the midst of, the throne; “in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as slain”. It impresses me with the meekness and the lowliness and the self-sacrificing character of Jesus.

In other words, His power and ability to open the book are not simply due to His being the root of David, but are based on His moral worth, as having accomplished the great work of redemption. John might have been afraid if he had seen the Lion, but it says he saw a Lamb standing—a little Lamb (see footnote in N.T.), and yet One capable of opening the book and dealing with its seals.

Then you get many persons around; many that are brought to God; “Thou hast redeemed to God, by thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and made them to our God kings and priests; and they shall reign over the earth”. But what I wanted to call attention to was the power of the spirit of Jesus, how attractive He is. A lion is hardly attractive, except maybe as a dignified animal, but a lamb is attractive. I think that Paul approached the Corinthians like this. He says, “For I did not judge it well to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified”, 1 Corinthians 2: 2. That was the determination of the lion, that was the character, Paul not turning aside for any, in his approach to the Corinthians. Then he says he was in weakness and fear and much trembling (v.3). That is like the lamb—the spirit of the man. Though he was determined to see that all that was due to God was maintained, he did it in the spirit of the Lamb. I think these two characteristics are essential for any administration or government in God’s assembly. One is the determination to maintain everything that is due to God, and the other is the quietness and meekness and lowliness of spirit in the way it is done. That is, I think, the kind of man that God will support. Of course, as to the universe, there is only One, but I think the character of that Man is to be seen in the assembly and in testimony, pending the day of public display.

May the Lord Jesus encourage all our hearts to be attracted more to Himself, and to be more in His company and, as more in His company, to grow more in His likeness. May it be so, for His pleasure.

Address at Bristol
14 February 1981