HAVING RESPECT TO THE RECOMPENSE
In the Epistle to the Hebrews chapter 11 and verses 25 and 26, Moses is referred to because of his faith; it says, of him, “choosing rather to suffer affliction along, with the people of God than to have the temporary pleasure of sin; esteeming the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect to the recompense”. I desire to speak about having respect to the recompense. Moses was brought up in Pharaoh’s court, he became a man mighty in his words and his deeds in the land of Egypt, see Acts 7: 22. Think of all the prospects in the world that lay before Moses, but he was counting and reckoning differently from men. It says, “esteeming the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt”. Egypt was the world power at that time, and in recent times wonderful treasures have been discovered there. Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater, “for he had respect to the recompense”. He would say, ‘If I proceed in life in Egypt’s court, what would be the end of it? It would be disaster as to any knowledge of God’. He would have shone before men for a few years and then he would have had nothing. He began to reckon in another way, he had respect to the recompense.
We have been exhorting one another to commit ourselves to the will of God; that means that we have to deny ourselves, deny our own will; it costs something. But to have respect to the recompense would greatly help us in our committal. Dear young friend, if you go on your own way, I do not care how much wealth you may amass in this world, it will end in emptiness and nothingness, but if you commit yourself to the will of God I can assure you the end will be glorious. It is good to have respect to the recompense.
In this scripture in Matthew 12 the Lord’s natural relatives thought they had a claim on Him. But the Lord says, “Who is my mother, and who are my brethren? And, stretching out his hand to his disciples, he said, Behold my mother and my brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in the heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother”. The Lord Jesus was fully devoted, was perfect and absolute in His committal to the will of His Father, and if anyone here is prepared to commit himself or herself to the will of the same Person to whom the Lord committed Himself. He is prepared to stretch out His hand and say, “He is my brother, and sister”. Think of that recompense! Here were a few disciples who followed Jesus, and He stretched out His hand to them; He is pointing them out; He is assuring them of His approval. There is nothing more blessed, in one sense, than to have a sense of the Lord’s approval. It is worthwhile foregoing our own will and being prepared to be under reproach in this world to have the Lord’s approval. One of the hymns says—
For how will recompense His smile
The suff’rings of this “little while”!
(Hymn 413)
This is having respect to the recompense. The Lord owns a person who is committed to the will of His Father as kindred to Himself—“He is my brother, and sister”; it is the Lord approving and regarding such persons as His own kindred, like Himself morally.
Every believer is kindred with Christ according to divine purpose, but not every believer is kindred with Christ morally. It is the one who does the will of His Father who is in the heavens whom the Lord owns as kindred with Him morally. Would you not like to have the experience of the Lord’s approval, the Lord stretching out His hand and saying, He is My brother; she is My sister? What could be more blessed for the believer than to have a sense of the Lord’s own approval? Those kindred with the Lord Jesus morally are committed to the will of His Father, to whom He was committed when He was here. There would be a difference in measure, but the same character, and this is open to every one of us. We can decide, just where we are at this moment, to be believers committed to the will of His Father. I am a great believer in things happening in the meeting, in persons being affected as we are together. I would not say, Go home and kneel down by your bedside and commit yourself to the Lord. Many influences may come in between your sitting here and arriving home. Commit yourself now; have a secret committal in your heart to the Lord Jesus in the atmosphere in which you are now. I trust it is attractive to every one of us to be approved of the Lord as of His brethren morally. It is the Lord’s own appreciation of persons like Himself in character. It says, “stretching out his hand to his disciples”. That is, He is prepared to support such persons and defend them, because there will be burdens to carry, there will be sorrows to sustain; this all goes against what we are naturally, but the Lord would stretch out His hand and support persons like this. His outstretched hand would assure us of His support every step of the journey.
Now in Matthew 19 the Lord speaks to the disciples of recompense. He addresses them as, “ye who have followed me”. It is a way of suffering, of discipleship, following the Lord Jesus. It was never an easy way; it was never meant to be an easy way; it is a way of suffering and cost which builds up moral fibre; it builds up manhood according to God. The Lord says here, “ye who have followed me”, in the way of suffering publicly and reproach, the reproach of Christ, but He speaks of “the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit down upon his throne of glory”. Dear brethren, there is going to be a regeneration, there is going to be another order of things altogether. The present time we are in is one of suffering, as I have said, and reproach, but there is going to be a reordering of things. The Son of man who suffered, was crucified, shall sit upon His throne of glory; it refers to what we speak of as the world to come. The light of the world to come needs to be more before us, dear brethren; what a regeneration! How different the order of things will be then! It is a reproach to confess the Name of the Lord Jesus at the present time; how different when the Son of man shall sit upon His throne of glory. He has a right to that throne of glory. He is not yet sitting down on His throne of glory; He is sitting with His Father in His throne, the Father’s throne, which is a time of great advantage for men and for believers. The Lord has been there nearly two thousand years, but that is not the permanent position; it is really a temporary position.
The next move of the Lord Jesus is going to alter the whole situation. The Lord Jesus is sitting with His Father in His throne; a moment will come very soon when He will rise from that position and come for His own at the rapture, and proceed to take up things in this world with a view to His sitting on His own throne. We are sometimes occupied with events down here, and events among the nations have some interest, but the movement that is going to alter the whole situation is not the movement of nations down here, but the movement of the Lord Jesus from His present position. We read of “the patience of the Christ”, 2 Thess 3: 5. He is patiently waiting to come for His own and will proceed to take His own throne. In the meantime we suffer reproach, but let us have respect to the recompense, for every item of faithfulness to the Lord Jesus here will be rewarded in the world to come, in the regeneration, the new arrangement of things. Obviously the arrangement of things down here now is not according to God’s mind; it will be when the Lord takes His own throne, when every enemy will be subdued, when the Lord will deal with opposing elements in judgment and clear the whole universe for the pleasure of God. Let us have respect to the recompense; let us have respect to the world to come, the regeneration. Let us realise that things are not always going to be as they are now, there is going to be a thorough rearrangement.
So this woman in Mark 14 expresses her devotion to the Lord. The opportunity arose “when he was in Bethany”; He was in her locality, and she was available to honour Him. It was a privilege that came her way, and she availed herself of it. I wonder how many of us are like this woman; she had something to bestow upon the Lord Jesus, “an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly; and having broken the alabaster flask, she poured it out upon his head”. It is something irrevocable, the flask is not to be filled again, it is a pouring out of what was in herself really, just as Paul said, “I am already being poured out”, 2 Tim 4: 6. He exhorts Timothy to fill up the full measure of his ministry. Paul says, I am being poured out, that is, he had filled up his full measure and was being poured out, and he encourages Timothy to fill up his full measure.
The Lord says about this woman, “What she could she has done”. I suppose very few of us are like this woman. Most of us could do a little more, or a great deal more, but the Lord’s assessment of this woman was, “What she could she has done”; she filled up her full measure. We were speaking in the reading about each one having a measure; every believer has a measure of faith, Rom 12: 3. Are we exercised to know what our measure is and fill it up to the full? To each one has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ, see Eph 4: 7. Would we be exercised to know what that measure is? Would we be prepared to fill it up to the full?
One of the exercises amongst brethren in localities is to get the most out of one another, and to get the best out of one another. Most of us could contribute more. When opportunity arises in our comings together, how many of us could contribute more than we do? Many of us could be more ready to pray at the beginning and the end of the meeting. Do brothers all fill out their full measure in this service? Is it left just to a few to do so? This is a universal exercise. I remember a brother in our city saying that to pray at the beginning or close of a meeting is not a question of being moved, it is simply a matter of being at liberty with God. All this comes into the filling out of our measure. If services like that are left to a few they have to do it, but let us be all exercised to fill the full measure of what is committed to us. “What she could she has done”—it is a matter of being available when the opportunity arises, and the Lord appreciates this.
To have a sense of the Lord’s appreciation is a very great matter; it is recompense indeed. This woman acts with spiritual understanding; the Lord had spoken to the twelve about His death; they did not understand, but this woman did; it may be she was the only one who understood. How the Lord appreciates that! He says, “What she could she has done. She has beforehand anointed my body for the burial. And verily I say unto you, Wheresoever these glad tidings may be preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall be also spoken of for a memorial of her”. What a commendation that was! What a recompense was given to this woman! We need to have respect to recompense like this; a sense of the Lord’s appreciation, and approval. The Lord says here, “Wheresoever these glad tidings may be preached”; localities are in mind, it is not whensoever but wheresoever; the Lord is looking for this kind of feature in all our localities. This woman might have been surprised when the Lord commended her so highly; she would say, ‘I did just what I felt like doing; I just did what I desired to do’. But there is the Lord’s commendation of it. What recompense, dear brethren; let us have respect to it.
In John 12 the Lord said in verse 24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit”. That is, the death of Christ produces a fruit after His own kind. This verse presents a certain aspect of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ; it is not exactly the suffering side, and certainly it is not the atoning side; it is His death as producing fruit like Himself. Now the Lord immediately says, “He that loves his life shall lose it, and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal”. This must link with what the Lord had just said. The Lord gave His life; He laid down His life. Those like Him, the fruit of His death, would be disciples, prepared to lose their lives here in devotion to the Lord Jesus; His death producing persons like this. The much fruit, I suppose, would have in view the many families named of the Father, all made possible through the death of Christ. But the Lord here immediately calls attention to the need for true discipleship, which can be only by having an object outside of ourselves, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then He says, “If any one serve me, let him follow me”. Does any one desire to serve the Lord? Serving the Lord does not belong to a certain class of persons. Serving the Lord is open to every one, every brother and every sister. The Lord says, “If any one serve me, let him follow me”; He does not even say, ‘If any man serve me’, but, ‘If any one serve me’. Then the recompense is, “and where I am, there also shall be my servant”. What a privilege! “where I am, there also shall be my servant”. That will be true ultimately. The Lord speaks more than once in this gospel of “where I am”; in chapter 14 He says, “that where I am ye also may be”, John 14: 3. That will be the ultimate at the coming of the Lord. But “where I am, there also shall be my servant”, I think we could apply to where the Lord is in any conflict, in any issue that is raised, “where I am”; where He is in any matter, “there also shall be my servant”. There are few things that could be so attractive to us as to being with the Lord in any matter, having His mind about any matter which may arise, whether it be locally or universally; “where I am, there also shall be my servant”.
Then He says, “If any one serve me, him shall the Father honour”. What could be more blessed than to be honoured by the Father? The Lord Jesus received from the Father honour and glory. He is distinctive as to the honour He received from His Father, but “If any one serve me, him shall the Father honour”. That is something, dear brethren, of recompense. What blessed recompense! Let us all have respect to the recompense and be prepared for the exercise involved; respect to the recompense will strengthen us to face whatever exercises we are called upon to face according to the will of His Father who is in the heavens. May we all be encouraged of the Lord for His Name’s sake.
COLOGNE
1st November 1980
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WISDOM
1 Corinthians 1: 30; 12: 7-9 (to “Spirit”)
These scriptures emphasise the importance of wisdom for wisdom is given the premier place in each of them. We usually, and rightly, regard righteousness as our leader, and when it comes to a matter of principle, righteousness is our leader, but there is a great need of wisdom. One of the most important features needed in our localities at the moment is wisdom. Thank God for an understanding of principles and a desire to pursue righteousness, but there is a special need of wisdom. According to Proverbs wisdom is a feature that belongs to the family, and is needed in the family. Solomon writes as a father; he begins chapter 4, “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father”. Wisdom is for children, for sons. It goes along with sonship. “Hear, my son”, Solomon says in verse 10.
“The beginning of wisdom is, Get wisdom”. The first thing that is going to help us, dear brethren, is to realise the need for wisdom, and to apply ourselves to get wisdom. If we do not see the need for wisdom we are not very likely to get it. There is a crying need for wisdom in every locality. We can look back in our city’s history in Edinburgh—and I suppose it would apply in Plainfield—and see how many things could have been avoided if wisdom had been operating. You might be able to prove from Scripture and from ministry that what was done was right, but was it wisdom? Was it wise? Could sorrow have been avoided if wisdom had been applied? For things to be right is not sufficient for the family. What is needed is wisdom. Once we realise that, we shall begin to desire that wisdom should operate in our localities. “The beginning of wisdom is, Get wisdom; and with all thy getting get intelligence”. Let us set ourselves to get.
It says in verse 5, “Get wisdom, get intelligence—forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall keep thee; love her, and she shall preserve thee. The beginning of wisdom is,” (or it may be rendered, Wisdom is the principal thing) “Get wisdom; and with all thy getting get intelligence”. I am saying this to myself, as well as to the brethren here. Let us see the need every week in our assembly history locally for wisdom.
We come to the verse we read in Corinthians, “But of him” (that is, of God) “are ye in Christ Jesus, who has been made to us wisdom from God”. The first thing mentioned is wisdom, secondly, righteousness; not that righteousness is not our leader (for it is when it comes to principle), but in the application of principle wisdom is mentioned first. Corinth was a locality, just as we are here, just as they would have been at Edinburgh a few hours ago, at a meeting of this character. Paul writes, “Of him” (of God) “are ye in Christ Jesus, who has been made to us wisdom from God”. Wisdom from God is available to us in Christ Jesus; He has been made to us wisdom from God. Wisdom resides in our Lord Jesus Christ who is Head, and is to be drawn upon when needed in any given situation. In Proverbs 8, in that remarkable chapter where wisdom is personified, we read in verse 22, “Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old”. Wisdom as a quality was in reserve in divine operations. Before His works of old, wisdom was there. “I was set up from eternity, from the beginning, before the earth was”. Then he says, “When there were no depths, I was brought forth”. That is, wisdom was brought forth when needed in the creation of this world in which we are. It was always there in reserve, but brought forth, brought out, and drawn upon, when needed as divine resource in these great operations, at the very beginning of things.
If Jehovah, in His operations creationally, drew upon wisdom, how much more do we need to in our operations, because the Lord leaves things to us in our localities. Christ Jesus has been made to us wisdom from God. Once we understand, according to Proverbs 4, the need for wisdom in any situation, then we know where it is—it is in Christ Jesus, and it can be drawn upon from Him.
In 1 Corinthians 12, when we come to the practical operations and manifestations of the Spirit, it is very interesting that the first thing mentioned is the word of wisdom. Other things are mentioned, but the word of wisdom comes first. “For to one, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom”. We can look back—I know we can in our city—and see how many sorrows, how many difficulties, could have been avoided if there had been, at the right time, the word of wisdom. If there is at any time the word of wisdom it ought to be heeded. The same Spirit operates other features also, but the first feature mentioned is the word of wisdom.
James helps us in this; because he tells us in James 1: 4, “Let endurance have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”. And then he says, “But if any one of you lack wisdom”—as much as to say that the most likely thing to be lacking is wisdom. That is true of us individually, and it is often true of us locally. Divine principles are known; righteousness is followed usually, but the most likely thing to be lacking is wisdom. He says, “If any one of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all freely and reproaches not”. There is abundance of wisdom available to us, in Christ, from God. Wisdom is resource in any given situation. Wisdom has been often spoken of as the handmaid of love, and as the form love takes. Family feelings can be fostered by the operation of wisdom. It belongs to the family. In James 3: 17, he tells us, “The wisdom from above first is pure”. We need to be pure to look for wisdom; we need purity of motive, love out of a pure heart.
That is all I have to say, but I can see, in our own city, and in other cities, how many difficulties could be avoided by wisdom. How many difficulties could be settled in a few hours by the operation of wisdom. Some may say, ‘We are right’. Others may say, ‘We are right’. Maybe they are in some way, but where is wisdom? Where is the wisdom? May the Lord help us to realise the need for wisdom, and to draw upon the Lord for wisdom whenever needed in any situation, for God’s glory.
PLAINFIELD
16th December 1980
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