MY WILLING PEOPLE
MY WILLING PEOPLE
Philippians 2:13; Exodus 35:4,5; Exodus 35:20 - 22 (first clause); Psalm 110:3
I am thinking, dear brethren, of willingness in the saints, willingness to do the will of God. It will be remembered that the Lord speaks in spirit in the Song of Solomon of the chariots of His willing people, and, it will be remembered, too, that in 2 Corinthians the apostle Paul speaks about willingness, and that, according to this willingness or readiness, “a man is accepted according to what he may have”.
I was thinking of that as a basis for a word at this time; for we are, although believers, prone, to be unwilling. It is said of the elder brother in the parable, that he would not go in (Luke 15). God would induce willingness and put us at the very outset in the way of it, by setting before us the very best things by way of attraction for it is well to habituate ourselves to it initially, and God makes this easy, so to speak, for the young believer, in affording him so much to attract. As the Lord says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light”. And so, as taking the people out of Egypt, God makes the way as easy as possible. He led them not in the way of the Philistines lest they should see war, and resented not any of their murmurings or complaints until they reached the great source of supply, that is, the mount of God. After that, as He opens up the infinite store house of His resources to them, at least typically. He formulates His will, and then begins discipline — for it is not love to suffer our wills. It would not be love for God to suffer our wills, or the growth of the flesh, even in the sphere of grace: but He [p. 214] allows the young believer much latitude — not to sin, of course — there is never any latitude or excuse for that — but in the type, there is very great consideration for the youthful believer so that he should not be discouraged at the beginning, but should see that the will of God is good and that it is perfect. It is first good, then perfect. He is to prove that, and a period under the influence of grace will indicate to us that the will of God is good and perfect, so that we habituate ourselves to obedience, resigning ourselves to it. As it is said: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice ... which is your reasonable service”. We begin to prove this, that the way is delightsome. And then God opens up His storehouse of resources, so that, as the rigours of the wilderness way for there are rigours and hardships — begin, we are already accustomed to drawing upon the resources that God has opened up to us.
So I ventured to read in Philippians, a book that may be likened to the book of Psalms, only on a higher plane: a book that should be read even from the beginning of the believer’s pathway. It is a book of experience. The Psalms are that, too, but the epistle to the Philippians is experience on a higher plane and much more compressed. In no life have we got compression as in the life of Jesus, and this epistle touches on that life, from the moment of His decision to empty Himself, being in the form of God, from that moment until the cross, yea, the exaltation, we have the life of Jesus in a few short verses. It is infinity put into a few verses, as I might say, but enough to give us an inlet into that life. A day of that life was more in the divine account than a millennium of a life like mine. Contrast the life of Methuselah 969 years, and the life of Jesus! The life of Jesus was, in point of time, but a very small part of the life of Methuselah; but the one was attenuated so that the Holy Spirit says nothing beyond the years.
[p. 215] The life of Enoch was three hundred years after he begat a son; Methuselah, lived all these three hundred years, but the Holy Spirit lights on nothing as reflecting the life of his father. A long life, nearly three times that of his father, but his father’s life was “with God” — he “walked with God”; but Methuselah’s life was featureless. We do not want that; we want our lives filled with; the will of God; and not the will of God in a perfunctory sort of way, but for His pleasure. Our wills enter into it, so that our lives are full, if need be compressed, for God reckons by days and by millenniums. One “day is with the Lord as a thousand years”, but that must be a day into which much enters; it cannot be a day barren of results for Him. God never intended any day to be, barren of results for Him. So, if a day in His mind be like a thousand years, what a day it must be how full! Who can write the history of such a day? No one but God. And it is of such days, beloved, that the life of Jesus was made up; days so full of delight for God, of the maintenance of the will of God, of pleasure to Him, that every moment of every day, as well as every day of every year, was filled up thus. And what must be “the day of eternity”? The idea is of what is compassable — but compassable by whom? Who can take it in, beloved, but God? He can take it in. As He alone can take in the life of Jesus in its fulness, so He takes in eternity. He ‘inhabits’ it.
Well, what I have said will convey to you what is in my mind, and my desire is that we should all take into account willingness; that our lives may not be featureless, that they may not be uneventful in the eyes of heaven; that we may not be passed over as unworthy of notice; that the divine eye may see something that it can take account of and name as distinctive of each of us; that our lives, in other words, may be worth recording. Our names are recorded, true enough, in the book of life as believers; but there is also the question of our lives.
[p. 216] Do you think that it is too much to regard God as recording the events of our lives? Not at all. He numbers the very hairs of our heads. We read of a book of remembrance written before Him for His people, (Malachi 3); also that He writeth up His people, (Psalm 87). We little take in, even in physical things, how minute God is in His dealings! The things that are made are said to be a testimony to “His eternal power and divinity”, (Romans 1:20), for in them the invisible things of Him are clearly seen. So that it is not at all too much to think of the divine record including the lives of the saints, for what are the lives of the saints, think you? They are but the expansion, of the life of Jesus that is what they are; and such life is always delightful to God! As it is said to the apostle Peter: “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life”, (Acts 5:20). The life of David was very compressed. We read of “the times that passed over him”, (1 Chronicles 29:30), all his reign and his might, and so forth. It was recorded, as one has often remarked, by three of the most spiritual men of his time, or of any time — Samuel the prophet, Nathan the prophet, and Gad the seer.
Now you will see the importance of what I have before me, of willingness in the saints to do the divine pleasure. So Philippians encourages us, as touching on the life of Jesus from His emptying Himself — profound expression! We refer to these expressions reverently. Being “in the form of God”, He took “a bondman’s form”, and being “found in figure as a man”. He humbled Himself, “becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of the cross”. That is the mind of Jesus — the descending mind of love.
And then we have the life of the apostle spread out before us, his sufferings and his motives and his aspirations. He pressed “toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”, after having [p. 217] told us that his great thought was to “arrive at the resurrection from among the dead”; that he should be conformable to His death, that he should not be behind in the sufferings of Christ. Well, in the presence of that — the infinity of the life of Jesus, and then the finite reflection of that life in the apostle — he says to us: “It is God who works in you”. How can we hope for anything of what I have been speaking otherwise? “It is God”, he says, “which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure”. That is going on. One rests in that: God working in us. We look at the physical system and speak of it as the work of God. He made the heavens and the earth, bringing things out of chaos into order in the ‘days’ — all “very good”. But we often overlook what is going on in our own selves, a far greater thing — something that will survive as the physical world passes away; that work is going on in us. Ephesians links it up with the heavenly position, but it is brought in here in connection with the divine pleasure, the willing and the doing of the will of God. That is, Philippians looks at our position here which flows out of the work of God, as all emanating from the descending of Christ and His death. One would appeal to the young people — one always loves to do that — because we who are a little older would wish to bring them with us, not simply by way of external influence, but by the way of showing, them that the thing is very good, that there is something in it, something worth while! In fact, one has often referred to the epistle of John where our faith is said to be victorious: “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” — that is to say, we are going on with something that is victorious; it has always been victorious, and it always will be. You are coming into that. You did not inaugurate it, I did not inaugurate it, but the thing is there, victorious from the very start, and it is for us to go on with it, “even our faith”. So that the point is to [p. 218] encourage the young believer to come in, the thing is worth while, ‘the willing and the doing of God’s good pleasure’. What a thing that is!
If one of you young people going to school or college were to be told, so that you were certain of it, that you had a little bit to do in the formation of Mars, you would say: ‘What a wonderful thing!’ And you would tell everybody: ‘I had a hand in that’. Well, now, you see what you may have a hand in is far beyond Mars or any of the other planets — the willing and the doing of the divine good pleasure now. 1 Corinthians teaches us that we are called into the service, we are fellow workers with God. Think of that! I only refer to that to amplify what I was saying about the willing and the doing of His good pleasure. God is going on with something that He calls His good pleasure, and we are called into it. His work in us is for the willing and the doing of it, but the willing comes first; I am in it heartily, I am in it heartily. The thing is marvellous, magnificent, and I have part in it — the willing and the doing of the divine pleasure! God is working in us to that very end.
Well, now, that is how the thing really stands for the youngest or the oldest of us, and I want to show, specially for the young again, from (Psalm 110), that the Lord is referred to. “Thy people”, it says, “shall be willing in the day of thy power”, (Psalm 110:3). It is a question now of Christ and of what He brings in. He is set at God’s right hand till His enemies be made His footstool, according to this psalm. He is a “priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek”. Your heart is bowed in the presence of this great Person who died for you. You say, ‘He is worthy of all this dignity, of all this glory’; and in the coming day His earthly people will be willing. As He says in Spirit in the Song of Solomon: “My soul set me upon the chariots of my willing people”, chapter 6:12. How delightful for Christ [p. 219] that His earthly people who rejected Him here shall be willing in the day of His power. We think of Him thus and delight in the thought. But then. He is already in power, not outwardly, but really — He is at the right hand of God. “Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool”, that is how the psalm begins. He is already in power, and He is operating in power for us, and so it is a question of what this psalm means for us — whether we are willing. What marks the church in the type is “Wilt thou go with this man?” “I will go”. That is the principle. Rebekah is a type of the church, of which we form part; we are of her great anti type and we should not be behind the type. How beautifully the church is typified for us in (Genesis 24)! Rebekah is seen in grace and humility — drawing water for the servant of Abraham and for his camels. Then when she is challenged; when her brother and her mother keep her for ten days, they said: “Let us call the maiden and inquire at her mouth”: “Wilt thou go with this man?” What a word for the young people here! She has no hesitation whatever; she represents the church, that feature of it, and says: “I will go”. And so it is in this psalm — “thy people shall be willing”.
Now, how about this, young people? What I do in secret is the fast consideration; not what I do before the brethren only; that is to say, what is the disposition, the attitude of my heart? If the willingness be there to do, you are accepted according to what you have; a man is accepted according to that. The psalm says: “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power”. How does it stand in the secret of our souls in regard to Christ’s claims? We have our own natural desires. I know well enough that natural desires are stronger in young people than in older ones, and we older ones must remember that. But God presents a superior attraction to anything you can get here, and that is Christ. “Wilt thou go with this man?” “I will go”, Rebekah says, and so in our psalm: “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power”.
“In the beauties of holiness” that is the next thing. Not mere natural effort or feeling, but in the beauty of holiness — or “in holy splendour”. And then, “From the womb of the morning shall come to thee the dew of thy youth”. It is the young believer coming out, you see, from the death of Christ, for what can be “the womb of the morning” save that? What morning can there be without it? All must sink into oblivion for ever, beloved friends, without the death of Christ: all man’s race and its affairs. What in coming could there be without the death and resurrection of Christ? And so “from the womb of the morning shall come to thee the dew of thy youth” — alluding, as understood by the best authorities, to young people; — to young men. “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children”, (Psalm 45:16). That is to say, it is what Christ secures in resurrection, what He has as the result of His death. No longer the fathers, but the children whom He makes “princes in all the earth”. You see what He will do for us. Young life, spiritually, is most delightful; how delightful it is to Christ as the first fruits of His death. As He moved about on the morning of His resurrection, what a prospect of youthful life was in view! How early they were at the tomb! How vigorous they were! How full of affection was Mary Magdalene! And all that was delightful to Christ as the first fruits of youthful life from the womb of the morning: never to pass away, never to grow old, never to decay, all to be like and for Himself. “In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth”, it says. “The dew of thy youth” — that is the idea. There is never to be any oldness or staleness in this. The heavenly city is as fresh a thousand years after as it was at the beginning. There is no decay. That is [p. 221] what Christ has, and that begins now. It is marked now by willingness to do His pleasure.
I have been speaking to young people, but I want to show how this principle of willingness enters into the building up of the church; for that is how God would have things in this dispensation. Rebekah is the great type of the church in this respect — in the sense of willingness, or readiness — so that God is not, as it were, forcing things out of us. He will take what He can get in His grace. That is a very touching thing, too. Whatever good thing there is. God will take it out and use it as available. But how far short that is of (Romans 12), where the believer begins by presenting his body, “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God”, which is his intelligent service, and where he proves “what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. That is what God looks for: a people starting in freshness and vigour in the energy of life, presenting their bodies. Well, that is what Exodus is; and what is really in evidence is the day of Christ’s power in Moses, for Moses, in many respects, is Christ typically in Exodus. He has come into power: he had come into the camp and faced all in the camp single handed, and they went down before him, for who could stand before him? He was the king against whom there was no rising up. (Proverbs 30:31). That is what Moses was there for. And then we have all the subsequent judicial and gracious dealings until he goes up to the mount the second time, and comes down with his face shining. It is the new covenant in principle, in type: Christ shines. It is not that He has to put a veil on His face, as we read: “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord”, (2 Corinthians 3:18). It is the day of His power, but power exercised in grace. That is, there was an incentive in His face for the people to do the will of God, to be [p. 222] ready, to be available; thus we are accepted according to what we have, not according to what we have not. Moses here speaks to the people as to their willingness of heart. “This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord; whosoever is of a willing heart”. That is the position now. It is a question now of material, dear brethren, for the house, and it is not as if God were extorting it from us. He is not like the tax gatherer. God is not on that principle. That would not fit in with the dispensation; for the dispensation is marked by willingness, by readiness. God would encourage us on the principle of equality and on the principle of a willing heart, as seeing what is needed. In this chapter in the following verses we see the requirements specified carefully; but the materials have come through willing hearts, hearts prompted by the Spirit.
Now, dear brethren, this is a very practical matter, for the requirements are great, and the maintenance of the dispensation in character, depends really on the church, and on the church taking form. It is well for us to have the idea of the light of the assembly, and to move in it, but I feel that what the Lord is specially occupied with for the moment is formation; that it might come under His eye in some little way in form — that He might see it. The Lord is looking for that; He is looking for the outline of the thing in some way, in some little formation; and for formation, according to this type, we must have material. The material is the outcome of willing hearts, of hearts prompted from within. It is not extorted from us, as I said, but we are touched by the grace that shone in Moses’ face — that is, in Christ’s face — as “looking on the glory of the Lord”.
As I said, this is a most practical thing, dear brethren, and I believe the Lord would make an appeal. We have much light — thank God! — but the point is, willing hearts spontaneously coming forward: that is what the [p. 223] Lord would bring us to. We find in the later verses of (Exodus 35) that they come, every one whose heart stirred him up and whose spirit made him willing. I need not proceed further. What is stated is so plain that there are none, I am sure, who cannot see the force of it — “every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing”; they came, and it was ‘after they had departed from Moses’ — that is, they were not under his eye. We do many things in the meetings, under the eyes of the brethren, but the point is, when we depart, what do we do then? “They came”, it says. That is a movement the Lord loves, to see us coming in spontaneity of affection, hearts prompted, whose spirits are made willing, with all that is needed in the way of material for the building up of the house of God, for the formation of the assembly. May God bless these thoughts to us!