ESTEEMING THE PEOPLE OF GOD

H.W.Knauss

1 Corinthians 3: 16-23; 2 Corinthians 4: 5,15; 1 Kings 3: 5-15

I suppose one of the greatest needs that exists amongst us at the present time is to have a right regard for the people of God. In a day of manifest breakdown, when failure has come in amongst the people of God in the way it has, there is a tendency for us to view them in a way that is not right. So I thought that we might be helped in looking at Paul's reference to the Corinthians here as to how the saints should be viewed at all times. It is not Paul writing to the Ephesian saints - those that would be in the gain of the heavenly calling and the heavenly inheritance and position, those who were walking according to the full thought of God - but it is Paul writing to the Corinthian saints, those that were perhaps in what we might term a low state. If the saints are in such a state I think Paul would help us to see that our regard for them is not to lessen in any way; they are the people of God, they are God's inheritance. We must ever view them in that way, beloved brethren. Paul could say to them "all things are yours". I think that he was affected by their being the assembly of God which was in Corinth. We must ever view what is in our local companies as being that, being linked with the supremacy of God. What exists in my locality, even though in weakness, is linked with the great thought of God; it is the assembly of God even if it is in a few weak vessels. If there are a few persons that have received the Lord Jesus and gather together, providing conditions whereby the Lord can come in and take up His rights, "where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt 18: 20). The Lord Jesus had an assembly in Corinth which belonged to Himself. We must view the saints thus, beloved brethren, otherwise we will not be able to feed them and help them and nurture them along. I think we learn that lesson from Paul. Paul was able to help every man; he could become all things in order to gain all (see 1 Cor 9: 22). If the Thessalonians needed a nurse Paul could become that, and we see how quickly they grew through the wisdom and skill of Paul in ministering. We must view the saints as they will be in eternal conditions, the body not yet changed, the body of glory not yet received because the Lord has not come for us, but it says "we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is", 1 John 3: 2. Then I believe it will be easy for us to have an appreciation of each one of the saints of God as we see them clothed in their bodies of glory. But think of the moral work of God that is in the believer that is always to be taken account of by us and appreciated. Paul would help us on that line in these verses that I read in the first epistle and the second epistle: "all things are yours". I think God would speak to us as to our behaviour in regard to all that has taken place, especially the way in which servants took advantage of God's people. The servant is never to be above those that he serves. What skill Paul had in service amongst the people of God! Who could have gone into Corinth like Paul? What a man he was! What a servant! He was one who was prepared by God. Think of the time heaven spent on the preparation of Paul for service. What a vessel he was "an elect vessel to me" the Lord Jesus could say, Acts 9: 15. The Lord personally imparted the feelings that were necessary for Paul to minister. What great light was given to him from heaven, light I suppose that eclipsed everything that any servant ever had: the truth of Christ and the assembly, and what the body of Christ was to be here in the scene of testimony as belonging to the Lord Jesus. I think all this was instilled in the feelings of Paul so that he always had a right regard for the people of God even in days of crises and failure. God would help us to get the saints before us as they are in His gaze. One did not have the privilege that many of the brethren here had to be constantly with Mr Taylor, although one was with him a few times, but I distinctly remember him saying that you will never be able to assemble rightly with the people of God unless you get God's view of the saints. Have we sought to do that? Have we sought to get near to one another to see the personal link that each believer has with God and with the Lord Jesus? Have you ever sought to see how persons have received the Lord Jesus? We have been speaking about receiving the Lord Jesus as Saviour, that is, faith becoming operative in persons. God grants to each a measure of faith we are told in Scripture (see Rom 12: 3), as though it is the gift of God; but then faith is to be put into use so that persons begin to use it Godward. And as Christ comes on to our view faith enables us to lay claim to Him as our Saviour, and also enables us to repent towards God; that is, we have some right regard for the holiness of God and all that is due to Him as God, the supreme, majestic Being that He is, a righteous and holy God. We have some sense of what is due to Him and we repent as to what has come in in ourselves that keeps us away from God, sin in all its awfulness, lawlessness against God and against His Christ. Thank God for His sovereign work in new birth which we were speaking of in John 3, what God has done from His own side. It is not that we had anything to do with it; God cares for us and has operated sovereignly in new birth in the believer. Therefore the groundwork is laid for the reception of the Lord Jesus sovereignly by God. It is not that I have been able to come to some judgment through human concentration and ability to sort out things and come to a conclusion that I should be here for God, but God simply holds out Christ as an object of faith to persons to be believed on. It is God's answer to man in sin. The need of man is such that he is incapable of answering himself. Man has the power to sin and serve sin, that is what is innate in man, but God in new birth provides an area in man that is ready to listen to Himself. So we receive the Lord Jesus as Saviour initially, but then we have an appreciation of Him as the One who gave Himself for us; as Paul would say, "the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me" (Gal 2: 20) and we desire to know more about the Lord Jesus. And He helps us in our knowledge of God; He could say "He that has seen me has seen the Father", John 14: 9. Therefore if we want to know something of the greatness of God, the revelation of God as Father, it requires that we have a holy, precious link with the Lord Jesus. Now I would view every saint of God in that light as having received the Lord Jesus and I would observe through their walk that they have received the Spirit of God. Therefore we are never to lose that regard for any of the saints of God, no matter what may come upon them. Conditions may come in to discourage us and cause us to weaken in the pathway of faith and not be as sincere in our walk as we should be, but nevertheless we must not lose sight of the eternal condition that belongs to the people of God in spite of low conditions that may come in.

The Corinthians apparently became obsessed with certain persons that were serving amongst them and Paul moves to set them right. He says that a servant is not to be above those that he serves, he is to serve as a bondman. And he says "all are yours"; that is what I would like to draw attention to in both these passages: "all are yours". So whether it is Christ or the servants or the ministry, whatever it may be, it is yours; God has given it to you to help you to become established in your links with Himself. So Paul is saying here that God is caring for you. It is a corrective epistle; it is not Ephesians, the revealing of great light, the state in the saints being such that great light can be unfolded as to the enjoyment of the heavenly inheritance. The view in Corinthians is that the saints may be guided into the thoughts of God. But first of all we must value those whom God has given us to guide.

One feels that through the 1960s there was a lack, largely in the servants, of right regard for the people of God, and the Lord Jesus has personally taken servants to task in this matter. Some that were available in purity in the 1950s have been set aside because of this. One would be careful in saying that but I feel that it is so. The Lord Jesus would say to such, Come ye apart and rest a while (see Mark 6: 31). I would look for any servant who is recovered to have a right regard for the people of God, and as a result you would be able to trust them. Some servants of the Lord who are able to lead and guide the people of God have been recovered recently and what I would look for, as one meets them again, is that they have a right regard for the people of God. They would say that we are yours. I would say that Mr Darby is ours, Mr Raven is ours, Mr Coates is ours, Mr Taylor is ours. Is it not so beloved brethren? We have their ministry, given as light from God to guide us into the truth. Thank God for it; thank God for persons who have been able to understand the truth and assimilate it in such a way that they can break it down and help others into it. Thank God for the servants that we have at the present time. Do we regard them? Do we claim them as ours? Do we claim their ministry as ours? One has heard of certain localities that refuse ministry of servants at the present time. I would think that such persons would be treading on dangerous ground, not claiming what belongs to them as provided by God.

So Paul says "all things are yours. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things coming, all are yours; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's". Oh what fine language that is! Paul is wholly right in his links with the Lord Jesus, serving under His hands in such a way that he would be just available to the saints to help them. Think of the holy desires of Paul. His motives were pure. Are our motives pure as we serve the people of God? What would we desire today as God would speak to us? - that we all would be brought into line with God's desires for us. What are God's desires? They are pure, beloved brethren. God does not desire the death of any; He wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (see 1 Tim 2: 4). This is not a gospel meeting but the gospel is the basis of all that we have. The desires of God are pure, and what I see in these two passages in Corinthians is that Paul's desires were pure. The Lord had to search Peter at the end of John as to what his motives were in service. "Shepherd my sheep" is what the Lord said to him, if you love Me. Peter was searched I suppose to his very core as to what his motives were in serving the Lord Jesus. But Paul has such a regard for the people of God that he would say, Everything is yours, and he seeks to give them what belongs to them. We have been speaking of the rights that the people of God have that they can lay claim to. Paul is seeking in the Corinthian epistles to help the saints to lay claim to every right that belongs to them. He says, You are an assembly of God; he is addressing the same persons here telling them that "all are yours", the same persons that he spoke to in verse 1 where he says "And I, brethren, have not been able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly; as to babes in Christ". Just because they were not acting spiritually at this time does not alter Paul's regard for them, he is addressing them according to their eternal position, what they were as having received the Lord Jesus and being in Him. Paul says, They are the people of God, and he would seek to bring them up to the Ephesian level in his ministry. That is what I see through this section. He says "Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God...?" What language that is, seeking to bring them to something. He says "Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any one corrupt the temple of God him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye". He would preserve them from becoming mere professing Christians, persons that would become sects, persons that would resort to what would be on a party level having a man as their head.

So, beloved brethren, if nothing else registers with us at this time, let us always have God's view of His people. Let us hold in our hearts that everything belongs to them. The rights that they have are given to them by God. Let us help one another to lay claim to every right. Let us know the full meaning of what it is to be the children of God, that it is ours by right. Think of what attaches to the assembly as being sin apart, as coming out of the side of Christ, not being linked by natural birth in that way. We were speaking about being born again being generative, that is, you can trace its roots back to God. The idea of lineage comes into the thought of born of God; that is, you have had your beginning in Christ. What a beginning it is, a pure, holy beginning! God would have us maintained on that line. Therefore if we fall to what we might call a low state, God in faithfulness would bring a word in through a servant that would correct us. May we always be ready to receive adjustment on that line. It has often been said that spiritual persons are quickly adjusted; and we are always in need of a word of adjustment. We should look to God that He may be free to bring in such a word that we might quickly get on to the line of growing by the true knowledge of God.

In the second epistle, chapter 4, Paul is using pretty much the same language. I suppose the saints now are on their way to being adjusted. Paul is able to review things here in order to establish them. He does not just give ministry as light and let it go but would personally guide and lead and help persons. He would become all things to all men; whatever the need, he would get down to the level of the persons involved in view of helping them. It is not that Paul would link on with a person's sin, that is not the point, but he would get near to them in view of helping them, in view of establishing them and bringing them up to the great thoughts of God. Do you know what God has available for you? It says "Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man's heart, which God has prepared for them that love him", 1 Cor 2: 9. Do you know something of the love of God? I think we are limited as to what we know of it. I suppose the gift of the Spirit would be one of the great proofs of God's love. It has been said to be the divine kiss. Think of God kissing us through the gift of the Spirit, in that way giving us the power, a divine Person indwelling believers to hold them for Himself, to hold them in their link with the Lord Jesus. As receiving the Lord Jesus we never get to the point where we are beyond the need of Christ. But the Spirit would help us to draw on all that there is in the Person of the Son, the anointed Man of God, the Man that would do everything for God here. Dost thou believe on the Son of God? That would be the question. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus? that is first, but do you believe on the Son of God? Paul says that "all things are yours", everything belongs to you. As belonging to the family of God, God makes everything available to you. Think of the Father that God is. Think of your own personal father, everything that the father has is made available to the children. Many have had children here, you desire that your children would grow, come into the gain of life. But we want to have more than natural desires for our children; we want to have desires that our children might find their place in the family of God. Yet how much we fail on this line. But God is gracious, God is merciful. If we cast ourselves on the mercy of God our families will be preserved; and we cast ourselves on God too continually that we may prosper and grow as being in the divine family, the greatest of all the families. We were speaking of the distinction of that family over against the other families; we have been favoured to be found here in this dispensation where Christ has been revealed as the Son of God.

The other families had some indication of it through the prophetic word from God that Christ was in the thoughts of God and would come forward; therefore as our brother suggested this afternoon, Simeon was in the gain of all that light, he would see the answer to all the prophetic ministry that came out from God as to Christ, as to the thoughts that God had as to the Lord Jesus. As he took the holy Babe in his arms he could say, "Lord, now thou lettest thy bondman go, according to thy word, in peace", Luke 2: 29. Oh what feelings would come out. You think of John the baptist too, the link as we have been taught between the Old Testament and the New; he would say, You have a favour of belonging to a family which I do not belong to, I am only a friend of the Bridegroom. He could say "He must increase, but I must decrease", John 3: 30. What feelings he had in regard to the Lord Jesus, He had too conscious knowledge of the favour that would rest upon persons who would be in Christ and who would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is our favour to be in that time, and certain rights are granted to us by God because of the dispensation in which we are and the light that has been given to us by way of testimony linked with this dispensation. Every family of God is established on the basis of answering to the light that is given in its distinct dispensation. What makes the family of God that we have been speaking of - that is the assembly - so great is that it is the one that has been established as having a link with the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. So Paul would say "all things are yours", everything belongs to you. God has given you the greatest, you might say, in that He has given you Christ. This is the greatest of all the dispensations because Christ has been given and the Holy Spirit has been given as the gifts of God. We are in the possession of the double portion. Beloved brethren, let us view one another in that regard and hold one another thus in our affections. I think we will find that it will be easy for us to merge together as brethren and we will provide the Matthew 18 position where Christ can be amongst us in the midst.

I read in Kings because I believe the feelings in Solomon are akin to those that were in the beloved apostle Paul. Think of Solomon coming on the scene following the reign of David. How would you have liked to follow such a reign if God chose you to come forward as king? What a reign the reign of David was. Think of what David set on in his affection for the house of God, all that he provided for the building of the house that there might be a suitable place for the divine dwelling on the earth. And think of David as the one that set on the service of God, the service of praise. He has been said to be the man par excellence in the sight of God because of the tender, precious, holy feelings that he had for God. Now Solomon is to follow up that reign, and what you see as he comes on the scene as king is that he has a right regard for the people of God: "a great people", he says. God put His trust in Solomon with regard to the leadership of His people in such a way that He would give him whatever he desired. He could have asked for the riches of the world, he could have asked to live eternally. This was in a dream, God speaking to him, allowing him to find out what his motives were as to his desire to lead to great a people that had been led so rightly under the reign of David. What a man Solomon was here, one who was little in his own eyes. Paul was that. As Saul of Tarsus he had authority to persecute the saints. He must have had great sway with the authorities at that time to have letters in his pocket that would enable him to persecute and put to death. the people of God. But Paul is adjusted by receiving the God-given view of Christ, so that in his service amongst the people of God his very name is changed to Paul which means little. That is Solomon here, little in his own sight, being dependent upon God for wisdom to guide and lead so great a people.

So one feels the need, beloved brethren, of just instilling into our hearts a right regard of the people of God, no matter what their state or condition is Paul would not flatter any man. What ministry come out in the first epistle to the Corinthians through his faithfulness, not seeking to lord it over the saints or exploit them or take advantage of them but seeking to lead them on in the great things of God to be what they were as the assembly of God in Corinth. Is that not our desire, beloved brethren, as we serve so great a people? What would our desire be today for everyone here? - that we might grow in the knowledge of God and find our place happily amongst those that love the Lord Jesus in incorruption and who delight in the fact that they have a right to be children of God and to be in the divine family. What a right we have to God as Father! The Lord Jesus would help us to take up that right in John 20: "my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God" (v 17). The Lord would help us on His departure to take up that right to worship God. He said "I ascend to my Father and your Father". I think the Lord would liberate us today that we may not be bound in our feelings for one another. I believe that the sphere of eternal life comes into expression as our feelings for Christ and for one another are liberated. We should love one another as Paul loved the saints at Corinth. Even though we are not yet perfected there is that in the believer which is going through eternally and which can now be taken account of and appreciated. May we ever have that view of God's people so that we can assemble together as brethren under the headship of Christ and receive instruction from God. For His Name's sake.

BROOKLYN NY

26 March 1977