FEATURES OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST EXPRESSED IN THE SAINTS
D. Robertson
Luke 13: 31–33; 2 Samuel 11: 10, 11; 19: 29, 30; Psalm 132: 1–5
These scriptures all refer to persons who in spite of difficulties and pressures were not diverted from their course. I began with the verses in Luke because he, in his gospel, draws attention so beautifully to the moral glory of the pathway of the Lord Jesus on earth, and what he writes becomes a wonderful source of food, holy food for the exercised believer to feed upon. Other passages could be read, but I thought of this one, because it brings out how the Lord was not diverted from the path of God’s will. The Pharisees sought to intimidate Him, to frighten Him, to divert Him from the path that He was on, but His answer here is beautiful, it says, “Behold, I cast out demons and accomplish cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I am perfected”. He is looking beyond His immediate pathway in that statement, looking to His resurrection. But then He immediately goes on to say, “but”. You see He comes back to that present moment. He says,” but I must needs walk today and tomorrow and the day following”. What the Lord Jesus was indicating was that He was on a course which was regulated completely by the will of God, and He is not being diverted from it. I would commend the study of that to the brethren in these days, to feed on the Lord down here. I think it is priestly food. It is a wonderful thing to contemplate a pathway that was in absolute correspondence to the counsels of God. There was nothing accidental in that pathway, nothing haphazard. He was never moved to rashness, but every step was taken perfectly in the light of divine counsels, and the moral glory of Christ shines in the precious fact that He was never diverted from it.
It is a wonderful study, beloved brethren, the pathway of Christ down here. He says, “I must needs walk”. Have you ever thought of that?
How the Spirit would impress us with the compulsion that lay upon the spirit of Christ. Think of the spirit of compulsion involved in that expression, “I must needs walk”. Later He comes to Gethsemane and Satan seeks to divert Him, and brought all his power to bear upon Him, and we find that the same spirit of compulsion shines out. The will of His Father was the regulating factor in the life of Christ. I would counsel the young brethren especially to study the gospels and to seek the Spirit’s help to feed on the moral perfections of the precious manhood of Christ. I read some time ago a remark by Mr Stoney as to the mind of Christ, (as the apostle says, “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2: 16)) and he raises the question. How do we get it? And then he said, We get it by studying what Christ was down here. See how He spoke, see how He acted in certain circumstances, see how He reacted to certain things, and in that you will find what the mind of Christ involves. That is how we learn it, we learn it from Himself. It is a wonderful matter to have this record by the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures of this perfect pathway of the Lord Jesus. That path of Jesus in all its perfection becomes light to the Christian, it becomes food, and I believe as we follow it, we may say, adoringly, follow it worshipfully, our hearts become more firmly attracted and attached to Him.
I wanted to speak of Urijah, and Mephibosheth and David, because I believe typically they are persons in whom the moral features of the life of Christ shine. If I were to ask the question here, What is Christianity?, I wonder what you would say. What would your answer be? Many wonderful things have been said about it. It has been said it is a system of glory, that is very true. It has been said it is a system of affection, that is also true. But you know Christianity is a life, it is not a theory. Christianity is a life, it is the continuation of the life of Christ in the saints, that is what Christianity is. It is a wonderful matter to apprehend that, it is a substantial matter, it is a real matter, it is the life of Christ expressed in persons. You remember the angel said to those in Acts 5, “Go ye and stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life” (Acts 5: 20), that is, it was not only a question of what they said, but it was what they were. The life of Christ was in tangible expression, I mean in its moral qualities, in these persons, and that is God’s intention today. May there be an increase of the expression of the life of Christ in persons today, and may you and I be among them. I think these persons we have read of are a few who typically express the features of that life.
Urijah is faced with a test here, David tests him. It is not the true David here, he is far below his own level, he is acting really out of false motives; but Urijah is a man who is true to what he really is. David encouraged him to go down to his house, at a time of battle. The king should have been going out to battle but he did not go out. The brethren know the situation here as to Urijah and Urijah’s wife, and David’s false motives in the whole matter, but what strikes me is that Urijah is not diverted. There is unyieldingness with Urijah. That is another feature of the life of Christ, there is unyieldingness about it. If there is a false motive, if some false influence is brought to bear upon it, it is not moved by it. What strikes me about this man, Urijah, is the scope of what he has before him. He says, “The ark, and Israel, and Judah abide in booths”. Think of what lay in that man’s heart. Beloved brethren, how much is there in our hearts as to the distinctive glories of this dispensation? Are we going to give them up?
There is tremendous pressure being brought to bear on the saints at the moment to divert them from the distinctive features of the dispensation. I have no doubt about that, there is a tremendous effort of Satan. Satan is the devil’s proud name, and he is acting in all his pride, and in his might to divert us from the distinctive features of Christianity, and that is typified here. David, acting in a false way, was really seeking to divert this man from the conflict of that moment; but what was governing the man was, “The ark, and Israel, and Judah”.
What is governing us, beloved brethren? Have we some precious sense of the glory of the distinct features of Christianity? Think of what Paul says, “I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”, Ephesians 5: 32. Oh that we might be governed by the glory of that distinctive light, that we might not accept lower ground or entertain lower thoughts, but that that might be the governing feature in our lives, just as it was the governing feature in this man’s life.
Think of what the ark would mean to a man like Urijah. Think of what Israel would mean, and Judah. These things are, we may say, pregnant with holy meaning; the ark speaking of the Person of Christ in manhood, come to accomplish the purpose of God; Israel, God’s people, the people He delighted in; Judah no doubt involving the great line of God’s praise being secured. All that lay in this man’s heart at this moment. What is there in our hearts?
What is filling our minds in these critical days when so much pressure is being brought to bear upon us and Satan is active to divert and deflect? May it be that the words of Paul might ring soundly and loudly in all our hearts and minds, “I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”. That, beloved, is the distinctive feature of our day. That is the peculiar lustre of the glory of our light.
We come to Mephibosheth and we find another man who represents a very fine feature of the life of Christ in expression. I speak typically, of course, but the brethren know his history well. Mephibosheth was misunderstood even by David, but he was not deflected. In all the time of rejection Mephibosheth stood faithful to a rejected king, and that is like the time we are in. We are in the time of the rejected King, the time of the rejection of Christ and I would like to be a Mephibosheth. Mr Taylor said a very remarkable thing about Mephibosheth, he said he is a type of an Ephesian saint.
If you had asked me to find a type of an Ephesian saint in the Old Testament I do not think I would have selected Mephibosheth, but I can see it now. Mephibosheth is a true type of an Ephesian saint. He is misunderstood by David, he is misrepresented by Ziba, but what I want to point out is this, that the king is back in his own house here. The rejection, typically speaking, is over; the king is back in his own house. Mephibosheth is brought into the king’s presence, and his language is wonderful, he says, “What further right therefore have I?” He takes a lowly place. There is no self-vindication with him. How often the feature of self-vindication marks us, especially in assembly matters. The Lord never was like that, it says, “who when reviled, reviled not again; when suffering, threatened not”, 1 Peter 2: 23. How do we meet things? If we are threatened, do we meet it with a threat or do we meet it in the spirit of Christ? There is an opportunity in all these exigencies to display the wonderful features of the life of Christ.
What I wanted to come to in regard to Mephibosheth is that David says to him, Why do you speak to me any more about these things? There is your portion, “Thou and Ziba divide the land”. You might say, what an opportunity for Mephibosheth. That is when Mephibosheth shines, he said to the king, “Let him even take all, since my lord the king is come again in peace to his own house”. That is the Ephesian saint. You say, What do you mean? Well, how does that epistle end? What is the last word in Ephesians? It speaks about those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption. That is like Mephibosheth, his pure motive was simply love for David. It was not a question of land or property, it was not a question of what he could gain for himself, it was a question of love for Christ. There is the Ephesian saint, loving Christ in incorruptibility. Oh beloved brethren, may we take on such a feature in these days.
The day is far past to seek anything for ourselves. The opportunity of the moment is that we might be amongst those who love the Lord Jesus in incorruption. I think
that is Mephibosheth, he loved David in incorruption. What a beautiful word it is, “Let him even take all, since my lord the king is come again in peace to his own house”.
I would like to say a practical word to the brethren; that kind of spirit would solve most of our local problems. I am not going to say any more than that, “Let him even take all”. Think of that beautiful spirit, the spirit of a Mephibosheth, it is really the spirit of Christ, it is really typically the life of Christ being expressed in a man, “Let him even take all”, he says, “since my lord the king is come again in peace to his own house”. His affections, his whole life was bound up with another man. Is that not Christianity? Are you like that? Am I like that?
Naturally we are not like that, we are grasping, we are greedy, we want place, we want self-advancement. The principle that is seen in this world today more than ever is that men are so ruthless that they will tramp one another into the ground to get that advancement. Oh that it might not be in local assemblies, beloved brethren, but that the spirit of Mephibosheth might prevail. He says, “Let him even take all, since my lord the king is come again in peace to his own house”. The man, his life, was totally bound up with David. Oh that our lives might be totally bound up with Christ. I believe that was like Philippi, the saints at Philippi were really the moral counterpart to what was presented in Ephesians and their lives were really bound up with holy interests and holy affection in the Person of Christ. What a beautiful sight for God to look into a local assembly and see a company of persons, whether they be a large number or a small number, but to see a company of persons who are bound together with genuine affection for Christ. You know what Mr Darby said, that the greatest bond between human hearts is consecration to Jesus; that is the greatest bond. How God loves such an expression. So I commend Mephibosheth to us.
When you come to David, I think what you see here
is a man whose energies are all set in view of the pleasure of God. How like the Lord Jesus.
Every movement and every activity of the Lord Jesus had the pleasure of God in mind.
Typically, you remember, in Psalm 16 he said, “I have set Jehovah continually before me”
(Psalm 16: 8). What a wonderful contemplation to think of the Lord Jesus in that way. Here is a man who is marked by unrelenting energy, “I will not come into the tent of my house, I will not go up to the couch of my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, slumber to mine eyelids.
Until I find out a place for Jehovah, habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob ...”. Oh that that kind of energy might be more seen amongst us, that I might be more marked by it. Especially when we are younger we tend to mis-spend our energies. The Spirit of God would help us that we might be marked by this holy energy, this holy zeal. Think of how the Lord could say, “The zeal of thy house devours me”, John 2: 17. Think of that, those holy energies of Christ. One speaks reverently, I hesitate to bring in a profusion of words about it because what could we say in speaking of that perfect One? But think of those holy energies of Christ, and they are typified here in David. They are all in view of increase and suitability, suitable conditions for the glory and pleasure of God.
I think we need to be marked by these energies in these days. We are in a time of flagging energy. That is what marks the profession generally. The energies of men have flagged, waned, in relation to what is for the pleasure of God, but I believe the Holy Spirit would make a definite appeal to us today that we might be exercised, that our energies might be controlled by His power, and directed by His help, into channels where we would consider for God. You may think what I am saying is very simple, and so it is, but it is very far reaching, because even in assembly affairs we can use our energies wrongly. I trust we will remember that. We can use our energies wrongly in assembly affairs. Every assembly activity ought to be related to the pleasure of
God. I am weighing carefully what I am saying, beloved brethren, but if there is an assembly activity that is not related to the pleasure of God it is a mis-spent energy. May we be preserved in these days to think for God. There is a great need that persons might be thinking for God and thinking for God’s pleasure, so that there might be increase for God. It is the spirit of David here, and I believe it expresses so perfectly in a typical way this feature of the humanity of Christ coming out in the saints.
How God treasures every thought that the saints have for Himself, that there might be something in the way of an enrichment in substantiality in His service, and that there might be places of suitability. If we are going to have places of suitability, we ourselves need to be suitable, and we need to learn “how one ought to conduct oneself in God’s house”, 1 Timothy 3: 15. We cannot just put a Sunday suit on. We were reminded of that in London, the need for proper manners; manners in how we handle the truth, manners in how we handle one another, manners in how we speak to one another. Mr Taylor said that assembly manners precede assembly privileges. You cannot act in an unsuitable way through the week, and just turn on a switch on a Lord’s day and think you can act suitably then. What I am speaking about is a life, it is not a theory, it is not a doctrine, it is the life of Christ in the saints and that is seven days of the week. Pardon the simple language, but I speak to my young brethren, and my old brethren too, but this involves your life. Moses says as to the words that he spoke, “it is no vain word for you, but it is your life”, Deuteronomy 32: 47. What I am speaking about is life unto you. It is not what we think merely, it is not what we memorise as to the truth, it is how we live. The Spirit of God would encourage us, so that increasingly in our own lives practically the life of Christ might be expressed in all its holy beauty. It is what God delights in, the life of Christ in the saints.
A beloved old brother continually reminds us that there will be only One order of Man before God eternally and that is Christ. It does not stop there, he always adds very beautifully, Christ personally and Christ in the saints. How beautiful that thought is. He has Christ personally there. The Man who pleased God so much is there in His presence and He is filling His heart at this very moment. Very soon every true Christian will be there, and God will have Christ personally and He will also have Christ in His saints, so that wherever God looks it will be Christ. You remember it says at one point of the house, that there was no stone seen, it all was cedar (1 Kings 6: 18). The stone was there, the great structure of the universe is bonded in righteousness, that is Mr Raven’s teaching. Think of that eternal world bonded in righteousness, but what is seen is the cedar. Everything will speak to God’s heart of Christ.
Well God is looking that there might be a moral correspondence to Christ seen in our lives now. It is not in our ability to speak, although we are thankful for the ability to speak and convey thoughts to one another, but there is something deeper, and that is this constitutional side we have spoken about, and that is that Christ has to be seen in expression in our lives day by day. May God help us, and may we be blessed, and may we be among those that are preserved. I have more sense of the need for preservation now than I have ever had at any time in my life; that we ourselves, and our households, and our local assemblies, might be preserved to have part in this substantial expression of the life of Christ. May God bless the word.
Address at Aberdeen
23 April 1994