THE RECOGNITION OF WHAT IS SUPERIOR

D. Robertson

John 3: 27–34; 11: 7–16; 20: 13–18; 21: 20–22

John the Baptist is a model for us in many ways, but I want to suggest that he is so in the sense that he has the ability to recognise what is superior. He seems to have grasped, I would think through his contact with the Lord Jesus, that the Lord had longings for the bride, “He that has the bride is the bridegroom”; and while John had a ministry, his ministry certainly could not produce the bride. It is only the One who comes out of heaven that can produce what is of heaven. So John points to the One who came out of heaven. It is a remarkable testimony to His ability to recognise a superior line of things. In fact he says here of himself, “the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him”. I think John was standing there, we may say, in the holy respect of his apprehension of what was coming in in Christ. One would commend that thought to the brethren, that we might desire God’s help to have the ability to apprehend and appreciate what is superior.

John’s ministry was of God, and had in view to prepare the way of the Lord. He testifies of the One who comes out of heaven. He says, “He who has his origin in the earth is of the earth, and speaks as of the earth”, that was himself, but he says, “He who comes out of heaven is above all, and what he has seen and has heard, this he testifies”. No doubt the fulness of it is opened up in Paul’s ministry, the great truth of the heavenly line that was coming onto view, but the source of it, the origin of it, is in Christ Himself. Paul had nothing that had not been set out by Christ. Christ is the source of everything for God. He came out of heaven, and what comes out of heaven can produce what is of heaven, and the great result of the heavenly ministry is the production of a bride for Christ. I do not say any more about the bride than that, but John goes on to say, “no one receives his testimony”. How solemn that is, “no one receives his testimony”, and yet remarkably he goes on to say, “He that has received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true”. It implies that there is a person, no doubt abstractly spoken of here, who has the ability to receive the testimony out of heaven. But I believe that John was looking beyond his time to the present dispensation. How I would love to be one such, affected by the heavenly testimony. There is a result from it, “He that has received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true”. I believe that is an assembly man.

I trust all of us, and particularly the young people, have the desire to be assembly men. It is the need of the moment, and an assembly man is a reliable man. If we are going to be such we must be marked by the feature of reliability. That character of man has a seal, he is not vague, he is not drifting aimlessly, he can put his seal to things. I believe he is a man who means what he says, and could put his signature to it if required. Beloved brethren, there is a great need for reliable persons at the end of the dispensation. The Lord’s coming is drawn nigh, He will soon come. I would encourage the hearts of the brethren in that. The Lord is coming, and the need in these final phases of the dispensation is for persons of reliable character, not persons who are tossed about by every wind of that doctrine, nor influenced by one thing or another, but persons who have a seal, and that seal is that God is true.

Then John goes on to say, “for he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives not the Spirit by measure”. It is a wondrous reference to Christ as the sent One of God.

Christ received the Spirit without measure, and it is also the truth that the assembly as a corporate whole contains the Spirit without measure; a wonderful matter. So what John is referring to is a testimony that goes beyond his own day. He is pointing to the One who can establish this whole period in which God is working out His thoughts, we may say His heavenly thoughts, and the great production of the day will be the bride of Christ. May we be exercised, beloved brethren, to be reliable persons. It would be a challenge to me as it is to you. Have I really been affected by the heavenly testimony? If I have, you can be sure it will come out in reliability, and I believe that is the feature of an assembly man.

I want to come to John 11 now. The Lord had just heard of the sickness at Bethany. It reads, “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When therefore he heard, He is sick, he remained two days then in the place where he was”. That is a remarkable thing. You think of the intensity of the love of Christ for that family, and yet He remained away two days. You might say, He never stirred from His place. He remained there “in the place where he was”. It is a testimony really to the devotion of Christ to the will of the Father. I think it initiates us into the secret of the principle of Christ’s life. The principle of Christ’s life was the will of the Father. He lived on account of that. He lived to accomplish it, every movement of His was governed by the will of the Father. I think that is really the indication here, that He had no word from the Father to go there, and so He waited. It is a lesson for us as to the measure in which our own lives are governed by that principle, the principle of the will of the Father. What a perfect contemplation it is.

We were speaking about the Man of the gospels, what holy food for the soul, what quality is shining here. On the one hand there is His intense love for the family, no doubt His longing to be with them, and yet what shines out is His devotion to the Father’s will. It says, “Then after this”. I think it would indicate He had now received word that He could proceed. He had received word from the Father. He says, “Let us go into Judaea again”. Now Judaea, as we know, was a place of danger. His disciples knew that and they reasoned with Him, “The disciples say to him, Rabbi, even but now the Jews sought to stone thee, and goest thou thither again?” But just as He did not move without an indication of the Father’s will, there was nothing that would divert Him from it. No power could divert Him, not the dangers of Judaea, nor all the hatred that marked Judaea. He says, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walk in the day, he does not stumble”. That is really I think walking in the principle of the light of the will of God. Nothing of the darkness around ever governed Christ; He walked in the light of the will of God and of the counsel of God. Think of a pathway like that. What food it is for us to feed on, holy food! Every step of Christ was governed by both the counsel and by the will of God.

Now I want to speak about Thomas. It is a remarkable touch that comes in here. The Lord goes on to explain things to them as to Lazarus, but then He says, “But let us go to him”. Then it says, “Thomas therefore, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him”. That is not Lazarus he is speaking about, it is Christ, “die with him”. I think the disciples, as Thomas indicates, were beginning to apprehend that the Lord was on His way to death. He was so committed to the will of the Father that He was now on His way to death. From here on, as we have been often reminded, it is really the filling out of the type of the ark moving towards Jordan; the holy footsteps of the Son of God, directed by the will of God in every way and in every measure and in every step that He took. Think of the glory that shone from this point on as Christ moved towards death. I think the disciples, as indicated by Thomas here had some grasp of that. Now I know that Thomas has much on the debit side, but this is the credit side. He says to his fellow-disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him”. In speaking of dying with Jesus, we need to measure our words and keep in mind the two thousand cubits between the people and the ark. However Thomas here is clearly marked by the spirit of devotion that would follow Christ no matter what it cost. I would like to encourage the brethren that we might be exercised to be marked by the spirit of devotion to the Lord. And if I may speak to someone here who has ceased to be marked by that spirit, let Thomas be an encouragement to you. We often speak of the failures of Thomas, especially in John 20, how he was wanting at that time and missed the inbreathing. We often speak about that but let us not ignore how the Holy Spirit in His faithfulness records this moment when Thomas shone. Beloved brethren, the Lord would appeal to us that we might be recovered to the spirit of devotion. If any ceased from it, oh that our hearts might be attracted to follow Christ in the way He is leading, cost what it might. He is now in glory but the path of the testimony lies ahead of us. For how long that may continue who can say? The Lord is coming. May it be that we have not only the ability to recognise what is superior, and that we are not only reliable, but may we be deepened in the spirit of devotion. It is something that the Lord treasures deeply.

In John 20, there is something very wonderful in Mary that I want to speak of. She was inconsolable in her grief. Not even two angels could console her. You would have thought she would have paid more heed to what the angels said, but no, she was not diverted from her grief. She needed more than angels and so do we. What we need is Christ, that He might fill and satisfy our hearts. And so the Lord first of all says to her, “Woman, why dost thou weep?

Whom seekest thou?” It says, “She, supposing that it was the gardener, says to him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away”.

There was one thing that was unmistakable about Mary, it was her love for Christ, but she is marked by the spirit of unbelief here as to the resurrection. She requires a certain adjustment. Then it says, “Jesus says to her. Mary”. What a word that is. Do you think the Lord would fail to speak to you? Do you think He has no knowledge of yourself, no knowledge of your state, no knowledge of where you are in soul history, no knowledge it may be of unbelief working in your heart? Of course He has. The Lord Jesus has perfect knowledge of every one of His own, and He has perfect knowledge of all here. He says, “Mary”. It says, “She, turning round”. That is a beautiful touch. It is no longer a question of turning backwards and looking over her shoulder, she turned round. The point I want to bring out, beloved brethren, is that I believe the Lord touched something deep in Mary. He has touched the real Mary. He has touched the instincts of one who has been begotten of God, and immediately there is a reaction, she turns round.

I remember Mr Andrew Steven, many years ago, giving a word at a burial in Prestwick. He gave a beautiful touch, he said, it meant that her back was to the tomb. What had caused her so much desolation, what had brought her into an inconsolable state of grief, that was now behind her, and what was filling her gaze was the One in whom was the light of life. What a sight this must have been. What it must have meant to the heart of Mary, and what it must have meant to the heart of the Lord Jesus! It may be that you need to turn round, and the Lord would speak to you. Oh I trust that the reaction might be that the instincts of the divine nature might operate and cause you to turn round, and turn your back on the world, and turn your back on the tomb, for Christ is no longer there; He is out of it. His face would be radiant with the light of life. What a wonderful thing! Mary’s being would absorb that. I do not think she remained unintelligent very long. She is able for the instruction now, the most wonderful instruction, I believe, that was ever given to a creature in a way. Of course it is filled out in Paul’s ministry, but what a word she received. The Lord says, “Touch me not”, that is, You have known Me down here, but now you have to know Me in a completely different way as beyond the range of death.

I wonder if your knowledge of Christ includes that, that you really know Him, that you have a conscious link with Him beyond the range of death. The Spirit is given as the link between Christ out of death and the believer. Christ is there, not only raised but He has ascended, and Mary is brought into touch with this wonderful order of things. No doubt it would touch what we have in 2 Corinthians 5, “if even we have known Christ according to flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer” (verse 16). Christ is no longer to be known in flesh; it was not a final condition. He was absolutely perfect in it, but it was not a final condition; it was a condition He took in order to fill out the will of God down here, but He has now taken another condition, and our link with Christ now is as a Man in glory. Then Mary gets this word, “I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”. I believe the word involves the full light of Ephesians. It is not only that the Lord indicates to Mary the new position, but He indicates also the new relationships which are equivalent to the new position. Then later in the chapter He breathes into them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20: 22); that is, He gives them capacity for the enjoyment of these new relationships. He gives them everything they need to sustain them in the warmth and glory of these relationships that had been brought about by His going into glory.

I come to the final scripture. The Lord is dealing with Peter in recovery. It is not the first time He dealt with Peter in that way. There was a time when the Lord looked at Peter, it says, “And the Lord, turning round, looked at Peter ... And Peter, going forth without, wept bitterly”, Luke 22: 61, 62. I think at that point Peter was recovered in conscience. I think here the Lord is recovering him in affection. It may be you have reached the point where you are recovered in conscience. You fear the Lord, and the Lord has looked round and He has seen you, and that look is very significant. We sometimes quote the poem, “Tis the look that melted Peter’. I wonder if you have ever been conscious of the Lord’s look. I do not think it was a look of reproach, but a look of deep feeling. What it must have conveyed to Peter as he went out and wept bitterly. It was sufficient to recover Peter in his conscience, but Peter still went astray.

He was astray here at the beginning of John 21. What Peter needed was recovery in his affections, and it may be that is what we need, to be recovered in our affection for Christ.

That burning affection you once had, beloved brother, beloved sister, the affection for the Lord Jesus evidenced in your earlier history, is perhaps no longer there. The Lord Jesus feels it. Do you believe that? He says to the assembly at Ephesus, “thou hast left thy first love”, Revelation 2: 4. Who felt it first? The Lord felt it first. If you have drifted in your affections from the Lord, He feels it. Here He is, you may say, in His priestly grace, and He is recovering a beloved one to affection for Himself. Peter was still searching about, he turns round and sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following. John is not wandering here, John is following. That is the characteristic line of John’s gospel, following.

The great feature that marked John is one that we should all desire to be marked by, and that is steady attachment to Christ. What is the quality of your attachment to Christ? is it steady or does it vary? John is marked by steady attachment to Christ. It is a wonderful thing to be attached to Christ. Dear young people, we would love to see you attached to Christ. We long to see you not only in fellowship, not only taking the emblems on Lord’s day morning, but firmly attached to Christ. What a cherished thing it is, there is nothing quite like it, to be attached to Christ by an indissoluble bond, of which you are conscious by the Holy Spirit’s power. Have you got it? Are you marked by it? Have you got steady attachment to Christ? Peter goes on to say, “what of this man?” Jesus says, “If I will that he abide until I come, what is that to thee?” The Lord is indicating the quality that will remain to the end, persons who are marked by steady affection and attachment to Himself. Then He says to Peter, “If I will that he abide until I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me”. Is that a word for you, “Follow thou me”?

I would like to remind the brethren of what Mr Stoney said as to following. He said it is the practice of communion. If you are going to follow Christ you will need to be maintained in communion with Christ. Otherwise you will cease to follow Him, and you will fall into a religious kind of way, or into a worldly kind of way. Following is really the fruit of communion with Christ, communion with God. What a word that is, a word for each one of us, “Follow thou me”. We had this from Mr Dadd in the three-day meetings at Aberdeen a few years ago, a simple direct word from one of our fathers, “Follow thou me”. How emphatically the Lord would say it. It is a scripture I like to read, and also I always picture the Lord saying it emphatically. I do not think it would be whispered, Follow thou Me. Take it into your soul, and if you have ceased following may you flee back to Him. As Peter says elsewhere, “ye were going astray as sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls”, 1 Peter 2: 25. Beloved brother and sister, if you have got away from Him, flee back to Him! It is imperative. Mr Darby says in his hymn, if I could read the verse in closing,

‘O keep my soul, then, Jesus,

Abiding still with Thee,

And, if I wander, teach me

Soon back to Thee to flee’. (Hymn 51)

May it be so for His name’s sake.

Address at Dundee
13 August 1999