“UNTIL HE COME”

V. E. Wraighte

Matthew 26: 1–13; 2 Samuel 11: 6–As we partake of the Supper each Lord’s day it is until He come. 1 Corinthians 11 tells us that; “For as often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye announce the death of the Lord, until he come” (1 Corinthians 11: 26). He is the One, beloved, who loves us, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ—“until he come”. It has in mind, I believe, the completion of the journey. You will remember that in Genesis 24 the servant, typical of the Holy Spirit, pledged himself to go the whole way. We have gone so far, but are we prepared, with the Spirit, to go the whole way? Rebecca said, “I will go”. I think we see with that woman entire subjection.

Divine Persons have made it attractive for us to go the whole way “until he come”. I have the impression, and I think it weighs upon the spirits of the beloved saints, the lovers of God, that it will not be long before He comes.

This puts an urgency upon things. Is each one of us prepared to go the whole way with the Holy Spirit? He would engage us with one Man, Christ, and with the things of Christ. As I see it, everything else must take a secondary place; it must be Christ and the things of Christ.

I want, therefore, to speak of consideration for Christ, and then consideration for His testimony. I want to draw from these two scriptures to show, first, how an unnamed woman put Christ first; she considered for Christ. Then in Urijah the Hittite we see how he considered for the testimony. You will notice that the feature of an overcomer marked this woman, and it marked Urijah, and, beloved, it is to mark us. It needs to be with us if we are to put Christ, and the things of Christ, first. The Lord Jesus has considered for us. I trust that every responsible person here today carries an appreciation of the uttermost lengths to which our Lord Jesus went in devotion, in love, and in self-sacrifice for each one of us. That great work of redemption stands by itself; it stands out in all its glory. The One who effected that great work took it up indeed on behalf of the whole human race, but then too He accomplished it for the glory of God, and to give God a basis whereby He could come out in blessing. That is the way in which you and I as believers have come into blessing. That great work stands out, as I said, in all its blessedness; it abides, it will remain eternally; no man can add to it or take from it. It all magnifies the greatness and glory of the One who accomplished it. Is not your heart drawn out to Him? Indeed, He accomplished it for God, but it was for us; He considered for us. What a Person!

We were reminded earlier this week of those words of Jesus in John 17, in speaking to the Father, “I have glorified thee on the earth, I have completed the work which thou gavest me that I should do it” (John 17 :4). He did it, beloved, in the very scene where every other man had failed, and where you and I have failed miserably, but in completing that work He considered for us.

What a Saviour! What a Lord He is! Oh that our hearts might be drawn out to Him more, beloved brethren. He is worthy to have the first place! But then, in further consideration on the part of Christ, as we come together Lord’s day by Lord’s day we take account of the emblems on the table—a continual reminder to these hearts of ours that He has considered for us, considered for the assembly, but then too for the personnel that go to make up that assembly. Do not our hearts go out to Him as we would say that He considered for us? Does it not engender in this little time that remains until He comes the desire that we should consider for Him?

So I just want to speak briefly of this woman. It is a public setting here, outwardly a scene of hostility, murder and hatred against Christ. Think of the combination of the hierarchy that sought to kill Him. Inside the house too there was indignation. It was the house of Simon the leper; reproach was connected with that. But despite all that, we get this recorded for us as to the action of this woman, an unnamed woman. Beloved sister, are you going to put yourself there? She must have felt the opposition in her spirit. Things are felt today. Maybe there is not the outward persecution, as in the time of the martyrs, but there are lovers of Christ who feel things, feel them deeply, as this woman must have done. It was not only against her, it was against the One she loved. Then there was this reproach attaching to the house of Simon the leper. It was not as if she was going to the temple or to the synagogue.

I remember in my early days, in a little village, the place where some lovers of Christ gathered was called the ‘tin hat’; there was a certain reproach connected with it. Just a few of those who loved the Lord Jesus gathered there, and He was there. Thank God for it! The first time that I sat behind at the Supper I got an impression that has never left me. Ah, beloved, if there are any interested persons let them come and sit behind at the Supper and I am sure they will get something.

But this woman here was active. Think of the sacrifice that entered into what she had secured; she came not empty. It may be over a period of time she had gathered this up, with much exercise, at such cost to herself, but she came with this alabaster flask of very precious ointment. All that she had before her was one Person, that glorious Person, and she came and poured it out upon His head. Not a part of it; with no reserve she poured it out upon His head.

Is that how you feel when we assemble together? Think of this spirit in the local assembly and what it means to Christ; she poured it out upon His head. I think that woman would say, He is the only One who can rule. Matthew presents Him as the King in His beauty. Outside, despised and rejected of men, but, oh, in this house how He was honoured by this woman, by this subjective element there. The Lord said, “For in pouring out this ointment on my body, she has done it for my burying”. She poured it out upon His head, but the Lord says, “on my body”. Think of the appreciation that the Lord had of the action of this woman. It is really the King in His beauty, and His royalty. How do we regard, beloved brethren, the Lord Jesus as coming in amongst us? I am not criticizing, but maybe there is the spirit of indignation. How do we treat the

Lord Jesus? Think of the action of this woman, and the way that she served the Lord. How He valued it! She was really saying, This is the only One for me, the only One worthy to rule.

Think of her expressing her loyalty to the Lord Jesus. Is that what we feel as we gather Lord’s day by Lord’s day to break bread, that we are really loyal to Him, the One, beloved, who so considered for us? Let us be among those who at the present time are overcomers. It may—indeed it will—involve suffering, but let us be overcomers in considering for Christ, to give Him the first place. He alone is worthy of it.

So the Lord Jesus goes on to say, “Wheresoever these glad tidings may be preached in the whole world, that also which this woman has done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her”.

I get the impression that the Spirit of God is continuing that. Where are we in relation to it?

Persons converted through the glad tidings are to be true to Christ, over against the hierarchal system that affords Him nothing. This, beloved, was in the house, but what a testimony this woman must have been.

So I want to go on to this passage in Samuel where we see in Urijah the Hittite one who was an overcomer, one who considered for, and had great concern for, the testimony. It has been said of him that, in New Testament language, he is “a good soldier of Jesus Christ”, 2

Timothy 2: 3. That becomes a challenge. Where do you stand, where do I stand, with regard to the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ? I have often wondered about what must have gone through the mind and heart of Urijah that day when he got a recall from the battle. It must have been a searching matter for him. As far as the believer is concerned, there is no recall from the battle; the conflict is on, and it will be on all

the time until He come. It may not be all conflict, but we are in the conflict. Are you and I taking our part, our share, in the suffering as good soldiers of Jesus Christ? Urijah stands out here as one who considered for the testimony. It says, “And Urijah said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah abide in booths, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields—shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink ...?” Think of how this man was steady and firm with regard to his concern for the testimony. The conflict was on; not only did he know it, but he felt it, and he knew where his position was, where he should be. He was not prepared for an easy life. We know that this man sacrificed his life.

Scripture says we should lay down our lives for the brethren. But what a warrior he was, one who was prepared to surrender even what was legitimate for the cause of the testimony.

The testimony is going through, and it is going through to the end. I believe that God will see to it that it goes through in all its purity in men like Urijah, in men like Paul, in men like Timothy, but the question is, Are we prepared to surrender all, to put the things of Christ first, to be in the conflict, cost what it may? Paul says to Timothy, “Take thy share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”, 2 Timothy 2: 3. What a soldier Paul was! What a sufferer he was! Somebody could well give an address on those lines—the sufferings of Christ and the sufferings of Paul. Paul says, “Take thy share in suffering”. As I said, he suffered for the testimony, but where, beloved, did he learn how to suffer? I am sure that he got it from his Lord and Master. There never was such a warrior as the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew’s gospel, it has been said, presents Him to us as the warrior King. Think of those conflicts that He went through and all He endured up to the end of that gospel, and how

victoriously and triumphantly He said, “All power has been given me in heaven and upon earth”, Matthew 28: 18. I am sure Paul learnt it from his Lord and Master.

Well, as I said, the testimony is going on, and it is going on to completion, until He comes.

May we be stirred afresh in our committals, both in regard to our consideration for Christ, and then too in consideration for His testimony. Paul has to say to the Philippians, “For all seek their own things, not the things of Jesus Christ”, Philippians 2: 21. Oh let us be preserved from that line of things and know what it is to be considering for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and for His things, and for the testimony, for His name’s sake.

Address at Walton-on-the-Naze
24 March 1990