Friendship In The Divine Realm
FRIENDSHIP IN THE DIVINE REALM
I desire to speak about friendship in the divine realm. It is something that is open to all of us; it does not require gift to come into it or to qualify for it, neither does it require gift to sustain the position. It is qualified for and sustained by affection, admiration and fidelity.
The thought of friendship is connected in Scripture with difficult times such as those in which we are. John’s gospel was written for the last days; he is the last gospel writer, and writes in view of decline and antichristian doctrines. He is the evangelist that introduces the idea of friendship to Christ. Isaiah is the gospel prophet and writes for difficult times. As he found the affections of God’s people waning, he recalled them to the time when God chose them—“the seed of Abraham, my friend”.
Jehoshaphat too, lived in a difficult day. Some features of recovery came in in his day, and he appeals to God and reminds Him that Abraham was His friend. If we cannot put our foot down on anything in ourselves, we belong to a line that is on terms of friendship with God, and we can fall back on that, as Jehoshaphat did.
I speak first of friendship with God. It is a great honour for God to designate us in that way. It was a great honour to Abraham and a joy to God to designate him as His friend when the general tide of opinion was against God. God’s ways were generally questioned in Abraham’s day, as they are today criticised and found fault with by men. God looks down to see who is on terms of friendship with Him in this matter and Abraham says, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Gen 18: 25. That is what God delights in at the present time. When He is on all hands criticised for His ways, and called in question as to why He allows this or orders that, and why He does not intervene on this side or on that side, God looks down and expects His people to rally to Him, and to vindicate Him in relation to His attributes and ways. There is no question in our minds as to the rightness of His ways; He is doing, as Abraham says, what is right. We not only make that assertion by word, but our spirits are with Him, even in regard to His ways that are inexplicable to us; we know He is doing what is absolutely right.
So He refers in Isaiah 41: 8 to “Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend”. The idea of divine choice settling in our souls paves the way for us to move on to this platform of friendship with God. As I get that into my soul, I move on to a platform where God has confidence in me, where God is admired, and I admire Him and His ways.
To qualify for this place of friendship we must study the one who first bore the name—our father Abraham. What kind of man was he? James tells us (quoting from Gen 15: 6) that “Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness”, and adds, doubtless referring to this passage in Isaiah: “and he was called the Friend of God”, James 2: 23. James also deals with difficult times. He saw that looseness was coming in; there was a danger of assuming that, because God has reckoned us righteous, we can trade on that without any practical reflection of it in ourselves. James insists that “by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2: 24), and this came out pre-eminently in Abraham. So when he says, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” he was in accord with it practically. Indeed God could say of him: “I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do justice and judgment”, Gen 18: 19. God sets store on this great attribute. If I am to be maintained in relation to God and in communion with God, it must be on this principle of righteousness. Abraham’s life reflected what God was in His attributes.
Righteousness is one of the scarcest elements in this world today, especially in the professedly religious world. Thank God it is found amongst His people, and God is thus taking them on and designating one and another as His friends. We are all able to qualify for it believing God, even the youngest. Isaiah 53: 11 refers to Christ as God’s righteous Servant, who will “instruct many in righteousness”. However young I am, I can be instructed in righteousness, so that I do what is right. If I am a child, I am obedient, “for this is right”, Eph 6; 1; I am subject in my home, and Jesus will instruct me in doing what is right. God looks down on many homes and does not see that, but He looks down on many baptised households and sees, not only parents, but children doing what is right. Ephesians states what the advantage is: “That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth”, chap 6: 3. Only righteous people have that promise. We see people stretching out their hands for life, wanting to live long on the earth, but the people who have God’s promise of life are children who obey their parents, “the first commandment with promise”. Why does God want them to live long on the earth? Because He wants this principle of righteousness to remain in the earth; He does not want it swept away. He will maintain the seed of Abraham, His friend, however it is despised. God had Abraham as His friend and is maintaining that seed to the end. So He says, I have chosen you, I have brought you in on this line of friendship so that you can be instructed in righteousness and take it on.
Jehoshaphat appeals to God at a critical time, a difficult day, and he does not put forward any plea as to himself. In the main Jehoshaphat is right. He makes some bad moves, alas, like many of us, but according to Kings he clears himself. Joining affinity with Ahab was unrighteousness. “Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate Jehovah?”, 2 Chron 19: 2. Is it right? Does it come under the category of righteousness to join affinity with those who love what is evil? Perhaps you have been brought up to understand the fellowship, but perhaps you have never loved it? When you understand it you want to love it. It is important to be clear as to it, so that I know what I am doing and where God is and what God is supporting, but you must love it. God has been faithful to you, He has called you to the fellowship of His Son, so do not make affinity with Ahab! If there is any one who has made affinity with Ahab—taken on another fellowship—it is open for you to clear yourself. Jehoshaphat cleared himself. We are told this in 1 Kings 22, when the suggestion is made that the servants of Ahaziah the son of Ahab should go with his servants, we read, “But Jehoshaphat would not”, v 49. He had come to the point of recovery from his affinity with Ahab. Alas, it remained in his household and came out in his son.
It is a great thing to be brought into the position according to God, and to be in it humbly and unassumingly. If we really sized up ourselves, how many of us would be in fellowship—in the place where God is? If it really rested on our merit, none of us would be in it. We are in it because God is faithful, and so we are to be in it humbly. Thank God for the place where God is, where the Lord is! Many of us have roamed about and have tried one thing and another, and have had the feeling all the time that our position needed changing, but we have come into the fellowship of God’s Son, a position that needs no changing. So Jehoshaphat says, Thou gavest this land to “the seed of Abraham thy friend”. He says in effect, We cannot claim anything. If I look back on my past it is too dark, but just remember Abraham, what he was to Thee, and we are his seed! He appeals to God in this way, and we too can appeal to God humbly in relation to those who have been His friends, when we cannot put anything forward as to ourselves. God comes in and answers that. It was a most difficult day, and the odds were overwhelming, but Jehoshaphat appeals to God and says, It does not matter to Thee whether there are few or many. That is what I had in mind in relation to this scripture, that we should keep humble in the position where we are, and not give any impression of assumption that would grate on the ears of others.
Friendship with Christ is also for difficult days. I would link 2 Samuel 15—“So Hushai David’s friend came into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem”—with this passage in John 15. A treacherous spirit had risen up, yet there is one in the city who is David’s “friend”—Hushai. David says to him, “return to the city”. It is a question of whom the Lord can have confidence in to bring the testimony through, and that royally, not as dragging it through. Joab would not serve unless he were prominent, but Hushai would serve David out of sight in the treacherous conditions of the city, when Absalom was assuming the kingdom and stealing the hearts of the people from David. As I see Hushai come back, I say, That is the downfall of Absalom and his regime. A man in rejection with Christ is the downfall of things here. If in our locality there is a spirit of treachery, how is it to be met? Not by a man like Joab, although honour might go to him, but the victory is secured by Hushai, David’s friend. No one longed more for David’s return to Jerusalem than Hushai. He knew all the under-currents; he could put his hand on things. The safety of David was in the hands of Hushai. How well he handled the situation; Ahithophel was counsellor to David, but in treacherous times he failed him—friendship will never fail either in treacherous times, or good times.
God does not throw His titles about loosely. God intends that we apprehend the meaning of such titles and then qualify for them. If I am to be in the position of friendship, I must qualify for it; it never breaks down under the most trying, difficult and arduous times. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”. Love has endured in Christ; how it shines out in its lustre in Him! How it stood the test! So He says, “I call you not servants ... but I have called you friends”. The time had come when the Lord could transfer them from one title to another. That is a very happy occasion for the Lord, and it is a happy occasion for every one of us when the Lord can say, I see you have qualified for this position of trust when I can tell you all. That is another feature that belongs to friendship. God says of Abraham, as He was on His way for judgment, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” Is it a friendly thing to hide this from Abraham? Truly there is nobody on earth like him. Think how lowly he was; what hospitality he had just shown God! He had brought out the best from his house, reserved for this occasion; everything done in haste and yet in perfect order; all the best yet all in such smallness! He says, “a little”, but what a royal “little” it was! “A calf tender and good”. Abraham had drunk in of the spirit of Christ. God, in His friendship with him, no doubt gave him impressions of Christ. The Lord says, in John 8: 56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day”, but He adds, “he saw it, and was glad”. God had conveyed to Abraham something of what Christ was to Himself.
Then there is the question of our feelings towards men, as brought out in Matthew 11. The circumstances through which men are passing are very acute. Christians have passed through them too, but the sorrows on humanity are very severe today, so in Matthew and Luke it is said of the Lord that He is “a friend of publicans and sinners”, and He did not refuse the title. He is accessible to men and they can say what they like to Him. I believe that in times such as these we should be available to men in this manner. How blessedly it shone in Jesus, “a friend of publicans and sinners”! Not that He loved sin, neither do we; but He was a friend of publicans and sinners, those who felt their sinnership.
Present circumstances are, I doubt not, ordered of God to bring about conviction in the consciences of men. Men are drifting away from God; the profession is drifting away rapidly too. God has ordered the present circumstances, not only in view of His people, but that many might be brought to know Him. Who is going to be available? Am I characterised like Jesus? Can any one come and open out his heart to me? Have I, in any way, assumed to be self-righteous? That would put men away from me. They would say, perhaps: I must not come near to him because I am a sinner. Am I like God? Am I like Christ? Any one who felt he was a sinner could open out his heart to Jesus. The woman in Luke 7 could pour it out in tears, and there was also the woman in John 4. If I have the privilege of being the friend of God and of Christ, am I available to sinners in need?
I close with the scripture in James: “Whoever therefore is minded to be the friend of the world is constituted enemy of God”. We are to judge the bent of our mind. When this thought comes into my mind, do I give it a place? When the world puts out its hand for friendship, do we dismiss it or dally with it? Do we make way for this grip of the world to strengthen with us? Every case of departure begins in a small way: it begins where we have not seen it. We can only judge of actions. We do not know how long it has worked in the mind; only those who have history with God know the subtlety of these things. They know how things begin in a small way; first, with the inception in the mind. Do I dismiss the evil thought or entertain it so that tomorrow it is stronger than today? If I dismiss it today, it will have no power on me tomorrow. God does not wait for actions: He says, If you are minded to be a friend of this world you are constituted an enemy of God. What has the world done with Christ? What has it done with the saints, with any righteous person since Abel?
God is going to overthrow this world system, but friendship with God and with Christ will never be overthrown. The realm to which divine friendship belongs remains eternally.
Putney, London
9th July 1942
From ‘Words of Grace & Comfort’ 1943
THE CEDAR, THE OAK, THE TREE OF PSALM 1 AND THE HYSSOP
In reading these passages in the Scriptures, I thought of four trees, the cedar, the oak, the tree of psalm 1 and the hyssop, “which springs out of the wall”; some other characteristic feature which the hyssop might present, and I have in mind to speak of this especially, “which springs out of the wall”. It could be called a herb, but Solomon calls it a tree. “he spoke of the trees, from the cedar-tree that is on Lebanon to the hyssop that springs out of the wall”; I thought of the hyssop in the sense that it can live with almost no nourishment. The cedar would suggest dignity and beauty. These features, no doubt, find their full expression in Christ, without which they could not be found in us; for what is in us is only the expression of what is found in perfection in Christ. While the trees and the herbs made their appearance on the third day of the creation, the animals not being created until later, God had to consider these living elements with a special satisfaction. There were features of life with the reptiles and the fish, and with the beasts in general, and indeed with man too, but there were features of life in the trees and without the least doubt, God would have had pleasure in taking account of them. He could have created everything in a single day. Why did he work for six days? Why not accomplish everything at once, on the same day? Because, I think, God had joy in the different features of life, each on its day; each day He looked and saw “that it was good”. He could take account of each particular feature of life and beauty, appreciating them already as an expression of Christ: they were “in Christ” in the mind of God. Thus, I believe that the way in which God proceeded in creation is a lesson for us; it teaches us that we must receive at a given moment the beauty of a thought that God communicates to us and not put all God’s thoughts together or try and embrace everything at once. When God gives us a thought of Christ, or indeed a thought of Himself, if we take these thoughts into consideration, each at its time, in a spirit of prayer, they will serve for our formation. How often we lose the benefit of them in wanting to assimilate everything at once.
It is of the cedar that I would like to speak first of all because Solomon sets it at the head of the list. It is said, “he spoke of the trees, from the cedar-tree that is on Lebanon to the hyssop that springs out of the wall”. I associate the cedar with the thought of dignity and beauty; in fact, as you know, in Scripture, the cedar is usually associated with Lebanon, as if the two were inseparable. Lebanon is the place where the cedar grows. You would not obtain the same variety of cedar if you set it in the clay grounds of Succoth. Moses says, when he supplicated God to allow him to cross to the other side of the Jordan, “Let me go over, I pray thee, and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon”. Without doubt, he thought of the cedars that grew up there, of the grace which they gave to the sides of the mountain. The spouse speaks of her beloved in the Song of Songs (chap 4: 11) as one the odour of whose garments “is as the smell of Lebanon”. If we speak of the cedar, we must necessarily associate it with Lebanon. Many holy thoughts are gathered around Lebanon, “the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted”, it is said in Psalm 104: 16. As I have said already, I associate this tree with dignity and beauty, features that God works to form in His own now. Christ has borne these features in a full and perfect way. While he was in activity here in His humanity, glory and beauty shone in Him. Christ has always had His sphere of dignity and beauty to which to retire. Luke mentions that “He went up into a mountain to pray”, Luke 9: 28. John notices in chapter 8: 1 of his gospel that “Jesus went to the mount of Olives”, while each “went to his own home”. So the cedar must be associated with Lebanon, it is the place which suits it, where it draws its growth.
I refer in this connection to the epistle to the Ephesians in relation to the cedar as representing those who are “in Christ”, the dignity and beauty of Christ attaching to the saints as those who are in Him. I understand that the view of these cedars is an imposing spectacle—these immense trees standing with large proportions, and of a considerable height, spreading also their shadow. It is said in Ezekiel 31 as to Assyria, “a cedar in Lebanon” (v 3); “the cedars in the garden of God could not hide him”, v 8. Those cedars were in view of giving their shadow and protection, but Ezekiel says these words to Assyria’s detriment, for “his heart is lifted up in his height”, v 10. Our true position of dignity and beauty can only be in Christ.
There is then another side to consider, which is that the walls of the house were built of boards of cedar; the whole interior of the house that Solomon built was covered in them. There is not only here the idea of what the tree was in itself, but of what was once cut down and which the saw had developed, which was found in the interior. How beautiful this furnishing of the walls and floors of the house of God must have been, 1 Kings 6: 15, 16! Wherever you looked, only dignity and beauty would be seen. The tabernacle was not made like that, its covering was of shittim wood; it had coverings, and the ground was its floor; but when God came to dwell in a permanent way in His house, the cedar wood is introduced and there is a holy paving to put the foot upon, it is an entirely holy place and the eye meets dignity and beauty in every direction. What a thought that God has chosen us in Christ and set us in Him!—so that now He can see features manifest in us.
The fact that the cedar was sawn into boards leads us again to the epistle to the Ephesians where the saints are exhorted as to their practical walk. While on the one hand they reject the old man and on the other take on the new man in their relations one with another, the beauty of what is in Christ is manifest in them. The tree has passed through the saw, it has been cut up, which is symbolised in that the tree is found in boards. What has impressed us about the cedars when they stood upright was their glory, their dignity and their grandeur, but once cut up into boards, they allow us to see what characterises the inside of the wood. What we are “in Christ” finds its expression in our practical life. Think of the saints in their mutual relations, as masters and servants, for example, and in family relations—all these beautiful features are evident, and God finds His satisfaction in us. That is what I see in the cedar. How are we going to understand it? Let us grasp this well: that our place is “in Christ”. God has “chosen us in him” (Eph 1: 4), and “taken us into favour in the Beloved”, v 6. Think of the dignity and of the fact that we are before God in Christ and for His own satisfaction! See how the Lord diverts the seventy from the thought that their service gave them greater dignity, in saying to them: “rejoice that your names are written in the heavens”, Luke 10: 20. He desired that the seventy, as also ourselves, should be clothed in the dignity of the cedar with all its grace and beauty, dignity such as it possesses being rooted in Lebanon, the place of its proper increase. The same variety of cedar does not grow at all anywhere else. So we can understand what the apostle says to the Colossians in chapter 3: 1, 2: “seek the things that are above, where the Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God”. Let us dwell in the atmosphere of heaven, as the cedar on Lebanon, so that we may grow.
I refer now to the oak to which the thought of stability and power attaches. This is what we see in a striking way with Abraham. In chapter 14: 13 of Genesis, he “dwelt by the oaks of Mamre”, and it is there that the man gave him news of the world war, from which he learned that his brother Lot had been taken captive; it is in this same place that Abraham is found in chapter 18 when God appeared to him. That is to say that Abraham is marked by stability and energy, he does not leave his place. Lot moves about. It is not possible to have confidence in him, today he is here, tomorrow he is elsewhere. He says to the angel in chapter 19: 20: “Behold now, this city is near to flee to, and it is small: I pray thee, let me escape thither … and my soul shall live”; but if you were to go and look there for him the next day, you would find that he was no longer there (see verse 30). There was not in Lot with the characteristic feature of the oak, although Peter qualifies him as “righteous” (2 Pet 2: 7); but on the other hand, this feature was found with Abraham. Whatever turn the war took in his time, he knew, as we know, dear brethren, that all will come to pass according to divine plans. It could seem that all was lost, but Abraham knew that it was not so. He was sitting at the door of his tent, near the oaks of Mamre, marked by stability and energy. He was indeed convinced that the promises of God were Yea and Amen in His Son, He knew where to find what was stable—in a Christ risen and glorified—he knew that nothing could happen contrary to God’s will as to what concerned the nations, and as to everything; all was in God’s hands and therefore the least detail of what happens is according to His will. Abraham is in the light and in the secret of this truth, he abides there at Mamre under the oaks. And there he can enjoy the thoughts of God in Christ, for all His promises are in Him, all are founded on a Christ risen and glorified.
When Paul writes to the Corinthians, it would be tempting to say to him: ‘Paul, you have a lot of disturbance and sad thoughts assail you on account of the brethren in Corinth?’—‘Yes, that is true, who would not be affected as I am if they had affection for them?’—‘But then, Paul, what are you going to do? Are you going to write right and left to give the brethren advice?’—‘Oh no! I know that all the promises of God are well established in a Christ risen and glorified, whatever the outward appearance of things, I have the firm assurance that the work of God will not be interrupted’. So Paul was not troubled when Chloe’s letter informed him of the state of the saints in Corinth. He subjected all his own thoughts to the promises of God. If it is true that he carried the saints and wept over the conditions in which they were found, he relied upon the certainty that what was of God in Corinth would be preserved and the second epistle testifies that it was so.
It is all different with Lot. One does not know where to find him. He leaves Abraham and pitches his tents towards Sodom, then he dwells in Sodom (and is forced to leave by the war), then he is sitting in the gates of Sodom and in response to the angel who urged him to flee to the mountain he says, “Behold now, this city is near to flee to, and it is small: I pray thee, let me escape thither … and my soul shall live”. The angel allowed him. Then Lot leaves Zoar and goes up the mountain. What help he would have found in following Abraham; he would have progressed in his soul. What a solemn word for us! The epistle to the Romans speaks of those who are weak in the faith. Do not say: ‘They are going too quick for us’. Lot seems to say, ‘Abraham is ahead of me. I cannot see what he sees or understand much of what he says’. But if Lot had dwelt with Abraham under the oaks of Mamre, and if he had been found there when God visited Abraham in chapter 18, he would certainly have drawn profit for his soul. I cannot admit that if anyone has had a divine visitation, he has not taken a blessing from it, even if this visitation had no other effect than to make him desire something more. Even that is good: Paul tried to motivate the Jewish brethren on this line, showing them how the Gentiles were coming into the blessing. Let us keep in the slipstream of those who are spiritual, of those who have something. Let us not at all envy those who are leaving, but rather abide with those where our salvation and blessing will be. It is surprising to consider that God attributes graces to us that we do not dare claim for ourselves. He sees us walk with those who follow in the path of His will. Abraham was truly marked by these features of stability and energy represented by the oak. God can bestow His confidence on him knowing that he will abide in the place where He has set him. He will go on whatever the circumstances because he knows that all the promises of God are concentrated in a Christ risen and glorified. God has seen His own in Christ right down to today. Think of the circumstances! God has kept watch in stability and power over His own under the oaks of Mamre. When God comes to Abraham in chapter 18, it is said: “And Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And he sat at the tent-door in the heat of the day”. That is where he was dwelling, and he was available to serve there. You would not be able to shift him from that place. It is like Psalm 1. The oaks grow best in soil which particularly suits them. You would not be easily able to grow an oak on Lebanon; you would only obtain a poor specimen if you planted it elsewhere than in its own soil. An oak likes the clay ground in Succoth. And when the tree has passed through the sawmill, the beautiful features of the wood can be seen. On Lebanon, you would not get the quality or scale that the oak acquires in the soil that suits it. An oak has to be able to resist bad weather. It is well rooted. Whatever height it reaches, its roots are as deep so that the tree supports its height and development. Abraham would have been a Roman well instructed in the things of God. His roots grew ever stronger and we can understand with what satisfaction he would have reached the level of chapter 8: 1 of the epistle to the Romans where it is said, “There is then now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus”. What joy he would have found in seeing these beautiful features highlighted in this chapter and in the rest of the epistle.
Psalm 1 does not tell us what tree it is about, but it depicts the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, and does not stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of scorners; but who has his delight in Jehovah’s law and meditates in His law day and night. It is said of such a man, “And he is as a tree planted by brooks of water, which giveth its fruit in its season, and whose leaf fadeth not; and all that he doeth prospereth”.
I have in mind to show in what way we can be kept bearing fruit and as those whose leaves do not wither, that is to say, those who are maintained in freshness and green whatever the circumstances, as it is said in Psalm 92: 13: “Those that are planted in the house of Jehovah shall flourish in the courts of our God: They are still vigorous in old age, they are full of sap and green”. To reach the state in Psalm 92, it is necessary to pass the way of Psalm 1. Even though conditions become physically more and more marked by weakness, the inward man is renewed day by day. What characterises those in Psalm 92 is that they are “full of sap and green”, that is because they have begun in Psalm 1. Usually, old people have not decided as to themselves if they will sit in the seat of scorners or not, or if they will stand in the way of sinners, or again if they will walk or not in the counsel of the wicked, at least unless they have been converted in old age, which is rather rare. God takes account of these things and what is said in His word refers to normal conditions. We have decisions to take as to what is mentioned at the start of our way with God, when we are taking up our responsibilities. I cannot be precise at what age we have to begin, that is for each to decide for himself. You might say, ‘I am young, and I have a link with the Lord, and I love Him’. That is good, dear young friend; if so to take up your responsibilities, decide yourself what you are going to do, take a firm decision not to walk in the counsel of the wicked; because if you do your own will, you will not reach the conditions in Psalm 92. The counsels of the wicked are many in our day! How many sit in the seat of scorners! The number of them is so great! And how many who follow the way of sinners today! In the beginning of Proverbs in chapter 8, the wise man speaks and gives counsel; these are good counsels. Give ear to the voice of wisdom. Read the book of Proverbs; you will not find the counsel of the wicked there, but the counsels of wisdom. It will put your feet in the good way and teach you to find your delight in the law of God. The man in Romans 7 arrives at this point and says, “For I delight in the law of God”, v 25. This is the point we have to reach. Let us take up our responsibilities. You say, ‘I am going to have great exercise’.—‘Yes, but you will on the other hand have a lot of joy and comfort’. Nobody can understand the source, but it is so that God will confirm you in the path of His will. He will fill your heart daily with compensations for the suffering which you will necessarily endure by your not accepting association with the scorners who are the majority. The world pretends that the majority has the power of the day, but thank God it is not so, it is those who love Him, although in a minority, and it is on those that the present day truly depends. They are already in the light of the day of Christ when all will be subjected to Him. How have I the proof that it is so? It is in the very fact that the saints are changed. If God can change us thus, you and me, He also has the power to change the whole world. Think of one whose “delight is in Jehovah’s law, and in his law doth he meditate day and night”. You will perhaps object, ‘When will I find the time?’ That is indeed an important question which the young above all will ask. How do you want the young to spend their time? This question is resolved by the way in which the parents pass theirs: Christianity commends itself. From what source do the parents find their joy? You cannot hope that your children will read all the ministry unless you read it yourselves, but you can certainly show them the way which produces true joy and satisfaction. Children’s minds are different from yours and mine: they do not yet have the capacity of their elders. But then let us know to give them a good direction. If we ourselves do not find our delight in God’s law day and night, how can we hope that our young will find it there? The law of Jehovah is a great source of joy. Let us consider the Lord Jesus who found His delight in the law of Jehovah: “To do thy good pleasure, my God, is my delight, and thy law is within my heart”, Ps 40: 8. Each of the features that I have referred to have found their full and perfect expression in the Lord Jesus.
“He is as a tree planted by brooks of water”. That is very suggestive! God wants to take the young in hand and plant them in a place where they can grow, bear fruit; and which will allow them to arrive at the happy experiences of Psalm 92: “Those that are planted in the house of Jehovah shall flourish in the courts of our God”. It is no longer a question here of my path of responsibility of Psalm 1, but the courts of our God, the place of His dwelling.
I come now to the hyssop “which springs out of the wall”. It is a tree because Solomon names it so. I know nothing of the nature of this tree, I will not linger more on its use which is in fact according to Scripture, but I will consider it in the light in which Solomon has it.
And “he spoke of the trees, from the cedar-tree that is on Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall”. It is brought in as a tree, and as a tree which can grow with the minimum of nourishment. It does not grow either on Lebanon or in the places where the oak grows, or in the surroundings where the tree of Psalm 1 develops; it only has a wall. What resources are there in a wall? Very little nourishment, very little moisture; and yet the hyssop can “spring” from the wall with the energy of life. Wherever I am, I can live, I do not have to depend on circumstances, but in the most adverse circumstances, even if I do not have an outward link of fellowship with my brethren, it is possible to live. The hyssop not only grows on the wall, but Solomon says that it “springs” from the wall. It is life in itself. The saints have proved in difficult conditions that they have life in themselves. Look at the environment in which you live! Ask God about it; the poverty of the environment only highlights what is found in the saints. Think of the adverse circumstances the saints have had to pass through! It was not then a matter of the courts of Jehovah, or of the brooks of water, but the ground was hard, without food to sustain life, and yet it “springs out of the wall”. Life is there. It cannot be stopped. Even if you put another stone on the wall, the hyssop would spring out as it did before. It is a tree that is able to live whether the ground is rich or not, whether it is moist enough or not. It has a latent power, the life of the Spirit, the power of life to which the Lord Jesus refers in the gospel of John 4: 14: “the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life”. And in chapter 8: 38: “He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”. Thank God He can give us the benefit of good ground, but if He orders difficult circumstances, His pleasure is in the features of life which He can see in His own. What satisfaction for God to see the hyssop “spring” from the wall. Whatever the pressure, He clothes His own with this particular character, it “springs out of the wall”, that is to say that He communicates life to them. It is not a question of stature of beauty as with the cedar, or of stability as suggested by the oak, nor is it a matter here even of bearing fruit, but it is the Spirit of life which cannot be stopped, whatever happens!
May the Lord bless His word.
Streatham, London
14th October 1944
Translated from the French magazine, Ondées, June 1947
WITNESSING FOR CHRIST
My thought is to speak about bearing testimony to the Lord Jesus, which is something that comes within the compass of us all. So I wish first to speak about the malefactor, and how in the ways of God he filled the place designed for him. Though he came to it quite late in his life, yet we see in him the triumph of God, the supremacy of God, in the midst of the sufferings of Christ overthrowing the devil and all his power that he had asserted and all his plans that Christ might be absolutely alone at that time. I am not speaking about His vicarious sufferings, but His sufferings from the hands of men, and the reproach and ignominy and shame that was heaped upon Him. The devil had, no doubt, counselled, planned and ordered that Jesus might be alone in those circumstances of suffering and reproach, that no one who could sympathise with Him might be near to Him. But, as at every other time in which the devil had so devised and so carefully handled his plans with such intricate subtlety that there seemed to be no flaw in the scheme at all, God in His supremacy, having broken in upon and broken up those schemes and counsels many a time before, breaks them up at this time in the circumstances of the sufferings of Jesus, by a man who becomes attached to the Lord Jesus Christ and bears testimony to Him in those circumstances. God must triumph. What stability it gives us, as the knowledge of God comes into our souls, and as we trace how supreme He has been and will be, in relation to every matter that has come in. God has been supreme, and God will be supreme, and God will support us in the testimony that we render to Christ. Whatever the circumstances are, God will be with us to support us and use us for the overthrow of the power of Satan, and what Satan has in mind to do.
How lovely this passage in Luke is, how great it is! May God illuminate it to our souls, so that we may be ready to fill our part in testimony to Christ in whatever circumstances God may arrange for us to be! He will support us in them. No disciples were available; all had forsaken Him and fled. The one that was most ardent and that we might have thought would have been the most reliable—Peter—had sadly broken down. The Lord, in the very circumstances of His suffering, had to turn round and look on Peter to serve him, whereas Peter should have been serving the Lord—such grace! How many times, may be, we have been in the same circumstances, much to our shame: we should have been in active testimony to Christ, and yet in those circumstances the Lord has had to serve us, to keep us near to Him, and to keep us from falling further into evil and into temptation and into despondency too!
These are the circumstances that Luke depicts, and God sees to it that in those circumstances there is a testimony to the perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ, that “this man has done nothing amiss”. No one could have been nearer to Jesus at this moment than the malefactor on the cross, for he was on one side of Jesus. God might have converted him before. God had in mind to convert him; that is very certain, but He did not do it before. He did it at that time that he might be serviceable to God and bear testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ in the circumstances of His suffering, and afford Him sympathy. What that must have been to the ear and heart of Jesus, as the malefactor rebuked his fellow and accepted without reserve the judgment of the authorities and the government of God upon him, accepting it without reserve! He said, “and we indeed justly”—he was not screening himself or excusing himself, because had he done so it would have dimmed the testimony that he bore to Jesus.
Jesus is the only One who is perfect, the only sinless One, the only glorious One, the only perfect One. That is what he bore testimony to, in keeping with the gospel in which Jesus is seen in all His lowly pathway of dependence, of absolute devotion to the will of God. In evenness, in glory, in dignity, even in sorrow and in loneliness, He was the perfect One devoted absolutely to the will of God. There was no flaw at all, no spot in Jesus, and God had this man at this time to bear testimony to Jesus, that “this man has done nothing amiss”. That was his testimony; that was all that was required. You might say that was the length of his life, that was all that was needed in his life, and he filled it out. We may live longer than that; God may allot us a longer time in testimony, but God will support us every moment that He allots to us in our life of testimony, that it may be pure and unadulterated in relation to the testimony that we bear to Christ. I appeal to our affections. We have more advantages than this poor man. He did not have any ministry; he was a subject of the independent sovereign operations of the Spirit, without ministry, without any aid from anyone. He is converted, he is attached to Jesus; he sees in Jesus, in a moment, what it may take us a lifetime to see. He sees in Jesus perfection and glory; he sees that He is the Man that God approves of, that God has anointed, and he says, “this man has done nothing amiss”. What comfort for the heart of Jesus! May we be as loyal, dear brethren, as true, as strong in our testimony as was this man, and may we understand that God will support us, however trying the circumstances may be! No doubt all that was rolled against Christ was immediately aimed at this man. Anyone who is loyal to Christ has all the reproach that attaches to Christ rolled upon him. This malefactor stood firm in his testimony, not flinching, though suffering physically and God not alleviating the suffering that He had imposed on him governmentally. But he was supported in his testimony and he says, “Remember me, Lord, when thou comest in thy kingdom”. What communion he had with the Lord Jesus Christ! All powerful testimony, dear brethren, flows out of communion with Christ, and with God, and with the Spirit. I just refer to that and pass on, because it strikes one beautifully, impressively and powerfully. The ways of God, the unconquerable ways of God, how unsearchable they are! Whoever would have thought that God would have put a man like this, a dying malefactor, by the side of Jesus, when no one else was available, to bear testimony to the infinite perfection of Christ! That is what God can do, and that is how God can support us in what He orders and arranges. May we be thoroughly in line with Him in relation to His ways and His will, so that we may fill out our part in testimony to Christ, whether our life be short or long! This is really our business, and if we are here for any other purpose, we have failed in what we are really here for.
I refer now to the colt, and in this I have in mind our young ones, because in Mark it is not the ass and the colt, but the “colt”, that is required by the Lord Jesus, to bear Him in testimony into Jerusalem. Think of the grace of that, that the Lord Jesus Christ should select a colt to bear Him in testimony into Jerusalem! Have our young brethren thought of that! Have we all thought of that? This colt, not a mature animal, but a young thing, had never been used before, but had been tied up and kept available to the Lord. Whenever He might send for it, it was available. What a word that is for us parents! What are we seeking for our children? We have baptised them. Do we keep it up every day? Are our prayers as fervent for them as they were at the time when they were baptised, and the brethren were in our houses, and they prayed, and we prayed? Are our prayers as fervent every day for them, or do we lose power? Does some other object come into our minds for them, as they grow up and as their livelihood comes up? What is governing us now? Is their baptism, what we committed them to and what we prayed about, still maintained in power in our souls? Is it still with us, or have we departed from it and sought some other object for them, that they should have some distinction, that they should be put into positions and occupations that might be detrimental to them, or will the Lord find them where we put them? Will the Lord find them there? If He sends, has someone to come back and say, ‘They are not there, Lord; we cannot find them there’? Are we all taking up responsibility for our children in that way? There may be very humbling things, but still let us accept the responsibility; do not let us try to shift it on them. Of course, there is their responsibility—Esau was responsible—but we want to take up the responsibility for our children and take it on for ourselves. Are they where we put them? Are they there now? Have we kept them there? Have we held them all the time for the Lord, from whatever time they were baptised, perhaps only a few months old? Now they are in their teens and what has transpired in between? Is our outlook for them still Christ and not the world? That is what happened in their baptism. We did not have the world in mind for them, at least not professedly; we had in mind that their baptism might separate them from the world, and that they might be committed to the death of Christ and be for Christ whenever He liked to claim them. In the meantime, if He gives them back to us, as He does, then we are responsible to the Lord as to how we hold them, and as to whether they are going to be His, so that when He sends for them they are there. We are responsible if someone has to come back and say, ‘They are not there’. Alas, that is what has occurred in many cases. Their names have been mentioned; they are now in their teens, and where are they? The colt was there and was available. The Lord told them where they would find it, and, if any one said anything to them, His rights would settle the matter, and His rights do settle the matter. Sometimes our children assert their rights. How can we deal with that unless we have brought them into the presence of God morning and night, in family reading and prayer?—not simply that we have prayed and said certain things, but that we have brought them into the presence of God and made them feel the divine influence. Have we power, dear brethren, in our household prayer to do that, to bring the whole household into the presence of God! That is what the head of the house is responsible to do, when he prays, and would not that affect the children? There is the colt, whoever it may be, just a colt, and the Lord requires it, and the Lord requires it to ride into Jerusalem, to bear Him in testimony.
What a thought for our young people, that they can bear Jesus in testimony! They can get into places where we cannot, into schools and to teachers, and bear Him in testimony. Are we all doing it? Are our young people committed wholly to the Lord, learning subjection in the home? That is why Jehovah took Jacob on, because he obeyed his parents; he was subject. The Lord took him on; He stood above the ladder and said, “I am Jehovah”. Of course, He had a sovereign right to take him on, but He took him on because the moral element was in the soul of Jacob; that is to say, he was obedient; he was accustomed to be obedient to his parents, Gen 28: 7. I would stress now, in relation to our households, that our children learn to be obedient. The moral element should be in their souls, so that they might be available, as this colt was available to carry Jesus in testimony. Is there any greater honour or distinction than that it says the Lord sat on it—they cast their clothes upon it, but the Lord sat on it, so that the colt might carry Him in testimony into Jerusalem. May our younger people be affected and be solicited for this and know the joy and dignity and glory of carrying Jesus in testimony in this world! As I have said, they can carry Him where no one else can carry Him, and that applies to every one of us, for everyone should have his own impression of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that He becomes distinguished in that way. We shall be distinguished eternally in that way, each having our own impression of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that a certain glory will attach to every one, “for star differs from star in glory”, 1 Cor 15: 41. God loves distinction, He loves variety, and every one is to be distinct and yet none of us independent, for distinction is never intended in the divine thought to make us independent of one another, but it is of God that we should each have our own distinctive impression of Christ. We are to cherish it, carry it, work it out, that it might grow upon us, so that we might be characterised wholly and substantially by the impression that God has in mind that we should have severally of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now I refer to the Song of Songs, just to speak about collective testimony. The enquiry is raised, “What is thy beloved more than another beloved, Thou fairest among women?” That is a genuine enquiry, the outcome of what the spouse has made of the beloved. How much have we really made of our Beloved? What intimacy really do we enjoy with Him? I am speaking now collectively. We speak about union, and about the brethren of Christ—a very blessed thing which we experience at times, we have to humbly say in a small way. We need to be humble, we need to be real, we need to be free from assumption, especially in relation to Christ and the assembly and the great exalted heavenly thoughts, with the public ruin at our side. We need to be humble and frank with one another in our localities, and to confess together if there is any lack of power, if we are using terms that are somewhat presumptuous because they lack the corresponding state. I am not saying what we do not feel, dear brethren; I am saying what we do feel, and I am saying this to keep us humble, so that we may not get into the state of Laodicea—not the position of Laodicea. As I understand the matter, position belongs to Thyatira and Sardis, and state belongs to Philadelphia and Laodicea. These two states are the outcome of the present recovery in which we have part; one or the other is there. You may say that we have the light of the assembly. Thank God we have; let us hold it humbly. Let us hold it in sanctity too. Let the very thought of it, as we speak about it, sanctify our souls—the thought of Christ and the assembly, the great mystery! How much do we pray for understanding as to it? This is a time when we can speak heart to heart. We are here to help one another, so that there should be more power, and more substantiality in all that we put our hand to, whether in testimony or the service of God, or in all the truth that we so freely enjoy, all that has come to us through the labours of others. But let us be honest.
Solomon said, “I am but a little child”. He felt he was like a child in the presence of God, and in the presence of the people of God. That is what the Lord Jesus in His ministry has instructed us to be: “Unless ye are converted and become as little children, ye will not at all enter into the kingdom of the heavens”, Matt 18: 3. It is a safe thing to be a little child, transparent, simple, open, saying what we mean and meaning what we say, confessing if we are wrong, confessing if we are weak, confessing if we do not understand what is said, just open and simple in holy transparency. That is what Song of Songs implies; intimacy, real knowledge of the Beloved, an affecting knowledge of the Beloved too, and the very thought of Him affects us. I am ashamed of myself as I think of speaking of the Beloved and that it does not affect me. I speak of God and it does not affect me, and I speak of the Lord Jesus Christ and it does not affect me, and I speak of the Spirit and it does not affect me. I mean it does not affect me as it should do. How barren I feel I am in holy sensibilities and emotions and feelings proper to one who belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ! But this spouse, she is rich, she has implied that of her beloved. Is that what we imply to raise enquiry with those who may not be in the light of Christ and the assembly? If they came in to the Lord’s supper, would that be the enquiry that would be raised in their hearts, “What is thy beloved more than another beloved?” How well she answered it! The passage that I read is testimony to the Beloved spoken in all the intelligence and fervour of one who was His spouse. What a position belongs to us as in the light of the assembly and as belonging to the assembly! What nearness to Christ as His brethren! In union what nearness belongs to us! How much we ought to know about our Beloved, how much we ought to be able to say about Him, His excellency, His beauty, His grandeur, His overpowering effectiveness!
That is all I have to say, dear brethren, just to help us in relation to testimony as to Christ individually and then collectively, because we can enjoy what is collective, though not in the same way as they enjoyed it in the beginning, with all the believers and all the Christians in the place where we are. Thank God, He has opened up a way whereby we may enjoy what is collective and be real and be enriched in it, so that it may lead to enquiry from these daughters of Jerusalem. Our very deportment and our language should lead to enquiry as to why our Beloved is more than any other beloved. May the Lord bless His word.
Gloucester
7th September 1951
From ‘Word of Grace & Comfort’ 1951
COMPARISONS AND CONTRASTS
I first want to speak about the comparisons that we make that leave Christ pre-eminent. We have wonderful wealth in the gospels and in the typical scriptures that bear on Christ, so as to lead us and help us in what we arrive at in our comparisons, tending, of course, always to leave Christ supreme in our hearts. Meditation leads to spiritual wealth, perhaps something that we have not attended to as we should. Time being scarce and the rush of daily affairs always being upon us, we perhaps have surrendered this time that we should have given over to quiet, restful, happy meditation of Christ. It leads to purity of espousals, because no one can use the language of this book apart from knowing something about private, holy, delightful meditation on Christ. Such language cannot be imitated; we cannot borrow it from anyone else. The Lord would not have us to borrow too much. He says, so to say, There is the means of acquiring it for yourself. We are to get things for ourselves and not to be always dependent on others. There is the way and there is the place for acquiring spiritual wealth, spiritual discernment, and the spiritual whereabouts of everything. So here we are in this lovely book, the book of espousals. The Corinthians had not arrived at the beauty of the Song of Songs, and would not be able to use it if they had, because they had not acquired through quiet contemplation a right estimate of the supremacy of Christ. Some say Paul, some say Cephas, and some say Apollos, but who are Paul and Cephas and Apollos in the presence of this glorious Person? They are just ministering servants to help us on our way to arrive at the supremacy of Christ as the predominant One in the affairs of the saints.
“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons”. There is a uniqueness about Christ, for in His excellence and glory and beauty He is to be alone, as the apple tree among the trees of the wood. How our service would flow out if we had this language in our souls! What richness, what liberty there would be in the service of the Lord’s supper! How easily we should be able to proceed in the service of God! How difficulties would be solved, all the matters that are now confronting us in relation to the service of God, if we were to arrive at the truth on this line! A demonstration of an actual thing is much better than saying anything from the platform. If we can have an actual experience in the service of God, the difficulties give way. “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood”. What is Christ to me? What is Christ to me as the result of quiet, prayerful contemplation of His glorious Person, of His excellence that shines in Him delineated in the gospels? Let me read them all, let the Spirit have liberty with me to bring through any of them an impression of Christ which will lead me to use this language—“so is my beloved among the sons”. You can hear her saying it—the fervour of it, the reality of it! You know she has not got it from someone else, because it is simply in ministry; she has arrived at it by quiet, happy contemplation of this glorious Person, comparing Him, and the more you compare Him the more unique He is. It all leads to purity of espousal, and ardency of espousal. We should easily reach union with Christ if we were purer and happier in our espousal. Paul was jealous for the Corinthians. In the first epistle to the Corinthians there is no evidence of espousals at all; they were latent, but they were there. We know they are there in the brethren, but let us get out of the way the things that cover up the espousals for Christ. Paul never surrendered what was latent in the Corinthians, but it needed skilful Levitical service. Let us be assured that there is what is latent; if we are not assured of that we shall never set about to bring it out into actual expression. There it is latent in the hearts of the brethren, the espousals for Christ, but what hides it and hinders it from coming into expression is what all of us in our measure should be skilful to remove, so that the espousals can come out on the occasion when they can shine best, the Lord’s supper. You would never be in Paul’s company long before you discovered that the Man who was there in his heart, that led him all the way, was the Man Christ Jesus, who helped him, guided him and covered him in all his relations. Christ was everything and in all to him, and we shall never be safe until we arrive at that—Christ everything and in all. What conflict Paul had for the Colossians! It was a question with them whether Christ was to gain the place of supremacy or whether they were to sit down to the things they had arrived at and oftentimes it is so with us personally and locally.
I pass on to the woman of Shunem and her reply to what was put to her by Elisha. “What is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host?” Some promotion, some prominence given to us? She says, “I dwell among mine own people”. How firm her relations were with the brethren! How indissoluble her links and life and interests! It is a beautiful encouragement to us, especially to those of us who are young, as to what we are going to be. Where are we going to find our associations and life? Who are our travelling companions? What are the circumstances before us? Are they the suffering circumstances of the people of God and the testimony? Or will we be spoken for to the king or the captain of the host, so that we may escape all the suffering circumstances and be here without the pressure and limitations that come with identification with the people of God and the testimony that is here in reproach and suffering and shame? Paul opened his eyes on Ananias in Damascus—the first man he saw was a man like Jesus—Ananias. The Lord never told him to go back to Jerusalem, but he came into Damascus amongst His poor pilgrims and disciples in that city which had no outward recognition—not next to the king and the captain of the host—but they were a suffering people in the reproach of Christ. Ananias was a man like Jesus; he came in and said, “Saul, brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus that appeared to thee in the way in which thou camest, that thou mightest see”. What did he see? A man like Jesus. What a circle we are in, not a circle where you see great men in the flesh but where you see men and women like Jesus! They are to be our associates of life while we are here, the companions that God has selected for us in our pilgrimage and our suffering way here. Are we going to elect ourselves out of them? The woman of Shunem was not. She would say, I am surprised that you could offer me anything better than I now have “amongst mine own people”. They help me, they save me, they encourage me, and I share privileges with them apart from which I would not touch eternal life. I would not be able to touch what relates to the assembly on my own. I must have brethren to touch the privileges of the assembly and to work out the administrative side of the assembly, to prepare me for the world to come and the coming out of the city, the holy city “coming down out of the heaven from God”. What are you going to do? The young people have many offers, many attempts, many suggestions from the enemy that they should have something apart from this, but this woman says, “I dwell among mine own people”. She was quite satisfied with the associations of life that she enjoyed, and there is no life and no salvation outside the circle of the brethren. We are not only to assess the supremacy of Christ but to assess the value of the brethren. Paul went in and out amongst the brethren in Damascus for some days and then preached that Jesus is the Son of God. He seemed to get his commission in the locality in which he was blessed, and I believe that is quite in order. We should take up our position as believers and get help and teaching in the place where we are blessed. We should find our links amongst the brethren; we should put our shoulder to the burdens of the testimony; and then God would commission us in the place where we had proved ourselves worthy to be travelling companions with the brethren. “I dwell among mine own people”. What decision have you arrived at? Is it in the balance with you, or are you firmly attached to the brethren? I love to think of the enemy being defeated, trying here and there for means and ways, offering the most attractive things, and yet the brethren standing firm in their links and affections to one another and saying, ‘I dwell among mine own people, and I would not part with that company for the best you can give me’. That is like Paul in Philippians. You can put him in adversity and in whatever circumstances of favour you like; he knows how to be empty and how to be full, and he has been initiated into satisfaction and contentment. May the Lord initiate us into that state of soul, to be content and satisfied in the position in which the Lord has placed us!
I refer now to the Psalm. “Exalt Jehovah our God, and worship at his footstool. He is holy! Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name: they called unto Jehovah, and he answered them”. How honoured we are to be alongside such men as Moses and Aaron, singled out by the Spirit of God as among His priests. What men they were, how they served God, how they functioned in relation to God’s pleasure and praise and service! Are we among God’s priests? Have we our part in exalting God and worshipping Him? We are made a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, Rev 1: 6. We are sons too, but then we are priests—those who consider for God in His service, priests like Moses and Aaron. How does it come about? Largely through discipline, through the Father’s discipline, that we should be partakers of His holiness, Heb 12 :10. Are we all content to be under the Father’s discipline? Scripture tells us it is not joyful at the time, but afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. Discipline is that we might be partakers of His holiness. The service of God is a holy matter; God is holy, and His priests are to be holy: they are to function in a holy way in liberty in the service of God. How encouraging for our young people to be amongst God’s priests, reckoned amongst them, and serving in holiness!
“Worship at his footstool”. God is to be supreme in our souls. The greatness and glory of God has impressed us so that we worship at His footstool, bringing tribute and praise to Him, affected by the way He has been revealed to us, by His government, by everything that God does, but affected most of all by the way in which He has revealed Himself in Christ. “Moses and Aaron among his priests”. Dear young brother or sister, are you among God’s priests? Do you worship at His footstool? That is what He is looking for, to inscribe you amongst His priests. What a company to have part in, those who fill His house with joy and praises, those who go in to Him in liberty and joy! There is no privilege to be compared with having part in assembly service.
Then “Samuel among them that call upon his name”. What a caller Samuel was! He called upon Jehovah in a time of extremity, offering a sucking lamb. He accepted the small, low spiritual state connected with the position, but offered a sucking lamb, bringing in Christ in all His uniqueness. Samuel offered it and God thundered on the Philistines; 1 Sam. 7: 9, 10. I do not think we call upon Jehovah enough. What things there are to call upon Him for, what things in our locality, what things needing adjustment, what things needing a move forward! Samuel never called in vain. What matters there are universally to call upon His name for! He will give a solution and help us. The one who knows most knows very little, and it is a learning time. “They called upon Jehovah and he answered them”. Let us take encouragement and stimulation from this Psalm in relation to matters that can only be solved as Jehovah is called upon. When we sit down and reason among ourselves and do not get any nearer, let us call upon Jehovah, and if He is with us the whole matter will be resolved in a few minutes, and light and understanding will come in and flood our souls in regard to things that may be difficult. Features of the truth of administration, things difficult in our locality that hang on and seem to disrupt administration, to make the service of God heavy—“they called upon Jehovah and he answered them”. The Lord says, “If ye ask anything in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son”, John 14: 13, 14. Let us lift up our prayers and petitions on to that level, so that the Father may be glorified in the answer to our prayers. He does not listen to vain repetitions, but to those that call upon Him. Let us learn to do it largely in relation to our own soul difficulties—our circumstances too, so long as we are not thinking about ourselves. We have to own how much, in calling upon God, we do so in relation to what concerns us, but if we get ourselves out of the picture, He will come in.
In the verses in 2 Corinthians things are defined sharply, not leaving a middle gangway, but one thing or the other. Many believers seek to find a middle gangway in the truth, but it is just as well to leave the scripture as it is in its authority in our souls. God will define sharply this light on what is right and wrong, what is righteousness and what is unrighteousness, what is light and what is darkness. If we have any doubts, let us read Genesis 1: 4: “and God divided the light from the darkness”. He did not mix it; there was night and there was day. We live in a day when things are mixed up. Thank God, He has come in and recovered us to the defining line between righteousness and unrighteousness, between light and darkness, between Christ and Beliar, between the temple of God and idols. “Be not diversely yoked with unbelievers”. Is there anyone here yoked with unbelievers? Some cannot help being yoked with them, a man converted and his wife not. How is his wife going to be converted? By holding on to God—“thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house”, Acts 16: 31. Do not let us forget that. What a word that is, if we can only get our grip on that and keep God to it! But then there are those who get yoked with unbelievers through their own will, their own choice. This word, “Be not diversely yoked with unbelievers”, is not only in marriage. I leave it with you as to what it means, because I want the word of God to have its authority in your soul and you are to work it out for yourself. Be sure that you keep to the scripture that covers the position that you are in; act upon it and you will get help. We cannot get away from it: “what participation is there between righteousness and lawlessness?” We cannot merge the two together because God has separated them and means them to be kept separate. “What fellowship of light with darkness”? How can you mix it and see anything?
“And what consent of Christ with Beliar” Can you bring them together? The argument gets stronger, because it is first attributes and then persons. “Christ with Beliar”—now you are beginning to be repulsed with the idea in your soul. Thank God for that. Follow up that inward repulsiveness. If you love Christ, surely you must revolt at that idea, if you do not against principles and attributes. The One who is your Saviour, who has suffered for you—surely you must revolt against the idea of Christ and Beliar. “Or what part for a believer along with an unbeliever”? The one in whom God has wrought and the one in whom God has not wrought, their tastes are absolutely different, their ways absolutely different, although the believer may fall under the influence of an unbeliever.
“What agreement of God’s temple with idols”? How revolting that is, to bring the temple of God, the holy shrine, into agreement with idols! “For ye are the living God’s temple”. We must put away and have done with all that which is incompatible with God if He is going to dwell among us, because we do not want to lose the presence of God Himself. “If thy presence do not go, bring us not up hence”, Exod 33: 15. We must put away all that is incompatible with Him, and He will dwell among us and “I will be to you for a Father, and ye shall be to me for sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty”. Do you say you cannot go on with separation? He says, “I will be to you for a Father”. Are you thinking of the cost? Are you thinking of the care and the affections you will have to part with? “I will be to you for a Father”. What else can you put into the balance with that? “I will be to you for a Father, and ye shall be to me for sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty”. The Lord God Almighty is there; there is nothing He cannot do. Abraham proved it; he came to the crossing of the roads, and God says, Come out of your kindred and leave your father’s house. What did Abraham do? “He went out, not knowing whither he went” (Heb 11: 8), and he had all the support and blessing of the Almighty God. We have this promise to help us over this great crisis of separation, so that we may have God as our Father.
Coventry
26th December 1952
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