“LET JERUSALEM COME INTO YOUR MIND”
I would like to use this appeal of Jeremiah’s to “let Jerusalem come into your mind”. We have been speaking of hearts being expanded in affection for Christ. I believe all here would have affection for Christ, our Saviour, in response to the way that He has met us in all our need, and I take it we would want to express that affection. One form the expression of affection would take would be that you love the things that Christ loves. You say you love the Lord Jesus; who could not but love Him? If you know Him at all, you are bound to love Him. What graces and beauties have shone out in Him—where is the heart that could refrain from loving Him? To know Him is to love Him, and the better you know Him, the more you love Him. But one way that love expresses itself is in loving what He loves. He is in glory, and there is a great system of things all made subject to Him. Yet there is something here that He loves, and I would like to promote some love in your heart and mine for what is here that bears His name, maybe in rejection, but very precious to His heart. If you say you love Jesus, we would all have a right to see that love expressed.
If you love Him, you will be committed, as I have said, to what is precious to His heart, and what is precious to the heart of Christ is His assembly. It says, “Christ also loved the assembly, and has delivered himself up for it” (Eph 5: 25)—that wonderful vessel! Jerusalem is but a type of it that I would like grace to speak of for a moment.
Adam had no helpmate. Chapter 2 of Genesis shows that there was a void in Adam’s heart. It appeared that he was surrounded by everything that he needed, but there was a void in his heart that only Eve could fill. Christ is a Man of great affection, nobody could doubt that, and He longed for a vessel. His assembly, to respond to His affections. According to Matthew 13, He sells all He has and buys the field where the treasure was. He purchased the whole scene, but the whole scene is not responsive. The nation of Israel said about Him, “Away with this man” (Luke 23: 18), “We will not that this man should reign over us” (Luke 19: 14); but in the midst of all these conditions there is something being secured that is precious to His heart, the assembly—something that is filling the void and filling it at the moment. When Adam saw Eve he said, “This time ...” (Gen 2: 23)—you would like to have heard the way he said it. What a note of praise would be in his heart as he said, “This time ...”! He had seen everything else, he had seen all the creatures, and none of them satisfied his longings. There were some wonderful creatures, but there was nothing that was suitable to minister to his affections. There was power with some creatures, there was speed with others, but there was not one that could minister to his affections. Christ has died to secure a vessel that will minister to His own affections. Would you not like to be committed to it? You say, ‘Where is it?’ Have you the desire to be committed to it? It says, “He went and sold all whatever he had” to secure the pearl, Matt 13: 46. “He sold all whatever he had”; He has given up His rights to Israel for the moment. Having died and risen again He has a right to the universe, but for the moment that is in suspense. It is the time of Christ and the assembly.
I would like to speak of Jerusalem as a type of the assembly in having gone through various circumstances, but Christ has never ceased to love it. You can trace Jerusalem through the Scriptures and you will see some very beautiful touches. Man interfered with it, they broke down its walls, they left it in ruins, but did Christ cease to love it? We are in a broken day, beloved, but I would like to tell you that there is something that can be found here today that bears assembly features, precious to the heart of Christ, and you can show your love for Christ through being committed to what He loves; “Let Jerusalem come into your mind”. You say, ‘It is all broken’. That was the position in Jeremiah; it was all broken, it was a time of great confusion. You say, ‘Where can I find it?’ Well, let it come into your mind. Let God’s thoughts about that city govern your mind.
I would like to speak about some men who had Jerusalem in their minds in difficult days. Jeremiah was one of them, the feeling prophet, a man who wept as he saw the confusion. We hear sometimes about ‘a broken-hearted churchman’—Jeremiah was that; but did he give up? This broken-hearted churchman did not give up. He is not a man going about with a long face mourning the breakdown. He is a man who has Jerusalem in his heart. He retains the thought of what it was, “the holy city”, God’s centre, God’s ideal, a type, as we said, of the assembly that alone can satisfy the heart of Christ.
Jeremiah says, “Ye that have escaped the sword”. That would be you tonight, beloved; you have escaped the sword, that sword that was standing there judicially because of what men had done, because of the way that Christ has been rejected, because of the way that Christ has been refused. The sword is standing, as it were, but you have escaped the sword. There will yet be judgment on the whole scene that has refused Christ, but the gospel has brought you into an area where you have escaped the sword. Oh, how a sense of mercy should flood our souls because we have escaped the sword. Had we any right to escape? Had we any right to be spared? I believe we escape the sword so that we may “let Jerusalem come into your mind”.
Daniel did that, Nehemiah did that. They said, ‘Where can we find it?’ Nehemiah went looking for it. The assembly is one of these prime thoughts we have been speaking about, that sin or time will never destroy, and Nehemiah laid hold of that. There is a need for laying hold of these thoughts that the breakdown can never upset. In Nehemiah things were very broken. There was a time when Nehemiah could hardly identify it, the very walls were broken. The stones were all there; it was a heap of rubble, very like the days we are in, but what was in the heart and mind of Nehemiah was, “Let Jerusalem ...” O, beloved, do not take your thoughts of the assembly from what you see around you. I encourage you, dear young men and women, to read Mr James Taylor’s ministry—that has brought to us the beauties of the assembly as a vessel that is precious to the heart of Christ. Do not take your idea of the assembly from what is around. I may even have to say, do not take your idea of the assembly from what you may see in your local meeting. I say that with a sense of shame, but God’s ideal has been presented objectively, to be realised in some way when Jerusalem comes into your mind. God has set forth His thoughts about the assembly, that she is a heavenly vessel. What we see around us today is what man has done. As viewing the area of man’s responsibility there is breakdown and failure, and it is hard to identify Jerusalem, but God’s thoughts about the assembly remain and they are to be realized; yea more, they are to be enjoyed by some in a day of breakdown. “Let Jerusalem come into your mind”.
I say again, do not take your ideas of the assembly from what you see in man’s responsibility. That is what Nehemiah saw, and had he stopped at what he saw in man’s responsibility he would have said, ‘There is no hope’; and some of our dear brethren have said that; they have said, ‘Everything has broken down’. It has not, beloved. Prime thoughts do not change. Prime thoughts go through to eternity, and there is power in the Spirit of God so that they can be enjoyed today. So Nehemiah did not take his understanding of Jerusalem from what he saw. He had heard about it, and our fathers have told us something about it. It has come down to us in the recovery, the ministry of what the assembly is as a vessel for the heart of Christ. Do not lose sight of that. It is not only an administrative vessel, it is primarily for the heart of Christ. Keep that in your mind; it was in Nehemiah’s mind, so he goes about building it, building the wall. The stones were still there. The breakdown has come in, but there is material there that can be revived. It speaks about that, about stones being revived. These days we are in are for the reviving of the stones. God’s work can never be destroyed. It may become unserviceable, it may be out of circulation as when the woman in Luke 15 searched the house for the piece of silver and says, “Rejoice with me”. We know something of that sometimes, thank God!—the restoration, the reviving of the stones, the recovery of pieces of silver that have been out of circulation coming in again to be in circulation in the assembly of God.
Nehemiah worked until he had these stones built together and it says, “the princes ... dwelt in Jerusalem”. Would you not like to be among them? There are some people who are princes who dwell in Jerusalem. They give a touch of dignity in a day of breakdown. It is a very beautiful thing to know a man, to know a sister, to know young persons too, that can bring in a touch of dignity amidst a scene of breakdown; and let us remember, dear brethren, there is no more dignified vessel than the assembly. She takes her glory from Christ. It is a reflected glory, it is not exactly hers inherently, though she has it. She is so near to that Man, the copper has become so polished, through much exercise, as we had last night, that it is reflecting a heavenly Man. The assembly is for the reflection of the glory of Christ. May the dignity of it lay hold of us more in these broken times! So “the princes ... dwelt in Jerusalem”, but now it says they cast lots for one in ten. O, beloved, let Jerusalem come into your mind! Are you going to be the one of the ten? The nine, where are they? Think about the Lord’s feelings about Jerusalem, think of His feelings about the persons He had healed. He says, “The nine, where are they?”, Luke 17: 17. Where are they tonight? Where are they in Edinburgh? Where are they in the place where you are local? Are you going to be the one that returns? Are you going to be one in ten, the one that returned?
They “cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem”. It may involve sacrifice. You cannot dwell in Jerusalem and be in men’s associations. You cannot be in the clubs of the world. You cannot be at the theatres of this world or the ice-rinks, or whatever, and be dwelling in Jerusalem. Oh, I appeal to you, beloved, to come and dwell in Jerusalem. What a place to live! You say, ‘It does not look much, only a few there, the most are outside’. They may be included in God’s mercy if they are part of His assembly, but they have lost the present enjoyment of being true to a rejected, despised Saviour—“one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem”. Will you not commit yourself? You say, ‘It is raining tonight; we will not bother about going to the meeting’. Some of the meetings are not so well attended as they might be—“one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem”. Oh, I say again, beloved, how else are you expressing your affection for Jesus? You say, ‘I have other things to do tonight with all the pressures around us’—will you be one of ten? These persons we are speaking of took up the responsibilities and the obligations of the position, and they committed themselves. It says that they “willingly offered themselves to dwell in Jerusalem”. Now, that is your local meeting. Let me apply it that way for the moment. It is the few that meet in the light of our rejected Lord and seek to be faithful to His name. As I said, you cannot be in two camps. Oh, you have feelings after the world; so have I. You have feelings after certain things that please the flesh; we all have. “Let Jerusalem come into your mind”. What a preservative!
Christ is absent, but there is something here that needs you, there is something here that needs those who willingly offer themselves to dwell in Jerusalem. It means you take up the responsibilities of the local meeting. It is easy to criticize; the nine could tell you all the faults about Jerusalem; but there was one that said, ‘I see the faults, but I am going to be committed to what is precious to the heart of Christ’. Let us commit ourselves to the local position; bear the word, dear brethren. There are many things that may keep us away from the meetings—business, our own work, cold nights—there are many things and we all know them. Let us say, as these feelings come into our minds, “Let Jerusalem come into your mind”. That will give you the incentive to be one of the ten. Simeon was like that. He was an old man, a very old man, but he is spoken of as “a man in Jerusalem”. He would not be absent. What a pity if he had been absent when Christ came in. But he was not. It says, “And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem” and “he received him into his arms”, Luke 2: 25, 28. He said, “Lord, now thou lettest thy bondman go, according to thy word, in peace”, Luke 2: 29. He saw the whole thing. He had waited a long time for it, and you may not have to wait so long. Commit yourself to Jerusalem. She will yet be seen in her glory.
Daniel committed himself. There was a great deal against Daniel. Nobody would have known if Daniel had stopped praying. He was away from anybody else that would have seen him. There were a few companions, only three of them. They would not have known if Daniel had not prayed. He did not need to pray the way he did either, but when he knew that certain things were signed that were working against God, it says, “He went into his house; and, his windows being open in his upper chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed”. It was a broken day, a very broken day, but he always had access to the prime thoughts; Jerusalem was in his mind and heart. When he “knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house”—nobody can stop you from entering into these thoughts of God. “Enter into thy chamber” (Matt 6: 6); that is what Daniel did, and he prayed, but it says, “his windows being open … toward Jerusalem”. Do you pray enough for the brethren in a wider way? We should pray for our local brethren, but do we pray that there should be more throughout the earth liberated to be in the praise of Christ? That is what Daniel was doing. It seemed an impossible thing, it seemed absolutely impossible. The things of God were in captivity, everything broken, but he prayed toward Jerusalem, and he prayed “and gave thanks ... as he did aforetime”. Do not lose God’s thoughts about Jerusalem or else you will be confused.
But Daniel goes on, and he continues in his prayers; he prays, “Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, hearken and do!” Oh the earnestness of his prayer when he could have been taking his ease. He could just have been reading about it. Oh, I would not discourage anybody from reading about it. Read all you can; but the reading about it as it comes into your heart will send you to your knees. That is what the broken day does. That broken-hearted churchman would be a man who is on his knees. Daniel was one here. What a prayer it is! He says, “O my God! for thy city and thy people are called by thy name”. Did it look like it? A people in captivity, and yet they were “called by thy name”—“my assembly”. What the saints are to Christ, beloved! What are they to you? Well, they will mean more to you as you see what they are to Christ. That is what Daniel saw typically. They were perhaps doing their own wills at that time; they were certainly in captivity and bondage; but he says, they are “thy people” and “are called by thy name”. How precious this man was to heaven, how precious!
Well, these are the times we are in when I could not point you and say, ‘That is the assembly’; but I could point you to assembly features. Commit yourself! “Let Jerusalem come into your mind” and go to the meeting. Listen to the prayers, let the gospel come into your heart, read the ministry, and I think you will find assembly features in some. “The Lord knows those that are his”, then it says too, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”, 2 Tim 2: 19. That is what Daniel was doing, that is what Nehemiah was doing, then it speaks about pursuing “with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart”, 2 Tim 2: 22. There are assembly features. May they be more in our minds to regulate us amidst the breakdown!
Revelation 21 brings us to the glory of it. It brings us to see something of the ideal. I only want to speak about its foundations for a moment. While there has been breakdown, and the will of man has intruded, “Yet the firm foundation of God stands”. Beloved, that is the way to find your way through the breakdown, look for the foundations. They will not be destroyed. It says, “If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?”, Ps 11: 3. There may be somebody here who would say, ‘Well, there is this company and there is that and there is another’. I would say, Look to the foundations. How do I know I am in the right place? How do you know? You should know. Why is it there was a division in this very city and some went somewhere and some remained? How would you know where to go? Look to the foundations! If you are with any company, you are responsible as to its origin. Some people say, ‘I love the Lord and I meet with Christians’. Well, we are thankful for it, and I am not setting up where I am or where anybody else is as being it—far from it; the brethren will understand that—but if you are with a company, you are responsible as to how that company originated. Is it in accord with the foundations? It says that on the foundations there were the “twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb”.
Now, if Peter came to where you were, would he be received? If you are in a company that has had its foundations in not judging error as to the humanity of Jesus, Peter would not stay there. Oh, you say, that is past, it is history; but what of the foundation? If Peter came he would want to know why you were not all meeting together in a city. If Peter came to Edinburgh, how would he know where to go? He might go to some place and he would find that the origin of that company was that there was error not judged regarding the manhood of Christ. He might go to another company and he would find that they had separated from Paul. Would Peter stay there? Not for a moment. Well, should I? There are lovers of the Lord Jesus, I know, who seek to be identified with the foundations of the wall of the heavenly city. That is where you should be. You find some companies who say they are Christians and do not remember the Lord. Would Paul stay there? Not for a moment. It says, “the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb”. Well, that is where I want to be, identified with that which has its foundation in a risen, glorious, blessed Man and the apostles of the Lamb.
These things we have been speaking about have intruded into Jerusalem, but here in this scripture we see Jerusalem as a divine conception, and there is, “Her shining”, “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”. What a company! It will soon be seen, but the spirit of it can be enjoyed today amidst the darkness and confusion, if you will let Jerusalem come into your mind. Now, I am not asking you to be committed to a broken system. I am asking you to be committed to Jerusalem. Jerusalem above, “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”. Would you not like to be committed to that? You say, ‘Where is it?’ Well, as I said, if you identify the foundations, if you find a few who love the Lord and are persevering in the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers, if you pursue these features, you will come to know a touch of the heavenly city. The foundations of the wall of the city are here, and they have heavenly adornment. Could the foundations of the companies of men be adorned in this way? Never! But these foundations are adorned with every precious stone in the ministry of Christ, adorned with features of Jesus, the heavenly Man, adorned with the apostles’ teaching—these are the adornments of the wall of the city. If you go inside it is better still, beloved. It says, “And I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb”. To see Him there in all His glorious worth, no longer in circumstances of humiliation which He took in view of dying, in view of shedding His blood, but to see Him there in His own glory. Oh, what a sight it will be, but what a sight it is now, by the Spirit, for these things are realised in enjoyment today, in a broken time. This, dear brethren, is our heavenly part!
Well, he goes on, “And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon, that they should shine for it”—you see how independent it is. What marks Jerusalem abroad today in the breakdown is the intrusion of the mind of man. The assembly of God has no need of it. The wisdom of man coming in spoils the flow of what is coming from our blessed, heavenly Head. “And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon, that they should shine for it; for the glory of God has enlightened it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb”. The only thing the assembly needs and cannot do without is Christ. She derives everything from Him. These glories that are spoken of here have all been derived from Him, the heavenly Man. May we be more committed to what He loves, beloved! It is to be seen in the local meeting, it is seen in these lowly surroundings today, but soon it will be the light of the universe as the holy city Jerusalem comes down “having the glory of God”. “Her shining” will radiate over the whole universe. It would be a pity, would it not, to miss having our part in it today? “Let Jerusalem come into your mind”. May it be so, for His Name’s sake!
EDINBURGH
6th April 1985