FULL COMMITTAL

J.Speirs

Luke 9:51; 22:41,42; John 17:24; Ruth 1:8-10, 14-18; 1 Samuel 20:40-42; 2 Samuel 19:24, 26-38

The simple impression on my heart, beloved brethren, about which I seek help by the Spirit to say a little, is full committal.

The six persons I read of in the Old Testament knew something typically at least of the Lord Jesus. Three of them went some of the way, and three of them went the whole way in committal to the Lord Jesus typically. I would raise the question with myself, Am I fully committed to the Lord Jesus and His testimony here, and His will for me? But how could we speak about full committal without speaking about the Lord Jesus Himself, the One who had perfect committal. What a model! What perfection we see in Him in everything. He came here in full committal, in lowly manhood, the One that we have sung of as a blessed and glorious Man, yet God Himself. Dear friend, do you know Him? Do you love Him? Think of His love for His Father; that is what caused Him to be fully committed – love for His Father.

I read in Luke 9 “And it came to pass when the days of his receiving up were fulfilled, that he”, that “he” is emphatic; in spite of what anyone else was going to do, or who was going to go with Him, or who might leave Him behind, or who might go their own way, “he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem”. Just before this, God had marked Him out in glory on the mount of transfiguration, expressed His delight in Him, shown to those that looked on how perfect He was and how much His delight was in that One. But the “days of his receiving up were fulfilled”. The Lord knew what was ahead. We do not always know what is ahead, but He did. Did that affect His committal, did that cause Him to waver, did it cause Him to consider turning back? Never; it was not possible. He “stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem”, knowing all that lay before Him there, that He was going to suffer, and that He was going to die. Have you put your faith in Him, have you accepted that He went that way for you, that He set His face steadfastly that way for you? I trust you have. What perfect committal! There was no question of His doing anything other than God’s will. What a Man He is, what an Example, what a Model for us.

In Luke 22, Jesus said “Father, if thou wilt remove this cup from me:– but then, not my will, but thine be done”. The Lord Jesus did the Father’s will. He had set His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem, He had made that firm committal. Now the moment was drawing nigh when He knew that He would have to suffer and die. Sometimes I have good intentions to begin with, but when it comes to a test, I waver. Did that happen with the Lord Jesus? Never; “not my will, but thine be done”; it was perfect, full committal. What a glorious Man!

Then in John 17, the desires of the Lord Jesus were expressed, “Father, as to those whom thou hast given me, I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world”. Think of how it says of the Lord Jesus “who, in view of the joy lying before him”, Heb.12:2. How that marked Him in His committal. How much He endured, how much He was prepared to suffer in view of that. Think of His desire to be with the Father, and not only that, to be there with those He would secure by redemption’s perfect work.

I have spoken of the perfect committal seen in Christ. Let us be affected by His full and perfect committal to the will of His God and Father, carried out in love for Him “in view of the joy lying before him”. He set His face steadfastly, a definite movement. He did not change when the time of pressure came, an intense pressure that we could never bear, but said “not my will, but thine be done”. All looked forward to that time of His being in the Father’s presence with those that He loved.

But now I want to apply this to us as believers and ask each one here about our committal. We have seen that the Lord’s committal was perfect. The last time we were in this city was for a happy marriage. That was a time of committal, when two persons committed themselves to one another; and it was made even happier because they were believers who had already committed themselves as individuals to the Lord Jesus. Committal involves something that is definite. It is often said at a marriage meeting that marriage is not to be entered upon lightly. I wondered if we see something of that in Ruth; something of that steadfast mindedness, devoted to another and not thinking of herself. Marriage is a time of love too; what is done in commitment is done because of love, and we are often reminded at these occasions that such commitment is not only for the good times, but for the difficult times also. I wanted to look at the believer’s committal to the Lord Jesus and His will. Each of the three pairs of persons I read of, Ruth and Orpah, Jonathan and Mephibosheth, Barzillai and Chimham, had the same opportunities. They all had contact with the Lord Jesus typically. We have all had the same opportunity. No one here can say that the Lord Jesus has loved them less than the person next to them. How full His love is for every one. We were reminded recently that the Lord Jesus would offer every one of us His very best.

Now the challenge comes to Orpah and Ruth; what are they going to do? First of all they both said “We will certainly return with thee to thy people”. But when Orpah considered what she might have to face, what she would have to leave behind, she decided not to go with Naomi. Dear believer, if you are anything other than fully committed to the Lord Jesus, I plead with you to commit yourself to Him in a steadfast minded way. Think of the Lord setting His face steadfastly. That is what impressed me here, when Naomi saw that Ruth “ was stedfastly minded to go with her, she left off speaking to her”. You might say, there was no point in Naomi trying to persuade Ruth any further. Ruth had made up her mind; she was going with her. Have you decided what your path is going to be? Are you going to go back to the poor things of the world where there is moral famine? Are you going to rely on something less than your link with the Lord Jesus? Do not do that; be like Ruth and say “whither thou goest I will go”. Are you willing to have your part in the testimony, are you willing to associate yourself with the people of God? Ruth said “where thou lodgest I will lodge”. Are you going to dwell with them? Are you going to enjoy dwelling conditions, are you going to enjoy eternal life with them? It is on offer to you; “thy people shall be my people”. Look around you, young friend. Can you call the saints in whom there is a work of God “my people”? They are your people; they are yours to enjoy links with in Christian fellowship. Take it up, do not miss the opportunity of enjoying eternal life. It is not just for the future, it is for now; “thy God, my God”. Dear friend, Orpah had her gods, her family had their gods. There are many gods in this world. I think Ruth showed simple devotedness, “where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried”. There was no thought of partial committal there, this was a whole life matter. She did not say, I will do it until I am twenty, or I will start when I am twenty, or I will do it until I am retired. No, she said, “where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried”. The committal that the Lord Jesus deserves is whole life committal, and it is to be entered on with purpose, not taken on lightly. Daniel “purposed in his heart”, Dan.1:8. Ruth was steadfastly minded. Let us be stirred up in this; Christianity is not a casual thing that we can drift into. It requires us to make a positive and definite decision to move in the right direction for the testimony of our Lord.

I read about Jonathan. What opportunities he had, and no one could question his love for David. He represents a believer in the Lord Jesus. He had seen what David had done to Goliath, but when it came to David’s rejection, he was not prepared to go with him. I trust you are a believer on the Lord Jesus; I trust that you have accepted that Jesus died for you, shed His precious blood for you. Perhaps you have made a good start like Jonathan. Perhaps you have set your mind steadfastly, maybe in the breaking of bread, and you have had a great impression of what Christ has done for you. Jonathan saw what David had done. He had love for David because of what David had done in defeating the enemy. It is a wonderful thing to love Christ for what He has done, but there is more than that. We can love Christ for who He is – that is what will sustain us. Jonathan did not prove that. What a sad matter; he wanted to operate at a distance from David. Someone has said he was like a ‘long-distance Christian’ ¹. That is not what the Lord is looking for. Love does not want distance. As a husband and wife are devoted to one another, they do not want distance; they want to be near each other. That is what the Lord Jesus is looking for from each one of us if we are to have our part in the testimony with Him. David had been rejected; think of Saul’s hatred for him, and all that there was against David. Are you willing to be associated with the One who is rejected? Christ is not accepted here. You can look around in the world; you can look on any system of man, and ask, Is Christ there? Is He honoured there? Beloved brethren, let us be willing not only to love the Lord Jesus for what He has done, but to be faithful to Him in love for who He is. I think faithfulness is an important factor in committal. Jonathan had wonderful opportunities, but when it came to it, he kissed David and then went his own way back to the city. That was sad. How David felt that; he exceeded in his weeping. The Lord feels things deeply. If you have gone away, the Lord feels that. If I have done something that is not in accordance with His will, the Lord Jesus feels that keenly. But did Jonathan’s attitude change David’s love for him? No; until the very last moment David showed him the very best. It says that David “arose from the side of the south” which suggests that he was still favourable towards Jonathan. He proved his love for Jonathan. Dear friend, even if for a moment you have turned away from the Lord Jesus, He still loves you and He wants you to be near to Him. He does not want to know you at a distance; He wants to know you in nearness.

I wondered if we see that in Mephibosheth, in his love for David. Mephibosheth was someone who was faithful to David during the time of His rejection. He was willing to be slandered because of it. Have you ever been slandered because you are a Christian, a believer on the Lord Jesus? Think of what Mephibosheth had to bear. It speaks in Corinthians as to love, that it “bears all things” (1 Cor.13:7) and that it “does not seek what is its own”, 1 Cor.13:5. Mephibosheth did not even want what David was going to offer him in terms of property; that was not what was important to Mephibosheth. He said “Let him even take all, since my lord the king is come again in peace to his own house”. What a faithful person! I challenge myself about my faithfulness to the Lord Jesus in the time of His rejection. Am I committed enough to do that? His love for me is unquestionable, but what about my love for Him? It can grow; the Holy Spirit would cause us to grow in our appreciation of this One, so that we not only love Him for what He has done, but we love Him more and more for who He is. The Spirit would show us fresh glories of Jesus. That would help us to view the things that may come upon us in the testimony as not being worthy to be compared to being with the Lord Jesus and proving the joy of His company. The Lord Jesus loves when the believer comes into His presence and enjoys communion. What a blessed privilege to be in the presence of the Lord Jesus. I treasure it and I would like to know more of it; the Lord Jesus values it too. I believe that a person who enjoys communion is powerful in testimony and will be able to stand for Him where He is rejected.

I read about Barzillai and Chimham; this was a sad matter. Barzillai had provided for David in the time of testimony. It says that he had “maintained the king” and if you look earlier in the book you see the wonderfully rich way in which he maintained the king with all kinds of good food (2 Sam.17:28). He had been faithful to David at the time when he was needed, faithful to the rejected king, faithful in the testimony. But there is something further here. We have typically the desire of the Lord Jesus for company. David made a wonderful proposal; “the king said to Barzillai, Pass thou over with me, and I will maintain thee with me in Jerusalem”. To be with Jesus where He is; that is better, is it not? We may do what we can in the testimony here, but the Lord Jesus wants us with Him where He is and for His pleasure. It is like His desire in John 17, that “they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory” (v.24). He wants us with Him in the place where He is supreme, the place that belongs to Him, His rightful place. How do we do that? It is by the Holy Spirit that we enjoy these spiritual realms, these experiences with the Lord Jesus where He is in glory. He is no longer here, He has finished the work that was given Him to do, He has accomplished the scope of redemption’s work. He was raised by the glory of the Father, He is exalted, He is at the Father’s right hand in glory. He desires your company there, in the heavenlies, in the place that is characterised by Himself.

Chimham’s name means longing; he had desires. It does not say very much about him or what he said or did, but the king said “Chimham shall go over with me”. Let us be like that, let us have a longing to be with Christ where He is so that we may be for Christ’s satisfaction. May we be persons that are willing to leave things behind. It says “Barzillai was very aged, eighty years old”. I know there are persons here of eighty years old and more, but they do not call themselves “very aged”. Perhaps this is what Barzillai thought of himself; perhaps he was opting out because of his age, he was saying, ‘I am going to give up now; I am losing my taste for these things’. Let us have our taste stimulated, let us have our senses exercised, so that the things of Christ not only mean much to us because of what He has done, but because we have longings to be occupied with Him where He is in glory. Those are the longings that we ought to promote and nurture; a taste for that Man and where He is in glory. We shall be occupied with Him eternally, we shall be with Him for ever, but let us get a taste for it now. It is possible by the Holy Spirit. David says “Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which seems good to thee; ... And all the people went over”.

It is interesting that the king kissed Barzillai. The love of Jesus is still the same. The three persons we read of that went away were kissed, but Chimham got the blessing because he typically longed to be with Christ where He is in glory. That was where his life was, that was where he wanted to be. Where are your longings, where are your desires centred? Are they bound up with anything in this world? Maybe it was Barzillai’s riches or his possessions that stopped him going. In effect he said, ‘I am happy to serve the Lord in the testimony, but passing over with David might mean that I have to give up some of the things that I enjoy down here’. Maybe it was his family links. But it is possible to have our senses exercised and our taste stimulated for Christ where He is in glory. It has nothing to do with the natural man; it is what is spiritual and the Lord Jesus would desire that from each one of us. He has shown full committal in Himself par excellence. He has shown, you might say, a definiteness; think of the Hebrew bondman saying “distinctly”, Exod.21:5. The Lord Jesus set His face steadfastly, loving the will of Another. He said “not my will, but thine be done”. What a wonderful example He is for us of full committal. Think of His longings beyond death and beyond suffering, “in view of the joy lying before him”, Heb.12:2.

Let us be motivated by such longings to be pleasurable to Christ where He is in glory. May it be so, for His name’s sake.

Address at Glasgow
27 April 2013