RESUSCITATION

^[p. 493] RESUSCITATION

1 Samuel 30: 11 - 15; Genesis 45: 25 - 28; 2 Kings 4: 32 - 37; Acts 20: 9 - 12

I have in mind to speak of revival, involving resuscitation. These four scriptures present the thought in as many aspects, and so may be regarded as presenting the thing completely. The first involves the epistle to the Romans; the second Corinthians; the third Colossians; and the fourth Ephesians. The young man who was found in the field is said to be an Egyptian, that is, he was a young man of the world. Some of such are really the Lord’s. I had in mind to touch on the passage with that in view. He had been in the service of an Amalekite, which means the flesh in that aspect of it that affords the devil an opportunity to attack. The young men and young women who belong to the Lord, born it may be in christian households, yet looking out on the world, hankering after it, get drawn into it, it may be, by other influences — perhaps by friendships. They become the occasion of attack, usually in relation to weak conditions amongst the saints. For such defects imply weakness in the households. In this chapter we have weak conditions — David was in a false position. He had been harassed no doubt by the attitude of Saul, as is correspondingly often the case with christians. Responsible brothers may become harassed by competition and opposition, and drift into positions that are spiritually untenable. Weakness ensues in the meeting and gives occasion for attack. That is what happened here, so that a great disaster ensued, the burning of Ziklag, and the capture by the enemy of what was nearest and dearest to David and his men.

The young man when recovered explains to David what was in view, what the objectives were. The enemy was behind the activities of the Amalekite. The attack was, as we are told, against “the south of the Cherethites,

^[p. 494] and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb”. These are all important suggestions as relating to the testimony, alluding to certain advantages that belong to the saints. The Cherethites had a place in the testimony with David; and what belonged to Judah involves much spiritually, for it represents the sovereign will of God and the disposition of His people. That disposition was according to infinite wisdom and accuracy, for our Lord sprang out of Judah. And Caleb, who also belonged to Judah, and greatly added to the tribe, was a man who was outstanding as confirmatory of the divine choice. It is a very important matter with God, that His choice should be confirmed by the conduct of His people who are the subjects of it, that one should justify the divine choice; this Caleb did. So the importance of this young man in the recovery. He revived, and is the key to the position here. However little we may make of defection amongst us, it may be that one involves a serious disaster, or if recovered, a great victory.

The procedure towards the recovery of this young man is what I wish to note specially. He is found “in the field”. He gives an account of himself when revived, but he must be revived, if he is to be of any use: otherwise he would die. He is “a young man of Egypt, servant of an Amalekite”, but there are great potentialities in him. What is stated is they “brought him to David”, but that was not all. Bringing such a person to Christ in faith, and in prayer, is not all. They “gave him bread”. That is, that the Christ we pray to, and to whom we bring him, is put before him; Christ is bread; and then they give him water. Young men and young women get into the world, and we pray for them. There is no hope from the standpoint of our responsibility, if we do not, but prayer is not enough. There must be skill in presenting the bread, for they are almost dead. There must be a skilful presentation of ^[p. 495] Christ to the young, so that He is shown as bread to the hungry soul. Water is symbolical of the Spirit, presented to be appropriated for refreshment: bread and water is a well-known combination in the testimony. You will remember how Obadiah fed the prophets of God with bread and water. Then, after giving him the bread and the water, having brought him to Christ, there is the idea of what is collective; there is the idea of association, and what flows out of holy association.

These delinquencies are very largely due to associations, young people linking on with worldly friends. Therefore we have here recorded by the Spirit that they gave him besides the bread and water “a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins”. These are collective thoughts. The cake of figs involves that the figs are bound together, and so the “two clusters of raisins”. It is not a question of the weight of the figs — it is a cake, and the raisins are in clusters. These involve stimulation. I mention these things briefly because they are so urgent. The testimony is confronted with delinquencies, with deadness in the youth, presenting a means of attack by the enemy. The most precious things that we have are thus attacked, the devil attacking through them, and disaster at times ensuing. Hence the need of the brethren facing these things in regard to the generation that is coming, that we may know how to revive them, and to present that which will overcome the state of spiritual death, for that is what it is. He is found in the field, you will notice. Then there is the presenting, as I said, skilfully, of the bread and the water, what God provides, and the cake of figs and two clusters of raisins.

It is on such occasions as the present that young people become revived. It may be that many come together out of natural curiosity, or natural desires, but the Spirit of God is here in relation to the saints. He is in them, and stimulation is one great feature of spiritual meetings. It says of the young man here, that his spirit ^[p. 496] came again to him. How often that happens in these meetings which we rightly call special occasions, in which the Holy Spirit has a peculiar advantage in operating through the affections of the brethren; young people who have been delinquent, it may be, are revived, and recalled to earlier days, and to what they once enjoyed. So that, instead of being servants of the Amalekite, instead of bearing the character of young men and women of Egypt, or the world, they become the keystone to the position. They become, in the hand of the Lord, the means of the recovery of all. How great is the change, as one has often noticed in young people thus restored! They are becoming active, intelligent servants of Christ, learning to undo what they once had part in doing, for that would be the object in the mind of every recovered person. How great is the victory when I can undo that which I had part in doing! The Lord Jesus came “to undo the works of the devil”. So to be brought into line in undoing the works of the devil, is what is in the mind of any delinquent restored and brought to light, by the bread and the water and the figs and the raisins, brought into line with Christ, brought under His will for the undoing of the works of the devil. How much there is of this amongst us, alas! One has often thought of late that the most spiritual of us may unconsciously be an agent of the enemy in a misjudgment of persons, or of conditions, or of difficulties. He is so ready to use us. How much there is to be undone as the effect of this attack of the Amalekites on the Cherethites and on the coast that belonged to Judah and on the south of Caleb! Then what a glorious triumph! David recovered all. This young man was the key. With him there was complete victory. There was nothing lost.

Now the second scripture, I apprehend, involves the epistle to the Corinthians. Romans is that everything is recovered. The young man is recovered, and becomes in the hand of David a vessel for the undoing of that ^[p. 497] which he had part in doing. In the main Romans is food, bread and water, i.e., Christ and the Spirit. Corinthians contemplates that Jesus is away, that He is absent from this world. We are not to reign as kings while He is absent. We will reign as kings when He returns. Now Jacob is representative of a believer in this setting, as baffled by the state of the brethren. Many are like that. Joseph stood in a peculiarly tender relationship with Jacob, but the brethren are wrong from the beginning in regard to Jacob and Joseph; and Jacob, although always right in his affections, was wrong in his calculations, deceived by his sons, and harassed by the thought that the thoughts of God about him would fail. In a word we see him, at times, losing heart. God had spoken wonderful things about him, and to him, but now it seems that the thoughts of God are failing. There are many like that amongst us, baffled by the state of the brethren. The experience of Jacob, depicted in these chapters, is almost entirely the outcome of the state of his sons, and their conduct. So that it is a question in these circumstances, of seeing beyond the brethren; of seeing that the purpose of God cannot fail, that what is spoken about you hold, that every promise is yea and amen in Christ, that God is faithful who has called you into the fellowship of His Son. The heart is thus stayed, as the waves roll, and the winds blow. Not so with Jacob, harassed day and night as the outcome of the state of his family and their conduct. He might well blame them for everything, as people generally do, but faith will not do that. Faith would say in the heart of Jacob, God is God, the God that spoke to me at Bethel remains. There is no change with God. Indeed, you get in Scripture the word the “Same” applied to Christ personally, involving that He is the same to us, that there is no change.

There are many amongst us baffled by the brethren, by their conduct. Occurrence after occurrence arouses suspicions in the heart of Jacob as to his sons; and so ^[p. 498] when they come to him here, with the greatest possible tidings, he would not believe them. His heart fainted. Can you wonder? If his heart was stayed on God, he would not faint at good tidings. How humbling it is that, on account of our conduct and deception, our word is untrustworthy, even when it is true! Can we wonder that these ten sons of Jacob were scarcely worth believing? Yet they were. They now had tidings that faith should accept, for the light already vouchsafed as to Joseph required that he was alive, but their past conduct rendered them untrustworthy in the patriarch’s mind, and he suffered accordingly. Joseph had this in mind, that their tidings may be accepted, that they may not seem to be clouded or uncertain. He says to them before they left Egypt, “let not your eye regret your stuff”. Also, “Do not quarrel on the way”. He is urging them to come down to where he is. The point for us is to get to where Christ is. The Lord’s supper has that in mind — that we should in spirit reach Christ where He is. Joseph was not in Canaan. He is not coming up to Canaan now. He is elsewhere. He is concerned that his brethren should carry a definite message to his father, and he says, Do not think of your stuff. There is much of that — we do not want to leave this scene. We have a little more than others. How that ministers to pride! Our “stuff” is not worth thinking of. “The good of all the land of Egypt shall be yours”. I am not speaking of Egypt as the world now. It is the sphere of Joseph. He is lord of it. It is another thing altogether. We have to understand Scripture contextually. I am now speaking of Egypt as the sphere of blessing; it is under the rule of Joseph. Christ makes the difference, whether He is in Israel’s land or out of it. He is out of it. He has been put out of it, cruelly put to death. It is not His place now. He is coming back to it. The apostle says that when the time of reigning comes, we will all reign with Him, but not now. The point now, is to go out of it. The Lord’s ^[p. 499] supper is the appointed symbol of exit from this world.

I want to show you how this old man, Jacob — for that is what he was — got a sense of the divine thoughts. He was a depository of the promises. He fainted — but seeing what Joseph had sent, he realised that though Joseph was in Egypt there was something here that denoted what he is, and what he has. It denotes his love, his truth. Persons like Jacob in their baffled condition of mind forget to take notice of what is here on the part of Christ. The enemy blinds their eyes to the presence of the Comforter — the means he has sent to take us where He is, the power of the Spirit of God. One has, at times, gone over the epistles to the Corinthians from the standpoint of the Spirit. It is a fine study — the place the Spirit of God has in that setting! When Jacob saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. “And Israel said”. “Israel” here is worthy of special notice. If, as a learner you go through the two epistles to the Corinthians, you will become an Israel, so to speak, you will become spiritual. The apostle stresses that. He could not speak to them as spiritual whilst writing the first letter. The Holy Spirit is brought in in the epistle, so that they might understand what it is to be spiritual, that they might be men in the true sense. Here it is Israel, the spiritual man, who determines to go. “And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die”. That is the word, beloved, especially to any baffled ones, clouded through the conduct of the brethren. In spite of their conduct, God is faithful. God has been thinking of you in all this cloudiness. He has not had His eye off you. He is faithful who has called you unto the fellowship of His Son, and He will not allow you to be tempted above that you are able. Every promise of God in Christ is yea and amen! So Israel took his journey and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of Isaac — Christ risen. Every ^[p. 500] promise is true in Him, whatever the brethren may do.

The next part of my subject is the boy born to the Shunammite. It is a well-known chapter. The truth is typically presented very constructively in it, from Romans to Colossians. The young man represents young men, not such as the young man of Egypt, but young men who have grown. This boy whose age is not given is said to have grown, and as having grown he got trouble in his head. He went out to his father where they were reaping and said, “My head, my head!” It was a head matter. His father had no power with him. The turning aside from Paul is not in evidence in Colossians. It is the work of the Spirit in the saints in Colossians, the work of the Spirit in persons whom Paul never saw. They had never met him. They had not had his impress. He however saw the danger which beset them. It was a head matter. Young men grow rightly and they read rightly, but the head is out of proportion with the other members of the body. The father sends him back to his mother, which was also a right move, but useless here. Even the saints — the assembly — cannot do anything with a man like that; the mother suggests the assembly. It is deeper than what the assembly can meet. He died at noon. There was no power even at that time of day to keep him alive. I believe that the suggestion is that as we grow in the knowledge of God, and in the knowledge of Christ, and in the truth, we should put things into practice, work them out, and thus maintain a balance in our members. The Shunammite woman had wisdom. The father did not send him to the prophet, and he did not put him on the prophet’s bed. She took him and laid him on the bed of the man of God. That is the thing to do. The cause is deep. The child died. He had neither voice nor hearing. He had lost all power and consciousness. Speak about Christ — he does not hear you, nor does he say anything.

Who is to look after this? The man of God. You ^[p. 501] will notice, if you read the chapter, the great stress laid on the idea of the man of God. He is one entirely on God’s behalf. This is the man who will help. It involves the Spirit, and those who are thinking for God. The Holy Spirit leads to that. It is a long matter, and a difficult one and Elisha is a long way off. What is to be done? Our ‘care meetings’ are very important as to what is to be done as to such cases. Not that it is a question of talking about a thing and returning home. There is a journey to be taken. The mother is urgent about it. She saddled the ass and said to the servant, “Drive and go forward”. She reached the man of God at Carmel. Every case requires its own handling, and this is a new thing — so that the staff of the man of God does not do — mere experience is insufficient. There is neither voice nor hearing in spite of that. An old brother may say, I have been seventy years in fellowship. That in itself does not help. These seventy years have gone. It is the present living energy of the Spirit that is needed. The staff will not do. The Shunammite insists on the man of God coming. The child is on his bed. It is all his matter now. It is not what your staff represents, what you have done these many years, but what you are now. He must go up to the room, pray to Jehovah, stretch himself on the boy, put his mouth on his mouth, eyes on his eyes, hands on his hands, and the child becomes warm. That is a great point — the direct touch of life. That is the point in Colossians, where we are raised on the principle of faith. That is the position; but life is by quickening. Quickened together with Christ. That is by contact, by nearness. It is with Christ. We are alive with Him. Not simply made alive, but made alive with Him. The more you love Christ, the more you will have it that way. This child is made alive in that way. He gets warm. Victory is coming, but there must be the second touch. The man of God walked about, involving keen exercise, no doubt, for it is very searching. He returns and ^[p. 502] bends over the child, who sneezes seven times. It is not to be a head matter now; it is to be a lung matter. The child breathes the breath of life once more.

Hezekiah says, “The living, the living, he shall praise thee!” It is in life we praise God, and witness to Him. There will be no testimony apart from love; intelligence, of course, but there must be love. The apostle prayed for the Colossians, for they were in danger of philosophy and vain deceit, which is the very thing that attacks the head. The thought was that they might be knit together in love to the full assurance and the understanding of the mystery of God. It is a question of love, understanding coming in that way. That is the thought.

Finally, in Acts 20 there is another young man, Eutychus. He is called a “youth”, and finally referred to as a “boy”. He represents our young people who are taking up positions to which they are not equal. This young man is listening, we may say, to the most spiritual ministry of Christ ever spoken; there are many lights in the upper room. Bring such to the most spiritual meeting. Take him there to be sure — but is he equal to it? Is he well founded? Has he interest enough? Will he go to sleep? Will it become so wearisome to him that he will loathe it? These are important considerations. He could not have been in a more luminous place; there was the unfolding of wonderful things, although we are not told what Paul said — no doubt it was about Christ and the assembly in relation to the Lord’s supper. You can scarcely conceive of a better situation for ministry, for one to get on in his soul, or to get light. Is the young man equal to it? Is he grounded enough? I do not say he should not be there. Far otherwise! Are we seeing to his being rooted and grounded? That is Colossians. Well, what happened? Paul spoke at length. The father and mother of the boy might say that the address was too long, too much for young people. But he is the only one ^[p. 503] that suffered. Should he be considered alone in the meeting? See all these dear men who were present at that time. See what men they are! Are we to consider him only? Surely not! A meeting for ministry must aim at the highest capacity present. The young must be ministered to, but the spiritual must be ministered to also. Timothy was there. Did not he need to get a little instruction? There were a remarkable set of brethren present. Did they all not need instruction? They did. Valuable ministry you may be sure! But this young man was not equal to the position. I do not say that the fault was on the part of his father or mother, or the brethren. The fact was, he was not equal to the position. The fault was his own. He was overpowered with sleep. Think of the anomaly of a christian being overpowered with sleep in the presence of such ministry. Such light! The fact is that he was overpowered in those circumstances. He succumbed to the natural. He fell down from the third story, for it is a morally elevated position. It is an Ephesian chapter; the chapter is full of Ephesian truth. He fell down, and seemingly he was dead. Then Paul descended. That is to say, it is the activity of love. The word “descended” takes us to the cross, to the descending of Christ in love — love of supreme character. Paul enfolded him in his arms, and says, “his life is in him”. They were not to be troubled about him. We have to take Paul’s word for the moment. That is the way it is put.

The Spirit would insist on our listening to Paul. Paul represents the discerning of potentialities — what there is in the youth. You have to wait for it, but it is there. He is not like the young man given back to his mother. We have just to listen to what Paul says. His life was in him, known only to the apostle for the moment. There is potentiality. He enfolded him in his arms. He was near enough to feel that the heart was beating. Others could not then know that. It is a ^[p. 504] question of the affections, and getting near to the young; the secret is there. It is a question of potentiality. There is not another word said about Eutychus until we are told that the apostle went up and broke the bread, as if the Spirit would say, that is just one thing: “his life is in him”; the next thing is the breaking of the bread.

It is “the first day of the week”. It is a link with the eternal state of things. We are in the presence of great things in this passage and not a word is said about the young man until we are told that the apostle went up. He did not stay down where the young man was, nor does it say Eutychus was carried up. The apostle did not give up the position through the fall of the youth. We must not admit of giving up the position. We must not lower the position to him. We must hold to the elevation God has given us — the spiritual elevation. Paul did, he went up, and spoke a long time. There was plenty of energy. He did not stop speaking because the young man had fallen. He broke the bread and went on speaking, and then he departed. Then it says, they took away the boy. Not now with his life in him, simply, but they took him away alive. Potentiality was there! And now the life is developed. He is alive and they brought him away. That is not the end of that boy. We have to understand what is unwritten. That boy represents great potentialities. So it is with the youth among us. We get near to them, and feel the pulse, the beatings of their heart. We know their life is in them. We go on with the testimony, with the breaking of bread. Let us not stop because there is disaster, or apparent disaster. Go on with the ministry, maintain the level, the elevation that God has brought us to. That young man will come in, in time. They had brought him away alive.

May God grant us help, dear brethren, on these lines!