FOLLOWING, SERVING, WAITING
Robert Renton
John 21: 21,22; 12: 1,2; 1 Thess 4: 15-18
As we gather together for a meeting of this character, we lay ourselves open for impressions. We may not come with a word, but we may often get a quickening touch when we are together. We sang in our opening hymn:
"So may we undistracted be
To follow, serve, and wait for Thee." (Hymn 328)
I want to speak just a little about these three things: following, serving and waiting. How full our time should be with so much to go in for, so much to enjoy, particularly when we are among the saints! I suppose, as we follow, we have our eye on Christ. We could not rightly follow otherwise.
So this passage in John 21, I notice the Lord says twice, "Follow me." In verse 19, "But he said this signifying by what death he should glorify God. And having said this, he says to him, Follow me". And then where we read in verse 21 "Peter seeing him, says to Jesus, Lord, and what of this man?" That is just our tendency, dear brethren, to have o ur eye on others. But the Lord would speak specifically to each of us as He did to Peter, "If I will that he abide until I come, what is that to thee?" as if to say, That is not your affair: that is not your business. Then He says, "Follow thou me." Oh, beloved brethren, are we following? Have we our eyes on the Leader? Have we our eyes on Jesus as our objective, as our object, as our ideal? That is what the Lord Jesus is meant to be so that we follow Him in affection. It is affection for Him that allows us to follow. May we not be distracted from following! That is what we have sung. How easily we are! Peter must have been distracted. He wondered about John? What about him? The Lord says, "If I will that he abide until I come, what is that to thee?" That is not your business. "Follow thou me." I think that is the word for us tonight, beloved brethren. We have already had a word, but I think the Lord would say to us, "Follow thou me". It is personal and it affects each one of us.
Now, we have eternal life conditions in chapter 12. What a wonderful scene it must have been. In Luke, you will remember, it says that "Martha was distracted with much serving", chap 10: 40. Do not let us be distracted! Let us be simple! Let us be dependent! Let us just lean on the Lord and the Spirit and He will help us in service. How many ways there are that we may serve! We can serve one another tonight. We can serve by visitation. Sisters unable to get to meetings, oh how they love to have a visit from us. That is part of service, one of the privileges we have, particularly those of us who are retired. We can take up this service and visit the saints. So, as I have said, here we have eternal life conditions. "Jesus therefore, six days before the passover, came to Bethany, where was the dead man Lazarus ..." What a time that must have been! ''The dead man Lazarus" dead as to everything here but alive as to everything connected with the Lord Jesus. "There therefore they made him a supper, and Martha served", everything in its right order; she is not distracted now, not saying the wrong thing, not charging the Lord Jesus as she did in Luke's account, but she is serving in tranquillity, in restfulness, and it made for ideal conditions. May we all be found in this attitude!
Now, just a word on waiting for the Lord Jesus. I suppose the older we become, the more what we call the rapture is before us which will mean our emancipation from this scene. That is our outlook, that is our one desire. What a time it will be when we actually, literally, physically see Jesus. I think we shall just worship and adore Him, not only because of what He has done, and how much He has done for us, but because of the moral glory and excellent beauty that we will find adoringly and eternally in the Lord Jesus. We read "That we, the living, who remain to the coming of the Lord, are in no way to anticipate those who have fallen asleep; for the Lord himself ..." - I think that is a beautiful touch. He will not leave it to an angel to take us or Gabriel, or Michael, but “the Lord himself". This is our immediate outlook, it cannot be long, it cannot be long. While we see the worsening of conditions around us, there is that among the saints continually saying, Lord Jesus, come. That is our hope, our one hope, and our objective, not only to be with the Lord Jesus, but to be like Him. Oh, may it lift our sights, may it encourage our hearts! Our brother has sought to encourage us. I think if there is one passage in the whole of scripture that is meant to encourage us, it is 1 Thessalonians 4, "for the Lord himself, with an assembling shout, with archangel's voice and with trump of God, shall descend from heaven; and the dead in Christ shall rise first." How right it is that they, the dead in Christ, should have priority! They have gone through the article; we have not as yet. But the dead in Christ have gone through the physical article of death and they have the priority. "The dead in Christ shall rise first; then we, the living who remain ..." How are we remaining, dear brethren? Are we distracted? Are we taken up with other things? May the Lord Himself be our whole, consuming object! It makes life really worthwhile when Christ is the ideal of the heart. "Then we, the living who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds ..." - that is those who have died and the living who remain - "to meet the Lord in the air" - what a meeting that will be! What the first sight of Jesus will be, when we meet Him in the air! I think we shall just adore Him. I used to wonder, there will be so many there, there will be millions there, millions, and I picture myself - maybe this is fanciful - I would be away at the back. That is where I should be anyway! But I do not think so. I think we will all be in closest proximity to Jesus and we will see Him as He is. May the hope brighten us! May we not be distracted:
"So may we undistracted be
To follow, serve, and wait for Thee."
For His Name's sake.
EDINBURGH
20 June 1995