VICTORY

John McKay

Romans 12: 14-21; 1 Samuel 25: 23-33; 1 Kings 1: 28-40

I would like to say a word about the spirit of victory as it shows itself to the believer. We have been engaged in conversation together with the great matter of direct relations with God and a person who is thus conscious of being close to God Himself is deeply concerned that his conduct, his attitude and his character, should be in keeping with the God whom he knows.

Thus these verses coming as they do at the end of Romans 12 are a real challenge to us: "Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good". I believe that is how we should be in the testimony until the Lord comes. How much we have received! How much wealth God has poured in in the way of good! I think we should be in the testimony as living out the things that have been entrusted to us, thus not being occupied with evil, far less being overcome by it, rather overcoming it with good.

So this chapter begins with what is acceptable to God: the body secured, the fruit of redemption, the teaching of the gospel underlying all that we have in this passage. The word is addressed to those who have been secured on the ground of God's glad tidings and the effect is that the body is offered as "a living sacrifice" and it is "acceptable to God". It is a fine word that it is "acceptable to God". We often consider what might be acceptable to the brethren. That is a right exercise too. Asher in the Old Testament was exhorted to "dip his foot in oil". "Let him" do it, the scripture says, and "Let him be acceptable to his brethren", Deut 33: 24. Oh, if any of us causes concern to our brethren, there is a way of changing that situation, there is a way of making a difference! The Spirit is available in order that there may be a change, no longer a concern but acceptable to the brethren. But what is greater than that is that the sacrifice is "acceptable to God".

So how should we be in the testimony as aware that we are "acceptable to God"? Paul's words are very explicit. Where we began to read, he says, "Bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not". That is the way in which God has come out towards us. He has come out towards you and me in blessing: He has come out in grace. What He is looking for is that persons who know Him should represent Him rightly in the scene of testimony by being in a like attitude of blessing, a blessing that does not discriminate for God's blessing in this dispensation is toward all. Can you be like that? What a question that is? Of Isaac, in the book of Genesis, it says, he blessed Jacob and Esau. He blessed them both. In Esau the flesh had come out in its worst features : the scripture refers to him elsewhere as a profane man, a man who relinquished precious things for present advantage. What a man Esau was! Nevertheless of Isaac, type of heavenly Man, it says, he blessed Jacob and Esau. "Bless'' and curse not". I believe we are tested as to whether we can be in the same attitude as God as representing Him in the testimony until the Lord comes.

It goes on to say, "Have the same respect one for another, not minding high things, but going along with the lowly ... as far as depends on you, living in peace with all men". That is, there is something inoffensive in the life of the believer. He is going on with what is of God. The God whom he knows has not been surprised by the challenge of evil. The God whom he knows has risen above it. As the hymn writer says:

Evil's challenge, long permitted,

Met by Thy supremacy,

In Thy ways was wisely fitted

To display the Trinity.

How has God met the great challenge of evil? He has met it by the outshining of Himself. A tremendous thing! God has not been taken by surprise, but has risen above the whole matter in view of securing His own thoughts in blessing for men. We are greatly challenged as to whether we can be with Him in that. Can we be in the testimony as holding fast to what is good? The Lord's words to "the rest who are in Thyatira" are "but what ye have hold fast till I shall come", Rev 2: 25. He did not lay other burdens upon them, did not lay upon them the recovery of what had gone before. He did not lay upon them the repair of what was around them in Christendom at the time. No! He says, "but what ye have hold fast" and I think that is our responsibility that we hold to what is good in the presence of all that is around that is deteriorating. Let us not be diverted to other things! The power went out of the Reformation when the activities of men like Luther and those who were greatly helped of God in those days became negative. Their activities became a protest against what was evil instead of the simple assertion of the truth and that was the point at which the power went out of it. I am concerned lest we should err in that direction. It may be that we rightly have a judgment of things. God would help us to have a judgment of everything in Christendom. But then everything in Christendom is not within our remit to deal with and although we may have a judgment of it, I believe our prime function indeed our responsibility, is to be in the truth as expressing and holding fast to what is good. Thus representing the God whom we know we are not overcome by evil - the believer should never have to give place to evil. He knows the God who has resolved the whole moral question in the death of Jesus. "Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good".

That is why I have read these other passages, to speak of them briefly. In 1 Samuel 25 we have a situation where David, a man who had been used in God's testimony, is in danger of erring from the way. What you are thankful for in such a situation is a person like Abigail who is acting in the way that we have spoken of. The result of her activity is that evil is overcome by good. The situation is met positively. I wonder if we would be more effective in recovering our brethren if we were more positive in our attitude towards them. How many there have been who have missed their way! How many it may be, even at this time, are attached to things that are unseemly, unsuited to them, below their dignity. God would help us in our feelings about persons in whom His work is, persons who belong where these rich privileges of which we have been speaking today are enjoyed. Our feelings should be towards them positively. Thank God for Abigail in this passage! She represents assembly quality as emerging against a dark background. She was married to Nabal. You might say the condition publicly was a poor one. In this passage she says "Nabal is his name, and folly is with him". She has a judgment of the whole situation and the way the rights of Christ typically have been disregarded in it. She has a judgment of that, but she is not dealing with it. She is not dealing with Nabal. God would deal with Nabal in His own time but what Abigail is concerned about is the recovery of David. Can you be like that? I believe we should be concerned in regard of the recovery of our brethren. David is on a course here that ultimately would have damaged what was precious to God in the testimony , and Abigail moves, and what comes to light in her movement is great resource. It says in verse 18, "And Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves and two skin-bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched com", and so on. She had an immense store of what was good and she was going to use that in view of the full recovery of David. Thus a situation which could have resulted in damage can result in healing and in the full recovery of a man who had been anointed of God. What she says is very interesting. She comes to David and speaks to him about the blessing, "And now this blessing which thy bondmaid has brought to my lord let it be given to the young men that follow my lord". The resources are available to meet the situation. She is not condemning. She is active in the promotion of what is good, going on to say, "for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a lasting house". What a fine statement to make! David is not in the main course of the testimony at the moment. David is straying from the way and yet she says, "for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a lasting house" as if she would draw David from the ebb and flow of conditions publicly and bring him to what is consistent in relation to God. In recovery, God would draw persons who have strayed into a line of self-pleasing and relate them to what is sure and what will continue for His pleasure in these days, "a lasting house; because my lord fights the battles of Jehovah". She had not forgotten what David was in days previously. Let us not forget what our brethren have been. God remembers it, as He said to Israel, "I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth", Jer 2: 2. Abigail says, David, You have fought the battles of Jehovah, not your own battles. You have not been promoting your own point of view or seeking your own ends. You have been in the testimony as fighting the battles of Jehovah! Abigail reminds David of this. Can we remind persons of what they have been? What history there has been and how much we have been through together! God does not forget and we should not forget. It may be that we can promote what is of God in our brethren by a reminder of what has gone before.

"And evil has not been found in thee all thy days". What a statement! She was referring to the purity of the work of God in this man. We have a right to regard what is of God quite apart from everything else and if the work of God is in a person, that person really belongs where God's presence is realised and where divine blessing is fully proved. "Evil has not been found in thee" - an abstract statement, you might say, over against the chequered history that Scripture records. Nevertheless Abigail is holding on to it with the tenacity of faith. Can we have faith in regard of the work of God in the souls of others and realise that they belong to the great things in which God Himself is proceeding in these days? "And if a man is risen up to pursue thee and to seek thy life, the soul of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living". She is speaking to David now of what is collective and she is speaking of his soul being bound in relation to it. We have spoken a lot today about what is individual and it is very important, but then God would draw us and hold us together in relation to a living condition of things which is of Himself. And it says, “And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall do to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee". We have often said that Abigail is the product of Samuel's ministry. She knew what had been said about David and she is reminding him of what God had said through his servant that included him. This is the way to revive the work of God in persons and to bring them again. We will not bring them again by a protest. We will bring them again by the revival of what is of God in their souls but only as we ourselves are walking in the truth of it. So as Paul says, we are not to be overcome by evil, but we are to overcome evil with good. It is a test, but I believe the Lord would help us in it.

In 1 Kings 1 the background is dark. We have a situation where David is old, what is responsible according to God in the testimony has become weak, and the result of it is the uprising of what is rival, the uprising of Adonijah, a man who said, "I will be king". We are speaking not simply of an individual in this passage. We have rather a picture of the general condition in the testimony. Clearly there is the uprising of what is antiChristian around us in the world today and what has given place to it is the failure of those who should have cared for things according to God. As part of Christendom we need to accept the sorrow and responsibility of the failure. We cannot isolate ourselves. What is more, we need to know what is going on in the area of the profession around us. The Lord expected the disciples to know. He said to them, "Who do men say that I the Son of man am?". He expected them to know, indeed expected them to feel it. Thus He expects us to be aware of what is happening as what is of anti-Christ raises its head in these days. Ultimately God will deal with matters. According to Thessalonians the Lord Himself is going to annul it. Paul's language is very assuring "whom the Lord Jesus ... shall annul by the appearing of this coming", 2 Thess. 2: 8. Tremendous language, speaking of what will yet take place as God deals with the challenge of "the lawless one".

But the principle of these things exists already and it is a question how the present situation is going to be met. The answer is the enthronement of Solomon. The answer is not to attack Adonijah. How many there have been who have missed their way testimonially because they tried to deal with the problems of Christendom, struggled with some of the unsolved questions, became totally occupied in a negative sense with the disaster that has happened to the testimony publicly and have gone astray. But the answer to this situation is first the anointing, and then the enthronement of the true Solomon. Are we active in this? Can I appeal today that we should actively distinguish Christ? Nathan the prophet comes into it; Benaiah the son of Jehoida, Zadok the priest, Bathsheba, all are engaged in this great matter. Bathsheba recalls the promise already made that Solomon should be king and David responds by saying "call me Bathsheba". As she is in the king's presence David gives directions. "And the king said to them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon". Beloved brethren, let us be active in the distinguishing of Christ in these days as the positive answer to what is rising around us in Christendom! We shall gather tomorrow and the purpose of our gathering will be to remember Him. That really is the divinely given opportunity in the sight of the whole universe to declare our loyalty to the Man whom the world has rejected but whom we would love to distinguish. I trust all of us will participate in the great privilege. If any here are not actively remembering the Lord Jesus, grasp the opportunity! It is a great privilege and it is until He comes. This is all part of the overcoming of evil because there is a testimony in the Supper to the complete overthrow of the world's system, because what we are doing is distinguishing another Man! The woman at the end of Matthew's gospel came into the house of Simon the leper and she anointed Jesus. As far as she was concerned, He was the Man that was going to control everything. Ultimately Christ will control the universe. The mystery of God's ways is that He will head up all things in the Christ, but thank God for those who, like that woman, are distinguishing Him already! Are we doing that together? What they do here is a united action. They anoint king Solomon. "And Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, Long live king Solomon! And all the people came up after him". What a recovery there was! Perhaps if Christ had more place among us, we would see more recovery. May it be that as Christ has a greater place a distinguished among us those in whom God's work is may be more readily drawn to the place where He is honoured.

So it says, "And the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them". Now, Adonijah is left for the moment. The principle of God's judgment will be unfailing, particularly in regard of what is rival to Christ, but for the moment judgment is deferred. Adonijah is not dealt with until later, after the death of David. While David is alive, Adonijah remains and largely the situation in Christendom is left unchanged, but the power has gone out of it. What happens here in the anointing of Solomon is that the whole matter is met according to God, and met positively. I trust we shall be encouraged. There is much to hold on to that is positively good and I am deeply concerned that we should not only hold the truth but express it, particularly to our brethren who might be seeking their way. May we know how to represent God to them, overcoming evil with good, and thus draw them into the area where the God whom we know and love is know in His glory, even in these days of public breakdown. May God help us! For His Name's sake!

 

DUNDEE

19 April 1997