FIDELITY TO CHRIST

J. Earl

Proverbs 31: 1, 10–12, 23, 26, 28, 31; Mark 14: 3–9; 2 Timothy 2: 22; Revelation 3: 7–11

I want to draw attention to this woman of worth as setting out fidelity to her husband; fidelity to Christ with us. There is a great call for it. Infidelity is prevalent and it is increasing, but this should the more stir us to be true to Jesus; to be true to the One who is the Husband of a wife.

This woman sets forth the wife idea. So the time will come when it will be said, “the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready”, Revelation 19: 7. What a time it will be, the marriage of the Lamb! He is waiting for us and so are we, waiting patiently, and then it says, “And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure”, and then we are told that “the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints” (Revelation 19: 8). Every little thing that is done for Christ comes into that, the accumulation of righteousness is the wedding dress of the wife when this marriage comes. What an encouragement that is for us. We have been cheered by the provision the local brethren here have made for us, but what a cheer to them to think that what they have done is really to the Lord. And He would say, as He will in a coming day to certain persons, “Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me”, Matthew 25: 40.

So that everything that is done to and for the Lord enters into this great matter of the preparation of the wife—she has made herself ready. We are in that time, dear brethren, there might not be very much more time to run. So it is the time for us to be made ready for what is yet ahead. What a dress this wife is going to wear! It has been working out down the dispensation, every stitch that has been put together goes to the making of this garment and the one who has made herself ready to wear it; that garment must be nearly finished.

It is important for us to think about what this chapter brings out. It is a prophecy, that is why I read the first verse. It is a prophetic description of the Lamb’s wife as He takes account of her. What we have in the chapter, as we have also in the word to Philadelphia, is a cluster of moral qualities; things put together in relation to things done. I want to make a point of that, because there is not a word recorded of anything that she said, neither is there a word recorded of anything that Philadelphia said, but many things as to what she has done, so it is a question of doing. You will remember the Lord after serving His own, girding Himself and taking the towel and washing their feet, says to them, “I have given you an example that, as I have done to you, ye should do also”, John 13: 15. Then He says a little further on, “If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them” (John 13: 17). The blessing is associated with the doing.

This question is raised in Proverbs 31, “Who can find a woman of worth?” I think the onus rests upon every one of us here today to find that woman. Solomon did not find her, that is clear; he admits that. He says in Ecclesiastes 7, “See this which I have found, saith the Preacher, searching one by one” (Ecclesiastes 7: 27); he is searching all right, he had about a thousand tries, but he did not find what he was seeking. “One man among a thousand”, he says, “have I found, but a woman among all those have I not found (Ecclesiastes 7: 28).

Thousands of believers today have found the Man, they believe on Jesus, thank God for it. They take account of His life here, they rest upon His atoning work, they believe in His resurrection, they know He has gone back to heaven, and they hope when they die to go there too, but they have not found the woman.

What we get in Proverbs 31 is an ideal, it is what the man had before him and searched for but did not find. If he had found the woman of worth do you think he would have allowed his heart to be carried away with all those foreign women that he had which brought him into idolatry? Yet, by the Spirit of God, he set out this ideal before us, it is something for us to follow, “The heart of her husband confideth in her”. How touching that is. The Lord would give us to feel that He has confidence in us to maintain what is for Himself here in this scene until He comes. Sometimes we do not justify that confidence and we have to sorrow over it, but the Lord generally leaves things in the hands of the saints to work out. He will give credit. He will praise all that He possibly can. “He shall have no lack of spoil”. Is that not what we are here for in one sense? I am not thinking so much of the privilege side of the service of God, I am thinking of the maintenance of things here for Christ, having in mind the moment when He will take over Himself, take control, what a time that will be! Meanwhile are we not seeking spoil for Christ? I trust so.

So this woman is working industriously for her husband, “She doeth him good, and not evil, all the days of her life”. What a thing it is to be committed to seeking spoil for Christ every day! I think of the woman in John 4, the woman at Sychar’s well. The Lord had to do with her and she had to do with the Lord. There came a moment when she said to Him, “I know that Messias is coming, who is called. Christ; when he comes he will tell us all things “(John 4: 25). Jesus said to her, “I who speak to thee am he” (John 4: 26). That settled everything for the woman; she had found the Man and she goes away at that point, leaves her water-pot behind. She says to the men in Samaria, “Come, see a man”, as much as to say you have never met a man like this before, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done: is not he the Christ?” (John 4: 29). What good that woman did for Christ that day; it was the first day of her spiritual history and she filled it out admirably. They were so affected by what she said that they came

too, and great blessing was brought into the locality. How encouraging it is!

“Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land”. She has been so committed to his interests that he is known as her husband. How we desire that, dear brethren! I am thinking of the administrative side of things in this chapter, we seem to need a lot of help there. One thing, of course, that would help us more than anything else, is the concept of what the assembly is to Christ. That brings me to the thought that what Solomon sought and did not find, the true Solomon has found. Our thoughts go immediately to Matthew 13, the merchant seeking beautiful pearls who, finding one that was of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. That is what the Lord has done, and I am linking this with the administrative side of things. You might say, Well, that is another figure the pearl, but the pearl goes through into the city. We have had before us today the foundation side, the names of the twelve apostles on the foundations, but when John sees the city earlier he takes account of the gates, and he finds each gate of one pearl. How it will help us, in any matter at all we take on for the Lord touching the saints, to be governed by what they are to Him. That is the pearl, and every gate just the same, twelve of them. If we are governed by the concept of what the saints are to Christ, we will be doing the one thing, and that is very much desired.

It goes on, “She openeth her mouth with wisdom”. That is a practical matter, it searches us all, especially when there is need for discussion as to administrative matters. How readily at times we open our mouths and anything but wisdom comes out of them! But not this woman, “She openeth her mouth with wisdom”, just let us take account of that, “and upon her tongue is the law of kindness”. That is a needed word too, because what we say should be governed by this quality of kindness. Kindness has been shown to us, dear brethren; the kindness and love of God our Saviour has reached us. Is it not right that we should be kind to one another, indeed kind in thought to all? So just let our tongues be governed by the law of kindness. We fit a governor to an engine to limit it, so that it does not run too fast and get over-heated. So it is a great thing to be governed in this way by wisdom and kindness.

Then it says, “her husband also, and he praiseth her”. He praises all he possibly can, and “let her own works praise her in the gates”. I think that is a beautiful suggestion and would encourage every one of us to do what we can for the Lord while we can; the time may be short. We in Melbourne have lost two brothers and a sister recently; their part in the testimony is over, they have filled out their responsibility, but there is an added weight of responsibility to be shared by those of us that are left. On the other hand, there are some here today getting on in years, we look for the Lord to come to take us all to be with Himself, but if He tarries, some more of us will leave this scene of testimony to go to be with the Lord.

That will mean that others will have to step in and carry a greater load or weight of responsibility. You remember the message that was left to us by a servant of God at the beginning of his public ministry, ‘The responsibility for the maintenance of the truth rests upon every one of our shoulders’, and the need of heeding that was never more urgent than at the present time. So let us heed it and take on a little more responsibility for the Lord in the maintenance of what is for Him here in this testimonial scene.

I refer to this woman in Mark’s gospel. I think she is a beautiful example of one who is committed in fidelity to Christ; no matter what the surroundings were, a leper’s house, angry people, what she did she did for the Lord. What she could, she did, that is the point I want to make, “What she could she has done”. That is maximum capacity in production, you might say, we hear that everywhere. Let us be like that for Christ; we can all do more I am sure. The Lord defends her action; how much it meant to Him! He said, “why do ye trouble her?” We shall have to be prepared for any criticism that might come in, but let us be doing things for Him, and let us be set to do what we can. God is not asking more.

Then He says, “Wheresoever these glad tidings may be preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall be also spoken of for a memorial of her”. I think she is a sample of what the grace of God in the gospel can produce. So when we preach the gospel let us bring this forward. I do not necessarily mean this particular passage, but it is the idea of it, the woman comes in with the Man—“what this woman has done shall be also spoken of for a memorial of her”.

We have to take up things individually, that is why read from 2 Timothy. I read this one verse because I am thinking of Philadelphia, not as a position, but as a state to be reached by every one of us. Arrival at Philadelphia is by way of 2 Timothy 2, and we have these leaders to hold us on course. Righteousness as we have been reminded is first. How important it is that we should be committed to it, and be prepared to pursue it! I do not think these leaders are static; it is not a question of a point reached and then settlement made. These leaders are ever before us. I do not think we ever overtake them; we try at times to bypass them at our own jeopardy, but righteousness stands there and we should stand by it. In the end of the second letter to the Corinthians Paul says, “we pray to God ... that ye may do what is right” (2 Corinthians 13: 7), that they might not do evil but what is right. What a concern that is!

So we pursue along this line; after this leader there is faith, and every stand for righteousness confirms faith on our side. These leaders are before us, and we need energy to pursue them and not be turned aside. Then there is love, we would like sometimes that it would all be love, but I can say this, that love will never lead anyone to weaken in righteousness. If there is a weakening in righteousness, love is not the cause, love will always support what is right. Indeed these leaders are supportive of each other. So Paul says toward the end of the first letter, “Let all things ye do be done in love”, 1 Corinthians 16: 14. To sum that up, I think it means that the right thing is done the right way; what we do is right and done in love. Then there is peace. Is not peace ever before us? It is a leader, and if righteousness, faith and love are pursued, peace is the consequence. It is greatly to be desired in the gatherings of the saints.

We refer to Philadelphia now. As I said before, it is not a question of an ecclesiastical position, not in any sense, and it is not a question of claiming anything either. If we have any Philadelphian qualities, what would be the point of claiming them? If we do not have them, claiming them will not bring them. So the Lord presents Himself as “the holy, the true”; how attractive is the presentation! “He that has the key of David, he who opens and no one shall shut, and shuts and no one shall open”. Then He says, “I know thy works”; the Lord knows, we do not have to say, we do not have to claim. He knows. “I have set before thee an opened door”. The inference is that the door had been closed, but He has opened it, and this brings us to the thought that is often before us of what we call a church revival. How long the Lord has waited for this, and we are still in it. I think it means that recovered persons are brought back to the fulness and richness of Paul’s ministry. Think of how he could say, writing to the Ephesians, “This mystery is great” (Ephesians 5: 32), and so it is, and Paul had it, but he says,

“I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”. Christ and the assembly are inseparable in time and eternity, and this recovery that we speak of has brought us back as recovered persons. I think when we reach that we have found the woman of worth.

Then He says, “because thou hast a little power”; how desirable that is! Let the Lord say it, “thou hast a little power, and hast kept my word”. That is like Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to His word, retaining it. What the Lord says to her links with the opened door that we are assured will never be closed. The Lord says of her as to the good part, “the which shall not be taken from her”. I link those two thoughts together. I think Mary sets out subjection to headship, and we need much help on it. And “hast not denied my name”, we professedly gather to the name of the Lord; let us be true to it! The Lord says this of Philadelphia, “hast not denied my name”. Then He speaks of those “of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews “. Philadelphia does not say anything but Laodicea does, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and am grown rich, and have need of nothing” (Revelation 3: 17), that is what she is saying. So these persons say they are Jews, and the Lord says they are not. I think this would be a warning to us to preserve us from saying what is not needed to be said. “I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet, and shall know that I have loved thee”. I think we might link this “thee” with the “me” of Acts 9, that was the key to Paul in his ministry. The Lord said, “why dost thou persecute me?” (Acts 9: 4), and Paul carried that through. Here Philadelphia is reminded of the Lord’s love. No wonder John could say earlier in the book, “To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father” (Revelation 1: 5, 6), and then the doxology, I wanted to refer to that, “to him be the glory and the might to the ages of ages”, not only the age of ages, but the “ages of ages”, that is eternity. But we can all come in with our Amen, with our doxologies as we take account of the love of Christ, to “know that I have loved thee”. I think the “thee” is Philadelphia as representing the whole assembly. Then, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience”, are we doing that? We have been thinking of the Lord patiently waiting the moment when the Father will bid Him rise and come for His own and rapture us all away, to take us home. He is waiting for that, think how long He has waited down the ages for this church revival! He has waited a long time. He is still waiting for the final matter of the rapture of the saints. So we can well afford to be patient with one another; let patience work out amongst us. What patience the Lord has had with me, and I think with you, but we get impatient at times and get forceful; just let us learn to patiently wait God’s own time and working.

Then He promises to keep us out of the hour of trial, and “I come quickly”, that is the matter that is next to His heart. You will recall Mr. Darby’s words,

‘Nor what is next Thy heart

Can we forget;

Thy saints, O Lord, with Thee

In glory met’. (Hymn 160)

It is the next thing to His heart; He says, “I come quickly—hold fast what thou hast”. I think it is a matter of what the Lord has entrusted to us, and He has entrusted very precious things, precious truth. How desirable it is that we should hold it fast. We are still in this period of recovery, and repenting persons are being recovered, and it is all adding to Christ’s spoil.

Then “that no one take thy crown”. I would think that the crown is connected with what was said in the last reading as to the knowledge of the Person of Christ. He has let us into the secret of it, the ministry has helped on that line. The Lord says, “hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown”, and so this can only be held and maintained on the line of overcoming. May the Lord help every one of us to be overcomers until He comes for us!

Address at Bendigo
14 April 1989