THE SERVANT OF THE LORD - HIS RESOURCES
[p. 329] THE SERVANT OF THE LORD — HIS RESOURCES
I think it is very plain from the last chapter of the epistle that the thought in the mind of Paul was that Timothy was the type of servant to fill up the interval until the Lord should come. The apostle was evidently conscious that he was about to pass off the scene; for he says, “I have finished my course”. He regards Timothy as a faithful man, brought up specially under his influence; he could speak of him as being his genuine son, and he was looking for him to fill up the gap when he himself was taken. And it is wonderful what God can effect by the agency of one man. There were not a great many people in that day upon whom Paul could depend, but there is no limit to the extent to which God can use one man provided He has confidence in that one; and though Timothy is regarded as a servant that continues until the coming of the Lord, that does not convey to my mind that Timothy was to be the sole servant: he was the typical servant.
What I want to bring to your attention now is the constructive work which Timothy was to carry out. We had before us last time the necessity of separation from evil; but separation is not all. Separation is not that which is exclusively to mark our path now, I think that would in itself be but a poor thing. You have necessarily to get away from what would come between you and the Lord: if you are to be with the Lord you must be apart from what is unsuited to Him. Then, when you are with the Lord you are in separation in that sense; but your work is to be constructive, though it is not a question of building up anything external. Chapter 3 shows us the resources that Timothy had in order that he might be constructive; resources [p. 330] which God put at the disposal of Timothy to that end. It is a great thing to be constructive in a right sense. I think constructive work is work which is carried on in people’s souls; and what we get here is that which would enable Timothy to carry on this work.
I can understand the question being asked, when did the church become the great house? It was when man got a place in it. Ever since the fall, when man has got a place he has uniformly brought in confusion. I ask anybody in the present day if the effect of man, as such, getting a place in legislation is not to bring in confusion, because there are as many wills as men in the world, and if you have as many wills as men how can it end but in confusion? There is only one will, properly speaking, and that is God’s will; and when God’s will is recognised and has its place there is an end to confusion. I only speak of that in regard to the church: I think confusion came in, and the church had the character of the great house, the moment man had a place; and the practical effect plainly enough was to displace the Spirit of God. When the church was first set up here the Spirit of God directed all. Jew and Gentile were builded together for an habitation of God by the Spirit; no one had importance in the church at all except as he was spiritual. But when man came in as man, and with that the will of man, or it may be the judgment or cleverness of man, it turned the church into a great house. No doubt it came in under all sorts of specious pretexts, it may be with the idea of maintaining order; but it was the influence and rule of man displacing the Spirit and thus bringing in confusion.
I was saying last time that my strong conviction is that the Spirit of God has been of late opening the eyes of saints here and there to the true state of things around, as the apostle was seeking to open [p. 331] the eyes of Timothy that he might have a true sense, according to God, of the state of things which the apostle speaks of as the great house. So that instead of glorying in the present condition of Christendom, as thousands of people do, we see that it is a scene of utter confusion before God, and there is certainly no ground for boasting. If people boast in the present state of Christendom it only shows that they are outside of the leading of the Spirit of God. But, again, I do urge there is no such thing as changing your ecclesiastical position; the point is, when your eyes are opened to the true state of things, to get free of anything that might stand between you and the Lord. It is an unvarying principle through scripture that to go on with the Lord you must have a good conscience, you will not otherwise get light from the Lord; therefore it is a necessity that you depart from unrighteousness, because unrighteousness must affect your conscience. “Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness”, and a great many things would come under that term. I do not want to be identified with anything that has that character, because it is incompatible with the name of the Lord. Then there is not only the question of principles but of persons. If you want to be a vessel here for the Master’s use you must purge yourself from vessels to dishonour. It is a question as to whether you are going on with man or with the Master. I was dwelling last time upon the important principle which comes out in chapter 2, that you are really recognising Christ as Lord and Master; if you call upon Him as Lord you depart from unrighteousness; and if you want to be a vessel for His use, as Master, then you must purge yourself from vessels to dishonour. Then you have the path marked out, that is, that having departed from what would affect your conscience, and freed [p. 332] yourself from vessels to dishonour, you follow “righteousness, faith, love and peace”, etc. Righteousness first, because sin is all around; and not only that, but also faith, that is to walk in time light of God’s will as He has been pleased to make that will known.
What I come to now is this: the resources which the servant has in order that he may carry on constructive work. It is all very well to get free from everything that is unsuitable to the Lord; that is a necessity, and so, too, to follow righteousness, faith, love and peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart; but the servant does not stop there, he comes now to constructive work. I do not mean the setting up or attempting to build up a church or ecclesiastical system; but what I mean by constructive work is the work of God in souls. The apostle brings before Timothy the resources which were at his disposal for that work. Timothy was a man peculiarly fitted for it, because he had been the constant companion of the apostle. “Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life”, etc. He had in that way had peculiar advantages. Now when you set to work on this line you will find that the first thing that meets you to baffle and upset you is imitation. This comes out in the beginning of the chapter, and it is a mode of opposition all through scripture, it is nothing new. What is referred to here is that when Moses stood before Pharaoh, Jannes and Jambres stood there too, and sought to counteract the influence of the word of God by imitation, and up to a certain point they succeeded. They said, in effect, we can do as well as Moses, and apparently they did so. I have no doubt that it was by working lying wonders; but it served to neutralise the influence of the word of God by Moses.
If I were to carry you through scripture you [p. 333] would find the same sort of thing repeated. If God raised up prophets, false prophets were raised up to neutralise the word of God by imitation, this was the special work of the enemy. Now when I come to our own time, when Christianity was brought in it had a great moral effect upon people, it introduced a light and morality which had its effect in every circle and relation of life; and then Satan changed his mode, and, as the apostle says, transformed himself into an angel of light. I believe it means that he took up what God had set aside, as for example the law, with the idea that by it he might produce a practice equal to the practice which flowed from Christianity; and in that way the truth would be neutralised, for it was virtually saying, we can produce practice as good as that which can be produced by the truth: it was an effort to discredit the truth in the eyes of man by imitation. That is what the apostle had to contend with. I go a point further. What do we see existing later on in imitation of the truth? Popery. I suppose Popery is one of the most remarkable and wonderful counterfeits of the truth. It is an imitation of the truth of the church by a mere outward objective system; and it is a curious fact that there is no system on earth which can claim to be an imitation of the church except Popery. Popery claims to be one body and universal. There is no other system that I know of which maintains that pretension.
Imitation has been an unvarying principle of evil from the time that evil came in. That is what the apostle warns Timothy of. It is very difficult to counteract imitation, for imitation confounds people; and when you bring forward the truth you have to deal with people who are not well instructed in the truth; and when a great many counterfeits exist it is exceedingly difficult to convince people [p. 334] where the truth is. It is one of Satan’s tactics to distract the attention of people and so to prevent them finding the truth; so that you must not be surprised when you meet that kind of work. What I want to show you is how it is to be met. Look at the chapter, verse 9 to end: “But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. [p. 340] All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works”.
To be perfect is not a small thing, and yet how needed in the present day. How is a man to be that? The apostle was bringing before Timothy the qualification for the moment. Paul’s doctrine was to be the great safeguard for Timothy. He had the great advantage of fully knowing Paul’s doctrine; and if you have not an intelligent sense of Paul’s doctrine you will not be able to meet the imitations. What I mean is, that you want to know the spirit of the thing, not simply to remember passages of scripture, or even epistles, but to see what the heart and pith of that doctrine is.
[p. 335] I think that there are two great points in Paul’s doctrine. One is, there is one body, and the other is, there is one new man; and I do not believe that any one of us will be effective to meet what is abroad if we do not apprehend these two things, that is on the one side the heavenly privilege of saints, and on the other side what the new man is which God has been pleased to introduce down here.
I may as well give you a passage of scripture which I think substantiates this. Look at Ephesians 2: 14 - 16. You will see in verse 15; He has abolished the enmity “for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace”. The other thought comes out in verse 16, “That he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross”. To put the passage in my own language, it is one body for God in the sense of heavenly privilege, and it is a new man where the old man was. It is on those two points that I will touch.
Paul’s ministry differed in a way from the ministry of the twelve. The twelve built the church in the first instance. It has often been remarked that when the church, the holy city, comes down from God out of heaven in the Revelation it has in the foundations the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; that does not include Paul, and, as has been observed, for the reason that while the twelve were building the church Paul was persecuting it. The church looked at in that sense is the seat and source of heavenly government in connection with the kingdom, and it is founded on the work of the twelve. They were the first to whom the Holy Ghost was given, they were the first to preach the gospel, and their preaching impressed the thought that those who suffered here for Christ would be glorified together with Him.
But you see that Paul comes in with something additional; and the heart of Paul’s teaching was [p. 336] this, that we being many are one body in Christ. He brings to light the wonderful truth of what had been formed here in the power of the Spirit; that is a body in which Christ is the firstborn among many brethren, who stand with Christ as His companions, who are quickened together with Christ. Paul brings that to light; it is the church of the firstborn which are written in heaven. He brings to light the eternal counsel of God, which was that Jew and Gentile should form one body in Christ.
Here we get what God has prepared for Himself for the satisfaction of His love, “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ ... and hath raised us up together and made us sit, together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus”. God has raised Christ up, but He was not content with that, He also raised up those who were to be the companions of Christ, for it was in the purpose of God’s love that Christ should not be there alone. Christ broke down the wall of partition “that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross”. Reconciliation means all distance removed; and as one body we are associated with Christ in heavenly blessing in the presence of the Father.
What a wonderful thought that we shall be companions of Christ in heaven. God is bringing many Sons unto glory. That is the highest aspect of the church. The greatest thing that can be is what God has prepared for Himself, that is, for the satisfaction of His love, that is what the church is. Why do you think God is bringing many sons to glory? For the satisfaction of His love. His love is so great that He will have objects in whom that love can be displayed. That is what the church is. He has to that end chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. It is a wonderful conception.
[p. 337] The Sanctifier and the sanctified are all of one, Christ is the Head of the body, He is the firstborn among many brethren, pre-eminent, for that is the idea of firstborn; He is the centre of that company.
Then there is another point, and that is, one new man. I do not think you will talk about one new man in connection with heaven, the fact is there is only one order of man in heaven. No, the idea in scripture is that the new supersedes the old, in the place where the old was; there would be no meaning in the term “new man” if there had been no “old man”. I believe the old was displaced for God when sin was condemned in the flesh in the cross of Christ. The Holy Ghost came down to make practically good in saints that which had been effected in the cross of Christ; and just as every one that has the Holy Ghost has part in the one body for God (though he may not know it), so I believe that every one that has the Holy Ghost has part in the new man. I am sure that the work of the Spirit is not to foster the old man in any sense, but to set aside the flesh in order that there may be place for the new man.
The new man is characteristically Christ, that is the only Man for God. Christ occupies the ground, but in order to do that He had to clear the ground of the old man; it went in the cross for God with the sin that predominated and governed it. I could not speak of Christ being personally the new man; but the new man is characteristically Christ. It is in all that is of God as seen in the saints down here created in Christ — righteousness, holiness and truth. God has brought in the new man where the old man was. You see every man here asserting himself, for there are as many wills as men; nevertheless God has brought in the new Man, and it is important to remember there is only one new Man, just as [p. 338] there is only one body. There are a great many Christians, but there is but one new Man. The point is that every saint should bear some trait, some feature of Christ; Christ comes out in the new man, there “is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all”.
How do you think it is effectuated? I believe that affection between saints in the power of the Holy Ghost sets aside the distinctions which existed in the flesh. What is the church worth without affection, what is a man worth without affection? He may have all the gifts that have come down from an exalted Christ, but without love he is nothing. We are too doctrinal. I do not believe that people are powerfully affected by doctrine, but by the light and knowledge of God, and our souls want to be nearer to God to know more of His love; we want to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.
Those two things are what I call the pith and heart of Paul’s doctrine — the one body and the new man. What affection should prevail between those created in Christ! That is what Christ died to effect. He died “to reconcile both unto God in one body”.
I will tell you another thing that Timothy was conscious of. He knew that Paul was up to the mark, not like Jannes and Jambres, an impostor or juggler. The apostle was according to his doctrine, not like a man trying to keep one leg in the world, or seeking to serve any selfish or interested ends: he was wholly given up to the work, and Timothy had seen that. Now Paul says, “Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of”, etc. It was virtually to say, you are the man now, you have a great responsibility put upon your shoulders, having had great opportunities. And we have incurred great responsibility from the [p. 339] fact of having an insight into Paul’s doctrine. It is not given to us that we should hide it under a bushel, we have to make it known and to use it for the service of the church of God; circumstances, to a certain extent, may narrow our sphere, but the heart of the Christian should be very large and take in the whole circle of the church of God. The apostle says to Timothy, your path is to continue in the things which thou hast learned, “knowing of whom thou hast learned them”.
To be able to trace what you know to its source is a great safeguard; if I know anything about the one body or the new man I can trace it to its inspired source. I know the source it came from, it came through Paul. I can trace the particular lines of truth which are presented to us in scripture to their sources. I can tell (if I am an intelligent Christian) what I have learned from Peter, from Paul, and from John, and I know thus the man who taught me. The best of us learned all he knew through man. When people take the ground that they never learned anything through man, I say then you know nothing, because if you knew anything you must have learnt it through some inspired instrument. We not only want to know a man’s doctrine, but his manner of life to commend that doctrine, and God has allowed that. He has enabled us to know something about Paul’s manner of life, and it has had a great effect upon us. Now the obligation is to continue in the things which “thou hast learned and been assured of”.
But another point claims attention, namely, that the special doctrine which is given to us through such an instrument as Paul is founded upon the basis of inspired writings, and hence the apostle reminds Timothy, “From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works”. It is not some new thing coming in and contravening what had existed before, for if it is of God it could only have the effect of substantiating all that which went before.
I believe that such is the case with Christ and the church. It substantiates every part, and in a sense binds together all the divine revelation. It shows us what God had in His mind from the very outset, and makes clear many a point which otherwise in the Old Testament might have been obscure. For instance, all that took place with regard to Adam and Eve had in view Christ and the church. I find in the New Testament that Christ is the spirit of the scriptures, and when I go through the Old Testament I read Christ everywhere. It is not then a mass of dry detail or of mere history, but in every part Christ is the spirit of it.
It is a most wonderful book! It has one author and one subject, and is so intimately connected with God Himself that you cannot separate scripture from the idea of God. Christ is the subject, and the Spirit is the author. And if you want an intelligent understanding of the scriptures you must know the apostle Paul’s doctrine; and the two cardinal points are, as I have said, the one body and the new man. That is the resource which Timothy had; and in the next chapter he is pressed to make use of it. The apostle puts this responsibility upon him, and charges him “before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom”. There was no escape from it, he knew the truth and he was bound to set forth the truth. The apostle was passing off the scene, and Timothy was to preach the word, to be instant in [p. 341] season, out of season, and so on. It was not likely to be an easy time for him, he was to stand for the truth. It is no light responsibility to have the truth, for if you claim to have the truth you are bound to make it manifest that you have the truth. It is only by making evident that we have the truth that we can expose the imitations. No imitators have the truth in the spirit of it; they may have the terms and even the doctrine, but they have not the marrow and vitality of it, and in this way they will be exposed.
Chapter 3 is a serious one, and so is the fourth; the second is preparatory, showing how you are to be with the Lord and at His disposal; the third shows how the servant is furnished for this constructive work, and how God intends him to do it. I think we want not simply to know the truth, we want to be ardent about it, so that we make it evident that we really have it. If that is the case we shall exercise an influence far greater than you can suppose. What I have seen in this epistle is the extraordinary use which God can make of one man, if he be a man of faith, and the truth is the one thing that governs his heart. Everything must be given up to it, it must be a man’s life. I do not think a man is a fit vessel for the Lord until that be the case. A man may have to work with his hands in order to support his family; but he must be wholly for the Lord in a day of evil, for a half-hearted man will not do. You want a man who is prepared to sacrifice all here in order that he may be close to the Lord; then I think the truth will be paramount, and what is more, we shall be ardent to make it manifest, not satisfied simply with knowing it.