THE BANDS OF A MAN
W. Dickson
This is one of the most touching allusions to Moses in the Scriptures. It gives us a light on his character which other scriptures do not present. When he left the presence of Pharaoh he went out in a glowing anger. When he saw the idolatry of the people, in deep anger he made them drink the very idolatrous thing they had erected (Exodus 32: 20). Here we have a side of his life which also made him lovable to God because it brings out in a remarkable way the features of the Lord Jesus. I wonder whether you know that Man. Do you know the Man Jesus? Our hymn said—
‘Now He lives a Man in heaven,
Glory-crowned at God’s right hand’ (Hymn 46)
Do you know the Man in the glory? Do you know the Man we have been speaking about these days? Has He ever touched your heart? Have you ever known the drawing power of Christ, drawing you out of Egypt, drawing you out of the world?—drawing you out, not through fear of judgment, but in the attractiveness of His love. Are there any here as Hosea speaks of them in chapter 10, “Israel is an unpruned vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself”? Is that the way your life has been spent? We have been speaking of fruit for God.
Israel was only bringing forth fruit for himself. And as he brought forth it only led him into idolatry, and he forgot God. But tonight God in His grace draws you with the bands of a Man.
Has everyone here faced the matter of their sins and their distance from God? Do you say, ‘It is a matter I cannot face—it is too burdensome for me to face it’? Our blessed Saviour faced it for you on the cross. Will you not let Him encircle you with the bands of grace and tenderness and give you to face that matter in repentance? Face it in the presence of that Man in His tenderness, rather than face it in the presence of a holy God in judgment—too late! O, young people, do not forget the importance of a personal transaction with Christ. If you bring forth fruit to yourself it only leads to sorrow. We referred today to Luke 15. There was a young man there who was an unpruned vine. He went into the far country and he brought forth fruit to himself. Oh what fruit it was! Oh how it brought him to the point of repentance, the misery of it all, a life away from God, without hope, without Christ.
Oh let us tell you about the attractiveness of Christ. The gospel is not to force you into things, the gospel is to draw you by the attractiveness of that Man who in His pathway here manifested the tenderness of His heart. See Him in Luke 7 as He drew that woman with the bands of a Man, with the cords of love. Oh, she was an unpruned vine! What fruit she had brought forth to herself! Then the woman in John 4. We see the bands of a Man, the cords of love, as He drew her to Himself. What tenderness she must have experienced. She would say to herself, ‘This man is different from any I have ever met before’. She had tasted the bitterness of human experience. She had multiplied things to herself, but that day that Man met her and He said to her, “If thou knewest the gift of God”. What a tender approach! He might have said, ‘Look at your history. It is shocking!’ He did not say that to her. No, He drew her with the cords of a Man. And He is still the same Jesus. He is there in glory. Do you know the Man in the glory? Do you wait for Him every day? Do you speak to Him every day? Can you say, like dear George Cutting, ‘He’s all my delight’? Whether it be morning, noon, or night, do you think of the Man in the glory?
Oh the wondrous grace of God, that salvation came by a Man. The old preacher used to say, ‘I used to go out and feed the birds and when I got near the birds they all flew away. It reminded me of the gospel: to get the confidence of the birds, I would have to be a bird’. To get near to men, God became a Man in the Person of Jesus. Perhaps other cords have bound you. There was a young man in the gospels and it was said no one could bind him, he was so violent. He was Satan’s property. He broke every band. All the restrictions that were placed upon him, he burst them, until that Man met him.
‘And round my heart still closely twine
Those ties which nought can sever;
For I am His and He is mine
For ever and for ever’. (Hymn 187)
In verse 4 it says, “I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws”. Has anybody had a yoke on their jaws? That is a reference back to those years they spent in Egypt making bricks without straw, crying to God about the hard bondage. Young people, do you think the world is a nice place? Do you not know that all the glitter only covers an empty shell? And there is a yoke on your jaws. The Bible does not mean anything to you? The meetings do not mean anything to you? Something keeps your mouth closed? Then there is a yoke on your jaws! The day God took the yoke off their jaws He showed them the manna lying on the face of the wilderness. Do you like the manna? Have you ever tasted it? Does Christ mean everything to you? Do you say, ‘If I did not start the day with Christ, the day would not be quite the same to me’? What a day that was when he took the yoke off their jaws!
Can I bring it nearer? Did all you young people break bread this morning? Did everybody partake of the emblems? God will help you. He will gently—think of that word “gently”—cause you to eat. He says to you tonight, ‘If you accept the Lord Jesus as your Saviour and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and you are free from everything that dishonours the name of Christ, I will gently cause you to eat’. The Lord’s request to His own was to remember Himself. In one sense it is a commandment, but He draws you with the bands of a Man, with cords of love. Why did we come here this morning? Because we were drawn by the love of Christ. He is to us the altogether lovely One. Oh the tenderness of the heart of Christ—what a Man He is, and will be eternally! Our link with God will be that Man eternally.
Our justification in the presence of God is that Man. You say, ‘I once accepted the gospel but I have got dulled in my soul’. You wonder if you were really saved. How good to look up to see the Man who is my justification in the presence of God. He never changes. We change, but He never changes. Oh the glory of the Man on high, and He would hold your heart.
Beloved young people, are there any here who have not been encircled with the cords of love? Sorrows come into human life. Disasters come into human life. I met a woman once who had had a terrible calamity in her life. She said, If there is a God, why did He allow it to happen? But a believer in the presence of the greatest calamity can be aware of the cords of love, the great High Priest who sustains in every trial, sustains in every difficulty. The poor sinner has no link with Christ. He has nothing to hold him. I would assure you that the attitude of God towards you is forgiveness in grace, on the basis of repentance. He is not condemning you. While we would warn you of judgment. God is appealing to you in the glad tidings by the bands of a Man.
If you accept Him tonight, He will give you a joy you have never had before. Day by day as you speak to Him you will prove His strength and power—His ability to keep you from these things of the world that have had such a place in your heart. May you all tonight, every one of you, have had a touch from the heart that beats in heaven. That Man would draw you tonight out of that pathway, out of Egypt, where your jaws are bound, so that you can partake of the most precious things—the manna, and the old corn of the land, and drink the water from the rock. Oh think of the fruits of the tree of life of which we sang (Hymn 50). How far better than the husks that the swine eat is that heavenly food, when God takes that yoke off your jaws and gently causes you to eat. May it be so, for His name’s sake.
Amen.
Preaching at Endbach
25 May 1980