THE LORD AS WRITER

A.C.Craig

John 8: 1-11; 2 Corinthians 3: 1-3, 11-18; Revelation 3: 12-13

These scriptures present the Lord Jesus as a writer. He is also the great speaker and all that He says will come to pass. The heavens and earth shall pass away, but not "My words". He is the great speaker but He is a writer and I want to bring out something as to what that might mean, alongside of His being the great speaker. He is the great writer. I think the intention is that we might understand that the result will be indelible and permanent, and what the Spirit would mean by drawing attention to Him as the writer.

It is unique in a way that He should be so presented in this activity. I read this first scripture to bring that out. This case has often been referred to. There is not any question about the guilt, and these opposers, seen in the Pharisees, believed that they had a good case and that they would find a way out and they would have Him say something against Moses and find fault against Him. But they did not reckon of Whom they were having to do with. Twice He stooped down; twice He wrote on the ground; twice He lifted Himself up. All these things should leave an indelible impression on us. They did not reckon on Him stooping down: they thought they had Him cornered. They thought they had Him straight against Moses and there was no way out for Him. They did not reckon on Him stooping down and all that that means.

You think of Him, who He is, presented in this gospel, the blessed Son of God, coming into the world. I suppose it has often been said, the stoops are into manhood and into death. That is quite true, but you think of Him coming into manhood, what that would mean; that they did not accept. When you think of all that was represented in Christ, there in manhood, everything for God was in Him. He was the point of reference for the whole universe, nothing outside of Christ. That was the first stoop which they did not understand and they would not accept Him. It was the first stoop that put them all out; not the second stoop, not that, the second stoop retains the woman. The first stoop put them all out putting Himself up He said to her, "Woman where are thine accusers?" They had all gone. As coming into manhood you think of who was there; the blessed Person of the Son of God. Not only that, all were eliminated, every other man from the eldest to the last, what an elimination. Mr Darby said they went from the eldest, who had the most to lose. The point is that they all went out. Christ coming into manhood is God's answer to everything and virtually, as I said, the removal of every other man. But He stooped down. That was the answer, which they did not expect Him to do; come into manhood. He writes with His finger on the ground. That finger had written something before. That finger had written "Thou shalt not commit adultery". He is not writing that now. That was written, graven on stone; the same finger, the same Person had written it. Now he is writing again, He has come into manhood and He is not writing the ten words; He is writing something else. Coming into manhood, He is not only the eliminator of every other man, but He is God's answer for every other man. Oh what a stoop it was in manhood. What might He be writing? It might be something like this: ''the law was given by Moses, grace and truth subsists through Jesus Christ". They put up Moses against Him. Ah, but He would say, I will come in now on the line of grace and truth. What a wonderful thing. When God wrote the two tables graven on stone, they were not written only on the surface, the writing was engraved in. That is what God is after, an indelible permanent result. You will not find it by the law; that was proved. Nevertheless it was graven in stone. What a writer He is. What distinction He has. Think of Moses coming down with two tables of stone and finding the golden calf there. There was nowhere to put the tables. He could not bring them into the camp, they were not in a state to have them. In Deuteronomy 10 there is a very distinctive thought in the two comings-down of Moses. God says to him, when he had broken the first tables, Hew for thyself two other tables and I will write upon them; the ten words as before, but before you do that, make an ark of wood; a glorious divine Person, God over all blessed forever. In this chapter we have an ark of wood. He said to the opposers further on in the chapter, "a man who has told you the truth"; that was the ark of wood. Moses came down the mountain the second time and put the two tables of stone into the ark of wood. There they were - in John 8, a man that has told you the truth. It impressed me, that before he went up the second time and came down, the ark of wood was there; that is unique. In the history of it, he had to go up the second time and it was the second time that God wrote on the two tables which he took up; then he comes down, then the ark is made and all the furniture is made; the light had come out about it, but the articles had not been constructed. That is historically, but in Deuteronomy he goes up the second time leaving the ark of wood here so that when he comes down the second time, there is a place to put the tables. That is the incarnation. All was resident there in Jesus as coming into manhood: "Thy law is within my heart". But when they continued asking Him, He lifted himself up, notice that, lifted himself up. I would love to have been there. Think of the dignity of that, the majesty of it, the compelling power of it, stooping down and lifting Himself up, no-one assisting him, think of the grandeur of it. He said "Let him that is without sin first cast the stone at her". That is what they would have done, the message they would have conveyed. It says "And again stooping down He wrote on the ground". What might this writing be? It might have been something like this; Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. The woman is included. The second stoop retains the woman. It is the second stoop that retains us in the divine presence, the second stoop into death. Notice it does not say, writing with his finger. A remarkable fact, both in Exodus and Deuteronomy, when the record is being given, as to the two writings, the first says it was written by the finger of God, as here, an exact correspondence between Exodus, Deuteronomy, and here - "He wrote on the ground". It is a question of Christ going into death and all that that means. It is not only a question of His finger. He is coming into manhood and going into death; not only His finger, but the blessed glorious Person Himself and all that that means, going into death and that is what retains the woman. And lifting Himself up the second time- two stoops, two writings, two lifting Himself up. That is divine testimony. We are in the realm of what is great. This chapter is what is great. Lifting Himself up, seeing the woman He said "where are those thine accusers, has no one condemned thee? and she said, No one Sir. He said neither do I condemn thee". Think of that beloved brethren, think of the grace of it. As I said, this second lifting Himself up retains the woman. Retains her for what? What has she been retained for? You do not get any more than that, "neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more". That might not be much, but it is something, she is retained. She is retained for taking on the glory of the new covenant. He will write again. For the moment she is retained that she might go on to glory. That is why I read in 2 Corinthians 3.

The Corinthians were Christ's epistle. There they were in the first epistle, not much maybe, but do not forget "neither do I condemn thee go and sin no more". In the second epistle, Paul presents the Lord Jesus as writing, writing an epistle and the Corinthians were Christ's epistle. Not with ink but the Spirit of the living God. Think of that, what the saints are as coming under the skilful, deliberate, determinate hand of Christ, in bringing about a permanent, indelible result; something that will last, because the elements of the new covenant will go right into eternity. It may have a present practical bearing on our spirits, our dispositions, the glory of the new covenant, but the elements of it will go into eternity. Think of the wonder of it. The Lord Jesus will continue this attitude that He has taken up of writing, of putting things down, and the Corinthians were that. They made a good start in the second epistle, they had answered to Paul exercising them about the man who had been dealt with. They had been exhorted by him to show him grace, lest he might be swallowed up by over much sorrow, to get something working amongst them in regard to the disposition of God, get some of the divine feelings working lest he be swallowed up with over much sorrow and assure him of your love. What God would have in any place, no hard spirit, none of that carried forward, all has been eliminated in the Lord stooping into death, but rather that there might be the exhibition of what is proper to the divine disposition, lest he be swallowed up by over much sorrow, assure him of your love. What kind of reception should there be with us, what feelings. The chapter goes on, as I read, to the shining of the glory. Moses is depicted as coming down the second time. 2 Corinthians 3 is not Moses coming down the first time. It is the second time with his face shining, not aware of it, no doubt. He had to put a veil on subsequently, for it is that that the apostle is referring to. After speaking about their being Christ's epistle, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God on the fleshy tables of the heart. You think of that woman's heart in John 8, think how soft it would be and you think of how ready it would be to take on the divine writing. And, dear brethren, if we maintain a hard legal spirit, there would be no material for the Lord to write on, but stimulating amongst them this kind of thing, of divine feelings. There would be the capacity to take on the writing and to take on the glory, the glory of the new covenant, Moses coming down with his face shining. Really Paul is using that in this chapter, the second coming down. But he is not using it as a pattern, he is using it as a contrast because he brings out what the new covenant really is, surpassing what marked Moses when he came down the second time. Even there it was a ministry of condemnation, but that writing on the ground "The law was given by Moses, grace and truth subsist by Jesus Christ", "Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world", changed the whole thing. Paul is using Moses as a contrast to the superiority of the glory of the new covenant, that where righteousness was demanded, righteousness is now ministered. Think of the blessed God, the goodness and greatness of His heart. He ministered righteousness, does not demand it. That is the new covenant, that is the surpassing glory. We are intended to take that on. How wonderful it is, the Lord is writing, all in view of us taking on the glory of the new covenant. The glory of the glad tidings in chapter 4, the glory of reconciliation and new creation in chapter 5.

That is what I want to speak about now, the glory of the new covenant and the glory of new creation. That is what He is writing on the overcomer in Philadelphia. He is still writing. It is not now the glory of the new covenant, but beyond that. He is writing the great thoughts of God, the great eternal thoughts of God. He is writing them on the overcomer at Philadelphia. You say, what had he to overcome, everything is so fine at Philadelphia? (It is not you know!) There is this - see that no one take thy crown. The Philadelphian overcomers were in danger that someone might take their crown and Christendom is set to seizing our crown, it will take away our best; take away all those last years of wonderful ministry regarding the truth of Christ and the assembly and the worship of God, all these great matters. That is our crown and we are in danger of losing it. So He says "I will write upon him". I wish that I and you were more available under the hand of this blessed Writer, that something might be written on us and I hope that he uses this meeting to impress us indelibly, permanently, with something as to His own activities in these latter times. "Make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more at all out and I will write upon him the name of my God" and so on. These are God's great thoughts, God's eternal thoughts, because it says, I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem. That term, “the new Jerusalem" is not the millennial Jerusalem. That is not the city coming into view in the millennium; that is the city coming down as a bride adorned for her husband. That belongs to the scene of eternity. These are God's best thoughts, God's great original thoughts, the glory of new creation. That will never need reconciliation, it did not need redeeming, did not need reconciling; they belong to God's purpose, God's great thoughts that have been written on the overcomer of Philadelphia. We come into that, dear brethren, and give ourselves to Christ, the divine writer in the unique position, bringing about according to His mind something permanent, something indelible. These great eternal thoughts." I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God". Wherever did she learn that, w ere had she learned - the coming down, every time she is presented in this book - three times - she is presented as coming down where did she learn that? She learned that in John, she learned that from that blessed One stooping down. What a wonderful thing, coming down out of heaven. Where has the assembly learned to come down? She learned it from Christ. He will leave that impression upon us, dear brethren, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from my God and My new name. I do not know that anyone could tell you much about that, except the one who has it written on them, the overcomer of Philadelphia. But the Lord is writing. You can be sure He has not given us up and we all should aim at having something written on us by this divine writer, something of these eternal thoughts. Firstly, the glory of the new covenant and the glory of new creation. We should know something about these things as coming under the hand of Christ. Tomorrow morning we will profess to come under His hand, will say all the right things - I am not saying aught against that, but what reality is there, what am I absorbing, what am I taking in as the blessed Son of God comes in amongst us and carrying on His great finishing work, the great work of beautifying the saints to be suitable to Himself. It is by way of the new covenant and by the glory of new creation.

May there be something in these words He might use for our encouragement, for His Name's sake.

BARNET (all day)

13 January 1996