(ii) James Webster

Philippians 2: 25-30; Deuteronomy 34: 1,5,6; Haggai 1: 7; 2: 3-9

I have in mind to say a short word on these scriptures for our comfort and encouragement. Our brother does not need any comfort now. He is beyond the sphere of responsibility where comfort and support are needed. He has needed it in the past; but we are still here and there are those left behind who need comfort and support and encouragement. We are in the sphere where things are against the Christian: in this world they are against the believer. The current of things is not really favourable to the Christian and the believer needs comfort and support and the help of one another. That is what the Lord Jesus said to His disciples. There is a wonderful testimony to those who do not know God in persons who love one another going on with God Himself. Today, we are feeling the sorrow.

I read this section because it brings out Paul's feelings for Epaphroditus. God had mercy on him at this point: He did not take this beloved man. He left him. Paul says, ''that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow", v.27. I thought it brought out the feelings of Paul in relation to a beloved brother. That is what our feelings for one another should be, feelings for one another that when one goes, he is missed. And this dear brother here, our brother Peter, will certainly be missed. We have been reminded in prayer of his service, and I thought about Isaiah. The word came to Isaiah: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said, Here am I; send me", Isaiah 6: 8. I think that was our brother, always available. If you wanted somebody for the preaching, he was there; he was ready. If you wanted somebody for a word at a burial meeting, he was available; or a marriage meeting, he was available. And he will certainly be missed. So Paul says here, "that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow". These things are real. We do not mourn as those who have no hope, but there is certainly sorrow connected with such an occasion as this.

In the scripture in Deuteronomy it was Moses, the man of God, one of the few persons in scripture spoken about in this way: man of God. God took him up. There is a goodly company of persons here but there were not many at this burial at the end of Deuteronomy, in fact, as far as we can see, just God Himself. God buried him there. God took him up and gave him a view of this land. It speaks of the heavenly land. I wonder if we all have a view of it. God took Moses up to the top of Pisgah and gave him a view. It is a point from which you can get a view backwards, look over the history of the way. What a history our brother has had, a long history! I understand that he came into fellowship when he was fourteen, nearly seventy years in testimony with God: very like Moses in that respect. What a man Moses was! And God took him up to the top of this mountain. It says, "And Jehovah shewed him the whole land...", v 1. Would you not like God to shew you something? I think our brother had a view of it: he had it in his heart. You cannot go this way, against the current of things in this world, unless you have a view of this heavenly land. It is heaven, it is where Jesus is. Paul says in Colossians, "If therefore ye have been raised with the Christ, seek the things which are above, where the Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God", chap. 3: 1. God took Moses up here and it says He shewed him the whole land. And then it says, "And Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Moab...", v 5. The time comes when the responsible history is finished. The wise man tells us, there is "a time to be born, and a time to die", Eccles 3: 1. Nothing happens by accident in the divine calendar and for our brother the time has come to die. And so it says, "And Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Jehovah '. And he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-Peor; and no man knows his sepulchre this day", v 5 ,6.

I touch this scripture in Haggai because it is a word to us who remain. It says, "Consider your ways", chap 1: 5. I take it to myself. I am not putting this on anyone else. I take it to myself. I think it is a time for walking in humility. We were reading in our local reading the other day - and our brother was there and my father, both men who were over eighty - about Caleb who says, "I am this day eighty-five years old", Josh 14: 10. We thought it was a fine meeting there for the over eighties. We did not realise that maybe our brother had so little time left. And Caleb says, "If so be Jehovah shall be with me, then I shall dispossess them...", v 12. It is not a time for assuming too much; it is a time for walking in humility as these men have done before, yet seeking in earnestness to have some sense of the presence of God. And so it says here, Consider your ways". Then he goes on to say where I read, "Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory?" These old men have seen things in the testimony, and it has been a long testimony. There have been the ups and the downs, times when things were, you might say, in their glory, and times when, you might say, it is a "day of small things". We would encourage all of us to hold on to these precious things which belong to God. However broken the day, God is going to do things Himself. He has done this: He has put our brother to sleep. Things go on and on and we think they are going on for ever, but the time comes hen God comes in and He acts Himself. And that is what He is going to do. He says here, “for I am with you, saith Jehovah of hosts", chap 2: 4. We are to be going on with the building. These are to be going on. The return of the Lord Jesus is not far distant. It may not be long. It may be shorter even than we think. But God is going to finalise things Himself. He is going to head up things in the Christ. God is going to do things. He has the initiative. We look around this world. He says here, "... and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land...", v 6. Think of the instability that marks this world, politically, economically: it is all unstable; there is no foundation to it. And God says, I am going to shake them. What is your hope on, dear friend? What is my hope on? You need to have your hope on something that is solid and that is sure and that is the Lord Jesus, the One of whom we sing sometimes as the "Rock of Ages".

And so it says here, "and I will fill this house with glory...", v 7. God is going to bring in a whole universe of glory. God is going to do that in a day to come and He would encourage us, everyone here, to be working at these things. There are things that are worth going in for. We have to do things; we have to do our work - and we should be diligent in these things - but we do not want to overlook the things which Paul says are unseen but eternal. There are things that are important in life, things that are not going to end with death, and I think God would encourage us Himself. What a God He is! "And work", He says, "and work", v 4. Well, however small the day may be, there is something for everyone of us to do. I think our brother has left an example. I would encourage our young people especially, but all of us, that we fill up the gaps. There is much to be done positively in the way of helping and encouraging one another and working at these things, that there might be something for the pleasure and satisfaction of God Himself. I would encourage us all on this line, everyone of us, young and old, for His Name's sake.