FORMATION IN LOVE
A. P. Devenish
1 Corinthians 8: 2, 3; Genesis 18: 1–8, 16–19; 26: 17–19, 32, 33
The wonderful truth that God is love is known by us. We speak often of the divine nature being love, and of the need of being formed in the divine nature. God remains in one sense in inscrutability; it says, “Who only has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light—whom no man has seen, nor is able to see; to whom be honour and eternal might. Amen”, 1 Timothy 6: 16. So what we know of God is what has come into expression in Christ. It says, “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father), full of grace and truth” (John 1: 14), and John goes on to say,
“No one has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”, (John 1: 18). So we might say that what we know of God has been declared, has been shown, manifested in Christ—a wonderful manifestation. We might observe some of God’s attributes, His power. As you see a thunderstorm you think of the power of God; an earthquake shows what God can do; it far exceeds any power that man has been able to release.
Peter speaks of becoming partakers of the divine nature; he speaks of the greatest and precious promises through which we become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1: 4).
So one is concerned as we speak as to whether we are formed in love, whether there is a mature expression of the divine nature in each of us, holy love, love characterized by holiness, lovers of God. We can begin with the thought of being lovers of God, “if any one love God, he is known of him”. This would raise an exercise with us as to whether we love God. In one sense God knows everything, knows every one; He knows every one; in another sense, as this scripture speaks of it, all others are excluded—“if any one love God, he is known of him”.
So I read about Abraham because there is the evidence that he was a lover of God. Being known of Him is objective, objective knowledge, as we know, meaning that it is not exactly what we say, it is that we give evidence that we love God. It says, “If any one say, I love God, and hate his brother, he is a liar”, 1 John 4: 20. So it is not exactly what we say; we may say we love God, but what comes out in Abraham is the evidence that he loved God. It is a wonderful thing to think of God taking account of us, and He is looking for the evidence that we love Him, that we have grown spiritually in the divine nature. So we find with Abraham the prominence of obedience, and immediate obedience. In Genesis 17, in relation to the circumcision, Abraham was immediately obedient, and that is the proof of his love. The Lord Jesus said, “He that has my commandments and keeps them; he it is that loves me”, John 14: 21. Obedience is the evidence of love for God, love for the Lord Jesus. It is not exactly because of obligation, although that would be involved, it is because we love that we are obedient. The Lord Jesus set it out in perfection in His pathway here, “I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go free”, Exodus 21: 5.
So we have this wonderful chapter in which Abraham typically entertains divine Persons.
What are you looking out for? He was looking out from his tent in the heat of the day. He was not having an afternoon siesta was he? He was looking out from his tent expectantly and he received a divine visitation—and how well he entertains divine Persons typically. How wonderful is the provisional setting of the service of God at the present time. Dear brethren, I would like to speak about that. Jehovah is on the way to judgment in this chapter, on the way to the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, as He is on the way to judgment in relation to this world. We have part, we might say, in the provisional setting of the service of God; we have the opportunity of entertaining affectionately divine Persons, not with anything that is substandard or that is less than the very best quality. It is very interesting how Abraham, you might say, is in liberty in the presence of such persons; he desires quickly to answer to their desires. He says, “I will fetch a morsel of bread”, that was his estimate of what he was about to bring.
Sometimes our valuation exceeds what we really have. ‘Oh, that was a fine thanksgiving’, but what was really there that was pleasurable to God? So he says, “I will fetch a morsel of bread”; but then when he goes he says, “Knead quickly three seahs of wheaten flour, and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf tender and good, and gave it to the attendant; and he hasted to dress it. And he took thick and sweet milk, and the calf that he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood before them under the tree, and they ate”. His estimate was a morsel of bread; think of what the divine estimate was! We might say, typically, how much God enjoyed what Abraham brought. Well, are we lovers of God? Have we been formed in the divine nature? So God says, ‘I know Abraham’. “If any one love God, he is known of him”. And he became God’s confidant; God was able to open up
His heart to Abraham. Well, I would like to be such a person; would you?—not just looking out expectantly for a good sale, not thinking about ourselves. Scripture speaks about being lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. It marks the last times and, alas, perhaps characterises some of us, lovers of self—your whole life may circle around you; my whole life may circle around me.
What is prominent in Abraham’s history are the altars that he built. The measure of a man is his altar. Sacrificially, he has devoted his life to God. What characterises Abraham are the altars that he built; what characterises Isaac are the wells; what characterises Jacob, perhaps, is the discipline through which he passed. It is an exercise as to whether we have built an altar and whether our lives are devoted, on the principle of sacrifice, to God. I would ask you that. It is wonderful to see the brethren come to these meetings on the principle of sacrifice, giving up their time because they love God, they love the company of the saints, they love the truth. It is a wonderful thing that we are not in Christianity exactly as doing our duty; not that the principle of obligation does not enter into the fellowship, it does indeed; but we are here because we love God, because we are formed in the divine nature. When you think about Abraham’s history, although he failed at times yet he is characteristically the heavenly man; it is Christ, of course typically, but then too what is heavenly in character comes into expression in the way that he sacrificially devotes his life to God and the pleasure of God.
“Lovers of self”—think of being a lover of self, circling everything, your life, your home, your children, your business, around yourself. How poor we become spiritually! Then “lovers of money”—Paul says, “The love of money is the root of every evil” (1 Timothy 6: 10)—every evil. It leads to power and pride and these things are hateful to God. It is a meek and quiet spirit which in the sight of God is of great price (1 Peter 3: 4). That is, of course, speaking about the sisters, but should characterise each one of us.
I wish to speak now for a moment about Isaac. With him we see the love of the truth. This is a great concern that I think we need to carry, that the wells that have been stopped by the Philistines we dig again. There has been a wonderful development of the truth in our day; many of us can remember beloved Mr. James Taylor, some perhaps spent much time with him. Think of the wells that were dug—the truth of the assembly, precious truth that we have been occupied with today; the truth of the service of God under the guiding hand of the Minister of the sanctuary, the opening up of the service of God; the gospel linked with the house; salvation in the assembly; the maintenance of the truth of baptism in relation to our homes, and what is in, and what comes out of, our homes (Leviticus 23: 15–22). Think of the wells that have been dug by the beloved servants that have gone before, and the enemy’s effort has been to corrupt and fill them in with earth. Isaac’s exercise was to re-dig the wells that his father Abraham had dug. Is that your exercise? Is that our exercise in our local settings that these precious truths may be realities amongst us in the way of experience and enjoyment? Beloved Mr. Ernest Pitman in Toronto, the brethren will remember him, was one of the fathers that dug wells in Toronto and in Ontario and helped the brethren get free of worldliness and earthliness. What has happened to those wells? Have we in exercise and self-judgment sought to bring into expression in ourselves the experience and the enjoyment of the truth? That is what I think this means. So it becomes attractive for all the brethren to come into; you become a springing well in your locality.
I fear that the enemy has been very busy, very, very successful in many parts in diluting the truth, making it palatable to us naturally. You know, we like the meetings, but we like many other things too and we would not want the meetings to interfere with our pleasures. I suppose Abimelech, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol the captain of his host, thought that Isaac would be intimidated and would give way, but it says, “Isaac sent them away”. I think particularly we need to be on our guard against “his friend”; that is the social element that would take away from the heavenly character of the truth in its expression among the brethren—the social element, “his friend”. Why did he bring his friend? ‘My friend’; I have got friends in the fellowship. I am not talking about John’s reference, “Greet the friends by name” (3 John 14), I am speaking about special friendships that are inimical to the truth of the assembly and to the fellowship and that dull the heavenly colour, the heavenly quality, the heavenly character of the testimony in our localities. The social element means that persons are drawn together because of social and natural and national affinities and the result is that the truth of the assembly that has been recovered to us is lost in its practical expression.
But it is interesting that when Isaac sends them away another spring is found. His servants came to him and told him concerning the well that they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water”. You will not be disappointed if you turn away from these things that damage the fellowship and greatly affect the heavenly quality and character of the testimony; another spring comes to light and it is called Shebah or Beersheba, alluding to the faithfulness of God. Think of New York, think of Plainfield, Toronto, Edmonton, it says, “therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day”. I think in a sense our cities are characterised by the overcomer; heaven regards our cities as characterised by the overcomers. A spring involves energy to overcome. Mary of Bethany would be in a sense the overcomer in Bethany, it is almost as if that village was given credit for her presence and what she was in her devotion to Christ. That is a wonderful thing to think about, that heaven credits the local setting with the character of the overcomers in it. But then would we not all like to be overcomers? It would be a springing well, that which would get the victory over the tendency, like the pull of gravity, to reduce the level of the relationships of the saints together. Let us get the victory, so that our links are on spiritual and heavenly lines and thus this becomes attractive to us.
So I am not influenced specially by this person or that person. What a sobering exercise! John leaned on the breast of Jesus. He was in His bosom, which involves the receptiveness of the Lord’s affection, but he leaned on His breast, meaning that he got his strength for the maintenance of the truth and the testimony from Christ Himself. You are not leaning on the brethren. You get these politicians going through these States now and they are looking for support from here and they are looking for support from there, and they are catering to this one and catering to that one, compromising here and compromising there. But a believer does not have to do that. Lean on the breast of Christ, the rigidity and strength that is in the breast of Christ, and then we can maintain what is due to Him in our localities. His bosom is very attractive; John was in His bosom but he was on His breast and Peter beckons to him and he says, “Lord, who is it?”
Peter would understand that John derived his understanding and answers from Christ, because he was near to Christ. It is not because Mr. So-and-so said such and such, not because a special friend was of some particular influence, or ‘if I do this I will lose his friendship’; John leaned on the breast of Christ. Beloved brethren, let us know something about that, leaning on the breast of Jesus. Do not be political. It has been one of the most sorrowful things in the history of the testimony, playing politics among the brethren. I believe the Lord would direct us to find communion and intimacy with Himself as leaning on His breast, as being in His bosom.
I just want to speak for a moment about Jacob. We did not read about him because of lack of time. A very interesting man is Jacob. He had a lot of discipline—not just one wife; he had two. My father said one time, ‘You can choose your own discipline; you can marry whom you will, only in the Lord’. And this poor man had two. Then, of course, he had much else in the way of discipline. But what he becomes morally is what I want to speak about; he worships leaning on the top of his staff. Beloved Mr Taylor said that worship was the outgoing of our intelligent affections to God. That is a wonderful description of worship, the outgoing of our intelligent affections to God. And Jacob learned this through discipline. And you find in the varied circumstances through which he passed that he grew morally, grew great morally, grew great in the divine nature. He came to it that “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8: 28); that is what he came to. In Genesis 42 he says, “All these things are against me”; ‘Joseph is not, and now you want to take Benjamin’. He says, “All these things are against me”. But he comes to it that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to purpose. Well, you say, that is a difficult decision to make to move back. “All things work together for good to those who love God”. We may experience loss, financial loss; we may experience disappointment in relation to things here; things may seem to be against us; everything might seem to be against us, but God has your blessing in His heart.
It is a wonderful thing that God has your blessing in His heart and He wants you to come to it that all these things that you may have complained about you are now thankful for because they have brought you to God. Your experiences, Jacob stresses the thought of experience, have brought you to God. One person he loved was Joseph. When Joseph was born he says, Send me away. He says to Laban, Send me away to my own land, to my own country (Genesis 30: 25). A little apprehension of Christ comes into your soul and you want to have a place in your own land, in your own country. Oh, you say, I have made a place for myself here, I am a very important person; I have a plaque on my office door, ‘Sales Manager’, ‘Vice-President’, ‘Secretary-Treasurer’, a very important person. When the light of Joseph came into Jacob’s soul, just a small impression, he says, Send me away to my own country, my own land. Oh, that a little impression might come into your soul today as to the loveliness of Jesus. Oh, that I could speak about Him in such a way that you could not help but follow Him. He said to a few fishermen, “Come after me”, and straightway they left their nets and followed Jesus. Oh, the attractiveness and loveliness of Jesus! Just a little impression coming into your soul would change your life and you no longer will be a lover of self, a lover of money, a lover of pleasure; you will become a lover of God, God manifest in Jesus.
It says too of Jacob that he loved Rachel. I know that the teaching is that Leah represents the Gentiles; her tender-eyed character was a defect. She represents the Gentiles introduced prior to the coming in of Israel. But for a moment I would like to think about both Rachel and Leah as representing the assembly. In a certain sense Rachel represents the Pentecostal assembly, of beautiful form and lovely countenance. How lovely the Pentecostal assembly was, no evidence of breakdown then, no fragmentation of believers, they were all together in one place, a wonderful expression, you might say, of the glory of the assembly. Then Leah represents in another sense, as being tender-eyed, the truth of the body. Paul introduces it, the truth of the body, tender-eyed, and I believe, dear brethren, the Lord is stressing the thought of the truth of the body currently. I think all these sorrows among us, untimely deaths, and times of physical pain and suffering, are to affect our hearts and bring out into expression the truth of the body. Perhaps as to division of thought, division of opinions, differences of judgment, perhaps the Lord may use the sorrows of the saints physically and spiritually to bring into expression the truth of the body; if one member suffers all suffer. Perhaps He will thus draw us together in our affections. Paul says, “joined in soul”, Philippians 2: 2. Not just joined in relation to the truth, that we agree as to the terms of the truth, but joined in soul; feelingly we love one another, we enter feelingly into one another’s sorrows and sufferings.
How much sorrow there has been! I suppose every family here has been affected by the terrible sorrows of the past few years. What has that brought into expression? I believe it is in mind that the truth of the body, the feelings of the body, the body of Christ, that is, His feelings.
are to come into expression in the saints. “Jesus wept”, it says—a marvellous statement (John 11: 35). When He saw Mary weeping and the Jews weeping, it says, “Jesus wept”. The body of Christ means that Christ’s feelings are expressed in His body. Why is it that we have these divisions of judgment? Why is it? I have no doubt it is because we are not living in nearness to Christ. But I think, too, the Lord is seeking by allowing sorrows and sufferings and untimely deaths to come in among us to join the saints in soul in spiritual feelings that the weeping of Christ may be seen in the eyes of the saints. Have you seen that? I have seen it, Christ weeping, but in the eyes of the saints, I say that reverently. That is Christ’s body; that means He is expressed here; not only His manner of life, the perfection of His life shining in the saints, the life of Jesus that Paul speaks about (2 Corinthians 4: 10), but the tears of Jesus seen in the eyes of the saints as they are drawn together in affection, in sympathy, in sorrow, so that we can face together what we need to face, that is, that issues may be resolved righteously and according to the mind of Christ.
Paul says, “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2: 16), that is, we have His thinking faculty, we are able to regard things as He does. Who of us would say we do? How often what is natural interferes with our spiritual judgment. “It is not for kings to drink wine”, it says (Proverbs 31: 4). What does it mean? That in judgment we need to be sober and face things righteously in the presence of God.
Leah came forward first. I think, as one would just apply it, that perhaps before we touch very much in this time of recovery of the form and comeliness of Rachel we need to contemplate what Leah represents, the drawing of the saints together, body feelings working, the feelings of Jesus.
“Jesus wept”, feeling the power of death over the human spirit, feeling the sorrow of Mary, the sorrow of the Jews at the death of Lazarus.
Well, I would just suggest then that Jacob had another test in his brother Esau, a great and testing exercise for Jacob. How was he going to meet this offended brother? He starts out by saying, ‘I am a very spiritual brother; I will send you gifts and no doubt I will make you feel more favourable towards me’. That is how he starts out—a very ‘spiritual’ brother. ‘I have all kinds of possessions; God has greatly prospered me and I will send you many gifts and no doubt you will feel more favourable towards me’. Then he had the experience of wrestling with a man, and God taught Jacob how to wrestle. David said, “Blessed be Jehovah my rock, who teacheth my hands to war, my fingers to fight”, Psalm 144: 1. But he taught Jacob how to give way. This is something I want to bring forward, this suggestion as to how to give way without being defeated. There is no doubt the man could have overcome Jacob if it was a question of physical strength, but at this critical time God was teaching Jacob a very valuable lesson—how to yield. It is not always the best thing, you know, when you are meeting an issue, to say, I have been right all the time. That really does not help anybody. This man—it speaks of him as a man who wrestled with Jacob—he showed him how to yield. He allowed him to overcome him.
It is very interesting, if the brethren would just excuse me for a moment to refer to Judges some were very concerned about all the things that Gideon had done. “And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abi-ezer? Into your hands hath God delivered the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was
able to do in comparison with you? Then their spirit was appeased toward him”, Judges 8: 2, 3. You see, sometimes we say, Well, we have been right all the time and you have been wrong all the time, but the man taught Jacob what it was to yield. He did not give up anything, no vestige of the truth was given up, but personally, in his spirit, he taught Jacob how to yield. Is that what has marked your locality? Abigail came down to meet David. There was nothing wrong with Abigail, no fault with her; she came down to meet David in order to maintain the character of the throne, the throne of grace that David represents. I just want to suggest when meeting a brother we want to know how to yield. It says that as they were reconciled Jacob saw the face of God in Esau (Genesis 33: 10). You may say it would have to be pretty abstract, but it suggests the truth of reconciliation and how it is effected. It is so difficult for us to give way.
May the Lord help us in these things, beloved brethren; may we be formed in the divine nature. We have the opportunity for only a short time to be formed in love in the divine nature and to do things as God would do them. May it be so, for His name.
Address at Plainfield
25 May 1984