DIVINE WRITING AND THE MATERIAL EMPLOYED
[p. 368] DIVINE WRITING AND THE MATERIAL EMPLOYED
Ezekiel 11: 19; 2 Corinthians 3: 2; Revelation 3: 12; Revelation 19: 12, 16
I would like to speak a little, dear brethren, about divine writing and the material employed.
You all remember the introduction of divine writing in Exodus, and the material employed. At first it is evidently material provided by God, but the first tables being broken the second were hewed out by Moses. Moses acquired a great place with God, his place with God being greatly enhanced by the circumstances immediately following his descent from the mount when he found the idol which the people had made in their idolatrous state in the absence of the mediator. They immediately turned aside and the calf is made. Moses looked down on the tables of the law that were broken, shattered beneath the mountain, a position and circumstance suggestive of defeat; but Moses intelligently does it, at least Moses by the word of God goes up again. He acquires a great place with God, he increases in favour and honour with God — so that God puts it upon him in view of the second writing to hew out two tables like the first, which he did. The word is “Hew for thyself” Exodus 34:1 pointing to what is on our side. Moses is the mediator on our side as he goes up, and on God’s side as he comes down. He went up the second time with material for God. That comes to every heart as to what there is in it for Christ. There is a challenge for our hearts as to what there is in them available for divine writing.
So I venture to link up these scriptures, the first showing plainly if there is to be anything available in our hearts for writing God has to be there, taking [p. 369] away the stony heart, that is what is natural to us. I have no doubt that the stone primarily used indicates that. The second are put almost immediately in their place. How hard they were after all the gracious service of Jehovah! They turned aside and they even professed no regrets.
Sometimes young people turn aside — and old ones, too — to the world, relinquishing their privileges, denying Christ His place, His rights, without one pang. They go off merrily, it may be to the world’s amusements. It may be they can tell something of Christ — the Man who led us out of the land of Egypt. They say ‘we do not know what is become of him’. They sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. People go off merrily into the affairs of this world, forgetting the bondage, having no feeling of regret or sorrow that they have shut their hearts against Christ. “We wot not what is become of him” Exodus 32:1.
Such was the hardness of their natural hearts, and our natural hearts are just what Israel’s were; so that if there is to be a change, God has to make it, and He is making changes constantly in human hearts. The human heart is the area or theatre of His operations for the moment.
What you find is that God intends to set up something in a locality. He will open some heart; if there is no heart opened in the locality, we need not expect anything for God or for Christ. The Lord opened the woman’s heart at Philippi “to attend to the things spoken by Paul” Acts 16:14 — not only the heart that listens to the gospel, but the heart that turns to the things spoken about Christ, that is a very rare heart today. The great mass of christians — I am not accusing them — do not attend to the things spoken by Paul, they speak of Paul and others, but what we get at Philippi is that a heart is opened by the Lord to attend to the things spoken. It is a divine operation, I may say a sovereign operation, but operating [p. 370] in the moral sense, so that sovereignly from the very stones He could raise up seed to Abraham. Moses understood. So that if the Lord is operating in us, it is in a moral way, and in recognition of our responsibility.
He opened Lydia’s heart, precious fruit of grace; and so in Ezekiel He takes away the heart of stone, God does it. Just a natural heart, but the natural heart tested. Why should it be called a heart of stone? If God tests it what is it capable of? He tested the heart of man then, and He is testing us all the time. It is in the provocation that the test comes, that brings out where the heart is. And so it is in 2 Corinthians because it deals with this matter. The epistle is a second one. A second letter usually effects something, and confirms what the first epistle made. So that what lay dormant at Corinth is now brought into evidence. There had been a hard-hearted state of things there. They had written to Paul about questions among them, and he answers them. That is those who can answer questions should never grow weary of receiving the letters.
Moses sat all day long to hear Israel’s difficulties. What a task Moses had! Jethro arrives with the wife of Moses and the two children; Moses goes out to meet him, and greets him at the tent door, as he should: and the next day he sat down to judge Israel. That is the position. What an advantage for Israel to have a Moses who could do that. He was king in Jeshurun. He was the law-giver, but he patiently served the people.
The Lord has furnished the assembly in this way, provision made for every question, but the Corinthians did not mention the things that were most urgent, showing the hardness of heart. The very first thing that he challenges them with is something that they omitted in their letter — that is divisions — it was not simply that they had divisions, the fact that they [p. 371] existed was shown by the house of Chloe. Then he goes on to say, “Each of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ”. It showed their depravity and shame. There were divisions among them.
One of the most interesting things in the service of God is a change of heart, God’s work coming into evidence. A brother has been self-willed, and we visit him, he has much to say from his side. There is no change of heart, it may be he is rebellious and hard. Presently the word of God strikes his heart. What a change! As with Job, he put his hand on his mouth. When God takes the matter up with Job, He brings the greatness of the testimony before him, but he needs more. God is not content with that, He goes on to enforce the testimony: not the testimony we have, but the testimony in creation.
In Corinthians the apostle alludes to a letter of commendation, he did not need to carry a letter of commendation, some of them thought he did. That is to say the idea is reducing, the enemy was at work in causing the reducing, in discounting the things spoken by Paul. Paul’s heart had been greatly affected by the covenant; a heart that Christ could write upon, yes, a heart that He could write the Corinthians in. Written in our hearts, the change is sure to show itself, dear brethren, how could it be otherwise? Christ has a place in my heart, but the evidence of it is the place the saints have in my heart. If there be any good, anything of good report, however little, speak of these things. That is the point he mentions, not simply that he did have them in his heart, but he had them in his heart in such a way that other people knew he had them in his heart. Do other people know that I love this one and the other one? Do they know that I love them? The Lord knows, and I may know, but that is not the point. It is the expression of it.
[p. 372] If I say I love my brethren, and they do not love me, the question with me is, am I lovable? If I claim your love I must be lovable, there must be something to love. They were treasures in his heart. Think of what the saints are. Are they not worthy of the greatest place you can afford? They had it with Paul. He says they were written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is a question of what was living in their hearts, the saints coming under the influence of the Spirit of God. They are impressionable, the work of God had made them that, “fleshy tables of the heart”. The heart is the seat where God can work — not intelligence, but intelligence is all right, if I had not intelligence I could not take in the word of God. So that taking the things that the Lord brings to us, written or oral, with the Spirit delineating in His own way, they are understood by those who have the Spirit.
The book of Revelation makes much of writing. With regard to the overcomer I may say that in every locality in which the saints are there is something to overcome, to be pursued. There are many things, but there is always something specific, and that is for us to find out. It may affect me more than others, that is for me to find out.
If I am an overcomer in any locality, I am a leader — every overcomer is a leader. Speaking of Mary of Bethany, she was an overcomer in the town. I may have to overcome something, perhaps in my husband, or my wife, it is what tests me most — that is the thing. Mary was an overcomer at every point as far as we can see, so that as an overcomer she could lead. When she heard that Jesus had come to town, she moved. Martha came and told her sister, “The Master is come, and calleth for thee” John 11:28, and when she heard that she went out and others followed her. You say that is a small matter, they were only Jews, we do not know whether they were converted or not.
[p. 373] They follow her, she wept, and they wept, and when the Lord saw that she wept and they wept, He wept. She was an overcomer, she loved the Lord. She is attacked again, and she makes no complaint.
That is the point I want to suggest at Philadelphia — the overcomer. The Lord says that He would write upon the overcomer in that church. The overcomer, I said, becomes a leader and sure to be followed — every spiritual person in the place will recognise him. He is not the man who knows most, knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. In Genesis intelligence comes on the sixth day, living souls on the fifth day. Affection comes first, a regulated affection of course. Love builds up. The man who builds up is the man who loves the Lord, and loves the saints. That is something that is sure to be observed, building is sure to be seen, love builds up. The overcomer is sure to be a leader.
The Lord in Simon the Pharisee’s house, says, “Seest thou this woman?” Luke 7:44 God is working in her heart — she showed it by her service to Jesus; she is an overcomer in that house, it was a terrible atmosphere. Sometimes we need such atmosphere. Sometimes one may have to get up and minister, to serve in the presence of people who are hostile, that woman did it, and the Lord said she did it well.
That is the idea, beloved, so that here the Lord puts the overcomer forward. He has material for writing on, and for writing the most wonderful things. “I will write upon him the name of my God”. What an impression! She loved much, she got it from God. “Every one that loves has been begotten of God, and knows God” 1 John 4:7. Which God? His God. “My God”. For God could write that. Let us think of being material on which the Lord can write that.
Then “the name of the city of my God ... which comes down”. The overcomer understands — he is [p. 374] one that understands the heavenly city, one who understands the teaching of Hebrews — “the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem” Hebrews 12:22.
In the twentieth century if you look abroad on christendom, on the cathedrals and other things, there is nothing new. The church of stone and mortar, and all the paraphernalia which goes with modern times is not new. The overcomer at Philadelphia understands what is new — something different — entirely of God, beautiful to Him. What is of the Spirit of God is recognised as something new — something different — new Jerusalem — and also “my new name” I will write upon him. The Lord in His wondrous grace and love has secured material in subjection, which He can employ, on which to write these wonderful things. Not now in the heart — it is a question of what is public, answering to what is in the heart.
We have a writing for the Lord Jesus in chapter 19, the inscrutable and the scrutable. First is the name written, we are told, which no one knows but Himself. The Spirit is calling attention to the Person of Jesus — what is known and what is unknown — the inscrutable. No one knows the Son but the Father — who He is is outside the range of man. This is a tribute to the glorious greatness of His Person. In fact He says “No one knows the Son but the Father” Matthew 11:27. But this is something written. If you look at that writing, is there an interpreter? If I look at the writing on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace — it is not understood by him, but it may be interpreted. What may be interpreted is not inscrutable. But it comes out a heavenly and public thing. No one knows but Himself. Of no creature can it be said.
There is a white stone given to the overcomer in Pergamos on which He writes a new name, which no one knows but he that receives it.
But this name written on Him who is called “The Word of God” is inscrutable, no one knows this name but Himself.
Then there is the name written upon His garment and upon His thigh. Garments denote circumstances about Him: what a glorious scene! But now it is a name perfectly intelligible to us (verse 16) — “King of kings, and Lord of lords”. We are living in days of abominable mixture, the iron and the clay of the great image seen in Daniel. The Lord would save us from it, we need to be saved from it. We need to judge our own hearts in regard to what is pressing in any locality. We need to be overcomers, otherwise the devil finds time and places to overcome us. It is most necessary to read this writing, the name on the garments and on the thigh; and His glory coming out of it. The place of power, the thigh is strength. “King of kings, and Lord of lords”.
Dear brethren, in the coming day there will be most interesting writings on every overcomer. “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, and my new name”.
And the Lord comes down Himself. First there is the name which no one knows but Himself, inscrutable: and then that intelligible to us, which reflects back on the era of gentile domination. Roman empires have risen and fallen. But of His kingdom there shall be no end. He is “King of kings, and Lord of lords”.