KEEPERS OF HIS WORD
E. E. Hoyte
John 14: 21–24; Revelation 3: 8, 10, 11
These scriptures indicate what is available to us as the Lord’s commandments and words are treasured by us, opening up an avenue of wealth and enrichment. Chapters 13 to 17 of John anticipate the Lord going to the Father and cover an important period in His service here and in the experience of His disciples. “These things I have said to you, abiding with you” (John 14: 25) anticipates His absence and would test the love of the disciples. The first test of our love is that we keep His commandments—“He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me; but he that loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him”. His commandments involve authority and demand. That is the burden of the Corinthian epistles in which we are enjoined to “recognise the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord’s commandment”, 1 Corinthians 14: 37. As keeping His commandments His Father’s love is vouchsafed to us, His own love and a manifestation from Himself. What a compensation that is, dear brethren! John’s writings are intended for this period in which we live, a time of declension. Their appeal is therefore to stir up our affections for Christ. The word “if”—“If any one love me”—is a challenge to us, but what can be compared with this assurance of the Lord’s presence as a result of faithfulness on our part? A common question frequently raised today is,
How can you locate the presence of the Lord at the present time when there is such public breakdown? I think the answer is in this scripture. It is a matter of being able to discover where there is fidelity to His commandments.
The point in verse 23 is keeping His word: “If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him”. Keeping His word is an additional thought. I doubt whether we can claim to be keeping His word if we are disregarding the authority of the commandments. His word is the expression of His mind, which is more intimate and no doubt covers the whole scope of the Lord’s ministry, including some understanding of the desires of His heart. Abraham, you will recall, saw three men standing near him as he sat at his tent door, and he ran to welcome them and entertain them—
“Pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let now a little water be fetched, that ye may wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will fetch a morsel of bread; and refresh yourselves …”, Genesis 18: 3–5. He ministered acceptably to their comfort and, as a result of his consideration for them, he received the promise of a son. How precious is the promise the Lord makes in verse 23 of John 14! It shows how pleasing this feature of devotion is to divine Persons as we provide suitable conditions for them amongst us. “We will come to him and make our abode with him”. The thought of abiding is prominent in John’s writings. In chapter 1 he mentions that the first two persons who followed the Lord abode with Him for a day. What a privilege to abide with Him! But what is proposed in our scripture is that the Father and the Son will make their abode where the Son’s word is treasured. The tabernacle system was intended to afford a dwelling place for God, so the final thought is dwelling. But how precious to experience this in some sense even at the present time!
In verse 24 the word is—“He that loves me not does not keep my words”. His word is the expression of His mind, as already remarked; His words would be the opening up in detail of what is presented in the word. Peter valued the Lord’s words. The Lord’s teaching exposed certain of his followers who deserted Him saying, “This word is hard”. He said to the twelve, “Will ye also go away?”, Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast words of life eternal”, John 6: 67, 68. Peter’s answer, I think, is what he arrived at experimentally in his soul. We must feel the loss of our brethren keenly, but a sense in our souls that the Lord is the embodiment of the whole scope of the divine mind would attach us more firmly to Himself.
Jeremiah speaks of finding and eating God’s words. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy words were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart”, Jeremiah 15: 16. In the beginning of his prophecy he tells us that the word of God came to him, but the words just quoted occur later, and I wonder whether the thought of finding might indicate the result of diligence in searching out the import of the word he received. How we need to search out the truth. Luke records that the Lord stood up in the synagogue to read and “having unrolled the book he found the place” where a certain passage concerning Himself was written. He did not have to search for it I am sure. He deliberately opened the book and turned to the passage to call attention to the fact that the words were fulfilled in Himself at that very moment. Jeremiah would be a model for us in searching out and appropriating, or meditating upon, divine thoughts.
What we find in Revelation is that the Lord is giving His appraisal of the seven assemblies. In each case He begins with “I know”. He knows all about our exercises, our feelings, our desires; He knows our difficulties, too, and He overlooks nothing. In one assembly he spoke of the tribulation they were going through. This should encourage us to continue in our prayers, in our acceptance of tribulation or whatever the condition may be. We were noticing recently how many times the Lord is referred to as praying in Luke, and we need to continue in it. But what is said in the chapter read should affect us—“I know thy works—behold, I have set before thee an opened door, which no one can shut”, and He gives the reason, “because thou hast a little power, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name”. One test of love in John 14 is keeping His word. How blessed to think of the Lord giving this assembly credit for having stood this test of love! What will He not do for us if we are pleasing to Him in our movements? “I have set before thee an opened door”. Think of it! What does that mean? Heavenly things are not withheld from those who keep His word. They are available for our enjoyment in the power of the Spirit, and the Spirit is ready to help us enjoy them. So in Revelation 4: 1 John hears the voice saying, “Come up here, and I will shew thee the things which must take place after these things”. John, I have no doubt, was a lovable man and he loved the Lord, too, but he always spoke of himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. It is not difficult to find where there is love; it will manifest itself. So “Thou hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name” is an evidence of it.
We want this to be true of us in our meetings; the gain is spiritual enlargement. The reference in verse 9 to the synagogue of Satan would indicate the circumstances these saints in Philadelphia had to endure, but see the comforting promise He holds out to them, “Behold, I make them of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie; behold, I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet, and shall know that I have loved thee”. Well, persecution and reproach must be accepted. “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience”; how much patience is needed. Sometimes we feel we are not getting much result, well, let us be patient. We are reminded of the patience of Job elsewhere.
Take note of this—“I also will keep thee out of the hour of trial, which is about to come upon the whole habitable world, to try them that dwell upon the earth”. We cannot but be convinced at the present time of the condition of the whole habitable world. It is crying out for relief, awaiting the One who in His own time will resolve the whole matter. But what cheer this is to faith, “I also will keep thee out of the hour of trial”.
Now He says, and this word I leave with you—“I come quickly”. What a promise to this assembly that kept His word. He does not restrict them in regard to heavenly things; they have an opened door into the great things of God, and this is open to us, dear brethren. “Hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown”. We have something to lay hold of, I am sure; at any rate we have His word for comfort. This means that we do not treat divine things lightly.
He would encourage us to continue in the attitude of treasuring His word. His words, too, the word of His patience—hold them all. We do feel our lack of power, but the Lord credits this assembly with a little power. Let each one ask himself, What have I got? The woman spoken of in Kings misjudged what she had in her possession; it was a pot of oil. She told the prophet she had “not anything at all in the house but a pot of oil”, 2 Kings 4: 2. But what a pot of oil it proved to be! Let us value and hold fast what the Lord has given us.
Word at meeting for ministry, Brooklyn, N.Y.
8 April 1975