LOVE BEGOTTEN IN US
[p. 81] LOVE BEGOTTEN IN US
(Substance of a Reading)
Matthew 26: 6 - 13; 1 Samuel 16: 1 - 13 I thought we might consider these scriptures with a view to seeing how love is begotten in us. It will, I am sure, be of help to us to see how this result is reached. The woman in Matthew, who anointed the Lord in the leper’s house, may be taken to represent the subjective result of a presentation of Christ in manhood: that is, of the King. The portion in Samuel furnishes us with a type of how God had in mind that there should be such a product in the hearts of men. It was not accidental nor incidental; it was designed. Jehovah instructed Samuel to take a heifer for the sacrifice, meaning that there should be a subjective result. The gospel as the mind of God is presented abroad generally, is revered and defended, but the subjective feminine result of God’s design is very little known.
The spurious thing is seen in the first book of Samuel in the proposals of Saul, that David should have his elder and then his younger daughter for wife. They were not of the kind to yield affection befitting David. This was not the product of God’s design, and hence was of no value. They find their answer in the false church, nominally espoused to Christ. She is of no value to Him. Saul was really making the proposal as a diversion. The truth was that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, that the women of Israel were singing his praises, and that all Israel and Judah loved David. Saul proposed to divert the people from that.
It will help us to see how we are brought to love Christ so as to be of the character of the true bride, the wife. In Revelation we see the false thing destroyed before the wife comes out. She had really [p. 82] been with Him all the time, she had made herself ready, and now comes out for the marriage. We see that God had the real bride in mind in the suggestion of the heifer, carrying the thought of a feminine result, and the woman in Simon’s house answers to the presentation. She anoints the Lord on the head. The false thing exposes itself; Michal, representing it in type, despised David in her heart when he danced before the ark. If we live for Christ we shall be despised. Even the disciples had indignation with the woman as she poured the precious ointment on His head. Opposition appears wherever there is true devotion to Christ. “All indeed who desire to live piously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3: 12).
Matthew presents the Lord as a royal Personage, he presents the features of the King. We must first get an idea of the King. It is not simply that God chose David to rule, but, as it is said of him, “I have provided me a king”. A king is a royal personage even if he is not ruling. So we see that the books of Samuel are rightly preceded by the book of Ruth, which brings in the king in his royal lineage: he is spiritually there before we get to Samuel. The thought of a king suggests power; Solomon says that a king scattereth away evil with his eyes Proverbs 20: 8. In 1 Samuel 7, the Spirit of God brings to light the state of the people, one of utter weakness, as water poured upon the ground. He brings a sucking lamb as a burnt offering, suggestive of Christ in His intrinsic preciousness, yet in extreme outward weakness. This was not a presentation of the king, it was a ministry to bring in self-judgment. Then Saul comes in, answering to man’s idea of a king, not God’s. He was head and shoulders above the people, having very many commendable natural features, but he was not God’s king. Finally David comes into view, with all his qualities pleasing to God.
Now Matthew fits in here in connection with the [p. 83] opening up of the royal line. It is not simply that there is One ruling, but that such a One is King. The gospel commences with “Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, Son of David”, of David the king. The Spirit emphasises that. There was the presentation of a royal Person. Then the wise men enquire for the King, the King of the Jews. May the Lord impress us with the idea of the King! It is slipping away from men’s minds. He is about to appear, King of kings and Lord of lords. You will see there is a distinction between kingship and lordship. Lordship gives the thought of rule, kingship that of royalty. The personage underlies the authority. What comes out in Samuel is that David himself is loveable. David had personal attractiveness. He was “ruddy, and besides of a lovely countenance, and beautiful appearance”. As seeing this beauty in Christ the saints begin to love Him. It is moral beauty, the natural man cannot see it. Isaiah says, “Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty” (Isaiah 33: 17). Matthew presents Him thus. In this gospel we find the Lord serving in houses more than in any other, and it is here where His beauty shines. The wise men see Him in the house. It requires anointed eyes to see the beauty of the King. The house of Simon the leper is the last house but one mentioned in the gospel, the last being the house in which the Supper was partaken of. Here we have the house of a leper, a man of no religious status. We find the Lord and the woman in that house; outside and also inside was the spirit of murder. There was opposition to her because she made much of Christ. Service in the houses in Matthew is a very interesting subject.
We find the women of Israel singing of both David and Saul. Our singing is often very mixed. There is a lot about Saul in the hymn books of Christendom: they are full of human sentiments. Our hymn book becomes smaller as we progress in appreciation of [p. 84] Christ. The woman in Matthew was entirely clear of Saul. Samuel, on the other hand, although the most spiritual man of his time, was not clear of Saul. And if that was so it was little wonder that the women sang his praises. We might just as well sing of him as “mourn” for him. And we see that Samuel is again deceived when Eliab comes in, saying, “Surely Jehovah’s anointed is before him”. These are warnings for us. Even the most spiritual are liable to be turned aside by great natural ability and attractiveness. The Lord rebuked Samuel. He was not to look on the outward appearance as man looketh, but upon the heart, for “Jehovah looketh upon the heart”. The woman in Matthew 26 represents assembly affections, finding all in Christ. There is no answer to Christ unless we are born of God. God loves to call attention to Christ.
Now when Samuel passes off the scene, Abigail comes in; 1 Samuel 25. No one mourns for Saul now. Abigail is a woman of good understanding and of a fair countenance, she answers to David. The features of the King are seen in the bride. In Psalm 45: 1 we have the King. The writer says, “My heart is welling forth with a good matter: I say what I have composed touching the king”. He then gives an appreciation of His excellence: “Thou art fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured into thy lips”. Then he says He is God Himself: “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever”. And then we get the subjective answer, for we have the queen in gold of Ophir standing on His right hand. In the introduction of the queen it is shown how every believer comes in so as to be of the bride, the wife. The king’s daughter must first forsake what is natural, forgetting her own people and her father’s house; so shall the King greatly desire her beauty. How often the affections of the saints are mixed! We admire what is natural and what is spiritual together. She shall [p. 85] then be brought to the King in raiment of embroidery, the subjective work of the Spirit. And moreover she is of the royal line, a royal person herself; there is no lineal disparity. The question of lineage is of the utmost importance.
Michal, being a type, is utterly oblivious to the beauty of Christ, and thus has no sense of widowhood. She refers to the false system; she belongs to the house of Saul, the man after the flesh. But of the assembly it says, “His wife has made herself ready” (Revelation 19: 7). She corresponds with Christ. She has been in secret with Him all the time. Abigail says, speaking to David of Saul, “A man is risen up to pursue thee” (1 Samuel 25: 29). That was her idea of Saul. She never regarded him as king. But Nabal says it is David who has risen up. He says to David’s young men, “There are many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his master” (verse 10). The natural is always opposed to the spiritual. Those who seek to correspond to Christ are regarded as lawless by the leading ecclesiastics. They are called upstarts. Abigail had great intelligence: she answers to the assembly at the present time. In her the Lord has a response to Himself. She sees Him according to His royal lineage, as the Root and Offspring of David. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come”.
In connection with the anointing, Luke and John speak of the feet, while Matthew and Mark refer to the head. The latter deal more with what is official. In them Christ is seen as the Victim: the King is put to death. Luke contemplates Him as carrying things, the grace of God, with His feet: “How beautiful the feet of them that announce glad tidings of peace” (Romans 10: 15). And he presents Him as the offering Priest, He offers Himself. John shows the same feet carrying Him to the grave. He is seen as acting Himself in John, He had power to lay down His life.
[p. 86] The woman of Matthew 26 dominates the dispensation. A memorial is to be made of her, which is maintained by the Spirit throughout the dispensation. Wherever the gospel is preached mention is to be made of her. We will never recognise ecclesiastical dignitaries if we remember what she did. She forbids all clericalism because she anoints Christ, the true Levite (Mark), the true Ruler (Matthew). Do you ever mention the woman when preaching the gospel? If so, you will save converts from hierarchical principles. The woman anointed the head of the Man who rules in the house of God; not the Pope or any other great religious dignitary, but Christ. For her, Christ governed everything. The subject is vitally connected with the gospel: converts are preserved by it. We need the spirit of it in our preaching. The preacher should provide for the converts, he should look after his children. Luke speaks in chapter 7 of the Lord delivering the young man, whom He raised up from the dead, to his mother, and also of the man in chapter 10 being taken to the inn for care. There are a good many converts today, thank God. He is working, although perhaps we do not see much of it. We might well pray the prayer of Moses, “Let thy work appear unto thy servants” (Psalm 90: 16). One would like to see more: but we know that many are being converted. It may be our own fault that we do not see it. A good deal depends on our vision. And then we might also continue to pray, “establish thou the work of our hands upon us”. This corresponds with 1 Corinthians 15: 58, “knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord”. The little you may be doing is not in vain.