FIDELITY TO CHRIST

J. Earl

Proverbs 31: 1, 10–12, 23, 26, 28, 31; Mark 14: 3–9; 2 Timothy 2: 22; Revelation 3: 7–11

I want to draw attention to this woman of worth as setting out for us fidelity to her husband; fidelity to Christ with us. There is a great call for it. Infidelity is prevalent everywhere outside, and it is increasing, but this should the more stir us to be more true to Jesus, to be more true to the One who is the Husband of a wife. What a thought that is! This woman, I think, sets forth the wife idea. Soon the time will come when it will be said, “the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready”, Revelation 19: 7. What a thought that is! What a time it will be, the marriage of the Lamb! He is waiting for it and so are we, waiting patiently. Then it says, “it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure”, Revelation 19: 8. Then we are told that the fine linen is “the righteousnesses of the saints”; we have already had that today. Every little thing that is done for Christ comes into that, the accumulation of righteousnesses is the wedding dress of the wife when this marriage comes. What an encouragement that is for us! We have been cheered by the provision the local brethren here have made for us, but what a cheer to them to think that what they have done is really to the Lord, and He would say, as He will say in a coming day,

“Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me”, Matthew 25: 40. So that everything that is done, to and for the Lord, enters into this great matter of the preparation of His wife. We are in that time, beloved brethren, it may not be very much more time to run. So it is the time for us to be made ready for what is yet ahead.

What a dress this wife is going to wear! The work has continued down the dispensation; every stitch that has been put together goes to the making of this garment, and the one

who has made herself ready to wear it. That garment must be nearly finished, we are on the brink of things.

So it is important for us to think about what this chapter brings out. It is a prophecy, that is why I read the first verse, it is prophetic, a prophetic description of the Lamb’s wife as He takes account of her. What we get in the chapter, as we do also in the word to Philadelphia, is a cluster of moral qualities, things put together in relation to things done. I want to make a point of that because there is not a word recorded of anything she said; neither is there a word recorded of anything that Philadelphia says; but many things as to what she had done. So it is a question of doing. You will remember that the Lord after serving His own, girding Himself and taking a towel and washing their feet. He says to them, Ye see what I have done unto you; what I have done I have given as an example that ye do. Then He says a little further on,

“If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them” (John 13: 17); the blessing is associated with the doing.

So this question is raised in Proverbs 31, “Who can find a woman of worth?”. I think the onus rests upon every one of us to find that woman. Solomon did not find her, that is clear, he admits to that. He says in Ecclesiastes 7: 27, “See this which I have found, saith the Preacher, searching one by one”. He is searching all right, he had about a thousand tries, but he did not find what he was seeking. One man among a thousand, he says, I have found, but a woman among those I have not found. I think you can follow what I am seeking to get at. Thousands of believers today have found a man; they believe on Jesus, thank God for it. They take account of His life here; they rest upon His atoning death on the cross; they believe in His resurrection; they know He has gone back to heaven; and they hope when they die to go there too, but they have not found the woman.

So what we get in Proverbs 31 is an ideal, it is what the man had before him and searched for but did not find. If he had found the woman of worth do you think he would have allowed his heart to be carried away by all those foreign women that he had which brought him into idolatry? Yet by the Spirit of God he set out this ideal before us; it is something for us to follow. “The heart of her husband confideth in her”. How touching that is! The Lord would give us to feel that He has confidence in us to maintain what is for Himself here in this scene until He comes. Sometimes we break down in that confidence, and we have to sorrow over it.

The Lord generally leaves things in the hands of the saints to work out, and He will give credit. He will praise all that He possibly can. “He shall have no lack of spoil”; is that not what we are here for in one sense? I am not thinking this evening so much of the privilege side, the service of God; I am thinking of the maintenance of things here for Christ, having in mind the moment when He will take over Himself, take control. What a time that will be! But meanwhile are we not seeking spoil for Christ? I trust so.

So this woman is working industriously for her husband; it is spoil for him. “She doeth him good, and not evil, all the days of her life.” We have to remember that too, every day. What a thing it is to be committed to seeking spoil for Christ every day! Think of the woman in John 4, the woman at Sychar’s well. The Lord had to do with her and she had to do with the Lord.

There came a moment when she said, “I know that Messias is coming, who is called Christ; when he comes he will tell us all things”, John 4: 25. The Lord said to her, “I who speak to thee am he”. That settled everything for the woman. She had found the Man, and she went away at that point, leaving her water pot behind, and she says to the men in the city, “Come, see a man”, as much as to say, We have never met a Man like this before—“Come, see a man who told me all things I had every done—is not he the Christ?”, John

4: 29. What good that woman did for Christ that day; it was the first day of her spiritual history, and she filled it out admirably. They were so affected by what she said that they come too, and great blessing is brought into the locality. So how encouraging it is. “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land”, what a remark that is concerning the woman. She is so committed to his interests that he is known as her husband. How we desire that, dear brethren! I am thinking of the administrative side of things in this chapter; we seem to need a lot of help there. One thing, of course, that would help us perhaps more than anything else, is the concept of what the assembly is to Christ.

That brings me to the thought that what Solomon sought and did not find, the true Solomon has found. Our thoughts go immediately to Matthew 13, “a merchant seeking beautiful pearls; and having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all whatever he had and bought it” (Matthew 13: 45, 46). That is what the Lord has done, and I am linking this with the administrative side of things. You might say, Well that is another figure, the pearl, but the pearl goes through into the city. We have had before us today the foundational side, the names of the twelve in the foundations, but when John sees the city earlier, he takes account of the gates and he finds each gate one pearl. Is that not the thought? How it will help us in any matter at all we take on for the Lord, touching the saints, to be governed by what they are to Him. That is the pearl and every gate just the same, twelve of them. If we are governed by the concept of what the saints are to Christ we will be doing the one thing, and that is very much to be desired.

She goes on, “She openeth her mouth with wisdom”. That is a practical matter, it searches us all, especially when there is need for discussion as to administrative matters. How readily at times we open our mouths and anything but wisdom comes out, but not this woman, she

opens her mouth with wisdom. Just let us take account of that—“and upon her tongue is the law of kindness”. That is a needed word too, because what we say should be governed by this idea, this quality of kindness. Kindness has been shown to us, dear brethren; the kindness and love of God our Saviour has reached us. Is it not right that we should be kind to one another, indeed kind in thought to all? So just let our tongues, in future anyway, be governed by the law of kindness. You know we fit a governor to an engine to limit its working so that it does not run too fast and get hot. So that it is a great thing to be governed in this way by wisdom and kindness. Then it speaks of how her husband praises her. I said that before, you praise all you possibly can; then “let her own works praise her in the gates”. I think that is a beautiful suggestion.

I would encourage every one of us to do what we can for the Lord, while we can, the time may be short. We in Melbourne have lost two brothers and a sister just recently, their part in the testimony is over. They filled out their responsibility, but there is an added weight of responsibility to be shared by those of us who are left. On the other hand, there are some here today that are getting on in years; we look for the Lord to come to take us all to be with Himself, but, if He tarries some more of us will leave this scene of testimony to go to be with the Lord. That will mean that others again will have to step in and carry a greater load of responsibility, or I should say weight perhaps. You remember the message that was left to us by a servant of God at the beginning of his public ministry—The responsibility for the maintenance of the truth rests upon every one of our shoulders—and the need of heeding that was never more needed than at the present time. So let us heed it and take on a little more responsibility for the Lord in the maintenance of what there is for Him here in this testimonial scene.

So I referred to that woman in Mark’s gospel. I

think she is a beautiful example of one who is committed in fidelity to Christ. No matter what her surroundings were, a leper’s house, angry people, what she did she did for the Lord, and what she could she did, that is the point I want to make. What she could she has done; that is maximum capacity production, you might say, we hear that everywhere. Let us be like that for Christ. We can all do more I am sure. The Lord defends her action. How much it meant to Him! Why trouble ye the woman? Yet, we will have to be prepared for anything that might come on that line outside, but let us be doing things for Him, and let us be set to do what we can. The Lord is not asking more. Then He says, “Wheresoever these glad tidings may be preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall be also spoken of for a memorial of her”. What a thought that is! I think she is a sample of what the grace of God in the gospel can produce. So when we preach the gospel let us bring this forward. I do not necessarily mean this particular passage, but it is the idea; the woman comes in with the Man.

“What this woman has done shall be also spoken of for a memorial of her”.

We have to take up things individually, that—is why I read 2 Timothy, that has also been before us. In fact, I had a few thoughts this morning and as the meeting went on they seemed to come out one by one, and that is confirming. I read this one verse because I am thinking of Philadelphia, not as a position, but as a state to be reached by every one of us. Arrival at Philadelphia is by way of the route in 2 Timothy 2; remember that, and we have these leaders to hold us on course. Righteousness, as we were reminded, is first. How important it is that we should be committed to it, and be prepared to pursue it. I do not think these leaders are static; it is not a question of a point reached and settlement made; these leaders are ever before us. I do not think we ever overtake them; we try at times to bypass them at our own jeopardy. Righteousness stands there and we should stand by it. In the end of the

second letter to the Corinthians. Paul says, “But we pray to God ... that ye may do what is right” (2 Corinthians 13: 7); that ye may not do evil but what is right. What a concern that is.

So we pursue along this line after this leader. Then we pursue faith; faith is ever there, and every stand by righteousness confirms faith on our side. We are thinking of these leaders that are before us, and the energy that is required to pursue them, and not be turned aside. Then love; we would like sometimes that it would all be love; but I can say this, that love will never lead anyone to weaken in righteousness. If there is a weakening in righteousness, love is not the cause, a thousand things maybe, but love will always support what is right. Indeed these leaders are supportive of each other. So Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “Let all things ye do be done in love”, 1 Corinthians 16: 14. To sum that up, I think it means that the right thing is done the right way. What ye do is right and done in love. Then peace; peace is ever before us.

It is a leader; and if righteousness, faith, and love are pursued, peace is the consequence. It is greatly to be desired in the gatherings of the saints.

We refer to Philadelphia now. As I said before, it is not a question of an ecclesiastical position, not in any sense, and it is not a question of claiming anything either. If we have anything of these qualities, what would be the point of claiming them; and if we do not have them claiming them will not bring them. So the Lord presents Himself as “the holy, the true; he that has the key of David, he who opens and no one shall shut, and shuts and no one shall open”. How attractive is the presentation! And then He says, “I know thy works”. The Lord knows, we do not have to say, we do not have to claim, He knows. “I have set before thee an opened door”. The inference is that the door had been closed, but He has opened it. This brings us to the thought that is often before us, of what we call a church revival. How long the Lord has waited for this and we are still in it. This opened door, I think, means that recovered

persons are brought back to the fulness and richness of Paul’s ministry. Think of how he could say, writing to the Ephesians, “This mystery is great” (Ephesians 5: 32), and so it is, and Paul had it, but he says, “I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”. Wondrous thought! Christ and the assembly are inseparable in time and eternity, and this recovery has brought us back as recovered persons, and I think when we reach that we have found the woman of worth. I think that is how it works out.

Then He says, “because thou hast a little power”; how desirable that is, but let the Lord say it—“and hast kept my word”, that is Mary, is it not, sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to His word and retaining it. What the Lord says to her links with the opened door that we are assured will never be closed; the Lord says of her, “Mary has chosen the good part, the which shall not be taken from her”, Luke 10: 42. I link those two thoughts together. I think Mary sets out subjection to headship, and we need much help on it. And “hast not denied my name”; we professedly gather to the name of the Lord. Let us be true to it. The Lord says this of Philadelphia, she has not denied My name. Then He speaks of the synagogue of Satan

“who say that they are Jews”. I was struck by that thought. Philadelphia does not say anything but Laodicea does; “thou sayest, I am rich, and am grown rich, and have need of nothing” (Revelation 3: 17), that is what she is saying. But these persons who say they are Jews, the Lord says they are not. I think this would be a warning to us to preserve us from saying what is not needed to be said. “I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet, and shall know that I have loved thee”. I think we might link this “thee” with the “me” of Acts 9. That was the key to Paul in his ministry. The Lord said, “why dost thou persecute me?” (Acts 9: 4), and Paul carried that through.

Here Philadelphia is reminded of the Lord’s love. 0,

how He loves us! No wonder John could say, “To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father: to him be the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen”, Revelation 1: 5, 6. We can all come in with our Amen, with our doxologies, as we take account of the love of Christ. “Shall know that I have loved thee”, I think that word “thee” is Philadelphia as representing the whole assembly.

Then He says, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience”. Are we doing that, brethren? We have been thinking of the Lord patiently waiting for the moment, when the Father will bid Him rise and come for His own and rapture us all away, take us home. He is waiting for that. Think how long He has waited down the ages for this church revival, that we have spoken of, to take place. He has waited for it a long time and is still waiting for the final matter, the rapture of the saints. So we can well afford to be patient with one another. Let patience work out amongst us. What patience the Lord has had with me, and I think with you.

We get impatient at times and get forceful. Just let us learn to patiently wait God’s own time in working.

Then He promises to keep us out of the hour of trial. “I come quickly” that is a matter that is next to His heart. You remember Mr. Darby’s verse—

‘Nor what is next Thy heart

Can we forget;

Thy saints, O Lord, with Thee

In glory met’. (Hymn 160)

It is the next thing to His heart. He says, “I come quickly—hold fast what thou hast”. I think we are searched by that. It is a matter of what the Lord has entrusted to us, and He has entrusted very precious things, precious truth. How desirable it is that we should hold it fast, hang on to it. We are still in this period of recovery and repenting persons are getting recovered and it is all adding to Christ’s spoil. Then He says, “that no one take thy crown”. I would think that the crown is connected with what our brother said in the

last reading as to the knowledge of the Person of Christ. He has let us into the secret; the ministry has helped on that line. The Lord says, “hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown”. So this can only be held and maintained on the line of overcoming. May the Lord help every one of us to be overcomers until He comes for us.

Address at Bendigo
14 April 1989