STANDING BY WHAT IS RIGHT

D. Robertson

Genesis 39: 19–23; 41: 37–41; Esther 4: 1–3; 10: 3; Daniel 6: 10, 11; 10: 12; Acts 1: 10, 11

The main burden of one’s heart is very simple, and that is to encourage the brethren to stand by what they know is right. I think this is what marked these three men we have read of, Joseph, Mordecai and Daniel; they stood by what they knew to be right. Joseph is a fine figure of what is incorruptible in the believer, although it is not the feature I want to speak of.

Nevertheless, he represents that, incorruptibility in the believer. I would encourage the younger brethren to seek God’s help that they might understand the true character of God’s work in them. It says, “he that has, been begotten of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him”, 1 John 5: 18. That refers to the work of God in you which is incorruptible. If you seek God’s help to understand it, He will also help you to be true to it.

That was seen in Joseph’s life, as a young man in the presence of the evil conversations of his brethren, those who were his brothers held evil discourse. I suppose it reflected the character of their mothers, but it grieved Joseph, and it says that he reported the evil to his father; that is he was unaffected personally by it, he was untainted by it. The incorruptible character of God’s work in him remained pure, it was not touched by the wicked one.

So with this matter as to Potiphar’s wife, it says she entreated him day by day. That is how the enemy works, he tries to break you down. If he does not succeed the first time he will try again. Be with God in it dear young brother, dear young sister. Christianity involves moral reality, if it does not it is not Christianity. It involves the facing of things that come against you that would corrupt you from the work of God in you, and deflect you. I say to you, seek help from God to understand the character of what He has done in you, the incorruptible character of it, and the Holy Spirit will help you to stand true to it, even as, typically, He helped Joseph. There comes this point when because of his refusal to bow to the wicked demands of a wicked woman he has to suffer imprisonment, but God is with him in it. It is a righteous matter, and even though your faithfulness to the work of God in you leads to a circumscribed pathway. God will be with you in it. One speaks with some certainty as knowing these things; God will be with you in it and He will prosper what you do.

The feature I want to bring out is what comes to light in the prison is Joseph’s wisdom. Wisdom is a moral acquirement; nobody is born with this kind of wisdom. I suppose the kings of the business empires are born with a kind of wisdom that is going to make them such; there is nobody born with this kind of wisdom. This kind of wisdom is acquired through the fear of God, it says, “The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom”, Proverbs 9: 10. I wonder how many younger brothers and sisters have begun to be wise according to God. We speak of persons who are worldly-wise and know their way about the world; they know how to get things, and how to get things done; they know how to manipulate people, there is nothing morally great about that; the beast will know how to do that, he will know how to manipulate people, and there will be nothing morally great about him, rather the opposite. There is something morally great when a Christian begins to acquire wisdom. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and that shines in Joseph. May we be helped to learn what it is to fear God. We speak about Britain as being a God-fearing nation, it is now far from it, but thank God there are God-fearing people in it. That is a great preservative to the nation—these people are the salt of the earth, there is a preservative in, the fact that the saints are here, a God-fearing people. There was a preservative in this prison, the prisoners got the advantage, the king’s prisoners. I know there are spiritual suggestions in that, I do not touch them, but the king’s prisoners got the advantage of this wise feature that Joseph had acquired. It says Jehovah prospered him. As you acquire this kind of wisdom your influence for good will grow. Not only will you stand related to what is right yourself but you will be able to help someone else to stand for what is right. That is what Paul says to Timothy, “Give heed to thyself”. That is the first thing, “Give heed to thyself”, and then he says, “thou shalt save both thyself and those that hear thee”, 1 Timothy 4: 16.

What I wanted to culminate with in regard to Joseph is that when he is set over the whole land under the command of Pharaoh what marks him is the very same thing. Stand by what you know is right no matter what the circumstances are; no matter the prevailing influences outside or inside, stand by what you know is right and God will help you. The feature I think that is commendable in Joseph is that whether it was in exaltation as set over the whole of the land, or whether it was in the prison, the feature was the same, he was unchanged. The wisdom that operated in the prison was just the same wisdom that operated as he was over the whole land. I would just say that to encourage the brethren to take on these features that are acquired morally as we are with God, particularly this feature of wisdom; then to stand by it and not give way to what is unwise, imprudent, contrary to Scripture and contrary to the wisdom of God who has provided Scripture and instruction in Scripture for us. Stand in your wisdom that you have acquired through the fear of God in relation to what is right, just like Joseph did.

When we come to Esther I think Mordecai represents another very fine feature of the work of God, and that is that he reflects the Spirit of Christ. It is a remarkable book, as most of the brethren know the name of God

never comes into it; there is no mention of a prophet; there is no mention of a Levite; there is no mention of the tabernacle; there is no mention of the ark, but the Spirit of Christ is in the book. Perhaps that is the kind of day we are in, devoid of what is official, but there is one thing that we are not devoid of and that is the Spirit of Christ in persons. It is a very fine thing to distinguish and discern the Spirit of Christ in the brethren. Things come into the book which are very helpful. It shows how God is operating even in a man like the king here, his first great command was that every man should bear rule in his own house. You see how God was acting for the people. These Jews were scattered far from the promised land, from their father’s inheritance; scattered through one hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Their way of life we may say was jeopardised, their very language was jeopardised, the way they ruled their houses, all that was under jeopardy, and yet the king sent letters, “into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people according to their language”. See how God preserved even their language, “That every man should bear rule in his own house, and should speak according to the language of his people” (see Esther 1: 22).

I believe if we stand faithful to what we know is of God, God will come in for us. The next thing we find is Mordecai standing for the defence of the throne, that is also a feature of the Spirit of Christ. In order to defend the throne of God, Christ went into death to disperse the enemies of God. Here is Mordecai, a humble man, displaying a feature of Christ in defence of the throne. You see how God was working through. Mordecai. But the point I want to come to is that the great feature of the Spirit of Christ in Mordecai is in the care of the people of God. One is thankful for the Spirit of Christ amongst the saints, very soon this will pervade eternity. It is being proved in an adverse scene today. I believe one of the great features of it is concern for the welfare of the saints. Esther represented the remnant of God’s people; she was an orphan, without father, without mother, and it says of Mordecai that he took her as his own daughter. Have you ever experienced that amongst the saints? Where there is someone who feels for you warmly, who seeks after your welfare, who longs for your soul blessing. I think that is the Spirit of Christ being displayed in Mordecai. The decree went out sponsored by a wicked man, an ambitious ruthless man who displayed the opposite features to the Spirit of Christ. I am referring to Haman, who sponsored this decree from the king that would damage the Jews; that would spoil and hinder them from prospering.

Mordecai, in the true Spirit of Christ, takes on this comely ‘feature of humility before God; that is another feature of the Spirit of Christ. I think if you want to see the Spirit of Christ in a locality, you will find it in a person who is prepared to suffer. It is another great feature of the Spirit of Christ, it is a suffering spirit; sometimes suffering from persons who ought to know better. It was so with Jesus Himself. He says, “They hated me without a cause”, John 15: 25.

So Mordecai suffers, but the Spirit of Christ prevails. We know the history, Esther is brought on to view. What a moral triumph, that a lonely orphan girl, because of the moral power of a Mordecai working behind the scene, becomes a queen of this great empire, sitting with the king in his throne. What a triumph! That will be seen in the world to come. We will not have it here, it is not the reigning time, it is a suffering time. The Corinthians wanted it to be the reigning time, but the reigning time is coming. What a triumph it will be, a moral triumph, when saints who have known the lonely orphan spirit here below will be seen side by side with the glorious Christ in His public reign and display of His glory.

So finally the question is raised, “What is to be done with the man whom the king delights to honour?” (Esther 6: 6), and Haman thought it was himself. He says that he should be arrayed in the royal apparel and be caused to ride upon the horse that the king rides upon; and the king says, That is just what is going to happen. But it was not for Haman, who ended up on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. But Mordecai is exalted to the second place in the kingdom, and what I wanted to bring out at the end is just what it says, “For Mordecai the Jew was second to king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the welfare of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed”. He was unchanged. Sometimes we need to change, but sometimes we do not need to change, and in regard to what is right seek help from God not to change.

I think Daniel is a man of purpose. I wonder how many men of purpose there are today? How many women of purpose? It says, “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not pollute himself with the king’s delicate food”, Daniel 1: 8. It marks Daniel the whole way through, right until the end; he will stand in his lot at the end of the days, (see Daniel 12: 13). He was a man of purpose, a man of moral determination; a man like Paul. Paul says, “Alexander the smith did many evil things against me. The Lord will render to him according to his works”, 2 Timothy 4: 14. I often wonder what Alexander thought about Paul. Alexander, a coppersmith, was used to working with malleable material, but there was no malleability in Paul. Paul was a man of purpose, a man who was set for the truth; he said, “I have not shrunk from announcing to you all the counsel of God”, Acts 20: 27. The whole of hades’ gates was set against Paul and Paul’s ministry, but Paul was undeterred by it, he was a man of purpose, and so was Daniel. These men came in a body, how intimidating that is. I wonder if you have ever had the experience of men coming in a body to you, saying, ‘You join a trade union or else there will be no work for you, your wife will starve and your children will starve’. They came in a body to intimidate the man. What was he? He was a man of purpose and he remained a man of purpose. He had moral backbone, moral courage. Why was it? Because he knew God, not because of any greatness in Daniel, but Daniel knew his God.

That is why I read in chapter 10. What the angel said is very beautiful. “Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day”—think of that! You young children, God has already, perhaps, begun to work in your heart and already you are beginning to speak to God. God has heard you from the first day you did it, do not make any mistake about that. Men think of greatness as someone who is aloof and untouchable. God is not like that. God is intensely interested in you, right down to the youngest believer, and from the very first day that you began to speak to Him He has heard you. How beautiful the thought is! “Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come because of thy words”. God is taking account of your exercises: set yourself for these things; seek God’s help to be a man of purpose, not to be marked by the spirit of cowardice, but, as the word says, rather of power, and of love and of wise discretion (see 2 Timothy 1: 7). It is possible because of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. It is not a question of human determination or human aggressiveness, or human assertion, it is a question of reliance upon the Spirit.

May we be helped to be men of purpose, to stand by what we know to be right; it is needed today make no mistake about it. If we do not, things will go to pieces, not that God will allow it to go that way, but there is a moral responsibility, a moral obligation resting upon each brother and each sister to be men and women of purpose, and to be with God in the present critical situation. The world is adopting an overwhelming character and its influences, I believe, are being felt in all our hearts. May we have power by the Spirit to keep free from it, and not allow it to intrude into an area which is for the pleasure of God; and which is for the heart of Christ. The assembly is far too precious to allow worldly tendencies to destroy it, and what is for the heart of Christ in it. I appeal to the brethren to be concerned to keep the flood of worldliness out; learn what is in your own heart of the work of God, in its incorruptible character, learn how to become wise, learn how to take on the Spirit of Christ. Let it not be the spirit of argument, nor the spirit of human power, nor the spirit of human assertiveness. In Matthew the Lord Jesus is the great King. He only makes one claim as far as I can see. He says, “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11: 29), that is the claim of the great King. May we be like Him! Meekness is not weakness, meekness is a characteristic that will stand by the things of God cost what it may. So in Daniel, I think you see the man of purpose, the man of a set heart, not a man of a double heart. James says, “a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (see James 1: 8). There was nothing double-minded about Daniel, he was single-minded, and was set for the testimony in his own day.

I just finish with the thought of “This Jesus”. I have said that these men were unaffected by whatever circumstances they were in, they remained the same kind of men; if it was pressure, if it was glory, they were the same kind of men. It says, “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven” will come again in like manner. I want to say this, very simply and reverently, He will come, even after nearly two thousand years. He will come again and He will just be the same Jesus—no change, no modification needed, the same blessed Jesus. He will be the same dependent Man who knew what it was to spend a whole night in prayer, the same Jesus in glory. He will come again, “This Jesus”. May these things help us practically and simply to stand by what we know is right for the Lord’s sake.

Address at Buckhurst Hill
5 January 1992