CHRISTIANITY MARKED BY WHAT IS GREAT
Paul Martin
Hebrews 4: 14-16; Ephesians 1: 16-23; Hebrews 2: 1-4
I would like to say a word as to Christianity characterised by what is great. We are accustomed to what is small, and we are not to despise the day of small things. There is blessing in accepting it. All that has been committed into man's hand has broken. That has been so in every dispensation, but what marks out Christianity in its distinctiveness is that it is characterised by what is great. When the Lord Jesus came in, it says "He shall be great, and shall be called Son of the Highest", Luke 1: 32? Immediately it says, "He shall be great", not that He shall be greater than what had gone before, He is beyond compare. He came in in that way. This epistle to the Hebrews is a book of contrasts in which we have what is better, "better hope", "better promises", better than what had gone before. But when you come to Jesus He is great. Oh the greatness of the Person of the Lord Jesus who gives character to the whole of the dispensation and the whole of what God will secure. Think of Him in His Person! Think of the glory of who was here as He moved, One who could say, "Before Abraham was I am", John 8: 38, the One who could say "I am", and ''they went away backward and fell to the ground", John 18: 6, the glory and majesty and power of the One who was here! There had never been a man here like that before. How glorious! "God manifest in flesh, Oh wonder of His universe!" (Hymn 400). How great the incarnation! And yet great not only because of who He was - that must infinitely and always be so - but great as you ponder the order of that humanity that was here in moral perfection. His moral excellence, perfection, was great, the One who could speak to that woman at Sychar's well. Who else could have unfolded to her heart, exposing it to her but unfolding also what was in His heart that might satisfy hers? Who could have done that but the One who was here? Then the woman in chapter 8 of John, think of the glory of the One who could say, "Neither, do I condemn thee", v 11. Who else could have done that? Coming to that man in chapter 9: "Thou, dost thou believe on the Son of God? ... And he said, I believe, Lord: and he did him homage", v 35,38. Think of Him finding one man who had been cast out, associating him with Himself in relation to another world altogether. How great He is!
Some of us were speaking last night about the manna and the oblation. It says as to the manna it was "fine, granular", Exod 16: 14. It lay upon the face of the wilderness. Think of the fineness of the manna and the fineness of the oblation, merging in Jesus, an oblation of fine flour mingled with oil. They merged in the glory of His Manhood. The manna was round, granular. There were no rough edges, if I might speak reverently, in relation to the humanity of Jesus. And the oblation was fine. Everything there for God was held in absolute perfection. His righteousness, His love, His holiness, His sympathy for man, His longing for the heart of God, all was held in absolute perfection. Mr Darby says, "I hesitate to speak as to balance in relation to Jesus, but He was perfect". Was He not great? That order of humanity that came in, was it not great? It is great still. "He shall be great". Oh, let us feast our souls upon that order of humanity! For the Israelite the manna ceased, but for us, the manna, let it not cease! Let it become the food as we are going through the wilderness, that might form us in the features of that perfect manhood, that the features of Jesus, the spirit of the Lord Jesus, might become manifest in our pathways as we move here. We often excuse ourselves. We say, Oh, that is Mr So-and-so, you have to take him as he is. What about the Lord Jesus? Let us feast upon the perfection of that blessed Man! As I say, for us the manna does not cease but along with it goes the old corn of the land and the other food that is so available to us because of the One who is there at God's right hand.
I have read as to His priesthood: "Having therefore a great high priest". Israel were conscious of the high priest. He was ordained for his service but we never actually see him functioning in his service, not in its fulness, but the Lord Jesus has never ceased to function in the wonderful service as the "great" high priest. We have such a great high priest. How great He is! Think of all the scriptures from Genesis to Malachi, all speaking of Christ. It says, "he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself", Luke 24: 27. You can imagine those two, if I am not fanciful, going back on their journey, saying to one another, I never thought we would see His glory in Genesis. But now they would see it there. I never realised that His glory was being spoken of in Exodus. I never realised it was the glory of the One who had come in that was for God's pleasure that was being spoken of in Leviticus, but they would have seen the whole of the Scriptures in a light in which they had never seen them before. What a Man! Is He not great, beloved? Oh, dear young person, I would appeal to you, how do you stand in your link and relation with the One who is there tonight at God's right hand? He has "set himself down on the right hand of the greatness on high". That is Hebrews 1 verse 3 - not on the right hand of the throne of God, but "on the right hand of the greatness on high". How morally great, how excellent the place that Christ has! And He has you, and He would hold you in relation to Himself where He is. I would say to you, it is not an insignificant path into which you have been called. God has in His heart for man "Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man's heart, which God has prepared for them that love him, but God has revealed to us by his Spirit", 1 Cor 2: 9. We have been speaking of the necessity of making way for the Spirit of God day by day in our relations together and the Spirit, day by day, would give you a greater appreciation, give me a greater appreciation, of the things that are in the heart of God for man. How great they are!
We have "a great high priest who has passed through the heavens". I do not know how many heavens there are. Paul was caught up to the third heaven, but Solomon says, "the heavens, and the heaven of heavens, cannot contain thee", 1 Kings 8: 27. But think of how great this Person is! He has passed through all the heavens. It has been said He filled every heaven through which He passed. How wondrous He is! Who else could fill the heavens, but He fills them all. Think of the angelic beings seeing Him go up, passing through one heaven then through another. He passed through them all. He is greater than the whole created sphere. He Himself brought it into existence. But it is that blessed Person, so great and so glorious, who is our great high priest. He has sympathy and He has feeling. He has been "tempted in all things in like manner, sin apart". Think of the perfection of Jesus! Often we are tempted by things because we have allowed sin to work. He was tempted in all things but sin apart. He felt all that had come in upon humanity and He carried it in His spirit and it affected Him in His spirit, one might say reverently. But He was sinless. All that was working in the system of the world through which He passed had no place in the heart of Jesus. What a great High Priest! And he knew what man was feeling. He knew the sorrows of mankind. He knew the weakness of man, weak, mortal man. He knew that. Think of the feelings that He has and as we draw near to the throne - it is not exactly that we draw near to the Priest; it is not exactly the Priest that gives us strength, the strength is coming from the throne tonight. How wonderful to be conscious of it. You come into the presence of God feeling how weak you are, maybe in your testimony at school or in the office, you come before the throne of grace and find that there is One there and there on your behalf before God and He is there that you might prove and I might prove all the resources of strength and grace that are flowing from the throne to sustain persons who are seeking to be here in God's testimony. It is there that the resources are flowing because there is a Man there, such a great High Priest.
In Ephesians I wanted to touch on the greatness of the saints. Paul uses superlative language in this epistle, especially in this chapter. He says, "being enlightened in the eyes of your heart, so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints". Think of God having an inheritance! Paul says on Mars hill, "nor is served by men's hands as needing something", Acts 17: 25. In His absolute deity He needs nothing from man, but His heart has looked for an answer where He could dwell. It says in the Psalm, "This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell..." Ps 132: 14. He is going to dwell amidst His people. It says in Revelation, "and he shall tabernacle with them... and God himself shall be with them, their God", chap 21: 3. Think of the glory of what God will enter into in relation to His people, that He will find in the saints an answer that speaks to Him of Christ in those formed features that have been wrought out through conditions of suffering, through conditions of weakness here, and yet going on quietly in dependence with God, conditions wrought out so that the features of Jesus have come into expression. God says it is His inheritance. How great the saints are! When you come to an occasion like this, you may not think too highly of the saints. I tell you, you are in the greatest company that there has ever been on earth, the company of those who are God's inheritance. How dignified they are! How exalted! We stand up here on a platform but really we should be down there. The saints are so great. Any that serve serve in the light of the exalted character of the work of God in the saints and the servant is never greater. Think of the Lord Jesus coming in: "For also the Son of man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister, and give his life a ransom for many", Mark 10: 45. What a model we have in the Person of the Lord Jesus! He came in to serve others. He came in as a bondman. But when we think of the saints and the excellent that are upon the earth we are thinking of the glory of what is for God. Think of the glory of His work! It struck me in the week that the work of God in the saints here today will be no different when it is translated, save that it will have a body that is suited to it. Oh the value that is in a company like this: how great the saints are!
Paul in writing to the Corinthians where there was very much that had to be put right and matters that we would shrink from - thankfully matters that we are not accustomed to amongst us - speaks to them in the light of what they are to God. In speaking of the saints, in holding them in our affections, let us always remember what they are to God: they are His inheritance. I remember once speaking of a certain brother and my father said to me, You know, you will get the greatest help if you speak to the brethren about the Lord and speak to the Lord about the brethren. I think there is a lot in that. I have proved it to be so, to speak to the Lord about the saints and speak to the saints about the Lord.
In Hebrews 2 I want to touch on this "great salvation". There is a peculiar bearing in these passages in Hebrews on the Jewish believers. Salvation was much in the mind of the Israelite. The Lord says that to the woman in John 4? ''for salvation is of the Jews", v 22. Therefore, this passage has a peculiar bearing on the Jewish believers to whom the apostle wrote, but it does not stop there. It has a bearing on us too for "Every scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness", 2 Tim 3: 16. Paul in writing to the Hebrews says there is what had been spoken of before by angels and those that did not receive the word received just retribution. That was the dispensation in which they lived. How solemn it was! But in our day as we are often reminded, grace reigns through righteousness, but it is equally solemn because we are dealing with what is so great. In chapter 1 we have the Speaker: God has spoken; in chapter 2 we have the speaking, and the speaking has come and there has been much that we have heard. Think of what has come out through the Lord Jesus personally, and the words of the Lord Jesus stand in their own distinctiveness. Paul says, "and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus", Acts 20: 35: they stand in their own distinctiveness. But then there is what has come through the apostles and what has come right down to the present day. In the 1800s the Lord in His grace brought in recovery to light that had been there all the time, and opened it up in its glory. That light affected the whole of Christendom and persons throughout the whole earth in various denominations began to be affected by the glory of what had come in in Christ as the exalted Head and the assembly here. It had an effect upon the whole of Christendom. The truth as to the Lord's coming and the rapture also had a universal effect upon believers. These were great things. Persons were meeting night after night, sitting round the dining table, households enquiring into the truth because it was so great. They had never heard it before. They did not realise. Light fresh to them dawned on their souls. Nothing else mattered to them. There was the Head in heaven and the body was here and they laid hold of it in faith and their whole life was regulated by it. Persons gave up high callings. Some of the nobility of this world laid it aside for the moment. It did not matter because Christ was there and His body was here. What wondrous light has come right down, but as it came it gradually in the eyes of those that heard it began to be common and of no regard and many alas! have fallen away.
I want just to touch on this because we have been in the presence of what has been so great. It had its origin in what the Lord said Himself and then it has come right down. Paul says to Timothy, "And the things thou hast heard of me ... these entrust to faithful men, such as shall be competent to instruct others also", 2 Tim 2: 2. It has come right down, and that truth remains. You may say to me, are you saying it is in this company? I am speaking of the truth as it has come down. It is for you to prove that it is here in this company. The brethren, I think, will understand what I mean in that. I know where I have found it and I believe most of us here know where we have found it. But alas! there is a danger, even in a company like this of becoming "negligent of so great salvation". There is a danger of becoming negligent, that the light that dawned on these men in the eighteen hundreds in all its fervour, and regulated their lives, maybe has lost something of its shine and its glory and maybe it has become second place; other things have taken priority. Let us not be negligent! It is not that here the Hebrews are turned away from it. It is that they were not handling what had come to them, the great salvation, in the light of the glory and the splendour and the greatness that had been made known. It had lost its glory to them. May it not lose its glory to any of us here. We are in a day of small things but let the day of small things not take away from us the glory of what exists and is maintained because Christ is on high and the Spirit is here. I feel so much the danger for myself of saying that everything is broken down and we will do the best that we can, and we may be negligent of so great salvation. You hear it said sometimes in relation to matters that come up, Oh well, we did the best we could in the circumstances. If we are desirous of keeping a place clean for the Lord, all the resources of the throne are available to us. What is done in each local company should reflect the glory of the One who is sustaining the whole system for God.
He says, "how shall we escape if we have been negligent of so great salvation, which, having had its commencement in being spoken of by the Lord, has been confirmed to us by those who have heard". Think of the glory of what has come down! You say, Well, we are not in the apostles' days today. And we are not, we are not in the apostles’ days, but the glory of what came out through the apostles is not gone, the light, the truth that was made known at such a moment at the early days of the dispensation has not gone.
I might refer to what impressed me on Lord's Day. Immediately the Lord says I am about to spue that system out of His mouth, John says, "... I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven..." There was the throne and One sitting on it and the rainbow around it-the faithfulness of God has not changed - and twenty-four thrones and twenty-four elders. The whole system was there in all its glory and Christ was the Centre of it. Think of the greatness of what has been carried through! Even though there may have been, and there has been, the greatest departure, we can by the Spirit touch a realm into which that departure has never entered because Christ is sustaining everything for God. I would appeal to you, especially my dear young brethren, get a touch of that world where everything is sustained tonight for the pleasure of God and you will find how great it is! There is no greatness in the world in which we are. People aspire to greatness: they promote themselves. Let us be careful of those features, the egotistic man. You learn about him when you go on these business courses, young people, the egotistic man. "Push yourself forward!" "Make much of yourself "! When you tread through such a scene, keep feeding on the manna because there is another order of man, not the man who promoted himself, but the Man who went down, down. How low He went! But God exalted Him because of His moral excellence that shone in His humility. Mr Darby says:
"Oh lowliness, how feebly known," (Hymn 138)
Would that I knew more of it, "... lowliness, how feebly known". I so often stick up for my own opinion, even my own judgment. Scripture says "submitting yourselves to one another", Eph 5: 21. You may have a judgment about something and it may be absolutely right, but do not forget to listen to what your brother says also. Submit yourself! Oh lowliness! It does not mean you surrender what is right. It means that in grace you may be prepared for adjustment. Who of us does not need it? We may see things in a certain light but who of us does not need adjustment and we shall need it all the way home because at the best we only see things in part. Soon we shall know as we are known, known in fulness, but at the moment we see things in part.
May the Lord help us! We are standing in relation to what is great, not in relation to what man has set up or what man has maintained. That is all broken. But we are in relation to what is being sustained by a glorious Man on high, all power having been given to Him in heaven and on earth. How great He is! And the Spirit of God is here sustaining an answer that will be for the divine pleasure eternally. May we be exercised to take up our part in it for His Name's sake.
GRANGEMOUTH
28 January 1995