THE COUNTRY, THE CITY AND THE KING
[p. 58] THE COUNTRY, THE CITY AND THE KING
Philippians 3: 17 - 21; Luke 19: 11 - 27
We find the Lord saying in Matthew 13 that “every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a man that is a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old” (verse 52). It is the thought of what would mark the scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens to put together things new and old. You find that a very great many thoughts taken up in the New Testament are thoughts found from time to time in the Old. All these thoughts are taken up in the New Testament. One thing about these thoughts is certain. We find them all centred in a Person — Christ — in Him is the yea and the amen. Everything in the Old Testament gets its character from the One in whom the thoughts are taken up. We are acquainted with the thoughts I have in my mind to take up tonight in a natural way.
They are (1) Country; (2) City; (3) King. All understand them. We live in a country which has a city — a metropolis — ruled by a king or queen. I am going to take up the thoughts in the way they are presented in the New Testament. All these thoughts serve to test christians at the present time; to test the fidelity of christians. You find a great many thoughts in the Old Testament taken up in the New. In Abraham it is God blessing; in Israel, God dwelling and in David, God ruling. Three great thoughts came out in the Old Testament times. In Abraham, righteousness; in Israel, sonship, and in David, eternal life; all of which are part of God’s purpose for man, and all set forth in Christ, and all of which came out in the course of God’s ways. We get the character in the one in whom they are centred. I take up the three thoughts. In Abraham you get the idea of ‘country’;
in Israel the idea of ‘city’; and in David the idea of ‘king’. Moses was king because he was the meekest man on earth. That is the proper characteristic of a king according to God. My object tonight is to try and show what the divine idea is in connection with each; how they are taken up in the New Testament and their application to us and their effect on us at the present time. I do not think they are much to us if they do not tend to establish and instruct us in divine purpose. Each of these thoughts are peculiarly applicable to us at the present time and test each one.
God promised Abraham that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. He gave to Abraham an inheritance referring to a country. He was called out by God from his country, kindred, and father’s house, to a land which he should afterwards receive for an inheritance. There it is you begin to get the idea of country. It presents the idea of expanse. It is not exactly like a city. A city cannot exist by itself. It would be nothing without a country in length and breadth. There is room in the country for men to contemplate the beneficence of God. It no doubt came out in a special way in the promised land. The eyes of God on it marked it. The expanse is a witness to the goodness and beneficence of God. There was room for it to be enjoyed. There is a great deal more but you can accept that much.
Now look at the ‘city’ for a moment. It is a place where religious and political elements combine. It is the seat of light and rule. The influence of London is felt all over England — it must exercise immense influence. If everything is right in regard to the city the effect is felt throughout the country. Jerusalem became a city and had influence over the garden of God, which included all the surrounding nations. It was the city of light and rule. Light from God and rule had their influence in the city. Man has a city for his own glory and that city will most surely come under destruction. Babylon came under destruction never to be restored.
[p. 60] The Psalms are continually speaking of the beauty of the city. The heavenly city is the seat of light and rule from heaven. So that I have given you the idea of ‘city’. I am not laying down the law but I give you ideas and thoughts. I have not gone beyond giving expressions Scripture would make on our minds.
Now as to ‘king’. The king is the vessel of rule, not the seat of rule. The king is the representative of God for light and rule. When the kingdom was set up in the time of David, Nathan was prophet, Zadok was priest and David king. What God intended was set forth in three persons. They were not combined in one person, nor could they be. The prophet was a check on the king in order to bring the mind of God to bear on him. The king was always subject to the prophet. The king never takes priestly functions. The mind of God was expressed in the three persons. That is the Old Testament.
Now I want to come to the New Testament. But first as to Abraham — he was not content with an earthly country; he sought a better, that is a heavenly country. He sought a city which had foundations whose builder and maker is God. Abraham was familiar with the cities but he did not find a city on earth that had moral foundations; he looked for one which had foundations; the thought and aspiration of Abraham really went beyond what was of earth. The answer to that was “wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he has prepared for them a city”, Hebrews 11: 16. All that God spoke to Abraham about was earthly, yet his faith went out to the heavenly city.
Now I pass on to the New Testament. I want to show that all these thoughts come out in application to us. We have a country. The Jews have no country on earth. Then how can the gentiles claim a country and be patriotic? If what Peter said to the Jews in his first epistle is true they have no country, and surely that [p. 61] might apply to the gentiles. They can only claim a country providentially. The world is a wilderness and there are four wild beasts, which are the four gentile powers or empires, the last of which is now going on. The gentiles cannot claim a country when the Jews have not got one. Peter calls them “pilgrims and strangers”. People according to God — entitled to a country! Everything is out of course. If you claim a country you put yourself in the way of covetousness, taking the place of the elder brother. He is our portion. He never intended to give the prodigal the portion of the elder brother and no people can claim a country while the Jew is dispersed. In Philippians 3: 20, “our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens”. That was the country Abraham sought. It is not a new country if Abraham sought it. I do not doubt that others sought it. Moses had to die without going into the land but I do not doubt but that he sought a better country. When he was prohibited from entering the land of promise the grace of God gave him to anticipate the heavenly country. We have a country — Paul was caught up into it. The eyes of God are continually on it, and the goodness of God is in it. It is a large country, a vast expanse, and God’s will is done in it.
The angels of little children behold the face of Christ’s Father who is in heaven. It is a large expanse and our living links are there. The Father is there and the Son is there. The present is a most remarkable moment.
God, the Spirit, is on earth, and Man is in heaven. The Spirit is a witness to the fact that a Man is in heaven. It is a large and blessed country where God’s will is done — the scene where the goodness and beneficence of God is fully known. “Our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens, from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour”, etc. Philippians 3: 20. Again as to the city. We have a city. In Hebrews 12: 22 mount Zion represents moral principles. Not the city of the great King but city of the living God.
[p. 62] The holy Jerusalem (Galatians 4: 26). Those two expressions I just want to touch upon. We come to mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem. The city of the great King — Jerusalem — on earth is desolate and a waste till the time of the gentiles is fulfilled. We have come to the city of the living God. When the kingdom comes to pass it is not simply the kingdom of the great king David, but the kingdom will be Jehovah’s. The earthly Jerusalem is really not a great enough city for the living God. A city is required that is really morally greater than Jerusalem on earth. That can never be the city of God’s glory. I really could not see that Jerusalem below could answer to the demands of the glory of God. It takes a long time for the city to form. He has been forming it for nearly two thousand years. He is forming a city which is according to His glory. You must get the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God, because the earthly Jerusalem is not sufficient for the glory of God. You are part of that which answers every demand of the glory of God. We are to behold Him without a veil. I cannot imagine anything more wonderful than the city of the living God that comes down from heaven having the glory of God in its full blaze. It is the seat of light and of rule. Jerusalem is free (Galatians 4: 26) — what marks the heavenly city is perfect liberty. We take our character from Jerusalem above. People take their character from their city. Londoners, who are citizens, take their character from London. We take our character from Jerusalem above. If you get a saint who has no kind of idea about Jerusalem above, there is not much character about that saint. On the other hand, one who is in the light of that city is in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. What brings us into liberty is the consciousness that we are according to God. If anything is allowed that is not according to God it brings us into bondage. If nothing is allowed contrary to God we come into liberty. I bring you back to the thought [p. 63] that it is a wonderful thing to form part of that city which will bear the full blaze of God’s glory. It is His moral glory. We want even now to get hold of the moral thought of glory.
So much for the country and the city. They should have their effect on us as we have a great deal to do with them. Most men take their character from their mother. Most men who become great have mothers who have fine characters. Jerusalem above, which is our mother, is free. Jerusalem above is only seen now in Christ as Man, the only Man who is according to divine glory.
Now we have to do with the king, but the king is Lord to us. There is the blessed vessel of God’s authority. Christ is not king to us exactly. The rights of Christ as king are in abeyance. He is the Son of God, the Son of David, and the Son of man. He is Prophet, Priest and King. We find in John they said “This is the prophet” and they would have made Him a king; then He went up into a mountain to be the Priest. It is a very interesting point to me that when the Lord was about to suffer He rode in as King — meek and sitting on an ass. “Thy king cometh meek” not condescending. His right hand could teach Him terrible things. He could be a lion against the enemies of Judah but the lamb is His character. In Luke 19 we find that a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. He has received it. He has gone within the veil, He has received the kingdom but He has not yet returned. We ought to be loyal to our country, patriotic to our true country — loyal to the One who is King according to God. At the same time our faithfulness and loyalty is really tested by our absent Lord. He committed goods to His servants and their loyalty was tested by the use they made of His goods in His absence. He has interests down here. All Christ’s interests are on earth. All that the Father told Him, He has told us, that we may know what His interests are in [p. 64] His people. He does not judge us in a hard measure, but He measures us according to the grace given us. The absence of Christ is the test of faithfulness and loyalty. What can I think of a king on earth when Christ the true king has gone to receive a true kingdom and to return. He will return and His enemies will be brought before Him, and every one of us must stand before the judgment seat of Christ, but we shall be in heaven. We shall come before the bar of Christ and we shall know what He thinks of the way in which we have used His goods. If you are a christian you are bound to be patriotic and loyal. “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might” and to take to us the whole armour of God and having done all — to stand! (Ephesians 6). I claim all things down here for the Lord. I am not going to allow that all belongs to man or the devil. Christ is the Head of every man. We have to stand in the power of His might against all the power of evil. Christians form the heavenly city which is the seat of heavenly light and rule. We are undergoing great education in order to reign. No one can reign without education. The principles are fitting you to reign — righteousness, faithfulness and power. A king shall rule in righteousness. You want to be faithful here in every obligation under which God has been pleased to place you. God is faithful and we learn faithfulness as we learn God. It is a great thing to be faithful. We want to be “strengthened with all power according to the might of his glory unto all endurance and longsuffering with joy” (Colossians 1: 11). Power is expressed in patience. The patient man is a powerful man. A man might be able to knock an ox down and not be powerful, in my mind. Meekness comes in — meekness — lowliness — and I think you want love. All these things — power, meekness, love — are education to prepare us to reign with Christ. Then there is suffering. The man who suffers is suitable to reign. It is a righteous thing for God to reward us according to our suffering for the kingdom. Now these [p. 65] things are important practically. You want to come under the influence of the country, and the city, and under the administration and subduing power of the Lord. These are two characteristics of the Lord and we want to come under these two. The first wave of His power will change these vile bodies, etc.
I can only pray God to bring home to us more really the country and heavenly city in relation to which we stand. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. The true secret of liberty is that by God’s work we are brought into His glory. The king is Lord to us. I cannot conceive anything more important than being here at the disposal of the Lord and coming under His subduing power which takes effect while the Lord is absent. I want the Lord to be more to me. I accept God’s ordering down here in patience. I want to be loyal to an absent Lord and to be taken up with His interests on earth: to be using His goods diligently until He comes again. Get your direction from the Lord. The Lord will teach every one how to use His goods in His absence and when He comes in as King then will be the reckoning time to those who have been loyal to Him in His absence. I think nothing will touch me more, though I am very little, than to hear Him say “Well, good and faithful bondman ... enter into the joy of thy lord”, Matthew 25: 21.