CHRIST AS DEFENDER OF HIS PEOPLE
[p. 280] CHRIST AS DEFENDER OF HIS PEOPLE
Zechariah 3:1,2; 2 Timothy 4:16 - 18; Luke 7:36 - 47; Luke 10:38 - 42; John 12:1 - 9
What I have in my mind to speak about is the manner of the Lord’s protection of His people, a subject that ought to be of real interest to us all, for we are still, as we may say, in the enemy’s country, and, as there, we are bound to be made to feel his unceasing opposition. At times the Lord may be pleased to give a season of quietude to His people, for if our ways please Him He is able even to make our enemies to be at peace with us. They may not cease to be our enemies, but peace is enforced on them. The enmity may remain, alas! whilst open opposition ceases. That often occurs in the history of God’s people, and we are all entitled to look for it. It is one great incentive for walking in ways that please God. He makes our enemies to be at peace with us, but then, as I said their enmity may remain, though only to express itself as the Lord permits it.
I have read this chapter in the Old Testament in order to call attention to the continuous presence here of the adversary. The word in the passage in Zechariah 3 rendered Satan is adversary. When Joshua appeared before the angel of the Lord the adversary was there. The angel of the Lord was there, and Joshua was before him. I only allude to it briefly. As Joshua appears before the angel the adversary appears there to resist him. And then the Lord says unto Satan, “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee”. Now there, is the great centre of all prophetic testimony. The situation is in that verse condensed. Jerusalem, Joshua the high priest,
[p. 281] Satan. The great subjects of prophetic testimony are brought together there. I am not going to engage you with prophecy exactly, although I do not hesitate to take up prophecy, for it is said to be the testimony of Jesus. Who among us who love Jesus can fail to appreciate, and indeed desire, to understand that which is His testimony?
Now Jerusalem, in the Old Testament, stands for the testimony, and if you are acquainted with the book of Zechariah, you will remember that in chapter 2 the angel is directed to “run, speak to this young man saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls”. (Zechariah 2:4) Zechariah was the young man, one who had a heart for the testimony. If you have a heart for the testimony you will be instructed in regard to it. Take Daniel, for instance, a young man, he had a heart for the testimony. Think of him there in the kingdom of the Medes, president among the princes of the realm, responsible for the huge business of the kingdom, think of him finding leisure three times a day to open his windows towards Jerusalem, for prayer. Jerusalem was everything to his heart, and he opened his windows three times a day, and that was in the teeth of the opposition of the princes. What a word for every young man here! And then we have Daniel’s prayer, a prayer that we should all study, and in answer to it he receives light; an angel is directed to enlighten him in regard to his people and his holy city; chapter 9. He is to be made to understand how many weeks are determined for the bringing in of everlasting righteousness and for the anointing of the holy of holies. Daniel is also made acquainted with the character of the opposition. In chapter 7 the history of the Gentile monarchies is outlined to him, ending with the great western power with which we have all had to do. In a certain sense we come under it. We have all had to do with the western power, and [p. 282] it was that great western power that had to do with the Lord Jesus. It was that power that cut-off Messiah. I only refer to it in the briefest way so that you may understand the nature of the opposition of the adversary. The history of the monarchies is pursued till the fourth power is seen acting against Christ. Then in chapter 8 you have the history of the same monarchies only in their eastern bearing, and their history is pursued till in the end a man of “fierce countenance” arises and he attacks Christ, the Prince of princes. In other words, the world-power in its eastern and western branches is seen at the end energised by satanic power against Jerusalem and against Christ. That is what is coming in. When God will revert to Jerusalem, as He will when the assembly is removed, for He has never given it up, He will be as a wall of fire round about it, as we learn from this prophet; and He will bring in man and clothe him in Jerusalem. So that you have the city defended, and man in it clothed. That is the purpose of God in regard to Jerusalem. The energy of the Gentile world will be directed against it, but only to meet with the great Defender of Jerusalem, “The Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee”. I cannot go into the detail of the results to these Gentile powers, but that will be the great end. The prophetic scriptures are full of it, full of what God will do for Jerusalem, and how He will establish in Jerusalem that which is according to Christ, as represented here by Joshua.
Now I wish to turn to what I had specially in view, and that is, to show you how God, for the moment, has turned aside from the literal Jerusalem, and has placed His testimony among the Gentiles. He has turned from the earthly Jerusalem and He has set up His testimony in another way among the Gentiles. I hope to come to details presently, but I wish to show you how that for which Jerusalem [p. 283] stood is now connected with the assembly, and that directly the true bearing and character of the assembly comes to light the world-power attacks it. I have, therefore, referred to the apostle Paul, because he was the great vessel in whom that testimony came to light. You will remember that in Acts 26, in the detail of his conversion, it is said that a light above the brightness of the sun shone from heaven round about him. There had been light set at Jerusalem, but it is a wonderful thing to be illuminated from heaven. Now we may say that heavenly light shines about us; the light shone all about Paul; and when Christ was born the glory of the Lord shone round about the shepherds.
Now, it is one thing to have the light about you and it is quite another thing to have it in you. In Paul’s case the light entered into him. The light of Christianity, we may say, is all round about us. It is a wonderful thing that God has been pleased to shed light from heaven, and it is all around us. But it is one thing that it should be all around us, and another thing that, as I said, it should be in us. God’s thought is that it should be in us. It entered into Paul, so that Paul became a luminous body; that is to say, he became a reflection of the testimony. He says, “not as Moses, who put a veil over his face”. If there was a veil, it was not over Paul’s face. If there is a veil anywhere it is on men’s hearts; that is where the veil is. The god of this world has placed it there, he has placed the veil on men’s hearts so that the light of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine for them. In Paul there was the reflection of the testimony; he was the witness of it, and so he comes in contact with “the beast”. The four Gentile monarchies are likened to four beasts.
Now beasts are made to be taken and destroyed, but God, in wonderful forbearance, bears with these [p. 284] beasts till they commit some overt act against the testimony. In this there is an important principle for us. We are not to interfere with the agents of evil. We know they are there. We know they are ravenous beasts, but we are not to interfere with them. Neither does God interfere with them until they commit some overt act against Him. He allows them, in wondrous patience, to continue their course. The wicked man described by Daniel, who practised and prospered, is allowed to pursue his course until he stands up against the Prince of princes and then he is “broken without hand”. The fact is, that in the future the whole world-power will combine under one head. The beast, the false prophet and the kings of the earth will all be gathered together against the Lord, but only to meet their final doom. The Lord comes out of heaven with His glorious titles. He has imperial titles. The only one entitled to imperial titles is Christ. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He will come in imperial and heavenly glory. The beast and the false prophet, the great representatives of worldly power, are taken and cast alive into the lake of fire. Think of the power the Lord has! Consider the power of the angel who sat at the Lord’s tomb, of whom it is said, “his look was as lightning ... and for fear of him the guards trembled and became as dead men”, (Matthew 28:3,4). If all the navies and all the armies of the world were put together, how easily God could smite them with lightning!
Now the Lord Jesus Christ controls all that power. The beast and the false prophet will be taken and cast alive into the burning lake. If all the power of the nations were concentrated under one head, what is that in the presence of Christ? The beast and the false prophet are taken alive; Napoleon was taken alive and imprisoned, but he escaped. He broke through the power of Great Britain and escaped, but [p. 285] will the beast and the false prophet ever escape? No, they will be taken, alive and cast into the lake of fire. And then this great adversary, whose titles are given to us in Revelation 20, will be bound; an angel comes down with a chain; what irony is in that figure; and that great adversary, the Devil and Satan, is chained and cast into the bottomless pit to remain there for a thousand years. Such is the power that is in the hand of Christ, the great Defender, of Jerusalem and the great Defender of the assembly.
When the “beast” attacks Paul, he says, “The Lord stood with me”. (2 Timothy 4:17) There was not another to stand by him; he says, “all men forsook me”. How searching that is! How we recoil from “the mouth of the lion”! Paul did not; he says, “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion”. (2 Timothy 4:17) The lion was not destroyed, nor is he yet destroyed. Indeed, Paul was afterwards, as it were, given to him, and it was Paul’s glory to give up his life for Christ, but the Lord did not allow him to be sacrificed to the lion until by him the preaching is fully known. If the preaching is fully known, Paul can depart; he can have the honour of martyrdom. But the power is in the hands of Christ, and the lion’s mouth must be closed until the preaching is fully known. Thank God, Paul was retained here until then. The Lord was the great Defender of the testimony and the preaching must be fully known and all the Gentiles must hear, and then Paul can depart.
All the apostles, I doubt not, suffered martyrdom. That was an honour which they all coveted. Peter said, in writing his second epistle, that he was about to put off his tabernacle, as the Lord had shown him; but this was not until he had finished his testimony.
[p. 286] He was not communicating anything new; he wrote to remind the saints of what had been already ministered. He puts off his tabernacle when he has finished his ministry, and not before. And so with Paul; the lion’s mouth is stopped, so to speak, till the preaching is fully known, till all the Gentiles hear. We are among the Gentiles, and, thank God, we have heard. But the lion is going to open his mouth again. The great western persecuting power is really continued in the ecclesiastical system that has replaced the empire, and it will reappear in an imperial character and it will attack Jerusalem; but only to be broken, never again to be revived. The beast and the false prophet are taken alive and cast into the lake of fire.
Well now, I want to come to the three, scriptures in the gospels which I read. I wish to show you how the power of Christ that will be exercised in the defence of Jerusalem, and has been exercised in the defence of the testimony set in the assembly, is now exercised in the defence of the saints individually. I want to show you, if I can, how He defends us in detail. Many of you may think that you have no part in that which is to be defended, and that you understand little or nothing about the testimony. Well, I would say this to you, If you are a believer in Christ, you are a lover of Christ, and if you are a lover of Christ you are sure to come under persecution. Every lover of Jesus suffers. This woman in Luke 7 was a lover of Jesus. I refer to her only in this way. Every lover of Jesus expresses his love in some way. It is futile to talk about loving Christ if you do not express it; I could enlarge upon that, but as you express your love to Jesus, you come under persecution.
Now, what I wish to show you is, that Jesus defends you. We all know that British sovereigns assume the title of Defender of the Faith. That is [p. 287] a very great title to assume, and it is questionable if that has ever been true of a wearer of the British crown. The great Defender of the faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this woman had faith, and as having faith, she had affection. She had love for Jesus, and, as having love for Jesus, she expresses it, and thus came under persecution; but the Lord defended her. What a glorious defence it was! How complete! Simon himself is compelled to defend her. In answer to the Lord’s question as to who would love Him most, he says, “I suppose that he to whom he forgave most”. (Luke 7:43) That was the woman. How the Lord stops the mouths of our opposers! He only can do it. Leave it to Him. You cannot do it. Had this poor woman been left to defend herself in the presence of Simon the Pharisee she would be under a great disadvantage. She had no title to be in his house, but Jesus had been invited there. Simon could not but recognise the Lord, for he had invited Him, and Jesus seizes the advantage and defends the one who loves Him. He silences her opposer. I suppose there is not one in this room tonight who would not profess to be a lover of Jesus; if you are, He will defend you.
Now, suppose you are a listener and learner; that is what Mary was. I trust we are all here as learners. No one, I trust, has come to this meeting out of mere curiosity, but as a learner; the Lord defends the learners. Christians need instruction, and the Lord Himself is the great Instructor of His people. If you sit down, as Mary did, to listen to Jesus, you will be persecuted. It may be by one near to you in the flesh; it may be by a wife or a husband. It may be said to you, Why can you not stay at home, instead of going to the meeting? How often that question is raised. If Jesus is teaching we must be learners from Him, and we must allow nothing to interfere with us in this. Would to God the saints [p. 288] could listen more to the Lord! Mary was listening to Him. We are told that she “was listening to his word”. We are not told what He was saying, but if you are listening to Him you will find that He is always speaking. Mary was listening to Him and Martha condemned her. Martha was a remarkable woman. She owned the house. It is spoken of as belonging to Martha, and evidently she was a hospitable woman; indeed, she was a true saint of God, but she was a persecutor of Mary. Your Christianity may not save you from being a persecutor. You remember that Ishmael, who, although brother to Isaac, was Isaac’s persecutor. Relationship of that kind does not save you from becoming an instrument of evil; though it may be in a very small way. But the Lord defends Mary; and how perfect His defence is! He says to Martha, “thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good, part, which shall not be taken away from her”. Mary is defended by the Lord. What He said justified Mary. He not only uses His authority to stop the mouth of Martha, but He shows that Mary was right. Mary was going in for what was eternal; Martha was engaged with the temporal. Mary was wise. In fact she was a child of wisdom; she was justifying wisdom, and the Lord justifies her.
We find Mary again in the gospel of John, the same Mary, and there she is a worshipper. I believe that Mary’s act in John 12 may be regarded as worship. The whole atmosphere outside was charged with murder. Mary felt it. She is not now engaged with the death of Lazarus. She sees those holy feet of Jesus, the same that had been anointed by the woman in Luke 7. Their journey on earth is closing. The Lord’s heel was about to be bruised by the serpent; the serpent dominated the situation for the moment at Jerusalem. Mary’s heart felt all [p. 289] this and was drawn out to the Lord’s Person. It is not now listening to what He is saying. She knows Him now. She has listened to Him; she has seen His power and has felt His sympathy. He had walked with her in sympathy to the sepulchre of her brother. She had seen His power in the resurrection of Lazarus, but now He is going to die, and her whole soul is drawn out to Him in worship.
I would impress upon you, dear brethren, the importance of meditating on John’s gospel so as to be imbued with a spirit of worship. If there is anything on earth that Satan hates, it is a company of saints worshipping the Father. But what a triumph for the Father to have secured in a world of opposition a company of worshippers! Well, Mary illustrates what God seeks. She is a worshipper and she is attacked, but the Lord defends her. He undertakes for her. He points to Judas. This time Judas is the accuser and opposer; the Lord points out the truth and Satan comes to light; the accuser is a thief. You may depend upon it that whilst opposition may begin in a very simple and small way, and you can hardly understand why it is there, or what induces it, in due time it will become exposed. What is the secret of Judas’ opposition? He was a thief and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. That was the opposer of the worshipper of Jesus. But the Lord defends her. He says, “Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always”. How we should take advantage of the presence of the Lord! Mary embraced her opportunity. He was about to die; but while He remained present she showed her appreciation of Him. She spent her all upon Him and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. This, as we have seen, draws out deadly opposition, but the Lord defended Mary.
[p. 290] Well, dear brethren, that is all I wanted to say. You can easily see what I have had before me, especially in the gospels. We find there the lovers of Jesus and they are defended by Him. There are also the learners of Jesus, and He is their defender; and there are the worshippers of Jesus, and they too are defended by Him. So that in every way we may reckon on the lord’s protection until the end.
May the Lord give us to refuse to defend ourselves, and to nestle under the wing of His protection.
Pages 291 - 363-”A Dispensation of Blessing”
Belfast and elsewhere, 1913 (Volume 19)