“THE LORD KNOWS THOSE THAT ARE HIS”
One of Satan’s most potent forms of attack has been, and is, by introducing corruption in the religious sphere; that is, instead of the pure mind of the Holy Spirit and the unquestioned authority of the Lord characterising Christendom, what is found in it is the corrupt mind of man working in the things of God and the complete disregard of the authority of the Lord. That being the position, how are things to be met by those who desire to be faithful?
The apostle first of all referring to those who were by their false teaching overthrowing the faith of some says, “the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, The Lord knows those that are his”. Whatever God founds will stand, the soul can rest on that, there is no question about it; the foundation of God stands sure. That is an important matter because when it comes to the question of following the injunctions, some people say that things cannot be as evil as they are made out to be because there are certain ones of God’s people linked with them. That is not our concern. “The Lord knows those that are his”. That is His matter. Our concern is to be governed by principles that are according to the rights of the Lord’s name and the holiness of God’s house.
The other side of the seal is this, “Let every one”—it is an individual matter—“who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”. The Name of the Lord must not be connected with iniquity. If I name the name of the Lord and am identified with iniquity I connect the Lord’s name with iniquity, a most serious thing to do. You may say, ‘What is iniquity?’ Iniquity is the working of the will of man in opposition to the will of God, and especially the will of man working in the things of God. That is iniquity. If I am identified with any religious body or system, the principle of whose existence denies the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit according to the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians, and denies too, the authority of the Lord if, for instance, certain parts of the Scriptures are discredited, and it is said that they are not inspired or that they do not apply in this day, that there has been development since the apostle’s day, or anything of that kind—any body or system that is marked by these features is stamped thereby as iniquitous. It is no use saying that there are many of God’s people connected with it, that is not the point. The point is that everyone is to accept responsibility for himself, if he names the Name of the Lord, to depart from everything that is of the character of iniquity.
But there is also another matter. This scripture not only authorises, and indeed requires, in fidelity to the Lord, those who name His Name to withdraw from iniquity, but it also authorises and requires those who would be faithful to the Lord to depart from persons who are vessels to dishonour. There again it is not a question of whether they are true believers or not, it is a question of whether they are vessels to honour or vessels to dishonour, and a person is to purge himself from vessels to dishonour. It therefore contemplates that we are to be available for service, for the service of God and to serve the Lord; but what is our service to, is it to honour or to dishonour? We are to separate from vessels to dishonour; it says, “If therefore one shall have purified himself from these, in separating himself from them, he shall be a vessel to honour, sanctified, serviceable to the Master, prepared for every good work”, v 21; every good work, a most remarkable and encouraging statement, that in such days of brokenness and confusion as exist in the religious world today, it is possible, as moving on these lines, to be available to the Lord for every good work.
The Scripture goes on to say, “But youthful lusts flee”. Flee them! Lusts are strong when we are young, they are lusts that show themselves in youth’s days, but, they will become stronger as we get older if we are not maintained in the power of self-judgment by the Holy Spirit, and the apostle says, Flee them! That is, it is not a question of saying that they will drop off, it is a question of fleeing them. It is a question of running away from them, so to speak, of keeping as far away as possible from them and from anything that would in any way prompt them or call them into exercise. We need to be drastic and energetic about it in the power of the Holy Spirit. These are urgent matters because of the truth being at stake, and everyone who comes under the power of Satan means a victory for Satan. It is an overthrow of the truth in that one for the time being.
And so we are to flee youthful lusts, and then we are to follow righteousness. The apostle is setting before us a positive line on which we are to move; we are to follow righteousness, pursue it. Righteousness is simply what is right in the sight of God in every particular, in religious matters and in personal matters. To do what is right in every particular in the sight of God is to be the first governing principle of our lives. Then as applying that to the religious world around us, we shall find that that involves a path of faith, in which we become strengthened, supported by the Lord the longer we continue in it in faith. Righteousness and faith come first and then love and then peace. There are some who would have us surrender divine principles on the ground of going on together in happy unity, who bring forward the idea of love; but love comes third. It is an essential feature in its right place, but righteousness comes first, and faith comes second, and then love comes third, and then peace comes fourth. As held in their right order, as we follow righteousness and faith we shall find that there is plenty of power to follow love and peace also, “with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart”, v 22.
I mention this in order that the younger ones may understand the way this epistle links up with assembly truth, for this epistle is pre-eminently individual, and the working out of it has to be taken up in exercise and faith by each one of us individually; but now what we come to here is that we are to follow these things “with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart”. That is, there is no suggestion of an isolated path, but God will see to it that there are those who are calling on the Lord out of a pure heart and we are to follow with them.
Well now, if we are to follow with others, if there is to be a moving together of the saints collectively, whatever the number may be, be it two or three, or three hundred, or three thousand, the only thing that can regulate them in their movements collectively is the truth of the assembly. Hence it is a matter of righteousness to govern ourselves as moving together on these principles, by the truth of the assembly, and it is in this way and on these lines that the truth of the assembly, which is so precious to us now in these days, has been arrived at, and it is on these lines and these lines alone that it may be continued right through to the end.
From ‘The Way Everlasting’
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