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INTELLIGENCE ARRIVED AT THROUGH AFFECTION

J. Wright

I would like to speak of these three women as bringing out the feature of spirituality. I believe they set out how intelligence is arrived at through affection; not through mental ability but through affection. I believe this is the essence of spirituality. Initially the conscience must also come into it. Mr. Darby speaks of intelligence being arrived at through the conscience. I think with this woman in John 4 we can see that worked out in this conversation she had with the Lord. The Lord touched her conscience. Nothing can be achieved unless the conscience is reached. But we are not all conscience; we have a conscience but we have a heart, we have affection, and the Lord is seeking to gain our affections for Himself. If He gains our affections for Himself, He gains us for Himself; then I believe intelligence is quickly arrived at. These women in John’s gospel were quick learners. You might say as to Mary of Magdala, she was unintelligent, but she quickly became the most intelligent person there was.

The greatest message that had ever been conveyed to anyone up to that point was conveyed to Mary of Magdala because she was a lover of the Lord Jesus.

John 4 is a very familiar scripture, but the experience this woman had is to be an experience which we all know and have with the Lord Jesus. She had affections, but her affections were astray, they had gone after other men, but she found one Man whom her

affections could be focused upon. He secured her heart for Himself. She had affections but they were not satisfied. Are your affections satisfied? Have you found what satisfaction is in the Lord Jesus? It is a very simple matter but a very blessed matter. None but Christ can satisfy. We often say that in the gospel, and how true it is that none but Christ can satisfy.

This woman was delivered from materialism. We are living in a day of materialism, when persons make so much of what is material. They think they can find satisfaction in material things, a bigger house maybe or a better job or better circumstances. These are the things that persons may go in for for satisfaction, but they are unsatisfied. Of course the world’s system would collapse if persons were satisfied. The commercial system would collapse in a moment if persons were satisfied. Persons would not go after this, that, and the other thing to find satisfaction and spend their money on it if they were satisfied. What a wonderful object there is in Christ! We sometimes sing,

‘Be Thou the object bright and fair

To fill and satisfy the heart’. (Hymn 328)

He would fill the heart, fill it with His love, fill it with peace and joy. Oh, beloved brethren, there is so much in Christ! Christianity is Christ, not a system of doctrines. Doctrine is important, but Christianity is Christ. Paul found that “for me to live is Christ”, Philippians 1: 21. Christ had won his heart, and He won this woman’s heart. We do not know her name and we never hear any more about her. She was not a prominent person, but she was a lover. How many times she has been spoken of throughout the dispensation. How this interview she had with Christ magnifies the grace of the Saviour, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus was here as a real man for He had longings. He was wearied with the way He had come. He was weary of sin, of woe, of sorrow. He left Judaea and went away into Galilee.

There was not that which was responsive to Him in the hard soil of Judaea. Religious soil is hard soil,

You may be living in what is called a ‘Bible belt’, but it is hard religious soil. This woman was not a religious person, she was a Samaritan, an out and out sinner, a person of disrepute; she had a heart but it was not satisfied. The Lord Jesus speaks to her.

There is a little parenthesis here in verse 8 about the disciples. Twelve men had gone away into the city to buy provisions. Did twelve men need to go to buy the food? The Lord was left alone here. He says later to His disciples that He had food which they did not know. His food was to do the will of Him that sent Him and to finish His work. Of course we do need material things, they do need to be looked after, but they are to be kept in their right place.

Twelve men going off shopping, leaving the Lord Jesus alone, but what an opportunity He had to speak with this woman. There He was alone, a weary Man, with this woman. He was not weary because of what was within Him. He was weary because of what was around Him, and the circumstances in which He was moving. And there was this weary woman too, wearied through sin, wearied through trying to find satisfaction and not finding it. There they met at Sychar’s well, and the Lord Jesus says, “Give me to drink”. Have you ever thought of giving the Lord Jesus a drink? She was surprised that the Lord Jesus should ask such as her.

You get some surprises as to persons in whom the Lord is working. The Lord knew what was in this woman, she was one in whom the Father was working. She was one in whom there was new birth. It may not be apparent here, but the Lord had spoken of the teaching of new birth, and she was one whom the Father drew to the Lord Jesus. There was divine work going on. It is a great thing when we come to it that God has worked with us, the Father has worked with us, and the Spirit has worked with us. There can be nothing spiritual unless divine Persons have worked with us. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. John 3: 6. There could be nothing spiritual apart from the Spirit’s work. You might say, Was it in this woman? It may not appear to be, but it was there underneath and the Lord brought it to light in His skill and in His wisdom. He gets her to desire the living water. The Lord Jesus has the living water, it has been given to Him to dispense, all things have been committed into His hands. In the previous chapter it says, “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand” (John 3: 35). You cannot become spiritual without the living water, the gift of the Spirit. Not all believers may have the Spirit; on account of defective teaching and other things, they may not have it, but it is available. You can never start on the spiritual road without the living water, without the gift of the Holy Spirit.

I would like to ask the younger ones, Have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit? In this chapter it is presented from God’s side, from the Giver of the living water. This woman needed it, and you need it and I need it. Every believer needs the living water to deliver us from materialism, to deliver us from seeking satisfaction in other things. We need the living water, springing up into eternal life, “the water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life”. What a wonderful thing God has for you, the gift of eternal life, the enjoyment of eternal life. That involves life in a new sphere of things altogether. It is known and enjoyed on earth but it is a spiritual order of things, and it is enjoyed in a spiritual realm which is beyond death. You hear the brethren speak of what is beyond death, what is beyond Jordan. It is not exactly our heavenly privileges, that is more connected with sonship; but eternal life is what God has in mind for us to enjoy, a well of water springing up into eternal life. Well this woman said, ‘I must have it’, and you must have it. You can ask for it, as this woman did. She says, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst nor come here to draw”. The Lord Jesus is ready to give it. He says, “If thou knewest the gift of God”. The living water is not earned or merited, it is given, it is the gift

of God. Then He adds, “... and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”.

We are in a thirsty, barren world, and we find no resource within personally; but in having the living water you will find a resource within you in the gift of the Holy Spirit. There is the thought in John’s gospel of persons becoming independent — not independent of God — but independent of what is in this world. So we do not find our life in things here, not even in things which are legitimate, such as natural relationships, which are legitimate things, but the believer as having the living water does not find his life in those things. It becomes in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life. When she asks for it, the Lord says to her,

“Go, call thy husband, and come here”. That is what I meant when I said the conscience had to be reached. She said, “I have not a husband”. The Lord says, “Thou hast well said, I have not a husband”. You have had five husbands and you are living with someone who is not your husband. That is known in the world today. She came to it that she was in the presence of One who knew all about her, her conscience was reached. Her whole sinful course was exposed in the presence of the Lord Jesus. I do not want to dwell on that, but it shows that the conscience must be affected. She says, “Sir, I see that thou art a prophet”. She is conscious that she is having to do with God.

I just wanted to show how she quickly became intelligent in divine things. She takes up the matter of worship, and the Lord does not say to her, You should not be speaking about that yet. She spoke about worship, but she was thinking of place and material things. We are surrounded by that kind of thing. Where should we worship? Where should we go? Which church should we go to? The Lord is not speaking of that. It is not now in Jerusalem or Samaria, that is not the point; it is the securing of true worshippers, true persons who

can worship in spirit and truth, it is the condition in the soul. It is only a satisfied person who can worship. If you are not satisfied you would never know what true worship is. A true worshipper is a person who is satisfied. God is a Spirit is over against what is material, “God is a spirit; and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth”. She became a quick learner. She realised that she would not want that waterpot any more so she left it. She herself was a vessel, available in the service of God, a true worshipper. You do not have to wait a long time to be a worshipper, you can come to it immediately through the gift of the living water. Where that is known, “springing up into eternal life”, it would be springing up to the Source. God is the Source. The heart is responsive to God. She became a true worshipper, and she became a true evangelist. There are two things we are left here for, one is the service of God and the other is the testimony of God. Now this woman came into both, she was a true worshipper, and she was a vessel available to be used in the testimony. She went to the men, the men who once had power over her, but who no longer had power over her. No longer had sin any power over her. She is able to go to the men and say, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done—is not he the Christ?”

I want to speak now of Mary of Bethany, another person who became intelligent through her affection for Christ. The Lord loved these persons in Bethany, He was a Friend to them. They had regard for Him but at first He did not have the supreme place in Bethany. He had it in John 12, but in His first dealings with them He did not have the supreme place. I find it is very exercising. Has He the supreme place? They were related naturally, and the Lord Jesus in His love had to take Lazarus away. Lazarus died. The Lord felt that because the Lord loved Lazarus, and He felt the pressure of death that came upon this family. It was all in divine ordering that it should take place, because although the Lord was valued in Bethany, He did not have the supreme place. The Lord

in His love, beloved brethren, will never be satisfied until He has the supreme place in your heart and in mine. They went through sorrow, and the Lord was with them in it. The Lord could have prevented Lazarus dying, but He did not. He let the matter go its full course. He let death and corruption come in.

These are solemn matters to face because the best in nature is marked by corruption. It is not that you set aside what is natural, but you have to come to it—it is marked by corruption, even the best in nature. What we get in John 12 is the fruit of that exercise. They had proved the Lord’s sympathy. He can sympathise as no other can sympathise. As we go through sorrow and pressure we prove the sympathy of the Lord Jesus, our great High Priest. No one could sympathise with these two sisters like the Lord Jesus, He wept. The shortest verse in the Bible is, “Jesus wept”. Think of the Lord weeping with them. They said, Could not the Lord have prevented it? Of course He could, but they experienced His sympathy which they would not have experienced otherwise. They experienced His power, the power of the Lord Jesus to raise the dead. If the Lord Jesus had prevented it they would not have experienced those things. But the result is that He has the supreme place.

They made Him a supper. It is a great thing to be able to think of our gatherings together not only for what we get but what the Lord Jesus gets. What is there for Him? What will there be for Him tomorrow? What will there be for Him in every gathering? They made Him a supper for He had gained the supreme place in their affections. We would provide something for Him and be there if at all possible. They were those who loved the Lord Jesus in incorruption.

The Lord Jesus came to Bethany, He came to that locality because those persons were there and He was attracted to it. He was attracted to Bethany because it was where He was loved in a full way, in an uncorrupted way. The hearts of those persons were gained for Him, and it specially shines out in Mary,

There is no one out of place here, “There therefore they made him a supper, and Martha served”. She was not serving here in an encumbered way, she was serving in a dignified way,

“Lazarus was one of those at table with him”. What a dignified position that is, to be at table with the Lord Jesus! It is a great thing to sit down at table with the saints, with one another, but he was at table with Jesus. Then it says, “Mary therefore, having taken a pound of ointment of pure nard of great price”. It cost her something, “pure nard of great price” would speak of suffering. The Lord Jesus was here as a sufferer and He was about to suffer in a supreme way. The pathway of the Lord Jesus was a pathway of suffering that culminated in the cross. What suffering the Lord Jesus has known! These persons were appreciative of Him, they were sympathetic with Him, they were feeling for Him. We know what it is for the Lord to feel for us, but these persons were feeling for Him, they were providing something for Him. Mary took this ointment of pure nard of great price and “anointed the feet of Jesus”.

Some of us were reminded last Lord’s day that the feet of the Lord Jesus here were the feet that were going to take Him out of the world. In Luke 7 they were the feet that brought Him into the world, but here the feet of Jesus were going to take Him out of the world; He was going out by way of death, by way of suffering, but He was going to the Father. It says that in the next chapter. He was going out of the world to the Father. He came out from God and He was going to God. As coming out from God He had made God known, what God is toward men. In His going back to God, there would be in Christ what man is for God. We need to go over to the divine side of things. We so easily get preoccupied with our side of things. They were now thinking for Him, and the Lord was thinking of His Father, thinking of His God.

He was about to go out of the world, and how the Lord appreciated what this woman did, and

“the house was filled with the odour of the ointment”. I just want to comment on what the Lord says at the end, “Suffer her

to have kept this for the day of my preparation for burial”. It shows the intelligence that marked her, it was kept for “my preparation for burial”, the Lord knew that. She was one who developed in intelligence through affection for Christ.

Mary of Magdala stands out in this gospel as a great example of a lover of the Lord Jesus: It says, “on the first day of the week Mary of Magdala comes in early morn to the tomb, while it was still dark”. She did not wait for the sun to rise, it was still dark, but the Lord Jesus had already risen. The Father had raised Him, but the Lord Jesus had also come out of death Himself. The way the Lord is spoken of in this gospel shows that He came out of death Himself. He came out without a struggle. Mary was feeling the loss of the Lord Jesus. She says to the angels, “they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him”. The Lord, as going into death, had been taken away from her. Think of how she missed the Lord! Do we miss Him? In the time of His absence, He is not in this scene. Think of what it was to the Father to be without Christ as He was here in manhood. We cannot fathom what that was to the Father but the Father raised Him. Mary was without Him, but she received light as to heavenly relationships. Beloved brethren, no one can take Christ from us now.

Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ; death itself cannot do that. What a wonderful thing that is, that no one can take Christ from us, nothing can take Christ from us. But Mary had the experience of being without Him. All her life had gone. If you could take Christ away, our life would be gone. Christ is our life. Our life is dependent upon Him. It is a wonderful thing that no one can take Him from us. But Mary had the experience of Him being taken from her.

We might criticise the disciples for their lack of faith, but it was a real thing for them to be without Christ while He lay in death. They loved Him, they depended upon Him, and He was taken from them. They

had nothing except one another. They had the promise that He would rise again. What did they have without Christ? They did not yet have the Spirit! What desolation it must have meant for them to be without Christ. We do not want to be fanciful, but it must have been real to them. How Mary longed for Christ. She must be there at the tomb. Peter and John saw the linen clothes lying and they believed. That was to their credit that they believed, but they went to their own home. They would not find Christ there. If they believed that Christ was risen, why did they go to their own home? But Mary stood at the tomb weeping, she remained there. There was no home for her without Christ, no home in this world for her, nothing she could rest in without Christ. She remained there. She had to be adjusted, and she was adjusted. The Lord made Himself known to her when He said, “Mary”. He just called her by name, and she responded to that. She says, “Rabboni”, my own Teacher. She was conscious she would need teaching.

What teaching and instruction she had from the Lord Jesus. He was able to entrust her with the message. Peter and John were not available, although Peter was the leading disciple. No, they had gone to their own home, but she was available and she received the greatest light that had been revealed to persons up to this point, light as to heavenly relationships. The Lord says to her, “Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren”, these were His brethren now on spiritual lines. In the synoptic gospels, His brethren were so on moral lines, but these were on spiritual lines, because the Lord Jesus was out of death and He was speaking of heavenly relationships. He has those who are of His own order. What we experience on Lord’s day morning is a new order. When the Lord Jesus comes in the ground is changed, there is a new order of things which has come out of His death. He says, “go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father”. The Lord Jesus had not said that before. He had spoken about His Father, but He says now, “to my Father and your Father”. The Lord Jesus was ascending and His brethren would be associated with Him. Think of being associated with the Lord Jesus, and coming into relationship with the Father, “I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”. What light has been opened up as to our heavenly privileges, and Mary was there as a spiritual person to receive it. A few verses earlier she had been quite ignorant, but she was a lover, she became intelligent and was entrusted with this message. I just leave this with us that we might be helped in our affection for Christ. May the Lord bless the word, for His name’s sake.

Address at Denton
12 September 1998

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