COMMITTAL TO CHRIST

C. J. H .Davidson

Ruth 1: 14–19, 22; 2 Samuel 15: 19–23; John 6: 59–63, 66–69

These are well-known scriptures, beloved, but there is one thing about this precious Book—it always wears well. I have often thought that one sentence of Scripture is more alive than all the books of this world put together, especially the religious books. You think of what is on foot today, out there, around us, in Christendom—men even daring to say that God should not be called “He”. And you think of the Father in majesty, in heaven, and Christ there as a Man; and we shall all be there as men, ‘Sons of God, divinely fair’ (Hymn 380). The blasphemies are getting worse and worse.

Both these women said they were going with Naomi, both of them. They said, in verse 10, “We will certainly return with thee to thy people”. I do not ask what brought about the change with Orpah, but there was a change. Let there be no change within you, you young people here! You think of Ruth saying, “Thy people shall be my people”, and she had not seen one of them! She was a stranger, a foreigner, as our second scripture says. How did she know what Naomi’s people were like? I was thrilled to hear the other day that when Mr. Coates, beloved servant of Christ, died at Teignmouth, the local newspaper had across the whole of a page, ‘A man like Jesus has died in Teignmouth’. Oh, you think of that, a man like Jesus! And I can vouch for it. The twice I had the privilege of going into his house he had the face of an angel.

Another man who was like Jesus was Stephen, the first martyr. Are we going to turn back, beloved, from following such a Man?—not following Mr. Coates; he has gone, though his teaching is with us still, and is to be treasured. You young people, I do not think you read enough of the foundational ministry of the recovery.

You say, What about Naomi? She was a sad-looking soul. But Ruth discerned that a woman who had gone astray to seek bread, when there was no true bread to be found in Moab, was in the process of being recovered. Have you ever been recovered? I have been. I should not be here today if I had not been recovered. Praise God! That is what people say who have been recovered—Praise God! Why? Because He is the Fountain of mercy. Naomi was returning.

You young people, I am especially concerned with you, because it is perfectly true that you can look out upon the meetings, the gatherings of God’s people, and see a lot of old people who will not be here all that long if the Lord Jesus does not come. And you may say, ‘There used to be so many young people and we could all be friends together and enjoy life’. Well, you are going to enjoy being committed to recovered persons, who once went astray, following men. Never do that; that is not following Christ.

Think of the recovering grace of the great Shepherd of the sheep. If you repent, He will bring you back with rejoicing. And that is Naomi. You may say, I do not find it very attractive.

Well, I do, beloved, because it is cold out there. And not only cold; the devil is out there. The devil is seeking to put defiling hands on the resurrection of Christ, and the virgin birth, and now on the majesty of the Father in heaven.

As I say, Orpah was affectionate; natural

affection was there. She kissed, and she wept, and she went back to her people and her gods.

You do not want to do that! You want the language of a woman who can say, “Thy people shall be my people”, and then she goes on to the gates of death. I will tell you, that woman died in fellowship!—not Christian fellowship, but she died in the midst of Israel. And Boaz says to her, “Jehovah the God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to take refuge”

(Ruth 2: 12). What an entry into blessing! And she will be there at the resurrection of the just.

I pass on to Ittai. He got a good name, that man. He was a Philistine. Of all people to be saved, he was a Philistine. Goliath, who came from the same city, was not saved. David dealt with him with one word from God, one stone. It was smooth, and my word today is smooth, and you can receive it in your heart. The men of Gath were all head-knowledge; none of them had heart-knowledge. The way the Philistines had got into the land of promise was not God’s way; they had come round without crossing the Red Sea or the Jordan. They were big men.

The strange thing is that it is very often so in human things that little men have the greatest opinion of themselves. It is what men call ‘compensating’. There is nothing of that in Christianity. Everyone is a nobleman of God. Why? Because they have been given the gift of God’s Spirit, and His glory has been put on every one. Oh, the blessedness of coming out of Gath and committing yourself to the true David!

Ittai’s name, as I said, is very interesting. It means ‘companionable’. Are you companionable among the brethren, you young people? Do you find your companionship among the brethren? Well, thank God this place is well furnished with young

people that are going, I am persuaded, to commit themselves to Christ, the rejected, dishonoured King. And, by committal, you become companionable. Oh yes, there is Scripture for it. I like to have Scripture for what I say. Hebrews 3 says, “We are become companions of the Christ if indeed we hold the beginning of the assurance firm to the end”. What is the beginning of the assurance? Every time you hear the gospel you go back to your beginnings with God. Do you? You ought to. I do. That is another thing Mr. Coates told me in his house the saints need the gospel, for by it they renew their own youth. You think of the Scripture,

“They that wait upon Jehovah shall renew their strength—they shall mount up with wings as eagles” (Isaiah 40: 31).

And so it is; every time I hear the gospel, I think, ‘Oh, I could be converted all over again’.

And it was—when I was young—some of you here are perhaps about my age then—I was nine, and Christ laid hold of me. The preacher said, ‘You go back home after this preaching and say, ‘Thine are we’—not David, but—‘ Jesus, and with Thee’—not son of Jesse, but—

‘Thou Son of God’ (see 1 Chronicles 12: 18). And I went back and did just that. Well, I have been renewing my youth ever since; up and down—I have had to be recovered. But there it is, beloved—in the book of Ruth it was peaceful enjoyment of the fellowship of the saints; the city of Bethlehem was moved. You think of some that have been recovered; not too many in these islands, but in Australia and New Zealand the Lord has worked. I pray nearly every day that He may work like that in this country, in these islands. Recovery is what we want to see. The Orpahs that have gone away have still an opportunity to return.

Ittai was, typically, a man who, like Timothy, could take his share of suffering as a good soldier

of Jesus Christ. It is very affecting the way David speaks here. He even suggests to Ittai that he should go back to Jerusalem and be with ‘the king’. Who was that? David’s rebellious, treacherous son Absalom. And yet David puts that title on him. You say, How could he do it?

I think even then he longed for Absalom’s conversion. It was never to be—he was a lost soul.

But Ittai says, “my lord the king”—not Absalom; David; and for us, Christ. And then, that beloved man, as a good soldier, puts death first. Not many of us would have done that. The king of terrors is not put first normally. But Ittai says, “Surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be”. How lovely recovery is!

These scriptures have often been gone over. You may say to me, ‘There is nothing very fresh about it’. But let the committal be fresh! The Scriptures have been used and used and used, but the committal is fresh. We want our own spiritual youth renewed this day. We have considered two individuals, a woman and a man; they make up the human side, the earthly side, of the assembly-men and women. Ittai had little children with him. Oh, you say, he took them into battle. No. He took them into David’s company, and they were taken care of. And you little ones, you will come into the arms of Jesus; as that old hymn says, which I used to sing when I was small—‘Safe in the arms of Jesus’.

Mark 10 tells us of the little ones. Jesus took them up in His arms; one by one He would do that, and each little one would feel the strength and warmth of those arms. And then, Mark says, He laid His hands upon them, and He blessed them. Do you think those children would go back afterwards? They would be told in due course that the

Man who had taken them in His arms had gone over the same torrent that David had gone over in rejection. You go to John 18 and there is a Man there, the lowly Man of sorrows. It says He passed over the torrent Cedron, and He went on His way to death. David did not die at this point. He died, not a very old man; he was only seventy when he died, but he felt old.

But Jesus—you think of it—a Man in the full glory of manhood, at thirty-three, going out over the torrent Cedron. The water had been flowing from David’s time down to His, and He went over that torrent to die—for you and for me, but primarily for God, to secure a universe for His pleasure. And He is still the rejected King.

When we come to John 6 it is a whole company that is facing a division, and many are going back and walking no more with Him. What did He feel as to them? Scripture does not say.

But I know what He felt as to the eleven lovers that He gained for Himself. Judas was there, but he never loved Christ. So He says to the eleven that He could count upon, “Will ye also go away?” What was the trouble? It was a Man speaking of what is heavenly, as we have been speaking today, and people said, ‘It is too hard for us. We would rather go on with our pleasures and amusements in the world. We would rather have that than have the words of life eternal’. Those words have been amongst us today. Are you going to go away? I admire Peter! He failed; but he was a wonderfully enthusiastic man. We have already referred to what he says in his thrilling way—“The resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being subjected to him” (1 Peter 3: 22). The moment the Lord asks that question, quick comes the reply—let it be quick in this room—“To whom shall we go? ... thou art the holy one of God”. You say, ‘I find separation very

irksome’. It is the “holy one of God” that has been cast out from this scene, and we ought not to be ashamed of that testimony if we are cast out.

So, there it is, beloved; my word is finished. But I do want, for myself and for the brethren, whole-hearted committal to Christ. We cannot go anywhere else—“Small, few, of no account”; the, prophet Isaiah describes us in those terms (Isaiah 16: 14). That is where we are today—“Small, few, of no account”, but oh the glory, the marvellous expectation, of entering heaven with Christ! May we be steady, beloved, until that time, for His name’s sake.

Address at Newport
27 September 1986