MEN

^[p. 327] MEN

John 17:6 - 8; 1 Kings 10:8; 2 Samuel 23:8 (first clause), 13 - 17; 2 Samuel 20:11

I wish at this time, beloved brethren, to speak about men, that is, men as belonging to others; such as, the men whom the Father gave to Christ — the Father’s men; Solomon’s men; David’s men; Joab’s men; and the men of Hezekiah. The kind of being expressed under the term “man” is, of course, in mind, one with sympathetic feeling with God, for He says, as recorded in Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”. What was in the divine mind then has been unfolded; one of the main lines of divine instruction relates to that order of being, extending back to what is spoken of as the period “before the foundation of the world” and extending onwards and onwards and onwards without limit of time, entering into eternity. The gospel of Luke brings heaven in in an exultant way as Jesus was born, taking on that order of being — for that is what the incarnation means — a multitude of the heavenly host appeared to the shepherds saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” Luke 2:14. Notice it is “men” there. When heaven itself, in the Father’s voice, announced its feelings, it was to a Man — “In thee I have found my delight” Mark 1:11 — but not exclusive of others, for room was made for the plural thought; it is not ‘all my delight’ there, as we sometimes say, it is “my delight”. There would be an expansion of that inclusive of the men of purpose, all of whom are to be like that Man, and each relatively and all together pleasing to God. So that we shall be included in the divine expressions of satisfaction in that order of being, Christ being the Firstborn among many brethren. Anticipative of all this, wisdom, in Proverbs, speaking as personified, says that it rejoiced in the “habitable part” of God’s earth.

^[p. 328] There are other parts — having their purpose, for nothing was brought into being without a purpose; the uninhabited parts have their service to render — but wisdom was thinking of the habitable parts, and it says that it rejoiced in them. God indeed made the earth not in vain, or waste or empty. He made it to be inhabited, the word ‘inhabited’ having man in mind, and it is the habitable earth that is taken into account in Scripture, for the whole of the earth was for man; it was made to be inhabited, So that wisdom proceeds to say that her “delights were with the sons of men” Proverbs 8:31; whether the allusion to sons is prophetic or not, it is there, and would suggest that sonship is the most delightful relationship in which men are to appear, a relationship indeed in which God intends them to appear; and the longer we delay in getting into that relationship consciously and intelligently, the more we are depriving heaven of its rights and its pleasure. It is in that relationship that God intends to have men, hence the incarnation brought in sonship in the highest and most supreme way, for it is no less than a divine Person in that relationship, nevertheless a Man. So that God has Man in Christ. That was what He had always before Him, for Adam was but a figure of Him that was to come. I make this latter remark, dear brethren, because it is of importance that we should see that it is in this relation that God intends to have our race, that is, manhood as in Christ. That is how things are to stand ultimately, and the more delayed they are now in us through negligence or carelessness, the more we deprive heaven of its rights in us.

Well now, I want to comment a little on the Lord’s wonderful words in John 17. It is, I suppose, the most exalted part of Scripture for it records the intimate speaking of the Son to the Father. And what is to be observed is that the men of whom the ^[p. 329] Lord speaks form almost the whole subject of the chapter. There can be no doubt but that the verses previous to those read are preliminary, great as they are; they enter into relations between divine Persons before incarnation, which is unusual, for the Lord speaks of the glory which He had along with the Father before the world was. It is an inlet into abstract divine relations which ought to appeal to us more perhaps than any part of Scripture. But still, the Lord had these men in His mind. He was going on to the main thought, which was the men whom the Father gave Him — the Father’s men, as I may call them. Jesus was the Father’s Man — the Man spoken of in spirit in the Psalm: “I have found David”. He was a Man after God’s own heart. What delight the Father had in the One in whom was His delight, the One who would do all His will! “I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who shall do all my will”. Acts 13:22. He would work in perfect consonance with His Father in everything, able to carry out every divine thought. But He stands by Himself in that respect, and the earlier verses in our chapter relate to what He had done, to what He would do, and to His desire to be glorified with the Father along with the glory which He had along with the Father before the world was. One hesitates to move away from that great thought. How it should appeal to us! — the Father’s Man, the Man of His counsels, the Man who answered in every way to Him both in regard of His affections and in regard of His thoughts and counsels. Here was One who would do all His will, not unfeelingly, for the Lord carried out the divine will in its extremest thought in suffering; He felt things as a real man. No more real man ever lived, dear brethren, than the Lord Jesus; He felt everything in His own way as no one else could feel it. So He said to His Father: “My Father, if it be possible” — He addressed Him as Father — “let this cup pass from me”; He felt it — “but not as I will, but as thou wilt” Matthew 26:39. How delightful that was to His Father it was a matter between Them. So that the first five verses of this chapter stand in that setting as the Lord immediately proceeds to speak of the men whom the Father gave Him. One just mentions it so that we may take it into our souls, that the Father owned us before He gave us to Jesus. You may be sure that divine choice entered into that, that He gave to Jesus such as suited Him.

So He says to His Father, “I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world. They were thine, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word” John 17:6. We all know how gifts may be below what we expect. It was so in the case of Hiram. How dissatisfied he was with Solomon’s twenty cities! (1 Kings 9:12). But divine gifts are not disappointing, and especially what the Father gives the Son. Think of our being in that! Think of the pre-occupation of the Father with us: “They were thine”, the Lord says. They were worthy of being His. It was potential, no doubt, for formation had not then taken place, but God thinks as from the end, taking the whole matter in at once; so that each of us may nestle in that thought. We belong to the Father, and as men. It is “the men whom thou gavest me out of the world”. We had our part in the world, but “They were thine”, the Lord says, “and thou gavest them me”. And then, so as to show their quality — “they have kept thy word” — they are morally of worth. It is well for young christians, as well as all, to begin in this abstract way.

I doubt whether we will ever get on spiritually, unless we learn to think in the abstract, to get into the divine thoughts. It is very much like the pattern of the tabernacle; the whole thing is in the divine ^[p. 331] mind; it is only a matter of time till the end is reached, and here the moral qualities are immediately stated by the Lord — “they have kept thy word”. What a great thing that is, dear brethren — the Father’s word. It would be hard to prove it from detail, from the gospels, but there is no need of that, we can take the Lord’s word for it; He speaks from His own point of view, and it is the most comforting thing I know of to let the Lord speak from His own point of view. David is one of the best examples. How constantly he is referred to apart from his own responsible history; God took account of him from His own point of view. Why not? Why should not the Lord take account of David as to His own work in him apart from anything else? He is entitled to do this. So John says, “As he is, so are we in this world” 1 John 4:17. So that we do well to take the Lord’s word as it is: “They have kept thy word”. And moreover, “They have known that all things that thou hast given me are of thee” John 17:7. It would be hard to prove that from the details, as men prove things, but the Lord is speaking of them from His own point of view, that is, they have kept the Father’s word. He occupies the Father with the qualities of the men the Father gave Him, and how these qualities justified the Father — they had kept His word. And “they have known”, He says, “that all things that thou hast given me are of thee” John 17:7. That is, they have come to see that God is the Source of everything, an immense point in the men, that we trace everything to a divine source, all proceeding from the Father. The Lord makes a great point of that: “For of him, and through him, and for him are all things”. How the Lord inculcated that in His instructions!

And then further He says, “The words which thou hast given me I have given them, and they have received them” John 17:8. It is not only the general thought, but the words, in detail. It is a point ^[p. 332] of importance that we look at the words, as Jeremiah said, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy words were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart”, Jeremiah 15:16. And the Lord Himself said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which goes out through God’s mouth”, Matthew 4:4. These disciples came up to that measure; what qualities they had! How they vindicated the character of divine giving! They were worth giving and worth receiving; and the Lord is saying here just what they were and how He valued them, the moral quality that was there. So that He says that they had received the Father’s words “and have known truly that I came out from thee, and have believed that thou sentest me” John 17:8. So that these men are all thinking of God, you see; they kept His words, and they knew that what Jesus had received was from God, and moreover, they received the words that He received from God “and have known truly that I came out from thee, and have believed that thou sentest me” John 17:8. Now you see the setting of the men. They were set in relation to God in the mediatorial position. The men are set up in relation to eternal counsels before God, and this will go through and abide eternally. So surely the intent is that we should come into this, dear brethren, and justify the Father’s gift of us to the Son.

Linked on with that, as you can readily see, is this remarkable statement of the queen of Sheba; for, as ever, we find in the Old Testament the amplification of what is in the New. It is now an onlooker, seeing these men, for Solomon’s men are the same as I have been speaking of, they are given to Christ — Solomon being a type — and an onlooker sees them. It is a point that John makes in the testimony in view of the last days: “Come and see” John 1:39. Let us not be content with speaking of these beautiful things, as we are now; let there be something to be seen in ^[p. 333] the persons of whom these things are predicated. And the Spirit of God would say to all, “Come and see”. We are always safe in saying, ‘Come and see’, if we have Christ in mind, as Philip said to Nathanael, and the woman of Samaria said to the men of the city. But surely there ought to be something to be seen in such men as are spoken of in John 17. Peter says to the man at the gate of the temple in Jerusalem, “Look on us” Acts 3:4. There was something there to be seen; two men of whom the Lord had been speaking to His Father were there together, and the Spirit dwells on their going up together to the temple at the hour of prayer. What sentiments enter into the position — the ninth hour — the hour of Jesus’ death, when He said, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46. These men would not forget that. And Peter said, “Look on us” Acts 3:4.

And so the queen of Sheba came a long way, and she took notice of what she saw. “And when the queen of Sheba saw all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the food of his table, and the deportment of his servants, and the order of service of his attendants, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah, there was no more spirit in her” 1 Kings 10:4,5. Notice that her preliminary remarks allude to persons in service; that is, persons functioning in given positions of service. Now that is what she saw, and she clothes the position with the word ‘men’. She had an eye for the morally beautiful, and she says, “Happy are thy men!” 1 Kings 10:8. They may be cup-bearers or ministers, whatever it be, they are men, and they are happy. Is this not a word for us? There are young people here who perhaps are not too happy in the meetings, not too content with the privileges they are brought into. They have half an eye for the world, it may be, like Eutychus. Eutychus had a fine opportunity; there ^[p. 334] were many lights there, what men there were in that assemblage! Seven names are mentioned of those who accompanied Paul. You might say, Paul’s men — although we have not got that expression. We have “Paul and his company” Acts 13:13. But, as I said, there may be young ones here who have half an eye for the world, thinking that, after all, there is not so much among the saints. But the queen of Sheba had a single eye for what was there. She saw what was there; she saw what was transpiring, the order of things and the men that were functioning, “the deportment of his servants, and the order of service of his attendants, and their apparel, and his cup-bearers” 1 Kings 10:5. These were all men, she so designates them; undoubtedly she had all these in her mind.

We might go elsewhere and find that the king had friends, too. That is an expression we find with David and Solomon. Hushai the Archite is spoken of as David’s friend (2 Samuel 16:16). What a privilege to be the king’s friend! But then the Lord speaks of us as His friends, too. But the queen of Sheba sees men. Men come into her mind — happy are they, she says — “Happy are thy men! happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee, who hear thy wisdom! Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel” 1 Kings 10:8,9. And so I would appeal to all young brothers and sisters here to get a right view of the brethren, clothing them with right thoughts, as the queen of Sheba did — bringing forth the best robe, in principle. I often think of that; it is a matter of how I look at the brethren, the way I clothe them in my thoughts. God clothes them in His thoughts with the best robe, and I can do that, too. I begin to see what dignity there is, and the music and the dancing going on too — all that makes the scene most attractive spiritually. It is a question of taste, you know; if I cultivate the natural taste, like Moab,

^[p. 335] I shall not care much for these things. But I am to be happy in the position; I am to be satisfied, as it says, “The trees of Jehovah are satisfied” Psalm 104:16.

Now the thought of exploits leads me to David’s men. Solomon was a man of peace. His name signifies that; he was a son. But David was a man of exploits, not merely for the sake of exploits but because the testimony required them, and these mighty men are characteristically David’s men. We have the very words “David’s men” elsewhere, but here it is “the mighty men whom David had” 2 Samuel 23:8. You may say that they belonged to the beginning of his reign. Well, it would appear, in 1 Chronicles, that they are mentioned at the beginning of his reign; but in 2 Samuel it is at the end. So we must not think that mighty men were exclusively at the beginning of christianity, for they run on. We have a large number here to whom no particular exploit is accredited, but they are mentioned under this title: “mighty men”. And now I would appeal particularly to the young men here. One often has said that whenever a scripture is read, the bearing is to the person who reads it, or to the persons who hear it — that is the intent. Hence, if I am speaking of mighty men of David, I have in mind mighty men of Christ at the present time, and the greatness of being one of them, and that the need for them is urgent, too. Men who do things on their own initiative, as it were; not that you are independent, but the Lord will let you do what is right, if it is there to be done. If a thing is there to be done, He loves to see you do it. So we have here what characterised them at the outset: one man fought against and slew eight hundred at one time; another man called Eleazar, “when they had defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone up. He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave to the sword” 2 Samuel 23:9,10. One could say a little about that, but I refrain because of the time; but the complete identification of the man’s hand with the sword, that is, the word of God, is interesting. He went the whole length in that conflict and succeeded. And the point that is made as to him is that it was only the beginning, for the Lord wrought a great victory. The lesson, dear brethren, is that, if there is anything to be done in our locality or in relation to the whole testimony, it is for me to do it; I am to do it. What my hand finds to do, I am to do, and as I do it, God moves — it is as sure as possible. You say, Wait till God moves; but then, you move first; very often the real difficulty is in one refraining from moving, and God does not move because He is waiting for you. In a little thing or a big thing, it was as the mighty man did the thing that Jehovah wrought a great victory. That is really how things go on, how the testimony is defended and preserved, by brothers and sisters doing what comes to their hand, and the Lord works with them.

Then there are three of these men working together, and that is what I had in mind to speak about, for it is love. Three is a sub-division of twelve; twelve is the most divisible of all low numbers; any young person can see how divisible it is, and it is all on the principle of love; that is the idea. Here it says, “Three of the thirty chiefs went down, and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam” 2 Samuel 23:13. It is three men. It may be in a local meeting or generally, moving together out of love for Christ, for that is what it means. But they belong to this class; they are three of the thirty chiefs, and it was early in David’s life when he was in the cave of Adullam. It was when they would take particular notice of an act like this. Well, dear young people, you know the Lord does not change at all, whenever a young person comes forward He is just as pleased ^[p. 337] with you as He was when Saul of Tarsus said, “What shall I do, Lord?” Acts 22:10. There is no change in Him; He is just waiting for such words as those. It was early in David’s life and these men came to him to the cave of Adullam, the days when David would value such men as this. The Lord values them at all times; His affection and interest are as fresh today as they were eighteen hundred years ago; there is no change at all. So He is looking for such men as these — three of the thirty chiefs — they came to David, we are told, in the harvest time in the cave of Adullam. It was a very auspicious time! The Lord spoke about the harvest, but there is always a harvest; seed-time and harvest continually occur, according to Genesis 8. What a harvest there was in that cave! how it portended the great and glorious days of the future! and these men were near enough to David, as we have often said, to discern the longings of his heart. That is the type; that is how the Lord is working at the present time, drawing the young under His influence, so that you get to know something of what is in His mind, what He thinks about, what His Father thinks about. And what a group of circumstances there is here! He speaks of the well at the gate of Bethlehem, for he belonged to Bethlehem. His early days, his childhood and boyhood days, would be in his mind. It is all typical of how the Lord Jesus thinks of any given thing. There was the well there, but the Philistines stood between him and that well; and so it is, in any city or town or village where one may be, there is something there that the Lord has His heart set upon, but the Philistines may be between Him and it. It may be a few christians in the town; at Corinth He said to Paul, “I have much people in this city” Acts 18:10 — how His heart went out to those people, He had much there. Well, what stood between Him and those people? The terrible influences of Corinth. How much might be ^[p. 338] said of that, and Paul is to get the very breathings of the Lord as to these people; they are to be reached, they are to be secured, and we are told that Paul did just what was right to get them; that is, he stayed there a year and six months teaching the word of God (Acts 18:11). That was how to get them. He had to break through the terrible influences of that city to get those people. What calculations the apostle took in order to get at them, to break through what was there so as to get them!

It is not said here that they slew the Philistines, as in the earlier cases; that was not the point. The point was to get the water, so they broke through. It does not say they slew anybody; it is no question of slaying people if you want to get something. The point is to get it, and that is what they did; they got the water. “The three mighty men”, it says, “broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, which is in the gate, and took it, and brought it to David” 2 Samuel 23:16. They broke through and they brought what he sighed for, and it resulted in a drink offering to God, instead of to David. True to his love for God, he poured the water out to Jehovah, as he says, “Be it far from me, Jehovah, that I should do this thing! Is it not the blood of the men that went at the risk of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men” 2 Samuel 23:17. Notice, what David did is mentioned, but the Spirit of God comes back to these three mighty men. They furnished David with a means of worship. Think of being able to do that, to furnish the Lord Jesus with what His heart is set upon; that is the carrying on of the service of God in the assembly.

Well now, there is a sad side in this earlier chapter and that is in Joab’s men. I just refer to them humbly and solemnly lest there might be any tendency to partisanship amongst us. This party spirit ^[p. 339] is one of the most baneful things in the history of the testimony and in the history of God’s assembly from the beginning. When men of ability gather others under their influence they are known to be of that class, such as Joab’s men. Sure enough they attend the meetings, take part in the services, but we are told of these men, as you will observe, “There went out after him” that is Abishai, whom Joab made captain instead of Amasa, “Joab’s men, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men” 2 Samuel 20:7. That is, these men of Joab were ostensibly thoroughly with David and in excellent company, for the body-guards of David were there but at the bottom they were with Joab and not David. It is a most solemn thing that anyone should come in between my soul and Christ as my Leader.

And now see what this leader, Joab, does. He murders a man in cold blood, and one of these men stood by the murdered man. Think of that! You will understand, dear brethren, the application of that today; a man who was going to serve was murdered out of pure envy. This wicked Joab slew him in cold blood and one of his men stood ready to abet this foul deed. How solemn this is! And how solemn if we should he influenced by any one on party lines! This is the result. And they said, “He that favours Joab, and he that is for David, let him follow Joab” 2 Samuel 20:11. He is orthodox, he is openly avowed to be on the side of the truth, but he is thinking of himself, and this man of Joab is thinking of Joab and not really of David. And then he removed the murdered man out of the way so that things might go forward and Joab would be the leader. That is the main thought with these men, and I just mention, dear brethren, solemnly, that there is the danger of coming under leading men. Not that I am saying there is such a thing, but there may be such a thing; there is always a danger with us.

^[p. 340] Then finally, I would say a brief word as to the men of Hezekiah. “These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah transcribed” Proverbs 25:1. You may wonder what that has to do with this matter. A great deal — the statement honours Hezekiah, that his reign was a reign in which there was regard for the things of God. The more influence I have, the more I spread it so that there might be increase of regard for the things of God. There are those who say we have too much ministry, too much printed ministry; well, the men of Hezekiah did not think so in their day. These proverbs evidently had lain unread, and these men of Hezekiah copied them out. You all know how many proverbs Solomon spoke — three thousand. We have about a tenth of them, including these. But it would seem that these particular ones, including this chapter and up to chapter 29 had been lying unread, unused, and these men of Hezekiah saw that they were worth copying. It is a word for those who take notes and transcribe them — and I have a great regard for them, for they are workers together with all those who work for God. It is an honour to Hezekiah that he had such men; they were not selfish men, they were not murderous, like Joab’s men; they were men of feeling, and they saw that these proverbs were needed and they copied them out. And so it is that men of this kind today, dear brethren, are set for the dissemination of the truth, for the spread of it. The Lord said, “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing” Matthew 24:46, that is, ministering a portion of meat to the household. Every one who is set to spread the truth abroad so that there is food for the house, may be classified as one of the men of Hezekiah. I commit the word to the Lord, and to you, for His blessing.