DEPARTURE BY WAY OF DEATH
[p. 30] DEPARTURE BY WAY OF DEATH
2 Peter 1:13 - 13; 2 Timothy 4:6, 7; 1 John 3:2, 3
These Scriptures came before me as showing that these great servants of the Lord, Peter and Paul, contemplated departure by way of death from the scene of their service and testimony.
Peter speaks of putting off his tabernacle, and in doing so he is concerned that what had been carried in that tabernacle, that was so precious, should be transmitted to others; that it might be carried on by them in this present tabernacle condition. Peter uses the word tabernacle in connection with his body being about to be put off in death, showing that his thoughts reverted to that moment in his history when, on the holy mount, in the presence of the glorifying of the Son of God, Peter proposed to make three tabernacles, and his thought was in measure right: he thought that the glory seen by them should he retained here, but he was wrong in thinking that Moses and Elias should be on a level with Jesus; but the three disciples on the mount were intended to be tabernacles themselves.
For a number of years Peter’s natural body had been the tabernacle in which what he had seen on the mount was enshrined. It was held in that frail tabernacle as precious as the golden vessels in the tabernacle of old. Believers today, in weak tabernacle conditions, contain such living things — and wonderful things have been carried in the tabernacle that is before us today, his tabernacle has been put off, and there is going to be a worthy shrine provided soon, “a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”. At the present moment the testimony of the glory of Christ, the Son of God, is to be carried, and one who has carried in his heart that testimony, when he puts off his tabernacle lays an obligation on us to carry on in testimony.
Paul thinks too of departure; he speaks of being ready to be poured out, of having finished his course in the same spirit in which he began — a sacrifice, a spiritual drink-offering poured out in devotion to the Son of God. Now he says, my release has come. Beloved brethren, it is not a wrong thought to think [p. 31] of departure as a release, it is a divine thought. As long as we are here pressures continue which are connected with the groaning creation of which we form part, and there are deep exercises connected with the truth and testimony. It is a suffering time, and departure means release. Paul says, “the time of my release is come”. We should entertain this aspect of departure, the time of release. It is a word gathered from the thought of a ship loosed from its moorings. We are held by many things in present conditions; departure means release from every natural burden.
I should like to add a word as to John. John does not contemplate departure. Peter does, and Paul does, but John gives the precious ministry that the children of God are in the present possession of eternal life, and he does not speak of departure. The saints as in the possession of eternal life are not thinking of departure, but John tells us that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is; that is John’s attitude. May we know how to blend this threefold testimony in our souls in the power of the Spirit. It will not be unprofitable to us, but will lead to the glory and praise of the One who was seen on the holy mount. May the Lord bless His word.
A Word given at a Burial, Exeter 1939