GROWING
J.McKillop
Colossians 1: 9, 10; Daniel 6: 10; Numbers 7: 89; 8: 1-3; 2 Samuel 7: 18-23
These thoughts, beloved brethren, follow the reading together in our brother's home this morning. We read this scripture in Colossians. It appealed to me; it impressed me as to its greatness and the profitability that is available for us as we take on this truth. In a previous reference PauI said, as to the manifestation of their love in the Spirit, "who has also manifested to us your love in the Spirit", Col 1: 8. I think that there was a definite, full expression of the love of the Spirit amongst the saints at Colosse. That is a wonderful thing to think of. As we think of these things we desire them, and we are assured that God will bring them about. We can say that there is the positive manifestation, in the saints in many localities, of the love of the Spirit. But what came to mind is to "walk worthily of the Lord unto all well-pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work", and the consummation: "and growing by the true knowledge of God". I thought it might be helpful to look at how we arrive at it. Perhaps there is more detail in the Old Testament scriptures as to approach to God because it was not in the power of the indwelling Spirit, but as saints were liberated in their affection Godward they were free to move into the divine presence.
I read in Daniel so that we might see how we begin to grow. Daniel grew in adversity, he grew in pressure, he grew in the spirit of one who was dedicated to what was of God. He purposed in his heart not to eat of the meat of the king's table, and the brethren know the result. We do not want to go into too much detail, but they were fed pulse, and at the end of the trial the man in charge of the feeding found them fairer and fatter than those who were feeding on the king's food. They were feeding on what was spiritual, what related to Christ in His place here as a Man in rejection, not on the elements of the world. Even in its finest religious character it is but the king's table, and Daniel and his three friends decided that they would not eat of that food, and he knew that God would be with them and in them. The result is growing by the true knowledge of God. I think these three men set out the principle in pressure and persecution. It says "And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed"; the writing was that if any one asked a petition of any god or man, other than of the king, he was to be put to death. So these wicked men who were adverse to Daniel and his place of favour could only find something against him "touching the law of his God". It says: "the prefects, and the satraps, the counsellors, and the governors have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions", chap 6: 7. The writing was signed by the king, unaware of the diabolical intention underneath, that Daniel might be cast into the den of lions. Daniel knew when the writing was signed and he went into his house. It is a most encouraging thing; he was not marked by excitement, he was not marked by fear or terror, but he knew where his resource was - God, Judge of all. He prayed three times a day: "he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime".
Now I might ask: Do you know your God? Or, do you just listen to what the brethren say in the meeting? Do you pray to Him? We had in the reading as to entering into your closet and praying to the Father in secret, and He will reward you. Daniel prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime; he is not overcome by the pressure, the thought of death being brought in upon him. He knew what the signing of the writing meant; it meant that his life and his testimony in relation to the king was finished. But he went in in the confidence that the God whom he knew was for him in such a position; he prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Think of the way in which his spirit was restful as to matters! Perhaps many of us, at the slightest disappointment, the slightest challenge of the enemy, maybe as to our life or business, would be overcome. But Daniel prayed and gave thanks to his God, as he did aforetime, in all the serenity of his communion with God. In the world today, beloved brethren, the saints have. to meet much, but we remain separate from it and have recourse to the God whom we have known -
'Our God whom we have known,
Well known in Jesus' love,
Rests in the blessing of His own
Before Himself above'. (Hymn 72)
So Daniel is prepared to suffer for the testimony and maintain his links with God. There is a wicked power to the east of us, communism, which seeks to sweep into this land where the recovery of the truth was brought in a hundred and fifty years ago. Do we value our inheritance? Do we value the heritage that we have in the truth at the cost of the sufferings of God's beloved Son? He has made known His thoughts to us; He has also told us how He delights in us; God's inheritance is in the saints. So Daniel commits himself to it, and he committed the matter to God, Judge of all. God came in and closed the lions' mouths; the king sought to deliver him, but he was powerless; he could not close the mouths of the lions but he was concerned for the safety of Daniel, and Daniel was delivered and brought out to be a further testimony in his knowledge of God, Daniel says, my God. Paul says, my God. The Lord Jesus says "I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God", John 20: 17. Can we say, my God? We should be able to in the Spirit's power because we are brought into the same liberty before God as Christ Himself is. "The Father himself has affection for you, because ye have had affection for me", John 16: 27. In the glory and the liberty of sonship we are brought into the joy of coming to know God as Judge of all. Despite the testing and the trials, we come to know the God who raises the dead, who has, delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
So Daniel says "My God", and he comes through in triumph. It says: "The king spoke and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will save thee" (v 16). Then it says: "Then the king arose with the light at break of day, and went in haste unto the den of lions ... he cried with a mournful voice unto Daniel; the king spoke and said unto Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, hath thy God whom thou servest continually been able to save thee from the lions? Then Daniel spoke" (vv 19-21). Ah, what a voice that was to that king - a living voice coming out in testimony that Daniel's God was able to save him from the mouth of the lions.
Now I go on to speak of Moses because I think there is a link as we look at Numbers 7. As the brethren will know, the book of Numbers relates to the assembly's position in the wilderness. What comes into view is service to God. The tabernacle was finished in Exodus and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. As we proceed with what was required for its function, we find the twelve princes, representing the whole twelve tribes, bringing their gifts that the service of God might proceed in its fulness. And it says finally when all had been added: "Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him". Well, how pleased God is when we go in to speak to Him, when we tell Him about the things that have been brought in. No doubt this was on Moses' heart - the gifts by the twelve princes of Israel - to say to God that all these things had been brought and were now available for His service. But Jehovah saw him coming; "when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, then he heard the voice speaking to him from off the mercy-seat which was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubim; and he spoke to Him". Think of how God is speaking to us in Christ! The ark of the testimony is what we are connected with today; and the service of Moses as the law-giver and the mediator points on to the service of Christ coming in as the Ark in the tent of meeting. And He spoke to him from off the mercy-seat. Christ appears for us in the presence of God to bring to God the knowledge of what His people need and what His people desire for His glory.
So He speaks from off the mercy-seat. There was a question some days back as to the ark, and I simply said the ark is in one place, it is in one place in the city; it is in one place in the assembly - Christ in the midst. The One who is the first-begotten from among the dead, the firstborn of many brethren, has His place in exaltation and glory. The ark was made of acacia wood and covered all over with gold, which indicates the greatness of what God is as expressed in Christ in His righteousness and His holiness, and the filling out of divine thoughts and purposes that find their expression in Christ, our Lord Jesus. And then it says: "from between the two cherubim; and he spoke to Him". The rights of Christ and of God are being maintained by the cherubim. They are symbols, of course, of that which is here in relation to the saints. We have with us the principle of the cherubim, symbolic of the power that God has made available to us through Christ and by the Holy Spirit. Let us call on Him for the symbol to become a living reality in the Spirit's power in view of maintaining the rights of God amongst His people.
"And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying, Speak to Aaron". Now we come to the priesthood, through the mediator, typically Christ in His place in glory. He is both the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, everything is in Christ, the One in whom there is no failure, no breakdown. The type, I think, opens up to us the confidence that Moses had in his place with God in regard of the tabernacle in the wilderness, with the tribes surrounding it, and everything set up according to God's order. So God says: "When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick". Think of what the candlestick is in this type; it is Christ. He is the true light that has come into the world to lighten every man. The light shone in the darkness according to John's gospel, and the darkness apprehended it not; in Him was life and the life was the light of men (see John 1: 4,5). It brings out what Christ is as the candlestick. Paul brings us back to the moral side as he speaks in Philippians: "among whom ye appear as lights in the world", chap 2: 15. Well, what kind of light am I in the world? What is radiating out from me that men may see the light, may be brought to the truth and surrender to God's claims, His claims of righteousness and holiness? It has been secured for us through the death of His beloved Son; our Lord Jesus Christ. These things open up a great vista of glory, as these men, growing in the true knowledge of God, were able to move in the light and power of God. We may be like Asaph in Psalm 73, when he saw the prosperity of the wicked his foot well nigh slipped (v 1). We may have been affected, in our younger days particularly, with the prosperity of the wicked. I was affected by it until I entered the sanctuaries of Jehovah, there saw I their end. You go into the sanctuaries and you see all the full thoughts of God in relation to the universe as unfolded and brought out in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Asaph said: "then understood I their end" (v 17). He was content then to go on, seeing that the end of the wicked was that they would be no more, but that the man whose trust was in Jehovah was preserved; he was like a tree by the rivers of water whose leaf shall not fade and is always green.
Now just a word as to David. David is very encouraging because there was much in his heart that he had looked forward to in view of having his desire filled out to build the house for Jehovah. He can speak of his exercises, the moral way in which he came, the sufferings he endured, the enmity of Saul, the enmity of others who sought to circumvent him, even Absalom; and of his place in relation to God. But he comes to something in a distinct way as he entered in and sat before Jehovah. This chapter shows how we are to judge rightly, judge as to what is true. Nathan tells David to do all that is in his heart. A prophetic word? You say, It must be right, we received it in a prophetic meeting. But you have to go in before Jehovah and find out what the value of the word is, whether it bears out God's thoughts in His blessing. You are there in relation to God's communion with yourself to substantiate even what the prophetic word may bring. Nathan, in his affection for David, was quite in accord with it. It says "And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thy heart; for Jehovah is with thee". But he was not to build the house; that remained for the son. The glory of everything that God has stands in relation to the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. So David comes to it; he went in and sat before Jehovah and said, "Who am I, Lord Jehovah, and what is my house ... ?" God has prospered us and given us a view of His eternal thoughts: are we relating them to what we are, as David did to himself? He could say that in his affliction and in his affection he had prepared for the house of God; but it was committed to his son. How we delight to think of God loving the Son and giving all things into His hand! He is bringing in the kingdom in which everything will be in perfect accord for the glory of God, and the delight of all those that are in that kingdom. As we have quoted already; He has "translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love", Col 1: 13. Are we enjoying it? Are we in that kingdom? Do we see the circulation of love amongst the saints? Do we appreciate the blessedness of Christ in His supremacy as the Son whom God loves and has given all things to be in His hands? I just leave these thoughts with us, brethren, that we might have liberty in our souls to go in. In the sanctuaries of God there is nothing that belongs to the first man; everything there is revealed in Christ for the glory of God and our eternal blessing. I would say, too, that David comes to the knowledge of God, Judge of all. It is wonderful to get into our hearts that we have come to what is beyond even the greatest thoughts of men in regard to what God is doing, but it is made known to us by the Spirit. I just leave these thoughts with the brethren. I trust they will be profitable that we might grow in the true knowledge of God. May it be so for His Name's sake.
GRIMSBY
11 May 1985
ONE GREATLY BELOVED
A.K.Turner
Our brother has referred to our dear departed brother as one greatly beloved. Daniel was one such, greatly beloved by God. Both our brother and Daniel were beloved by God because of their faith, because of God's precious work in them. Our brother had faith in the Lord Jesus, and although we are going to the grave, if the Lord tarry, there is no question as to our beloved brother but that he will awake to everlasting life. What a hope! Have we all here that hope that we will awake to everlasting life? What a hope for the believer, based on the finished work of the Lord Jesus, when He died on the cross, suffered for sin, the Just for the unjust to bring us to God. Is every one here a believer on the Lord Jesus? It is a wonderful thing to be a believer, to know the Lord Jesus as your own personal Saviour and Lord, and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, sent by Christ after He had ascended to the Father.
The word to Daniel is: "Go thy way, Daniel". Our brother has had that word, Go thy way; he has had the word to go and he will stand in his lot: "But do thou go thy way until the end; and thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days", Dan 12: 13. Do we all here believe in resurrection? This was a word to a saint of God, a saint of God greatly beloved, a man who had faith - Daniel. Have you heard the hymn?
'Dare to be a Daniel!
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known! '
Our brother was like that, he dared to stand alone. We remember how he stood alone. He could stand alone and yet he could be a father of many; he was able for both. He stood alone at Barrow on Humber, the only brother with a few sisters, but here he has had a family, those he guarded and cared for and prayed for as a shepherd watching over their souls. Well, he is gone and he is resting: "thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days". Daniel will have his lot, he will have his reward for the acts of faith, how he purposed in his heart not to be defiled by the king's delicate food, how he was prepared to be thrown into a den of lions rather than give up his daily - three times daily - prayer to God. Daniel was a man of faith and stood alone. God will honour him in a day yet to come; he will stand in his lot at the end of the days. And our dear brother will stand in his lot at the end of the days; maybe to the world largely unknown, yet with God well known, well known for his prayers, well known for the care of the flock.
We read in verse 10: "Many shall be purified, and made white, and be refined". This raises the question: have we washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb? That is what our brother had done; his robes are white in the blood of the Lamb. It says "Many shall be purified, and be made white, and be refined". Through the work of God in our brother this refinement has been in evidence. We also read in verse 3 of the wise: "they that turn the many to righteousness as the stars, for ever and ever". O, that we could turn someone here to renewed diligence and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and committal to the pathway of God's will, to be here for our beloved Lord and Master until the day that He returns for us. May we be encouraged by the words and exercised to be in faith like Daniel until the end, for His name's sake.
GRIMSBY
26 September 1983
At the burial of Mr J. Franklin