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(2) FAITHFULNESS

E.Palmer

Our brother has referred to the moral feature of steadfastness. I desire to call attention to that of faithfulness, because I think they are very near to one another and both have marked our beloved brother now with Christ - steadfast and faithful, and among "such as shall be competent to instruct others also". Now, beloved, instruction does not necessarily come through speaking, it does not necessarily come through the ability to set out great principles of the truth of God. I believe that the most powerful instruction comes on account of what is demonstrated, what is seen in people. Indeed, it is said amongst men 'actions speak louder than words' and there is some truth in that. Our brother was faithful, his experiences bear testimony to it, his preparedness to stand, stand for the Lord, stand for the Lord's rights and what was due to Him. And stand he did. These things are to be a feature of the testimony that is entrusted to those of us who remain: "the living who remain". Our brother yet speaks in this way. I believe we should, all of us, those of us who are older and the younger, take heed to this; do not let it pass. How could we let it pass here in the actual presence of death? There is a word in the Revelation: "Be thou faithful unto death", chap 2: 10. I know it may be a different setting, but in the presence of death there is this word: "these entrust to faithful men". We have recently been reminded that the first thing referred to in this well-known passage of scripture is the fact that we are to be "strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus". You might say, what does that mean? It means that we are in touch with that Man, with Jesus, who went into death and came out of it as the overthrower of death. He has overthrown it, in death itself He overthrew it, and came out victorious and is ascended triumphant there in the glory - Christ Jesus. And what is flowing from Him? Grace, beloved. It was there in Him when He was here upon the earth where we are, grace upon grace; it is there in Him in the glory and we are to be strong in it. There is to be a testimony to the link that we have with that Man. I believe our brother had that link; I believe he was one who was strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Now the word, both in Timothy and in Deuteronomy, is addressed with the younger persons, men and women, in mind. This letter to Timothy is addressed to a younger man by one mature in the knowledge of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ. How we feel it in this city that in a comparatively short space of time, three beloved and faithful brethren have departed to be with Christ. There is a complete testimony in this to the fact that God is speaking. I believe the positive side of that speaking would be that there should be an appeal, a stirring up in all of us, especially those who are younger. So there is this word that these things are to be entrusted to faithful men. I believe that the Lord would help us that we might not only desire to be faithful but be faithful in the practical working out of our part, individually, in our homes, and in the assembly, in the testimony of our Lord.

I refer to Deuteronomy because Moses was about to die, and in that situation God speaks to him and says "Call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may give him a charge". God would say, as it were, you both come into My presence because I am going to speak to you. What a thing that is! As we become conscious of the presence of the Lord, soberly and with a due sense of what is due to God, here together, God would say, I have brought you here because I want to speak to you. Our brother, with his soul resting upon that rock, was one who had put his confidence in Christ, had known Him long and proved that Jesus never fails. I would like to say to each and all who are here today, If you do what our brother did and put your confidence in Jesus, have regard for that precious blood, the blood of Jesus that cleanses from every sin, if you put your confidence in Him, you will prove what our brother did, that He never fails. We may fail, He never does. That precious blood of His will never lose its value before God, and that in relation to the persons who have faith in it, faith in His blood. Jesus will never fail us as we put our trust, our confidence, in Him. There are young people here today, and it is very significant that very young people are here. Thank God for every young heart that has trusted Jesus. You know the children sing, Jesus loves me, this I know. It is a wonderful thing that Jesus should love us. It is more wonderful than that we should love Him. I like that little children's hymn because of that very thing: Jesus loves me. It was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us. And why did He die? Because He loves us. You say, these are very simple things. They are the fundamentals and belong to that rock, dear friends. Jesus loves me, this I know. And dear young child, when you think of that, you can put your confidence in Jesus. You do it, do not fail to do it, because God is speaking, He would call us together into His presence and speak to us today.

So Joshua comes with Moses; they "went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. And Jehovah appeared at the tent in the pillar of cloud; and the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance to the tent". What is that? It is the divine presence, the presence of God, and there they were, and the word that Joshua received (for I believe that he was specially in mind) is" And Jehovah commanded Joshua the son of Nun, and said, Be strong and courageous; for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I have sworn unto them; and I will be with thee". O, I say, what assurance, what encouragement! We have seen the way that our brother has been supported in the most testing circumstances, just before the Lord took him. Our brother was an overcomer; if ever I have seen an overcomer, I saw it in him, finding his place as assembled with the people of God when he might reasonably have stayed at home. What an overcomer! And we thank God for such an example, strong and courageous. And God says to such: "I will be with thee". Would any one of us want anything else? God has given us His Spirit. Does anyone want anything else other than assurance of the presence of God? It is the guarantee, dear friends, that God will see each one who has this assurance right through every kind of exigency until they find their part and place in that land, that good and pleasant land which, I believe, spiritually speaks of the purpose of God that He has designed for His people and His good pleasure. Well, I say, let us not miss the charge, but let us take comfort here today for God speaks to us together as in His presence.

(3) RESOURCES FOR GOD

E.C.Burr

1 Chronicles 22: 14-16; 29: 1-5

What has been said here as to the characteristics that marked our beloved brother now with Christ would certainly be affirmed by all those of us who have had the privilege of actually being local in the same meeting with him. If we speak of steadfastness, of faithfulness, these are things that we have seen. We are not here on an occasion like this merely to speak well of one another, although it is good in any circumstances to speak well of one another. The occasion of a brother's death brings back much to us as to his life, but the question is, if there was steadfastness and faithfulness and overcoming, as there was, what was there for God?

I refer to these scriptures because they bring out three different sets of resources for God, three different things by which what is for God is furthered: affliction and power and affection. The closing words that I have read in each case provoke with us a challenge as to whether we are prepared to provide for God on this basis. A believer is here in the testimony of our Lord, he is to be here for God; the testimony of God is in local places, the testimony of the Christ is here; let us be in it and let us be sure we are in it and let us be sure that we are in it without in any way detracting from it. It is a tragedy if a Christian does, or even says, anything which detracts from the testimony of the Christ. Let us watch that.

But David had prepared in affliction. It says earlier in this chapter: "David prepared abundantly before his death" (v 5). Our brother has departed to be with Christ, his closing illness relatively short; we have had in a certain sense the opportunity to watch his dying until the Lord has taken him. We ourselves saw him on the evening before the Lord took him and were impressed with his restfulness and peace. But he prepared abundantly before his death. What we have spoken of in these moral characteristics is preparation, but it is not preparation just to be a good Christian; it is preparation that there might be something for God. That should be the prime thing in the minds of all of us all the time, that there should be something for God, and the first thing that comes into this chapter is that David says "And behold, in my affliction I have prepared for the house of Jehovah". "In my affliction". We have spoken of the sorrows which our beloved brother has had, sorrows at different stages in his life, sorrows going on even to his death. We might wonder sometimes how much affliction the Lord imposes on particular ones of His own, and we think of ourselves and feel how little He has imposed upon us. Perhaps He imposes it where He knows that there is a capacity to bear it. But in his affliction David prepared. And you wonder at the wealth that came out of his affliction. To translate this gold and silver and so on into present day monetary terms would be more in value than we can comprehend with our minds. Out of his affliction came wealth for God. Those of us who have been local in this room with our beloved brother will be familiar with hymns which our brother often gave out. In a sense, we all, I suppose, have favourite hymns, and I am not saying they were our brother's favourite hymns, but some he gave out more than others. It has often struck me in the prayer meeting that he would pray at the end of the meeting briefly, but with point; he did not waste words, he did not multiply words, but he would pray at the end and sit down and straightaway give out hymn 86: Through the love of God our Saviour, All will be well. We who gather here have experienced that often and it just reminds me that our brother was conscious that in personal affliction, in assembly affliction, there was going to be something for the God who had ordered all these things and in whose hands nothing could be ill. What it is to have a knowledge of God like that! And in our affliction to be preparing.

It is interesting that in chapter 29 David, evidently referring back to what is spoken of in chapter 22, does not say in verse 2 “according to my affliction I have prepared'; he looks back to what he had spoken of in chapter 22 and says "according to all my power". One thing is undoubted, beloved, that we may not be very prominent, we may have a more or less hidden place amongst the brethren, but it takes power to be what our beloved brother has been. Out of that power more has been prepared for God. I think that there are things mentioned in this list which are not mentioned in chapter 22. It seems as if David had invested for God what he had provided in his affliction, and interest on it had been acquired, because he had held things for God first of all. “I have prepared according to all my power for the house of my God". We know from the Psalms how early in his life David had the things of God before him; may we, as our beloved brother has just said, from our youth have what is for God before us for out of it comes wealth. And David does it with power: "according to all my power". If he had energy he was providing things for God. If he had energy it was not wasted, it was not wasted on things of this world, it was not wasted in the pursuit of money, or pleasure, or that kind of thing. "I have prepared according to all my power for the house of my God". He had God first, the life of piety and therefore the life of power. On account of piety, things are provided out of this resource, not only out of affliction, but out of power.

And then out of affection, something added, something extra for God because he loved God. How great that is! David says "Moreover, in my affection for the house of my God I have given of my own property of gold and silver, for the house of my God", just as we read he adds one thing to another because he loved the God whose house it was. Reference has been made to the way in which our beloved brother overcame to be amongst the saints when he might well have been excused for not being here. I recall some years ago that a sister was taken from us here of whom the same could be said, that when there would have been good reason for not being here, she was here. There was good reason for our brother not being here, but he was here because he loved the house of God. Beloved, may we be stimulated in this. The first scripture says "Arise and be doing". Let us be drawing something out of our affliction. Everybody here has affliction; let us be drawing something out of it for God. "Arise and be doing". Let us be devoted to be getting out of our afflictions something for God. A lot of us go through affliction and what we are really looking for in the end is something for ourselves, even if it is only sympathy; but let us in our affliction have in view what is for God and arise and be doing, and out of our affliction bring something for God. And out of power and affection, "who is willing to offer to Jehovah this day?". Think of what our brother brought out of affection. If I refer to hymns that our beloved brother gave out, how often he has given out: We'll praise Thee, glorious Lord (No.235). Things formed in the soul find expression in a resource that is available to us all; We'll praise Thee, glorious Lord, Who died to set us free. And: We bless Thee, God and Father (No.67) and: O God of love, how measureless (No.35). Brethren who meet in this room will be familiar with these hymns as our beloved brother gave them out to us many times, but it is out of affection for the house of my God. And the question is: "who is willing to offer ... this day?", today, this Friday afternoon, who is willing to offer? It is not the divine intention that God should, as it were, go short because one offerer has been taken to be with Christ. Who is willing to offer today? I think, speaking here on the occasion of another burial fairly recently, I was challenged myself that the departure of a brother leaves a gap and we can fill that gap to a certain extent and in certain ways, but a brother may leave something that we feel that none of us can fill. I am impressed with what Peter says about David, and he must have been referring back to this kind of thing: he says "his monument is amongst us unto this day", Acts 2: 29. Beloved, our brother's monument is amongst us till today. If the Lord leaves us here his monument in that sense will remain. Let us not forget the monument of these faithful men; it is not in stone, it is not some artistic design or clever device, but the monument is what a man has been for God amongst the people of God. Well, beloved, let us arise and be doing, and ask ourselves, who is willing to offer today? May there be something acquired for God out of our brother's history amongst us and this occasion, for the Lord's sake.

LONDON

26 October 1984

At the burial of Mr J.W.Pittman

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