THE LORD

^[p. 12] THE LORD

Notes of Address Mark 16: 19, 20; 2 Timothy 1: 8; 2 Timothy 2: 19; 2 Timothy 4:7,8; 2 Timothy 4:17,18 “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following”, Mark 16: 19, 20.

“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God”, 2 Timothy 1: 8.

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity”, chapter 2: 19.

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing”, chapter 4: 7, 8.

“Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, ... And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (verses 17, 18).

I have read these scriptures because of the striking way in which they bring “the Lord” before us, and my desire is to speak to you about the Lord. We get our direction from the Lord as we walk in His light, but we must first of all get to the Lord. Many believe on the Lord who have never yet reached the Lord, and you cannot reach the Lord unless you depart from unrighteousness. We read in the Acts of some that “they clave to the Lord”, of others that “they gave themselves to the Lord”. The Lord is the great resource in the day of evil, and specially so in the time of the ruin of the church. One great service of the Lord is to direct His people into the will of God, but we must first of all reach the Lord, and for that you must, as I have said, be apart from unrighteousness. In 2 Timothy, we have three things brought before us in connection with the Lord. First, “the testimony of our Lord”. Second, ‘the Lord as our resource’, and third, the Lord as “the righteous judge”, the One who gives the crown of righteousness. Now the gospel is our Lord’s testimony — it is from Him and concerning Him. In Mark 16 the Lord commits the testimony to the eleven, and, as from the right hand of God, He wrought with them in it. He will use all the power which He has, as at the right hand of God, in the interests of His testimony. The testimony of the Lord brings the Lord Himself before men. Paul said to the Corinthians, “We preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake”. We make, as a rule, too much of the vessel. Paul brought the Lord before men, and where the Lord is received He confirms the word by the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a mistake to make too much of the instrument; the instrument is our bondman, and the Lord should be the great reality to us, both as the source and subject of the testimony.

My second point is the Lord as our resource in the day of the church’s ruin. In the first epistle to Timothy we read of “the house of God”, but in the second epistle of “a great house” in which are vessels, some to honour and some to dishonour. Many of us have not found the great religious systems which exist today a satisfactory foundation. They have not approved themselves to us as being God’s foundation. We want the foundation which has God’s seal upon it, that is, God’s attestation that it is His, for the seal is the attestation. Now what is first of all in the seal is this, “The Lord knoweth them that are his”; man may not know them, but the Lord knows them, and this is a great comfort to any one seeking God’s foundation. The obverse of the seal is “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity”. We want to be on God’s foundation, and when we see what its attestation is, our eyes are opened to the ruined state of things: for we find the people of God completely swamped in a mass of profession, so that man does not know them, though the Lord knows them; and we are called upon to depart from unrighteousness. If you connect the name of the Lord with any religious system that accredits, or is accredited by the world, it is unrighteousness; because the Lord has been rejected by the world; and therefore we have to leave all such, if we would reach the Lord, who has been lifted up from the earth. Thus the faithful heart judges the world, for “Now is the judgment of this world”; the world is judged by the Christian, and thus he is delivered from it. The Lord draws all to Himself away from the world, “I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me”. We are drawn to the Lord, and the Lord becomes a living reality to us, and then we are directed by Him into the will of God. He guides us into God’s will, and we then learn what fellowship is, for it is as we are near to the Lord that we are drawn to one another. If we are truly drawn to the Lord we are prepared to stand alone, if need be; we are independent of man; but nevertheless, thankful to go on in fellowship with all who are drawn to Him — to “pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart”. Scriptural principles are not of themselves a ground of fellowship, the Lord alone is sufficient for that, and therefore we must be drawn to the Lord apart from everything that is of man, and apart from unrighteousness, if we would have heavenly light and guidance ^[p. 15] amidst the perplexities that are to be found in this world. Paul said to Timothy, “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things”. It is a great thing to get understanding as to all things from the Lord Himself; and though we cannot be what Paul was, for he was an apostle, we are privileged to be what Timothy was, a man of God, a servant; and he was a typical servant, one who was to continue till the Lord comes. He was a servant for the last days.

In chapter 4 the Lord is the righteous judge. Man is not the judge, but the Lord is the judge of my course. I do not look for man to approve my conduct, whoever he may be; we have got to receive from the Lord the result of what our conduct has been here, for “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ”. All may forsake the servant, even those whom he has been used to help, but the Lord will not forsake him; “Nevertheless the Lord stood by me”; He was true to His servant, and the apostle had been true to Him, for he could say “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”. In the great perplexities and extremities in which the apostle had been placed the Lord had stood with him and delivered him. But the apostle was not soured because all men forsook him. If we get to the Lord we get our hearts enlarged. The Lord is “the righteous judge” but the apostle was not a bit afraid of Him! Whatever may be man’s judgment of the servant, the day of the Lord will be the time of the Lord’s vindication of him; all may misjudge him, but the Lord will vindicate him. Get to the Lord and your heart will not get withered whatever you may experience here.