THE SPIRIT OF RECOVERY

THE SPIRIT OF RECOVERY

Hebrews 13: 20 - 25; Hebrews 14: 22 - 24; Zechariah 9: 9 - 17

In what I have to say in reading these passages I desire to promote with us the spirit of recovery. It is a day of recovery. We, ourselves, have come into the truth, into the position in which we are on this basis. God has intervened in the closing years of this dispensation on the principle of recovery, both as to the truth and as to persons, and where we are tonight and what we have, we owe to the great work of God in recovery. And the work of recovery is going on, it is a day of recovery, and God would inculcate into our minds through the teaching this great thought of recovery. For one feels that if we are true to our ancestry on the line of faith we shall be marked by this spirit, this grace, of desiring to recover our brother. You will recall that with the one who is said to be the father of us all, the heavenly man unofficially, Abraham, one of the outstanding features that shines in him early is this feature of interest and care for the recovery of his brother, Lot, who had declined from the testimony. Lot had chosen the well watered plains of Jordan, figurative to us as they are of all the advantageous opportunities that may spread themselves abroad for us in the scene through which we pass, but may cause us to lose our lives in the assembly. Abraham was great enough to reach out in the spirit and grace of this feature that we are referring to and to go after his brother Lot; and, as if heaven would show us what it thinks of this matter, heaven’s resources are mysteriously moved into the scene, projected on to our view in the service of Melchizedek to show how heaven would support this kind of spirit and grace amongst the people of God. The ministry of Melchizedek stands particularly related to the return from the great conflict linked with the recovery of Lot. We have often referred to it, dear brethren, as fortifying Abraham against what was to come in in the overtures of the King of Sodom, but I think we need to look at it also in its retroactive bearing in regard to the activities of Abraham in seeking to recover his brother Lot. While the ministry suggested in the bread and the wine would have a prospective view it has also a retrospective view, in that heaven was as it were saying that here is a man that must be supported, and encouraged, and strengthened on the line that he is on, holding the ground for God. He is said to be the friend of God, a wonderful reference to a man like ourselves, dear brethren, and I desire in the word that is laid upon one’s heart tonight, to promote this spirit among the brethren, especially in view of the imminence of the rapture, the Lord’s return for which we watch and wait every moment. For the rapture will mean that every redeemed saint will be secured, none will be lost; there will not be one left behind, as it was said by Moses in Egypt, not a hoof would be left behind. So it will be in the great exodus of the assembly to be with Christ for ever; what an exodus it will be, dear brethren, when we shall go out in the sense of victory in our souls in response to the rallying shout of Him who shall come forth to receive us. He is going to take the matter into His own hands. He is not going to leave it to another, the Lord Himself will descend with a shout. The Spirit will not conduct us to heaven. The Lord Jesus will conduct us to heaven, such is His care for us and His interest in us. There is a lot to be done in many souls, maybe a lot to be done in the souls of some of us here in this audience, but it will be done, and everything will be secured in and from this scene that God has a claim to on the basis of redemption.

If the glory of redemption laid hold of our souls in the way in which it should do, we should be more and more concerned in our prayers and in our outlook as to the securing of every bit of material that on the ground of redemption belongs to God. You will recall that when the great reverberating blast of the trumpet was heard in the fiftieth year, the year of jubilee, every man was to be returned unto his possession, every hold was to be relaxed upon their brother, and we need, dear brethren, to be marked by the spirit of the year of jubilee in relation to things being set up again on their proper basis on the ground of redemption.

I have read these passages because of a reference in them to the covenant and to the blood of the covenant because I think the blood of the covenant would especially help us as to this matter of the spirit of recovery. The covenant reminds us of certain fixed conditions, conditions that are linked with divine faithfulness and our souls need to be imbued more and more with an appreciative sense of divine faithfulness. Every one of us must know in some way or another, experimentally, that when we have failed at different times in our lives, as indeed others have failed, for who amongst us here has not failed, yet divine faithfulness has remained. The covenant reminds us of what abides and what remains in a fixed and permanent way despite the perfidy of man after the flesh. As you recall, in the book that speaks of the latter glory of the house, Haggai the prophet, the word is given, “the word which I covenanted with you, when ye came out of Egypt, and my Spirit, remain among you.” That was a word given in days of recovery, dear brethren, in days when the building, the reconstruction period was difficult and required the energy of the prophetic word to stimulate and strengthen the hearts and the hands of those that were strengthening the things that remain. It is in that book, that we get the word, “the word which I covenanted with you” as if God is reminding them that whatever had departed from them, whatever they may have lost, the word that He covenanted with them was the same, it remained among them. So that one desires to speak of these passages from that viewpoint, especially too to draw attention to the blood of Christ in this relation because I believe the blood in this relation reminds our hearts, that the basis on which God goes forward to effectuate His great thoughts of blessing in recovery, is in the blood-shedding of Jesus. The blood has been shed. It has been poured out freely, without reserve, that the Lord Jesus, if I may speak reverently, might furnish God with a free hand, taking full account of the moral question, to go forward on the lines of recovery and set us up in relation to Himself. You will recall in this first passage that we read it says “But the God of peace, who brought again from among the dead, our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, in the power of the blood of the eternal covenant, perfect you in every good work to the doing of his will.” Why these references, to the shepherd of the sheep and the blood of the eternal covenant? We must remember the way that this letter is written and to whom it is written, especially with the intent that they might be saved from apostatising from the faith, and that they might be preserved from falling short of the great end in mind. For we are not, as the writer says, of them that draw back, we are not of the drawers back, dear brethren. Young people, I would speak to you tonight. It is a great matter not to be among the drawers back to perdition, but to be amongst those that are marked, as it says, “of faith to saving of the soul.”

Then the eleventh chapter goes on to enlarge on the operative principle of faith in individuals who are saved on the basis of it.. Think of a man like Noah. We speak of the conditions of our day, the power of things in this modern age, but think of Noah’s time, and what existed in the antediluvian period, what he had to contend with; but yet he was a righteous man. He did what was right in the sight of God. He pursued it, and he found grace in the eyes of Jehovah, and that man built an ark for the saving of his house, not only for the saving of himself. I would speak to the heads of houses that may be here, to those of us who are husbands and who are fathers. Apostasy may affect our houses, the enemy may make a bold bid to entrench upon these areas that on the ground of baptism rightly belong to God. We are to be concerned as to the exercise of faith, that our houses may be saved, that our houses or ourselves should not be marked by the drawing back principle. In the light of this epistle, with all the advantages that Christ’s priesthood on high affords, we see how every resource in it is directed towards full salvation on our side, as it is said “He is able to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God by him.” These thoughts, dear brethren, would affect our hearts in the way of desire for the, salvation of everyone that belongs to God, the Lord ever living with that in mind on high, exercising His priesthood in the power of indissoluble life, life established in resurrection, life that can never end, or be interfered with. That life is figured in the blossoming rod in Numbers, the rod, that blossomed, and yielded almonds, pointing to that wonderful efficacious intercessory service of Christ by which we are carried through, saved in a day of religious apostasy, such as marks the scene around us. Hebrews has that in mind, and therefore, the writer, Paul no doubt, as he finishes the letter draws attention to the leaders, as persons whose moral influence has meant something to the brethren He says, “Obey your leaders and be submissive for they watch over your souls as those that give account that they may do this with joy and not groaning, for this would be unprofitable for you.” Then he says, “Pray for us.” Think of the great apostle saying that, “pray for us, for we persuade ourselves that we have a good conscience, in all things desirous to walk rightly. But I much more beseech you to do this, that I may the more quickly be restored to you.” Paul is speaking about his restoration to them, not just his recovery from the circumstances that he is in as affecting him, but in the presence of which he can write this letter, bathed with glory. The glory of the vast universal system in which God’s glory is displayed in Christ, is filling his soul in this letter and he is writing of it. He describes it, with a view to drawing souls out of that which would hold them here on the earth, not so much the evil world, but things here, such as the Jewish brethren were tested by, as in Judaism. He says as he proceeds “The God of peace, who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, in the power of the blood of the eternal covenant.” I believe he brings this forward, dear brethren, to bring into their minds an incentive to yield themselves in submission and subjection to the divine will with a view to the perfecting of the divine work. This applies of course to every one of us who read the scripture now, just as to them to whom he writes.

In relation to the great Shepherd of the sheep, we think of the great work of recovery as it went on and still proceeds under His hand. Peter says to the brethren, “Ye were once going astray as sheep, but are now returned unto the shepherd and overseer of your souls.” The shepherd of the sheep, dear brethren, brings into our minds, as in Luke 15, the care expended that one sheep might be recovered. How we should drink into the spirit of the gospel in Luke 15 and be concerned that the feelings of the gospel lay hold on us as to the recovery of one sheep. What a spirit and grace in recovery mark divine Persons in Luke 15, the Lord setting out in His own service the amount of care He was prepared to expend on one. We might ask, what does one sheep mean among a hundred? It means much in the divine mind, dear brethren. The whole Godhead is presented typically as searching and seeking in Luke 15. Each One of the divine Persons is typically set out in the three phases that we have in that chapter. Are we to be behind God in the spirit and grace of recovery proper to our dispensation? Surely not, dear brethren. We have often alluded to Peter, how the sheet comes out of heaven to help him and bring him into accord with what heaven is doing, the light that heaven is shedding on the position in regard to the introduction of the Gentiles. We need to drink into the spirit of Luke 15, that we might come out as marked by it. You remember in Luke 11 the Lord Jesus alludes to the body being full of light having no part dark “as when the lamp lights thee with its brightness.” I believe that in Luke 15 the lamp is lighting us with its brightness, the brightness of the activities of divine Persons in recovering grace, bringing us into the full value and gain of the house of God. The reference in Hebrews 13 to the great shepherd of the sheep, is to bring these thoughts into our mind, dear brethren. There was no Shepherd like Him. We are humbled as we think of how little care we are prepared to expend on a soul; but as we think of the great Shepherd of the sheep, as we sit at His feet and contemplate His ways and His service it will help us to be marked by the grace and the spirit that marked Him. It says “in the power of the blood of the eternal covenant,” because the blood of the eternal covenant alludes to the great fact that the Lord Jesus has laid the basis for God to go forward in recovery in regard to His people in relation to His fixed thoughts of blessing, as the covenant suggests. When everything was hopelessly lost on the side of man’s responsibility, God intervened, in the resurrection of the great Shepherd of the sheep. He must bring that Shepherd from among the dead, because the blood of the eternal covenant called for it, speaking reverently; that is, God’s fixed purposes to bless, called for it, and the blood lays the permanent basis for God to go forward with His fixed purposes to bless. It says “perfect you in every good work to the doing of his will doing in you what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for the ages of ages.”

Now I just want in leaving this passage to allude to the word as to Timothy - “Know that our brother Timotheus is set at liberty.” What a word, dear brethren, in relation to the liberating character of this kind of ministry! We need to think of the Timothys among us, that need to be set free, liberated for the testimony, and for the service of God. We want the ministry, dear brethren, that will liberate them, set them free, bring them into the work, into the line of the testimony, to function in liberty in it. The allusion would be to Timothy, being set at liberty figurative of what I have in mind as to one and another being liberated today.

Now I want to speak a word as to Mark. While the Lord’s supper bears on and becomes a doorway into the service of God, I believe that there is presented in Mark’s gospel in relation to the cup that which will affect us as drinking into it, in love for the sheep, for whom the Lord Jesus measured the depths. As it says, when the Lord comes to the cup, “And having taken the cup, when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank out of it. And he said to them, This is my blood, that of the new covenant, that shed for many.” It is a unique touch to Mark; I suppose if we could have had a conversation with Mark he would have said “I am one among the many.” He knew what it was to be deflected, but he also knew what it was to be recovered, and what a contribution he brings into the service of God, giving us the perfect Servant. He starts his gospel thus, “Beginning of the glad tidings of Jesus Christ the Son of God,” and it is Mark that gives us this peculiar touch as to the blood of the new covenant; he brings in more the persons, not, as Matthew, the administrative side, “for the remission of sins.” Mark would stress the persons, shed for many. “This is my blood, that of the new covenant, that shed for many.” That of the new covenant, is one point, dear brethren, we do not want to forget, the fixed purpose of divine love to bless, nothing can alter it. We may lose the joy linked with the knowledge and appreciation of it, but in itself the fixed purpose to bless is unalterable. It is a good thing to see that and to know it. Mark, being the gospel that gives us the ministry, stresses the need of immediate action, that things are to be done immediately. He impresses us with the condensation of things, and the compression of time and there is no time to be lost. The rapture is near. Let us drink into the spirit of what is suggested in the cup in which is set out the blood, that of the new covenant, that shed for many. What a leverage it would be in our souls and in the souls of those in whom declension may have set in, the declining of affection. He says, “This is my blood, that of the new covenant, that shed for many.” Mark would help us on the lines of the ministry, and the ministry involves light from God. You will notice that, in regard to the light, Mark gives it a peculiar touch in regard to the lamp coming. In chapter 4, verse 21, He does not speak of anybody lighting a lamp, as Matthew and Luke do. He speaks of the lamp coming; that is, we are reminded of the authoritative character of the ministry - light in itself, as it comes to us from God, and our responsibility to act in relation to it. But then, there is more than that, we are dealing with persons who have souls, persons who have got hearts, and they need to be recovered. Mark’s gospel is stressing recovery. While the reference to the young man of chapter 14, verses 51 and 52, would figure persons who are in the line of the testimony with a garment lightly cast about them, running away and leaving the position, he also tells of the young man in the 16th chapter sitting clothed in a white robe. This latter suggests what is set up anew in relation to the great range of things linked with the resurrection of Christ from among the dead. So that as we drink into the cup according to Mark we would be helped in care for persons. How it shines in Paul in relation to the Corinthians. He says “I shall most gladly spend and be utterly spent for your souls, if even in abundantly loving you I should be less loved.” These are the words of a man who has drunk into the spirit of the cup with which is linked the blood of Christ, that of the new covenant, that shed for many.

I want to refer to Zechariah; a great book of recovery. It is filled with the thought of recovery from beginning to end; it is filled with exalted thoughts in regard to Jerusalem and Zion, and with the thought of God coming into the position Himself. However difficult things may be or may seem to be, God comes into the position, even giving a word to a young man standing by. We have often referred to it; we may well refer to it again, the word that God gives in the 2nd chapter of this book “Run speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls.” Think of how God would enlist the young men and the young women in their interest in relation to the assembly, God’s chief interest on earth, Jerusalem, the sphere of His government where administration according to His mind works out. God is thinking of the young men in this book. He is thinking of others as well. The Governor, Zerubbabel, the priests, Joshua the high priest, and He is thinking of those that come back from captivity with material to support divine thoughts and divine ideas. God says to a certain one “Take the gold from them” and they were to make crowns, that would adorn the head of the One who is worthy to be crowned, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the type, who sits upon the throne and bears the glory. All these personalities are in mind, just as you and I are in mind tonight that we might be brought fully into the line of the testimony in sympathetic interest in all that God is doing at the present moment in the perfecting of His work. And so in this passage here the word is “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; shout daughter of Jerusalem! Behold thy King cometh to thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass.” You will remember how earlier in the chapter God says, “I will encamp about my house because of the army, because of those that pass by and that return;” God is thinking about the position, dear brethren. Think of Him camping, God encamping about His house. We wonder sometimes why the enemy does not go too far; but God is round about His people. You think of an army, encamping around a city, and you see the tents, they are not in the city but they are around the city, about the city. Think of God encamping about His house, not in His house, that is not the thought, but “I will encamp about my house because of the army.” God sees these forces that are moving in to overthrow the position and He encamps around about. God says earlier in this book as to Jerusalem - “I will be a wall of fire round about and will be the glory in the midst of her,” chapter 2, verse 5. What divine protection is suggested, one of the most interesting things that runs through this book. God through the prophet, says at the beginning of this chapter, “Jehovah hath an eye upon men, and upon all the tribes of Israel.” That is, the localities of the brethren. He looks out upon the tribal setting. He sees how we are getting on, how we are working out things, whether the spirit of grace and recovery commensurate with His own spirit and grace is operating amongst us. He has got an eye on these matters, the tribes of Israel, the local settings in which we are, and He is encamping about His house to protect things in view of His own rights. Then we have the Lord Jesus presented as coming in and the receding of the idea of conflict. Notice this, that if the work of grace operating in recovery is coming more into prominence, the spirit of conflict is receding. So it says, “And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle-bow shall be cut off.” That is, these matters are receding, right in their place, and employed well in their place in the wars of the Lord as they might be, but they are receding now. “And he shall speak peace unto the nations.” Think of the way the Lord Jesus could come in and speak peace to the brethren - how He could enlarge on the thought of a son of peace in sending out the disciples. That is what we need in our local gatherings, dear brethren, ambassadors of peace among the brethren. Then it says, “As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant, I will send forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.” Think of this kind of release, for God is addressing Zion and Jerusalem, and He is speaking of the receding of conflict and He is enlarging on the thought of peace and release. The time of release, we might say, is come, and then it says, “For I have bent Judah for me, I have filled the bow with Ephraim.” What flexibility this suggests in the people of God. They are not crystallised, unyielding, unbending, but pliable, and flexible in the divine hand. “I have bent Judah for me,” not to be used by men. How much Judah suggests to the mind of faith. “I have filled the bow with Ephraim.” And He says, “I will raise up thy sons, O Zion, against they sons, O Greece, and make thee like the sword of a mighty man,” Greece, representing as we know in our time and day, the great idea of education and learning. It is the world in that cultured and philosophical form. God is raising the sons of Zion up against it; and He says “And Jehovah will be seen over them.” It is delightful, dear brethren, the way that God comes into the position, and adorns His people, and supports them on the line of recovery, and what has been liberated in the work of recovery. It further says, “and they shall be filled like a bowl, like the corners of the altar.” Notice this suggestion of correspondence with the altar - correspondence with the sufferings of Christ amongst His people; as it says, “filled like a bowl, like the corners of the altar,” alluding to what received the blood. It represents the saints, accepting the position of suffering under the divine hand. Think of how Paul says “I fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ for His body’s sake.” What an impression that man had and how far he was prepared to go and suffer! Then it says, “And Jehovah their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people.” We come back to the flock, dear brethren, the great potential value of the saints in the light of the flock, in whichever way we may view them. Then it says, “They shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up upon his land.” Think of that, dear brethren, and the testimony in it - the saints appearing as God’s land and shining in all the beauty of divine workmanship, ornamented as the stones of a crown adorning the inheritance, for that is the thought. They are not as it were, enslaved by sin, nor by the principles of self-will, detracting from the glory of the inheritance, but adorning it “lifted up as the stones of a crown, lifted up upon his land,” adorning the inheritance, enhancing, as we might say, the thought of it. Then it says, “For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Corn shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the maidens.” Christ ministered constitutionally affecting the young men, the youths amongst us, and the Spirit made room for in the figure of the new wine, stimulating the maidens. What prosperous conditions are here suggested, fruit of the operations of divine grace in recovery!

May the Lord bless the word.