WHAT DIVINE PERSONS ARE DOING
I have in mind, dear brethren, to say a word with regard to the great privilege that is ours through grace of linking on with divine Persons in what they are doing at the present time; and coupled with that there is the thought of suitable behaviour in the presence of God.
Presently we will take our place in glory, and one is peculiarly impressed with the place of intimacy that those who form the assembly will have in relation to divine Persons. We were reading this afternoon of every family in heaven and earth named of the Father (Eph.3:15). Who can tell but the Father Himself how many families there are? Only the Father knows! He has named every one of them and He will have every family in some sense as the subject of the operations of the Holy Spirit, but there is no other family that will ever have the place of nearness and intimacy with divine Persons which belongs to those who form the assembly.
I believe it will be our privilege, as divinely capacitated, to link on throughout eternity itself with what God is doing. And then what manner of conduct will mark the personnel of the assembly in that day of glory! When we take our place in glory, we will know fully how to conduct ourselves in a suitable way in the presence of God. But we are in the learning time; now is the time for us to learn what is suitable by way of conduct in His presence.
I suppose one of the outstanding features of this day is that we find ourselves, through grace, in the economy into which God has come and in which He is operating. That is an amazing thing. Indeed chapter 28 of Matthew tells us that we are brought into the economy by baptism. For it is baptism “to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”, Matt.28:19. Just think of being brought into the economy into which divine Persons have come and in that sense, there is never a time when we are outside the presence of God. So the apostle Peter says: “what ought ye to be in holy conversation”, 2 Pet.3:11. It is what becomes us, dear brethren, as moving into the economy in which divine Persons are operating themselves.
I have said it is our privilege through grace to link on with God in what He is doing. I am not thinking now of the grace of God in linking on with us; marvellous grace, linking on with us in the condition in which we are. “Since therefore the children partake of blood and flesh, he also, in like manner, took part in the same”, Heb.2:14. Then, as we saw this afternoon, it can be said that “the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit”, Rom.8:16. Think of the grace of the blessed Spirit as linking on with us. What marvellous grace that is! But now I am thinking of the grace that capacitates the saints to link on with God in what He is doing. How it would keep us and how it would so humble us to see that all that is going on is the privilege of grace so that we can link on in our part with what divine Persons are doing.
So we come to Moses. The great matter in the book of Exodus is the deliverance of a people from the influence and power of the world to set them free for the service of God – the service of God publicly in the wilderness as we have in the epistle to the Corinthians, not as in the heavenly sphere. That requires a people that is completely delivered from every power and influence of the world.
So we find here in Exodus 3 that Moses is in the wilderness; he is looking after the sheep of Jethro and he turns aside to see this great sight. As he turns aside, God speaks to him in a voice out of the midst of the bush and says “loose thy sandals from off thy feet”, and Moses did so. Moses finds himself for the first time in the presence of God. The record shows that Moses had never been in the presence of God before. Moses is going to learn something through this great experience. The great matter is this: if there is to be a people delivered from the trammels and influence and power of this world, it requires God to come into it. Let us learn something here! Many of us are active in seeking to help the saints and we would like to see all the brethren set free from the influence of the world. Moses had that desire long before this – indeed it says forty years earlier that he had gone out to see his brethren and it says “And he turned this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man…”, Exod.2:12. He had desires then for the people. He wanted them free from the world; indeed every godly person has that zeal. But the point is that Moses turned this way and that way and when he saw there was no man, he smote the Egyptian. He was premature in his action in smiting the Egyptian because God Himself had not come into the position. But here the word of God is, “I know their sorrows”. What a comfort to any here who are passing through sorrows and trials. God said “I have seen assuredly the affliction of my people” – Israel – “…And I am come down to deliver them”, Exod.3:7,8. Think of God coming down into the position in view of securing a people for the public service of God. Then it says that Moses “hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God” (v.6). What suitable behaviour that was in the presence of God who had come down to deliver His people.
What I am labouring to show is that this matter requires the presence here of One who is God. It is like where we get the name Emmanuel in Matthew – “God with us” (Matt.1:23). The angel had said “thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins” (v.21); not ‘shall save sinners’ but “his people”. Oh, how much there is for us to be saved from. It is Jesus who has come down to deliver us. It is indeed a marvellous thing that Matthew never records that Jesus went up to heaven, but leaves Him with us “all the days” (Matt.28:20) to deliver us from the trammels of the world. So you see how this would regulate us in our activities amongst the brethren when worldly influences come in, when worldliness shows itself among the saints. Let us understand that the deliverance of a people from Egypt is not in the hands of any man. It is in the hands of God, and so let us simply link on with what He is doing in relation to delivering His people.
Now I come to Joshua. Here it is not a question of the deliverance of a people from Egypt but it is a question of leading the people into the mind of God for them. What a realm is opening out before us. I believe we stand at a juncture in the revival of the truth at which the whole scope of the mind of God for us is opening up. The glories of divine Persons are being shown to us as they have never done before. The glory of the Father, the glory of Christ as the One who brings all about, and the glory of the blessed Spirit Himself who conducts us into it all. That is what is in mind in the earlier part of Joshua. The door is opened into it:-
‘And see! the Spirit’s power
Has op’ed the heav’nly door’,
and here in Joshua 5 it is a question of bringing the people into the land:-
‘Has brought us to that favoured hour
When toil shall all be o’er’ (Hymn 74).
What I want to bring out is that the most spiritual ministry that ever fell on the ears of the people of God is not sufficient to bring them into what is in God’s mind for them. At the end of Deuteronomy, we get a marvellous ministry from Moses. What a ministry Moses had and what a minister he was. He had a ministry direct from God to keep the people, and the minister was in full keeping with his ministry, but that was not sufficient to bring the people in. Great man though Joshua was, he could not bring the people into it. Great man though Paul was, he has to say after the expounding of a marvellous ministry to the Ephesians, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named, in order that he may give you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man”, Eph.3:14-16. Dear brethren, it is only the presence of the Holy Spirit who can bring us into what is in the mind of God for us.
So Joshua sees the man with a drawn sword and he says, “Art thou for us, or for our enemies?”. How often we want God to link on with us in what we are doing. It may be in ministering the truth, but the important point to see is that we are to link on with God in what He is doing. This man has been likened to a type of the Spirit. The test is whether we are going to link on with God in what He is doing. After we have Christ typically in the book of Joshua as the old corn of the land (Josh.5:11), the captain of Jehovah’s army says “am I now come”. Surely it was Jehovah who was there because He accepted the worship of Joshua. No angel in his right orbit would accept worship from any mortal. I just leave that thought as to the captain of Jehovah’s army with the brethren. So Joshua worships and the man says, “Loose thy sandal from off thy foot”. Let us learn that however great we may think we are, man after the flesh can have no standing in the presence of God who is here to conduct the saints into what He has in mind for them.
Now I want to say a short word about John in the book of Revelation. In the first chapter John sees this great sight – “one like the Son of man” (v.13) – clothed in all His judicial glory in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. Let us remember that the book of Revelation is written to the seven assemblies; not to the assembly at large but to our local gatherings, as it were. I believe what is in mind is that every local gathering is to be furnished with the light that is given in a book like this. Where is the locality that would say we have not got any difficulties? Well, this is a word for us! What a sight John had of the judicial glory of Christ as He stood in the midst of the seven candlesticks. He was the “living one” who became dead and then was “living to the ages of ages”. The stress here is on the fact that this is the Son of man and He is going to deal with matters in the assemblies. How often we try to take up matters outside the recognition of this One who has this judicial glory in the midst of the assemblies.
What is John going to do now? He is the disciple whom Jesus loved – the one who had put his head on Jesus’ breast. Is he going to do that now? How unsuitable that would be! Oh, dear brethren, if any one of us is to help the brethren, this is where we must needs be – at His feet as dead as the judicial glory of Christ is thus shining out! John is a man who you can always rely on to behave suitably in every circumstance. Peter is not like that; he says “let us make three tabernacles”, Mark 9:5. That is unsuitable behaviour in the presence of a divine Person. I wonder how often we have been guilty of that, but here is John in the presence of the judicial glory of Christ. The challenge to us tonight is as to whether we can link on with Christ in this judicial character; to deal with matters that would hinder the flow of love in the assemblies. I leave that for your consideration.
My final word is in the last chapter of Revelation where the “Spirit and the bride say, Come”. Have we reached that moment now? Presently the answer will come from heaven and the assembly will be taken to be with Christ. But it is not the Spirit in the bride who says this; it is “the Spirit and the bride”. It is the Spirit as a divine Person, and the assembly at the end of her journey divinely capacitated to link on with Him in His speaking. You will find in Genesis 24 that as the work of God is seen in Rebecca, the servant links himself on with her. But then the question arises “Wilt thou go with this man?” (v.58). It is not ‘Wilt thou go to Isaac?’, for every believer will tell you he is going to Jesus. It is a question now of linking ourselves with the Spirit. The challenge to our hearts as the glory of the Spirit is brought before us is whether we have the ability to link on with Him. The day is dawning; soon the true Isaac will come to meet us. He is looking out and His heart is beating true. When we reach eternity, every one of us will know how to behave ourselves. But let us see that, in all our activities among the saints now, we are not bringing in the human mind but are linking on suitably with what divine Persons are doing.
Notes of an Address at Boddam, Scotland
23 April 1949
W. McKay
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