LEADERSHIP
[p. 374] LEADERSHIP
I wish at this time to speak a word to the dear brethren in regard to leadership; not leadership by persons (although bearing in mind at the same time that properly leadership is by persons), but for the present purpose I intend to speak on leadership by things. This phase of the matter will help us to be practical, and the constant demand is for breaking things up into parts so that the education may be simplified. Young learners often ask in meetings: Say something about this or about that; not, Say something about him or about her; it is a question of things. In truth we come to follow persons, that is, the leadership of God and of Christ, and of the Spirit; but what is in mind now is things, broken up, dealt with severally and yet in relation to one another, for the truth is one whole. But we learn in part; we may as well admit that for it would be very foolish to deny it even in natural things. But before approaching and dealing with this one verse, very well known amongst us, I wish just to read a verse or two from 2 Peter 1 to bring out what is meant in my remarks: “Simon Peter, bondman and apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have received like precious faith with us through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ” (verse 1). That is, the “like precious faith” is seen here not through God, but through His righteousness; so that we have to understand righteousness to understand how “precious faith” is to be received — not simply known, but received; because believers are nothing if they are not receivers. And then he goes on to say, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”; that is, peace is multiplied “in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”, that is how it comes. And again in verse 3, “As his divine power has given to us all things which relate to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us by glory and virtue”. Now, dear brethren, notice these things as they are mentioned; His “divine power” has given to you certain things; it is not said that God has given to you these things — of course that is true — but “His divine power” has given them, and they “relate to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us by glory and virtue”. Notice the things that are mentioned, and how they act on each other, great phases of the truth broken up for us and seen acting. And then he goes on to speak of “glory and virtue, through which he has given to us the greatest and precious promises” — not simply that God has given them to us, but He has given them to us “by glory and virtue”.
Now several good sermons could be preached from these verses, I am not preaching from them; I am simply bringing them in as a prelude to what I have in mind so that we may get down into the lowest class of learning, as I would like to get down to it myself in seeking to unfold the ABC of the truth. Finally Peter says, “that through these” — not through me, not through God or Jesus or the Spirit, but “through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature”. I would urge every young brother and sister here to write down these things in the order in which Peter gives them here, positive things, each acting of itself in relation to the other things. Scientific people use one thing to promote another, and use that other to promote something else, always having a great end in mind. That is how Peter starts his second letter. Second letters usually deal with the state ensuing from the first. What is the reaction from the first letter of this great servant Peter? He had evidently heard as to it. One is impressed with [p. 376] the remarkable increase in these holy convocations amongst us, and the inquiry is, What is the reaction after each? Is there simply a drop, so that the next one has to take up the same thing? If that be so, degeneration is the general result of these meetings, and “If the salt also has become savourless, wherewith shall it be seasoned?” Luke 14: 34. To start up another series of meetings would not meet the case; we should be heading to apostasy.
You will see how material Peter is, how substantial he is in the matter of the source of things; so in the second letter he says, “to stir you up by putting you in remembrance” (verse 13), and he goes on to the utmost bounds, as I might say, of the universe, the spiritual universe and the material universe. It is somewhat of a drop from the spiritual to the material, and if the Spirit of God has to have recourse to the material then it is pretty evident we have not been living in the spiritual.
Well, I leave that now; that is my preface, and I go on to my text to bring out these leaders, four of them: “righteousness, faith, love, peace”. These are the leaders, and we are to follow them; not severally; for they are one, the truth is one whole, but apprehended in parts. The first part here is righteousness. There are four as I said: “Pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace”. You do not devote Sunday to righteousness, and Monday to faith, and Tuesday to love, and Wednesday to peace; you follow them all every day, and other ones besides. These are not the only things that lead us; wisdom also comes in. But the first one here is righteousness, and it is one of the scarcest things there is in this whole world — righteousness; yet it is here — it has always been here, and it is contemplated as moving first in this passage. The word is ‘pursue’, which suggests a little more than following, because you might follow leisurely, but this will not admit of that. We are in an [p. 377] emergency time, dear brethren; things are coming up every day that have to be met, and righteousness enters into every one of them, and it is moving fast. If you are not diligent, if you are just dilatory or neglectful, it will get out of your sight so far that you cannot see it, meaning that you cannot see afar off. That is what Peter says; he speaks of certain things that you might have seen that should have been added to what you have, and if you have not got them he says your sight is poor, and you have forgotten that you were purged from your former sins; not the present ones, but the former ones. You “cannot see afar off”, he says. And that answers a lot of questions as why people do not see when issues arise; the fact is that the light is moving so fast they lose sight of it — they cannot see afar off. You would not wish to be afar off from righteousness, but in case you do get far away from it by your conduct, then you do not see it at all; and you call light darkness and darkness light, and you call evil good, and good evil. These are most serious matters, and they are common even among the people of God.
So that the word ‘pursue’ has to be noticed here. You can test yourself as to how much agility you have in looking out for righteousness in every issue that comes up, and they are constantly coming up. Here is a man in the ninth chapter of John’s gospel and both his eyes are closed, he is blind; and the Lord’s disciples inquire from the Lord, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” (verse 2). Their minds were moving on fairly good lines in asking that question. The Lord said, Neither is true; neither his parents nor he have sinned. Later on the Pharisees say to the man, You were born in sins. They were blind; the Lord says it was not so at all; they could not see.
Well now, as to this matter of righteousness, I venture to connect it with Matthew’s gospel. Timothy is like Mark; these two young men were taught by [p. 378] the apostle. There are a great many young men amongst us now, and their safety lies in keeping near to spiritual people — not launching out by themselves too much; yet they have to learn to stand on their own feet and find their own way too, but they should not ignore examples.
So I venture to bring righteousness into Matthew. Timothy, as I say, was a young man, and he doubtless read Matthew’s gospel — probably it was written in his time (the gospels were all written, I judge, after the epistles). Paul says, “Give thyself to reading”, (1 Timothy 4: 13); he told Timothy that, and I would urge everyone to give attention to reading. You say, What reading? Certainly not the magazines or the novels; some do read them and get blinder and blinder by doing it.
Now Timothy might say to Titus, or to any other young brother he knew (I may say Timothy was going on pretty well most of the time, but the apostle had to say to him at one time, “Be not negligent of the gift that is in thee”, 1 Timothy 4: 14. And here he says, “But youthful lusts flee”; so that no one of us is beyond the necessity of these exhortations, even the most spiritual). Timothy might say to Titus, Did you see the gospel of Matthew? That is a bit of news; Titus might say, I have not heard of it yet. He would be very interested to see it. And at this point I may say that the gospels are written to amplify and exemplify the epistles, that is what they are for; to corroborate, amplify and exemplify the epistles. And the two brothers Timothy and Titus might say, Well, it would be very interesting to hear what Matthew has written about the Lord; because they would know that Matthew was an apostle. He was a tax-gatherer and became an apostle; he became a follower of Jesus, he rose up from his desk and laid all aside to follow. There is nothing said about whether he tidied up his money matters, not a [p. 379] word. He just left his desk as it was and followed Jesus, and he made a great entertainment for Jesus. Obviously he was greatly affected by something the Spirit of God caused to affect him in the walk and life and ways and words of Jesus.
Matthew was a money man, a banker; and more than that, he was a tax-gatherer. What would Matthew say about Jesus? What would be his point of view? It is most important to get the writer’s point of view, no matter what the book is, because the principle in divine things is that the Lord lays out the basis of the book; He lays out the basis of an address. So it is in John’s case for example, John the apostle and the prophet. The Lord told him how to write his book of Revelation as a prophet. He laid out the basis of the book — the great outline. He said to him, “Write therefore what thou hast seen, and the things that are, and the things that are about to be after these”, Revelation 1: 19. Now what is the principle of Matthew’s book? There are going to be twenty-eight chapters; although that was not under the direction of the Spirit of God. Chapters and verses are useful, but divine books are not written on that principle; they are written for intelligent people, persons who can read paragraphs as well as sentences, persons that know the alphabet. Even the psalms contemplate the alphabet, letter by letter; certain psalms are laid out on that principle. How will Matthew view Jesus in his book? The righteous One — that is the basis of the outline, the great general thought in Matthew. I do not indicate that there is nothing else in it, because Jesus is presented — “Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham”. That is the way it begins. And He is righteous; His reputed father, Joseph, is a righteous man. The Spirit of God, dear young people and brethren, has in mind to make us righteous if we are not that yet, and if we are christians at all the [p. 380] absence of righteousness is a shame, a disgrace; in fact, we are not characterised as christians if we are not righteous.
And so Matthew enlarges on the righteousness of Joseph, the reputed father of Jesus. It is very important to have a righteous father, it is a God-given thing to have a righteous father and a righteous mother; but if you do not follow in their steps you will gain nothing in that sense. God has given you a righteous father to pay attention to his ways, and the Lord’s reputed father was a righteous man; he was righteous in relation to his wife. It is the greatest demand to be righteous in regard of your wife, or the wife in regard of her husband. Then when it comes to the Lord Himself in ministry, when He was about to be baptised, He says to John the baptist, “It becometh us” (you and Me, John, or Me and you), “to fulfil all righteousness”. That is how Matthew presents the Lord Jesus — “all righteousness” — not only the claims of your wife or your husband or your children, but the claims of all or any with whom you have to do. As I said, righteousness has been in the world since its outset; it has never left, the devil has never been able to drive righteousness off this earth. The first one that is called righteous is Abel, God said that his blood is righteous. If we are to shed our blood, dear brethren, it is to be in righteousness; we are not to suffer for evil but for righteousness. Abel heads the list of the righteous people who shed their blood in righteousness. If you look into it you will find Matthew says more about righteousness than any of the other evangelists; he has the assembly in mind, the great judicial vessel that God has here to deal with matters, “Tell it to the assembly” is the injunction in Matthew 18: 17. It is the residence of righteousness, so that your matters will find a fair examination and decision there.
[p. 381] Now I come to faith, that is the next thing that we are to pursue. The thing is here, thank God; He has kept it here, but it moves fast. An emergency arises; it is there in a moment. Things come swiftly, so do not get your eye off it, keep your eye on faith and let your feet keep up with it, dear brethren; “pursue” it, the apostle says. It is an emergency matter, this epistle is an emergency epistle; and the words ‘pursue’ and ‘flee’ are before us. ‘Flee’ evil things; do not be dilatory about dealing with them, do not stop around them or give them any place at all, ‘Flee’ them, it says — “Flee youthful lusts”. Joseph is a great example for young people in the fleeing of youthful lusts and the pursuing of what is right. Both words are energetic words; flee the evil and pursue the good, “pursue ... faith” which, like righteousness, has been in the world since the beginning. The world has never been without it, the presence of it here has put the world under judgment. You may say, Where does faith come in? I would say in Mark’s gospel; faith is connected with Mark. But, you say, it is everywhere in the New Testament. So it is, and it is very little in the Old — the thing is there but the word is hardly used. Then why do I say it is in Mark? Is it not more in Romans than in Mark? The words ‘believing’ and ‘faith’ are about the same; but I am speaking of Mark and I want you to follow what I am saying.
Mark says in two passages what I have in mind. In the first passage he quotes the Lord Jesus as saying, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn nigh; repent and believe in the glad tidings”, Mark 1: 15. That is, have faith in the thing; that is the point — follow that. Do not be without faith, because whatever is not of faith is sin; you will be beset in every direction if you have not faith in activity. Mark quotes the Lord Jesus as saying, “Believe in the glad tidings”. You say,
[p. 382] That is one of the most practical expressions, because it is believing in the Lord Jesus. But “believe in the glad tidings”, it is the thing that I am talking about. But how does this work out? Well, if I am to believe in the thing, it is like a book; it is a book full of the idea of faith, and it is for me to read that book and re-read it and understand it. Believe in it; every word in it is to be gone into and believed, so that you are a ‘faith’ person: you have faith in your soul and you do not let it get away from you but you pursue it. A believer is a faith person, a person of faith; in other words, he is a believer.
Now the passage I have just quoted is in the first chapter, but the one I am going to quote is in the last chapter, there the Lord says, “He that believes and is baptised shall be saved” (verse 16). Notice, “He that believes”, “and he that disbelieves shall be condemned”. Notice the word ‘believe’ in both clauses of the verse. It is an awful thing to have hanging over your head that if you have not faith you will be damned! It is an awful thing to speak of but it is necessary; you are in such danger! It is not simply that the Lord has done certain things to save you, it is a question of your state and that you shall ‘pursue’ this thing, ‘faith’, and never lose it. And then Mark goes on to quote what the Lord says after that — I will just read it to you to call attention to what faith ensures to us. Notice when I read the verses that it is not a question of what is apostolic, the matter is for us christians. “And these signs shall follow those that have believed [notice that!], in my name they shall cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they should drink any deadly thing it shall not injure them; they shall lay hands upon the infirm, and they shall be well” (verses 17, 18). These are the things that people who have faith can do — believers, those who believe.
[p. 383] Dear brethren, listen to what Mark is telling us here; he is telling us about what we are to pursue, having fled youthful lusts: “pursue ... faith”. And Mark is telling us what the Lord Jesus said about this matter of believing and what accrues from it to persons who believe. The verse says that in the Lord’s name “they shall cast out demons”. You say, There are no miracles like that now. But I am speaking of principles now, and I am not going to say there are no such miracles as these; there are such miracles as these, if I may call them that. If there are not there is no christianity; God would make us real christians, real believers in things to prove the reality of what faith yields to us. And the first thing that is said is that in the name of the Lord Jesus they shall cast out demons. Now the invocation of the Lord’s name is essential to our very existence in this world; there is no power against the devil without it; every time we meet it is on this principle. So that “in my name they shall cast out demons”, cast out the power of the devil. Is that not a reality? It certainly is. If there is anything I am more conscious of than another it is that the Spirit of God is greater than the devil, and greater in me than the devil. Whatever length that may go is a question; it may vary under certain conditions, as at the beginning compared with now, but the fact remains that the power in the believer is greater than the devil, and it confounds him. We must rely on this power and invoke it; and we do invoke it without knowing it. The devil would snatch up all our meetings if it were not for it.
But then it evidences itself in more detail in how we deal with one another, the power we have in dealing with each other in daily life and in fellowship — how we deal with evil. The epistles refer to these matters; they come out in different epistles, and how the apostles proved this power! But I just give [p. 384] you the suggestion now of the present application. Without this power there is no possibility of carrying on — if we are carrying on. That fact that we have been carrying on through these years is a proof that the thing is real; a proof of the power that is in His name. Let us prove it — let us look out for the proof of it too; it will confirm us more and more.
Then the next thing is new tongues, that we speak of things differently. You may say, These are different languages they can speak; but that is not the point. It is not ‘tongues’ simply but “new tongues”. We read, “With their tongues they have used deceit; asps’ poison is under their lips”, Romans 3: 13. In our conversation with one another, is it the new or the old? Is it the new tongue or the old? If faith is energetic in us, it is the new one. We certainly ought to be able to speak with new tongues; we can challenge ourselves in all our conversation. “Then they that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another” (Malachi 3: 16) — in what tongue? Was the poison of asps there? Was the throat an open sepulchre there? No. According to Romans we supersede all that in the power of the Spirit of God, so that our conversation is holy, it is a ‘new tongue’. In the barber’s shop, or the railway station or the workshop, listen to the language! It is the devil’s language very largely, defiling and corrupting; whereas the christian brings in the new — holy words and feelings which the Spirit of Christ imparts to us. We speak right. The Lord groaned in His spirit when a man could not speak right.
And then we have further, “They shall take up serpents”; that is, they can handle what is of the devil and dispose of it without damage. We could not have a care meeting and handle what is evil without this. We are superior to it, we can take up serpents. I trust the dear brethren do not think I am fanciful; I know what I am saying is the truth.
[p. 385] Without these things we could not go on; let us cultivate them. It is a question of faith, let us pursue it and never be without it.
Then the next thing is drinking a deadly thing, things that come up that we do not know about and may be poisonous. But faith antidotes that, like the flowing of living water in the types. Flowing water is not so susceptible of defilement. Where there is no volume of water there is danger; it is volume that counts, plenty of spirituality, plenty of the things of God. Then, although you may imbibe things unknowingly, there is no harm. It is a question of the state inwardly, let us take care of our state. “Keep thy heart more than anything that is guarded; for out of it are the issues of life”, Proverbs 4: 23. That is what is meant; with the power of serpents and in drinking things you do not know of, the poison is nullified; the antidote is so powerful that there is no damage. That is an immense thing, it is a question of faith. Let us pursue it and never be without it, because it is always available.
And then, “They shall lay hands upon the infirm, and they shall be well”. Christians have power to help one another; they have power in regard of their bodies. James says, “Is any sick among you?” (we are never without the sick) “let him call to him the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall heal the sick” (chapter 5: 14). You understand I am not advocating what is called faith-healing (scriptural terms and words are taken up in a false way), but I am speaking of the truth; what is stated; what power faith has in regard to the bodies of the brethren. Is this not a reality? It certainly is a reality, I could give much testimony to the reality of this thing — the power of faith over the bodies of the brethren; one’s own body and the bodies of the brethren. Faith is intelligent [p. 386] in what it is doing; it knows that God has restricted human life, and that this is the time of eternal life in testimony. Eternal life belongs to another world, “that world and the resurrection”, but it is here in testimony. We do not live longer because of this, that is a matter of the government of God. Christianity is in the sphere of the government of God, and the testimony of the reality of the truth of eternity has come.
Then referring again to our leaders in 2 Timothy 2: 22, “love” is John. John is the great love evangelist. I have left it for the last and, dear brethren, what a great thing it is for heaven to see a loving people, a people who love one another! Do not fail to ‘pursue’ that. Pursue all the four things, “righteousness, faith, love, peace”, but love we must of necessity pursue with the brethren. That word is said of all of them, but particularly love, “Pursue ... love ... with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart”. Do not be among them without it, you are a stranger if you do not have it. You do not want to be that. People sometimes say, I was not thought of very much; I went to the meeting and nobody said much to me. Well, love is attractive to love. Why was John the evangelist so attractive to the Lord Jesus? He must have been; he was the disciple whom Jesus loved, so that he is entitled to speak of love, and he does speak of it. No one speaks more of it than he does, and one of the passages in which he quotes the Lord is, “By this shall all know that ye are disciples of mine, if ye have love amongst yourselves”, John 13: 35. It is a people who have that commodity amongst them, and if you come in amongst them they will notice you if you have it; if you bring a little more they will make room for you. It is a commodity that is highly valued amongst them. They will not make room for you because of your birth, because of your position, because of your [p. 387] good clothes, because of your money, but they will make room for you if you have love, “Love amongst yourselves”. If you are able to exercise love amongst the brethren you are a mighty person. If you are able to exercise love where love resides you are not a small person; you are a notable person if you contribute to this great matter — love amongst the people of God.
Well, I have sought to put my thoughts into words, to frame them in parts and make them intelligible, and I feel I have succeeded in some little measure. I count now on the Spirit to make it more intelligible, as the Lord says, “But when he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth: ... for he shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you”, John 16: 13, 14. So that we make room for the Spirit, and He will enable us to put all these things together so that they become profitable that we may characteristically, and in times of crisis such as we are in now, “pursue”!