"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me", John 15: 26.
Those who have been present at the previous lectures will the better understand what I desire to bring before you this evening.
The first was, The actuality of Christ's presence in the midst of His own: prefigured by the tabernacle in the midst of Israel. If that was a very striking thing, how much more striking is the habitation of God now, with the Lord in the midst of those gathered together to His name! We must bear in mind, that we have come to the fulfilment of the word of God; we cannot go back and shelter ourselves under the state of things in any previous period, because upon us have come the ends of the ages. This is a momentous thing for us to bear in mind. We are to surpass all the testimonies that have gone before. I do not think we sufficiently enter into the dignity of our position here on the earth - we are of the body of Christ. The first subject then was, The actuality of the Lord's presence.
The second, The company who enjoyed His presence: two or three gathered together to His name; the "holy priesthood"; that is, in moral keeping with Himself. I do not say that others will not find benefit there; all the sons of Aaron were to eat of the holy bread, but they were not all in company with the high priest in the holy places. Many a one in the assembly gets great benefit from the presence of the Lord, although he may not enjoy His presence, to which he is called. If his feet are not washed, he has no communion with the Lord. "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me". He does not say, 'no part in Me', but "with me". The third subject was, That any person who understood the nature and dignity of being in His company - of association with Him - his individual path must now be in keeping with his position in the holiest, and the better he apprehended his dignity there, the more would he insist that everything must be in keeping with it in private life.
A clergyman lays aside his surplice because he can say, I am a priest already in the presence of God. A soldier lays aside his sword, saying, How can a priest in heaven fight for a world where Christ is rejected? I belong to Christ inside the veil. This fact characterises me in my individual path. Christendom excuses itself by distinguishing between the clergy and the laity. There is no such distinction in the New Testament. We are all priests inside the veil, through divine grace; and the more thoroughly you understand the profound nature and blessedness of that position, the more it will affect you in very detail of daily life. It cannot be otherwise, unless you submit to have two faces - a religious face and a worldly face; a thing most abhorrent to a good man, how much more to the Spirit of God. It is from this that all devotedness springs. Why is there not more devotedness in the present day? Because we are not more affected by association with Christ, and the wonderful nature of it; therefore we do not carry the moral effect of it into the details of our daily life. I come now to the fourth mark of the Lord's presence. I have not a thought that I have exhausted the subject; on the contrary, I should be sorry in one way if I could, because I should leave nothing for you to acquire.
I want you to understand the reality of this grace, in a day of imitation; because, remember we have to do with worse than magicians now. There were magicians in Moses' day - "Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth". But how did they do it? They said, We can do it as well as you. That was imitation; and that is what we have to contend with. They assume to be as right as you; they rely on the very Scripture that you do - on Matthew 18: 20. Then what are we to do? Prove that we have something more - the power of what we profess. There are actual marks consequent on His presence. You can see the first three plainly enough. The characteristics of His presence; the company who command His presence; and the effect upon private life individually. Now this evening, I desire to occupy your attention with Christ's chief interest at the present time. This, you will find, is the testimony. Nothing can be simpler to any one who thinks for a moment.
Could you be in the company of anyone whom you valued very much, and not know, or seek to know, his chief interest? It would be impossible. Very often earnest believers have an instinct of this truth, though they are not taught in Scripture. As a rule, you will find that you have an instinct of the truth, even before you learn it. The person with the instinct before the education really values the education. Now, I do not believe a person could be in the presence of the Lord and not know something of His chief interest. You could not be near the Lord without knowing that there was no cloud between Him and you - in fact you could not be there at all if there were. But supposing you were near Him, surely you would feel that there is a great link between Him and you, even though you did not know anything about union. You would like to hear of it; you enjoy the sense of the link between Him and you; you could not put it in words. Well, Scripture is your divine warrant for it. Nothing like nearness. Many a person might be well up in Scripture, and able to open up all the different parts of it like a science, or a dissected map, and yet that person not really understand it; because, as another has said, you must be in it to understand it. This you learn by nearness. Now, I trust, you will all admit that Christ has a chief interest. I will turn to what it is presently, but the first thing is, you must bear in mind, that He has a chief interest; for if He has a chief interest, it ought to be your chief interest.
It is not a question whether your family, or your service, or this, or the other, is your chief interest. No, it is, what is Christ's chief interest? He has a chief interest. I have not yet said what it is, but I trust you will accept that - that He, the One dearest to your heart, has a chief interest. No one can understand it but by love, and we never understand Christ's love till we know His love. Nothing understands love but love itself. The mind cannot form a heart; it might enlighten it, but it could not form it. A heart only can understand a heart. Though this is very elementary, the very rudiments as it were, still it is an immense thing to get hold of that simple fact - Christ has a chief interest; and if I am in His confidence, if I am one of His friends, then His chief interest is my chief interest. I think it will be helpful to any inquirer to see that God always had a chief interest from the time He called Abraham. No matter what it was, whether it was conducting the people to Canaan with the tabernacle in the midst, or whether the city, or the temple, still He always had a chief interest.
Beloved friends, I desire to interest your hearts in this simple fact, that God always had a chief interest on the earth. I think it is an immense thing for the heart to get hold of this line of Scripture. Supposing I were an advocate pleading for a client, and I could bring the whole weight of law to bear upon the case, how effective I should be; so here, the whole weight of Scripture can be brought to establish the fact, that God always had a chief interest; and the conclusion is that He has a chief interest now. There is always an effort of the enemy to contravene what I am saying, but I ask any person to open the Bible at any point from Abraham onwards to the Lord's first coming, and show me that God had not a chief interest. And further, the man, the most honoured of God, was the man who unflinchingly adhered to it; while the man who wavered from it, lost all. "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning". "I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob". Why? Because it was God's interest. Where does any one fail? He has lost faith in God's chief interest. The returning captives went through much, but they lost faith in God's chief interest. "Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste". They did not make God's chief interest their chief interest; and this is the history of many a soul this day. Many a soul would be in a different position this day, if Christ's chief interest were his chief interest. I have no doubt that if even weighed down with your cares, you would rise up in the energy of the Spirit, if you were set for God's interest. Look at Daniel. In Babylon and surrounded by enemies, he prayed three times a day looking towards Jerusalem. It was at the time a waste. No matter; his heart is on the spot where God's heart is. Can you honestly say that, beloved friends, tonight - that your heart is on the very spot where Christ's heart is? Three times a day he threw up his window, and prayed towards Jerusalem. And see the distance Jerusalem was from Babylon, and he too on the eve of being thrown into the den of lions. There is a man of God! single handed, too. See how God sustained him. See how he prospered; read the last verse of chapter 6 - "So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, the Persian". It is not a question of numbers; I have not a doubt in my mind that one man or one woman, faithful to Christ's interest in a place, will promote wonderful light and blessing in that place. It is the only refuge in a day like this. Look at Moses: he faces 600,000 armed men.
"Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother". He did not fear, though humanly speaking they could have destroyed him in a moment. On the contrary, the power of God was with him. "The righteous is bold as a lion". The Lord has an interest, a chief interest; and if that interest is not your interest, and you are not set for it, you are not prospering in soul. Prosperity is a very interesting word in Scripture; as in Psalm 1 -
"Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper". The peace-offering is called the prosperity-offering. If the Lord's chief interest is my chief interest, I have divine prosperity; for I am in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and I have His power. Is it not plain to every one of you, that if you want to have the power, the support, the cheer, the comfort of the Holy Spirit, you must go in company with Him? "The fellowship of the Holy Spirit" - how many know what that is? If I am a man of faith, I depend on nothing but God; and as I am faithful to God's interest on the earth, I have the support of God. I might turn to Genesis 33 to establish the fact, that if I am not here maintaining the interest of God, I lose His support for myself. How could I have it? I am out of the line of His testimony. Jacob had come back to the land; God had met him and changed his name, had given him a new start; and what now? He buys a bit of land! Oh! I say, he is out of the divine way; he will certainly come to grief. I will not read the next chapter. We would like to draw a veil over it. You cannot conceive a more miserable picture than Jacob there. It is an instance how a man of God was forsaken of God, because of his frowardness. There were different testimonies; properly we fulfil them all. The first was Abraham, called to go out of the land of Ur of the Chaldees, unto a land which God would show him; where he was to be a stranger dependent on God.
Babylon was in its incipient stage at that time. If you want to know the beginning of Babylon, you must turn to Genesis 11. Abraham was called away from the place where there was the greatest independence, to show entire dependence on God. The end of this world will be Babylon marked by complete independence of God. "I sit a queen, and am no widow". And what characterises that great city? All the delicacies of this world. Everything that is vile and refuse is refused - the principle of Saul in his war with Amalek. The next testimony was Exodus 3: 8. "I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites". Israel after one march - see Numbers 10 and 11 - complained, then fell a-lusting, and eventually refused to go up and possess the land. Caleb and Joshua remained faithful. Mark now, the place that terrified Israel, the place of the giants, becomes the possession of the man of faith. Where there is most against you, there you can record your greatest victory.
"Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel", Joshua 14: 6-15. "And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you", Judges 2: 2-3. The enemy in the land was the most treacherous of all the enemies Israel had to encounter. It is not an open conflict. Pharaoh in Egypt is an open foe, and so is Amalek. Balaam is not so easily seen - more subtle and insinuating. But in the land, if you do not exterminate the old inhabitant, you will be victimised. Further on, we shall see they were captives in their own houses. In the land, on the right ground, but captives, instead of as promised them in Joshua 23. "One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God he it is that fighteth for you". They had forsaken the interest of God, and the consequence was that they had lost their own blessings. I do not dwell much on the kings. In David's time there was the city; in Solomon's, the house. I pass on to Haggai - though I have already alluded to it - because it resembles ourselves.
The captives had returned; they had taken a long difficult journey, and they had begun to build; but they were obstructed, and obstructed by those who had offered to be their allies. If you are walking in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, you will discover what is the power against you. Satan will let you do anything you like, except what God is set for. Where God is, there the devil is. Where there is most good, there the greatest opposition is. The captives were discouraged; they ceased to build, and sought their own interests. But the house, God's interest was overlooked, and consequently, "Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little". You say, Was it not right for a Jew to look for natural blessings? Yes, but they had forsaken God's interest. The next testimony was the Lord Himself here on earth. Christ in glory now is the testimony. If you watch, you will see, that the tendency always is to be occupied with a dispensation you are not in.
Like the churchman, he goes back to the time when the Lord was on earth, and he uses what is called the Lord's prayer. Then there are pious people who anticipate the hundred and forty-four thousand in Revelation 14. Well, now I look at the New Testament. I will read a verse in John 2: 15-17: "And when he had made a scourge of small cords he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up". Beloved friends, can we say, "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up"? I do think we ought to be able to say it. I ask myself and I ask you, Can you honestly say that God's house is your paramount business here? You say, Oh! but I must look after my business and my family. Quite right; but that is not your paramount business. One might say, The house is a ruin. I ask, What could be worse than the state of things when our Lord was here? They were actually making merchandise in God's house. It should touch our hearts to see the Lord making a scourge of small cords, and drive them all out of the temple. Could anything be more affecting? It is inimitable. He did it all by Himself; He asked no one to support Him. "The righteous is bold as a lion". "And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up". What a company we should be, if we were characterised by zeal like that! In the verse I read, John 15: 26, the Lord is speaking of His ascension. He says,
"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me". Mark every word; it is important. It is from that height He sends the Holy Spirit, and "he shall testify of me". He does not say, Ye shall. Why? Because no human means can come in at all. "He shall testify". I lay great stress on that word He . You say, Has the human element no place at all? As a servant; not as a contributor. As a servant my intellect is in subjection, though I do not lay much value on it. The great comfort is the Holy Spirit is here, and this is immense encouragement for our hearts. In chapter 14 the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father to bring the comfort of what Christ was here, to His disciples. Here in chapter 15, He is sent by Christ from the Father to "testify of me"; that is, of Christ in glory; and it is by His power alone I can testify of Him. Every path that God ever proposed to man is an impossible one to mere man. Every path He proposes is a divine one, and therefore can be carried out only by divine power. In verse 27, the disciples were to testify of Jesus as He was on earth. Now there is no doubt the Holy Spirit is sent down to us to testify of Christ. You say, We have failed. But you cannot say, The Holy Spirit has failed. I insist that the same power to testify of Christ is in the assembly now, on this earth this day, as ever He was; and I say again, that if you are in company with Him, you have some sense of your Lord's interest. I insist that the power to maintain the testimony is here on earth.
Daniel was sustained by the Holy Spirit, but he could not say, The Holy Spirit is down here residing whether I use Him or not. But we can say, The Holy Spirit is down here in this room to testify of Christ, whether I use Him or not. The divine resources are here as great as ever. Just as if an army were broken up, but all the reserves, everything of the material of war was just as perfect and as complete as when there was a disciplined army. We are only a little "handful"; that is what we are reduced to. If the Lord permit me I will dwell upon the handful another time, but what I dwell upon now is that the power to maintain the name of Christ upon this earth is as great this day as ever it was. The saints to be used in this service are not as valiant as they might be; they are not united; they are - though one does not like to use the worldly language - demoralised. I do not mean they are so in morals; but they have lost all the keeping of rank, and all the soldier-like prowess which marked those who would stand for Christ in the scene where He is rejected. O beloved friends, what we want is loyal soldiers for the army of Christ, to stand for Him here, where He is rejected; not mere emigrants to heaven! He has gone away to the Father, and every heart in this room that knows Him, lifts up the heart to Him there, where He is, and desires and delights loyally to stand for Him here, where He is refused. I am left in a world that is ready to swamp me; in a world that hates me because I am like Christ. Strange for the disciples to be left in a world that hated Him! "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you ... I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you". "Now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father". "They hated me without a cause. But when the Comforter is come ...". Here it is in connection with hating that He sends the Comforter. The Holy Spirit would support them. You shall not be swamped; He says, I will send down the Holy Spirit from the Father, and He shall testify of Me ascended. I have already noticed He does not say you will; though no doubt you are the vessel; that I thoroughly admit. But I want you to know, and I trust you have it in your heart in real faith that the power is here. It is no doubt the power that sustained Daniel, but Daniel could not say what you and I can say, that the power is residing here whether we use Him or not. That is the wonderful thing - the descent of the Holy Spirit; He is here, and when you are in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, you cannot lose sight of Christ. Now having established the power, I turn to Christ's present interest. I look at it in a two-fold way. I read Ephesians 5: 25,
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it". That is His chief interest, beloved friends. And though I do not go into it, you will find this foreshadowed in the Old Testament. I might occupy you interestingly on this subject, but I will only put you on the line of it. You will find that when God desires to set forth a truth, you get beautiful indications of it in the Old Testament. I speak of the bride; Rebekah, for instance, when Isaac was in sorrow; or Joseph, when he was a stranger in Egypt is given a bride - someone to comfort him. That is the principle: "It is not good that the man should be alone". And when the Lord comes, what does John say? "He that hath the bride is the bridegroom", he was the friend of the bridegroom, and rejoiced greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. And do you think that because things are in a disorganised state, that Christ has less love for the assembly than He once had? Do you mean to say that a good man in this world loves his wife less, because she is feeble? Her very feebleness draws forth fresh expressions of his love. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it". Has that love diminished? Never, thank God! The assembly then is His chief interest. Some may not understand how that can be in a broken up state of things, but as I have already said, in the broken up state there is a "handful", commonly called a remnant, though I do not quite like the word; it is "a handful", as it is said in Psalm 72: 16, "There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains"; and in one of the prophets, "Gleaning grapes shall be left in it ... Two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof". Still the few are good grapes. I desire now to show you for a moment what the assembly is. You see it is His chief interest. No matter what the state of things is, the power is here. Hence the apostle writes,
"God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind". And I never yet saw - I wish I could see it more - a man or a woman in power who did not make the assembly his interest; the assembly is your prominent thought, though it is not a question of what the nature of your service may be. Supposing I am an evangelist; well, an evangelist was given from the Head of the assembly "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ". But I say again, what I have begun with, that you could not be near Him without knowing that the assembly is His chief interest. I am not going into the question of service; though, if permitted, I will go on to it on another occasion; but I have no doubt, that what would characterise a heart that cared for Christ would be a zeal to draw souls to Christ. I do not mean simply the salvation of souls. As a rule, one's attention now is given to sinners, and not to saints. "These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone". What is the defection now? What did Paul say? "All they which are in Asia are turned away from me". It was not that they had turned away from the gospel, but from Christ's chief interest - the truth committed to Paul. The salvation of a soul is not the whole counsel of God. Though I have not the gift of an evangelist, I could not sit beside a sinner without talking to him of a Saviour; and I could not sit beside a saint without talking to him of Christ. I have no other subject for anybody. But I say it is a different thing when Christ's interest is my interest. May we be in the spirit of the captives in Babylon; they had an interest in Jerusalem. "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy". Instead of thinking that I am in any way extravagant, your heart ought to rejoice that you are in concert with your Lord's mind. Nothing rejoices His heart more than that we like what He likes. Hence the apostle says to Timothy "Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life"; and, "That from a child, thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus". Let us now consider Christ's present interest. I turn to Matthew 16: 18,
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my assembly; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it". Now, I ask any true-hearted person in this room, Do you know the Lord Jesus is not on earth? Yes. You know He is in heaven? Yes. Very well; then tell me what really belongs to Him here, where He was rejected by His own. Mind you, that it is in connection with His rejection that this new structure comes out.
In Matthew 16: 18, He says to Peter, Thou art Peter - a stone, and upon this rock - that was the testimony he had given of Christ as the Son of the living God - I will build My assembly; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And do I not know, beloved friends, that many a heart here rejoices that all the power of hell cannot drive Christ's assembly from this earth! He has not given up possession of this earth where He was rejected. On the contrary, He announces, I am rejected by My own, but I will have a structure on this earth, an impregnable fortress that the gates of hell shall not prevail against. A living stone is not merely that I am converted, but that I have faith in the sufficiency of Christ; I know what He can do; I know that He can feed five thousand from five loaves, and four thousand on seven loaves, and yet many baskets over; I have faith in the supremacy of the Son of the living God in His assembly. I say, deliberately, that this is the avenue, the actual doorway into the assembly. I cannot go into it in detail, it is a little outside my subject, because the subject I am on is, that His interest is on the earth. You say, It is in ruins. Very well; sweep away the ruins if you can! Do we understand our new position? Being built into a structure, the house of God, that shall eventually come forth as a holy temple in the Lord! But there is also the body of Christ, which was first divulged in Acts 9: 4,
"Why persecutest thou me?" The body is in relation to Himself, and comes out in connection with the persecution of the saints. Then for the first time was divulged that Christ's body was on earth! "Why persecutest thou Me?" Matthew 16: 18 is a structure here on the earth where Christ is rejected. In Acts 9: 4, the secret of His body was divulged consequent on His rejection when in glory, and in connection with the persecution of the saints. Why persecutest thou Me? Myself. This is His present interest: "Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it". I have no doubt the heart often finds out something of this before the house is known. I have no doubt the order in which the truth is recovered is at first with regard to the body. It is not only that there is a structure on this earth that all the power of hell cannot prevail against; that is the aspect when I look at it as to this earth; but there is another aspect, and that is, that there is a relationship, a bond between us and the Lord Jesus Christ that no language can describe. "We are members of his body". I would not believe that a company was gathered to His name who could say, We do not know anything about Christ's chief interest, of which I am speaking. Some would tell me, There is no remedy, the corporate thing is over. Am I to listen to such a thing as that? Certainly not; because there are two things which forbid me. One is, the Holy Spirit is here to testify of Christ; and the other is, that Christ's heart is just the same as ever; His chief interest is here. I know the house is in a dilapidated condition, but if I look at the body I know that all the members are here, on this earth. Someone may say, I thought some of them were dead. No; that is not the body. And some of them to come? No. If Christ's body is not on this earth, then Satan has gained the day. The wonderful secret is that His body is on the earth. It had been kept secret from the foundation of the world, but as I am in His presence - and that is my point - I discover that there is a bond between us; and my heart rejoices when I find in Scripture light and authority to understand the nature of it. It is the knowledge of the tie that makes me sure of it. The enjoyment of the tie makes me value the scripture that establishes my right to the tie. Now I turn back to John 15. There are two things which comfort me. One is, the power to maintain the testimony of Christ is here; the purpose of God is secured. The other, our service and gain are great as we avail ourselves of this great power.
If any heart here says, I will maintain His interest; then I say, you will have the support of the Holy Spirit. What can distinguish a man more than a great interest? Every man is coloured by his aim, and you will never enjoy solid happiness till you make the Lord's interests your interests. I turn to John 16 to make a remark, as to the two things which mark the support of the Holy Spirit; so that you can always judge for yourself.
One is, that He is decidedly against the world. He is the righteous witness against it. It is not that He differs from it, He is the witness against it. "When he is come, he will convict the world", not "convince" exactly. He will witness against it. I would not read a report of the statistics of crime to know that sin is on the world. There is here an incontrovertible witness - the Holy Spirit. His being here proves that the world has sin on it; they have not believed on Christ; and I must now go either with the force against the world, the force of the Holy Spirit standing for Christ, or I must go with the course of the world against Him. Now that is the real question with souls. All in Asia had gone with the course of the world. Anyone with anointed eyes can understand it very well. Why did they turn away from Paul, where he had done most of his work too? If they accepted Paul's line, they must be against the world. The second thing is, "He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore, said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you".
He brings in the heavenly things, so that a person can say, Well, if you are going in company with the Holy Spirit, you must take the opposite course to the world; it is running one way, and the Holy Spirit going the other. Yes, you are going God's way. You have lost the world. For this, you will have the greatest possible compensation; heavenly things are brought to you. "He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore, said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you". The testimony now is of Christ, the manifestation of the heavenly man on earth, where He was the rejected man - the saints the expositors of it. Can you conceive anything more exquisite? He was rejected here, I am united to Him in heaven, and by the Holy Spirit I can stand for Him however feebly, to set forth the beauty of the heavenly Man - the exalted Man, in the very spot where He was the rejected Man. "Be not thou, therefore, ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner", Paul writes. But then, who does carry out the testimony? Well, that is our feebleness. As I have already tried to explain to you in figure, it is the army, we who are called to do the work, we have failed. The resources of God for the work are as great as ever. The soldiers are unfaithful. The material of war is not diminished. There is not one in the whole world who says, I will stand for Him, but finds out that the Lord is his support. We have learned He was here for us; have we learned to be here for Him? There is just one passage more that I must call your attention to, Matthew 13: 44. You might have thought that I would have referred to this at first; but no, I turn to this to silence any doubt that might arise as to Christ's chief interest being here.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field: the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field". Now, in conclusion, in support of what I have been pressing on you - that the Lord's chief interest must be the chief interest of those who enjoy His presence. Here, in the world, in this tumultuous scene, is there anything particular? In this scene of distraction, where Christianity has really made things more corrupt than they were, I ask, Is there anything here for the Lord? The answer is, His treasure is here; hid in the field. Well, what is the effect of this upon you? Does it not give you a new interest on this earth? I can look upon the world with all its distractions, and I can bear with it, because His treasure is here. I ask you, solemnly, Do you believe His treasure is on earth? Nine-tenths of the saints believe it is in heaven. Nay, they talk of Jesus as if He were on earth, and they talk of the saints being one in heaven! It is the other way. The body is on earth, and He is in heaven; and never is anyone right about the truth who is not clear about this. I look for a moment at Revelation 3: 11, "Let no man take thy crown".
Now from this verse evidently they had it, or it could not be said, Let no man take thy crown. It does not say they should not be troubled, on the contrary, the exhortation, "let no man take", shows that there would be the effort of the enemy to rob them of their crown. Now what is the crown? It is the top; the summit. Everyone knows the expression, the crown of the hill - the top. Now there is a great encouragement in this scripture. It is exceedingly interesting to get a verse like this in these addresses to the seven churches, which show you the dilapidation of the house - not the body. "Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown". That shows the thing is still there. Christ's chief interest is there, but the exhortation indicates danger. There would be a determined effort to take their crown from them. I turn to Revelation 22: 17, to show the close.
"The Spirit and the bride say, Come". I find Christ's chief interest is here. The bride - characteristically true of all saints - is here, and the Holy Spirit. Thank God, I find them together. And what are they doing? Occupied with Christ's interests. "The Spirit and the bride say, Come". They invite Him to come - those only fit to ask Him. What could be happier service than to say to Him, Come, because we are ready for Him? What next? Now look at the order. "And let him that heareth, say, Come". Here is a brother not saying, "Come". I urge him on to do so, I encourage him; "Let him that heareth say, Come". But here is another brother who is not happy; to him I say, "Let him that is athirst come": let him come to enjoy. Is that all? Do I confine myself to the saints? No: now I am evangelical. I go out to the wide, wide world, the whole length and breadth of the earth and say, "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely". It is everything to be in concert with the heart of Christ about things, in the circle of His interests, and to come out from Him with the gospel to the utmost bounds of the earth. Do you think I should be a worse evangelist because I am devoted to His chief interest? Every evangelist gets his commission from above, and to the Lord - the Head, he must report. What is he sent for? What is his commission? "For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ". He is recruiting for his own corps - the assembly; he is seeking for faithful men to stand for his Lord on earth. I never saw a man really devoted to God that he had not a real care for souls, according to the grace given him by Christ. In 2 Timothy you get a most terrible thing; what really is a masterpiece of iniquity - the separation between the gospel and the assembly. The effort of the enemy is ever to divorce what God has joined together. "All they which are in Asia be turned away from me", not from the gospel, but from Paul; that is, from the heavenly truth of which Paul was the minister. The true character of affection is, that everything is attended to. I like to please Him. I am on the alert; the very fact of my affection makes me on the alert. The heart set on Christ has one thing to live for, Christ's chief interest.
The Lord grant that our hearts may know what is the exceeding blessedness - and it could not be otherwise if in His presence - of maintaining His chief interest, for His name's sake.
