In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:1-5 NASB)

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:1-7 ESV)

A place beloved saints – do you not long for such a place? Does not this cold and hollow world make you yearn, make you weary for such a place? And not just any place, a place with the Father; a place in Him. Oh for such a place, for was not this reason we were created. And this Son, He is the very life of the world, which is the light of men! He is the way to this place, to the Father’s heart, to that celestial garden where all things are made new. Oh dear ones, again, do you not yearn deep in your spirit for such a place? Can you even see it in your spirit’s eye? Has this living reality penetrated deep into your life? And is this Son, the Christ, is He in fact the life of your world? Is He the path you are on? Is He your living way back into the very house of the Father?

“I am the life of the world” – this then is the Kingdom is it not! For in the Kingdom of God only the life of God must animate all things; it must define and determine all things! And this life is the Lord Jesus Christ! He alone is the living principle of the New Creation, of which you and I are the first fruits. It is not more religion or theology we need at this time, but that this living truth might be the very principle and energy upon which we live every moment of our lives here in this dark and fallen world! Everything out of Christ! Everything generated from Him! No more “my life” – but “He is my life”!

Let your hearts not be troubled, just believe in Me – oh if this were just so easy. Yet it is isn’t it? It is we who are so broken, so fallen, so miserable within ourselves that we have made this so complicated, so religious, so devoid of real living power. Oh the judgment to come on all those who have made the Living Christ merely a religious thing, a symbol, an empty teaching for 2,000 years!

Is He alone our light then – the Light with which we now view all things, that all things come into focus as they really are? He is not only the way but it is His life that lights the way. It is therefore a self-reflecting and self-illuminating light. Oh the glory of this light, this life, that it reveals itself, that it illuminates itself, and that this light is the very light that leads us home into the Father’s eternal heart. Hallelujah!

“Many rooms” and “a place for you” – and that somehow this place is “to myself” – So He is in this place? A personal place but a place where He abides, a place where we dwell personally with Him, with the Father and Son in a room in His house. Oh dear children of God, does this not send a rush of spiritual adrenaline through your very being?

The end of all things is at hand! The nations are rushing towards inevitable judgment and destruction! The testimony of Christ, the lampstands have long since gone out! The testimony of Christ held intimately within a small remnant, very much hidden and obscure! The day of His visitation draws near and yet, tragically as before, the many fail to recognize it (Luke 19:41-44). The many who name His Name seem incapable of discerning the signs of the times that are all around them (Matt. 16:1-3). The pride and complacency of life in this world keeps them from taking up their cross to follow the One Who was slain, as true disciples, up and out of this grave and into life eternal and abundant, in His Spirit, upon resurrection ground. Rich and in need of nothing, settled and secure and rooted in this world and its spirit and life, refusing to let it go, to even contemplate that there is so much more. And so, as before, the time of teaching and instruction must give way to the time of the prophet, the ones who come in the Name of the Lord, voicing and living as a parable of His sore displeasure.

Oh Gracious and Wise and Long-suffering Lord, help us!

“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life!”

Is He all of this for you, or for me?

Oh Lord may it be so!

May Your mercy and grace make it so in our hearts this day Oh Lord!

Please be the life for all of your people today! Amen.

Please allow me to share some encouragement with you from the story of Zacharias and Elizabeth in Luke Chapter One. These are just some simple spiritual insights into God’s ways that came to me as I meditated on this portion of His word.

Both Zacharias and Elizabeth were from priestly lines, and Zacharias was actively serving among the temple priesthood.  This surely signifies that they had a heart to serve the Lord.  I believe that according to the light they had they were very sincere in wanting to make their lives count for God and His purposes.

In God’s magnificent sovereignty and wisdom, He prevented them from having a child.   Think about this.   Although Scripture tells us that Elizabeth was grateful to God for taking away the disgrace of being childless, I cannot help but think that she wanted more than just being a mother.  This couple was serious about pleasing God, and God’s interests were surely deeply held within their hearts.  “They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord” (Lk. 1:6). This godly couple surely wanted a child, yet we can certainly imagine that they wanted a special child, one dedicated to carry on their tradition of devoted service to God and His house.

Yet, this deep aspiration of theirs was blocked.   “But they had no child, because Elizabeth as barren, and they were both advanced in years” (Lk. 1:7).   Their yearning to give more to God, to be of more usefulness to Him by bearing a godly son in the priestly line seemed unfulfilled.  Yet, they prayed.  It was after all hope seemed to be gone; it was only after all their natural strength to produce something for God was over, that God came with the answer to their prayer.  When the angel appeared to Zacharias in the Holy Place, he said:  “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John” (Lk. 1:13)

Is this not how God works?  It is after we give up on our strength, like Abraham and Sarah, that God can work and bring forth something.  And, it is surely in answer to prayer.  

Dear brothers and sisters, we tend to give up on prayer for usefulness to God when we have tried to serve in our own strength and have only seen failure. Or, we may lose heart because we labor year after year with seemingly meager results.  Also, we are often fearful of our motives for desiring usefulness once we have seen how dark the natural heart is, wanting to be used by God for self-glory.  Yet, there remains something in us of God, and we must not deny this aspiration He has given us!  Something within us urges us gently to dare to pray, to dare to ask God to make us more useful in the building up of His house!  Let us pray with a pure heart, under His blood, and by His grace, seeking for His purposes and His glory alone.

Then, we must learn to wait on His answer, and His timing.  We see from the lives of this godly couple that while they awaited God’s answer, they never ceased carrying out His will day by day:  “They were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord” (Lk. 1:6).  They were scrupulous in keeping God’s righteous ways for their lives. This is surely a reason why God would answer their prayers.  Do not think that God will grant you or me a useful role in building up the body of Christ if we are not seeking His righteousness in all that we do.  This is a vital key to any usefulness for God.  We must seek His righteousness in every daily task, in all of the little things of daily life, not just in “spiritual matters.”

The biography of Hudson Taylor contains a wonderful account of a lady who greatly desired to be used of God on the mission field.  In her twenties, as I recall, she gave herself to go to the mission field in China.  She was ready to go then, but her parents were not well.  They needed her help.  This dear sister realized that she must honor her parents and care for their needs, so she set aside her ambition to be a missionary at that time and wholly gave herself to do what she knew God wanted her to do – serve her parents in their need.  This service continued for three decades!  Many times she thought of her desire to be used of the Lord in China.  But, her way was “blocked” by God’s sovereign hand.  Finally, after about 30 years, much longer than anyone could have anticipated, both parents passed away. Within three weeks after burying her last parent, she wrote to the China Inland Mission and offered herself as a living sacrifice for the great field in China.  She was, of course, accepted and she went.  By then, she was greatly prepared by the Lord as a wonderful vessel for His use.  After all the time of waiting, she had learned the lesson of self-denial and humble service to God in the little things.   She had no self-confidence, I am sure, and was a person fully dependent upon the Lord, knowing how to wait upon Him and how to serve in His strength alone.

It may seem that your aspiration to do something more for God’s building is blocked. Oh, yes, you may be doing a little here and there, but deep within you desire to be so much more effective and useful to God.  Some of God’s real seekers today feel that their opportunities for service are blocked because the great majority of God’s people, the ones to be served, are trapped in religious systems plagued by man-made traditions compromising God’s ways.  These seekers simply cannot serve in a system that abandons God’s ways and utilizes the world’s ways and the energy of the religious “flesh.”  To serve there would compromise the desire of seeker to serve God in purity.  Maybe you are one of these seekers.  Do not be discouraged.  God has a plan for you to serve Him where it will truly count. Wait upon Him and keep following His ways faithfully.  He will make a way.

God’s answer to this couple’s prayer came in a most particular, unexpected and unusual way.  “According to the custom of the priestly office, he [Zacharias] was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense” (Lk. 1:9).  Although there were a great number of temple priests (at least 20,000) there were probably only about 50 priests on duty for the early morning tasks.   The most holy assignment on any ordinary day was that of burning the incense, and the selection of this priest was determined through a series of three casts of the lot.  So, such a distinction was likely to fall to a temple priest only once in a lifetime.[i]  This was an extraordinary event involving Zacharias, obviously orchestrated by the God who is over all!  When Zacharias was performing his appointed task, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John” (Lk. 1:13).

God hears our Spirit-inspired prayers, but we must learn to wait patiently and obediently, and in faith, for His answer in His perfect timing.  Once the answer comes, especially for more usefulness to God, be prepared that it may be somewhat different than you or others imagined.  When John was born, the neighbors and friends of Elizabeth could not understand why he would be called John.  That was certainly not normal.  In fact, “they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father. But his mother answered and said, ‘No, indeed; but he shall be called John.’” (Lk. 1:60-61).  The neighbors and friends protested because this name was not a name from the priestly families of Zacharias and Elizabeth. We, or others, may anticipate a certain role of usefulness to God, but we must learn to bow before God and accept His assignment.  The man named John never served as a typical priest.

This godly couple’s son was described by Jesus as the greatest among those born of women (in the natural kingdom of men).  He fulfilled a huge prophetic role in Jesus’ first coming to earth. (Matt. 11:7-14).  But, for our learning, it is not the “greatness” in terms of significance or size of the work that we should seek. We should not be those desiring to do a “great work” for God in terms of notoriety.   The “greatness” here is seen in the fact that the birth of this son was altogether something of God.  It was His plan, His timing and His unique way of bringing it to pass that made it great.  This answer to their deepest heart prayer to God was altogether great because it had the divine imprint upon it in every way.   It was not of man; it was wholly of a sovereign and Almighty God.   We should not be those who do any work “for God” that is tainted by the hand of man, derived from man’s choice, using man’s natural abilities, man’s wisdom or man’s ways.  “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).

The great mission of John the Baptist was defined by the angel who appeared before Zacharias:  “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Himin the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Lk. 1:17).   To get people ready for the Messiah at His first coming was the supreme task.  For us, to help people be spiritually prepared for His second coming is also of supreme importance.  And this outcome of our labor in the Lord can be andshould be our deep aspiration in this late hour of the present age.   Any child of God can help prepare others for the coming of the Lord, regardless of his or her spiritual gift.  Every spiritual gift is used “for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12).

If we have true spiritual sight, then we can see how close we must be to the return of Christ.  Not only are the outward signs flashing this signal, but within the heart of God’s seekers is the sense that His coming is drawing very near.  So, let us be those who desire this above all: to work the works of God while we can, praying that God will use us even more in the days ahead to help men be ready to meet the Lord.  “For He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity” (Ps. 98:9).

“Dear Father, I humble myself before You.   My heart’s desire is to be more useful to You in the days ahead. Grant me grace to be faithful to You each day, living in righteousness and preparing myself as a vessel set apart for Your use.  Grant that this would not be for my glory, but for Your glory, even for the true building up of the body of Christ.  I wait upon You to serve You according to Your plans and Your ways and Your sovereign arrangement.  I want to walk only in those good works which You have prepared for me beforehand.  Lord, I have faith that You will answer my prayer and use Me, according to Your plans.  I am willing to do whatever You ask, be it great or small in size, that You may gain a people prepared for the coming again of Your Son.  I desire so much to hear from Christ in that coming day:  ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’  I pray all of this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus.”  

May we lift all of the Lord’s people up in this hour. He knows everything and the Spirit intercedes so graciously on our behalf, adding content and power to our feeble prayers. We are one in our intercessions for one another! Tho we are few and weak, we are always one in Him.

The Lord has been waking me up again (He did this for many years; waking me up to tell me things; to show me things, to flood my heart and mind with His thoughts).

I have been meditating on the New Creation of which we are all pilgrims and pioneers. That there is no future for this world, its God, the basic principles which under-gird everything about it. No more Adam, no more sin, no more death, no more corruption, no more pain, nor more failure, no more rebellion, no more!

Praise the Lord!

I thought of the Lord striding atop the waves of the sea (the sea, the waters, the deep picture death in the Word) – telling His disciples not to be afraid. “I am greater than death, greater than this world, its evil, its lies, its pain, its utter hopelessness, everything flowing out of the old creation. I am above it, and you who are in Me are as well. The life in you, My life, is part of the New Creation, operating on living principles that are eternal and righteous and perfect. The fruit of the True Vine; this Tree of Life, is fruit unto the New Creation, the new and better order of things, the Kingdom of God. There is no need to be afraid, or overwhelmed, or anxious – All is finished! I have judged this order of things, its god, and all those who are part of it – the nations, the principalities and powers who energize and animate it.”

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Rev 21)

The New Creation, standing on the other side of the cross of Christ, contains life that has risen up out of the old death; the old order of things; out of the fallen-ness of everything before. It is resurrection life, and so it must be. The living principle of this new creation is Christ. It was made through Him and For Him, and for all those who are in Him. Everything in this New Creation lives and moves and has its being in the Father’s Eternal and Beloved Son – He alone is the LIFE OF THIS NEW WORLD! Everything in it will express Him to the glory and praise of the Father, the Most High God. All contained within it will be His Temple, where He dwells with all worship and pre-eminence and honor!

Beloved saints of the Lord – please stop looking for life and meaning and a place in this dying world, this old order of things. Stop attaching yourself to it, seeking identification with it, allowing it to flood over you. In Christ we are to walk atop the death of this world, untouched, unafraid, as sojourners seeking a better country, a new order of things, built on the eternal foundation of Christ the Lord our God! This is what it means to seek first the Kingdom of God, to put it first, to place all of your hope and future in it; to subordinate all else to it – home and country and history in this world.

All you see and know is giving way to a new order of things – all that is of Adam and Satan and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil has been judged already. The curse pronounced at the beginning will run its course. The Lord divided the tongues long ago to form the nations, and He is judging them now. He is also saving many from out of the abyss of death, and feeding them on His Heavenly Bread. All that is not of Christ is marked already! Nothing of the old will be perpetuated in the new world that is coming; nothing, not even the good things. The Lord Jesus is the express image of God, and His life must run deep before it can grow up and out, and be manifest. He is doing this secret, animating work in His own right here and now in the midst of this dying order. Every fish taken out of the sea, and given as food for life represents this. Every system, every idea, every ‘ism and ‘ology, every thing, new and ancient – that is not of Jesus Christ will perish – it will not go on! This has been established from the beginning – the Lord has spoken it. Out of the chaos and ruin will come separation unto life. Newness of Life. A New Principle of Life! Not fiat life, not that formed solely by creative command, not that which formed the angels, but life out of death; life by virtue of victory over death; life triumphing over the very shadow and idea of death. Only the one who walks above the water, only the One not subject to the flood of death and judgment, will usher in and animate this new life. this New Creation, this New Jerusalem. He alone will be its its life and light! No more moon, no more reflected light!

In the old creation, the Creator God spoke. In the new, He poured out His life, that from out of this death, many sons should come forth, unto Dominion, unto His first intent. In the New Creation, all life must flow out from God; it must express Him perfectly, completely, lovingly, willingly – It must be a life laid down and poured out, not merely God-breathed. It must be life issuing from the very Tree of Life, the Eternal Son of God. Not self-life, but God-life! A life that pleases not itself, but the one who gave Himself for it.

Brethren, we are so much like Peter bobbing desperately in the sea, trying to keep our heads above water, above the death all around us, kicking our feet, flailing our arms, crying out for help. ‘TAKE MY HAND. Let me lift you above the perilous depths, the death of the old creation all around you. “TAKE MY HAND, and rest in Me, live in Me, breathe anew in Me. Let all that is in you that is part of the old order fall way, let it die, let it go, let it sink to the depths”.

Dearest saints, please hear this word in the very bowels of the spirit – time is so very, very , very short! The hour is at hand. All the players have taken the field. All is being staged on the world scene. The Lord is getting ready to act. The enemy is busy seeking whatever way means he can find. The hearts of so many men are trembling at the dark prospects before them. A time of separation, of sifting is upon us, and only His wheat will be taken up into His storehouse.

Let us take His hand as He offers it to us. Let us rise up in all the ways His Spirit speaks to us. Let us call upon the one who walks on the water, who sleeps in the midst of the tempest, who multiplies the fish from out of the depths unto life in His New Creation. Let us pray for this enlargement of vision, for all is being summed up in His Beloved Son! His Bride is being made ready, for only one so worthy, so pure, so finely dressed will appear in His presence, as the Father’s blessed gift to His Beloved and Faithful Son! She is the New Eve! No more will the forbidden fruit be tasted! She will eat from the hand of her Beloved!

COME LORD JESUS COME, COME GREAT KING! COME TO RECEIVE THE FULL REWARD OF YOUR SUFFERING! UNTO ALL GLORY AND HONOR AND THE LOVE OF ALL THOSE WHO LIVE IN THEE!

I pray this word speaks to you beyond the words, in the deep places, the Christ places of your hearts.

amen

your brother in travail -

“And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.” (Is. 37:31).

Reading: Isaiah 36:1-22.

“And even now the axe lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Matt. 3:10.

“Then came the disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” Matt. 15:12-14.

“…and when the sun was risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.” Matt. 13:6.

You will have noticed that in all these passages there is reference to roots, and roots are very important things. A very great deal depends upon roots; for a tree almost everything depends upon the roots. And in the same way, beloved, our roots and our rooting are very important things in the matter of our eternal destiny.

I want to say a little in a general way at the outset before we come to something more specific in this connection. You will notice that the passages which we read (and others could be added to them on the same subject) are divided. Some refer to the sound rooting which will take the strain, which will prove adequate. The others refer to rootings which are not adequate and which will not abide. We might just say a word or two about that second class to begin with.

Through the Word of the Lord there are various kinds and classes of those whose roots and whose rooting is not adequate. Some have been mentioned. The one in Matthew 3:10: “And even now is the axe laid unto the root of the trees”; a word in the ministry of John the Baptist, representing a time of crises when a long period of probation and opportunity had been given by the Lord, and there had been every provision made by Him to secure a sound and abiding rooting on the part of Israel, but now the testing time had come when roots were going to be subjected to a severe trial and testing. The result of that testing, as we know, was that once again Israel was rooted up. Not so many years after this they were rooted up from their land and were carried away in the great hurricane of Divine judgment through the Roman Legions and scattered to various parts of the earth, and they have never since been planted again. The axe was laid to the roots of the tree.

Then two others came in in that class. In Matthew 13 the sower had sowed his seed and some had fallen in rocky places. It had sprung up; when the sun was up it withered, died, having no root. And that, we are given to understand, illustrates those people who hear the Word of the Lord superficially; hear it and in a way receive it, on the face of things respond to it, but in whom it is found eventually there is not the root of the matter. Their kind of receiving, their kind of responding, their kind of association with the Word of the Lord cannot bear the heat, the blaze of the sun, it is something which lies on the outside, it is not that which reaches down into the very depths of their being.

The third, Matthew 15, was a word concerning the Pharisees. The disciples reported that the Pharisees took a certain attitude toward things. The Lord’s Word was: “Every planting (literally) which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they are blind leaders of the blind.”

The Danger of Living on the Past

Now these three cases of roots which do not stand, bring different aspects before us. In the first case, in Matthew 3, you have an historical and traditional thing which has occupied the place of that which claims to represent the Lord and has had much in its history which was of the Lord, in blessing and in use and service; with which much of the Lord has been associated, and which has been associated with much of the Lord in His purpose and His ways; but which has come to a time when it is no more than a past history, a reputation without present life; something that belongs to a by-gone day; whose life, whose vitality and energy and spiritual progress is not up-to-date and abreast of its present claims.

A time of testing comes in the sovereign ordering of God for all such, and it is found by reason of its present root-dryness, lack of vitality, of energy, of up-to-dateness of life that it cannot go through the testing, it is rooted out. A simple word that, and yet a challenging word which shows us two things: that God, in His sovereignty, does most definitely appoint a time in which He will test the state of everything and everyone which makes a claim to be related to Him. He will do that, and then no amount of past history, good history, Divine history, will stand that thing in stead for the day of His testing. Or to put it another way, God tests to find out just exactly how up-to-date spiritual life and spiritual experience is.

There are quite a lot of people who have had a very sound, thoroughly genuine conversion, but who live back on their conversion of ten, twenty, or forty years ago; and while it is true the history was quite sound, it is something of the past. Its vitality has not been continuous, it is not up-to-date, and such people will find that when the winds of God begin to blow they are lacking, they are wanting, and they will be carried away, not necessarily to be eternally lost, any more than Israel is, but to very great loss.

The Danger of an Assumed Relationship to God

And then the Lord also tests most definitely, every kind of profession, every kind of response, every kind of attitude or relationship, to discover whether that is a thing which is on the surface, on the face, superficial; or whether it is a thing which has gone right down deeply into the life, burying its roots in the very sub-soil of experience. Here, again, a simple word, but it may be that there is someone here who is attaching themselves to something, attaching themselves to a place, to a company of people; attaching themselves in an outward way to that which represents the Lord, in hymns and addresses and prayers and services and such like; associating themselves, and, in a way, making some kind of answer or response to the things of the Lord.

Have you seen a self-grown forest in a mountain district after a gale? We have a good deal of that sort of thing in Scotland where the seeds have been carried by the wind and have sown themselves in the very thin soil of a mountain slope, a rocky district. They have grown very tall, lanky thin trees, firs or pines; their roots have spread out and covered a great area, and then – a gale – and as you go along after a gale there are those lanky, thin, gaunt trees lying with their roots right up in the air. You wonder how in all the earth they have managed to cling to the shallow soil. There they are everywhere, rooted up because self-grown, and that is Matthew 13. Something which has made its own kind of response, given its own response, answer, with reservations perhaps, not going too far, not going to be “extreme,” not going to be “singular,” not going to be “fanatical,” just going to be “perfectly balanced” and “sane” and make their own response to the Lord.

All right, God has appointed the hour for a gale. Yes, there will be a blazing sun, it will be discovered whether God did that planting, whether that was a work of God in the heart or whether it was just something of human attachment or association. It may just be that here there may be one or more attaching themselves from the outside to that which is of the Lord, but they are not right in, buried, rooted, grounded, not in the thing in the Lord. Are you attaching yourself to something religious, or are your buried with your roots in Christ? Rooted in Him?

The Danger of Position without Possession

The third word in Matthew 15 relating to the Pharisees of course has to do with those who assumed the role of teachers, spiritual leaders. The Pharisees were those who took upon themselves to guide others in matters of religion. The Lord said of them: “Every planting (literally) which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” In other words it was just this: Everyone who dares to take the responsibility of giving guidance to others, who has not been commissioned of the Lord, with the Lord’s message, will be rooted up. They are self-planted teachers and leaders.

Now, while within the compass of this gathering that may have a very limited application, it is something for us to remember in these days. The absolute necessity that those who lead us in spiritual things should themselves be men who have a mandate from God, men with a message, men with a revelation, men in whom the root of the matter is and not just teachers. I am saying all this in the light of the end-time because I believe we are entering more and more into that phase of things when everything is going to be subjected to testing in the sovereignty of God. Everything of tradition, everything of profession, of vocation; all are going to be tested by the winds of God.

Oh, such winds! Yes, winds of deception. God may not send deception but God will not prevent it. False teachers, false doctrine; severe trial and testing; deep, deep searching experiences, we are all coming into it and it is going to be discovered under the sovereign direction of God just how deep our roots are. Beloved, testing will do one of two things, it will either carry us away or drive us deeper. There is going to be in the end nothing that will not stand the test. The Lord make us those who have our roots downward and our fruit upward.

Now just a little more specific word especially in connection with Isaiah 37. Isaiah has much to say about the remnant, and there is a remnant of Israel, and as we know quite well, there is a remnant of Christianity. The remnant of Christianity is found in the first three chapters of Revelation. It is represented by the oft-repeated words “To him that overcometh”; that is the remnant. You see quite clearly that it is but a remnant in those churches in Asia. The main thing has gone wrong, a remnant of overcomers is seen there and that remnant of Christianity is very much in view in the Word of the Lord.

Now, a remnant feature is roots downward. A feature of a remnant is that it takes root downward. And the Lord does it, the Lord causes it to be so. The Lord so acts in His sovereignty and in His providence to see to it that a remnant is marked by roots which have got such a grip that nothing in hell or on earth can pluck it out. The Lord must, for His own glory, have something like that which can stand all the challenges of the circumstances of life.

The Lord must have something which cannot be carried away, which cannot be removed, cannot be shaken, and certainly something which cannot be rooted up. That is His remnant. That, He must have for His own glory, and, that being so, He will take every measure with His remnant to have them after that kind, with roots downward. Of course, unto fruit upward. We speak much about the upward side of things, life in the heavenlies, sitting in the heavenlies, and our warfare and work – the fruitfulness of our life in union with the Lord. That is only possible as our roots are downward. In order that that might be so, we have to get into a place of unshakeableness where the roots have got such a grip that nothing can overthrow. And I believe that explains a very great deal of what the Lord is doing with His own spiritual people in these days.

It is true that the true children of God are going through a time of intense trial and testing spiritually in these days; everywhere it is so. Why? Because the Lord must have something against which hell is impotent and by which He demonstrates to the universe that strength of His might which causes to stand and withstand and having done all to stand. If one were asked what the last issue for the Church in this age is, I would say that it stands, and that is saying a tremendous thing. Oh, you say, that is surely limiting things, are you not expecting much more than that? Progress, advance, sweeping movements? The Church will have all its work cut out in the end to stand, but its standing will be its victory. Just to be able, through testing, trial, when everything is blowing round you like a blizzard; when everything is dark, mysterious, and even God seems far away and unreal, and faith is tested and you are being assailed on the right hand and on the left, and there is every reason outwardly for your moving, giving up, falling down, surrendering, lowering your standard, just to stand and not be moved in your faith is the greatest possible victory.

The Remnant a Testimony to the Lord’s Power

Now I come to Isaiah 36 and 37. You notice that that passage about the remnant taking root is an issue. Chapter 36 we have heard read this evening, about Rabshakeh and Sennacherib with his boasting, flaunting, high-faluting utterances, challenging not just Hezekiah and the Jews, but their God. Vaunting himself against Jehovah, saying that there has been no god of any of the peoples of the earth who has been able to stand before his master, and certainly the God of the Jews will not be able to stand; and there they are outside the gates of Jerusalem with all this. Why did the Lord allow it? The Lord saw the first movement in far away Assyria, toward Jerusalem; why didn’t He stop them, intervene for the sake of His own, and circumvent? Why did He not raise up circumstances that would hinder? Why did He allow them actually to encamp round and lay siege to Jerusalem, and then allow them to say these things?

It is all in the sovereignty of God. God has allowed this. God has permitted this thing to come right up to this present point. Hezekiah received the letter and rent his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went and spread the letter before the Lord. They were surely in straits. The Lord has allowed, we might even say drawn out, Sennacherib and the mighty hosts of the Assyrians, drawn them out literally, drawn them out materially, drawn them out mentally, drawn them out verbally, extended them, allowed them to inflate themselves to bursting point: they are exalted to the very heavens in their own eyes.

All right, the Lord has drawn them out. A remnant comes into view and the remnant shall take root. When the Assyrian and Sennacherib have gone just as far as it is possible for them to go, have become as inflated as it is possible for them to be, when they have swelled to the very heavens, the Lord for His remnant’s sake sent one angel! Surely, the Lord wants a mighty host to deal with this situation – “And the angel of the Lord went forth.”

Do you see, beloved, a New Testament factor in this? The adversary would impress the weak saints of the Lord with his importance, with his greatness. There is one thing the enemy is always trying to do as a strategic thing and that is to put fear in the heart of a child of God. Fear. There is nothing so weakening, so devastating as fear. If the enemy can get fear into our hearts he has got the city and he will make a great display and vaunt himself and try to impress upon us how mighty he is.

It is never for us to under-estimate the power of the enemy, but we have always got to keep the balance of comparison between our God and the enemy. The Lord’s weakness is more than a match for all the power of Satan. And it comes to this, the remnant puts its faith in the Lord over against all the fury of the oppressor, all the vaunting of the oppressor, and then the Lord proves He only allowed the oppressor to come out in that extreme way to show that the remnant cannot be destroyed, for the remnant takes root in the presence of Sennacherib, in the presence of the Assyrians. “And the remnant… shall again take root.” You see that is the ultimate issue. This was looking on to a coming day, it is true, but it is remarkable that these two things come together, that the Assyrians come into view with all their power and they are only allowed eventually to destroy that which is not counting for God, but God gets, in spite of everything, a remnant with roots.

Rooted in the Cross and Immovable

Now note, you who know the conflict, you who know the fury of the oppressor, the bitterness of the animus of the devil, remember that the Lord allows him to go a long way in order that there might be this double issue. Firstly, an entering into the knowledge of the exceeding greatness of God’s power – but how exceeding great must be God’s power if against the mighty host of Assyria one angel alone is all that is necessary! To discover the exceeding greatness of God’s power on the one hand, and on the other hand, through the work of the enemy himself, to drive the roots down. The Lord uses the adversary in his own hatred and bitterness to get our roots in, and to make us impervious to the Devil. He uses the adversary against himself in our trials. Roots downward, fruit upward. I am sure that is what the Lord is doing.

We are passing through deep experiences, the enemy is doing it and the Lord is not preventing him, but we are coming to a fuller knowledge of the power of our God and a deeper rooting beyond all previous shakeableness. And the Lord is seeking to have a people who cannot be shaken, against whom hell with all its demonstration of arrogance and pride, is impotent. “And the remnant… shall again take root downward.” That is what the Lord needs.

May I remind you that the nature of this planting is just that with which we are so familiar. “Planted together in the likeness of his death.” That is the word of the Apostle, “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” The enemy is the instrument so often, of planting us more deeply into the death of Christ. His assaults, his attacks, his accusations, everything – yes. The Lord is not the source of evil but the Lord allows it.

So often our hearts cry out: “Why did the Lord ever allow that in our lives?” That thing which has meant such a deep, dark passage. Why did the Lord allow it? He could have prevented it. Well, we were planted by it into the death of the Lord Jesus. We were brought more than ever to an end of ourselves. Yes, and therefore, to know the Lord in a larger measure than we have ever known Him, and to be brought to a place where it will not be so easy for the Devil to shake us next time.

That is the sovereign way of God in deeper death experiences. “Planted together in the likeness of his death.” Have you been planted there initially? Have you been planted in Christ crucified? Or are you one of those attachments to something? Are you planted? And when a deeper planting comes, remember it is the roots being driven downwards, and the issue is going to be most surely endurance, stability, ability to stand; but, oh, there is going to be greater fruitfulness.

We are in the Lord’s hands, not in the Devil’s hands. We are in the Lord’s hands, and being in His hands we are in the hands of a Potter Who knows what He is after. We were saying this afternoon that first of all, the vessel is in the potter, and then eventually the potter is in the vessel. What we mean is this. That before ever the potter starts, the vessel is in his mind, in his heart very clearly. The pattern is not something objective, the vessel is already a complete thing in him; and then he gets to work upon it and when he is finished, he is in the vessel he has wrought. What was in Him has come out in it.

We say of people’s work: “I can see who made that, it is just like them.” “That is just like So-and-so to make a thing like that.” Yes, He is in His work, He is in the vessel that He makes, and that is just what He is doing. Sometimes that clay has to be pressed down to a shapeless mass, broken. It is not showing all that He intended it to show, there are defects and flaws, and so He crushes it down to shapelessness. A mass without shape. But it is to start again to get something more perfect than has been before, in which He Himself is.

May He give us grace to endure whatever the trial may be, along whatever line of metaphor, the wind, the blaze, supreme heat, or pressure of His hand, all of which is to get us into a place where we cannot be moved, where hell cannot shake us, where His power is made manifest as triumphant over all the power of the enemy.

First published in “A Witness and A Testimony” magazine, Jan-Feb 1933, Vol 11-1

“Some years ago a much-used servant of God gave a series of messages which have been a great help to many Christians. From that series we have selected the following, believing that it will help many at this time.”)

“Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me” (Matt. 11:6).

“I have told you all these things, so that you should not be offended” (John 16:1).

One of the greatest perils of the Christian life lurks in the common pathway of discipleship. It is the peril of being offended in Christ. The fellowship to which the Gospel summons us inevitably brings a constant new and humiliating discovery of self; an unvarying disturbance of established order in our lives, as His will corrects and opposes our own; and a ceaseless effort to attain to the ideal; that is, to make our lives as followers increasingly correspond with His as Forerunner. And the danger is that we are apt to break down under the test and training of it all, to go back and walk no more with Him, to become, in fact, offended in Him. It is always possible, despite every sincere profession of the soul, that what God meant for blessing should become blight to us by our misconceptions. It is always perilously possible that the light of today may become deep and impenetrable darkness tomorrow, by our failure to obey and keep step with Him, by our lagging behind or turning aside from the compelling guidances of Christ’s companionship. Men have, in this way, unconsciously and imperceptibly put themselves far out of the range of Christ’s ordinary influences; and have become, like the derelicts of the ocean, occasions of danger and disaster to countless other lives.

But Christ, with that absolute frankness which is a large part of His attractiveness to men, cannot be held to blame for such pitiful defections. For He never disguises the otherwise unthought-of possibility. In His Evangel He combines welcome with warning as none other has ever done. His Word, while it opens the very heart of God to our consciousness, opens also our own hearts to us. By Him we come to know the Father, and by Him also we come to know ourselves. He reveals the entire faithfulness of God to us, but He reveals also the instability of our own wills, and the untrustworthiness of our own emotions. He treats us not as ideal but as real men; and forewarns us of the destruction that wasteth at noonday, as well as of the pestilence that walketh in darkness. Hence it is that to the most earnest and self-convinced of us all He says: “Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” The implicate is obvious and ominous. But the reality and richness of His grace is the sufficient and silencing answer to every one of our fears. The blessedness of the unoffended, despite all the danger without and the weakness within, is the possible acquisition of each one. And it is blessedness indeed.

Now it is necessary to remember the meaning of the word “offend”. In its original form it is the very word we frequently use – scandalize, and has the force of causing to stumble. So we may translate and expand this saying of Christ as being: ‘Blessed is he who does not find in Me any cause of stumbling; who can keep his feet in My ways; who is not tripped up by any obstacles in the path into which I have directed him.’ He uses the word quite frequently in this sense; as, for instance, when He speaks of a man’s hand or eye being a cause of stumbling to him, when He denounces those who cause little ones to be offended, and when He declares that in the day of His glory all things that offend shall be rooted out of His Kingdom.

But He never uses it so surprisingly as when He declares the possibility of men finding occasion of stumbling in Him. We are prepared to find it in the world, in the opposition of the devil, in the proven insincerity of others – but in Him! This is surely the most startling of all His warnings. For in Him we have already found life and salvation, guidance and peace, inspiration and satisfaction. And now to contemplate finding in Him also any cause of offence fairly staggers us. Had this word been applicable to men of the world, it would have occasioned little, if any, surprise. For instance, we are not greatly taken aback when those who knew Him so familiarly should treat Him so contemptuously and say: “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” Nor are we entirely unprepared to find that the Pharisees were offended in Him when He spoke to them of the evil thoughts, adulteries, murders, and the like, which proceed from the hearts of men; for His words convicted them of sin. We are not much surprised that He should be a rock of offence to those who are avowedly disobedient to His demands. But that His own friends, those who really know Him, and have been admitted into the intimacies of fellowship with Him, should find cause of offence in Him is passing strange. And its very mystery warns us to take heed to ourselves.

The setting of the first of these gives us the key to their significance. John the Baptist was languishing in prison on the shores of the Dead Sea as the outcome of a life of the utmost faithfulness. He had been tremendously loyal to Christ, splendidly in earnest concerning his mission, wonderfully courageous in giving forth the message committed to him, and yet it had all ended in a dungeon.

What a test for such a man!

It seemed as though his faith, his self-restriction, his willingness to decrease that Christ might increase, had all been unrecognized and unvalued. His experience so entirely contradicted God’s assurance, that it is easy to understand the perplexity of mind which led him to send his disciples to Christ with the pathetic query: “Art thou He that should come?” For here is One who has avowedly come to deliver captives, and yet He does not deliver the man who, more than all others, seemed to have claims upon Him. He has proclaimed His own mission in terms of sympathy and love for the heartbroken, and yet here is a crushed and heartbroken man of whom He apparently takes no notice.

Is it to be wondered at that at last doubt overcomes faith, so that he sends the messengers to Christ in the hope that He will declare Himself plainly, and interpret such utterly inexplicable and contradictory experience to the one who had at immense cost to himself maintained a devoted loyalty to the Son of God? Christ’s only answer to these messengers is an exhibition of His sovereign power over the forces of destruction and death, and an injunction that they should tell John what they had seen, and give to him this message which calls for a new triumphant trust on his part: “Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” For it means that in the pathway of blessing the providence of testing will always be experienced. Its implication is that there is true peace only for that man who will trust Christ when he has no external aids to faith, who believes Him when he sees only the seeming denial of his confidence, and who holds to his loyalty without stumbling when His treatment tests his endurance to the uttermost.

The second of these words of Christ helps us to understand how His message to John applies to ourselves: “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.” Spoken as they were on the eve of His departure, when the fierce tests of discipleship were about to be experienced by His followers, they imply that they will need to stay their souls on the things He has told them concerning His purpose and power, if they are to avoid the peril of stumbling and going back from Him. For they are bound to come into experiences of test and strain as they carry out their consecration vows; and “in those days”, says Christ, “be true to your own best experience of Me. Rest on that which no man can take from you – the personal knowledge you have of My grace. Hold to those things I have spoken and shown to you. Be loyal to Me. Trust Me entirely, despite every unexplained mystery and seemingly unnecessary tribulation. And you shall not be stumbled but strengthened by these very things which are all of My ordering.”

Now it is not disloyal to Christ to say this: that He not only masters men but mystifies them also. While He blesses them He bewilders them too, so incomparably higher are His ways and thoughts than ours. He persuades us to love and loyalty; but He puzzles us too, often to the point of distraction. He certainly answers the questions of our hearts; but at the same time He arouses even more than He answers. And in the life of every true follower of Him, there will always be, as there was in His own, some great unanswered “Why?” None of us will ever be exempt from the need of acquiring by faith and patience the blessedness of the unoffended.

For think of an ordinary and typical instance of offence. It is not commonly a matter of open backsliding, of heartless renunciation of the truth, or of bitter denial of past experience. Rather does it begin with the disappointment of some hope, the failure of an expectation, the weariness of an unanswered prayer, or the ache of a heart which seems to evoke no sympathetic answer from God. All this generates an unspoken and almost unspeakable distrust; and as we brood over it, a sense of injustice grows, a feeling that we have not been treated quite fairly by Christ, which becomes positive resentment. Until, after a while, His yoke becomes irksome; we challenge His right to control our lives so; and it all ends in a secret repudiation of His mastership, and often in an outward renunciation also of all spiritual interests and aims. This is a typical cause of offence in Christ. And how many there are all around us of whose lives it is a true description! From small beginnings of distrust the largest disasters grow. If two parallel lines are produced into infinity, there will never be any variation of the distance between them. But let them diverge at any point by only a hair’s breadth. Then the farther they are produced, the wider the divergence becomes, until at length there is a universe of distance between them. So with our fellowship with Christ. The smallest distrust or disobedience is charged with the potentiality of the infinite; and if undiscovered and unchecked, will eventually put an eternity of distance between the soul and the Saviour. If, therefore, we can estimate some of the unchanging certainties of discipleship; explore some, at least, of the perilous causes of offence in Christ; and at the same time also establish a new relationship of implicit trust with our Lord, we shall be saved from this threatening peril. And this is surely the aim of His forewarning Word.

There is first of all the severity of His requirements. When we first come to Christ the pathway seems to be strewn with roses, and the air seems filled with sweet and soothing perfumes. For while Christ is absolutely frank with us, and veils nothing of the hardships and conflicts we must endure, our own powers of apprehension are so limited that we see but one thing at a time, and that one thing is that Christ meets all the need of which we are then immediately conscious. Hence we march to a glad strain with which our hearts are in tune. But before long we discover that the conditions of companionship are severe. For instance, we find that a real separation from the world in spirit and purpose is entirely necessary to the maintaining of fellowship. We find that we cannot march to two tunes at once and the world’s strains are seductive indeed. We learn that we cannot keep step at the same time with Him and with popular opinion, with Him and the world, nor always with Him and the outward professing Church.

And when this discovery is made, it often means that men are offended in Him. For His demand involves a costly disturbance in the regulation of home and business and social life, according to His order. It means possibly for some the relinquishing of a kind of popularity which exists only because of shameful silence regarding Him. It involves others in the severance of ties which have become a large part of their life, and the sacrifice of material prosperities which partake of the nature of unrighteousness. It means for all the end of self-indulgence, a crucifixion in order to a coronation, a dethronement in order to an enthronement.

And when all this comes to be clearly apprehended, then it is that men are offended in Christ. When He says: “Cut off thy right hand; pluck out thy right eye; forsake all that you have; take up the cross and follow Me”, then comes the test which determines everything. Then too often men go back to walk no more with Him. Not because they do not understand Him, but because they have come to know Him too well! When He comes to be recognized, not only as the Christ of the sympathetic heart, but also as the Christ of the steadfastly set face, then great is the blessedness of the unoffended.

Then there is the mystery of His contradictions. It often seems as though Christ were unsympathetic with our best desires, with those desires which have originated in our fellowship with Himself. You want, for instance, to do some great service and to fill some great sphere; but Christ’s answer to your longing is to set you down to face the difficulties of a small work in a place where there is little, if any, recognition of your toil. You ask for spiritual service, and all that has been granted is a monotonous round of secular duty. And you are in danger of being offended in Him, just because there seems so little justification for His treatment of your high aim.

Or, you have asked the gift of rest, and claimed His great promises on this head; but the answer has come in the necessity for stern and continuous conflict. The fires of temptation blaze around you, not less, but far more fiercely than ever; and you are both puzzled and provoked at such a fulfilment of the Word upon which you have hoped. Or, you have desired to have a life less burdened and strained, but His only response has been to impose other and heavier burdens upon you. And you are well-nigh offended in Him. The mystery of it all baffles every serious purpose, and the temptation to distrust is at times almost too much.

Now it will help us if we remember the simple fact, that He knows and does just what is best both for the development and repression of our lives. In reality, He is only unsympathetic with our egotisms. He only seeks to destroy within us anything savouring of self-love, self-pride, and self-sufficiency, and to reproduce in us something of the beauty of His own character. In His contradictions rightly apprehended we may always see the expression of His perfect wisdom with regard to our own highest interests, and the interests also of the Kingdom in which He has given us a share. Then “blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended”; who accepts the direction of Christ as His love, and trusts Him, ‘when to simply trust Him seems the hardest thing of all’.

Beyond these causes is yet another in the slowness of His methods. We come to Him and put our lives under His control, expectant of immediate realization of a deliverance which shall lift us beyond all concern regarding temptation and opposing forces. But how disappointingly slow is this realization; and how hardly won are our victories even when we are re-enforced by His Spirit.

Quite early we find that life is not a song, but rather a strife; that the grace of Christ is not a mere ecstasy but rather an energy which works painfully for righteousness in us; and that it takes all the watchfulness of which we are capable to occupy the ground already conquered, as well as to conquer fresh territory. And the slowness of Christ in this matter of our own spiritual conflicts is often the cause of offence to us. For it disappoints our hopes, and contradicts our misconceptions as to anything like a passive and easy victory over our strong enmities. But in reality, this method, slow though it may seem to us, is the only one He could possibly pursue, having in view the greatness of His purpose and the contrariety of our nature. And every experience of victory, however small and insignificant, is prophetic of an ultimately complete triumph.

If you go into the Observatory at Greenwich you will see there a delicate instrument, by means of which the astronomers measure the distances of the stars, as well as their magnitude. Upon a sensitive mirror is reflected the light of the star points; and a measurement of the angles at which any two of the rays meet furnishes sufficient data for all the astounding calculations of millions of miles. And so it is in our lives. By estimating what Christ has already done we are assured of His unvarying purpose. Every bit of experience of His power to sanctify, to cleanse, to redeem, to deliver, is prophetic of the whole – “that He Who hath begun the good work will perfect it”. And if we cling to this fact, we shall find it an inspiration to the steady continuance of faith, and shall not be offended because He works so slowly – and surely.

The same is true also in regard to the progress of the Kingdom whose interests we are called to serve. How often we find in the slowness with which spiritual results are achieved a cause of offence in Christ. We begin by expecting that when we lift up Christ we shall immediately see crowds flocking to Him. We imagine that we have but to work faithfully in the service of God and man, and results are certain to be apparent. But how different is the realization! How hardly souls are wooed and won! How true it is that tares grow up with the wheat! How certain that he who goes forth bearing precious seeds must needs weep as he goes!

And the difficulty of believing that God is on the field when He is most invisible is too much for many who commence to work for Him with high hopes and valiant beliefs which seem all unjustified. Like the disciples, they think that “the Kingdom of God should immediately appear”; and in the discipline of their enthusiasm, and the conversion of their consecration into continuance, they are apt to be “offended”. Now it would not be difficult to bring instance upon instance to prove that, in spiritual work, when results are least visible they are often most real. The worker who will go on without the stimulus of outward success, who will continue His witness even when he is met by cold indifference, who will carry out Christ’s work in the unfailing inspiration of knowing that it is His work, is the one who gets the blessedness of the unoffended. And part of it is in the certain harvest of all his sowing, and the sure reward of all his service.

But perhaps over and above these suggested causes of offence in Christ is the unreasonableness of His silences. I have every sympathy with John the Baptist in his perplexity: ‘If this is really the Christ, why does He not act as Christ? Why does He do nothing to deliver His captive herald, or to bring peace to his troubled heart?’ One visit from Christ would have changed his prison to a palace. One hand-clasp from Him would have transmuted his gloom into glory. But He did not give it. Just so was it also at Bethany, when He left Martha and Mary to their sorrow for two long and weary days. I sympathize with them in their utter inability to understand His delay in the light of His love; and in the implied protest of the word with which they at length greeted Him: “If You had been here, my brother had not died.” His silence seemed so entirely unreasonable. And still does it seem unreasonable when He apparently pays no heed to our prayers, and we cry as to a silent heaven. Who does not know this bitter experience and the subtle temptation lurking there? You have prayed for the conversion of loved ones, but they are apparently today as unyielding and impenitent as ever. You have prayed for temporal things which seemed entirely necessary, and no answer has come. You have sought relief from some pressing burden, but no lightening of the load has been given; and today it is heavier than ever. And the thought that Christ’s silence is unreasonable is never very far away. Loyalty to Him is strained sorely, almost to breaking-point. It is almost excusable to be “offended” in Him. But as with John in prison, and the sisters at Bethany, and hosts of others in all ages, He is not unmindful, however His silence may seem to point to it. He is training them, and us, to undaunted faith, to live in the realm of the unseen and eternal; to walk in His own steps. Sometimes what we call unanswered prayer proves beyond question a greater blessing than the desired answer could possibly have been. When Christ responds to our requests in the negative, we may be certain that the positive would have been for our undoing. He withholds secondary mercies to teach us the importance and value of the primary. His denials are our enrichments, not our impoverishments. For His purposes are vastly bigger than our prayers; and while His speech may be as silver, His silence is as gold. “Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me.”

‘These things have I spoken unto you; that, despite the severity of My requirements, the mystery of My contradictions, the slowness of My methods, the unreasonableness of My silences, ye should not be offended.’ What things were these? What will secure His people against the peril of defection? What are the permanent securities of our faith? In a word, the sureness of His way before us – “I came from the Father”, “I go unto the Father”, “I am the way.” Then the certainty of His love towards us – “The Father Himself loveth you.” And the constancy of His union with us – “You in Me and I in you.” These are the germ-truths of all His forewarnings. And their expansion is in the lives of His people. Blessed is he who, resting upon these facts of God, makes them the factors of his own life; and goes on unoffending and unoffended, always radiant with “the peace that passeth all understanding”, and increasingly becoming part of the world’s illumination as he reflects his Lord.

But let us beware of putting any undue value upon our mere perception of this truth. Let us beware of over-estimating the strength of our own resolves and resources. Let us beware of saying anything like: “Though all men should be offended because of You, yet I will never be offended.” Rather, in a sensitive, humble dependence on Christ, which always expresses itself in iron devotion and loyalty to His Word, let us seek to live as men of manifested faith. For this is the condition which governs all the blessedness of the unoffended.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.

Every valley shall be filled in,

every mountain and hill made low.

The crooked roads shall become straight,

the rough ways smooth.

And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

“What should we do then?” the crowd asked.

John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

“Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” (Luke 3)

Some spiritual insights to be drawn from this familiar passage -

• This passage is I believe intensely prophetic of the Lord’s call to His own at the end – the two witnesses will fulfill this call (in the spirit of Elijah) to straightness and return to the Lord.
• John stood outside the nation; they came to him in the area of the Jordan river; the Jordan pictures the division between life and death; a crossing over; a coming into the true life and testimony of the Lord; baptism pictures a forsaking resulting in a changed life; a new kind of life (a separating of soul and spirit; the difference between a merely religious life and a truly spiritual life)
• Everything about John stood against the desolate spiritual condition of the people – his words, his dress, his diet, his base of operations – in both his person, lifestyle, and message he represented the Lord’s bitter displeasure with His own; the ones He redeemed from Egypt so long ago. The prophet and the prophet’s message were one; John appeared only when this was so, when the Lord had prepared His chosen vessel; a weakened instrument duly fitted for the times and His purpose
• The message of repentance is not preached to the lost but to the Lord’s own found people – John is a prophet not an evangelist, in a time when all is crooked, when the proud are exalted and the humble are laid low; everything is inverted, upside down, contrary to the Lord purpose and intent (note: salvation is not an end in itself, but a means for the Lord to achieve His purpose; is all your thought and confidence on your own salvation (personal interest in other words) or the grander and eternal purpose of God?). Strongholds exist that are generations old and deep, The enemy energizes them and sustains the people in their blindness and religious pride – traditions, doctrines, assumptions, false teaching, a crossless, small “c” christianity, etc.
• John (and his small remnant company of disciples – some of whom followed the Lord later) is alone – he is a remnant of one crying in the wilderness – “Who warned you…?” – no one, which was why he was there – where were all the teachers, the guides, the leaders, the shepherds, the priests? All hopelessly corrupted from top to bottom; all the political and religious leaders blinded by worldly power and greed and temporal cares; the people content in their lives as slaves to Rome (the world); they were not seeking the Lord’s kingdom but a safe and secure and comfortable place in the world. Religious power had lied down with political power – think Roman Empire, British Empire, American Empire,  etc. The virgin had become the harlot, full of adultery and fornication, and she is riding (straddling) the filthy beast
• There is a “we are rich and need of nothing” aspect in the people – “We have Abraham…”. ” I am saved by faith alone” says the modern believer, “who are you to tell me the Lord is not pleased, not satisfied; that I will be judged? I go to church, we send thousand of missionaries to the third world; we support the local food bank, the homeless, we are a bible-believing church…. “
• “brood of vipers” – read: “children of Satan” – I see no way to soften this – fearful are His judgments (see the curses in Deuteronomy promised to His own people and fulfilled to both houses to the awful letter. “Oh but in this time of grace the Lord will not judge His own people” – OH really?)
• It is a time just prior to the wrath of the Lord coming (AD 70, when all fell, the temple, the city, the land, everything they trusted in)
• The Lord is looking for fruitfulness, the real evidence of salvation; A tree that bears no fruit is useless and must come down. This is inevitable – it is not a question of if but when. This whole “christian thing” we see in the world today cannot stand in the end. Jesus Himself is weeping over the very state of it – but soon His tears will give way to righteous indignation and action!
• “God’s salvation” seems to be the Lord Himself in His coming – for us this is very soon in His second advent in judgment to claim all that is His to claim – His bride, then the throne of the world
• John’s message is “Turn! – turn back to the Lord, back to truth and reality, back to what is real and authentic, live the life, come out of the falseness, the deadness, the fruitlessness”
• We see later, when the Lord Himself walked on the scene how many beggars, lepers, orphans, sinners and widows went uncared for by this “religious” people – they had failed the test, for this is how the Lord sums up whether His life is really in us – it is very practical – the very ones who are most impacted by the curse of sin and death – the fatherless, the widows, the orphans, the poor and needy – these are his measuring rods – think deeply on this my brothers, think very deeply on this, for this hard word may stir some of you in ways never known before. Our Lord touched the ones he helped. He looked into their eyes; the Father led them to each one personally, many of whom followed Him afterwards
• Honesty, integrity, uprightness, separateness (spiritually) from strongholds of falseness and hypocrisy
• Materialism, greed, love of money in the service of Mammon – covered over with swooning choruses of “We love you Jesus” in great halls every Sunday”
• It is the charge of adultery and sexual perversion that finally ends John’s ministry – this is most insightful, as we consider the state we are in right now – the beast rising, the harlot pruning herself, the love of pleasure and ease and comfort; we must also consider that John in some degree glimpsed (in the spirit) the divine mystery that the One coming after Him would be the “Bridegroom” and that the summing up of all things in Him would involve the marriage of the Lamb and the bringing forth of a bride (taken out of His body) worthy of Him
• John was beheaded, as will be the two witnesses – this represents a rejection of the Lord Himself, the cutting off of the head; the separating of the head from the body, which is really Satan’s intent – that the One New Man in Christ will not walk on this earth in the full expression of the life of God

Consider loved ones, consider well, this word, for the times we are in will find us out, what we are made of, whether we will company with John beyond the river, or remain at the gate of the city. Let our hearts cry out and let our prayers rise up for all those who have been taken captive by the enemy to do his will; all those who are blind and complacent and overly confident in this day of reckoning.

Ask yourself this – if one such as John was to rise up in this day and venture into one of so many churches in the world today – what would become of him? “Oh but we are not like Israel in the days of Pontious Pilate?” Oh Really?

Ask the Lord what it means today spiritually for us to wear camel hair and to be content with locusts and honey? Harshness, bitterness mixed with sweet, a standing against the strongholds, a vow of spiritual separation supported by a life of purity, integrity, contrition. To see is everything! And to hear what the Lord is saying to us! Oh Lord, this is our heart cry and prayer in these dark days, when all seems fallen, mixed, compromised, superficial, soulish and deep, deep into the lives and hearts of those who claim your salvation.

Come Lord Jesus Come!

It is You alone we love!

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are a sweet fragrance of Christ unto God… (2 Corinthians 2:14,15).

“And the Lord said to Moses, Take sweet spices – stacte, onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense, an equal amount of each – and make of them incense, a perfume after the perfumer’s art, seasoned with salt and mixed, pure and sacred. You shall beat some of it very small and put some of it before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you; it shall be to you most holy. And the incense which you shall make according to its composition you shall not make for yourselves; it shall be to you holy to the Lord.” (Exodus 30:34-37).

All that we do should be fragrant with what we are. And what we are should be ‘a sweet fragrance of Christ’. There can be no question about the fragrance of the Lord Jesus. It was a part of His very nature. Wherever He went, whatever He did, whatever He said, the precious perfume of another world accompanied Him. It literally was that – the fragrant atmosphere of heaven. The secret was in His origin: He had come ‘out of the ivory palaces’; but, even more than that, He had a heavenly nature, a nature redolent with the beautiful perfume of the eternal glory. Moreover, the human walk on earth was so essentially one of communion with the Father, that He never appeared before men without a lingering sweetness of the Sanctuary about Him. And, like the incense, He was ‘beaten very small’; His fragrance was the result of His life of suffering. The Word tells us that “we are a sweet fragrance of Christ”. We certainly ought to be. It will not be out of place for us to enquire if we really are.

Fragrance Cannot be Described

Such an enquiry is made difficult by reason of the fact that perfume is indescribable. In the natural world this is so. We recognise and enjoy the comforting, satisfying, pervasive sweetness of what is fragrant, but no human words can adequately convey the effect of a sweet scent. It can be recognised, but it cannot be described. The incense had an unmistakable scent. No doubt, if any of the priests had detected it anywhere outside of the Sanctuary, they would have immediately set to work to punish the offender. Even in the remotest corner of the camp, even in the darkest and most hidden secret place, any imitation of the sacred incense must have been discovered at once. There would be no mistaking it. For us, happily, there is no blame, but only praise, if the fragrance of the Sanctuary is discovered in our dwelling. But how can we explain it, except by comparing it with other perfumes? What is it like? we ask. The fragrance of Christ is like the Father. It conveys the sweetness of the Father’s love, the glory of the Father’s character, the desirable loveliness of the Father’s goodness. All that we can say is that this fragrance was the quality which brought the Presence of God to men. And all that we can say to describe the fragrance of a truly spiritual life is that it reminds men of Christ, it brings the atmosphere of His Presence near to men.

It Cannot be Measured

We cannot measure fragrance. Nor do we need to do so. It is altogether a matter of quality, not of quantity. The world in which we live is a world which tends to value everything according to its magnitude. Even in the realm of spiritual things we are all too prone to enquire first about dimensions, and to prize that which is big and impressive. Fragrance cannot be treated in this way. A very little scent can fill a whole room. A very small quantity can exert a widespread influence. God shows little interest in the things which seem so impressive to men. He is not asking us to be what the world calls ‘big’ or ‘successful’. What He does seek is that which brings back to Him something of the sweet and satisfying perfume of the character of His Son. It is “to God”, in the first place, that we are to be a sweet fragrance of Christ, and if we bring pleasure to God in our ministry, we shall undoubtedly bring blessing and life to men. We shall be a ‘savour of life’.

The Effect of the Fragrance

While this fragrance is peculiar to the Sanctuary, and in the Old Testament was confined to that place alone, the pervading effect of it should be known in every place where the Lord’s servants go. It is more than a mere accompaniment of their ministry – it is an essential factor in it. The fragrance is attractive: it makes men yearn to possess the secret of this scent of heaven.

This is how it worked in the case of the Lord Jesus Himself. In His Presence, men were moved to desire and enquire after that walk with God which He so obviously enjoyed. What really made the devout Nicodemus seek out Jesus? None of us can know. His question was clearly connected with the Kingdom, yet his very first words suggest that the perfume had reached him and aroused deep desires in his heart for this kind of knowledge of God. ‘No man could do these signs unless God were with him’ (John 3:2). Perhaps, until Jesus came on the scene, he had been satisfied with his own attainments: if so, this life, fragrant with the atmosphere of heaven, had awakened in him a realisation of his own deep lack. Or it may be that already he was dissatisfied with all the best that keeping the Law could do for him, and had become convinced that there must be something which could bring him truly near to God. In either case, he was attracted and drawn by this atmosphere of the Presence of God which surrounded the Lord Jesus. God was ‘with Him’, and Nicodemus wanted to know more about it.

There seems to have been a similar wistfulness about the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17). There was an attraction which drew him – he ran to Jesus. There was a majesty which humbled him – he knelt before he spoke. And there was an awareness of His lovely fragrance, for the ruler addressed the Lord as ‘Good Master’. He did not say, ‘Wise Master’, nor even ‘Great Master’, but ‘Good Master’. It seems that he ‘scented’, as it were, the loveliness of such a life, and yearned to possess it.

This was the effect of the presence of the Lord Jesus as He moved among men. He carried everywhere with Him such a fragrance of the Sanctuary that even the most devout and godly men who met Him became dissatisfied with their present experience and longed for a closer walk with God. If this was true of the godly, how much more true was it of the common people. Some, it is true, came perhaps because of the experience or advice of others, but most seem to have been drawn irresistibly after Christ – drawn not merely by the words He spoke or acts He performed, but by the indefinable ‘something’ which we can only describe as the fragrance of the Sanctuary. It would be true to say that the ministry of Christ was often made possible by people being so drawn to Him, for they themselves sought Him out.

The lovely perfume of His life not only aroused longings and desires in men’s hearts – it also seemed to inspire hope. Just as a sweet scent may inform us that there are beautiful flowers just beyond our sight, so this fragrant Son of Man suggested to the sons of men that God had something more for them if only they would press forward to receive it. Even in their defilement and bondage they were made to feel that there must be – there is – an answer from God. God is not afar off, distant and unmoved; He is very near, able and willing to impart His love and life to the needy. The fragrance did not heal them, but it made them draw near, it gave them new hope, it prepared the way for the ministry of healing. It made men feel that, if only they drew near enough, there would be a mighty provision from heaven to meet their deepest need.

We cannot heal men. Only the Lord can do that. But is it not true that we should carry with us, as did our Lord, something of that indefinable fragrance of the Sanctuary, that makes men believe that after all there is hope for them in Christ? Is it not this that Paul referred to? It is true that the Apostle had a very large spoken ministry, both in public preaching and private conversation; but, whether public or private, vocal or silent, there was something about him of an atmosphere of heaven, which made men long for a knowledge of God and at the same time filled them with an expectation that such a knowledge was available.

The Secret of the Fragrance

The Old Testament typology concerning the incense may help us to understand something of the secret of this fragrance. In the type, ‘the shadow of the true’, it had to be kept unique: any kind of imitation was expressly forbidden. In the reality, it is unique, for nobody can imitate this fragrance. It is essentially one of nature: it derives from the heavenly origin of Christ. It was not the result of His birth at Bethlehem, but of His heavenly origin which was veiled in the human frame. This was the explanation of that perfect balance, that Divine blending of all virtues, indicated in the instructions that the ingredients of the incense were to be mixed ‘in equal amounts’ as well as to be absolutely pure.

The Lord Jesus did not have to try to be fragrant: it was a characteristic of His very inner nature that it gave forth the atmosphere of heaven. He has given this heavenly life to us. In our case also there is a sense in which we do not have to ‘try’ to be fragrant. We live out the life of the Lord Jesus, which carries with it everywhere the sweet scent of the character of God. To imitate it brings death, not life. To make any use of it other than for the glory of God alone, to seek some gain for ourselves out of it, also means bringing in death. We have the unique life within us. If only we can live it out, the fragrance will be found wherever we go.

Then, of course, this was the special scent of the Sanctuary. As we have said, it was not only His heavenly origin, but His heavenly walk, that made the life of the Lord Jesus to be so fragrant. He belonged to the Sanctuary. He was a Man of the Sanctuary. Though His life was as busy and full as any of ours, indeed busier and fuller than any other, yet He never allowed the calls and distractions of life, not even of His work for the Father, to entice Him away from the hidden union and communion of life within the veil.

Probably the High Priest of old carried at least a hint of that Sanctuary perfume wherever he went. Even when he left the Holy Place and moved in common circles, something of the fragrance lingered. It cannot be otherwise in the case of the spiritual incense. There is a fragrance which is only obtained in the Sanctuary. It can be found nowhere else. In most cases the one concerned may have no consciousness of it. Probably the High Priest would be so familiar with the scent that he would not be aware that it clung to him. But others would know. It is the background life of fellowship with God which maintains this unique and lovely atmosphere of heaven.

We have already mentioned the instruction that before use the incense had to be beaten ‘very small’. The constituents were all gathered, they were perfectly blended, the latent possibilities were provided, but still there lacked this further process to produce the fragrances – “You shall beat some of it very small”. He who was of heavenly nature, He who lived in constant heavenly communion, had to pass through experiences of bruising and crushing, and through the very fires, before the full fragrance of His love was released to God and to men. His sufferings were not extra to His ministry; they were not an unfortunate accompaniment of His service for God; they represented the essential process by means of which the latent preciousness was released and became available to others. The pervasive power of the Spirit, which aroused men to a sense of need and a desire for God, and led them on to vital faith, was the result of Christ’s being pounded in the crucible of suffering.

Our Ministry of His Fragrance

This, then, is the background of the Apostle’s claim that we, too, spread abroad the heavenly fragrance of Christ wherever He leads us. The verse is all part of a larger metaphor based on Roman triumphal processions. There is no need for us to consider that now. Nor is there need here to dwell on his reminder that such a fragrance can have a deadly message for the unbelieving as well as a vitalising one for those who turn to Christ in faith. Our present emphasis is concerning this essential background to all ministry – this fragrance of life from heaven, which is so satisfying to the Father and such a blessing to men.

The secret will be the same for us as for the Lord Jesus. In the first place it must be the expression of a nature. “We are a sweet fragrance of Christ unto God”. There is a sense in which we are only the incense-bearers, for Christ alone can be the true incense; yet, since He is the very inner life of our life, it is impossible to describe our ministry as though we were merely utensils for carrying the fragrance around. By new birth we, too, have the heavenly deposit within us, and it is that heavenly life which provides the fragrance of Christ, for it is His life being lived out through us. Paul speaks of this cloud of sweet smelling incense being diffused “in every place”: it goes where we go, for it is a very part of our inner life. Perfumes are not affected by their surroundings; they do not take on their scent from what is round about: their fragrance is the liberation of their essential being, released freely without taking account of their surroundings. It is good to notice that, in this letter about ministry, Paul lays such stress on the unconscious and spontaneous background of all labours for the Lord. In chapter 2 it is described as fragrance, and in chapter 3 as radiance. Without this, the ministry will lack that most essential quality of all, which was so characteristic of Christ.

Both the fragrance and the radiance are the results of a life in the Sanctuary. As we have remarked concerning the Lord Jesus, He not only had an inner life of fragrance, but He appeared among men always as One whose first and chief sphere of ministry was not among men at all, but ‘unto God’. “We are… unto God”. In the Old Testament days it was forbidden to imitate this scent of the Holy Place. In spiritual reality it is impossible to imitate it. Almost everything else in Christian service can be artificial, the product of our own skill or earnestness, but this fragrance of Christ can only be acquired by those who live in the place of communion with the Lord. We may say the right things, do the right things, give the right impression, but if we have lost touch with the Lord there will be no fragrance of Christ about us. This scent is not pungent, it is very delicate. Only by constant renewal in the Secret Place can we possess it. It is easily lost; it cannot be produced or recovered by any effort of ours. It belongs to the Sanctuary and is only found there.

Lastly, it is best released by being beaten “very small”. As with Christ, so with us, there is no substitute for suffering, if we would carry the consoling balm of Christ’s fragrance to needy ones around us. Suffering is not an ‘extra’ to our ministry, any more than it was to His; it is the Divinely chosen means to its fulfilment. This letter of ministry is also the letter of suffering, but the one is the direct result of the other. It is the bruising and the crushing which bring out the fragrance.

Some of us in this place live a rather ‘cloistered life’; so that, when a brother or sister comes straight from town, with the smell of smoke clinging around them, we meet the shock of another world. The one concerned cannot help it: they have travelled in the rush hour, public transport has been crowded and they have been unable to avoid the smoke. But to us it is the aroma of another world. They may not be aware of it, but the smell clings around them. Is there not a reverse of this ‘other-worldly atmosphere’? May we not go out with a different kind of scent clinging to us – the blessed sweet fragrance of the other world? Instead of it coming as an unpleasant reminder of the existence of this world about us, with its unsavoury scent, may there not be a blessed and inspiring reminder to many in the unhappy world around that there is ‘another world’ – the world of Christ? We need to be a people of the Sanctuary, able to move about in the power of the Lord’s Presence, spreading abroad “the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”