John 1:43; 12:23-26; 21:18, 1943The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. (John 1:43)
23And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor. (John 12:23‑26)
18Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 19This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. (John 21:18‑19); Luke 9:57-6257And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:57‑62); Philippians 3:12-1412Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12‑14)
The subject here—one of those precious subjects in this first chapter of John, in addition to what we have had before us—is the great fact, that there is a divine path through the maze and intricacies of this world; a distinctly divine path, so that we are not left to ourselves in any way to make out the road. It is not our own understanding of how we could pick our steps through the tangled labyrinth, if I may so describe it, which this world really presents, in its present alienated state; but there is a path, a very defined path through it all, for faith. A wonderful cheer for our souls it is even to contemplate that, for a moment; the existence of such a path, even supposing we have not as yet found it; but the fact that it is there to be found, what a comfort to the soul. Not only is there an object divine, and a center divine—for these are the subjects we have had before us—but, blessed be God, there is also a divine path, a path that His own blessed feet have marked out for us, through the desert sands of this world, and which faith can penetrate, and discern, and reach, and rejoice in being permitted to walk in, even Christ’s path.
Now the first thing with regard to this subject, is—and I will ask you to look at a scripture which shows it—how entirely and completely it is a path of faith, and that it is only faith that can tread it, as it is only faith that can discover it. It is only by faith that we can see what it is, and it is only by faith that we can estimate the good of it. Turn with me to Job. 28:7, 8: it is a remarkable scripture: “There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen; the lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.”
You will observe, it is presented here, in figure, by the Holy Ghost as entirely outside the keenest perception of nature. That is the thought which the Spirit of God would leave on our hearts with regard to this path. It is divinely far above the keenest sight or discernment of the creature. The most powerful agent in nature, the most far-sighted and keen-visioned cannot make it out. “No fowl knoweth.” There is no eye, no sight, like that of the vulture for keenness, for quickness of perception, for far-seeing. “There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen”; untrodden by even the lion’s whelps, or the fierce lion. No sight of nature, nor power of nature, can either discern or walk in this path. Well you will admit, beloved friends, that this puts it very simply for us, through God’s grace. It cannot be discerned nor trodden by human power; further, there is nothing to show. And that is where the difficulty oftentimes is. Those who, through grace and faith, have God-given eyes, can see the path, and, thank God, walk in it too but it is not only difficult, it is impossible, to show this path to another; and even more difficult still, to give others the power to walk in it, even if you could show it to them. If you doubt this, try, and you will assuredly find out the truth of it for yourselves. Be assured, it is for yourself, when God gives you eyes to see it. I mean, of course, spiritual eyes; eyes by the teaching of his Spirit, through His word too; His Spirit and His word enlightening the eyes of the heart. It is thus, too, that the apostle prays, in Eph. 1, even that “the eyes of your heart, being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.”
He asks for opening and enlightening in the eyes of their hearts, in the seat of their affections; thus you will at once understand the intimate connection between the affections being in exercise, and thereby knowledge of the mind of God.
What a wonderful thing, to be illuminated in the heart’s eyes; not the mind, not the reason, but the heart, the eyes of your heart being enlightened, the enlightening power of His Spirit in the affections of our souls. And, beloved friends, there is no other way to know, but this. You cannot see God’s path, and you cannot tread God’s path, in any other way than faith in God Himself, the living God. So that the value, the blessedness, of this word at the start, is that it puts the finding of this path, outside of everything that is merely connected with man, as man. No man of himself, or by any power that he has, can possibly discern this path; it is true he may be an exceedingly able man, a man of great parts, as we say; of great faculties, great discernment, great wisdom, great foresight, and all that, but this reckons not here; what we are speaking of lies entirely outside and beyond the greatest of men. And, beloved friends, we cannot insist upon that too much, we cannot press it upon our own hearts too earnestly, because you must perceive how the tendency with us is to think that we can, by sense or sight, discern the things of God. He has to teach us, in His wonderful grace, that we never really see anything according to Him, until we become fools. “If any man will be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.”
He has really to come down from all that fancied ability and power in himself, and the false idea that he is possessed of any sight, or any clearness, or any power; to see these things, or unravel them, or discern them, he must give all that up: and when a man comes down to be a little child, then, there is found before the Lord the proper, true, right condition of soul, in which to exercise living faith in that which is of God, and which is made known to faith. It is to faith it is made known; not to reason, nor to sense. Sense and reason hinder and deceive; all the whole power of nature is misleading.
Now this clears the ground immensely, and then comes the comfort, that there is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen.
I would, further, ask you to look at another scripture, but not on that point, because that is settled, once and for all.
It is to be noted well, how everything of God is seen in the same way. There is no power of man that gives him an understanding of anything of God. As the apostle, by the Holy Ghost, writes in 1 Cor. 2, and which is the very mind of God, in relation to understanding all given us of God: “What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth no man.” “No man”—remarkable words. That is to say, no man, as a man, knows the things of the Spirit of God. You cannot tell what is passing in my mind, and I cannot tell what is passing in yours. Even so, you cannot discern the things of God, save as He, by His Spirit, makes them known to you; as surely as God is the author of the revelation, so surely it cannot be either known or received, but by the Spirit of God. This, then, beloved friends, is solemn and searching. But, observe, there is the positive side also—I merely quote it—“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” So that it is not only that there are things given to us of God, but there is power by the Holy Ghost to know them, and there is a capacity in the new man to receive them: further, it is written, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” {1 Cor. 2}.
It is, then, by the Holy Ghost, we know the things that are freely given to us of God, but no man, as man, can know them: the simplest truth of God, no man, as man, can understand; for instance, take creation, though I do not desire to dwell long upon it, only to illustrate the point: how do we know as to creation? Why, “by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.” How simple that is! “by faith.” And so it is with regard to everything else—it is the mind of God, that He has been pleased to reveal in His own word to faith, and faith must be in exercise. And, blessed be His name, faith is that which is found in us, as new creatures in Christ. Faith in the testimony of God, and the Holy Ghost to make that testimony known to us, in all its blessedness and power, are the alone way to the understanding and knowing anything about it.
We shall now turn to the scripture, another scripture, for a little, in order to show you, as the Lord may help, how this path was trodden by the Lord Himself; and this we shall find most blessed. Turn to Psa. 16:1111Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. (Psalm 16:11), “Thou wilt show me the path of life.” Now this is the language of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in His place of dependence and trust, as a man, before Jehovah. He comes down and takes the place of a man, in confidence and trust in God. This it is, that gives this Psalm (16) such a precious interest for our hearts, because it is His own blessed path down here in this world. God everything to Him, in His perfection as man before God, perfect in His confidence, perfect in His trust, perfect in His dependence, “Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust.” And then, further, “Jehovah is the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yea I have a goodly heritage.” Again, “I have set Jehovah always before me; because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”
It is all the path and place of the Lord Jesus Christ, as a man down here in this world, as before God; in the perfection of the confidence, trust, and dependence, that marked Him, in His perfection, in the place He had taken. And then, how precious to see Him, as going through that path, the path of life, and to hear Him saying these words, “Thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”
And that was the path in which He walked across this world, meeting death, because we never could walk along that path until Christ had gone before in it; we are not going along a way, that has never been trodden, and which we address ourselves to, for the first time. Christ has walked in that path, He has walked the whole path of faith; and this it is which gives such preciousness and value to that scripture in the epistle to the Hebrews, where He is spoken of as the beginner and finisher of faith; that is to say, He walks the whole road; that in which we find each of the worthies of old, filling up their part, namely, Abraham, Joseph, Enoch, and so on, each of them filled up their part in this path, but Christ goes the whole path; He was the beginner and He was the finisher, “the author and finisher of faith,” the path or road of faith as a whole; and then meeting death, and taking out of death all that, that stood in our way, so as to hinder us walking in that path; meeting everything that was involved in that death, as the blessed One did, and looking beyond it to resurrection, as the perfect answer of God to His victory and triumph. “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life.” Walking in that path, having in grace identified Himself in it with those who were quickened by the Spirit, those who had confessed their sins, not keepers of law, but quickened souls who, having owned their sins, had turned to God; He could be there, blessed be His name, and He did, fulfilling all righteousness, identify Himself with them, the excellent in the earth, “in whom is all my delight.” He has met everything, and defined what that path is.
Now, that is an immense comfort to the soul. Dwell upon it, beloved friends, Christ has gone the whole way. And therefore it is, that He can, and does, blessed be His name, call us to follow Him. And further, mark this, it gives a very distinct character to it; Christ Himself is the way, the road. A person may say, But what is that road, what is that path? Christ Himself; that is the path; “I am the way.” “We know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?” He replies, “I am the way.” And, beloved, think how blessed it is; because it sets that blessed One before the eyes. It is none less than that precious, living, blessed Christ, before the eyes of the soul; that makes the path as distinct and simple as anything can be. Christ is the way. I am to follow Christ, I have to watch Christ, I have to keep my eyes on Christ; and it moreover clears up so many difficulties, it takes so many things out of the way at once; it is not considering how and where we could escape from dangers here, and how we could make the best of our way through difficulties; far from it. Have you reflected on this? There are, in that path which is the opposite to that of faith, quite as many difficulties, yet unbelief is ever ready to take that road; but there is not with those who walk that way, the p6wer of God to sustain: this solemn fact I commend to your consideration.
Be assured of it, beloved friends, in reality the difficulties in the path of faith serve to draw out dependence in us, and to display that power of God, which is above everything; and this is an immense gain and blessing; further, you have not the company of Christ with you in the one, but you have in the other. You will have to meet constant and hard pressing difficulties, you will have to encounter severely trying hindrances and obstacles, but you cannot have Christ with you, and you will not enjoy that sweet and blessed assurance in your soul, that Christ went that road before you, so that you could discern, if you were with Him, as it were the very tracks of His blessed feet, in the desert sands. Whereas, if your eyes are on Him, not on difficulties, but on him, how comforting—the road is plain before you, the light is on your path at once. If your eyes are on Christ, if it is Christ, who is simply the road, as He says Himself, “I am the way,” if it is Christ simply before you, the whole way is clear as light; it can be said truly,
“Light divine surrounds Thy going.”
The path is simple and defined before you. Suffering, no doubt, but that is part of the blessedness of the path. Instead of being a part of the trials and difficulties of it, it is part of the blessedness of it. Ah, it is a very different thing from suffering, merely where it is connected with our own deserts. A person may suffer because of his own folly and his own waywardness, and there is a bitterness, and rightly, too, in that; but the suffering that belongs to that precious path, which His own feet have walked in, and the road which is marked out as His own, is sweet beyond all description. Alas, how little we have tasted it! How little we have partaken of that suffering which is connected with Himself, and with the path which He has trodden down here; yet we often sing,
There is but that one in the waste,
Which His footsteps have marked as His own;
And I follow in diligent haste,
To the seats where He’s put on His crown.”
There is a bitterness about the other suffering, and pain attached to it, as well; but in that which is connected with Christ, there is real sweetness, there is true joy. Just like the apostles, when they went out from the presence of the council, it is said, they “rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” They were beaten, but it was the comfort of their hearts that they had suffered for Christ, had walked with Christ. And so it should be with us, if we were found, through grace, walking in His path, following Him.
This brings us to those other scriptures read at the beginning of this meeting, and we shall see how they tell one upon another. In the first of John, we start distinctly with the Lord’s own blessed word, “Follow me.” That is the divine path, and I have tried to show you how He Himself constituted it, and walked in it first, and thus made a way for us to follow Him.
Now for a moment turn to the twelfth chapter of John. This gives the true character of this path, and shows what it is. The Lord says here, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me {John 12:24, 2524Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. (John 12:24‑25)}.”
Now, there we have the distinct nature, the positive character of this path of faith through this world; it is a suffering path: it is nothing less than death; it is loss. Observe how here the Lord is on His road to the cross; and what makes it so much more solemn is this, that the whole glory of the kingdom passed before Him there in figure; the kingdom in figure is there before Him, Israel accepts Him for the time being, the Greeks come up and say, “We would see Jesus.” The whole scene is one of deep and solemn interest. Just think what that moment was to Jesus, how at that moment, Isa. 49:66And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6) was present to His mind; but then death was in the road for Christ. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.” He could have taken the kingdom alone. There was no necessity for Him, as to Himself, blessed be His name, to suffer, but if He did take the kingdom, it must have been alone. He might have remained alone; He could have abode alone, for, except it “fall into the ground and die, it abides alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” But then observe the words connected with it, “If it die”; and oh, I often wonder if our hearts take in the depth, the intense solemnity that is connected with those little words, “If it die.” Think of what His death involves, think of what is connected with it; it was not only the solemn reality of meeting the judgment of God with reference to sin; no doubt that was all involved in it, as well as the meeting the whole power of Satan, and destroying him that had the power of death, that is the devil—who could or indeed would underrate the judgment of a holy God in relation to sin? But oh! beloved friends, see what it defined for the followers of that dying Savior, see how distinctly it marked out the nature and character of the path, for every one that would serve Him, “If any man serve me, let him follow me.” “Follow me”—where? To death. Death it must be, because that was what was in the road; that was the immediate thing before His mind; it was that which the alabaster box of Mary had brought so distinctly before the mind, when she anointed His body for the burying.
The deep significance of that alabaster box was there to the soul of Jesus upon earth, at that moment, “If any man serve me, let him follow me.” And more than that, you will remember how the Lord Himself had said, “If any man will come after me,” which is following as well, “let him deny himself”—think of that—and further,” take up his cross”; which does not mean that each person has his particular trial and special difficulty; that is the way it is wont to be spoken of at times, even that each person has his own special trial and difficulty; as one would say, “That is my cross,” and something else is another person’s cross. That is not the meaning of this scripture at all. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.” And mark, denying yourself is a greater thing by far than self-denial. There is ofttimes a great deal of self-denial, where there is no denying of self, at all. Denying yourself is a most deeply searching reality, the positive abnegation and refusal, even to death, of everything connected with yourself. “Let him deny himself.” Self-denial is very frequently made an opportunity of ministering to self. Very often, acts of self-denial are positively a ministration to self. But think of what a reality it is to deny yourself, the abnegation to death of every principle connected with yourself. Oh, to refuse that! And further, not only what is bad, but what is good; what is naturally beautiful, naturally amiable, naturally attractive, naturally lovely, on this to bring and bear the cross. “Let him deny himself, and take up his cross”: that is to say, he has to accept the death that lies in the path; not each person’s particular trial and particular difficulty, but to take up his cross, even death that is in the road; the denial of yourself, the abnegation of yourself to death, and all else beside, that lies in that path; and for what? Even to “Follow me.” Wonderful reality, beloved friends, but wonderfully searching and deeply solemn truth for our souls it is. And if you will just connect that with service, as the Lord does here, “If any man serve me, let him follow me,” how different it is from our thoughts of service; how different from the ideas of service prevailing at the present moment. Serving the Lord is, very oftentimes, really ministration to oneself; very oftentimes toleration of self, anything and everything but the death which stands in the path and in the road. “If any man serve me, let him follow me.”
Let us now further connect with this, that scripture in the ninth of Luke, and see how near to each other they are. A man comes to the Lord, who evidently has not at all measured the deep significance of this path, nor weighed at all what is involved in following Christ. This man addresses Him and says, “Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.” What words the Lord addresses in reply! How touching are those words! How searching to the soul! What does He say? “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”
Are we up to that kind of following, beloved? “I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.” How little did he take in who it was, and what His position was, whom he thus confidently proposed to follow. Think of those words. Think of following such an One as that! Think of such a path as His! We all need to have our conscience and our heart searched, as to this. It is true that there is every kind of blessedness in it, but let us have the due weight of it in our souls; let the full solemnity of it rest on our souls. Do not let it be a sentimental thing with us. One dreads the sentiment. The sentiment of the truth is not the truth. The sentiment of the truth very often saps out the real power of the truth in our souls. But the deep reality of it, the immense significance of that path, is most affecting: a destitute Christ, a Man here who had not a place where to lay His head; a solitary, isolated Man, who was poorer than the creatures of His own hand in His own creation; what could more appeal to our hearts than a rejected Savior, who had not a place “where to lay his head”?
It brings very forcibly to mind that touching scene in the close of the eighth, and beginning of the ninth chapters of John: there was a division among the people because of Him, one urging one thing and another somewhat else, but as to Himself, the testimony forced from unwilling witnesses, “never man spake like this man”; and in confusion and uncertainty all depart, “every man went unto his own house”; but as to Jesus, it is written, “Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.” Mark it well, all had their own house, but He had none; “the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”
Now look at the next verse or two, “And he said unto another, Follow me.” I think these differences of dealing with souls, are most deeply instructive in scripture, the way in which the blessed Lord, the tender, and yet solemn way in which He corrects the mistaken thought of following Him, by pressing the path in all its full solemnity before one; and then on another His distinct and immediate claim. His word now is, “Follow me.” Observe the reply, “Let me first go and bury my father.” Then the Lord says to him, “Let the dead bury their dead.” And then, another, apparently of himself, says to Christ, “Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house.” Now here we have, in the first instance, one who had not weighed the significance of the path, one who looked, as it were, lightly on following Christ, regarded it as an easy thing to follow Him; upon this man’s spirit, the Lord brings the full weight of the deep solemnity of the path. With the others, it was the case of those who put something else as having a prior claim to following Christ, and that is the meaning of the Lord’s reply. The first great thing, the pre-eminent thing, the paramount thing is to follow Christ. There is great force in that little word “first.” “Let me first go and bury my father.” “Let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house.” “First!” The Lord says, I must be first, and last too; Christ must be first, and Christ must be last. There can be no first, and there can be no last, but Christ. Blessed be His name, He is first and He is last, but He must be first and last with us, as He is first and last in Himself. And more than that, He is the indispensable One as well. How often our hearts have used those words, “the indispensable”—what is the indispensable? Jesus. I know no other indispensable; nothing else that cannot be done without, but Jesus. We cannot do without Christ. We can do without everything else but Him. Oh! you say, that is very extreme. Very extreme? I say, it is very blessed; you surely will not call blessed things extreme; may the Lord teach us how blessed it is!
Do not your hearts like to give Him that place, and say that He can be everything to you, yea all things, food, and meat, and drink, and shelter? Would you not like to exalt Him into such a position as that, to let Him be everything? Hearken to the words which the Lord Himself addressed to his disciples, “When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes.” Oh, many a time have I thought of those words; these are what we call the indispensables of life, what would be called the absolute necessities; what would you think of a man going without purse, or scrip, or shoes, now? Yet He says, “When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye anything? What did they say? “Nothing.” Why, beloved friends? Because they had Him.
And was not that the lesson that He taught them in the boat? There they were, in distress and perturbation, because they had not brought bread. He says, Am not I better than bread? Have you not all, in having me? Are you distressed because you have not taken bread, when you have me in the boat? Oh, the comfort for the heart in finding Christ everything, and everything in Christ: Christ the path, and Christ the sufficiency for the path; Christ the way, and Christ the competency for the way; Christ the road, and Christ the power to walk in that road. “Christ is all.” And that is the reason why the Lord brings it out there, the paramount claims of Himself upon those who propose to follow Him; it must be Himself absolutely, first and last.
Further, there is one other little word to which I will call your attention, before I speak of the last scripture, and that is in the twenty-first of John; and in this scripture, the subject is exceedingly beautiful; here it is the restored soul. In the first of John, it is what we might call the beginning of life, it is the first moments of acquaintance with Him. The Lord finds Peter and Andrew, and says, “Follow me.” Now in John 21, it is Peter after he was brought back, after he was restored, and there is only one point I would call your attention specially to, in this part of our subject. Peter is broken down and restored in conscience in Luke 22. In the force of his nature and the strength of his will, do you remember what he said? “Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.”
And if you search the history a little further on, you find that when the Lord was taken and all the disciples forsook Him and fled, then it is said of Peter, remarkable words, “Peter followed afar off”; he followed at a distance. And there is great force, I am assured, in those words, “followed afar off”: Because you must know, if you are distant from a person, every turn of the road will hide him from your view; every little obstacle that comes in the way screens him from your sight. “Peter followed afar off.” I do not trace the history further, for I take it we are all familiar with it, and we know what the denial was, we know how he essayed to follow Christ, in the power of his flesh and will, and how terrible was the break-down, trusting his love instead of trusting Christ’s.
And now I refer to the twenty-first of John, for the purpose of showing you, that after the Lord has probed him, and reached the depths of his failure and break-down, and suggested by His questions his denial, when He re-instates Peter in his position of shepherd and martyr, He says to him in that eighteenth verse, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.”
Beautiful words are these; the contrast between Peter in the youthful unbroken energy of his will, in the force and strength of the trust that he had in his own affections, as expressed in the words of the blessed Lord, “When thou wast young,” and Peter’s matured and mellowed condition afterwards, when subjected and broken down, he could be described as one aged and experienced, in such words as, “but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not,” is exceedingly blessed. Then observe how that twenty-first of John leaves Peter and John following; that is the happy place it leaves them in. It closes on them following; Peter says to Jesus, “Lord, and what shall this man do?” “If I will that he tarry till I come,” says the Lord, with reference to John, “what is that to thee?” Here is the path, the main business, the wonderful precious occupation, “Follow thou me.” The way the Lord brings that out before the restored soul, as He presents it to the soul in the first moments, so to speak of its life down here, is to me exceedingly beautiful and blessed, beyond all expression.
And now, there is only one other scripture to which I would invite your attention, it is Phil. 3. As has been so often said, Philippians is the normal life of a Christian, in the power of the Holy Ghost; the normal life of a heavenly man down here in this world, in the energy of the Spirit. So in the third chapter, behold the apostle, as the divine energy—which his soul was filled with from the glorified man at God’s right hand—fixed his eye upon that precious Object there in heaven, and engaged all the affections of his heart with that Savior in glory; that very Savior whose brightness shone upon his path, as he was pursuing his mission of death and destruction; hearken to him now, as he says: “I follow after; I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do . . . I press toward the mark for the prize;” as if he had said, I have not yet laid hold upon that for which I have been laid hold of, but one controlling object engrosses me, one thing governs, one thing fills my soul in its incomings and outgoings, “I follow after,” “I press toward the mark for the prize”; my eye is on that mark, and my heart is on that prize; and we may well say, what a mark, and what a prize; and Christ is the prize, and Christ is the gain; I press toward that mark—“I follow after,” and “I press.” Beautiful words, wonderful words! The energy of the soul filled with a heavenly Christ, a glorified Christ. The streams of light, and life, and glory flowing down from the Man at God’s right hand, fill the vessel here upon earth, so that it rises to reach the source whence the power that set it in motion came. The power came from heaven, and the vessel, as filled with that power, rises to reach the Christ, in the scene of His glory! My soul delights to linger in divine admiration of such a sight. It was not that he had attained to anything or reached anything, it was not that he was already perfect; that is, he had not as yet reached up to the standard of conformity to Christ in glory, that is what he means by being perfect; he had not reached up to that standard of perfection, the only divine standard; but “one thing I do,” he says, “I follow.” My feet are down here in His blessed footsteps, my poor trembling feet, but that Object up there in all His beauty, is filling the whole range and vision of my soul.
“O fix our earnest gaze
So wholly, Lord, on Thee,
That with Thy beauty occupied,
We elsewhere none can see.”
Well, beloved friends, there is nothing more comforting to the heart than that there is such a path. The Lord give us increasingly to have our poor feet in that path, which no power of nature can tread; no power of man can discern; which is above and beyond the keenest perception of the eye of the creature, or the wisdom of the wise. “The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.” This is the language of the Holy Ghost, in describing how impossible it is for the keenest vision or power of nature to either find out or walk in the divine path; but there is such a path, and Christ has walked in it, and faith knows it and faith can walk in it, and the power comes from the One at God’s right hand to carry us all the way through.
May every heart here realize this blessedness for Christ’s sake.