John 8:1-13; 9:34, 10:4-19, 17:9-251Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 2And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 3And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 7So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. 12Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 13The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true. (John 8:1‑13)
I READ these Scriptures in order to bring before you what is most interesting for every one of us, a subject which no one can over-estimate in the history of the soul. It is most important for us at this moment, for though we must be zealous of ecclesiastical things, yet, supposing we had the most correct thoughts about ecclesiastical things, of what value is that, unless the soul is in a state to take them up?
We are apt to approach things from the outside. God would have us approach things from the inside, not from without. That which we most need is a. better acquaintance with Himself. What are we left in this world for? Is it not to be simply for Christ?
A correct ecclesiastical state may be reached without the corresponding state of heart which Christ looks for. The soul must first personally have to do with Christ, that is the beginning, the commencement. I mean, the soul must have the distinct sense of a dealing with a person, and not merely something about that person. Let us ask ourselves the question, How much do we know of that blessed One personally? How much have our souls passed from the mere outside knowledge which is open to every one, to that more wonderful acquaintance with the Lord Jesus Christ personally, so that we could say that we know Him better than we know any one in this world. We consider that perhaps a wonderful thing to say, and so it is, but is it not because we have dropped down to be satisfied with merely knowing things about Christ. The test of what you know about Christ is the expression you give of Christ. We just express what we know of Christ, and no more!
I see in the 8th, 9th, and 10th of John, the subject is “light." It is light in the 8th, and light in the 9th, and the effect of light in the 10th.
In the 8th of John it is the picture of the way in which a poor sinner comes in contact with Christ who is the Light. It is not that there is some radiancy of Christ shining into the heart, but here is a poor creature who has come personally into contact with Himself. She has nothing to say for herself, and everything and every one is against her, and she comes personally in contact with Him when everything was against her, and she was obliged even to witness against herself. She had never found one before who had absolute grace in His heart and goodness in His nature till her soul had reached Him.
Have you ever traveled into a moment when there was not a solitary witness for you on this earth, when you stood alone before the Light of the World. That is the start. The 8th of John does not go beyond God's government of this world. I cite it now in illustration of the way in which a soul comes personally in contact with the only One who is competent to execute the sentence of judgment upon it, but who would not! And I ask you, have you ever been in that moment? People say, " I can tell you when I was converted." I say, blessed be God for that; but have you ever had to do with Christ personally? While you know facts and truths about Him, have you personally touched the One who gave those facts power to your soul? Facts and truths must be about some one and something-and who is that One? The Son of God who traveled from the glory of God into a world of sorrow that we might have a Friend when no one else would stand for us in this world.
You cannot make way against the ordinary sorrows and trials of this world unless you know Christ personally. I want Christ for my cares as much as I want Him for my sins; I want Him for my sorrows every day as much as I wanted Him for my guilt at first. That is what I mean by personally having to do with Him.
If you do not know Christ personally, you are not satisfied in heart. What can you do in your sorrows and your cares if you do not know Christ personally? I know Christ makes all well every day, and the soul that makes this acquaintance with Him starts from a spot that leaves a stamp upon him.
The 9th of John is the case of a person who not only has light for the eyes, but who is the subject of light.
Here is a man, and he is the subject of the power of Christ, but besides that power that Christ exercised on his body he becomes the vessel of light in his soul. He gets his light as to his body, but Christ equally made him in his soul the vessel of that light of which He Himself was the source in this world. Then what comes out? The moment he becomes the subject of this light, there is not a single person for him in this world. If he had merely received benefit from this wonderful Savior, it would not have offended people, they would not have been hurt by it. The world and professing Christendom have no question about taking all the good they can out of Christ. If you go abroad and preach only salvation from hell through the blood of Christ you would find no one against you, but if you go out and press the claims of Christ on people, you have every one against you. People have no objection to accept the mercies of God, but they will not have Christ.
This comes out in the 9th chapter. This poor creature is deserted by every one, even by his own parents. He pursues the light, goes on in his soul after that blessed One till he comes to say, I claim every one for Him!
There is a great difference between saying, I have the most wonderful blessing God in heaven could bestow, and I claim every one of you for this rejected Christ-" Will ye also be his disciples?" What was the consequence of this? They excommunicated him, i.e. they put him out of the circle of approved respectability! And what followed? Jesus found him! He pursued the light till man put him outside, and when man had cast him out, Jesus found him! Have you ever been thus found by Jesus? Jesus found him, that is the effect. Now you have an advance upon John 8 You have these two alone, and Jesus making a revelation to him. Do you not think this was a wonderful moment for this poor healed man when he had this revelation made to him? You are never in the place for a revelation to be made to you, until you have followed faithfully the light God gives you. The principle is, " To him that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not shall be taken away, even that which he seemeth to have."
Men's hearts think they can take God's things and make any use of them they please, turn them to any purpose without any reference to, or sense of responsibility to the One who has given them to us. Let us ask ourselves solemnly, have we fixed purpose of heart practically to carry out the truth we know? People say, " It is beautiful!" I do not question it is beautiful, but who will deny its intense solemnity?
If I see a sword before me that is unsparing, shall I say, that sword is beautiful? I do not question its grandeur, do not question its beauty, but that is not the point when it pierces me through and through. Oh, do let us be solemnized about these things, do not separate the light from the effect of it, do not separate the salvation from the Savior. “The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Surely that is a perfect day when we get into isolation with the Son of God to worship Him. This poor man worships Him, and is retained. You will never be retained till you reach a spot where there is no one but Jesus.
In our meetings, how is it there is so little worship? At times a little prayer, but so little praise. I feel we need to know the difference between ministry and worship. I may read a portion of Scripture and it may be very blessed, but that is not worship. What I long for is, not that we should have less Scripture, but more worship, like this man whose eyes were opened, when he gets the revelation of the Son of God to his soul, he worships.
The 10th chapter points out our security, the 8th and 9th point out our separation, to Christ. There is our separation to Christ, this is the first thing in the history of the soul; and then in chapter 10 it is our security, for if I am separated from everything, a person may say, how am I to be secured?
There was once a fold in Judaism which suited man in the flesh; there is no fold now, but there is a flock. How am I to know, then, that I am secure if I am thus outside all folds? Can you stand alone, apart from everything—alone with God?
I ask you affectionately, could you stand alone with Christ and say, Yes, I know Him in all His blessed sufficiency, and though I am isolated, I am isolated with Him.
What is our security? He says my sheep are in my hand, and if my person isolates them, my hand guards them. If my person separates you from everything in this world, you are in the sacred enclosure of my hand, " Neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." And. He blessedly adds, “My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." This is not only the poor sinner's security in the face of hell, but the sheep's security in the face of the wolf.
I refer you now to John 17, for this reason; not merely is there separation or isolation in the history of the soul, but there is sanctification, and sanctification has this end, in order that we may be true representatives of Christ, for you cannot represent Christ rightly on this earth if you are not sanctified.
It is a most solemn thing to be conscious that we are left here to represent Christ, and how can we represent a person if we do not know him? You may act for a person, serve a person, without knowing or representing that person. You may not be called to any public work for Christ, may not be called to preach or to teach, but there is not a saint of God who is not left on this earth to be a representative of Christ, and to be left on this earth to represent this glorified Man is more than any amount of gifted service we could render Him.
We cannot represent Him without knowing Him, and we cannot represent Him without being sanctified people. There are two ways of being sanctified. First He says," Sanctify them through thy truth." Specially this was the truth about the Father, and I ask you, is not this a sanctifying thing—the blessedness of the knowledge of the Father's love? If we know the Father's love in our hearts, we do not need to turn to and seek our rights from the world? I ask, Have we the sense of the Father's love in our hearts so that it separates us from the world? Do you walk about the world with the sense of this, my Father in heaven is thinking about me, watching me, cares for me. Yes, my Father is so thinking about me, so caring for me, that there is not one bit of comfort, not one bit of down, as it were, wanting, to make me sensible of how my Father's love is concerned.
If I have the sense of my Father's love in my soul, it separates me from all the discontent, or murmurings, or repinings at my lot, or desire to change it. Have you ever had any doubt of your Father's love? Have you ever thought him hard? Have you ever thought He might have dealt more leniently with you—might have removed the pressure? This truth about the Father, the knowledge of the Father's love, is moral sanctification; the second is positional sanctification, “For their sakes I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth." Christ leaves the world that there may not be any object in it when He has left it, to detain our affections. Have we traveled with Him to that place where He is? He says, “I have left this world," and can we say, " We retire from it, too."
If that person who alone can attract my heart, is in heaven, I walk through this earth, and things in it are distanced because He is not here. I believe the visible is the thing at this moment that is waging the deepest war with the saints of God. You indulge in it, and you find that something or other robs you of your power, you have been drinking the old wine, the old wine is nature, and your taste is vitiated, you do not straightway desire the new. May we cultivate the spiritual unseen where He is, and thus be of those who walk on this earth for Christ's glory, and who seek to meet the desires of His heart.
The Lord give us to know this journey of the soul of which we have been speaking, to know it for ourselves, and to know our true satisfaction in this world is this, that the knowledge of His mind places us in circumstances in which His heart would have us for Himself the little while we wait for Him.
W. T. T.