You know those words in Isaiah 9, they are familiar words: For unto us a child is born…Wonderful, Counseller…zeal of the Lord shall perform this. There was one time in Special meetings at home, one old woman spoke,-she gave her testimony and she was blind; she had been blind for quite a number of years and she was quite lame, she couldn’t stand to give her testimony but she gave her testimony alright. She said many, many, years ago two men came to our little district and they stayed for a few weeks but they had a Friend with them and they introduced me to their Friend and there came a time when they had to go away but the Friend stayed and, she said, He has been the most Wonderful Friend anyone can ever have in life, and she went on to say how He became more than a Friend, He became everything to her, He became like the Bridegroom of her soul and she went on at length to describe this Friend those men had brought with them that day, as you know, when they had come with the Gospel.
It’s a wonderful thing when Christ is born in an individual again. It was a wonderful hope that those prophets in the OT had that Christ would come and would give His life for the Lord and they seemed to see this very clearly, the time when. Christ would come, they knew what He would be like, some of the things He would declare, some of the things He would say, they rejoiced in their day long before He ever came. There was the wonderful day when Jesus was born, there was rejoicing and there is also rejoicing when Christ is born in a life again, reborn into men and women, boy and girl and you see marks of this Jesus, this Christ in that life and the world won’t rejoice at it but those who really matter in the sight of the Lord, they rejoice.. when Jesus was born, well, all Heaven rejoiced, all the angels were singing and rejoicing and there were a few honest individuals on the earth and they were rejoicing that this child was born.
Away back in the Song of Solomon the woman there was giving a description of what her loved one was to her. You know the description she gave when she was asked the question: what is your beloved more than another beloved… She was desperate to find him. She went on to describe what this loved one was to her: she described right from the purity of his mind, his head right down, she described him and said: yea, he is the altogether lovely one previous to that he was the chiefest of ten thousand and altogether lovely, she said, and this was her friend, her beloved. In the OT the prophets tried to give pictures of Jesus, they faithfully tried to declare the Christ who was to come and all of them tried to step aside so Jesus would be seen in the simple message. That was so very, very important, that they would step aside and Christ would be seen; pointing to Christ, pointing to the hope of all the world and their hope, they wanted to step aside and give pictures of the Christ that would come who would bring hope to all the world.
Perhaps Isaiah gave some of the sweetest pictures of Jesus. In his prophecy in Isaiah we have that picture that a child would be born, then we have pictures all through His life, pictures of Him when He was offered up in sacrifice for all the world. Isaiah gave wonderful pictures of Jesus but he himself wanted to step aside so those ones he was trying to speak to – there weren’t so many listening, not many of Israel who rejoiced in what he was saying, who were really interested in the message – but the few who really grasped it saw beyond Isaiah to what he was driving at, who he was pointing to.
Remember the time the Lord spoke to Ezekiel? You know, people were saying: let’s go and hear this fellow who is teaching the Word of the Lord, let’s go and hear what he has to say. Sad to say they were not a bit interested but were coming up and giving the impression of being really interested in the Word of the Lord? They were drawing near with their lips but their hearts far from Him. Really, they were thinking it was just like a lovely song, one that has a pleasant voice who could play well on an instrument. I wonder what Ezekiel felt when he heard that? It was the last thing he wanted. He didn’t want to give them that impression, he was concerned about the Word of the Lord and pointing to that which meant everything to the Lord. He didn’t want people coming up and saying he has a lovely voice, he plays well on an instrument. I am sure Ezekiel hated to think of that, that is not what we are on the earth for. He was pointing to God, to the Lord, he longed people would be able to see Him, through his words, see beyond what was natural to what God was intending, what God was trying to say to them.
The time came when Jesus came into the world. All the prophets had spoken about Him, In Acts of the Apostles it says; all prophets gave witness of Him, they were all pointing to Jesus in their own day, they were trying to step aside. They had been thrust into the limelight; the Lord had thrust them into the limelight. I was- thinking when Jesus was born, the woman that He used, Mary, you know how the angel came to Mary, and told her what God was wanting of her life, this Child was going to be born, the Saviour of all the world, she was chosen amongst all the women to bear this Child. Mary wondered at it. Why me? I am nothing in myself but she answered: be it unto me… She was willing to fit in. It really turned her world upside down, God coming down and wanting to use her. Mary would have been quite happy in going unnoticed and unknown but God thrust her into the limelight. She had the spirit she knew how to step aside, that time Jesus spoke of the possibility of people being taken up with human relationships, Jesus had to speak a little sharply, Mary had to step aside; this is my Son, the Son of God, people must see and people must look at Him and I must step aside.
Her little world was turned upside down, so was Joseph’s too, I figure, I thought of that young couple, I admire them greatly. I thought of any young couple going to be married, what young couple going to be married but would have plans and woe betide a person who sticks their nose in and tries to alter their plans. That could we say to that person? Woe betide a person who would try to alter their plans. They are so much in love they hardly see beyond each other, they want to be left alone, they have their own little plans and ideas for life, where they will stay and so forth and Mary and Joseph were like that too! God came down through an angel and spoke to them and upset all their little plans, He turned their world upside down and, in a sense, thrust them out into the limelight, something they weren’t looking for and would have run away from. They wouldn’t have really wanted to have been thrust out in the limelight where they would have no privacy. The most important thing of all to them, they would have liked to be left alone in a corner, rarely ever seen. They didn’t want to be noticed but God thrust them into the limelight, God’s Spirit was working. None would want to allow this Jesus to be over obscured in them, in every occasion to step aside so Jesus is seen.
Even in delivering the message of the Gospel, those who will take it want to step aside so people are not really seeing them but looking to Jesus because Jesus is the Friend that they desire; He is the Friend we will have right through life. He becomes more than a Friend, He is the altogether lovely One, He becomes the Bridegroom of our soul. Well, their little world was turned upside down. She was one who wanted to protect and do everything at the bidding of God for the life that was entrusted to them.
We read further on of those who rejoiced at the birth of Jesus. Simeon, when they brought Him in to present Him before the Lord – we sometimes speak in the Gospel: you can’t lay hold on natural life; you try to lay hold on it, it slips out of your grasp but everyone can lay hold on eternal life – likely, this is what the old man was doing, he was just laying hold on eternal life. Everything rests in this Child. Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace….Thy salvation. This is what I have been waiting for, my eyes have seen this salvation. He was just waiting for this manifestation of the Child that would be everything-; to the world, it was all he was living for.
After that we read of John the Baptist coming into the picture. I love thinking of John and Jesus. The pairs in the Bible stand out and appeal to me. One of those pairs is David and Jonathan. I don’t suppose there were two people who understood each other more than David and Jonathan; they were fated to have little time together; each knew the other’s lot in life, they understood each other better than anyone else but they were fated to have so little time together. Another pair are Elijah and Elisha. We have heard about them and they were another couple who knew exactly the function of the other and entered into the battles and struggles of one another, but it was their lot to have quite a time together.
We come to Jesus and John. I feel there were no two people on the face of the earth who understood each other more than Jesus and John the Baptist. I am sure he was the embodiment of what all the prophets were. His function was just to prepare the way for Jesus, everything in us wanting to point to Christ. He was the summing up of all the spirits of all the prophets of the OT; he pointed to Jesus and he said to his own disciples: Behold the Lamb of God… The second time he mentioned that two of his disciples left him and went after Jesus, and I can just picture John the Baptist! How would you feel if those you had tried to guide, a band of men, friends you knew quite well and had fellowship with them and then you saw them leaving you? He wasn’t glum! I picture him just with a smile on his face – I will stand aside, this is my whole function in life to point to Jesus. There would be rejoicing when he saw those men going after Jesus. Before He was born, when Mary came into that room where Elizabeth was and she spoke, because of the voice of the salutation of the mother of her Lord, the babe leapt within her; a response even before Christ was even born. John’s concern was that Jesus would be uplifted as Saviour of the world, the One who could take away the sins of all the world.
John the Baptist gave great witness of Jesus and Jesus gave a great witness of John the Baptist. Jesus said: of those born of women there wasn’t a greater, he was a burning and a shining light. Among women there wasn’t a greater, he was a burning and a shining light, but people saw right through John, those who really meant anything to the Lord, those who mattered, saw right through John to what he was driving at, they saw Christ, the ‘One who really mattered. Remember the time Jesus began to baptize people. Actually His disciples were doing it, John had been doing it for quite a while, trying to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to the children, John trying to get them back to what things should have been, John was trying to get them back to what was intended for the family, for children, for parents, he baptised people and some came to John and spoke about Jesus, that person you were talking about, He is down there baptizing people and everybody is going after Him. I don’t know what they had in mind, they probably felt it would upset John, disturb him, he would be envious or jealous, I don’t know. John wasn’t going to take the bait anyway. This is what I have been telling you when I was with you before, this is the One that comes after me and is preferred before me, I am not worthy to loose the latchet of His sandals, this is the One I was pointing to. He says: he that hath the bride is the bridegroom…rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy is fulfilled… He must increaee… Here was John again showing his rejoicing at the fact people could know and behold Jesus, the disciples were leaving John himself and going after the One who really mattered. He was like the friend, he was stepping aside and rejoicing at it that all people were now being linked on to the One who really matters. I appreciated just this thought.
You know, it would be so easy to get away from that thinking. Paul when he wrote to the Corinthians, some people had spoken to him, or written a letter to him. There were divisions amongst the Corinthians. Some people were saying they are of Apollos, others saying they are of Paul, others saying they are of Cephas and so forth. Paul is now writing to them: Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised in the name of Paul? Later on when speaking to them he said; I would love to tell you other things, deeper things but you have a mind that is still too natural, carnal, you are not seeing beyond what is human and natural; you are seeing the preacher, you are not seeing the One who really matters, you are not seeing the Christ. He rebuked them and tried to encourage them to see beyond. This Way of God is opposed to division. Perhaps you are saying, well, I professed through so and so. Its all right to respect them, the ones who brought the Gospel but they were feeling better than another because they decided through another. Paul was trying to show them Apollos, Paul Cephas are only ministers by whom you believed. That was in them? The desire to step aside so all would see Christ, all would get their eyes on Christ. I enjoyed the spirit of it all.
One thing I detest is an anonymous letter. This wasn’t anonymous, it was the house of Chloe, they had thought of it, they were not just coming and telling about others but they were concerned about it, it wasn’t what Christ died for. No doubt they had been through the mill thinking about it, perhaps shed many tears and then they approached Paul and told him about this problem. Paul took it up. There are some in Christ you trust completely and Paul, no doubt, could trust this household completely and he would know the spirit of their approach unto him. He didn’t go to the Corinthians and say: somebody said. you weren’t behaving the way you should behave. Do you reckon that’s the best way to do it? That’s the way the world would do it. He just said it was the house of Chloe told him things were not all they should be; he isn’t going to do it in any underhand way but be open. Those people came after torment of mind, they were concerned about the Kingdom, so, you and I, let us be concerned about the thing that matters, pushing everything aside and getting our eyes on Christ, the One who came and lived and died to take away our sin. It’s a wonderful thing, this church at Corinth took it in the spirit as it was given.
Many other things Paul spoke about, they took the whole lot and began putting it right and it rejoiced the heart of Paul and, no doubt, rejoiced the heart of the house of Chloe because all was done in the Spirit of Truth. So often things can be done in the wrong spirit. You know, if you see things going wrong amongst us, go down on your knees, pray about it, never say anything about it; pray about it, pray a long, long time. You have always got to measure: do I want to get that person helped? Do I have the Spirit of the Lord, no matter what, everything in me wants to see things right again as far as that person is concerned? That’s the attitude! Do things in the right way. If there comes a time something would have to be told, it will be done in the Spirit of Christ. If the person, or people are right, it will be accepted with the Spirit of Christ and He will be glorified, not the wisdom of the world, but God up there and the Son will be glorified, it was done under the guidance of the Spirit.
Those were some of the thoughts in my mind, mostly this thought of the prophet, John the Baptist was summing up all the prophets and servants going out after that carrying the Gospel, bringing nigh to men this Friend who becomes more than a Friend, the Bridegroom of their soul, the Saviour of their soul and those servants in their attitude, in their spirit, at every turn learned just to step aside; although thrust into the limelight they stepped aside so mankind could see what really matters and would be drawn to that and would be saved by that. Amen.
Truth Archive 