The Greatness of Christ
and other
Ministry by J. H. Trevvett

• "That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the might for the ages of ages".

But if Peter would address the lovers of God in relation to their walk, Paul would address them in relation to their service and the ministry. Hence we have that remarkably solemn word,

• "I testify before God and Christ Jesus, who is about to judge living and dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, proclaim the word" – a valuable word to young believers – "proclaim the word",

• and may I say in affection, be concerned about the condition in which men are; not so much about subjects finely rounded off, but proclaim the word, for men are perishing.

• Men are in the state described in chapter 3, lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God: so "proclaim the word; be urgent". It is a time of urgency. I believe we ought to feel that; we must waste no time.

• Hence one is comforted and greatly encouraged by the increasing number of gospel preachings among us. But we need more than that: we need the personal touch; we need the compulsion of grace, so that we might get into touch with men privately and individually.
  • "Be urgent in season and out of season". Then he says,

  • "Fill up the full measure of thy ministry",

• a word which should challenge and yet encourage every one who seeks to serve. One feels in regard of oneself how inherently lazy one may be, and I believe with many of us there is great need for the word to Archippus,
  • "Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, to the end that thou fulfil it", Colossians 4: 17.

  • "Fill up the full measure of thy ministry".

• Thank God for the ministers and for the ministry, but let us not slack off in the slightest degree. Some may say, 'You do too much', and there may be many exhortations as to the body, and it is something to reflect over that the conversations among us lie so often in relation to the body.

• I believe – and I speak soberly – that where we have one enquiry as to soul-health, we have a hundred as to the health of our bodies! I am not belittling the fact that the body is the Lord's, but like Epaphroditus we have to regard the work as urgent, to be urgent and fill up the full measure of our ministry, for the apostolic energy has ceased.

• Marvellous energy had the apostles – marvellous energy had the men of God a century ago, without the comfortable conditions of travelling and the rapid means of transit we enjoy. One marvels at what they must have passed through in their desires to serve so great a people.

• Let us then be urgent and let us not think too much of comfort; let us be concerned about the work and about the ministry.

I have only one word further, and that stands in relation to John's exhortation and ministry, for I believe that John would be concerned about our affections – not now our walk, or our service, the preaching or the ministry, but our affections, a most touching matter.

• So we are reminded in the last chapter in the Bible that
  • "The time is near. Let him that does unrighteously do unrighteously still; and let the filthy make himself filthy still; and let him that is righteous practise righteousness still; and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still".

• So a divine fixity is about to be established. Then John hears a remarkable word,
  • "Behold, I come quickly, and my reward with me, to render to every one as his work shall be". Then we have:

  • "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come".

• If there is urgency in the preaching, there is urgency in the affections of the saints:
  • "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come".

• Nor is that all, for we are not to forget divine compassions; we are not to forget that many of our brethren – with sorrow we say it – are in the systems of men, in places where little or nothing is known of the Lord's coming. Hence we have that word:
  • "And let him that hears say, Come",

• a word to believers who need stirring up in this matter of bridal affections for Christ. Then, in the compassions which are marking us as preaching the word and being urgent in season and out of season, we have again,
  • "He that will, let him take the water of life freely".

• Thank God for that! It is as if to the very last moment of our stay here on earth we are to be charged with divine compassions and the sense of the divine hunger after men. Then we have this word,
  • "Yea, I come quickly",

• and the exceedingly precious response from the hearts characterised by incorruptible affections for Christ is,
  "Amen; come, Lord Jesus".

We were motoring some few months ago from the south of England to the north, and ran into a dense fog which became so trying that we were inclined to give up, and just as we were about to do so, a lad of about nine years of age cried out and said, 'Keep going, sir, the sun is shining at the top of the hill!'

• That is the word, dear brethren, we are to keep going. Whatever the last days may be characterised by, in the evil disposition and depravity of the human heart, we are to keep going. Not only is the sun shining in John's ministry, but we should seek that pure atmosphere in the elevation that John speaks of:
  • "Come up here", Revelation 4: 1,

• then we shall pass through the murky fogs of earth, through all that is transpiring in this present evil world, having this unique and blessed feature – this blessed hope in our hearts, which Peter says is,
  • "until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts", 2 Peter 1: 19.

• The One for whom we look has told us that He Himself is
  • "the bright and morning star", Revelation 22: 16.

May the Lord greatly help us, so that in our walk, and in our service and ministry, and in our affections, we may set forth the features that belong to the lovers of God in these last days.

• There is every reason why we should love God. He has appeared to us at the time of our direst need:
  • "For we being still without strength, in the due time Christ has died for the ungodly", Romans 5: 6.

  • And again, "God commends his love to us, in that, we being still sinners, Christ has died for us", verse 8.

  • And yet again, even more blessed, "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us", verse 5.

• We have every reason to be lovers of God, and may the features that belong to such be a remarkable and striking offset to the sordid, unholy, sinful features which mark the last days, for His name's sake.

One of the most potent weapons in Satan's armoury is the weapon he wields against the supremacy and greatness of Christ, by suggesting comparisons with Him. In the minds of men, and even in the minds and hearts of believers, he will suggest some other as worthy of comparison with Christ.

• Those who love Him with incorruptible affections would never for one moment allow the supremacy of His greatness to be challenged. He stands alone – He is peerless – incomparable!

• We may well, beloved, reserve all our superlative language for Jesus! – expressing in the finest way, and in the highest terms that we can, our appreciation of Him. However much we feel the weakness of our words, we may well reserve our choicest language to express our sense of the greatness of Christ.

• One of the most serious phases of the opposition to the testimony in these last days is the suggestion of any comparisons with Christ. It is the way in which the enemy is working in the minds of men. At one time denying His deity, at another, His perfect humanity.

• But with it all ranking alongside of Jesus men of whom the prophet said, whose "breath is in his nostrils", Isaiah 2: 22. These are men whose names shine on earth's pages for a brief moment as they pass, but who, as their intellect and influence wane and they are no longer remembered by the sons of men, die, perhaps lamented, but they are soon forgotten.

To the believer – the lover of Jesus – there is one name, the name of Jesus, which stands out supreme, eternal, not merely in relation to His movements on earth, but in relation to His movements in heaven.

• One can well understand the psalmist saying in his exultation as he dwells on the greatness of Christ anticipatively,
  • "His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun … let the whole earth be filled with his glory!", Psalm 72: 17, 19.

• It is not enough that Jesus should fill the vision of my soul as my Saviour, as One who came here meeting all my dire need and distress, but I am to love His appearing. As the beloved apostle said,
  • "Henceforth the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will render to me in that day; but not only to me, but also to all who love his appearing", 2 Timothy 4: 8.

• The rapture is the way out for us, and an exceedingly blessed way out – for the Lord Himself shall come, He will not delegate this to another. He will descend from heaven and will catch us up to Himself, and so shall we ever be with the Lord – yet, we love His appearing.

• It is the return journey, so to speak, for He will surely come, and we with Him – we shall appear with Him in glory. There is nothing so calculated to stimulate our affection for Christ, and to secure public and unchallengeable testimony to Christ, as that we love His appearing.

• We long to see the once lowly Man of sorrows, the Man acquainted with grief, insulted, despised, and rejected, yet fully vindicated by the blessed God, when He shall
  • "come to be glorified in his saints, and wondered at in all that have believed", 2 Thessalonians 1: 10.

While these scriptures show, on the one hand, how the greatness of Christ as here in manhood was challenged; yet on the other hand, there was flung back, as it were, such an unanswerable reply by the power and greatness of Christ Himself as could not be challenged or refuted.

• Alas, with many, the enemy has sought to plant the suggestion that Christ's place might be seriously challenged in our hearts, were He compared with others. What should we say today if challenged, even as the bride was in the Song of Songs, when they asked her,
  • "What is thy beloved more than another beloved?"

• The question is asked twice, but she is ready to reply immediately. Many of us, alas, might keep silent. We might cherish Him secretly, but unless we are prepared in confidence of faith for this taunt of the enemy, we shall not be ready to answer. It behoves us not only to be in the secret of His greatness, but to answer the challenge publicly and fearlessly in faith.

• The bride when challenged, describes Him from the crown of His head to the sole of His feet, as if to show that she was intimate with her beloved. There is nothing I covet for myself, and for the people of God, more than an increasing sense of holy intimacy with Jesus.

The bride in the Song of Songs says, "His head is as the finest gold".

• Young believers need to take account of the superlative language she uses to describe the features of the one here, who is a type of Christ. She says, "His head is as the finest gold". Modern teaching is seething with infidel thoughts as to Christ. They will not admit that His head is as "finest gold".

• Men know nothing of that marvellous statement of the Spirit of God, referring doubtless in the first place to Solomon, but having the greater than Solomon in view, that is Christ. We read of Solomon that
  • "he was wiser than all men", and his wisdom "excelled the wisdom of all the sons of the east", 1 Kings 4: 31, 30.

• I may admit the truth of Scripture, in a general way, but am I holding in my affections this stupendous fact as to Christ, that He is "wiser than all men;" yea, that He is the wisdom of God?

• The intelligence of men, however great the place they assume publicly, pales into insignificance before the wisdom presented in our Lord Jesus Christ – He whose head is indeed "as the finest gold". And how pure are His thoughts!
  • He is "of purer eyes than to behold evil", Habakkuk 1: 13.

• The bride says further, "His lips lilies, dropping liquid myrrh". How different from the speaking of men, from the great swelling words of vanity, of men who long to be heard! What a contrast I learn in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose greatness shines in the grace of His speaking.

• You remember those remarkable testimonies to Him recorded by the writers of the four gospels. Matthew compels the testimony of those who as yet had not believed, as they say,
  • "It has never been seen thus in Israel", Matthew 9: 33.

• They recognised in their midst One who had power to cast out demons and bring men into subjection to Him, who was to be King of kings and Lord of lords.
  • Then Mark says, "He does all things well", Mark 7: 37

• – not some things, but all things; He stands in that way, unique. There is not another of whom it could be said, "He does all things well".
  • And Luke says, "all bore witness to him, and wondered at the words of grace which were coming out of his mouth", Luke 4: 22 – "His lips lilies, dropping liquid myrrh".

• But John gives us the finest testimony, for in chapter 7: 46 the compelled testimony from those who came to take Him is,
  • "Never man spoke thus".

• Did they not recognise the fragrance of those lips?

These are simple things, which we all know, beloved, but I plead with you, How does He stand in your affections?

• I once visited a godly old sister, who asked me how I was. Thinking she referred to my health, I told her how I was. But she replied, 'I do not mean that, but do you know Him any better today than yesterday?' I saw her the next day again, and her first question was the same!

• Whilst my apprehension of the greatness of Christ may be feeble, it ought to be increasing every day.

The bride speaks about His mouth: she says, "His mouth is most sweet".

• If I know what it is to come under the law of His mouth, I shall take character from Christ; I shall become marked by simple obedience and piety, as loving the laws of His kingdom. As the psalmist says,
  • "the law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver", Psalm 119: 72.

• Then having described every feature, and shown that there is not the slightest discrepancy between His Person and His words, she says,
  • "He is altogether lovely".

  • Not merely that He is "the chiefest among ten thousand" – for they said of David: "thou art worth ten thousand of us", 2 Samuel 18: 3

• – it was thus that David was appreciated by Judah and Israel – but here is One who stands out completely and supremely as "altogether lovely". How that should appeal to our hearts! And then she points Him out, with genuine, incorruptible affections, and says,
  • "This is my beloved, yea, this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem".

• That this was a powerful and convincing testimony to Him may be assumed, for immediately they say,
  • "Whither is thy beloved gone, Thou fairest among women? Whither is thy beloved turned aside? And we will seek him with thee", Song of Songs 6: 1.

• She was not like the man in John 5, who when asked where Jesus was, did not know. It says that Jesus had slidden away, for there was no desire in the heart of the man to know who He was, although he had been healed by the word of Jesus after lying for thirty-eight years in impotence. As yet there was no desire on his part to be in the company of Jesus, and he knew not where He was.

• Think of a believer like that! Or of a believer having the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Spirit and not knowing the movements of Jesus. Many know nothing of His coming into the air to catch us up, but if I keep close to Jesus, if my affections are on the alert, I shall understand every movement, and shall have light as to what He is saying today, and what He is about to do.

• The bride knew where her beloved was; she said,
  • "My beloved is gone down into his garden", verse 2.

In John 4, the question is raised as to whether He is greater than Jacob, and in chapter 6, as to whether He is greater than Moses, and again in chapter 8, as to whether He is greater than Abraham.

• And the answer in every case – as indeed it must be – is, He is greater!

• There could be no other answer. Is anyone prepared to compare Christ with Jacob; or with Moses; or with Abraham? Why, the very nature of His gifts, as bringing in living water, and living bread, are positive evidence, if evidence were needed, of His superiority and greatness over Jacob, or Moses, or Abraham.

• How pained would Jacob have been at such a supposition! "Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well?" He had drunk of the well with his children and cattle, and had given it to Israel as a heritage. Thank God for His mercies from Monday to Saturday: cattle have them, and children have them, but a well from which cattle drink is not sufficient for the believer in Jesus.

• The woman speaks with pride of the well, and it may be all right for the daily journey, but I need something more than that. She says, "Art thou greater than our father Jacob?" Why, Jacob's whole moral being would have been in revolt against any suggestion that he was to be compared to Christ.

• You know what he did at the close of his great pilgrimage, how he worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff. The Spirit would impress us with the transcendent act of faith on the part of the patriarch. And then, having worshipped, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and expired.

• A man who has control over his feet will be found an asset to the public testimony, and to the local meeting. Jacob had not always had control of his feet; he had wandered often, but in his last moments he was spiritual, and in view of his end, like a true father, he begins to speak to his children. Jacob calls them together that he may tell them the truth.

• Parents are sometimes afraid to speak the truth to their children, and that has caused havoc many a time; but the patriarch speaks the truth.

Jacob begins: "Reuben, thou art my firstborn, … Impetuous as the waters", Genesis 49: 3, 4.

• Such is his indictment of the flesh. The natural man would say, He might have spared him that; but no, he is not to be spared in the view of his spiritual father.

• And when he looks upon Judah, how his eye would brighten as he says,
  • "Judah – as to thee, thy brethren will praise thee", verse 8. He begins instinctively to think of Christ; he says, "The sceptre will not depart from Judah … Until Shiloh come, And to him will be the obedience of peoples", verse 10.

• Then he goes on to speak of Joseph, and with what tender feelings he refers to him as separated from his brethren, sorely grieved, shot at, and hated, but how glorious would be his end as blessed with the blessings of heaven above, and of the deep that lieth under. How he reminds us of Christ!

• I think it comes closely home to each one of us, What place has Christ in my heart? Is my status, or ability, or reputation to stand in the way of the supremacy of Christ? If His greatness were better understood by us, it would solve every difficulty, both individually and collectively.

The Lord speaks to this woman in John 4 of living water – different in kind from that which Jacob drank and his cattle. He asserts His superiority over Jacob in that He is the Giver of living water.

• Is there anyone who is not conscious of having living water? I want to ask, Have you within you this spring – this source of satisfaction which comes from God?
  • "Whosoever drinks of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst for ever", verse 14.

• You know what happened to this woman: instead of thinking of Jacob, or his children, or his cattle, she left her waterpot and went away to the men of the city. Her unfavourable character was known to the men of the city, but the compelling power within her drives her to them, and she says, "Come". I wish we all had the power to say, Come.

• And the men went out to Him. Her compelling, powerful testimony to His greatness as enshrined in her heart, drew them to seek Him, and in result they say,
  • "We have heard him ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world", verse 42.

In John 6 they raise the question as to whether He is greater than Moses. Scripture tells us "there arose no prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom Jehovah had known face to face", Deuteronomy 34: 10.

• He was, indeed, one of the greatest servants God ever had: and one of the ablest and wisest administrators. Hebrews 3: 2 tells us he was faithful to Him that constituted him, in all His house. But Moses was but a figure of Christ.

• These opposers are not one whit concerned about Moses himself, but about something merely historical. If the enemy can use what is historical to set against what is spiritual he has gained a great deal. How grieved Moses would have been at this question of the unbelieving Jews. "What sign then doest thou? … Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, He gave them bread out of heaven to eat".

• It was not Moses that gave them that bread from heaven. It was God who had rained down manna upon them and given them the corn of heaven, and made them to eat angel's food. The manna was white and small as the hoar frost on the ground, and it was round, as Numbers 11 tells us, and like the taste of fresh oil.

• But what did these men care for the manna? It was to them but a wonderful thing that had happened years before. They were not occupied with what it typified, or with what God would set before them in it.
  • Jesus says, "My Father gives you the true bread out of heaven".

• Well, He established His greatness, not indeed that it needed establishment, but because of their unbelief. And some say, "Lord, ever give to us this bread", verse 34. Is there one who has not this bread? Is there one who, like the prodigal, would feed himself with the husks that the swine eat?

• This heavenly food is available; it is Christ. He says,
  • "I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger", verse 35.

There is a wonderful description of God's goodness in Psalm 104: 14, 15,

• "He maketh the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man; bringing forth bread out of the earth, And wine which gladdeneth the heart of man; making his face shine with oil; and with bread he strengtheneth man's heart".

• We have the wine in John 2; and the oil to make his face to shine in chapter 4; and then the bread that strengtheneth man's heart in chapter 6.

• What a God He is! He takes account of the cattle and gives them grass to eat, but there are greater things reserved for man – the bread and the oil and the wine. All these things are reserved for man – His choicest gifts, speaking of Christ as come down out of heaven, that we might enter into some apprehension of His greatness.

The last question they ask is, "Art thou greater than our father Abraham?"

• How Abraham would have resented that question! The man who looked for a city, whose builder and maker was God; the one who looked on to Christ's day, and who saw it and was glad! Could he be compared with the Christ he looked for? The One in whom he exulted?

• What need there is for greater spiritual emotion with us! Do we exult in the thought of Christ? It says in John 8: 56,
  • "Your father Abraham exulted in that he should see my day, and he saw and rejoiced".

• We suppress our emotions in the presence of ministry; we will not show how we are affected – and especially at the Lord's supper. Did we not suppress our emotions, there would be a larger number of thanksgivings – a greater and fuller response in audible thanksgiving.

We know who Abraham was. Scripture tells us that he went through a certain process of exercise, that he might be the father of all them that believe. He is the father of the faithful; we are to take character from our father. It is right that I should imitate my father; no believer is exempt from this obligation, and

• "they that are on the principle of faith, these are Abraham's sons … they who are on the principle of faith are blessed with believing Abraham", Galatians 3: 7, 9.

• Now we read of him that he went out not knowing where he was going. He answered to God's call. But there are many who will not move till they see the path before them. To such I would say, Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith makes you move out.

• The next thing that Abraham did was to pitch his tent, having Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; for if he steps out it is in relation to God and to His house. He pitched his tent and reared his altar in connection with the house of God, and he died as he had lived.

• He was not ashamed of Christ, indeed he would manifest publicly his allegiance to the One who had called him out. He believed God; he was not governed by circumstances, and finally at the weaning of Isaac he was filled with exultation. Sarah says with him,
  • "God has made me laugh", Genesis 21: 6.

• If your heart does not exult at the incoming of Christ, I do not know of another theme that will cause you divine merriment. Once Sarah had laughed in unbelief, and once she had lied, but now she laughs in faith, and says, "all that hear will laugh with me".

• On the day that Isaac was weaned Abraham made a great feast, for it must be great, if it has Christ in view; and typically this was Christ's day. The angel Gabriel said to Mary,
  • "He shall be great", Luke 1: 32,

• and Abraham, anticipating that in faith, made a great feast, for he saw Christ's day and was glad. The Jews said to Jesus, "Thou hast not yet fifty years, and hast thou seen Abraham?", John 8: 57. It was said in sarcasm – that unsavoury feature of the human mind.

Scripture tells us "his visage was so marred more than any man", Isaiah 52: 14, the Lord must have looked older than He was, for He was a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.

• "Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am".

• We bow in holy reverence at the inscrutability of His deity. This is not historical – this has no reference to time – it is the truth of His Person. How blessedly He appears before the vision of our souls! – the I am – ever existing, ever the same.
  • Jacob has passed, Moses has passed, and Abraham has passed, but Christ remains. The I am, who was before Abraham!

• Then in the depravity of the human heart, they take up stones to stone Him, He who was in their midst, God, manifest in flesh. But there shines out a most marvellous reference to His deity, "Jesus hid himself".

• We cannot say anything about that; we may say much about "a man called Jesus", but if asked to describe His titles and relationships before incarnation and time, one can but bow in holy reverence, and say He is God – eternal, inscrutable, immortal. He hid Himself.

• There is more behind this than a mere literal concealment. If He chooses to hide Himself, let not our poor finite minds seek to inquire of that into which He retires – the inscrutability of Deity.

May the Lord help us by the Spirit to understand more of His greatness, for His name's sake.

The long and distinguished line of holy men and holy women who have served as set before us in the Scriptures, only serves to humble us in regard to the poverty of our own service.

• One cannot think of the prophets, for example, without being ashamed of one's lack of devotion. These holy men of God suffered intensely, but they continued in their service as definitely sustained by God, having accepted from the outset what the service involved.

Now, in turning to the Acts of the Apostles, I desire to draw attention to three servants – Stephen, Peter, and Paul.

• Stephen is found serving in the great unbelieving profession, and the outstanding feature with him is spirituality.

• Peter is serving amongst the brethren, and as serving thus, what is stressed is the great need of patience, as we see in Acts 2.

• Then we come to Paul. His service is described in chapter 13, where we find him serving in a sphere of hostility to Christ, but he is marked by great boldness and moral power.

• It is of these three features I would speak – spirituality, patience, and power.

Most of us are acquainted with the history of Stephen, and I refer particularly to his beginning. It is said that

• "they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit".

• Thus we are shown a vessel who was full, there was no admixture, there were no double motives with Stephen. He was a filled vessel,
  • "full of faith and the Holy Spirit".

• These features marked him as amongst the saints, but we also read of Stephen's public movements in service, and then he is said to be "full of grace and power", not faith exactly, for faith is the inward thing, but
  • "full of grace and power".

• These four features regarding Stephen are of great importance. He was full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and then he was full of grace and power.

• That is the basis from which Stephen's remarkable service flows forth. It was not, as we know, a lengthy service, but it was powerful and he served as being filled. Oh! that one might serve like that! If the servant is filled, there is no room for admixture, no room for ulterior or double motives in the service.

• Then it is said that being full of grace and power, Stephen did great wonders and miracles among the people. His deportment, as serving, reminds us, surely, of the grace and features of another Man, even the Lord Jesus Christ as seen in Luke's gospel.

I would plead for greater attention to this matter of spirituality in service. In Luke's gospel we are reminded of persons who were filled with the Spirit.

• Thus John the baptist, and Zacharias, and Elizabeth, are all said to have been filled with the Holy Spirit. Then it is said of Mary:
  • "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee", Luke 1: 35

• and again of Simeon that
  • "the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it was divinely communicated to him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death before he should see the Lord's Christ", Luke 2: 25-26.

• Then, which is surely a very important feature, it is said of Simeon that
  • "he came in the Spirit into the temple", verse 27.

• What a trustworthy vessel is this man, one, as we may say, moving entirely under the control of the Holy Spirit.

Now these are the individuals who have to do with the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. They are privileged to encircle and to handle, as Simeon did,

• "the holy thing", Luke 1: 35.

• One would speak guardedly in reference to "the holy thing" – how much spirituality is needed to speak of that!

• There is Simeon in spiritual power, and as he took the Babe in his arms, he blessed God. That was an evidence of His spirituality; and after he had blessed God, he blessed Joseph and Mary.

• In Luke 10 we have one who as having set herself down at Jesus' feet, was listening to His word.

• Following that we have the request on the part of one of the disciples who heard Jesus praying,
  • "Lord, teach us to pray", Luke 11: 1.

• I mention these things, hearing and praying particularly, because of what occurs in chapter 12. It is said that the multitude was so great that they trod one on another. This marks men today in increasing measure. But the Lord began to speak to His disciples first.

• He had as yet nothing to say to the crowds, but He had much to say to His disciples, and in the presence of the crowds He called them a little flock, and one outstanding feature of the little flock is spirituality, and this in a hostile world.

I have no doubt at all that Stephen understood these things; so that, being full of grace and power, as in the service, he is at once apprehended, as if the enemy would say, This cannot go on! He is arraigned before the council, and it is said that they saw his face

• "as the face of an angel".

• What a most delightful countenance! They saw it, but how must that face have appeared to heaven?

• At first they could not resist the wisdom and Spirit with which he spoke, but now his spirituality shines through his countenance, in the presence of those who hate him and who would finally put him to death.

Another very precious thing about Stephen is that he was not only marked by spirituality, but by a very wide knowledge of the Holy Scriptures.

• You remember in Luke 12: 12 that the Lord, encouraging His disciples, tells them they were not to be careful as to what they should say when brought before the synagogues, magistrates, and powers.
  • He says, "for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the hour itself what should be said".

• Now we have the thing exemplified in Stephen. He is full of grace, full of power, full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit, and he begins to speak.

• One has often been ashamed of one's little knowledge of Scripture, when reading this seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. How few of us could give an impromptu résumé of the testimony, and the ways of God in it, as Stephen does here! He has no time to prepare his address, but he is taught in the same hour.

• He begins by speaking about the "God of glory", and says, He appeared to our father Abraham. There are no partial thoughts or feelings with Stephen, he would claim even those men sitting in the council as of Abraham.

• Then he speaks about eight others who were links in the chain of testimony Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, David, and Solomon, showing what wonderful knowledge he had of the Holy Scriptures, how he must have read them.

How we are challenged, beloved, by our comparative ignorance of the Holy Scriptures! Here is one who can give a summary of the ways of God, beginning with the "God of glory" and coming down to the Just One, interposing this delightful remark as to Moses:

• "This is the Moses who said … A prophet shall God raise up to you out of your brethren like me", Acts 7: 37.

• What kind of man was Moses? He stands unique among God's servants.
  • He said, "My doctrine shall drop as rain, My speech flow down as dew", Deuteronomy 32: 2.

• He was a gracious minister, a faithful servant, and the Spirit of God says of him that he was very meek, above all men that were upon the face of the earth. Do you not think that the spirit of Moses had its counterpart in the spirit of Stephen as he stood before the council? Has he hard feelings about his circumstances? Is he becoming irritated by this persecution? Not at all!

• He is concerned about the testimony of God to the profession. He speaks with power of the coming of the Just One, and as he mentions the Just One we find that there is a remarkable change over the council. They show their hostility.

• But Stephen with great courage continues his witness, for spirituality involves great moral power and courage, and he says,
  • "O stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers, ye also", Acts 7: 51.

• Is not that the great sin of christendom? Not only ignoring, and setting aside the Holy Spirit, speaking of Him as an influence, but, as it says here, resisting the Holy Spirit. "As your fathers, ye also".

Then as these men were gnashing on him with their teeth, Stephen looks up into heaven. These are not gross men, but the elite of the religious world, yet they gnashed upon him with their teeth, being cut to the heart.

• Has his demeanour changed? Has he lost his spirituality? Is he weakened in any degree? Listen to this:
  • "But being full of the Holy Spirit", Acts 7: 55.

• There is no diminution, no deterioration; he is still full of the Holy Spirit. Whether in persecution, or in public testimony, or as in the company of the believers, he is full. He, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven. That was a sustained look.

• How spasmodic is our gaze into heaven! One of the most challenging verses in the hymnbook to me is that of beloved Mr. Darby's
  'And, filled with Thee, the constant mind
  Eternally is blest'. Hymn 178.

• Here, we may say, is this constant mind, this steady, sustained gaze into heaven, but it is as filled with the Holy Spirit.
  • He sees "the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God".

• Again he renders testimony, not as to all that he had seen, but to part of it. He does not say, 'I see the glory of God and Jesus', but
  • "I behold … the Son of man standing at the right hand of God", Acts 7: 55-56.

• It was the Son of man. How discriminative! He was a man of spiritual discernment. The Son of man, refers to the kind of testimony publicly, involving finally, the supreme authority of Christ in that day when He will cover the whole earth with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea.

As Stephen was saying these things, they rushed upon him. Now mark again, beloved, this great feature of spirituality in Stephen.

• They "rushed upon him with one accord;" – a serious word that – "and having cast him out of the city, they stoned him",
  Acts 7: 57-58.

• How did they stone Stephen? Calling upon God: they stoned Stephen as he was praying. Does he change his position? No. He does not alter his posture.
  • "They stoned Stephen, praying, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit", Acts 7: 59.

• Now we have an atmosphere of contention, and contention from those who did not understand. That is a very serious thing. If I do not understand I should at least seek not to contend. There are things in the way of ministry that one has not understood at times, but I am not called upon to contend in regard of that which I do not understand.

• Against what were these men contending? Consciously or unconsciously, it was against the operations of God, and of the Holy Spirit. Think of that! They contended with Peter. Does he assert his apostleship? Does he say the thing is so plain and apparent that I do not need to give an account of it? Not at all. The scripture says,
  • "But Peter began and set forth the matter to them in order".

• These contenders are to be met by patience. It is a serious thing, if I do not understand, to contend about a thing. It is better to be like Jacob in Genesis 37: 11, when Joseph told his second dream to his brethren. They envied him, they did not understand that kind of ministry it was something entirely new, and they envied him; "but his father kept the saying", he did not contend. That is wisdom.

• If something is suggested in ministry, which is the result of the operations of God and of the Holy Spirit, as described in 1 Corinthians 12, should I not be well advised to keep the saying, not to contend about it?

Think of the kind of man that Peter was naturally. He had been an impulsive, forceful man; he had cut off the ear of the high priest's servant.

• As they came to Capernaum on one occasion, men came to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the didrachmas?" And he said "Yes", Matthew 17: 24.

• Why should he reply for Jesus? Why not wait to ask his Lord about the tribute money? But the Lord, in His tender, ever patient, grace, anticipates Simon and says,
  • "the kings of the earth, from whom do they receive custom or tribute? from their own sons or from strangers?", verse 25.

  • But, He says, "that we may not be an offence", verse 27

• – that is the principle that Peter must learn. We are not to offend.

Peter in this chapter is marked by great patience; a quality totally foreign to him on the line of nature; but having acquired great spirituality and patience,

• he "set forth the matter to them in order"

• – not always an easy thing to do. The tendency is ever present with us to exhibit the irritability of the flesh in such matters, for impatience marks us naturally: instead of which the Lord would have us in patience and grace to rehearse what we have known to be the operations of God through the Spirit.

• So, as Peter rehearses the matter and speaks of the Holy Spirit falling on them, he adds,
  • "Who indeed was I to be able to forbid God?", Acts 11: 17.

• The first impression that Peter would give to these contenders was just this,
  • "I was in the city of Joppa praying".

• Think of ministry coming like that! His patience flowed from that same dependence upon God. Many things are given to us, committed to us on this line of praying. If we fail to understand the sayings, shall we not keep them? They would lose nothing by keeping, and they may gain much. It is said of Mary in Luke 2: 19 that she
  • "kept all these things in her mind, pondering them in her heart".

• I commend to the young the importance of storing the mind with these precious divine things. You may say, I do not understand them; or, as some have said, Why does not the ministry come down to our level? But of what value would it be?

• Ministry is intended to allure us, to help us on, to encourage us to reach 'higher and higher yet', as we sometimes sing – until we reach the precious truth described in the epistle to the Ephesians.
  • Peter says, "I was in the city of Joppa praying",

• not preaching, nor being entertained by Simon the tanner; but the first thing in his mind was that he was in the city of Joppa praying, and he became "in an ecstasy".

• Our service as amongst the brethren, and even those that may contend because they fail to understand what is said, needs to be marked by this precious feature of patience. Peter stresses it; he says,
  • "in your faith have also virtue … in temperance endurance", 2 Peter 1: 5-6.

• He encourages the saints to be patient in relation to all that they are passing through. Again, Scripture reminds us of the long patience of the labourer: he has long patience; he waits for the early and the latter rain.

Peter was able in moral power to silence the contenders; and we should be ready to serve like that.

• Much has come before us of late that is of inestimable value, and the ministry has given us a fresh and spiritually enhanced view of the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if it is not understood, shall I contend?

• If there are contenders, we have need of patience, yet in that patience surrendering nothing that has come to us by reason of the operations of God, and the operations of the Holy Spirit. He operates in those that teach and in those that minister, and we must see to it that we take heed to these things.

I now refer briefly to Paul, who was serving, as I have said, in a scene of hostility. He was serving in the glad tidings, and the scripture says that at Salamis

• "they announced the word of God",

• but there is no record of any results. Now, I believe the patience of Peter finds expression in Paul, in relation to this service amongst men. It says,
  • "Having passed through the whole island",

• the whole of it, as if to say they were combing it out. And when they came to Paphos, there was there an intelligent man, Sergius Paulus. The Spirit of God designates him thus – an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the word of God.

• Would that there were more like that today! Paul is in the public sphere; he is serving men along with Barnabas, and as he seeks to serve, the enemy becomes increasingly active. I believe we are surrounded by this kind of thing today.

• There was a man named Bar-jesus; what a fine name that seemed! How many of the simple and unsuspecting ones have been deceived by names like that – Bar-jesus – son of Jesus. He is with the deputy – an influential man. The Spirit of God unmasks him, calling him "Elymas the magician", saying, "(for so his name is by interpretation)".

• He withstood Barnabas and Saul, "seeking to turn away the proconsul from the faith", not now contending about certain things, but here as a direct and definite opposer of the truth, and opposed to the gospel preachers. How is that kind of thing to be met?

We meet this kind of person time after time in our course through this world. There are the magicians, there are the spiritualists, the scientists who label themselves christian; there are the millennial dawnists. How are we to meet these deceivers?

• How did Paul meet them? Would Gamaliel have helped him here? Anything he had learned at the feet of Gamaliel would be useless in such a crisis as this. Paul did not attempt to meet him as come from a school of modernism, or from a theological institute, or from the universities of the world,
  • he came from Antioch, where they were ministering to the Lord and fasting.

• In that spiritual atmosphere, charged with piety and dependence, the Holy Spirit had said,
  • "Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them". Then it is said that the brethren "fasted and prayed", Acts 13: 2-3,

  • not that they prayed and fasted, but "fasted and prayed".

• The brethren would be careful to fast before they prayed, so that they might ask right things in relation to this unique, this hitherto unknown service upon which Barnabas and Saul were now to embark.
  • "Then, having fasted and prayed, and having laid their hands on them, they let them go".

• They did not say, When these men are gone there will be more room for us. I have not the slightest doubt that in their hearts they were sorry to lose these valued servants, but they let them go. They bowed to the sovereignty of a divine Person in His choice, and laid their hands on them and let them go.

• That is where Saul and Barnabas had come from, and so as this position arises, the Spirit of God, speaking of Saul, says,
  • "But Saul, who also is Paul",

• Paul the little; see what strength he has, what moral power he has acquired!
  • "Filled with the Holy Spirit … said, O full of all deceit and all craft: son of the devil".

• He names this magician according to his right designation. He did not root him up. He left him as he said,
  • "Thou shalt be blind … for a season".

• Such was Paul's power, and I believe we may have something akin to that in these last and difficult days. We may ask what was the secret of this great power, wielded by the apostle? The secret of it was prayer. He began with it.
  • "Behold, he is praying", Acts 9: 11,

• is what was said to Ananias, and he finished up with praying; for in 2 Timothy he reminds Timothy that he prayed night and day, having in the meantime exhorted the Thessalonian saints to pray without ceasing. Do we pray night and day?
  • Paul says, "unceasingly I have the remembrance of thee in my supplications night and day", 2 Timothy 1: 3.

• That was the kind of servant Paul was. His power in a hostile scene came that way; he was a man of prayer.

I would remind you in closing of that remarkable expression in Romans 12: 12 –

• "As regards hope, rejoicing".

• That was seen in Stephen; he was rejoicing in hope. He was soon to be actually taken up, for he could say, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit". What kind of spirit was that? A spirit ready to be transported. Are our spirits like that?

• We must often feel how much mellowing is needed to take place in our spirits. But Stephen says,
  • "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit".

• He was rejoicing in hope, and that in regard of "the glory of God", Romans 5: 2.

Then we have "as regards tribulations, enduring". A remarkable and much needed word in these last days, when the pressure falls heavily on the saints, as upon men in general.

• No doubt this is governmental amongst men. But we need patience in serving amongst the brethren.

• Then finally there is to be perseverance in prayer, so that our service publicly amongst men might be marked by moral courage and power, so that we might rebuke what is unholy and not of God.

We need skill to watch over and guard carefully the work of God, however faintly it may appear; for we are reminded in the two persons, Sergius Paulus and Elymas the magician, of two results from the preaching: the one a savour of life unto life, and the other a savour of death unto death.

• Sergius Paulus was as a plant which the Father had planted; an intelligent man, desiring to hear the word of God. As he saw the effect of Paul's power and teaching, he believed, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.

• But alongside of this delicate plant, there is this noxious weed, this deadly poison, and how much skill is needed so that we should secure the good and discover the work of God in souls.

May the Lord help us in these three things, so that we shall be found in our service,

• "As regards hope, rejoicing: as regards tribulation, enduring: as regards prayer, persevering".