THE KNOWLEDGE OF DIVINE PERSONS
Kenny J Walker
2 Timothy 1: 12
John 6: 67-69; 14: 16-17; 17: 3; 12: 1-3
Ezekiel 47: 1-7
Ephesians 3: 14
Philippians 3: 8
2 Timothy 3: 14
We are in a most wonderful dispensation, the Christian dispensation. It has been spoken of as the greatest of all dispensations, the time when the Lord Jesus is in the glory, Centre of glory and love, Centre of another world; and the Holy Spirit is here serving unceasingly in view of magnifying Christ. What a time it is! It is a wonderful time to be a believer. I trust everyone in this room is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to speak about knowledge, not head knowledge because that can be easily obtained, but the knowledge of divine Persons, the knowledge of the Father, the knowledge of the Son, and the knowledge of the Holy Spirit. I think there is a need - and I feel it for myself - a need of enlargement in the knowledge of divine Persons in view of the testimony, and enlargement in the service of God. As we are enlarged, for example, in the appreciation of the Father, and the greatness of who He is, and the greatness of all He has done, the Father that has blessed us, the Father of glory whose ‘greatness surpasses our praise’ (hymn 49), as we are enlarged in the greatness of that Person, there is a greater response from our hearts.
I trust everyone in this room is a believer; are you a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you got that substantial foundation in your soul that you are saved? Have you put your trust in that finished work at Calvary, and in the Lord Jesus Christ, who came here and moved in such devotion? He was perfect; He was sinless, but He became the precious Sacrifice at Calvary in view of God judging sin and sins, and in view of God coming out in blessing to man. Oh that many more would come and appreciate Him for themselves and put their trust in that finished work at Calvary! I cannot emphasise enough, and I feel the need of saying at the start of this occasion, but Paul, as we read here in Timothy, says, “I know whom I have believed”. He did not just say he believed, but was emphasising that he knew the Person he believed in, and that is what I want to get at, that every one of us should have a greater knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, not only as Saviour but as to who He is and what He has done, and the many glories that belong to Him. What a Person He is! He has been spoken of it as ‘The Incomparable Christ’. What a One He is! Blessed Man, who is the subject of the gospel, He is the blessed Man that we talked about in the reading. He should be the Centre of our lives.
I read, “But surely I count also all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord”. That was a deep, conscious knowledge. That was not just the knowledge of what a precious work had been done at Calvary; it was a deep, conscious knowledge of the Person he had come to treasure. He had come to love Him, he had come to treasure Him, and I trust every one in this room has some appreciation of the Lord Jesus. There is none to be compared with Him; that is what I would like to bring before us.
I would like to speak later on about experience, and the way experiences are in view of the enlargement of the knowledge of divine Persons. I think that is essential. Every one in this room will have gone through experiences, perhaps an experience in your work life, or in your school life. Perhaps you have had a problem that has been difficult to solve; you did not know what to do. How did you get through it? Was it through the knowledge of divine Persons? Was it through the knowledge of the Holy Spirit, power to guide you and direct you, or was it through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ being your Friend, the One you could speak to when you could not speak to anybody else? Sometimes things happen and you cannot speak to anybody else, but you can speak to the Lord Jesus. What a Friend He is, and what a Person He is! We spoke in the reading about the law of Jesus Christ, and that is the One we are to be subject to. We are to come under His authority. May every one in this room be enlarged in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So there is an emphatic word here, “for I know whom I have believed”. I would like every one of us to say, 'I really know the Person whom I have believed in; I really know the Lord Jesus Christ, as One who has talked with me and walked with me, and who moved with me, One whom I know for myself'’. For example, if somebody came into this room and I did not know them, I might ask who is that across there? I might be told his name and where he comes from. But how would I know more about that person? I think the key to what I am speaking about is that I would have to spend time with the person. A key point in Christianity is that you need to spend time with divine Persons, to be near to Them, to talk with Them, to make time for Them, and to draw near to Them; They will not turn you away. I have learned that from my little experience, and there are many in this room who can speak about these things far better than I can. They have experience and some have been on the road a long time and they can look back and say, 'The Lord was with me in it, the Father's care was there, the Holy Spirit's power was known'. These things are all part of the experiences of life, and I would rather be a believer going through the experiences of life than an unbeliever. Unbelievers have no hope; who do they turn to? What do they do? They are in despair. What a blessed thing it is to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and have a link with divine Persons. As we go through the experiences of life, the sorrows, the pressures, the difficulties, the illnesses, and then the joys of things, as we are brought into the most wonderful things of Christianity, enjoying the things that are excellent, we can be enlarged in the knowledge of divine Persons. How wonderful Christianity is! How blessed it is! May each one of us come into these things.
So I read in John's gospel. They had come to this difficult juncture in chapter 6, and the question is asked, “Will ye also go away?”. Some had turned away because the word was hard, but “Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast words of life eternal; and we have believed and known that thou art the holy one of God”. Simon Peter knew that there was none other to turn to; they had known Him, they had walked with Him. Think of the teaching they had come under, think of the way they had known His heart; they had known Him talking to them, and had known the unfolding of His heart. Day by day these disciples had moved with Him. They had known something of what was precious to Him, what was of interest to Him, and what I am trying to convey is that the Lord Jesus can be known in so many different ways. We have spoken of Him as Saviour, and we can know Him as Lord, but He can also be known as Head, and He can be known as Priest, He can be known as Friend, He can be known as Shepherd - how many different ways the Lord Jesus can be known. No doubt most in this room have known something of the way He can support. Think of the lordship of Christ, and being under His authority and of the blessing in that. Think also of His headship, drawing from the Head. We talked about His influence, and the wonderful influence of another Man. He is influencing your life, and also directing in your life, but in the gatherings too, think of the way that headship is known. We sang of that at the start of the reading -
Great source of wisdom, power and food
Hymn 199.
Think of that; His headship is known, His feelings are known, and He brings in what is needed. May He become more and more precious to us and may we be enlarged in our knowledge of that Person.
I move on to John 14; I want to talk about our knowledge of the Spirit. He is a wonderful, divine Person. Think of these words, “And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter”. The Holy Spirit, a divine Person, has been given to indwell the believer. I trust you know something of the Spirit's service; He is a Comforter. Do you know something of His comfort? The Lord Jesus is absent from this scene and the question is, how do I get through? The Holy Spirit operates in a way of comfort, and He gives you touches of the glories of Christ. It says in chapter 16, “he will announce to you what is coming. He shall glorify me ...”, v 13-14. Think of the service of the Holy Spirit, here indwelling believers, and speaking to them, and serving them in so many different ways. Think of the Spirit as a Friend. Mr James Taylor said, ‘the best Friend we have on earth is the Spirit of God’, vol 32 p14. Do you know something of the Spirit as a Friend, One you can speak to, and One you can talk to? He will enlarge your appreciation of divine things, and He will guide you into all the truth. So we can know Him in that way as a Guide. He is typified in ‘the caller's spring’ (Jud 15: 19, note), as One you can call upon, and you can draw upon at any time. When you do not know where to turn, have you ever turned to the Spirit and said, 'Help me!'? He will bring in refreshment. These are just a few thoughts as to the Holy Spirit and the way He may be known. Think of Him as the great Comforter, the One who is to be appreciated and valued. We spoke in the reading about the woman in 2 Kings 4 who in type did not know the value of the Spirit, v 2. After her debt had been paid the word was, “live thou and thy sons on the rest”, v 7. Let us live on the Holy Spirit as the One who will sustain us and give us power, who can help us to overcome. Think of the greatness of the Holy Spirit; I trust everyone has some knowledge of the Holy Spirit and that we may be enlarged to give Him more room in our lives.
I read in John 17 about the Father, “that they should know thee”. We know the Lord Jesus, and we know the Holy Spirit, but we can know the Father too. He has been made known to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, “He that has seen me has seen the Father”, chap 14: 9. The Lord Jesus come to make known this blessed One. Think of what has opened up. In the old dispensation, the people of old knew God in various ways, but think of the wonder of the present dispensation that we can know God as Father. Think of the tenderness of the love of that Name, the grace of that Name. In almost every reference in John's gospel where “the Father” is mentioned, it is mentioned as a term of grace. Do you know something of the Father and the wonderful things that relate to the Father? He has been made known by the Lord Jesus Christ, and it says later, “And I have made known to them thy name, and will make it known”, John 17: 26. The Father has been made known to us and we can appreciate this Person and know Him in our day to day circumstances. He is “the Father of compassions, and God of all encouragement”, 2 Cor 1: 3. We can know His care and His help and His grace day by day. He brings in grace, He brings in love, He brings in mercy, He brings in what is needed. May we be enlarged in our appreciation of the Father.
I feel the need of enlargement but, too, the Father opens up a wonderful realm. Not only do we know the Father in our day to day circumstances, but we can know Him in privilege. Think of our relationship as sons with the Father: think of the blessedness of that. Oh may we be enlarged in it! Think of the service of praise, and the way that our hearts respond to the Father, and no doubt in that sphere we are to be enlarged in our appreciation of the Father. We not only know Him as a Father who cares for our daily needs, but we know Him as the Father of glory, the One who has blessed us: “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ”, Eph 1: 3. What a Person to know, the Father of glory. May we be enlarged in love for the Father! He is “the Father of lights” (James 1: 17) too, and other titles come to mind as we consider the Father; let us be enlarged in our appreciation of Him.
So I have spoken about the Lord Jesus, I have spoken about the Spirit and I have spoken about the Father. I have spoken about some of the ways that we can know Them, in the various facets of our lives. However, I want to speak about experience in the next three scriptures. It is key that as we go through our lives and through experiences that we can look back on such times, and the knowledge gained of divine Persons. There are many examples, and no doubt the brethren can think of many in the Old Testament and the New Testament, who came to know and appreciate their God through experiences of life, and were enlarged in their appreciation of God. Take account of Jacob, for example, and the many ups and downs of his life, but what could he say when he looked back? “The God that shepherded me all my life long”, Gen 48: 15. No doubt there are many in this room who could say the same, who can look back and take account of the God who cared in the experiences of life. Abraham was another; there were various points in his life when he learned God. He went through the experience, perhaps a difficult experience at the time, but he could look back and say, 'God was with me'. He had an enlarged appreciation of God.
So we read about this woman in John 12. Mary in Bethany took the pound of ointment of pure nard and poured it upon the feet of Jesus. Why did she do this? I think it is because she was enlarged in her appreciation of the Lord Jesus Christ, in her knowledge of this Person. She had been sitting at His feet in Luke's gospel, and I think that is a key thing to the enlargement of the knowledge of divine Persons. She was sitting at His feet and listening to His word. “Mary has chosen the good part”, Jesus says, Luke 10: 42. Think of that! I think it is one of the most blessed things to sit at the Lord's feet and listen to His word. I do not think we can limit it to times like this, as even in the quietness of our circumstances, we read a verse and the Lord would speak to us. Pray to the Holy Spirit, and the Lord comes in and speaks. There is blessing in that, and I think the teaching and blessing would enlarge our times together. Mary was like that; she was sitting at His feet and listening to His word. There was a word for her which was precious. It may be that the Lord Jesus spoke to Mary about the things of the Father and the glories of the Father. Think of that, the things of the Father that the Lord Jesus can say are precious. I think the word coming to us day by day would enlarge us in the knowledge of the Father. The Lord Jesus was listening to the Father's word day by day, morning by morning He got a word (Isa 50: 4), and I think there is a need for that that we get a word day by day, in view of enlargement in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
Mary not only sat at His feet, she had the sorrow and pressure of her brother’s death in John 11: think of the sorrow and pressure! It is something that many in this room have gone through, and indeed this locality has been affected recently. Many have gone through sorrow, pressures, illnesses, and various things, which are the experiences of life but, beloved brethren, what we can say is that if you go through them with the Lord Jesus you can be enlarged in your appreciation of Him. To know Him in a blessed way as a Shepherd who cares for you, One who has tender mercy for you, and One who looks after you. Pressure is for a reason, and the Father puts one and another through chastening as stated in Hebrews 12: 5-11. At the time it does not seem good, and you wonder why you are going through things. I believe all these things are in view of enlargement of the appreciation of the Lord Jesus, that that Man would become more precious to us, that we might grow in the knowledge of that One, and that we may become like a Mary pouring out the pound of ointment of pure nard. One and another are put through things, and sometimes we wonder. Sorrows come in, bereavements come in, illnesses come in, and I believe everyone in this room has gone through something of this sort. The Father feels for you in the circumstances, and why you are going through them, it is in view of your being enlarged in your appreciation of Him. There should be something formed in your soul in view of you pouring out a pound of ointment of pure nard. Oh may we all be like Mary pouring out a pound of ointment of pure nard in appreciation of the Lord Jesus. What we express may have been gathered up from ministry or from the experiences of life, but all this is in view of there being something poured out and the house being filled with the odour of the ointment. I think that is like our local gatherings. Bethany was a local place. Perhaps in your local place, dear young one or dear older one, you may you be a Mary pouring out the ointment, filling the house with the odour of the ointment so that there would be something for the heart of Christ and there may be something for your local brethren. May you be encouraged to do this. Think of the way Mary would speak of the Lord Jesus. She was enlarged in her knowledge of Him and He became more precious to her, not only by what He was going to do, and where those feet were going to go, but she had an appreciation of the Person and His glory.
So I read in Ezekiel, and I want to say something about the Spirit. The great river is flowing, and this man is put through experiences. I suggest that the river speaks of experience with the Spirit. As we go through experience with the Spirit we should be enlarged in our appreciation of who He is. This man is led and is guided, and I think that is one of the great services of the Holy Spirit, guiding and leading. He is leading you on in experiences and spiritual history, in view of having a greater appreciation of the great things of God and the wonderful wealth and supply that is under the Spirit’s hand.
The man went forth, “a line was in this hand; and he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters: the waters were to the ankles”; it is a gradual step. There is to be progress made in the things of God, and I think it is important for all here; there are experiences to take on and there is greater depth brought out at each stage. When the man went forth, a line was in his hand. He is moving into the waters to the ankles. His walk is being guided; he is now learning to walk in the Spirit. We had that earlier on in Galatians, walking in the Spirit, chap 5: 16. I think that is involved in it, learning how to walk. As away from God without the Spirit, you are walking in your own self will. You are walking in the flesh, are you not? But then as the Spirit comes into your life you find He is there to guide you, and help and direct, and then He would lead you into these wonderful things. So the waters are to the ankles, and then to the knees. There is further depth brought about when the knees are spoken about, and I suggest that you are enlarged in your dependence. The knees would speak of prayer. There is something blessed worked out there and you are learning to pray, you are learning to be dependent; the Spirit would help you in that too. And then He would lead you on further to the loins: your affections are affected. These are only some suggestions but I trust we get some apprehension of the Spirit and His service to enlarge us in our affection for the Father and the Son, and for one another. We are learning to seek out one another, to love one another more and to see the work of God in one another. That is what is involved in the Spirit's service. He would magnify Christ, but He would also delight to bring us into the great things of God. He would delight to lead us into all the truth and to expand us in our apprehension of the great things of God. Think of the wonderful things that are opened up here as he comes to “a river that I could not pass through”. There is what is beyond us in divine things, there is what we cannot enter into, but there is wealth in it in the Holy Spirit. There is a never-ending resource in the Spirit, suggested in a river that he could not pass through. There is a wealth; there is an abundance in Christianity and in the Holy Spirit. If you want the Holy Spirit and you want the supply of the Holy Spirit and you want to draw from the Holy Spirit, there is no limitation. You can increase your knowledge of divine things if you want, and the Spirit will not hesitate to help you. I have said it before, that in Genesis 24, where is says, “now all the treasure of his master was under his hand” (v 10), it is a bit like the river; everything is there in the Spirit's hand. And what is it for? In that scripture in Genesis 24 it is in view of the treasure being brought out into circulation, and in this scripture the river is so that we enjoy the blessedness of the Spirit's service. May we enjoy it more! May we enjoy the Spirit's service more, and the knowledge of the Spirit more and more.
And then this man is brought back, “And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? And he led me, and brought me back to the bank of the river.” And he says, “When I returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other”. He brings you back and gives you a view of things. Think of the Spirit giving you a view of things. What do you see? I think the trees are suggestive there. I think the trees are there in their excellence and in their maturity and in their stability. They are substantial, and they are there in their various stages of growth, and are all planted in divine soil, and they are drawing from the Spirit, and are living on the banks of the river. Oh, may we appreciate one another more, may we love one another more, and may our loins be affected more in the way of comforting the brethren and appreciating the work of God in one another. Think of the work of God going through. One and another go through things but what is built up and established can never be taken away. As one and another go through experiences, there is what is formed in the saints which is substantial and eternal. May we appreciate it in one another more!
So I turn to where I read in Ephesians. Maybe I have spoken a little bit too much about the day to day circumstances of life, but I think Paul went through these experiences too, and there is a lot we can learn from in him. We had some touches of that in our reading, the way he was in prison and the way he suffered. It says in Acts that he was stoned and was lying nearly dead, but the brethren encircled him at that point, chap 14: 19, 20. Think of the sufferings that Paul went through, through shipwreck, through suffering, and through many varied circumstances. Why did he go through it? Because he had an appreciation of the Lord Jesus, and an appreciation of the things of God, and had been given wonderful disclosures. Where I have read here, I thought Paul had an appreciation of the Father. He had experiences of life, experiences he was given. Paul is very practical in some of his ministry, but you think of the wonderful blessings and privileges he spoke of too. He speaks of practical things, but in the epistle to the Ephesians you get wonderful, blessed, spiritual heights reached, the purpose of God, the counsel of God, all these wonderful things that we can have a part in, but too even later on in the epistle he could speak of the practical things of life. I think Paul had an appreciation of the Father, so that through these experiences of life, and enjoyment of privileges, he was enlarged. Think of him spending two years in Arabia (Gal 1: 17) - he spent time with God, and he was enlarged in his appreciation of the Father and of the Lord Jesus and, too, of the Holy Spirit.
Where I read I just was impressed by the way that his heart goes out. It is part of the experiences of Paul that he has the knowledge of divine Persons, and thus himself, but he wants the brethren too to be enlarged in their knowledge of divine Persons. He says earlier in chapter 1, that the Father “would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him”. He was praying for the brethren. He had tremendous affection for the saints that they might be enlarged in divine things, and that they might enter into the fulness of divine things, that they might have their place in what was rightly theirs in the blessings of Christianity. There are the spiritual blessings of chapter 1, and Paul in his love for the brethren desires that they might be fully in these things, fully enjoying the blessings of Christianity. His heart goes out here, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Think of his heart going out in worship. His desire was that not only that they come to the Father, and to a knowledge of Him, but that their hearts would go out in worship, and have an appreciation of who He is in His greatness and His glory. He is the Father of glory, the Source of all, the Spring and Source of blessing. That is the One we have come to know, and who cares for us in our day to day circumstances, but also the One who has brought us into the most wonderful privileges - to know the glory of sonship, to know nearness to Himself, and to know His heart of love. May we be encouraged to have a great knowledge and enlargement (like Paul did) of the Father and of divine Persons.
I read in Timothy. We have spoken about divine Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and the way they can be known in various ways, and we can be enlarged in our appreciation in the experiences of life, and the experiences of blessing. If we are left here we will gather to remember the Lord Jesus tomorrow, and we will enter into the time of praise. At such an occasion as that, as our hearts are responsive to the Father, we can be enlarged in the knowledge of divine Persons. One of our local brothers spoke not long ago about the way we have our reading meetings together, and we learn things on these occasions, and we are enlarged in our understanding and our knowledge of the truth through these occasions, but he made a suggestion that in the service of God, as one and another respond to the Father, the Son or the Spirit - especially experienced brothers, we also can be enlarged in our knowledge of divine Persons.
I read about Timothy. Perhaps some here are thinking that I have just spoken about Paul the great apostle. He was the apostle of the Gentiles and had a distinctive place. But I think this younger brother, Timothy, is important too, and that is really why I read about Timothy because things are to continue, and there is one here, who learned things from Paul. I have spoken about the knowledge of divine Persons and learning things from experience, but I think, too, we can learn things from one another. Timothy learned things from Paul and from Paul's ministry. There was something distinctive about that ministry which was great and glorious, and it is a necessity for us to be enlarged in the fruit of Paul's ministry. Somebody has suggested that Timothy was quite a quiet and meek brother, a young brother I think, but one thing: he had affection for the saints. Paul had no one like-minded who would care how the saints were getting on, Phil 2: 20. That was Timothy, and he had a knowledge, “abide in those things which thou hast learned”. Timothy had learned things; he had learned them from Paul. Earlier Paul says, “But thou hast been thoroughly acquainted with my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith” (v 10), and so on. Think of the experiences Paul had gone through. Timothy learned things from Paul, and no doubt if we look upon one another we can learn things. I would say I have learned things from older brethren; I know that many in this room could say that they have learned things from the way older brethren have conducted themselves; not always what they have said, but the way they have conducted themselves. Let us look and see the spirit of Christ in one another that we may learn something from one another.
Things have to go on; we need to take up the baton and go on in the things of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this room about three years ago there was a word given as to that at the burial of a brother, for us to take up the baton and go on. The brother who had died had taken up the baton and gone on. Now it is the time for others to take up the baton and continue in the things that Paul speaks of, continue in the testimony, continue in power and in the knowledge of divine Persons. The knowledge of Paul's ministry is essential, but the knowledge of divine Persons is essential. Getting into the divine Presence, knowing the heart of Christ, knowing the mind of Christ, knowing divine things as drawing from divine Persons. The resources are available, as is the power.
Let us be encouraged to go in for these things and be like Mary who is responsive and who has affection in her heart for Christ, or a Timothy who is learning from Paul. Let us go on and be encouraged by these thoughts. For His Name's sake.
Glasgow
27th February 2016