by Rev John Colquhoun
(Continued from page 286)
This morning, in endeavouring to speak from these words, we brought before you a little concerning I. The One speaking in our text, and showed that it was Christ. II. The Gardens referred to, and III. The One addressed.
IV. The Companions
(1) All who truly profess Him in the world may be said to be Christ’s companions. “Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Luke: 22, 28, 29, 30. In the days of His flesh He was falsely charged with having a devil and being mad, and with being in league with Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. Whatever effect these charges might have on many who were not His true followers, His real disciples remained with Him, and acknowledged Him as their Lord. This is one of the marks of the Lord’s true people in every age of time. Christ may be evil spoken of as He is in the present generation, and many will turn their backs on Him. Churches may put Him outside the door, as they do when they bring into the worship of God what He has not commanded, but His real disciples will go out with Him, and in the strength of God-given grace will be His companions through “evil report and good report.” “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.” Heb. 13:13.
(2) All who fear the Lord are companions to each other. There is a bond of union between them such as David speaks of. “I am a companion to all them that fear thee, and of them that keep they precepts.” Psalm 119:63. Neither nationality, race, nor colour, is a bar to this union, for “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal 3:28.
(3) As companions to each other it is true concerning the Lord’s people that they have the same interests, and what these interests are, which are characteristic of them all, manifest how they are ruled by the spirit of self-denial. It is true concerning them all that they seek the glory of God more than anything else. The Holy Spirit opened their eyes to behold the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in His Person, and in His sufferings, and they were brought to realise that they ought to glorify Him in every thing that they do, and that all things were to be made use of in subordination to the glory of God, and that their use of the means of grace ought to have respect to the glory of God. “Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” I. Cor. 10:31.
They, as companions, have the same interests with respect to the advancement of Christ’s Cause in the world. They are bound up with His Cause so much that its prosperity gives them great joy, while anything that will hurt it gives them great sorrow. They seek to advance it by their example in attending the means of grace in public, and by a walk consistent with their profession. They endeavour to advance it by their means by contributing to its support as liberally as the Lord will lay to their hand. These outward signs that they have a unity of interests with respect to the Cause of Christ are supported by what no eye sees but the eye of God. They resort to secret prayer to plead with God Himself that He would come and advance His own kingdom. “Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.” Psalm 74:22.
They have the same interests as regards the good of never-dying souls. They continually watch for tokens that sinners are returning to the Lord, and this also causes them many a visit to a Throne of Grace in secret, and even the smallest tokens are received by them with joy. It may be said of them that they are companions with David when he said, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1. Those of them whose duty it is to speak publicly to their fellow-creatures plead with them as Christ’s ambassadors, earnestly to seek Christ and His salvation. “We pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” II. Cor. 5:20; and those who are not speaking in public, in secret join their petitions with those whose duties are more public, and they can both say with respect to those with whom they come in contact as the Apostle Paul says, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.” Gal. 4:19.
(4) They are companions in tribulations. The Apostle John, writing from Patmos, could refer to himself as, “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 1:9. They all know, more or less, of tribulations in connection with faithful witnessing on the side of their Saviour. The world is hostile to such witnessing and will do everything that it is permitted to do to suppress it, and to persecute those who would witness for Christ. The devil will give them plenty of tribulations because he knows that they are the Lord’s people, and that they disturb his kingdom, and that their endeavours, however weak, have the effect of making uncomfortable whose whom he is lulling to sleep. Further, they have tribulations because of the flesh in themselves. Many a bitter hour they have with the motions of the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life, and none of them will escape that as long as they are in this world, but there is encouragement for them in the words of the Lord Jesus, “In this world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.
(5) It is true concerning these that they have fellowship with each other, and as creatures having fellowship, they love each other. This is given as a mark on them that they are no longer spiritually dead. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death . . .” I. John 3:14. This love manifests itself in many ways. They delight in each other’s company, and when they have a measure of liberty together the hours pass all too quickly. Their love to each other is manifested by their endeavours at hiding each other’s faults. The world will do its best to expose the faults of God’s children, but the true Christian will try to cover them up. Further, their love to each other is seen in their rebuking of each other when anything worthy of censure appears. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” Prov. 27:6. No less clearly is this love seen in accepting rebuke in the right spirit. “Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.” Psalm 141:5.
They who have fellowship with each other bear each other’s burdeens. Literally, when one member of the body suffers, all the members suffer with it, so it is with those who are members of the mystical body of Christ. Their sympathy goes out to each other, and they do everything in their power to help the sufferer. They bear each other, and each other’s burdens on their spirits at a Throne of Grace, thus making things easier for those who feel their need, when they know that those whom they believe to be the Lord’s true people are remembering them before their heavenly Father. Such a bond of union and fellowship will cause those who are in it to speak freely to each other concerning spiritual matters, and this is a great benefit. “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.” Mal. 3:16.
Further, it may be said concerning those who have fellowship with each other that they know each other. They know each other on their walk. They are “journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you.” Numbers 10:29, and thus, they are strangers and pilgrims in this world. They are seeking, though they themselves feel that they are not successful in it, to lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset them, and to run with patience the race which is set before them. They are known to each other by their language. The hypocrite may pronounce Shibboleth so successfully that it will take him out of a tight corner at times, but these habitually speak the language of Canaan with a warmth and a savouriness which will cause it to be known on them that they had been with Jesus. They are known by their love to the Lord’s people and how that love finds expression in deeds where no ostentation is displayed, and they are known by their love to God’s house. “Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.” Psalm 26. Those who thus know each other are bound up together by the bands of God’s love.
V. “The companions hearken to thy voice.”
(1) The voice of the one addressed can be heard in her manner. It is said of the late Dr Kennedy, Dingwall, that he often said that there were three marks on a young person who has been brought under the power of the truth, that is, a closed mouth, a sharp ear, and a warm eye towards the Lord’s people. When the Holy Spirit comes to work savingly in a sinner, by showing him what he is in himself and what is true of Christ, that sinner will have a sense of his own ignorance and inexperience, and will be “more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools.” Eccles. 5:1. He feels, that whatever he might know, he is only a babe in knowledge and in Christian experience, and that it is most unnatural for a new-born babe to begin to speak.
Their voice is heard by their having a sharp ear. They have now realised the importance of eternal realities and they have begun to hear as for eternity. They love to hear concerning the glory, majesty and excellency of Christ, and their souls burn within them when He is exalted in the preaching of the gospel, or the subject of a conversation between the Lord’s people. They desire to hear of His dealings with His own, and they will be mentally comparing notes to see if in their own experience there is something of what they are hearing. This is profitable for them as they are thus led to guard against what might be injurious to them and hurtful to the Cause of Christ. It also prepares them, in a measure, to expect hard experiences in following Christ. It would be well in our day if professors of religion were known more by a closed mouth and a sharp ear than they are.
They have a warm eye towards the Lord’s people, and this in itself speaks volumes. Ruth did not follow Naomi for any natural beauty in her, or for material gain, but the secret of her attachment to her mother-in-law was that she herself had become an heir of eternal life, and her love now went out to the Lord’s people in general and to Naomi in particular as one in whom she saw the image of Christ shining brightly. Thus she was constrained to say, “Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.” Ruth 1:16, 17.
(2) Their voice is heard in their walk, for all who fear God walk according to a rule. In the Shorter Catechism we are told that “the word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.” Those who take it as a rule are continually consulting it. As a sailor, who, when sailing in dangerous waters, continually consults his chart, so the one who is alive to the dangers of the way in which he is travelling through this world must, with the Psalmist, say of God’s Word, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105. They cannot do without it, and frequent consulting of it has a sobering effect on them, and increases their desire to be more and more consistent with the Word of God.
As their walk is according to the rule of God’s Word it is not an aimless walk. They have an object in view, and they keep their eye continually on that object and seek to be rid of everything that would distract their attention. “… Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1, 2. They experience the drawing power of Christ, and are drawn to Him. Though they often conclude that they are hypocrites, yet their walk betrays them, for they desire to be where He has promised to be, and where His people are. They get a sweet saviour among the Lord’s people which causes them to be often in their company, and this is no wonder, for it is the sweet saviour of Christ. In their aims in this world they seek to have the glory of God in view in everything. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” I. Cor. 10:31.
(3) The companions hearken to the voice of these as that is manifested in their desire. The language of their souls is that which the Greeks, who came to the feast, had when they came to Philip, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” John 12:21. They desire to see the matchless beauty and transcendent excellency that is in Christ and this is one of the reasons why they dwell in the gardens. In the preaching of the gospel there is an unfolding of the Person of Christ as the God-man. He is at the same time very God and very man, the everlasting Father and the Child given, the Governor among the nations and the Servant of His poor ones, the One who can never die and the dying Saviour. There they also see His beauty and His excellencies in His offices of Prophet, Priest, and King, and are enabled to see that there is none so suitable for them as Christ, yea, when He is mentioned, all others go out of sight.
They desire after holiness. In this world they are harassed by being joined to a body of sin of which they desire to be rid. At one time they thought that if they would live for some time in the world they would become very holy, and probably one of the reasons why some are delaying to make a public profession on the side of Christ is, that they hope that in course of time they will be more fit for witnessing on His side. However, to their dismay, they are finding out that instead of attaining to the holiness which they looked for, their experience is that they are getting more unlike what they desire to be. Sins, which they thought were dead and would never again trouble them, are lifting their heads; the old man whom they were endeavouring to crucify is more lively than ever, and there is nothing that they find themselves less conformed to than the Scripture which says, “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Gal. 5:24. The effect of this on them is to pant and cry more and more after holiness.
Their voice is to be heard in their desire after fellowship with Christ. This often causes them to go to their knees in secret in the hope that He will grant them His presence. They know that they will have to part with their nearest and dearest in the world but they cannot do without Christ. When they cannot get a glimpse of his gracious countenance the language of their hearts, and often of their lips too, will be, “How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?” Psalm 13. This will send them from place to place looking for Him. They will come to the public means, and go from one place to another at Communion seasons in the hope that He will reveal Himself to them in another way than He does unto the world, and the language of their soul will be, “O that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat.” Job 23:3. Their going about in this way, speaks plainly to the “companions” saying, “Saw ye him whom my soul loveth.”
Again, their desire after God’s Word is a speech which the companions understand very well. In the journals of a well-known missionary there is a record of a savage who came under the power of the truth, and whose desire after God’s Word is expressed in his own simple words, “Missi, make the Book speak to me.” Those who can read God’s Word, and who desire after that Word, often have an errand to the Throne of Grace, pleading that the Holy Spirit would “make the Book speak” to them. They know well that a mere head knowledge of the Word will avail them nothing. It is the Holy Spirit alone who can make the Scriptures the Word of life to their souls.
Those in whom the companions are so interested that they hearken to their voice, speak in a wonderful way in their desire after God’s house. The Rev. John MacRae (MacRath Môr) used to say that there were two kinds of cripples in the world. There were the Devil’s cripples and Christ’s cripples. The Devil’s cripples would be at their lawful calling during the whole week, each day from morning till night, but when Sabbath came they would be sick and would not rise from their beds. Christ’s cripples would often be weak in body, and often not able to take an active part in the affairs of the world because of affliction and weakness, but when the Sabbath came their place would never be empty in the House of God if they could help it. There are many such who are not making a public profession of religion, but whose efforts, in the face of difficulties, to be where God’s worship is kept, loudly proclaim that to them, “a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.” Psalm 84:10.
Again, these speak volumes by their activity on behalf of Christ’s Cause in the world. Jerusalem is their chiefest joy. They do not rush forward as if none but they were fit to help the Cause of Christ. A modest restraint and sense of their own unfitness is characteristic of them, but they will never let down the Cause by withholding a helping hand when needed. They do it quietly and without ostentation, and would rather not hear anyone speak of what they do. If they allow that they are servants at all, they look upon themselves as unprofitable servants, and may be classed with those to whom Christ will say, “I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison and ye came unto me.” In unfeigned surprise they will say, “When saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked and clothed thee? Matt. 95:35-39. In this the “companions” hearken to their voice, and in this, as in other points taken up they must respect it as the voice of living souls.
VI. The Request — “Cause me to hear it.”
(1) Christ loves to hear His people’s voice and this shows His wonderful condescension. He is the high and holy One who inhabits eternity, but who dwells with him who is of a poor and contrite spirit, and who trembles at His Word. His hidden ones are before His eyes continually. It further shows His delight in doing them good. It would be to their good, by way of strengthening and comforting them, that they would raise their voice to Christ for then they give Him an opportunity of answering their prayers, and making Himself known to them. The disciples in the storm caused Him to hear their voice when they wakened Him, crying, “Master, carest thou not that we perish.” Mark 4:38. Though He answered them in a way which administered a rebuke to their unbelief, yet they got a view of Him which they never had before, so that they were constrained to say, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Verse 41.
(2) He desires to hear their voice in confession. They must confess to Him their sinfulness and unworthiness. They find themselves to be nothing but lumps of sin and corruption. “From the soul of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores.” Isaiah 1:6. The Scriptural way for them to act in this connection is to go to Himself, in order that He, as the Great Physician, will use His knife to let out their corruption prior to applying the balm which is able to heal their sin-sick souls. In thus causing Him to hear their voice they confess that there are no grounds, on their part, for which He would look upon them in mercy. Unworthiness is written on every fibre of their being, and on their life and conduct in the world.
He loves to hear their voice in confessing that His mercy is great. “For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.” Psalm 89:2. Those who love Christ have a deep sense of His mercy. They view their own sinfulness and unworthiness as a reason why He should not look near them, but over against that, His mercy is magnified in not visiting them according to their sins. “He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.” Psalm 103:10. He manifests His pity as that of a loving Father unto His children.
(3) Another way in which He desires them to cause Him to hear their voice is in making their requests known to Him. They are often harassed with a sense of a prayerless spirit. They at times may have words, but often they have not words itself. “Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.” Ps. 77. A sense of the sinfulness and unworthiness already referred to makes them afraid that it is vain for them to present their requests. Thus they are doing injustice to the One whom they desire to love, for they act as if it were not His pleasure to grant their petitions. He has, however, clearly expressed in His Word that the contrary is the case. “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:24. He loves to hear their faltering petitions, and their groanings that cannot be uttered. In this connection it may be pointed out to those to whom Christ is saying, “Cause me to hear thy voice,” that they should not rest content with asking small things, for the greater the things are which are asked in the name of Christ, the greater is the honour put on Christ, for it manifests a clearer sense of what inexhaustible riches are in Christ, and a sense of His willingness to bestow out of these riches.
(4) “Cause me to hear thy voice” in praise. The Lord’s true people have reason to mourn over how little they are exercised in this branch of God’s worship. Christ would not have it so for He is continually affording matter for praise in His great bounties which He is continually bestowing upon unworthy sinners. When there is a great manifestation of His mercy in connection with some signal deliverance we do sometimes at such times utter words of praise, but, even then, there may be more words than there is of real praise from the heart. If this is so in connection with special mercies, O how liable we are to accept His common mercies without thinking of rendering Him any praise. For everything that we receive in this world praise is due to Him. It is pleasant and “a comely thing” to all who are the subjects of the saving work of the Holy Spirit. It is the delightful employment of the spirits of just men made perfect in Heaven. Alas! that we should be so little employed in this world in what is the employment of saints and angels in glory.
(5) They are to cause Him to hear their voice in commending Him to others. This is what ought to animate every one of the Lord’s true people. It is the spontaneous outcome of the Holy Spirit’s gracious dealings with them. It is a taste of the pardoning mercy of God, applied by the Spirit of Truth, and a consciousness of the freeness of His mercy that will cause them to say to other poor sinners, “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Psalm 34:8. And an oft-repeated exercise of the Spirit’s power in removing contracted guilt will cause them to say, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.” In this they afford Him pleasure in what He solicits so earnestly in our text — “Cause me to hear it.” With the woman of Samaria they can say, “Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” John 4:29. When such language is supported by a consistent walk in the world it is a commendation of Christ which speaks volumes, and is bound to make an impression on some. In the case of not a few it has been known to have been the means of turning them from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God.
(6) He delights to hear their voice in witnessing for Him in the world. Many would wish to be like the woman who was cured of the issue of blood. They would like no one to hear that they had received a cure. If she had got things her own way she would have gone back to her own home and never said anything publicly about her cure. It might be noticed that she had ceased to go to her physicians, who never bettered her but rather made her worse. The neighbours also might notice that she was better in health and appeared happier, and that the fretfulness, which was the direct result of her disease, had given place to a spirit of love and goodwill towards them, but they would never know that she had received a cure through the Great Physician of soul and body. But Christ would not have it so. “Who touched me?” This was not a question that sprang from ignorance; it was well-known to Him who was the needy creature, and what was her motive in touching Him. Yea, He knew what, probably, she was ignorant of, herself, the great faith which prompted her to touch Him, and that faith and what it procured, must be brought out to the gaze of a wondering multitude, many of whom had no real union with Christ, but they must be made to see the wonderful works of God, and, therefore, she must cause Him to hear her voice in acknowledging publicly what He did for her. Thus He is speaking to you who would live as a private Christian, and who would wish to steal into Heaven without anyone knowing it. He will make all such to know the great things which they must suffer for Him. May He bless anything said consistent with His Word. Amen.
To bless God for mercies is the way to increase them; to bless Him for miseries is the way to remove them.
William Dyer.