COMPLETENESS
A Barrie Brown
John 19: 28-30
1 Corinthians 15: 28
I have a very simple impression that came from the hymn that we sang (No 355) as to perfect timing, and the Spirit’s service as to things in the divine system being complete; that is why I read the scripture in John as to the work of the Lord Jesus being complete and then, too, looking on to the end of things, “that God may be all in all”.
We can say that in relation to God’s work, that it will be complete and nothing will be left undone. And too, I suppose, abstractly, at any point, if we look at the work of God in ourselves or in fellow believers, it is always complete; but then we know, as Philippians says, “he who has begun in you a good work will complete it unto Jesus Christ’s day”, chap 1: 6. So there is the thought of what progresses as well, but the work of God in the saints is a very wonderful matter and something that has come before us recently, and we should foster and encourage it in one another. I think we do, and I think we had some impression of that over the weekend in the ministry to us. The passage in 2 Corinthians 7 came to me as to the matter of holiness; Paul says there, “perfecting holiness in God’s fear”, v 1. I suppose, fully, what is perfect waits for the eternal day, but the matter our brother brought before us in relation to our “most holy faith” (Jude 20) and then holy ground is something that we should seek to advance for all of us. I think holiness is a very wonderful matter, a sensitive matter; the matter of “perfecting holiness in God’s fear” is a wholesome matter.
In relation to the work of the Lord Jesus, I thought it might freshly attract our hearts to that blessed One that He knew the end from the beginning, knew what God’s will involved for Him, and He was irrevocably committed to it. Nothing could turn Him away. Think of Him in Gethsemane, the enemy bringing all His forces to bear upon the blessed Lord Jesus! We see the cost it was to Him, and He chose to obey. How wonderful that is! Then in this passage where we read here we have, “Jesus, knowing that all things were now finished”. It is very remarkable that the Lord Jesus, being who He is in His Person, wonderful and divine Person, knew “that all things were now finished, that the scripture might be fulfilled”. It is a very wholesome study to see the number of times it says that in John’s gospel. It comes into other gospels too but particularly in John’s gospel, how the Lord Jesus fulfilled each one of the prophetic scriptures and fulfilled them in their entirety. Nothing that was written about the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament, the law and the prophets, has failed; that is one of the many glories of the Lord Jesus Christ. It would be a good matter, certainly for me, to follow up.
Think of the Lord Jesus here! You get a touch as to His manhood. He says, “I thirst”; then those around Him - in hatred and spite - bring vinegar. You certainly would not give that to a person in distress, but the Lord Jesus bore it. Think of all that was on His heart and on His spirit at this time, but then in verse 30, He “received the vinegar”, that the scripture might be fulfilled, and He said, “It is finished”. What a wonderful matter! Think of all that He had gone through! John’s gospel does not give us the hours of darkness - we have to go to the other gospels for that - but it is involved and because of the irrevocable commitment of the Lord Jesus to the will of His God and Father, because of His love for each one of us here and all believers who put their faith and trust in Him, the work on the cross has been finished. That has laid the eternal basis for the universe of praise, and what we sang of in our hymn as to the Spirit and the bride saying, “Come”. All of that is the result of the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and His work is complete. How wonderful that is!
It says, here, “and having bowed his head, he delivered up his spirit”. I always wonder at it that the Lord Jesus did not perish under the judgment; He was in control, and John’s gospel gives us that aspect. For example, earlier on, it says, “he went out, bearing his cross”, v 17. You see the divine hand, divine control. I thought we might just be freshly encouraged that the work of redemption has been completed, every matter has been seen to; and what a wonderful thing it is to be amongst a company where I think that every one is a believer in the Lord Jesus but, as we were reminded in a recent preaching, the matter of reality is very important in the glad tidings, and perhaps we might assume things, but if anyone here still has a need in their soul, what a Saviour! We can point you to a completed work and a Man in the glory, who completed that work, and that is a very wonderful thing. May we be freshly impressed and affected by the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross as being complete! We did not read on but we get the matter of the blood and the water, the blood covering things in God’s sight and the rights of God upheld, and then the water which is blessedly available.
But then we read in Corinthians. It says in verse 24, “Then the end”. It says in Ecclesiastes, “whatever God doeth, it shall be for ever”, chap 3: 14. Everything God does is marked by completeness. Everything He does is marked by perfection, of course. What a contrast that is to the world we live in, a world where generally seventy, eighty, ninety per cent is considered acceptable, but in God’s things, because everything is upheld by the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole of God’s work and God’s activities is perfection.
Of course, solemnly, it says to one of the churches, “I have not found thy works complete” (Rev 3: 2), and that is something to take home to myself, individually. Why should my works not be complete? The resources are available; help is available in the Holy Spirit. I was affected by what we sang together to the Holy Spirit in that hymn:
Our hearts have been awakened
To give Thee greater place,.
We sang that collectively, and that would be involved, but I think we need to take that on individually as well. If our works are to be complete, if we are to go on “perfecting holiness”, and if we are to be formed in features of Christ, how necessary the blessed Holy Spirit is; how well acquainted He is with the glories of the Lord Jesus!
That is another matter that would apply to the Spirit’s work in relation to the adorning the bride for Christ, so that soon that wonderful vessel, counterpart of the Lord Jesus Christ, will be complete, and then all the saints will be caught away to be with Christ eternally. What a prospect it is! Think of the Lord Jesus awaiting the Father’s word to come and take His own to be with Himself and have that vessel complete!
We read in verse 28; not that I can say much about it, but I was impressed particularly that, following the matter of subjection, which is a very wonderful feature, a prime feature that God takes delight in, we have “that God may be all in all”. I read something recently suggesting that God is “in all” as power and “all” as Object. I think that is very wonderful; so we have the power to appreciate all God has done, but then He is the blessed Object for our hearts. What a profound statement this is! We need the Holy Spirit to understand it. Think of the completeness that marks the eternal day! We anticipate it. I think we anticipate something of it on Lord’s day morning; maybe particularly towards the end of the service of God when the brethren may sit in silence for a few moments, we can anticipate the completeness of things, and too we can anticipate divine joy, and enter into it now. These are some of the wonderful privileges of Christianity, which are open to all, that what we are involved in is marked by completeness, marked by glory.
These thoughts are simple, and I just trust there might be some encouragement for us, first that the work of Christ is complete, and what a matter that is, and how we should be affected by it day by day. One of the hymns speaks about how we should never forget,
Thine own most faithful love,
(Hymn 427)
but then looking on to the day soon to come when things will be complete, and then being exercised that my work should be complete. Paul speaks about pursuing, and I am sure we would all be exercised to pursue, to go on in the pathway with the help of the Holy Spirit.
May these things just be for our encouragement, for His Name’s sake.
Word in a Meeting for Ministry, Grangemouth
13th November 2018