Gathering the Mannah

… Verse 17, Revelation 2, verse 17, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to Edith a hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. We are all aware that this was written to Pergamos, the assembly that had linked itself with a world that is altogether opposed to God. However, there were overcomers in connection with Pergamos. Who is he that overcometh? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. That simplicity and directness of faith is going to be rewarded. I will give him to Edith a hidden manna. What is a hidden manna? Of course, as we have seen this afternoon, the manna was gathered by diligent labor. No labor there in that coming day. I will give him to Edith a hidden manna. It is there for him to partake of. Thank God, we look forward to that day when our full enjoyment of Christ will be marvelous beyond thought. We will never forget the lowly humiliation of the Son of Man. That is something that he endured, and it will be all the more precious to those who have endured or stood against that which was a mere mixture of truth and falsehood. The manna is extremely precious, and this remains. I will give to him to eat of a hidden manna. It speaks of the Saint's appreciation of Christ. The White Stone will speak of his appreciation of you, which is a grand thing, too. I trust that each one of us has very real concern and exercise as regards such marvelous things as these. Now notice the hidden manna and the White Stone. No man knows, save he that receives it, the new name written. No one knows, but he that receives it. There is the true, real, communion with the Lord Jesus that is of such vital value. It isn't something out in the open, not something to be displayed as in the Millennial Kingdom. It is something rather of the most vital, precious, personal character. Dear friends, is this what you and I desire? The Lord's appreciation, altogether apart from what other people think. I trust we are not looking for the approval of people. I know that it hurts when people disapprove. But if the Lord approves, what about it? That's the thing that really counts. The Lord's approval. And then there is the personal approval of the Lord. Do you approve of him? Do you delight in him? Now this is what is going to be of wonderful value to the heart of the overcomer in that marvelous day still to come. However, right now, you and I are here to gather by labor. Gathered by labor shall increase, though wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished. While we are here in the wilderness, there is a necessity of going steadily on, consistently. And there is certainly no more marvelous object set before our eyes, or it could be set before our eyes, than that blessed man who went on steadfastly in the face of all the persecution, the enmity, the bitterness of men of this world, who could stand firmly for the living God. Oh, what an object for the adoration of the heart! Is not every detail of that life deeply precious to us, dear friends? This is that which will enable us to go on and not be turned aside by the many things that everywhere threaten us today. We know this, that there are so many things. But the Lord Jesus remains the same, that same one who has suffered, who has gone through agony for us. Now I've solved it with the right hand of God. We shall remember him for eternity. I would like to suggest that in regard to the manna that was not to be gathered on the Sabbath day, we have a lovely picture here of the fact that God's rest is not to be marred by any kind of labor. God's rest looks forward to eternity. There is perfect rest there. But on the sixth day they were to gather twice as much as they gathered on the other days. What is involved in this? I think we have a dispensational picture here, do we not? That is, when Israel is restored and blessed in the Millennium, which is the sixth day dispensationally, I have no doubt, there will be labor still. God's rest hasn't come at that time. But Israel will be in a condition to gather twice as much as they ever gathered before. They will gather a great deal at that time, in view of the eternal rest. You and I, dear friends, are we gathering now in view of being eternally with the Lord and seeing the Lord face to face? Let's put our whole heart into it. But I'd like to turn, if you please, to Proverbs 25. These are also Proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Zechariah, the king of Judah, copied out. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter. The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable. Take away the gross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness. Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men. For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come out hither, than that thou shouldst be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom thine eyes have seen. Go not forth hastily to stride, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbor hath put thee to shame. Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself, and discover not a secret to another. Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.' We needn't read further, but the wisest of men wrote this. Dear friends, let us deeply take to heart the instruction of Solomon, and at the same time greatly avoid the example of Solomon. We know what we mean, don't we? Sad to say, this man, wise as he was, endowed with wisdom and knowledge more than any other, made a tragic ruin of his life. Why? Because though he was wise, though he understood a great deal, he was not gathering the manna. It is not just having intelligence that is gathering the manna in him. We need something deeply more than that. It is the soul's appreciation of Christ personally that is involved here. Gathering that which speaks in the word of God, speaks deeply to my inmost soul. In reference to the manna, we can all be sure that what he is looking at is the place in which that what he is looking at is the place in which we ourselves are found, where we are humbled, brought right down to the dust, a world that is totally opposed to God, everything against us in this world, and the believer is to recognize this. The whole world has nothing to give. When we look at it from God's point of view, this is the way we see it. Feeling this, therefore, we feel the absolute need of the very presence of the Lord to sustain us in every step of our way. We need to draw largely upon the grace of God. We need to know of Christ in all the circumstances of his life here, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. How much does Solomon know of that? Not so much. He did not understand what it meant to suffer rejection with Christ. He came to the throne, he was reigning, but not the same way that David came to the throne. David came through deep exercise of soul, and he was a shepherd first, and he was an exile, and eventually came to the throne. He learned through suffering. Dear friends, I say what a knowledge, what a blessing it is for us to learn through suffering, and be content to face the suffering, the cry, the exercise of it. It is going to be for the deepest good of our souls. Let us cherish those things that are hard to bear, and take them from the hand of God, and learn in them the marvelous ways of God, because we see the Lord Jesus trod this path, that of suffering, shame, rejection, and yet you and I look at it, and it fills our hearts with the deepest admiration. We look at him, why there is such beauty there that it draws the heart, beauty in his humiliation. Remember what Israel said, when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. The kind of beauty they were looking for was not the kind that you and I see. In fact, in those very things in which Israel saw no beauty, believers see the most marvelous, exquisite beauty. In the previous chapter here, chapter 24, verse 30, notice what it says. Solomon says this, I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man of void of understanding. And the Lord was all grown over his thorns, and nevels had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well, and I looked upon it and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as a roving plunderer, and I want as an armed man. Do you want spiritual poverty? Well, I certainly hope not. Solomon gives us this instruction. He said that he received instruction from the slothful man. He received the instruction, but do you know, dear friends, Solomon himself, actually in his kingdom, began this very thing so that his kingdom, by the time that he passed off the scene, was already well on its way to disintegration. Why? It was not the Lord he was seeking. He wanted wisdom, he asked for that, give me wisdom that I may go out and come in before the people. He received it, but his object was too much the people instead of the Lord, that I may go in and come out before the people. He wanted a good testimony, but he never had it. It's sad to say. But in the book of Proverbs, coming to the end of this chapter, we see the gradual disintegration of the kingdom. There is good instruction in Proverbs that we know, but by the time we come to the end of this chapter, it looks at the kingdom as falling to pieces, practically. The slothful man. Now, dear brethren, let you and me take heed to this, and not be slothful. Laxity, spiritual laxity, has led to terrible sorrow in the Church of God. We know that. While men slept, the enemy sowed tears. We've just been too lazy. I'm sure I'm not saying that that's true in Scotland, but if I know something of my own heart in my own country, I can speak for ourselves. I'm not talking to you. But however, this is one thing that has broken things down dreadfully. We can only honestly face the facts. And yet, dear friends, when I speak that way, I don't want to be negative in any respect. It's good to face what is true, face facts. But there is one who is above the facts. Our trust is in the living God. Can God give us help in the presence of all the conditions that exist today that are so opposed to what we read of in the early chapters of Acts? Well, of course he can. The believer shouldn't have the slightest difficulty with a question of that kind. And chapter 25 begins the subject of God's provision made for times of ruin and failure in the Kingdom. In fact, these are Proverbs that had been written by Solomon, but were copied out by the man of Hezekiah. Hezekiah, we know, came at a time when the Kingdom was in a very bad state. He said, this day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and of blasphemy. But Hezekiah, nevertheless, was a man who counted on God to restore. And God did give some measure of restoring blessing. And it's good for us to count upon God. He can restore. He can bring about blessing in the midst of all the failure. Now, this is what these last chapters of Proverbs deal with. The last two chapters, by the way, are not Proverbs and Solomon. At least, the last one, no doubt, is of Solomon. And it's called a prophecy, rather than Proverbs. Also, the second last, the 30th chapter, is called a prophecy. And that was not by Solomon. Very interesting, because Solomon, the wisest man, wrote all those books, and the one man who wrote the other chapter calls himself the most stupid of men. Rather interesting. And yet, I have a bit of doubt. In many respects, he was wiser than Solomon. What do I mean? Spiritually, he was wiser. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I steal, or lest I be rich and say, Who is the Lord? Well, there was wisdom. Solomon had great wisdom, but it just seemed as though it didn't apply itself directly to his own heart and conscience. Dear friends, if our knowledge doesn't strike our conscience hard, and doesn't have an effect on our hearts, we are not really feeding on the manna. So let's get back to feeding on the manna. Notice how it's done. This first chapter shows us some of the first principles of regaining a proper state when we have failed. Can we regain it? I don't say we're going to regain this condition of things that existed in the book of Acts. We won't. Don't think for a moment the Church is ever going to get back to that. We won't. But nevertheless, you and I are still responsible to recognize that the Spirit of God is able to sustain every true testimony and witness for him, for Christ, in a world of evil. The Spirit of God is still capable for those who desire the guidance of God, then God certainly is going to enter in and bless them. Now, look at verse 2. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is to search out a manna. The honor of kings. I think that's a beautiful expression. The king himself is mentioned a little later. The kings are mentioned here first. And every believer, I'm sure we're all aware of, has royal character, made a kingdom, priests, unto our God. There is priestly character, and there is also royal character. We don't reign as kings, I hope we don't want to either right now. We will. But meanwhile, we have the wonderful privilege of acting in moral character as kings. In other words, there is a kingly dignity attached to every believer, upon which we should rightly act. It has to do with testimony of the world, for one thing. The Lord Jesus said, Thou says that I am a king. To this end was I born, for this cause came unto the world, that I might bear witness unto the truth. But here are kings who search out the matter that God conceals. It's the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is to search it out. I think that's a beautiful verse. Now, this is especially true in days of ruin and failure. People tell us, well, how can you know? Why, everyone is teaching a different thing. Over here there's this, and over here there's that, and all kinds of different things. Yes, dear friends, how can you know? Stop and think. Can you know? To whom do you belong? Does he care for you the same as he did when he saved you? Well, of course he does. Why, this would be an insult to God to say that I can't know. God intends believers to know. Have thorough confidence in the living God. In other words, don't become merely like a menial who doesn't know even where he's going. Maintain the dignity, at least, of a king, morally speaking, to search out what God is giving us. He's given us his word. Part four, to mock us? I should say no. Now, he may give it in such a way that it's not too easy to understand sometimes. And we say, well, it's just too hard. I very nearly at one time gave up studying scriptures. That came to my mind. I began studying. I thought, oh, I'll never learn anything. I can't understand all this. There's so much to learn. I'll never understand. Well, I still don't understand much. But thank God that at least the Lord brought to my attention at that time that it was Satan who was putting that into my mind, to discourage me from studying scripture. Dear friends, you and I need to get right down to find out what God means by his word. Does he mean something? Well, he's given it to us. A marvelous masterpiece of divine love and grace given to us. What are we doing with it? We have so much here to just fill the heart to overflowing. The manna is there for each of us to gather, but it takes diligence. Notice, the honor of kings searches out the matter. Get to the bottom of it. Find out what does God mean by this scripture? Not just simply what can I get out of it, but what does God mean by it? God always means exactly what he thinks. In other words, we should be concerned to find out exactly what is the mind of God in this scripture. Now, it takes searching. I agree. But it's the honor of kings to do it. Remember the dignity you have. If you're a believer, you have that dignity linked with Christ, and you are able to understand it. How are you able? Why, the Spirit of God dwells in you. This is the very fact. You see, the Spirit of God has anointed you. Well, kings were anointed in the Old Testament. Priests were anointed in the Old Testament. All right, the Spirit of God will enable you to understand, count upon him, thoroughly depend on him, and then get a little iron into your soul and work. There's no reason for us to be lazy and indifferent. Take time to get into the presence of God, and when we study scripture, and I hope we really study it, take time alone and realize I'm in the Lord's presence. I want to get it directly from God. It might be that I'm helped by things that other brethren give me, and as true, I will be helped. But that doesn't really work it into my soul. I must be in God's presence. We've heard today from 1 Timothy 4, Meditate on these things. Give thyself wholly to them, they are worth it, that thy profiting may appear to all. Now, that is gathering the manna. Think of what you are reading. Let it sink right into your soul. And as we are gathering it, don't think each time I look at a verse, don't say to myself, well, that would be good for so-and-so. Think, well, that's good for me, I've got to take that to heart myself. That's always so important. We need to take it deeply to heart and learn to judge ourselves by it. So if it hurts, let me take it. This will often be the case. You'll find in studying scripture that you'll find that you have to disabuse your mind of things that you have previously learned or thought you were learning. And you find out they're not exactly right. We have to have our thoughts corrected over and over. That's the reason scripture is given us. For correction, one thing is mentioned there. Give attention to reading. Now, we mentioned reading this morning, too. And reading is excellent. Just to read scripture is excellent. It's not all, by any means. There's reading and meditation and study, comparing one scripture with another. Now, that's wonderful work. Take time for it. And again, I'd like to reiterate what the President said. Get up early in the morning, early enough to be alone with the Lord. Take time with the Lord. Now, I have an idea that everyone here would agree with me. And how many of us do it? That strikes home very hard, doesn't it? Can't we get alone with the Lord, have time in the Lord's own presence? We have time for fellowship with one another, and that's wonderful. I certainly appreciate it. I appreciate it far more, though, after I found out what it meant to be alone with the Lord. We need it. We need fellowship one with another, yes. But we need, more than all, direct fellowship with the Lord. Now, that should be true altogether apart from family reading. I hope we all, all of our families here, at least, practice reading the Word and prayer in our families. But that doesn't substitute for personal meditation and prayer. Let's gather the manna personally. It's true enough when they gather the manna, no doubt they brought it into their homes and they shared it with each other. They brought it for their households. And we should, certainly. Brethren should gather for their households. In fact, sisters can gather too, in that way, for their children. But to share it together. But then, to gather for our own souls is important. To get alone in the presence of God. Now, it mentions here, the heaven for height and the earth for depth. And the heart of Kings is unsearchable. You can search the Word of God, and then the Lord says, but the heart of Kings is unsearchable. What does he mean? Doesn't that compare with 1 Corinthians 2? You remember what we're told there? That he that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is discerned of no man. In other words, the world just doesn't understand. One who is enjoying Christ, one who is enjoying the manna, won't be understood by the world. What about it? Does it make any difference to us? Are we worried about that? Well, I hope not. But, keep on learning more of Christ. Now, there are a number of things here mentioned also, that follow on along this line. In fact, stressing particularly, the words that we receive and the words that we give. All of those are essential. Ministry is a wonderful thing, but it must stem from first communion with the Lord. And then, our words can be acceptable as apples of gold and pictures of silver. May God grant all of us real exercise of heart along these lines. …