(Substance of a funeral address)
As we meet together to say farewell to a loved one in Christ, it is of very great comfort to know that one reason for the home-call from the Lord is that His present work has been completed in the vessel. It is down here, in the world of sin, that God is preparing His vessels of glory. Of this we are reminded in 1 Kings 7:46. Solomon, in preparing his vessels for the temple, where God's glory would pervade all, cast them "in the plain of Jordan … in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan." This latter place was where the waters of Jordan rose up in a heap, when the ark of the Lord made a way for His people to pass over dryshod. And the loved one in Christ, in whom God's new creation work is completed, has passed dry shod, through the waters of death, into the land of promise to be with Christ.
In some, the present work of God in the vessel is completed in a very short space of time; others are left for a very long time, but each vessel is prepared for its place in the coming glory, a place marked out by Him, according to the perfection of His wisdom, and directed by a heart of infinite love and a hand of divine skill. It is in the earthen vessel that the new creation vessel is formed and fitted for its function in the coming day, and under the watchful eye of the divine Workman, the peculiar features of each vessel are formed, and the details of His perfect workmanship will be displayed in the day of His glory.
Philippians 1:6 teaches us that God's good work in us is being completed for the day of Jesus Christ. It is Christ that is to be displayed in every vessel, and every feature that is wrought in God's new creation work will set forth something of the beauty and glory of Christ. Every one in whom God has wrought in His goodness and love will be needed to display what God thinks of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in that day.
There is, however, another aspect of the divine work spoken of in Philippians 1:9-11. The sovereign aspect of God's work in the soul we have already considered, the verses now before us bring out the exercises through which we pass in relation to the work of God. In this prayer, the Apostle desires that the love of the saints might abound yet more and more in full-knowledge and intelligence. The divine nature within us is to have full expression, under the control and direction of the knowledge of God and His will, as made known in the Scriptures, and through divine intelligence formed within us in communion with the Lord.
With the divine nature manifesting itself, soul exercise will bring the approval of the things that are more excellent. We have to be constantly in exercise, refusing what is not of God, and delighting in the precious things of God that were seen in Christ in Manhood here, and that are found in Him where He is in the presence of the Father. Exercises in every department of our individual life, and in relation to the assembly of God, will all help us to approve the more excellent things of God.
In passing through the difficulties that bring exercise of soul, we are to manifest the features that were seen in Christ. At all times, no matter how trying His circumstances, He was pure and without offence. Every motive of His heart was pure, and His meekness and lowliness were constantly in evidence. These are the traits that are to mark us in all our exercises, for as we exhibit the character of Christ it will be evident that the features of Christ have been formed in us.
The "day of Christ" is also to be ever before us. We look back to the time when Christ was here, and seek to follow the example He left us; we look up to see Him as the object to fill the heart, and to give strength to follow His steps; and we look forward to the day of His glory, when everything that is formed in us at the present time will be brought out by Him for His pleasure, and the glory of His God and Father.
At the present time, the exercises of soul are producing "the fruits of righteousness," under the care of the Lord, for they are "by Jesus Christ." He brings us into all the trials that His own features might be brought out in our lives, and these features are the precious fruits of which He spoke to His disciples in John 15. There, He said, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit" (John 15:8). The fruits that are being borne for the Father's glory now, will be for the "glory and praise of God" in the "day of Christ."
In Philippians 1:23, the Apostle Paul writes, "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better." And how often a wearied saint of God has a similar desire, for the portion that awaits us in the presence of Christ, in the paradise of God, is indeed "far better." Paul knew this experimentally, for he had been caught up to paradise, and knew the unspeakable bliss of Christ's presence there.
With Paul, the need of the saints brought him into the strait of which he writes; and sometimes, with the desire to be with Christ, the saint, or servant of the Lord, considers the needs of those who will be left behind, to wait amidst all the trials without the support and counsel they have had to sustain them, and this unselfish consideration gives the desire to remain, if it is the will of the Lord.
We have seen in Philippians 1:6 the confidence of the believer in Christ in relation to God's sovereign work in preparing vessels of new creation for the display of His glory, a work that may be short or long as regards time in this world. Then in verses 9-11 we have considered how the exercises of the saints are engaged in the divine work, in all the circumstances and conditions of this life through which we are passing; and have also thought of the part that belongs to those who leave this world behind to enter the presence of Christ in the heavenly paradise. At the end of Philippians 3 we learn what is to be the portion of the saints at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:20 and 21 are not immediately concerned with what shall happen to those who are now asleep in Jesus, but rather with those of us who are waiting for the Lord to come. But the dead in Christ "shall rise first" (1 Thess. 4:16), and they with us shall be conformed to the image of Christ. They are with the Saviour in their unclothed state now, and we "look for the Saviour" while passing through a foreign scene, "for our commonwealth is in heaven." The Lord is our Saviour, for He has saved us from the consequences of our sins by His death on the cross; but He will come as our Saviour to save us out of this world, where all is in opposition to His will.
When He comes He "shall change our body of humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto His body of glory." The divine work within the earthen vessel to prepare it for its place in the coming day may have required the patient working of God over many years, but the changing of the earthen vessel into the likeness of Christ's body of glory will be but the work of a moment, even as it is written, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump" (1 Cor. 15:52).
The divine treasure that God has wrought in the earthen vessel has been carried about in the earthly casket while waiting for the presence of the Lord, but the Lord will give the treasure, that which is the masterpiece of His workmanship and skill, a casket that is suited for the display of what He has wrought. And each vessel will bear Christ's likeness, for "we shall be like Him," in a body of glory like His. There will be nothing but what is of Christ, without and within. The workmanship within the vessel is of the new creation, and the workmanship without, the body of glory, is also of that same new creation, and every bit of it speaks of Christ; for nothing but Christ will be displayed in Christ's day.
The divine power that will bring us to the image of Christ is the power by which He will bring the whole universe into subjection to Himself. How blessed it is for us to know of that mighty power, displayed in Him as Son of God, the power by which He raised the dead, the power by which He came out of death, and the power by which all shall be brought under His sway.