THE GRACE OF GOD
Luke 10:29-37; 14:7-14,34,35; 15:20-32
S.P. I had a simple exercise for our time together which is in relation to what Paul says to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 6, “that ye receive not the grace of God in vain”, (v.1). And then he also warns the Hebrews of lacking the grace of God (Heb.12:15). I wondered whether through these three passages that we read in Luke we might enquire together in relation to the grace of God.
The first parable is very well known, and I wondered whether we would be impressed afresh with the riches of God’s grace. The details are full of the riches of divine grace. It comes to meet someone in a half-dead state, then there is great excess in everything that the Samaritan does. In chapter 14 the Lord sets forth a course of lowliness and humility that was foreign to man after the flesh, but He was there as the One who humbled Himself (v.8). Paul writes “let this mind be in you” (Phil.2:5), and we have in that passage the One who humbled Himself. It was also impossible for man after the flesh to take in the idea of a recompense and the resurrection of the just (v.14). But there the Lord was, and we have the great example in Him. I wondered if we would be affected afresh by the lowly way that the Lord came into manhood. Paul also says to the Corinthians that they knew the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who being rich for our sakes became poor (2 Cor.8:9). We are to know that grace, and we see it in Him. And we might enquire into salt (verses 34,35) which has been linked with being maintained in the good and effect of the grace of God.
In chapter 15, it is always difficult to only read part of it because we should always take it as a whole. What is set forth is the glory of divine grace. All three divine Persons are active to that end, but what it really brings out is what is for the pleasure of the Father, what He delights in Himself. And we can see that everything that God has done in grace is in view of His own satisfaction, what is for Himself, for His joy. The father says, “it was right to make merry”, Luke 15:32. We also see that grace is beyond our ability to understand naturally. For us naturally it may not seem right but for God it is right. This was my simple thought.
A.A.C. That is very helpful. Is grace something which we are to receive, because the abundance of the supply from the divine side, as you have already illustrated, is far more than we can comprehend? And is it for us to lay hold of it? We need softened hearts to do that.
S.P. Yes, I wondered whether the parable of the Samaritan helps us about that. Do we prove something of the half-dead state in the way that grace comes in?
A.A.C. This man was under no misapprehension of his condition. He knew he was in a half-dead state. I suppose he was hardly able for much thought, and it is good that we arrive at that point, that we realise we are lost and in a half-dead state and we need divine strength. This man was, you might say, in no position to refuse it. Scripture speaks of others who were unwilling to provide it, but in principle the Lord Jesus, spoken of in the Samaritan, provides in abundance what this man needed, and he was ready to receive it. That is a wonderful point in our history when we come to be ready to accept divine grace.
S.P. Yes, it describes a powerless state. Powerless to have any interest in, or ability to go in for what is right and what is for God. But then you get the flows, and I wondered whether we had the flows of divine grace coming in. The word used is pouring; he poured in oil and wine. That is a tremendous experience to go through, to be overwhelmed by the riches of divine grace.
R.H.B. The scripture says “that ye receive not the grace of God in vain”, 2 Cor.6:1. Paul says of himself, “his grace, which was towards me, has not been vain; but I have laboured more abundantly than they all”, 1 Cor.15:10. In this first scripture that you have read we see divine grace in activity. Is that how it is not received in vain?
S.P. Yes. I have been contemplating what you quoted Paul saying. It is quite an expression. I wondered whether it colours the whole of his ministry, that everything that he had enjoyed should be enjoyed by others, that no one should fall short of the fulness of what God has in mind for us. How much “God has prepared for those that love him”, 1 Cor.2:9.
J.R.W. There is no limit in the supply of grace from the divine side, is there? I was thinking of what Paul wrote when he was going through trials, and the Lord said to him, “My grace suffices thee”, 2 Cor.12:9. There is more than sufficient, you might say there is overabundance, for every situation. Is that an encouragement for us?
S.P. We get that here. The Samaritan says, “Take care of him, and whatsoever thou shalt expend more, I will render to thee on my coming back”. It is wonderful to prove it.
D.A.B. Would you say if we are looking to measure grace, we have the idea in Scripture? We do not look at this man’s need to get a measure of it, but at the Samaritan’s supply.
S.P. Was his condition and his need there to bring to light the glory of what was under the hand of the Samaritan?
D.A.B. I was thinking of Paul writing to Timothy. He says he was the first of sinners (1 Tim.1:15). You could say no one had a greater need, but the grace of our God surpassingly over-abounded with faith and love, (v.14).
S.P. Yes, Paul could describe himself as the first of sinners. He knew what it was to be in a half-dead state. He felt, as it were, the sting of having to describe the zeal that he had possessed before: it was all used against the Lord.
D.A.B. He speaks of himself there as the delineation of those about to believe. In other words, he talks about how far grace was willing to go. But that did not measure the grace, because it surpassingly over-abounded.
S.P. Very good, and that is why we read from verse 29. The parable is an answer to one who desired to justify himself. What contrasts there are! Self-justification belongs to the half-dead state, but you have a sense of what supersedes it. Grace is able to meet any situation, and it supersedes everything that went before. It is able for what the flesh in the previous order of things was unable for.
R.J.F. This is not a transactional matter, is it? You could say that the priest and the Levite looked and they were not even willing to enter into a transaction; but the Samaritan was moved with compassion. That is where grace begins, do you think, in the Father’s heart?
S.P. That is good. I was affected by something that Mr Darby says in relation to grace which is that it is divine love in expression. It is expressed towards those who are totally undeserving of it1. That is the contrast to the Levite and the priest who passed by.
Q.A.P. John says of the Lord Jesus, “we have contemplated his glory ... full of grace and truth” (John 1:14), and then he goes on to what we have received. He says, “grace upon grace”, v.16. That is affection.
S.P. Yes, you wonder at that - these opening remarks of John’s gospel make you wonder. It is as if the apostle is going over in his mind what the disciples knew of the Lord in His pathway, and the impression they had about that.
Q.A.P. Grace is put first there. “Grace and truth”. Do you have any thought as to that?
S.P. Well, we also know that grace reigns through righteousness (Rom.5:21). Again we find that in the way that the Lord Jesus went. There was no sparing for Him. God’s righteousness had to be maintained. So all that was contrary He met by divine love, in grace. But then we must accept that God’s intention is to secure what is moral, implying what is righteous; it is to that end. Is that what you had in mind?
Q.A.P. Yes. There is an address of Mr Taylor’s2 on the conversion of a sinner and he speaks of grace coming first in view of the recovery of the person, but ultimately the truth has to prevail.
S.P. I am sure that grace being received, and not received in vain, means that it produces a result. We can be quite certain that this man would not go down from Jerusalem to Jericho again.
R.H.B. Paul asks, “Should we continue in sin that grace may abound?”, Rom.6:1. If it does not bring about that change that you have just spoken about, would that be receiving it in vain?
S.P. It certainly would imply that. Sometimes the experience of the half-dead state is one that we go over again. We prove how powerless we are. But the wonder of divine grace is that as soon as we become conscious of that state, we can turn and find that the sun, the rays of divine love, shines just the same. It meets us where we are.
A.A.C. You referred to the love of God which lies behind His grace. Would a real appreciation of God’s love help us so that grace is not received in vain? I was thinking of how this good Samaritan showed feeling. The man in the half-dead state would have had some distinct impression of the affection that was shown towards him. Here was one who, despite the poor man’s condition, evidenced love and put him on his own beast. He sacrificed for the half-dead man. Could you help us to gain a deeper appreciation of what is welling up from the divine side through God’s love towards us? Would that help us so that grace is not received in vain?
S.P. That is very good, and I was affected by the fact that it says that the Samaritan bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine. The detail of Scripture is wonderful. If I contemplate the way that grace has been shown to me, as the apostle could say, I would be directed to the love of which grace is the expression. I appreciated that remark of Mr Darby’s because it links divine love with the fact that we are undeserving of it3. That is how it expresses itself, and then it becomes even greater.
P.M. It says that the Samaritan was moved with compassion and then he came up to the wounded man, which the priest and the Levite never did. What do you see in that?
S.P. I would be glad of your help, but I suppose there was something in the others that found the wounded man repellent. It is to affect us that it is despite what we were that divine love still came near to us. And then there is the One in whom that love came near to us, the Lord Jesus Himself. So we are to appreciate the fact that the love has come to us, and also the One who expressed it.
P.M. I thought it gave an impression of the value that the Samaritan saw in the man. Paul speaks of the time when God would display the riches of His grace (Eph.1:7). It was displayed to this man in the way that the Samaritan came up to him, and as it will be displayed eternally.
S.P. Yes. We could be encouraged by seeing the way that each one of us, individually, has been met by the riches of divine grace just where we were, to meet our state, to more than meet our need.
T.J.H. I wonder if we had a greater understanding of being vessels of mercy (Rom. 9:23), which seems to precede the grace, then we would have a better appreciation of grace. It has often been said that mercy is shown to me when I did not deserve it, but grace brings me to where I did not deserve. You might say, the man should not have been going that way, but mercy was shown him. I wonder if we had a greater appreciation of the mercy that has been shown us, we would have a greater appreciation of the grace that brings us to a place of blessing.
S.P. I think that is very good. The Samaritan did not leave him where he was. It was all with a view to bringing him in. You might say every element of it is there to be enhanced in our appreciation. Think of the way we were met, where we were met, the condition we were in – but then what we are brought into, as you say. We are undeserving of the whole of it, beyond anything that we could even conceive. That is the wonder of it. We could never have conceived such blessings as we are brought into.
M.I.W. Grace would bring us into a place where we can enjoy and experience divine love in an uninterrupted way. That really is to God’s glory and to His satisfaction. It would ultimately be what is for His own heart, do you think? His love has an answer in a place which is suited to Him, and where there is blessing for those involved.
S.P. I wondered whether we have that when we turn to Luke 15. It sets forth the glory of grace. The impression I had is that what the Father is doing is filling His house with trophies of His grace. It is for His own glory, for His own satisfaction, what is for His heart. He delights in it.
R.D.P. About this matter of mercy and grace, is mercy power in a way? It meets conditions that exist, a wonderful thing. But grace is supply. In a certain way, in mercy God is looking back at what He is in meeting our lost condition, but grace is looking forward, do you think? Is it supply?
S.P. That is very helpful and the tense used in the words here is continuous. It is pouring in the oil and wine. There is no indication that anything would stop while the man is in the inn, is there? There is a continuous supply that goes beyond what we could conceive.
R.D.P. It has often been said that this scripture shows that grace works not with what it finds, but with what it brings. That is looking forward; a never-ending supply of grace.
S.P. That is very helpful and it delights the soul that is conscious of the half-dead state, because it realises that there is nothing that we can bring, but everything is brought by divine grace. Everything is supplied by the One who is able. That is the other wonder in relation to the fact that this Samaritan came up to him. He knew that he was able for it.
J.R.W. Do you have some thought in relation to righteousness? You mentioned that “grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord”, Rom.5:21. I was thinking of this question here of “whatsoever thou shalt expend more”. Is it based on righteousness? I was thinking too of the work of Christ that laid the great basis for that. I wondered if you had more in mind about what you said as to righteousness.
S.P. What I had in mind in relation to the reference in verse 35 is what comes to us. I think we have been helped to see that that verse describes not exactly a time but rather the moral idea of what God is doing, which is to secure righteousness in view of eternal life, what we might enjoy now. We have to accept that God’s ways are in righteousness. We see His grace, and we have spoken of it and all that it supplies, but His ways are in righteousness and it is something that we have to accept. It is the moral compass. It is the way of God, and we see it in all the details of the Lord’s life, as you point out. There was never, ever, any shortcoming in relation to righteousness. Everything is met righteously by the Lord Jesus.
P.J.W. I think there is a hint of that in the Samaritan coming up from Jericho. The other two were going down, but he was coming up, which lays the basis of righteousness so that grace can then flow freely, do you think?
S.P. Yes, that is very helpful and I wondered whether that comes into our experience of the half-dead state. As we prove what we are, we see that He has met that entirely. And this is the basis, as you say, on which grace can flow. There had to be a righteous basis laid.
N.J.H. The two are brought together in the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness.
D.A.B. It has been said that it is God’s grace reigning through God’s righteousness. You could say that God is taking care of His own righteousness. Is that an act of grace?
S.P. That leads us onto Luke 14 because we see the contrast there between what is of man and what is of God in Christ, and the impossibility of man in the flesh understanding what the Lord lays before them. He does it nonetheless and we find that He does not lay out anything that He was not able for. I just had this impression that it is impossible for man in the flesh to humble himself, but there was One who after having emptied Himself, humbled Himself. What a great contrast there is. We could have really read the whole chapter because that thought carries through of the contrast there is between the ways of men, whether it is in the building of the tower, or going to war – they would make peace with the enemy – and the Lord. He was never like they were. He was setting on something that was entirely different, and this was the way that He came.
P.M. Paul says, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sakes he, being rich, became poor, in order that ye by his poverty might be enriched”, 2 Cor.8:9.
S.P. And there it is. He is always shown in contrast to what He saw around Him. I find it interesting to see, particularly in this gospel, the way that the Lord Jesus notices what was going on. He often speaks in parables in answer to it. It is remarkable how He draws out to the Jews their choosing the first places, but then He goes on; He was on a completely different line; it is to affect us. You referred to our hearts being softened. To contemplate the way He came softens our hearts.
A.A.C. Your reference to Philippians begins, “let this mind be in you” (chap.2:5). As you say, it is not found in us naturally but under the influence of the Spirit of God, the Lord would give us to have that mind in our own hearts: “For let this mind be in you”. We wonder at that passage, how great it is, and yet it was uttered, you may say, to encourage us to take on that same thought.
S.P. You see the result of it as you go through the epistle. Think of what Paul puts forward in chapter 3, for instance; that expression “that I may gain Christ” (v 8). That was really grace working in the apostle’s soul, his being so deeply affected by the way that the Lord came, and that He humbled Himself.
A.A.C. That brings us on to what you said - that we should not be lacking in the grace of God. Paul had some impression of it as Christ dwelt in him. He was not lacking.
S.P. Yes, and we can be greatly encouraged by the fact that he says, “Not that I have already attained the prize, or am already perfected; but I pursue, if also I may get possession of it, seeing that also I have been taken possession of by Christ”, Phil.3:12. As our brother helpfully said, grace supplies what is needed for what is future. Grace brings us to judge and leave behind our own failures and disappointments, and move forward.
R.D.P. The first impressions of grace in Scripture were when man was cast out of the garden of Eden and when sin had come in and man had forfeited everything. They were cast out of the garden but before they left, God gave them coats of skin to cover themselves. That was grace, and was in view of what was to come.
S.P. Yes, it is to bring stability to our souls. We see that it was all in relation to God’s purpose that He acted like that. We see that in the history of Israel too. Once they had forfeited everything, God brought into view Mount Zion, which He loved.
D.A.B. Do you think the description of the Lord’s supper that comes in the next section is something that we can come to now? Is that where the grace of God is enjoyed? It is not heaven in the future, is it? It is over against this world.
S.P. Yes, and again it is in answer to what someone said. I suppose that they might have been somewhat uneasy with what the Lord had just said to them. And so one who was there tried to fill in the conversation, you might say, by saying “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God”, Luke 14:15.
D.A.B. It struck me that there are a number of meals referred to here. There is the sabbath feast and there is a wedding and there is a supper and then there is a great supper, the greatest of them all, speaking of God’s grace. That is the one that people refuse to come to. It is very striking that God’s grace is in that sense despised.
S.P. Yes, it is most striking that men should be so taken up with what they can do themselves and the smallness of it, and yet leave aside the greatness of what God has provided in His grace – a supper to which all are invited and made suitable to come to.
T.J.H. The scripture in Philippians was mentioned, “For let this mind be in you”. We had a local brother who used to emphasise “this mind”. I wondered about what we have here as being exalted; “He that abases himself shall be exalted”.
S.P. We see that in relation to the Lord in Philippians 2. “Wherefore also God highly exalted him” (v.9), but it is presented by the Lord here as what is an impossibility: “For they have not the means to recompense thee; for it shall be recompensed thee in the resurrection of the just”. The resurrection of the just would include what there is by way of recompense. That implies the work of God in the soul. There may be circumstances in our lives where we are exercised to refuse certain things that the world may present to us, and there is a cost linked to that. There is an element of cost, you might say, but the Lord would give us to see that the recompense is far greater. And there we prove again the riches of divine grace, because we begin to see that really any little sacrifice we made was not a cost. That is how it is worked out in the soul. If anyone is in doubt we may ask the Lord for a sense of the recompense.
T.J.H. The Lord Jesus always looked on to the fruit of the travail of His soul (Isaiah 53:11). That would be the recompense. We must look on to the recompense too, do you think?
S.P. Yes, and there is what we can enjoy now. There is the great supper and the word in relation to it is “Come”. Again it has struck me as going over Paul’s ministry that you find this thought in many of his letters. There is a real desire to invite souls in to know more, to enjoy more and to never fall short of what is being prepared for us and to go on.
R.M.B. Would it be helpful to see that every divine activity towards us has in mind grace, or is an exercise of grace? Even in relation to your first scripture, the Samaritan carried on with his journey. He left the man at the inn. I was just reflecting on what was said earlier as to the display of the riches of divine grace. He was going to prepare him a place, do you think? The simple fact that the Samaritan was leaving was also an exercise of divine grace. Is that right?
S.P. Yes. We have received grace upon grace as our brother referred to earlier on. It is all grace in every movement, in every way. That is to affect us. We are to be marked by it too. We referred to Paul and that is maybe him in his individual exercises, but if you continue in 2 Corinthians there are some affecting examples brought out by Paul in relation to assembly giving. He refers to it as grace and that is where he speaks of knowing the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (chap.8:9). So there is something to mark us that can be worked out collectively too.
N.J.H. Was Paul particularly used as an example of the bondman who went out with the invitation? He knew all that was prepared; it was part of the revelation given to the apostle. So I think he was like the bondman who was sent, which is individual, “at the hour of the supper”. It was said to those who were invited: “Come, for already all things are ready”, Luke 14:17. Did the apostle do that?
S.P. Tirelessly. Constantly. Another thing that is to affect us is in 2 Cor.6 is that Paul set out all that he endured, all in view of bringing in souls.
N.J.H. It sets out the value and purity of the Lord’s supper. It is not referred to here, but all that was in his mind and heart, was it not?
S.P. Yes, what wonderful provision we have in the Lord’s supper, and we prove it. Supplies of grace are there to sustain us, and also to enable us to enjoy present spiritual blessings.
R.H.B. Paul had to do with the Lord personally at his conversion initially, as we all must. He must have had a profound sense of the grace that was extended to him. He could have been consumed on the Damascus road, but he was then referred to the saints. “What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Rise up, and go to Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which it is appointed thee to do”, Acts 22:10. You speak of what would be enjoyed now; I wondered whether he came into a circle where divine grace was in activity. A brother came and laid his hand on him and said “Saul, brother”, Acts 9:17. Ananias was one of those that Paul had been seeking to persecute and it has often been pointed out that these three main chapters of grace in Luke – chapter 10, chapter 14 and chapter 15 – all feature a house. They feature a sphere where divine grace is in activity. Is that really evidence of divine grace not being received in vain? It is not only in Christ personally, but is it to be in expression in His body here?
S.P. That is very helpful. I have often been affected to think that Paul never forgot the hand of Ananias being put on him, did he? He must have reflected many times on the view that he had had of the saints before that, and what he came to know about them through that hand. Paul must have thought about the exercise that went into that touch, the fear and everything. I often think that that experience really coloured the way in which he held the saints. Despite the state and the conditions that he had to contend with and meet, he nevertheless always regarded them highly, for he remembered what was in his own heart and how he discovered what they were. It is wonderful to find an area where grace is in activity, and where it is expressed towards one and another. I think that is what Paul was really referring to in 2 Corinthians when he speaks of the assemblies in Macedonia, “that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty has abounded to the riches of their free-hearted liberality”, chap.8:2.
R.H.B. And he never forgot the basket – that those he had sought to kill and persecute were active, at their own risk, to save his life. These things are very formative in the soul, are they not? That was undeserved favour shown to Paul, but it was shown to him through these members of Christ’s body on earth. It was not only what he received personally but what he found in the body of Christ here on earth.
G.W. So love cannot have any distance. I was thinking of how grace has sometimes been spoken of as love away from home. There must be nearness. In Luke 10, the man was put upon the Samaritan’s own beast, not only so that he was under the control of another instead of his own will, but to bring him, as our brother has said, into a sphere where love is in nearness. And too in Luke 15 the father removed the distance; the younger son was to come into a sphere where love was at rest and in nearness.
S.P. That is a very precious detail of scripture. You find that the power is not your own. It is a wonderful experience, and we can have our eyes opened in relation to what our brother has said to see the evidence of grace at work. Thus we can appreciate one another in a different way.
P.J.W. Could I ask why you read verses 34 and 35?
S.P. I wondered if that linked with the thought that we are not to be lacking in grace. If grace is operating in our hearts, it would keep us right in many ways. What blessing to be conscious of the grace that has been shown me, for if it was not for the grace of God, where would I be?
P.J.W. It says, “Let your word be always with grace, seasoned with salt”, Col.4:6. That is how we are to speak to one another and to treat one another. Grace has a preservative effect, and also a wonderful formative effect.
S.P. That is very helpful. There may be certain things which have to be addressed, or adjusted. We want to secure that objective through speaking to one another, and ensure it is preserved by grace being in operation.
D.A.S. Paul says at the end of another of his epistles, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit”, Philemon v.25. As Paul approached the end of his life, he could speak of “the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me”, Gal.2:20. Do you think these things are formative as taken into our spirits in relation to what our brother was saying as to how we are amongst the saints?
S.P. Yes, and that shows what we can experience and what we can have a part in. The whole Judaistic system was marked by coldness; it was hard. The Lord felt the way that it was hard; it placed demands on men. We know that the great mustard tree of Christendom is really a symbol of it, but there is a warmth to grace.
In chapter 15, the details are precious. Our brother alluded to it. “But while he was yet a long way off, his father saw him”. The Father has greater joy to see us being brought in than we ever could have. There is all this glory.
G.W. So the great exercise is to come under the influence of the Lord Jesus. I thought that in relation to the beast; it was his own beast, it was under his control. Is that the side of grace that we find? Speaking simply, we are not left to our own devices, but the divine mind in grace is operating so that we come under the control of Another. That is really what the son found when he came to the house. He came in not in his own strength, or in his own ways, but in the father’s ways, do you think?
S.P. Yes, I think it is good and I am glad you say that. I was affected by another thing that Mr Darby said, which is that the true source of power for the believer is in keeping our thoughts about grace very simple4.
R.W.McC. Do we find in this chapter that there is grace in the far country, there is grace in the field, and there is grace in the house? I was thinking of what the apostle Paul says that the Lord said to him: ”My grace suffices thee” (2 Cor.12:9); is that really a characteristic of the whole dispensation?
N.J.H. The younger son had the father’s company on the way back which he did not have when he went out. What an expression of grace!
S.P. Yes, and he tasted things and discovered things that he did not even know were there. I suppose even the elder son did not know they were there. It is all in view of God’s own glory; what He is doing is for His own glory. His house is filled with trophies of His work in grace and it is all to His glory.
Q.A.P. It is remarkable that the same words are used of the father here as are used of the good Samaritan: he was “moved with compassion”. I was thinking of what the Lord Jesus says, “He that has seen me has seen the Father”, John 14:9.
S.P. Yes, it is good to draw attention to that. It takes us back to the love of God shining whilst we were without strength. If it was not for the fact that there was compassion and love in the heart of God, none of these activities and movements would have happened. Our brother referred to the coats of skins given to Adam and Eve – that was the first expression of divine grace. It all began with God, and it is in view of what is for Him.
J.R.W. For myself, I do not think of that side too much when I read this section. Perhaps I am lacking in that but it is interesting what you say because the father says, “bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry … And they began to make merry”. And then the father says, “it was right to make merry and rejoice”. Could you open up your thoughts about what was for the father in this?
S.P. Well, only by contrast really. We know what entered into the father’s heart when his son thought that he should be made as one of the hired servants. We know the younger son had to be brought to the point that he realised that he did not even deserve to be made as one of the hired servants; but it is as if the father had in store all of these things and they were waiting to be displayed. He had in store the fatted calf, the best robe, the sandals, the ring and also the merriment, the dancing and the music. He had that ready, you might say, and he was watching to see if there was any movement of heart that would allow him to display what he was able to do and to bring to light the greatness of his work. He said, “But it was right to make merry and rejoice”. God has a righteous basis to bring out everything that He is able to do for His own joy.
J.R.W. I was thinking as you were speaking that the Father’s heart is satisfied with what He has secured through His grace. It is a wonderful thing.
S.P. It is wonderful that He is able to do that. It satisfies the heart of the Father. It secures an atmosphere in which He has His joy.
D.A.B. I was thinking about what has been said about the way Paul ends his epistles, that the father in this parable not only had all these material things but he had a houseful of people, in his grace, through whom they could be expressed. There were those who came with him on the road, there were those who provided the entertainment, there was one who went out. These are all people in whom what was quoted earlier is true. The grace of God was with their spirits, and the result was that the father was expressed in the people of his household.
S.P. Yes, that is helpful because the thought of God making Himself known as Father comes to light and is expressed in relation to sons. It has to be so, because it is a name of relationship.
D.A.B. I was thinking of Paul. He says in Ephesians, “and were children” (chap.2:3), “Be ... imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love” (5:1).
R.D.P. Situations test us as they arise. I was thinking of this older son. He was wrong in the things he said, but I was thinking of how in 2 Timothy, after the exercises of chapter 2, Paul wrote, “And a bondman of the Lord ought not to contend, but be gentle towards all; apt to teach; forbearing; in meekness setting right those who oppose”, 2 Tim.2:24,25. There is a suggestion of grace operating even in such a sad situation that is envisaged in 2 Timothy. I was thinking of this older son. He said, “this thy son …”. He got angry, he would not come in. ‘You have never given me this, that and the next thing’. The father was gentle towards all, even in a situation like that; he said, “thou art ever with me”; in effect he says, everything I have is yours. It is an object lesson really. I think we are tested, we have been tested, perhaps still are tested, as to whether we meet situations in gentleness, do you think?
S.P. Yes, that does test us, and we can notice for instance again in 2 Corinthians the gentle language of the apostle when he speaks to them and lays out what was in his heart that he wanted to secure. I have often been affected by the fact that the elder son would not go in.
T.J.H. Would grace known in the house be in accord with what was expressed on the road? The father covered his son with kisses before he entered the house. And the merriment in the house would be in accordance with those kisses?
S.P. It searches us, and as we think of the younger son, that is not how he expected to be greeted. I suppose he expected his father to go through his history and where he had been and what he had done. One thing we learn from this is that if something has caused distance in a relationship, and it has been resolved, it should no longer affect us when we speak to one another afterwards. Do we view one another as still being affected by it, or do we rise to be marked by grace?
T.J.H. It would be quite clear that the older son was not in accordance with that. He was not in accordance with the grace of the father.
S.P. Well, it is a solemn matter if, from a natural and fleshly point of view, we think that God’s grace is unfair. The Lord alludes to it; He speaks of the two bondmen who had been forgiven their debt, and the one who had been forgiven most would not forgive a smaller debt to his fellow bondman, Mat.28:23-34. We have to come to it that, if we allow our own flesh, we might still find God’s grace unfair, and this will affect our relationships with one another unless we are marked by grace.
I.B. So in 2 Timothy 2 the exhortation at the beginning is to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (v.1).
S.P. That is very good. Did you have more in mind?
I.B. Well, that is a particularly exercising chapter, but I was thinking of what has been said as to grace and in your first scripture the word was “go and do thou likewise”. These things are testing, but it is the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
S.P. Yes. We referred to righteousness as well and these things go together. They test us and they affect us especially when it is in relation to what is in Christendom.
R.M.B. Can you help us as to why the elder son did not notice the robe, the sandals nor the ring, only the fatted calf?
S.P. You surely have something in mind.
R.M.B. I was just thinking of what our brother said in relation to how the elder son behaved. Displaying these features of grace would prove the fact that the robe is on and the sandals are on and the ring. They speak of features of Christ in display but not appreciated by the spirit of one not affected by grace. I was just wondering if the exercise of grace desires an answer. It is a settled peace.
S.P. Yes, and I suppose what really goes with it is that the soul finds a settled peaceful state in the knowledge that there is another Man that has satisfied every single claim. There are no demands put on the first man; God has laid him aside entirely. He has been superseded and everything is in Christ. That is what it refers to. There is righteousness involved in the fact that the best robe is brought out. That is really the righteousness of Christ, the basis on which we go in. Another thing that I thought conveys the glory of divine grace in this chapter is that we find that all three divine Persons are active in view of securing what is to be found in the house of the Father.
R.H.B. The assertion of the father in the last verse is really the answer to verse 2 in the chapter. As you say, they thought it was unjust that Jesus should mingle with people like that. The whole parable really is to establish the righteousness of God: His rights in grace, His rights to extend mercy to the guilty and favour to those that do not deserve it. The father says: “thy brother was dead and has come to life again”. That is a very profound change, is it not? As you say, it may seem unfair to man naturally, but to come to life again involves a completely new nature in the believer.
S.P. The displacement of the previous man is reached through death, a new order of life has been manifested in Christ. As you say, God has a righteous basis for doing what He does. He is just in justifying him that is of the faith of Jesus (Rom.3:26). That really conveys what there is in Jesus. That is the basis of it – what He is.
R.H.B. We often speak of grace and righteousness almost as though they are in contrast, but they are inseparable, are they not? God has His rights in grace. They are established, as you have pointed out, in the death of Christ, but God is not overlooking anything. There is nothing underhand or deceitful about this. It is all established on a basis of immutable, unchallengeable righteousness. That having been established, God’s heart is free to express itself.
S.P. Yes, that is very helpful because I think the trouble is we always want to bring ourselves in and link it with us, do we not? But it is God’s prerogative to have acted on the basis of His love, in grace, to have met everything that needed to be met and to meet it in righteousness so as to bless man. That has nothing to do with what I am or what I did. It is His prerogative. But that is the basis of deliverance, is it not, to see that?
P.J.W. It also says, “the grace of God.... has appeared”, Titus 2:11. Nothing brought it out but it appeared in Christ.
S.P. Yes, and that is the difficulty for the religious man. You see it all through the gospels. That is what really put it beyond the Pharisees. They were waiting with a view that Messiah would make something of themselves and what they were. Again in this gospel the Lord speaks of the outcome of His presence, the divisions and the fire that it involves. It is not what He had in mind but it was the practical result of what had appeared in Him.
R.W.McC. It says in chapter 14 that they had not the means to recompense. I wondered if the answer to that is the recompense that God receives in His grace being shown. You said at the beginning that we are not to be “lacking in the grace of God”. Would seeing it operating in persons, undeserving like ourselves, be part of your exercise?
S.P. It is a wonderful result for God. What great pleasure He has that that should be secured in His people. You get a sense of it in the new covenant. The dwelling, the peace of the nature of the relationships of those who are there. It says that no one shall say to his brother, “Know the Lord; because all shall know me in themselves,” Heb.8:11. That is another very precious detail of scripture; “in themselves”. There is something that is secured and worked out that is of Himself.
J.R.W. It is all for God’s glory. That is what is brought out in what has been said. It is all from God and for His glory.
S.P. I thought that we might be encouraged to see that. We are affected by grace as it comes to us and meets our need and so on: it is a wonderful thing. But even greater to be led to the One who expressed it, who could humble Himself, in such great contrast to what is in our own hearts according to nature. That all has in view what is to be displayed for God’s glory – the glory of His grace, the trophies of His grace. They are all there and the atmosphere is secured and these things can be touched upon now.
Reading in Sidcup
26 November 2022
Sylvain Perret