THE GENTILES RESERVED FOR BLESSING
[p. 497] THE GENTILES RESERVED FOR BLESSING
Genesis 2:15 - 18; Galatians 3: 8 - 14
It is an important thing in considering the ways of God with the race of men to see that He divided them up into nations in mercy. In other words, it was His mode of preserving the nations from excessive lawlessness. There was lawlessness, I need not say. Genesis 11 records for us, as is well known to many here, the resolution on the part of man to build a tower and a city in the plain of Shinar. It was a distinct resolution arrived at; and not only arrived at, but deliberately carried into effect.
We must not conclude that lawlessness is without method; lawlessness in the world has become organised; and one often notices this, even in individuals, deliberate, carefully planned sin; not simply the outcome of a rash outburst, as in young people, but sin deliberately planned and carried out with a measure of what we may call intelligence. Now, that is the kind of lawlessness God abhors. That is what marks the present world; and that is what is seen in Genesis 11. One said to his fellow, “Go to, let us make brick”. Everything is carefully thought out; and I have not a doubt but that the building, the workmanship, was excellent; and the material excellent of its kind; and all was carefully carried out. The Spirit of God records for us the end in view. Nothing is omitted: “Let us build us a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth”. All that without God.
Now, what I want to show you is that in the presence of all that, God comes down; not simply did He look down, as we read in the Psalms, but He came down. Now, think of that; men may plan [p. 498] out a course of sin for themselves; a course which disregards every moral principle; think of that; and God comes down to see what they are doing. He comes near to you to see what you are doing, and, if possible, He is going to restrain your doings. If you are not to be converted at the moment God will hedge about your ways; wondrous mercy to have your ways hedged about by providential dealings on the part of God. The eye of God has been upon you from your birth. It was upon Paul; God had carefully separated that man in His mind from his birth; and I doubt not he hedged his way about; He saved him from many a sin; and so He does to each one of us. There is not one in this room tonight, converted, who, if he reviews his course even in his unconverted days, cannot recall how God stood between him and evil, when his heart would have led him into it; God stood between him and it. God, in that way, is reserving you for blessing. Now, that is a point I want to make clear; that there is divine reservation for blessing; not for cursing.
Well now, God came down to take account of what was being done; He surveyed the work, and the consequences of the work. He said, “And now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do”. Think of the mercies of God surrounding you, hedging you in so that you should be restrained. They would be restrained from nothing; their aspirations would exceed all bounds. If they succeeded in this, they would attempt something more; one sin precedes another; one act of lawlessness but paves the way for a more heinous one. How merciful, if God hedges you about, and saves you from additional lawlessness; the present is bad enough, but it could be worse; every sin but hardens you, and paves the way for worse.
God had foreseen the time when Christ should appear; He announced it to Abraham, and that He [p. 499] would as a result reserve the nations for blessing. I want you to take note of that. God divided the nations so as to preserve them for the blessing He had in His mind for them. I would ask you to take that in. God reserves us for blessing. He had the blessing in His mind, and in order that the blessing should be preserved, He raised up Abraham, and his seed, but in order that the race should not enter on a course of excessive lawlessness, He divided them, so that there should not be intercommunion. I want you to ponder what I am saying. It is the divine way; the division of the race into nations was a mercy, and Satan perceived it. God says, “Let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech”. So He raised up barriers between the nations to prevent them from intercommunion, and to save them in that way from excessive lawlessness.
The apostle Paul, when speaking to the Athenians concerning the nations, says, “God has set bounds to their habitations”. Why? “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him”. What a mercy it is to be circumscribed, so as to save us from lawlessness, from sin. You may endeavour to throw off the divinely appointed trammels which are to save you from lawlessness; you think to throw them off, but let me remind you that they are a most merciful provision for you in your youth, until you are saved, and get the Holy Spirit. Those trammels are the protection of God for you, to save you from Satan, and from sin, and from the world. When you trust Christ you get His protection you get the Holy Spirit, who becomes power in your soul; then you are free, and, as the Lord says, you “go in and out and find pasture”. But that going in and out is not lawlessness; it is not to run riot like the Gentiles; it is to do the will of God.
Well, now, I want to make clear the thought as [p. 500] to the nations. Think of the divisions of the nations, and remember that each one of them has a divine boundary; not in judgment, though in one sense it was judicial, but it was mercy. Every providential dealing of God is a mercy. So that all those ancient languages, take each one by itself, was a divine barrier in order that men should be saved from excess of lawlessness; and in order, as Paul says, that they might seek after God; and then he adds, “he is not far from every one of us”. God was not far from the nations; every morning the sun shone in the heavens; rain came down; and the earth yielded her increase. All that was continually a testimony to God; He is not far from any one of us, for “in him we live, and move, and have our being”. Now God, moreover, in His providential ways preserved the Gentiles until the time of the blessing arrived. It is the responsibility of the preacher to make it clear that the blessing has arrived. The nations were preserved during all the centuries of antiquity until Christ appeared. Ponder that think of God, in His providential dealings, preserving all those nations; preserving them until the appearance of the true seed of Abraham; until the time arrived for the Vessel of the blessing to appear.
Now, I want to add one other word as to the nations; and that is, that Satan perceived it was God’s mercy to divide the nations; and hence he worked on the line of imperialism. Did you ever study the history of imperialism in Scripture? It was a satanic device; but a device which was met in Christ. But imperialism was an attack of the enemy on God’s proposal in Genesis 11. The enemy would overthrown God’s intention. God’s intention was to divide the nations, and to maintain them divided until the true Emperor should be presented to them, and they should be united in the power of the Spirit in Christ. Satan’s device came to light [p. 501] immediately in Nimrod. If God is seeking to hedge you about, and preserve you for blessing, Satan will do all in his power to help you to get loose; he will hold all kinds of inducements out to you; he will bring forward societies, and friends, calculated to ensnare you. Depend upon it, if God is doing anything for you, Satan will notice it, and he sets to work to prevent it operating. Now, that is what he did in Nimrod. Nimrod was a ready instrument for the evil one; he was a rebel; his name signified that; and we are told by the Spirit that he began his kingdom at Babel; and his kingdom signified imperialism. We all know that Babel is imperialism in Scripture; and all the great empires of the world, beginning with Babylon, implied that the nations should come under one head. The four great Gentile monarchies endeavoured to rule the world. In other words to overthrow the divisions which God had raised up in mercy to the nations.
God announced the blessing: “Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the nations on the principle of faith, announced beforehand the glad tidings to Abraham”. Now nothing, in a way, can be more interesting than to consider the call of Abraham. “I called him alone”, says God. He was called out alone; and as called out, the blessing is announced to him. Oh that one might make clear to you what is in the heart of God for you! In all those gracious dealings, God has blessing in His mind. Now, I have often referred to the division of the nations as judgment; and, in a sense, it was; but it was mercy.. God looked on to the time when Christ should appear, and die, in order to secure the blessing, in order to make good the announcement to Abraham that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed.
Well now, when you come to Genesis 22 you have Isaac. I have often thought that Isaac in the Old Testament represents Paul’s teaching in the New. What you will find in connection with Isaac is very striking. In Genesis 22 the angel calls twice out of heaven. It might, have sufficed to say that the angel “called”, or “spake”, as elsewhere; but it is recorded here that he spake out of heaven. In other words, Isaac is the object of heaven. Isaac is the heavenly man. I want to speak of the announcement. God says, in verse 17, “In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice”. There are two thoughts I want to dwell upon briefly, in that passage: the first is, that the seed of Abraham would possess the gate of his enemies. I want you to understand, beloved friends, that that applies to Christ. He it is that possesses the gate of His enemies; and, in alluding to it, one might enlarge upon the Lord’s conflict with the enemy, when the Lord had to say to the power of evil, in death.
I speak of this for the moment, so that you might understand the completeness of the deliverance. In order that the blessing might be diffused, you must have the enemy overthrown. I want you to understand that. His seed is to possess the gate of His enemies. That is the position taken up by the Lord Jesus in consequence of His conflict and victory. He has taken up a position in the gate of His enemies.
Do you need to fear them? Does the believer need to fear them? If you have any dread in your soul as to enemies, think of Psalm 24: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle”. He is worthy to enter.
[p. 503] The gates of glory are thrown open to Him; but the enemies’ gates are in His possession. You will remember that when David slew Goliath in the valley of Elah, he took the giant’s head to Jerusalem; that is an intimation of what is in my mind. The Lord Jesus holds the gates of His enemies; they have no power against Him.
Now, there are many believers on the Lord Jesus, true in heart, but they do not confess Him; and on account of that they do not get the Spirit; at any rate, they do not enjoy the support of the Spirit. If you do not get the Spirit, you do not get blessing. I want you to understand that Christ holds the gates of His enemies. You need not fear to confess the Lord. If you want to have the Spirit in real power, confess the Lord. I would urge you to test that. “[p. 504] If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved; for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”.
Then further: “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed”. Think of the position of the Lord Jesus: He has gone into heaven, we are told, and angels, and principalities, and powers have been made subject to Him; and more, He has the keys of death and of hades. That is the position.
It is not that He shall have them; He has them. He is in the gate of His enemies; not one of them can lift a finger without the Lord; not one of them. Would that you could get that into your soul. He is worthy of your confession. The enemies dare not move without Him. If He allows them to act, to discipline you, it is another matter. Take it not from their hand, but from His. The Lord has control over everything, even of hades, and death. It is a complete triumph. He is worthy of your confession:
“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus”. That position is universal; His position on high has reference to the whole of mankind.
Simeon saw a light for the revelation of the Gentiles; the Gentiles are brought to light; God had carefully reserved them for blessing, they are brought into evidence; and now what? The blessing is carried to them. “That the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus”. Think of that; it is brought near to you. What can exceed the grace, the kindness of God, in carrying the blessing to us in Christ Jesus. We have not now to go to Jerusalem for it. I wonder if you understand that. The epistle to the Galatians is to establish that we are living in the faith period; the period of liberty; and the faith period signifies not that we have to go to the blessing, but that the blessing has come to us. “That the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus”. Christ Jesus is set up on the part of God as the Administrator of the blessing; and it has come to the Gentiles in such an One as that. Then the apostle adds another thought; “that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”.
Now this is the statement of the present situation; the blessing has arrived; it has come to us. What is your side? What is my side? Faith. “That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”. Have you received the Spirit? This same Jesus, whom the Jews had crucified, God made both Lord and Christ. He has anointed Him. “Being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear”. The Spirit was there; He was present at Jerusalem. Then the question is raised, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” That was a most remarkable question. It was the effect of conviction: “They were pricked in their hearts”. Ah, it is a wonderful [p. 505] moment when the divine touch is felt in the heart, and the cry issues “What shall we do?” The issue is tremendous. You are brought face to face with God, with Christ, and with eternity. What are you going to do about it? What an issue there was on that day at Jerusalem! And the answer was immediate; even as it is now: “Repent and be baptised, every one of you”; not en masse; no; “every one of you”.
There is no such thing as salvation en masse; it is every one of you; “and you shall receive remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit”. How plain, how decisive the answer! Three thousand people understood it; and they embraced it; they were baptised; they received remission of sins, they received the Holy Spirit, and they were brought into the Christian circle; a circle of affection, where God was. Indeed we are told, with very great significance, that the Lord added to the assembly such as were saved; He added them to it. How complete is His care for us; He never leaves us until He places us where the blessing is to be enjoyed. And so, on parallel lines, the blessing extended to the Gentiles. Paul presents things from the standpoint of Isaac, who is, in type, the heavenly man, the vessel of the heavenly blessing to the Gentiles; and so Paul says, that the blessing had arrived at the nations, in Christ Jesus, and that we should receive the promise of the Spirit on the principle of faith.
Now there is just one other thought, and that is in the epistle to the Romans. The apostle says “I have written to you the more boldly, brethren, in part, as putting you in mind, because of the grace given to me by God, for me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the nations, carrying on as a sacrificial service the message of the glad tidings of God, in order that the offering up of the nations might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit”, Romans 15:15, 16.
[p. 506] Now, think of that. The nations are to be offered up to God. God is to have you and me “that the offering up of the nations might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit”. I think that is a glorious ending of Paul’s mission. If you peruse the history from Genesis 11, to Romans 15, which I have cited, it is a wonderful story. Genesis 11, the nations are in revolt; God comes in in mercy and divides them up for blessing; and now the blessing has arrived at them, and they are offered up to God. What a marvellous triumph on the part of God through the glad tidings!
One would appeal to souls as to whether we are really offered up? Paul looked at the whole Gentile product of the gospel as being all offered up to God; not divided up, but being brought into the unity of the Spirit; being sanctified, as he says, by the Holy Spirit. There was a good deal made of tongues in the early history of Christianity; and the point is that God Himself overthrew the barriers. In the coming of the Spirit, the barriers are overthrown, and we understand one another’s speech; speech is no longer a barrier, and we hear, “every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born”: Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, Cretes, and Arabians, “we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God”. Not the wonderful work of the builders of Babel; but the wonderful works of God. And what works they are! Such is the theme for those who have the Spirit.
May the Lord grant that it may be so; and that amongst Christians, beloved brethren, there may be the practical unity of the Spirit. It is in that sense that we are sanctified, and offered up to God.