THE SECOND MILE
THE SECOND MILE
1
A. C. Craig
DIVINE SUPPLY FOR BELIEVERS
9
G. C. McKay
CHRIST AS THE MAN OF SORROWS
13
J. D. Gray
EXTRACT
23
A. C. Craig
I want to say something about the second mile. The first mile is the requirement, the commandment, the law. The second mile is Christianity. I want to raise the question with every one of us as to whether we are exhibiting anything of the second mile; it is the line of excess, that is Christianity. We referred to Philemon today. Paul in writing to Philemon about Onesimus, who had left Philemon and somehow got into the prison beside Paul and was converted, when sending him back says this, “I have written to thee, knowing that thou wilt do even more than I say” (Philemon 21). That is Christianity—“do even more than I say”.
The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us, that is by the Spirit, but the Christian is capable of far more than that. The keeping of the law is an easy thing for a Christian because he has the Spirit, but it is not only the law that he would fulfil, he would aim at even more than is required. The great types are all contributory to this thought; Rebecca, Ruth, Abigail, the woman of worth, they all contribute to this great matter of excess. It would be proper to us as belonging to the assembly, that we are marked by this line of excess.
I want to speak first about the Lord Jesus, because He is the One who has set this matter on more than anybody else, as to the line of excess. I suppose keeping the commandment, the first mile, was from the manger to the mount of transfiguration. I think He filled out the complete pathway of God’s will between these two points. How wonderfully He set it out, every detail in its place in that perfect holy life. He comes to the point of the mount of transfiguration when heaven would have received Him. I speak carefully about the Lord completing the first mile, but He did, He fulfilled God’s
will in every detail in perfection. How wonderful were the things that came into His pathway between those two points, and He was transfigured in glory. How great that is! You think of the wonder of it, a blessed Man on the mount of transfiguration as the One who had accomplished in detail this pathway for God’s pleasure and glory. Heaven might have taken Him home then, the way was open for Him to go in, but He declines and comes down the mountain and goes to the cross; from there on right to the cross I think is the excess, the second mile. You think of not only the teaching but what came out in His life, the detail of it, the wonderful excess of grace that was manifest. Think of these great parables that He brought out, especially in Luke, as to the wonderful character of blessing, and too the Spirit that marked Himself. Repeatedly in that section, from the mount of transfiguration on, you see Him on a journey and the detail of that journey to me, is like the excess of grace. In Luke 10, the Samaritan as he journeyed, what grace came out in that! Then He went through city by city, village by village, journeying towards Jerusalem. How great that is! I think you get an excess of grace in that in His committal to the will of God; but then there is what marked Himself and belonged to Himself, what He expressed as on this second mile! Then we have the man who went to his friend at midnight and said, “Friend, let me have three loaves, since a friend of mine on a journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him”, Luke 11: 5, 6. Who was that Friend? That was the One who appeared in glory on the mount of transfiguration. He was on a journey. Where was He going? He was going on to Calvary, on to the cross. He was on a journey, and the man was begging three loaves from his friend, because he had nothing to set before this Friend on a journey.
Beloved brethren, I think the Spirit of God would appeal to our hearts, presenting Jesus in this way of journeying on, and the kind of thing that came out in that period of His service here to me is like the excess of
grace. In Luke 14 and 15 He is giving expression to what marked Himself. Then He spoke the parable about the bondman who was ploughing and shepherding all day, when he comes home at night after a hard day’s work and expects his meal to be ready, but his master says,
“Prepare what I shall sup on ... and after that thou shalt eat and drink”, Luke 17: 8. He goes and does it, like Jesus. What a spirit! After ploughing or shepherding all day he goes and gets his master’s meal ready. The Lord taught His disciples after that to say, “we have done what it was our duty to do”. What a spirit marked Christ! As coming to the end of the dispensation, I think He would have it that certain features of Himself should come into expression; the detail of grace that should be in expression. If your neighbour compels you to go a mile, you might say, What right have you to tell me to go a mile? There is nothing like the first mile to raise the flesh, that was the intention of the law, to bring out what was there. You might say, I do not like your spirit, what right have you to compel me to go a mile? It is a question of the spirit that marks us, as I said about the man who was told, “Prepare what I shall sup on ... and after that thou shalt eat and drink”. Then it says, “when ye shall have done all things that have been ordered you, say, We are unprofitable bondmen”, Luke 17: 10. That is the spirit of Christ. It is a question really, in these latter days, of the spirit that is marking us.
Now I want to speak of these types I have named already. Whether Rebecca represents the assembly or the personnel of the assembly, excess marked her. When she was asked for a sip of water, she not only did that but she drew for the camels also. She was marked by excess.
That comes in I believe in not only meeting the requirement, that should be easy for us, but we want to go further than meeting the requirement, we want to go the second mile and be marked by the grace that is proper to the dispensation. That is a very important thing I am sure, so she draws not only for the servant
but for the camels also. She was marked by the excess of grace, and I am sure the Spirit of God would help us in the exposition of that, to be characterised by it. There is what she manifested in her service in drawing for the camels until they had drunk enough, and in her beautiful deportment through the chapter, then she finishes up by springing off the camel. All that comes into the matter of being marked by the excess of grace. She had a veil which she took to cover herself. We should learn how to use the veil, and hold ourselves exclusively for Christ. Rebecca took the veil and covered herself; she went the second mile, she was characterised by grace. Things arise that test us continually, and the question would be whether we are able to go forward in this matter of the second mile, and be expressive of the dispensation, the grace of the dispensation. Go with him two, the Lord says, if he compels you to go one mile go with him two (see Matthew 5: 41). I think that shows that He is committed to the expression of grace.
I refer also to Ruth, she was marked by that as well. The servant said about her, “her sitting in the house has been little as yet”, Ruth 2: 7. All these Old Testament types furnish us with something that would help us in regard of taking on what came out in them. You think of Ruth, dear younger people, the servant said that about her, “her sitting in the house has been little as yet”. Think of her out in the field gleaning. She was not only filling out the commandment, but was committed in the way that she was able to gather up something that she could give to others. Ruth had a cloak that would hold six measures of barley. Think of what that means to be so committed and devoted! I am old and I say to you, do not be half-hearted, do not waste your time. Ruth did not waste any time, she was in the field gleaning; but she had the privilege of sitting down at the mealtime among the reapers, although she was not a reaper. You come in among the brethren, and you are a gleaner; but you come in among the brethren who are reapers, they are greater than you; always keep that in your
mind, your local brethren are greater than you; respect them. She sat among the reapers, and it says that Boaz reached her parched corn. She sat near enough to Boaz that he could reach her parched corn. You come to the meeting, you sit down, sit down reverently, you have some sense of what the dignity of the meeting is, what belongs to it; and you keep near to Christ, and you sit near Him, in your own consciousness you sit near to Christ. She was within his reach, he reached her parched corn. That is not what she got by gleaning, that was something she got direct from him; you can get that in the meetings, you can sit in the meeting and get something direct from Christ. What a privilege that is! What Ruth reserved she took home and gave to her mother-in-law, not what she had gleaned, although she saw that, but what she gave to her was what she got direct from Boaz himself.
All this is recompense then if we are prepared to do a little more. She might have come to the end of the day and she might have retired, given in, but no “her sitting in the house has been little as yet”. I bring this forward for the young people’s sake that they might be marked by this matter of committal, giving themselves to the Lord, and to know what it is to get something directly from Himself. I just run over these types because they all refer to ourselves and the things that marked them should mark us. We are not just to say, Well, I have done enough, my part is over, but to go the second mile. It is always open to us, that privilege, to go the second mile.
I refer to Abigail, both Rebecca and Abigail were persons who took on responsibility. That is another important matter, it belongs to the second mile too. Rebecca said, when Jacob objected to going in before his father, “On me by thy curse”, Genesis 27: 13. How much am I prepared to take on? How much am I going to take on in respect of some issue that comes up? or do I stand for my rights? The same with Abigail when she came to
David with all that wealth, what a woman of excess she was! Brethren, I feel for myself, we are so lacking in the Christian spirit, I think we are better Jews than we are Christians. We know the law, we know the requirement, we can lay it down, but what is there about me that is really Christian, that can go the second mile? Think of all the wealth that Abigail brought, and she said to David, “let it be given to the young men that follow my lord”, 1 Samuel 25: 27. She had something else, but this was for the young men and she comes in and says,
“Upon me, my lord, upon me let the iniquity be”, 1 Samuel 25: 24. How much am I prepared to take on in this kind of spirit? I think it belongs to those characterised by grace. How much am I prepared to carry? Or am I standing for my rights? How much am I prepared to take up in the way of upon me be the iniquity? How much can I absorb in view of the whole situation, whatever it is, being met? How much am I able to absorb? That is proper to the Christian spirit, it belongs to the second mile. But she had something else, she had excess; she had all this wealth, and she says to David, Give it to the young men, but I have something more for you. Abigail had something more for David himself and she brought it out and that is what won David over; what she brought in her heart in respect of David. She had a real appreciation of David, “my lord fights the battles of Jehovah, and evil has not been found in thee all thy days”. This is her appreciation; the food was for the young men, but she had something else for David that he needed. O, for the ability and the wealth to be able to handle the situation like that. It was a very difficult situation, David was on his way with the sword, and yet she halted him and turned the whole situation round. She belonged to the dispensation, so to speak, of grace, she was marked by excess. I plead for this, dear brethren, that we might not only be going the first mile, maintaining the requirement, that is necessary, and you cannot do the second mile if you do not do the first one, but we want to do more, “do even more than I say”. That is the point. What is coming out in our
handling of one another? Does it belong to the first mile or the second mile? Go with him two, that tests us, does it not, tests us as to our resources, whether we have greater love.
Now the woman of worth, I speak about her. What a woman of excess she was. She represents what any locality can be; working things out during the absence of her husband; things are maintained without any lack—she is a very remarkable woman. For the benefit of the younger people, that section in Proverbs 31, is an acrostic; from verse 10 to the end of the chapter there are twenty-two verses, and each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It takes this whole alphabet to set out what this woman is. On the other hand, she is setting out what the alphabet is. Every detail of the alphabet is set out in the woman. That is what the Spirit of God is saying. It is amazing in Scripture where you get these instances of the setting out of the truth of what is acrostic and alphabetical, setting out things in detail.
This woman sets that out in the absence of her husband for he does not appear to be there. I commend this to us, that there is something coming into expression that came out in Christ.
He Himself set out the whole alphabet; there was not anything lacking in Him; He is the Word. The Spirit of God would help us so that in our lives, and in our part in the testimony, we are setting something out that has already come out in Christ. That is what this woman is doing typically, and she was not content with just the first mile. As I said, what came out in the Lord in the section from the mount of transfiguration to the cross was the excess of grace, and this woman typically sets out also a wonderful excess of grace. She is in constant touch with another scene; she brings her food from afar. They are very practical these things, as I said, Rebecca had a veil, Ruth had a cloak and Abigail had a towel. Abigail, when she came to be David’s wife, she said that she would wash his servant’s feet, she brought her towel.
This second mile tests us as to what sort of a spirit we
are manifesting in our application of the truth, whether there is any expression of Christianity.
The woman of worth made body coats and so on, what wonderful detail of the truth she would set out to all the saints, in order that they might be suitably clothed. What detail marks her! All this belongs to this matter, dear brethren, of the second mile; not an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth, not demanding and laying down the law, but the different spirit that marks her. It will carry the day, it will get God’s approval, and bring about a complete solution. We had here on Thursday night how Abishai and Joab went out to battle and they were so far successful but they could not conclude the matter. The matter was not concluded until David was brought in, and it said that the Syrians came no more. Once David was brought in the Syrians came no more (see 2 Samuel 10: 19). The great thing is to bring the Lord in. The great lever in this matter of the truth in a practical sense is to bring Him in, and things will be brought to a conclusion.
I commend this to us then, that the second mile involves Christianity; it involves the expression of the truth that has come out in Himself, and in these types too; they speak of the personnel as well as the assembly. In these days in which we are we are tested, constantly tested, we might raise questions, and the law would test us, that is why it was brought in, to make sin exceedingly sinful. It raises the flesh, but then, there is something else, and the Spirit of God would help us in this matter of going the second mile, and giving some expression to this great feature, the quality that belongs to the dispensation of grace. May we all be found, dear brethren, on this line of going the second mile, for His name’s sake.
Address at Peterhead, 14 May 1994
DIVINE SUPPLY FOR BELIEVERS
G. C. McKay
Romans 12: 1–7; Ephesians 4: 1–8
I was thinking, dear brethren, of the divine gift that is alluded to in these scriptures, what is given to each one of us. It is a very encouraging thought that we are not left to pursue our path in the testimony, the Christian pathway, without resource. We are not left, as has often been said at our own charges, but rather we are given a wonderful supply from above. We could speak much of what that would consist of, but it is clear that the gift of the Holy Spirit is the great thought in Scripture of what the assembly is endowed with, and which each individual believer as having received the Spirit benefits from, as the power to walk and to fulfil responsibility in every detail and every aspect of our lives. We are given a resource—
not simply a standard, or doctrines or tenets of belief—but actually a power. So we have a blessed Object for our hearts in Christ, but also a power down here in the Holy Spirit sent by Christ.
While we could speak about that generally, these scriptures refer to what each one has been given, and so therefore we would not be able to read these scriptures and exclude ourselves, or exclude anybody in the room. We would have to think of ourselves, and think of each brother and sister, that each one has been given something. That is very specific. We need just to read the scripture and to believe it, to accept it. In verse 3 of chapter 12 of Romans it says, “as God has dealt to each a measure of faith”. The context is, of course, that we are committed in devotion to God, presenting our bodies a living sacrifice; our minds and affections are involved in this and our whole way of life. But then having this committal and devotion, as we have come into the gain of the teaching of the gospel in Romans,
the question comes in as to what Paul would say. It is very striking that he says, “For I say, through the grace which has been given to me”. In other words, Paul is speaking about a very practical matter. He does not say, ‘as an apostle or through revelation’, but “through the grace which has been given to me”; it is an experimental statement. He says, I have proved something, through the grace which has been given to me I can say this, I would love to be able to speak about things more as experience and a little less as just simply light. Paul says,
“to every one that is among you, not to have high thoughts above what he should think”, which would be a guard for us not to become elated in any way, “but to think so as to be wise, as God has dealt to each a measure of faith”. Now that is not just a general thought. It is that each brother and sister, each person, has been dealt a measure of faith. It is not only that each has been put under the shelter of the blood of Christ, given the gift of the Holy Spirit, taken up according to divine thoughts going back to a past eternity, but in this present time we should be conscious that we have been dealt a measure of faith.
The scripture goes on to speak about one body in Christ, and how we might occupy ourselves, and how we have a link with one another, “each one members one of the other”.
So that we have to take account of ourselves, and then we are to take account of one another, in the light of this fact that each one has been dealt a measure of faith. The thought of the divine system, I understand, is that a believer is not inert, not simply a recipient. There is much that we have received, but the thought of the divine system is that there is activity, and there is power for it too. In fact this section brings out that everything is to be according to faith, and that each person has a measure of faith. In other words, I need to respect the fact that perhaps someone has more faith than I have; someone perhaps less, but I have to be sober in my mind. What I cannot say is that I have not been given my measure of faith; I
am not a believer at all if I say that. As a believer you have been given a measure of faith, not just as something that is to lie there inert, but in view of being active. So that whatever God might help you to do in relation to one body in Christ, in relation to others, you have a resource for it, you have your measure of faith.
Now that is a challenge, first of all as to whether I am going beyond what faith I have; but I suppose it is a greater challenge to most of us as to whether we are actually using the faith we have. Am I active? This chapter in Romans is full of activity of a multitude of kinds, and it shows that we have a resource to help one another. We belong to one body in Christ and are members one of another, and we can help one another, and we need one another. Therefore, if I am not using the measure of faith I have been given, and I am just sitting in my seat when I should not be, then there is some loss; there is some edification or some help that is not coming in. Not that it is all a matter of what is public, for much of this would be proceeding behind the scenes. If there is to be a healthy locality, if there is to be spiritual prosperity which is according to God, it involves that every member of the body has to be in full activity—not over activity, and not under activity, because we have each been given a measure of faith. We each have that measure of faith; light from God, a sense of what divine things are, a link with God and a sense of what the truth is, so that we are able to proceed, not blindly, but as having faith.
Now in Ephesians 4, we have an allusion to the body—“one body and one Spirit ... one hope of your calling”. We are in relation to great matters, the wonderful truths outlined in the earlier chapters, and now we are coming down to our links with one another, “to walk worthy of the calling ... with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love”. So that again the scripture is proceeding to speak of our practical relations together as saints in the light of the
epistle to the Ephesians. These circles are often spoken of, “one body and one Spirit … one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism”. These are all blessed truths. We live in our spiritual life and in our practical lives too in relation to them. “One Lord, one faith, one baptism” would bring in all the line of kingdom truth. Then again, “one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all”. These great matters exist and we are in relation to them, and again it comes down to each one of us.
It is very easy to count yourself out of certain things, to discount yourself as if it is a right thing to do. You might say, I do not want to be proud. That is a feature of the flesh, it is true, but maybe it is a feature of the flesh to discount ourselves and just say, Well, I do not have anything or I have only very little. We often say things like that, and I suppose we would try to keep humble in that, but still, “to each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ”. That is Christ has given us something, given us grace. The scripture goes on to point out that it is an ascended Christ who has given gifts to men. So therefore it involves the power that is in Christ on high as having overcome the power of evil, the One who descended and the One who ascended. You might say, Well, the scripture goes on to these great gifts “some apostles, and some prophets”, and so on. But verse 7 is not exactly that, it is not the great gifts that are alluded to at all, because it says, “to each one of us”, that is brother and sister alike, old and young alike—“to each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ”. So that with all the great gifts that are referred to, there is also the whole body and every joint of supply. It says, “according to the working in its measure of each one part, works for itself the increase of the body to its self-building up in love”, Ephesians 4: 16. So that Christianity is a great active system, involving energy and power and resource. It involves nothing clerical, but rather that each brother and sister
has a resource, has been given a measure of faith and a measure of grace, and that is to be active; we are not to be lethargic, but to look to see what we have.
The question is often raised, How do I discover what my measure of faith is? As far as I understand, the one thing to do is to try to do something. You are never going to discover what you have unless you try to use it; you will never find out how strong you are, even physically, unless you try to exert your strength. Well, why not use your faith? Use the grace that has been given, and you may find that you have more than you thought you had, you may find that the Lord will help you, not to become proud, not to get out of your place, but to find your place and fill it out. Now if we all do that, what a system it is! What self-building up in love; what edification; what life; what resource! Resource is given not only for our benefit, but for the benefit of the body, that we might help one another. We all have an endowment, and with it a responsibility, dear brethren, but how encouraging it is to see that we are not left just to struggle on without resource, but we have been given what would help us in our pathway here.
Word in meeting for ministry, Glasgow
4 January 1994