GRACE ABOUNDING
[p. 175] GRACE ABOUNDING
2 Kings 4: 1 - 7; Matthew 25: 1 - 13; Titus 2: 11 - 14
It is not surprising that we find the same principles always appearing in Scripture, because Scripture is the utterance of the living God, whatever part it be; and God being one, you do not expect to find differences of principle in His utterances. You may find great differences in detail, and in the way in which God presents Himself at different times to men. Before the flood, God did not, in a sense, present Himself at all; He allowed men to walk in their own ways. Then under the law, the attitude of God was that of a legislator, and that attitude was more or less maintained in regard to Israel right on to the end of the Old Testament. When we come to the New Testament, we get another attitude which God has assumed — that of a Saviour God. The apostle Paul very commonly uses that expression. Evidently the attitude of a Saviour God is different from that of a lawgiver. Hereafter God will assume the attitude of Judge of all (Hebrews 12). So that you see there is a great deal of difference in the attitude which God from time to time assumes in regard to men, and yet that does not for a moment affect the truth. The same principles prevail in Scripture from beginning to end. “The Same” is a remarkable expression, used in regard to God. It is a title or designation; “Thou art the Same”. He does not change; “I, Jehovah, change not”. This is a great point, and as one comes to know more and more of Scripture, one sees the same principles prevailing throughout the entire dealings of God with men. It is a great expression of grace on the part of God that He has been pleased to give us the record of His dealings with His people of old. In a sense, those dealings do not immediately affect us, because God is dealing with us outwardly on a different principle, but they are of the deepest interest to us.
Now the principle we see coming out in regard to the [p. 176] widow woman in Kings is the principle of the gospel. Grace came in in regard to her, for Elisha was a prophet whose ministry was characterised by grace. Elijah had a different mission. He represented the claim and right of God, and sought to recall the people to allegiance to God. Elisha, on the other hand, came in the ministration of grace, and thus both are sustained. Surely God is entitled to reproach His people with departure, and to recall them to allegiance in connection with their responsibility; but if the work of God stopped there, it would not effect anything. God might reproach His people with departure, and did so continually in the prophets. It was perfectly right; the people ought not to have departed, and if they did, they ought to have returned, but they did not. Elisha supersedes Elijah, and comes to God’s people in the ministration of grace in spite of everything. He represents, in a sense, the still small voice; he presents the grace of God coming in to deliver the people in spite of everything. The enemy that oppressed them at that time was the Syrian, and the people had deliverance from the Syrian by the intervention of Elisha.
But my point is that we get here what I may call a typical incident. The woman was an obscure person, a widow, of the wives of the sons of the prophets, but she was representative; what happened to her is in a way figurative of the ways of God in grace. The grace of God, by the prophet, came in to relieve her from her liability, but at the same time, the grace did not end there: the same grace which relieved her of her liability, enabled her to live. I think that is a great principle in the ways of God. The same grace which has come in to relieve us of our liability is the grace by which we are enabled to live according to God down here. I see the principle in the parable of the ten virgins, and we have it expressed in terms in the passage I read from Titus. The first aspect of the grace of God is that it brings salvation to all men, but then, it goes on to teach us. There is first the grace of God presented toward us, then [p. 177] the power of that same grace in us. The grace of God that brings salvation to us becomes in us a power, that we should live according to God, soberly, righteously and godly, in this present age.
Now it is a point of great interest to see that this has ever been the principle with God. God is ever the same. Principles might not come out so clearly in the Old Testament as they do in the gospel, but they were there, and we have incidents related to us in Scripture which show that they existed, and they come out clearly enough in this case.
The woman was obscure; not a person of distinction, like Naaman, and she was encumbered by debt. She was under heavy pressure, and the creditor was about to take her sons. She had nothing in the house save a pot of oil. That is the kind of person presented to us in this instance. I want you to bear this in mind, as the woman may be spoken of as a representative person, one suitable for the grace of God. Nothing could help her but the grace of God. She could not help herself, and even the little help she had was about to be taken from her. She had nothing in the house save a pot of oil.
In one sense, the prophet did not do anything very striking; the woman had to provide vessels, and grace came to her in a simple kind of way, in the multiplication of her oil. The oil was increased, very much like you find the Lord making use of the five loaves and two fishes which the disciples had. The Lord did not ignore what they had; the five loaves and two fishes were multiplied so as to suffice for the needs of the whole multitude. Now Elisha does not ignore the pot of oil; he takes what the woman had, and in the hands of the prophet the oil becomes abundant, not only sufficing to pay the debt, but that she might live of the residue. The oil only stayed when there were no more vessels. The supply of oil was unlimited, but the vessels were limited, and when there were no more, the oil stayed.
It is a beautiful illustration of the grace of God, the way in which it comes to us and in which it works. The [p. 178] first thing in regard to man is, that he is under liabilities which he cannot meet, liabilities which God has imposed upon him. “It is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebrews 9: 27) — that is the position of man in the world, under liabilities which he cannot meet, either for himself or another, and he has really nothing. If he cannot meet the liabilities, he has no power to live in regard to God. While a man is under death and liable to judgment, how can he live to God? The thing is a moral impossibility. If a man is to live in regard to God, he must be free from the liabilities which God has been pleased to place upon him. There are many people in the world who are not at all relieved of their liabilities, who profess to worship God. Until they are free of these liabilities, they cannot worship God. If a man were put in prison for theft, how could that man, until he were free, approach the king? Such a thing would be impossible. How can a man with the sentence of death on him and judgment before him, approach God? If a man is going to live in regard of God, the first thing is, that his liabilities should be discharged.
Now, on the part of God, grace has come in, bringing salvation to all men. It is the grace of God, and what is inherent in it is, that it brings salvation to all. Grace has come in, on the part of God, to deliver men from the thraldom and bondage in which they were found. There is the first expression of the grace of God toward man. God Himself, by Christ, has been pleased to come in, and to discharge the liabilities under which man lay, the object of it being that man might live in regard to God. The first that we know of the grace of God is as the grace which has discharged our liabilities. Christ offered Himself by the eternal Spirit to God, and spiritual grace has presented itself to us in Christ; spiritual grace has come to man, in order that man may be free from his liabilities in the eye of God. Where do you get forgiveness of sins? In the knowledge of God’s mind; and until one has the knowledge of God’s mind, no one has forgiveness. If you are to have a spiritual benefit, it [p. 179] must lie in the knowledge of God’s mind toward you. I suppose all here would be prepared to say that they have forgiveness of sins. It indicates that you have the knowledge of what is in God’s mind in regard of man. It is the mind of God in regard to every man. The difference between a christian and one who is not, is that a christian knows what is in the mind of God toward man, and the one who is not a christian does not know it. God has taken His own way to maintain His own rights; redemption has come in; but before it came in, forgiveness was in the mind of God toward man, only there were liabilities under which man lay; they had to be taken up, and have been taken up in redemption, and now we are privileged to know what is in the mind of God toward man. Grace expresses the attitude which God has taken in the present time in regard to man.
It is a very wonderful thing to be in the secret of God’s thought. I cannot conceive a greater privilege. A great many, even in christendom, are entirely in the dark as to what is in the mind of God toward man. It is not that they have not Scripture, but they are quite in the dark as to what God’s mind is toward man. The believer has, by the grace of God, an insight into it, and that is the first experience we have of spiritual grace. Forgiveness was ever in God’s mind for man. God has not altered; I do not think even the work of the cross has altered the mind of God. As a matter of fact, God passed over sins in times gone by — we find that in Romans 3. The cross vindicates the dealings of God with people in the past; the secret was that forgiveness was ever in God’s mind in regard of man. But anyone might say, What about the judgment under which man is? You may be sure God would take care as to that, and He did. But the fact of these liabilities being discharged did not alter, but expressed the mind of God. They have been discharged that we might know what was in God’s mind. Saints in the past did not know that, but now we are privileged to know it, since the liabilities have been discharged in grace.
Now I go a point further. The grace of God is a question of God’s mind. Of course the spring of it lay in God’s nature, because His mind is governed by His nature; but it is in the knowledge of God’s mind that we have the first acquaintance with spiritual grace. There we see how the oil has met the liabilities under which we were. Now that same grace is to affect us, that we might live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age. The purpose of the grace was that we might live here in regard of God. The grace of God was not exhausted in meeting the liabilities, but it had in view, that we should live soberly, righteously, and godly. One is as much the grace of God as the other. Everyone can understand that. Forgiveness of sins is of the grace of God, but it is equally part of His grace that we should live in regard to Him; and how are you going to do it? “Soberly, righteously, and godly” (Titus 2: 12): there is no other way.
You get warning in the history of the children of Israel. The grace of God brought salvation to them. They had the expression of God’s grace in Egypt. The mind of God toward them evidently was forgiveness; they had the expression of this in the blood, and grace brought salvation to them: they were delivered out of the hands of the Egyptians, but they were not affected by the grace of God; they had not got oil in their vessels. They were deficient in that way. The grace of God had been toward them, but they did not appreciate it, and the consequence was that they did not live toward God; they fell in the wilderness. Now I do not think any of us want the history of the children of Israel repeated in us. We begin with the knowledge of the grace of God in the forgiveness of sins, but then God would have us so affected by it that we should live to Him. The grace of God is perfect, and expresses itself perfectly in us; it comes out in that way in us down here.
We should be a wonderful people if that marked us. Piety is a great thing. My own impression is that many are deficient in it. I see christians exceedingly anxious to make every provision for themselves. That is not piety.
[p. 181] Piety is practical confidence in the living God. God would have us living piously. It is a great thing to live in practical confidence in God, not to lay out plans for yourself; if you do, it is a practical denial of piety. We have to go on from day to day in confidence in God. I do not expect great things, but have confidence in God. People sometimes get overwhelmed by the pressure of things down here, and sometimes things press hardly upon the people of God; sickness, unexpected visitations, straitness of means. The secret of it is that things in the world are out of course, and therefore the people of God suffer (and so do people of the world, for that matter) under many a pressure.
But do you think that that can affect the truth that God is good? If God were not good, it would be a poor look out for you and me. What a fearful prospect there would be for the creatures of God! You could not find any possible comfort in coming to any other conclusion than that God is good. He is good, and He is behind all the things that press upon people here, and He works good for His people out of these things. Job did not wait long enough. God allowed him to be tested; he suffered great and undeserved hardships in a way; but he had to learn that there was a power of evil in the world, and that things in the world were, because of that, all in confusion. Job expected things to go on straight. He was a pious, God-fearing man. I think he overlooked the fact that in the world there was confusion, and he pleaded against God, and wanted to come to the conclusion that there must be something arbitrary in the dealings of God. Job was mistaken; he had to wait a little; afterwards God came in, and Job learnt that he had been foolish in regard of God, and God gave Job twice as much as he had before. The principle of piety is, that in spite of things discouraging in the world, you wait upon God. If you do that, you will find the end of the Lord is, that He is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. Whether we arrive at it in our experience or not, nothing can alter what God is, but it is a great thing if we arrive at that [p. 182] conclusion in our souls. Piety is the principle by which in spite of pressure and discouragement in the world we can trust God. I have seen people take great pains in making provision for themselves and their families, but unexpected things have come in. It is a very great thing to go on from day to day, learning practically to be here in the reality of a living God, who is the Preserver of all men, especially of those that believe; and I venture to go so far as this, that where there is a lack of piety, there is not very much indication of people living in regard of God. We need to cultivate piety, sobriety, and righteousness. That is extremely important, and is the effect of the grace of God in us. If we apprehend the grace of God which has been toward us, the next thing will be that that grace is effectual in us, and if so, it enables us to live in the world according to God, looking for the glorious appearing of the great God. When God comes out publicly, we shall have a perfect answer to a great many things which we find inexplicable now. There are many things which will perhaps never be explained to us in this world, but we will get the explanation of them at the appearing of the great God.
Now I turn to Matthew 25. The virgins had their lamps and vessels, and the point was that there should be light until the coming of the bridegroom. It is God’s will that there should be testimony until the coming of the Lord. Now how could that be sustained? It could not possibly be except by life; there is not light where there is not life; light and life go together morally. The foolish virgins did not understand what it was to live soberly, righteously, and godly; had they been doing so, there would have been light. There was a flash of profession, but not sustained light, for light is dependent on life. It was so in the Lord Himself: what was light in Christ really was life, and so in regard of us. If we are living here according to God, there will be light. There is life in regard to God, and light in regard to man. The secret of the failure in the case of the five foolish virgins was that they had no oil in their vessels. They were not living [p. 183] of the residue, like the woman in 2 Kings 4. They did not know the power of the grace of God within them; consequently there was no sustained light. I think this proves that they never had an insight into what is in the heart of God toward man. There was the real defect; you have to trace it back to the source. If they had had an insight into that, they would have known the power of the same grace within them, teaching them to live in regard of God, and had they been living in that way, there would have been sustained light until the bridegroom came. If you want to understand a defect, you have to go back to the beginning. If a doctor has a patient, he will question him as to his past life if he wants to arrive at the root of the symptoms. The symptom in the case of the five foolish virgins was that their lamps had gone out; there was no vitality. It was a proof that they had not been affected within by the grace of God. I look upon the oil as symbolising spiritual grace.
Now to refer again to the woman in Kings. What was in the mind of God toward her was that she should be relieved from her pressure. The prophet, who expressed the mind of God, came to her to that end. In a sense, God would have done the same in regard to every one in Israel, if they had received the prophet. The mind of God is the same in regard to all men. What a privilege has been accorded to us here, that we should have insight into what is in the mind of God toward man! God has cleared away everything which would have stood in the way of His thoughts being known; He has cleared away the liabilities which lay upon man, so that the thought of His mind might be apprehended by man. That is the beginning of the oil; then that grace becomes effectual in me; I live here according to God. I wonder if all here have considered the point. You cannot talk of it except you have been affected by the grace of God; and if you have, it is bound to come out in this way: you live soberly, righteously and godly. There is no other way in which it could come out morally in anyone. And [p. 184] if you live in regard of God here, the effect will be that without any effort on your part there will be a sustained light in regard to man, for light is the effect and result of life in the soul.
Evidently the one thing in regard of us all is spiritual grace, that is, the knowledge of God’s mind. It is everything to us. We could not know what was in God’s mind unless He had been pleased to make it known; but God has interfered, to remove all that under which man lay, that His mind might be known. God’s mind is that He would have all men to be saved. His mind is an inexhaustible fountain of spiritual grace; the knowledge of that mind will continue with us and affect us within so that we should live here according to God.
The point is whether these things are effectual in us. Could it be said of us that our lamps are burning? It is a great thing to look to our lamps; we might very well all arise and trim our lamps, and see what the source of supply is. The source of supply is in the apprehension of and the power in us of the grace of God, and the grace of God lies in His mind in regard of man. We want to be here in sobriety. I look upon sobriety as indicating that a man has got a true measure of himself. A man who has an inflated idea of himself is not sober, but like a drunken man. Righteousness is fidelity in every relationship in which God has been pleased to place man — to Himself, to Christ, to fellow-christians, and every other relationship. Piety is confidence in God, that can trust Him in regard of all that is necessary down here in this world, so that I do not make provision for the flesh, but realise what it is to go on from day to day in confidence that God will never leave nor forsake me. It is in these qualities that life according to God comes out, and then there is light, in the way of testimony to man, in the people of God down here.
May we all, through the grace of God, look to it, that not only have our liabilities been met, but that grace should be operative in us as a mighty principle, enabling us to live here according to God.