TWO LINES OF HUMANITY

W. Lamont

Luke 15: 21–28; 16: 19–23; 18: 9–14; 23: 39–43; 24: 32–34

It will be obvious in the scriptures that we have read that the first four passages all refer to two men. There are two men in each of them, both completely different. This goes right back to the beginning when, at the fall, Satan as the serpent had deceived the woman, and God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he shall crush thy head, and thou shalt crush his heel”, Genesis 3: 15. So right since the beginning there have been two lines proceeding in parallel, one line that God could find delight in and another line that was opposed to Him. That is what I want to show from these first four scriptures, in these four pairs of men, who cover in a broad sense the whole of humanity, and illustrate that there is a line of things that has proceeded from the beginning in which God could find pleasure and another line in which there was absolutely nothing for His pleasure at all.

It is illustrated in the matter of Cain and Abel. There was one line that God found pleasure in; He “looked upon Abel, and on his offering”, and it pleased God; “and upon Cain, and on his offering, he did not look” (Genesis 4: 4, 5). He found no delight in it. That is the line scripture refers to as “the way of Cain” (Jude 11), it will go on to the end, the line of things that is totally opposed to God and to the glad tidings. God has found the answer in one Man, in whom He has found His delight, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight”, Matthew 3: 17. In that blessed Man God has found the answer to all that He looked for in man, and the same blessed Man is the One who has settled for ever the whole question of good and evil. In His own Son, God has judged and judged unsparingly the root of it all, sin in the flesh. The word says in Romans 8: 3, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. God, having sent his own Son”, His own Son, “in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, has condemned sin in the flesh”. God has condemned in Christ, the One whom He loved most, the thing that He hated most, the great virus that had infected the human race right from the beginning. That is the One who is set forth in the glad tidings, “God’s glad tidings ... concerning his Son ... Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1: 1–4), the One “who gave himself a ransom for all”, 1 Timothy 2: 6.

In Luke 15 there is a repentant son. Have you repented? The way into the enjoyment of the glad tidings is by way of repentance, and that is individually, as Peter says in the beginning of the Acts, “Repent, and be baptised, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for remission of sins, and ye will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”, Acts 2: 38. What a thing it is to receive the remission of sins. Have you ever experienced the joy that fills the soul as you know your sins are forgiven? And the cost of it was the precious blood of the Saviour, the precious blood of Jesus, that was the cost that the forgiveness of sins should be available to you and to me. Then Peter says, “and ye will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. It may be you know the forgiveness of your sins, but it may be you are not enjoying it. To enjoy the forgiveness of your sins you need the gift of the Holy Spirit. So we have a repentant son here in Luke 15 who came into all the blessings that were in the heart of his father, the blessings that were available in the father’s house, the best robe, the ring on his hand, sandals on his feet, the fatted calf, the music and the dancing. What God has in mind for the whole of humanity is represented in what this son came into the gain of because he was repentant. Of course he was always a son, for the believer that is a wonderful thing to know, that you were a son in purpose before you were a sinner in practice. But these two men illustrate one who repented, and one in whom there was no response to God’s overtures in grace in the glad tidings. It says of this elder son, he would not go in. He wanted his own friends. Two lines are proceeding, persons who are repenting, and persons who refuse to accept the glad tidings.

What line are you on, friend? Are you a repentant sinner or do you have your mind made up according to your own will, that you will have nothing to do with God’s approach in Christ in the glad tidings.

In Luke 16 we have a rich man and a poor man; the rich man would illustrate persons who live in what they have acquired naturally, and the poor man Lazarus those who have nothing. The rich man was content with his goods, “clothed in purple”; he was clothed in fine linen, just profession, adopting, we might say, things that were right and appropriating them for himself. The world is full of such persons, “making good cheer in splendour every day”, a man who was self-centred. Is there anyone here who is self-centred, anyone here who is so self-centred that they refuse the glad tidings? God is presenting the Saviour, in order that you should accept Him. This poor man got the blessing. “The poor man died”, and “he was carried away by the angels into the bosom of Abraham”, and there is a great gulf fixed. These two lines we are speaking about are separated eternally; the line of things that is of God and the line of things that is not of God, “a great chasm is fixed”, and no one can pass between.

O, how sober that is! Hell is a reality. Refuse the glad tidings and your destination is such; the lake of fire is prepared for the devil and his angels, it is not prepared for men. But if you refuse the glad tidings and die in your sins, and have to stand before the great white throne to be judged according to the things written in the books, you will find your place in the lake of fire. It is a solemn thing, but there is a remarkable touch of God’s grace even there, that the book of life is there and it is also opened. God, as it were, would say that if there is any possibility that anyone should not be there. We will search the book of life afresh to see if his name is there. O, the grace of God, even in that judicial situation.

In Luke 18 we have a religious man, a self-righteous man, and we have a repentant sinner. These two men went up into the temple to pray, you might say they had the same objective, they went up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee goes up and says, “God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men”.

Does anyone here think that he or she is better than everyone else? “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”, Romans 3: 23. You are just the same as anyone else, what you need is God’s mercy. This man thought he was better than everyone else. “God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men”. He missed the blessing. But the tax-gatherer, “standing afar off, would not lift up even his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, O God, have compassion on me, the sinner”, not a sinner, he was so personal about it, he said, the sinner, as if there never was another. That came out beautifully in Saul of Tarsus, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first”, 1 Timothy 1: 15. Friend, have you taken up that attitude? It is the way to true blessing. Say to the Saviour God, O God, have compassion on me, the sinner; make it personal, as if no one else had sinned, only you had sinned, me, the sinner. That is what this man says, and he got the blessing, and went down to his house justified. What does that mean? Do you know what justification is? God would set you up in His presence as the result of the work of the Lord Jesus as if you had never sinned at all. How wonderful the gospel is! It is founded on the work of Jesus whose blood was shed for the settling of the whole moral issue. So it says, “This man went down to his house justified rather than that other”. There are the two lines that are proceeding.

The next two men, in Luke 23, are both criminals. We have moved across the spectrum from rich men who live in their riches and live in what is natural to a self-righteous man, and then we come to criminals. We are covering the spectrum of the human race. According to another gospel, they both railed on the Lord Jesus, but here there is obviously a change in one of them. I wonder what brought about that change? Matthew says they both cast the same reproaches on Him (Matthew 27: 44), but Luke records that one rebuked the other. There is a change, a difference between these two men. One took the way of blessing, acknowledging the Lord Jesus, saying, “this man has done nothing amiss”. What changed him? One’s impression is that when this man heard the Lord Jesus say, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”, that came home to his conscience. He would hear these words from the lips of the Saviour totally unexpected. They would expect the Lord Jesus to be the same as themselves and to rail against His persecutors. Instead of that they heard Him saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. I think that changed that man. So he says, “Dost thou too not fear God”, this man learned the fear of God, “thou that art under the same judgment? and we indeed justly”. You know, my friend, it is a sobering thing to consider that as sinners we deserve the judgment of God. God could have wiped the whole human race from the face of the earth but instead of that, One came in and stood in the breach and bore the penalty, the judgment that was due to you and to me. O, the grace of the Saviour! Does it not affect you? He bore the judgment that was due to you and to me. This man came to it that such an One as this must have a kingdom, a sphere of influence, so he said to Jesus, “Remember me, Lord, when thou comest in thy kingdom”. And Jesus said to him, “Verily I say to thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise”. So one man got the blessing. I wonder if everyone here belongs to the Lord Jesus. It would be wrong of me to assume that everyone here has a link with the Saviour, but in the glad tidings we would urge you to make sure that you have a link with the Saviour for yourself, and that you have come to know for yourself the value and virtue of the precious blood of Jesus.

In the last reference we have also two persons who are going away from the centre. We might say they are like two Christians who had grown cold in their affections and were disillusioned. Many believers are disillusioned. If you get your eye on the world, if you get your eye on breakdown and failure, you too will become disillusioned. The secret is to keep your eye on the Lord. These two finally received another touch, a touch from the Lord, a risen Man, Christ in resurrection. They were on the way to Emmaus, they were going away from the centre, but it says in verse 31, “their eyes were opened, and they recognised him”. Then it says,” And he disappeared from them”. Think of that, the minute they recognised Him, He disappeared from them. Where would they find Him? They returned to Jerusalem and as they were with the eleven, and the saints as gathered, the Lord Himself came and stood in their midst. That is the position today. As you settle the whole moral issue in your own soul, and you have this sure and certain link with the Saviour and find the company of the saints, you will find where the Lord is present. It is a fine thing to find Him in your own individual history, but it is also a great experience to have the consciousness of His presence among the saints. Then later He said, “remain in the city till ye be clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24: 49). You can have the gift of the Holy Spirit and be found in the praising company.

So in your life and in all your affairs, these two lines that we have been speaking about can be solved forever and you can be found in the line of things that is for God’s praise eternally.

These things can be proved now, and can be your portion eternally. May we be helped to yield our hearts to the Saviour, for His name’s sake.

Preaching at Plainfield
24 May 1992

Edited and Published by J. Strachan, 59 Frederick Street, Dundee, DD3 9DE, Scotland Printed by Crystal Stationery, 22 Western Road, Billericay, Essex CM12 9DZ, (T) (01277) 650661