THE GOSPEL FOR THE HOUSEHOLD
[p. 460] THE GOSPEL FOR THE HOUSEHOLD
We have warrant in Scripture for addressing the gospel message to the saints, for, as you all know, doubtless, the epistle to the Romans was addressed to the saints at Rome, and it unfolds the gospel as no other epistle does. It is, indeed, said to be the gospel of God concerning His Son, and so I have in mind to address the saints, particularly parents, in connection with their households, and incidentally to speak to the young. God takes account of parents, for normally the households of believing parents should also believe. God encourages parents in the message to the jailor at Philippi, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31). It is not that the parents can save them from certain features of the world; but the result of the message to the jailor would be to turn the heart of the parent to God.
I have been encouraged to turn to this passage because it holds out great hope for parents, God saying that He will pour out His Spirit upon their seed. Wonderful promise! We may well be encouraged, those of us who have households, to pray in the light of this promise, as God says, “I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed”. Those of us who have households know by experience what the flesh is in our children. I often read Jacob’s blessing of the tribes in contrast with that of Moses. Wonderful man though Moses was, he was not the parent of the tribes. In Deuteronomy 33 he views them, in his blessing, not in their crookedness, or their wickedness according to the flesh, but as having the Holy Spirit. In no sense, in a way, are parents more encouraged [p. 461] than when their children get the Holy Spirit. We are then entitled to look at them in a new light, not only as our offspring, but as saints, as part of the house of God. The parent regards them then as a man of God would. A man of God, as such, thinks of God, of the house of God. Moses in blessing the tribes views them as a man of God. He has no complaint to make, no reproof; the tribes are viewed as possessed typically of the Spirit, whereas Jacob is the parent. “Hearken”, says he, “unto Israel your father” (Genesis 49:2).
The father knows the child best. So Jacob begins with Reuben, and then he speaks of Simeon, and then of Levi, and there is not a good word. Let parents beware of hiding the crookedness of the flesh, of deceiving themselves as well as their children, and interfering with the operations of the Spirit of God, for, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6). You cannot alter it. Do not attempt to hide it, or to palliate it, or minister to it, for in so doing you but interfere with the work of the Spirit. Jacob made no attempt, in speaking to his sons, to hide their guilt. No one knew it better than he and he exposed it to them. Nevertheless, every one of the tribes was blessed. This should be an immense encouragement to us. Jacob had faith in God; and so parents have an example, in the man of faith, not to attempt to palliate or hide or encourage the flesh in their offspring. God is not doing it. Our children are no better than others; they are born after the flesh. Whatever you may think about them, however delightful they may appear to you, they need to be born again, as the Lord said to Nicodemus (John 3).
Those who in Nazareth marvelled at the gracious words which proceeded out of the Lord’s mouth, did so only for the moment, and the next moment “led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was [p. 462] built, that they might cast him down headlong” (Luke 4:29). Such is the flesh! Hence He did not commit Himself to them (John 2). But “there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him” (John 3:1,2). He had light in his soul, and the Lord says to him, “Ye must be born again”(verse 7). What a word that was! “The teacher of Israel” is faced with this cardinal truth; a truth which is denied and rejected all around us. The Lord faces him with it at once; and so I would say to the best behaved, the best trained, the most obedient children in this company, “Ye must be born again”. It is imperative. That nature you have which seems, perhaps, so affable, may, some day, unless you are born again, turn traitor to Christ. As soon as the restraint is removed, that heart of yours is capable of driving a nail into the hand of Christ.
Then the Lord further says, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (verse 8). Were that not true the Lord’s announcement would be cold comfort, but the wonderful fact is that the wind was blowing, and it was blowing where it listed. God was acting sovereignly, and He is doing so now. He is working today. My word would be ineffective if God were not working by the Spirit; as the word says, “my Spirit remaineth among you” (Haggai 2:5). When the wind blows and it strikes you, you are brought down. You discover that in you, that is in your flesh, no good dwells. Those of us who look on know something of that. We thank God you are different from what you were. You are not so haughty, so proud, so [p. 463] self-satisfied; you are miserable. Thank God for that misery if it exists in any one of you. You realise you are unfit for God, that you need forgiveness. The gospel is for you; indeed, it is the blessed mind of God for you. It tells you about Christ; about His work on the cross; about forgiveness; about the gift of the Spirit. It tells you of Christ risen, and that God has made Him both Lord and Christ. Such light is what your soul needs, and what your soul embraces gladly if you are born again.
God says, “I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed”. If God pours out His Spirit upon you, it is more than new birth. You do not get the Spirit in new birth; you get a certain work of the Spirit. The Spirit comes from heaven as a gift from God to those who believe in Christ and who obey Him. Think of the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit of God. God promises it; He says, “I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed”. Parents can count on that. I need not say that this blessing is not limited to the seed of Christians. If there are those who have unconverted parents, the same offer is to you. God proposes to give His Spirit to you also, on the ground of faith in Christ. As Peter said, “Repent, and be baptised every one of you ... for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). So that the proposal is for all; but I particularly refer to the young ones. God proposes to pour His Spirit upon you. Are you prepared for it?
And then, as you will observe, He says, “They shall spring up as among the grass”. After forgiveness and receiving the Spirit of God you begin to grow. “They shall spring up”. Now grass in Scripture represents the energy of life. We get other pictures of life, in the animals, for instance, but grass in the field represents life as it appears among the people of God, the fruit of the Spirit.
[p. 464] In referring to it one desires that God would in these days bring in our households; and if they are to grow, according to this passage, there must be the grass, that is, the evidences of life among the people of God. God would afford in the grass what is, as it were, attractive for the young. They find something in the meeting and in their households. There is little grass in a household that has not the reading of the word of God and prayer daily. Grass is to appear around them as the evidence of spiritual life. They grow up among that; they spring up instead of seeking their satisfaction in the pleasures of the world. The enemy is devising attractions for them. We need the grass, dear brethren, as a counter-attraction to save the young. They shall spring up among it, it says, “as willows by the water courses”.
Water courses refer to those occasions in which the Holy Spirit has a free hand. The water is running. You see, God would have it thus. If He pours His Spirit in His grace upon the offspring of His people, He also would have among His people the grass and the water courses. Water courses are for life. The young people come into touch with the ministry of the word in the energy of the Spirit in those seasons in which the Holy Spirit is free. They grow up like willows, it says, “willows by the water courses”. It is for the young people to know how much this agrees with their experience. And now, as having received the Spirit, you attend the meetings; you enjoy the evidences of life among the people of God, and presently you speak in the language of the next verse: “One shall say, I am the Lord’s”. I am the Lord’s; not now your parents only, you belong to the Lord.
Let me entreat you young people to make confession. Confess to whom you please: your mother, your father, your brother, or your sister, or anyone in whom you have confidence. Make a bold confession;
[p. 465] take a stand in your soul, in the language of this verse, and say, “I am the Lord’s”. You are His indeed; He has bought you; He has rights over your soul; He has given Himself for you.
Then further: “Another shall call himself by the name of Jacob”. You say, Jacob is not a name I like to be called by. You may prefer to be called Joseph. But if you acknowledge you are the Lord’s the next thing is that you accept responsibility. One of the most important features of a Christian is to honestly accept obligation. Saul said: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). I need not speak of the use he was to the Lord afterwards; his history is well known. It is an incentive to accept obligation, that the Lord may use you; He may give you work to do which the archangel Michael might desire to do. To Saul he gave work to do which angels might well covet. And so, if you accept obligation, that is, call yourself by the name of Jacob, God will give you something to do. He will employ you in His service, and instead of criticising others, you will think of doing something yourself. Obligation steadies you and sobers you; it brings you into accord with the Lord Himself. He took all our obligation on Him. It is an immense thing for young Christians to accept obligation.
And, further, “Another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel”. And well you may, for it is a name which spiritually is covered with glory. It really refers to the Christian as he is seen in the epistle to the Ephesians, even as Jacob designates him as seen in the epistle to the Romans. In Romans the believer accepts obligation; “that the righteous requirement of the law”, for instance, “should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh, but according to Spirit” (Romans 8:4). It is an immense thing, as I said, to accept obligation. It is not such as you [p. 466] fear, for you have the Spirit; you walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. When you write down your name you wish it to be recorded permanently. You are not going to discard the name you have written with your hand, which is Israel; figuratively the saints as seen in the epistle to the Ephesians. I refer to it because it shows us how the gospel leads us on step by step until we reach the divine standard. Israel is the spiritual man. By comparing Genesis 32 and other scriptures in which Jacob and Israel appear we shall see that the former generally represents responsibility and the latter spiritual power and blessing.
The gospel proposes that we should be brought into the greatest family in the whole universe of God. Nothing less than that is the divine proposal. God gives us not only His Spirit, but He gives us His Spirit as the Spirit of adoption. As it says: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). We are brought into the family of God. There are other families. The Father names all the families in heaven and on earth. Think of subscribing yourself as belonging to the greatest family in the universe. You do not wish that recalled. And now think of the standard of that family: it is the Son of God. We are to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, that He may be the Firstborn among many brethren. Think of the dignity of it! The gospel proposes nothing less.
May God lead us to the full height of the gospel, the elevation and the power of it, so that we may come out here like Christ and like God. We are to come out in our dignity, and like the apostle Paul, less than the least of all, to minister unto all. That is the divine intent.
The believer’s house has a much greater place in Scripture than is generally understood. The house or household is noted from the outset. Indeed, the book of Genesis alludes to it more, perhaps, than any other. The headship of the man is a marked feature of the house. Adam named his wife twice, but Eve began to name the children as they were born (Genesis 4:1,2; Genesis 4:25). This was Adam’s prerogative, and in naming Seth in Genesis 5:1 - 3, he made a new beginning, and evidently re-established his headship.
The birth of Methuselah necessitated that Enoch should walk with God. “Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters” (Genesis 5:22). It is clear that the advent of a family made a walk with God imperative for this man of faith. What an example was set to Methuselah and his brothers and sisters by their father!
Noah, the next man of faith, “prepared an ark to the saving of his house”. In him there was a new beginning. Compare Genesis 6:9 with chapter 5:1,2. He “was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God”. His sons are mentioned in chapter 5 in chronological order, but in chapter 6 they are again spoken of after it is stated that their father was a righteous man and walked with God. How privileged they were to have such a father! Noah prepared the ark in which God mercifully preserved him and his house through the deluge. He honoured God and God honoured him, but afterwards Noah failed. Alas! he did not control himself, and hence was disqualified as head of his house. Where Noah came short, however, Abraham shone brightly. His house was pleasing to God. The divine visit to the patriarch, recorded in Genesis 18, would show this. It is touching to note the mutuality that marked this visit. At Emmaus, as spoken of in Luke 24, the Lord Jesus exercised the house-father’s function. He broke the bread, but here in Genesis 18 the divine visitors said, “So do, as thou hast said”. It is mutuality, not authority. Afterwards Jehovah announces that Abraham is to have a son, and commends him, saying, “I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him”. Thus Abraham may be regarded as the model father, and the statement in the New Testament in Hebrews 11:9, that he dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, confirms this.