MARK 3
CAC We were speaking a little last week of the Lord as seen in the different positions set forth in this chapter — the synagogue, the sea, the mountain, and the last section of this chapter 3 brings us to the house, which seems to be the end in view in this section of the gospel.
The house would appear to set forth that which answers to the dispensation of God which is in faith — that is not exactly a public thing, but it is known and to be furthered amongst the saints. The word ‘dispensation’ means household management: that is what we look to find in the house; and if God’s household management comes into view you may depend on it all is divinely ordered and the will of God is done. That is, the house is precisely a contrast to the strong man’s house. There are two houses here: the strong man’s house, and then what is set forth in the house to which Jesus and His disciples came, where we have the thought of a sphere where things are ordered according to God.
Ques Are you thinking of it as the house of God?
CAC Well, it comes perhaps to that in result. Here we see the contrast there is between the within and without. The Lord’s relatives are found without; His mother and brethren stand without. The disciples come to the house, and in the house we see an ordered circle: it is not a multitude, not an unregulated crowd such as we were seeing in the early part of the chapter, where the Lord has to call for a little ship [p. 34] lest the crowd should press upon Him. That is an unordered crowd, but nevertheless a sphere of service. But here there is an ordered circle, and sitting in the centre of that circle, Jesus the Son of God. It is in one aspect the summing up of the service of the Lord; it is a circle where the will of God is done — the assembly. That is the end of a distinct section of this gospel; it shows the fruit of divine service that there is a sphere of this kind. The strong man — the devil — has a house, and he has got men into that house; and in it all is unclean because there is no room in it for the Spirit of God. It is a figure of the conditions that obtain in the world, and to a large extent among the people of God. The service of the Lord was rendered among Israel, and yet He spoke of Himself as finding the strong man in possession of his house, and of binding him and rendering him impotent and plundering his goods. The service of the Son of God is to render the strong man impotent, to pull down his house and to dispossess all in the house; and to build up another house where everything will be of God, and the will of God will be done. This is the object for which the Son of God came into the world. He rendered impotent the devil and undid his works, and established a circle where the will of God is done — all there are kindred with Himself, and God’s end is reached.
Ques Here it is doing the will of God; in Luke it is doing the word. What is the difference?
CAC I think the point in Luke is the testimony of divine grace. The word of God is the testimony of divine grace, and in Luke those kindred with Christ are those found here in the testimony of grace: they not only hear the word of God but do it. The whole life is to be coloured by grace, and what is not coloured by grace cannot be of God, because the word of God is revealed in grace: it is a question of doing that. It is the character of the acting of those kindred with Christ. Every act in His life was an act of grace; it was God revealed in grace right through, and those kindred with Him act on that principle.
Ques What is your thought about doing the will of God?
CAC I have a simple thought about it. There is a circle where the will of God is done, and it is not done anywhere else; that is the assembly.
It is said that if we give place to what is connected with the house we will find ourselves restricted in service, but the fact is we are not restricted. The disciples and Jesus go into the [p. 35] house and everything takes house character; there is no restriction in service, a great crowd comes together. I believe those who give place to house principles will not find themselves restricted in service any more than Paul, who received all who came to him in his own hired house. That is the character of service today: we maintain principles, and they put us in a restricted position externally. The house is a sort of limited sphere, but it becomes the centre of divine attraction. So a great multitude came together: there is an attraction that extends itself over all who fear God. One would like to be attractive; and to maintain house principles in their necessarily restricted character, but to find that God works in grace, and brings a right kind of crowd together — those who have a spiritual object in view, and we do not want anyone else.
Ques Would you say more about house principles?
CAC There are just two: honouring the Spirit and recognising the lordship of Christ. These two principles would secure house conditions. We have an ordered company sitting in a circle, and everyone in that circle has found himself in direct relation with Christ. That is the will of God: a circle where everyone honours the Spirit in contrast with those outside who speak injuriously against the Spirit. Those in the circle honour the Spirit and give place to Christ.
Ques Would you say more as to the lordship of Christ?
CAC We reach the lordship of Christ by way of the Spirit.
Rem No one could say “Lord Jesus” except by the Spirit.
CAC Yes, the great distinctive feature of the dispensation of God is the presence of the Lord; it is the first thing that faith takes account of. The one thing which marks the present period is that God is here Spirit-wise. If you recognise that and honour it, Jesus gets His place as Lord, and in no other way. If you find a company honouring the Spirit and recognising the lordship of Christ, that company is morally kindred with Christ and is doing the will of God; and it is not found anywhere else, because the Spirit brings in what is of God and shuts out the flesh, and the lordship of Christ brings everything to a divine result. So you have an ordered crowd sitting in a circle round Him. It is a great thing to come into the will of God: it is found in the house now. People may pay twenty shillings in the pound, and lead decent Christian lives; they may own God in their families and businesses, yet if they do [p. 36] not honour the Spirit they are not doing the will of God, because the will of God is indissolubly bound up with the Spirit and the lordship of Christ. If a person is not honouring the Spirit and recognising the lordship of Christ, how can he be doing the will of God?
If we get house conditions there is no limit as to how far we can be furthered. Paul speaks to Timothy about things furthering the dispensation — household management — which is in faith. Certain things do further the dispensation, so that we can move on from Corinthians to Colossians and Ephesians. There is great development possible if the will of God gets its place.
I think the Lord’s mother and brethren represent well-disposed believers in a way, but those who are not spiritual. They are not adverse like the scribes, but they have no capacity to follow the spiritual import of what is there: they say, He is beside Himself, He is out of His mind; and they are outside the house. They are disposed to be friendly and to do Him a kindness, but incapable of understanding the spiritual import of the situation. They represent unspiritual people, not enemies of Christ, but those incapable of seeing the bearing of the situation, so they are outside. We all know there is a vast number of well-disposed people, who believe on Christ, yet they do not give place to the Spirit, so they are entirely out of accord with the will of God. It is the Lord saying plainly that the natural must be superseded by the spiritual; it indicates that there is a new, a spiritual order. We shall never get people sitting in a circle round the Lord, divinely adjusted to Him and to one another, except in a company of spiritual persons, who recognise the Spirit and give place to Him: it is never by the flesh, only by the dispossession of the flesh. It is the Lord indicating the supersession of the natural by the spiritual. There are three classes in this section: His relatives, who are clearly at the moment unspiritual persons; then the scribes, who represent the element of positive adversity, and say, He has Beelzebub; and finally His disciples.
Ques What are the scribes?
CAC They show what the flesh is in its inveterate enmity against God. The Lord speaks of their blasphemy and evil-speaking, not in relation to Himself, but in relation to the Spirit. There was an unseen Person present as well as a seen [p. 37] Person. The Son of God was present; but an unseen, invisible, divine Person was there, too, and the Lord jealously guards that unseen Person. It says in another gospel that what is said against the Son of man shall be forgiven, but what is said against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven.
Ques Would speaking against the Lord’s servants come under this heading?
CAC People may speak against me as a responsible servant of Christ — every true servant of Christ must expect to go through evil report — but suppose in my service there was something absolutely of the Spirit of God, and people said that was evil, I should tremble for them. But we must remember in the case of the Lord every act and every word was purely and absolutely in the power of the Spirit, so to say that He had an unclean spirit was direct injurious speaking against the Holy Spirit. There was no intermixture at all; it was the power of goodness coming in to set men free from all that was evil, and to set them up in the will of God. The guilt of this was based on the fact that man has something he cannot divest himself of, a something he got through the fall that it is impossible to rid himself of, and that is the knowledge of good and evil. Man cannot divest himself of it though he might wish to. He has the knowledge of good and evil, and he sees absolute divine good, and says it is evil. There is no forgiveness for that; he has violated the deepest moral principle of his being. There is unadulterated good, and man in his wickedness says it is unclean, it is evil. God in the Old Testament said, “Woe unto them who call evil good, and good evil”, Isaiah 5: 20. It is a very serious thing to see good, and know it is good, and call it evil. I only remember one instance in my experience which would answer to this. It was many years ago, and a man to whom I had spoken the gospel said to me, ‘It is no use for you to talk to me; your God is my devil’. I look on that as injurious speaking against the Holy Spirit. I have dwelt on this to emphasise the tremendous importance of the Holy Spirit. What marks the company in the house is that they have honoured the Spirit; they have honoured everything that is seen in Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit instead of refusing it and charging it as evil. That is the exercise we have today. It is serious to speak against what is good, though we could not say it goes as far as injurious speaking against the Holy Spirit — that depends on the measure of light the person has. This sin [p. 38] only comes in where there is light and ability to discern good, but malice enough to say that it is evil.
Ques I suppose no one that is a believer would do this?
CAC It is absolutely impossible. It is obvious that no person who is born again would do this; it is not possible for any true believer to take this ground.
We have these two conditions. First, unspiritual persons unable to discern, represented in the mother and brethren; secondly another class who can discern what is good but so hate it that they say it is evil. Then we have a third class who are able to discern and give place to the Spirit; and in figure as ordered by the Spirit find their place in the circle round the Lord, and each one says Lord to Jesus. That is the circle where the will of God is done. We have three circles: a circle of those incapable of discerning — believers like that are born again but have not the Spirit. The second circle is composed of the synagogue of Satan, marked by positive enmity; they see what is good and speak injuriously of it. Then the third circle represents true believers according to God, where all is in order according to the Spirit, the Lord getting His place and the will of God being done.
Rem His mother and brethren called Him.
CAC It seems to be an intrusion which the Lord refuses, just as He refused it in John 2, “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” The Lord refuses the natural because He ever gives place to the Holy Spirit. Natural influences hinder people from perceiving what is spiritual. Honouring the Spirit is what has disentangled the Lord’s people in these last days from the confusion around.
Ques Why do you put the Spirit before the lordship of Christ?
CAC Because no one could say Lord to Jesus except in the power of the Spirit of God.
Ques What do you mean by saying Lord to Jesus?
CAC It means more than the use of the term. Many say, “Lord, Lord” and do not the things that He says; but saying Lord to Jesus is an affectionate recognition of His supremacy which brings into subjection to Him. Typically this incident gives us the assembly as that ordered circle of spiritual persons where the Spirit is honoured and where everyone does say Lord to Jesus. Saying Lord to Jesus is, as I understand it, an assembly exercise. Paul is speaking of the assembly in 1 Corinthians 12: 1 - 7.
“[p. 39] But concerning spiritual manifestations, brethren, I do not wish you to be ignorant ... . I give you therefore to know, that no one, speaking in the power of the Spirit of God, says, Curse on Jesus; and no one can say, Lord Jesus, unless in the power of the Holy Spirit. But there are distinctions of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are distinctions of services, and the same Lord; and there are distinctions of operations, but the same God who operates all things in all”. We have the thought of an ordered circle. They are all sitting round the Lord restfully and the Spirit is honoured. Certainly those sitting round the Lord gave Him His place and were just the contrast to people speaking injuriously against the Holy Spirit. There was that in Corinth that answered to it. That is the will of God; it is the primary thought as worked out in the assembly — a circle of spiritual persons who judge themselves and give place to the Spirit, and are practically under the lordship of Christ.
In Romans 12, presenting one’s body a living sacrifice puts one into the circle — “We being many, are one body in Christ”, verse 5. Paul shows us the circle, and no one is pre-eminent in that circle but the Lord.
Ques We have every tongue confessing Jesus Christ as Lord in Philippians 2?
CAC Yes, that confession is found now in the assembly, the only sphere where He is confessed as Lord. He is professed by christendom.
Ques What about Romans 10: 9? Is that connected with the assembly or the individual?
CAC That is clearly individual; that is how we get salvation. “Thou shalt be saved”. We get deliverance from the whole scene of lawlessness. In Romans 12 you come in view of the whole company. While the presentation of the body as a living sacrifice to God must be an individual thing, yet doing that puts you into the circle. In Romans 10 you confess Him in the presence of His enemies, that is the great idea of confessing Jesus as Lord. It does not mean that you go home and tell your converted father that you are a believer, but you confess Him in the presence of those who refuse Him all His rights. You are prepared to say, He is Lord to me.
I think we ought to be exercised in the face of conditions rapidly drifting to apostasy. The whole condition of Christendom is rapidly drifting to a state which would answer to [p. 40] speaking injuriously against the Spirit of God; and in face of that we should honour the Spirit, and allow Him to adjust us in relation to Christ as Lord and to one another. The Spirit would adjust us to the Lord, who is the centre of that circle, and being adjusted in relation to Him as Lord we would be adjusted with one another; so we should find ourselves in an ordered circle which would give scope for the whole will of God. There was that at Colosse. Paul could speak of rejoicing and seeing their order. They were an ordered company in relation to the Lord, and Paul was seeking to bring them a step further in the recognition of headship. If we give place to the Spirit, not only is the lordship of Christ recognised, but the Head gets His place. So in Zechariah 4 we see the golden vessel furnished with oil, like the assembly in 1 Corinthians 12, and everything there is “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit”. What is the result? The headstone is brought forth with shoutings, “Grace, grace unto it”.
Ques Are we each to be a golden pipe?
CAC Yes, that is part of the ordered circle. Everyone is to be a golden pipe for the oil to flow through. There is plenty of oil. How sweet when everything goes with no jar, and we learn how to blend like a band of music! The conductor stands in the midst and they all blend.
Then if we have an ordered circle there is nothing to interfere with edification — that is brought about by food. When we have the assembly of God ordered there is a full food supply; that is the thought of house conditions. The food supply is a test of whether we have good house conditions. It is a poor house where there is no food supply, and God’s house never goes on with an empty cupboard! So we are to be seen as spiritual persons all regulated as to Christ, and with a good food supply.
Rem Referring to the epistle to the Colossians, Epaphras prays (chapter 4: 12) that they may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
CAC Yes. At Colosse there was an ordered circle, but a good deal more beyond; there was the truth of headship and the mystery. Epaphras had done his best for them, and felt he could not carry them any further, so he went to Paul and told him about them; and then he prayed and agonised for them, that they might stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. He was looking that the household management should [p. 41] be perfect and worked out. All the will of God would lead them on to the epistle to the Ephesians. We get the crowning point of household management there: Paul uses the word twice in Ephesians — it is the same word, dispensation. The house idea involves the mutual relations of the saints. It is quite certain that if we honour the Spirit, and give place to the lordship of Christ, there will be perfect adjustment of everything; the circle will not be jagged, but even all round.