MARK 4
CAC To rightly understand what comes before us here, we have to carry on the thought which is suggested in the closing part of the previous chapter: that is, that in connection with the house we have distinctly the thought of those round the Lord within and those who are without. The Lord points the contrast very definitely in this chapter between those within and those without, and the understanding of the parable is limited to those within. It would appear to be a most blessed and perfect instruction for the saints, looked at as having the inside place, in order that they might be intelligent as to all that is going on in the sphere of service. We cannot rightly serve the Lord unless we are intelligent in what is going on in the sphere which we have to do with. There is a very wide sphere of service indicated by the sea and the great crowd. There is no restraint in sowing in the good ground; the sower’s hand takes a wide sweep, but when we come to actual result it is very limited. Those sitting round the Lord, those in His confidence, get an understanding of the whole thing. If we honour the Spirit, and give Christ His place, and are found in the inside place, sitting round Him in a circle doing the will of God, we shall have intelligence as to all that is going on in the wide scope of service in connection with the sowing. There is a hidden secret connected with it, and that is the mystery of the kingdom of God, and no one knows that but those within. There is no mystery about healing people’s bodies, no mystery about cleansing the leper or healing the paralytic; but when it comes to the sowing of the word, there is a mystery that is only known to the initiated. We ought to understand what is for God at the present time. We are surrounded by a christian profession, the result of the sowing, and [p. 42] it has come within the scope of the service of Christ: it is widespread, but we ought to understand what is for God; there is something for God. We ought to know how to serve, and in order to know it we must know what the position is. The state of things in Israel then was very much like the state of things in christendom today. The people professed to be the people of God, and took the place of obedience in a certain outward way, but they were really on the verge of apostasy, and it is solemn that the Lord speaks in parables to hide the truth from them. The scripture in Isaiah quoted here is a word of judgment on the people professedly in relation to God; it is judgment, not blessing. In Isaiah 6 the prophet himself was brought into the presence of the glory of the Lord, and was made to realise that he was undone, a man of unclean lips dwelling in the midst of a people of unclean lips; but when he confessed that, the glowing coal from the altar was made to touch his mouth, his iniquity was taken away, his sin was expiated. Then in verse 8 he hears the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” The prophet answers, “Here am I; send me”, and he is sent with a message of judgment — “Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see and not perceive. Make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and healed”. It is a word of judgment on the nation as a whole, but verse 13 is very beautiful: “A tenth part shall still be therein, and it shall return and be eaten; as the terebinth and as the oak whose trunk remaineth after the felling: the holy seed shall be the trunk thereof”. The whole nation as such was apostate and coming under judgment, but there was a holy seed, something secured for God in the midst of it all. That is the position in Mark 4; the nation as a whole had sinned away all its privileges, broken the law, despised the prophets, and now rejected the service and ministry of the Son of God. The nation as a whole had lost their opportunity, so things were to be hid from them, therefore the Lord spoke in parables. But the Lord secures a holy seed, something for God in spite of all; some seed falls on good ground and becomes fruitful. Now, the Lord says, I want you to understand the position and be intelligent in your service; you must understand that the great profession is given up and has come under judgment [p. 43] from God, but I will secure something for God for all that God will have His tithes.
Ques The sower sows the word. Do you regard that as what the Lord brings before us, as more than gospel preaching?
CAC It is the word. Whatever God makes the subject of testimony, whatever He speaks in the way of testimony, is the word; and it is sown. It only produces fruit in a very limited sphere. That is what the Lord would exercise us about in this chapter. There is fruit, a result for God, but only in a limited sphere; and the Lord carefully and in detail explains to us the reason why the word does not become fruitful in people. That incidentally warns us as to what may prevent it becoming fruitful in us.
Ques Why is there so much about the sea in Mark?
CAC It indicates a wider scope of service: it is not in the limitations of Israel but in a universal sphere — “every creature under heaven” is a very wide sphere.
The attitude the Lord takes in regard to the sphere of service is very limited; He serves from the ship, He does not place Himself in the midst of this crowd. He is in the midst of the crowd in the house, He is the centre of that circle, but He is not in the midst of this crowd. He detaches Himself from them, though He serves them; He preserves His detachment from them! That is what we have to do: you can only serve people as you maintain detachment from them. If you read through Acts you will find the servants always preserved their detachment: they came to people here, there and everywhere as witnesses of a Man who had died, and been raised again — that detached them. We come with a message that cannot be linked on with anything here; it forms no part of this world, and it is concerning a Man who is outside everything that men are going on with. That answers to the ship, that is our detachment. We cannot make ourselves one with people and do them good. You can influence as many as you like; the Lord influenced the whole crowd, He taught them all but He maintained His detachment. We have to speak of a Man who has died and has risen, and that means detachment from the world.
Ques Is the sowing unique to the Lord?
CAC It was perfectly carried out by Him, He is the sower, but the whole point of this gospel is that the character of His service is to give character to ours. The first feature of [p. 44] service is that we must be in moral detachment from the people we are to serve, and then you can bring spiritual influence to bear on them. At the same time the servant should understand what he is working for, not to get the whole world converted, but working to get a tenth for God; there is to be a holy seed secured for God. That is what we have before us. We need to understand all these things because we come in contact with them every day. Everyone here tonight is serving, and if we are serving in connection with this great result for God we ought to know what is going on.
Ques Paul said, “We pray you in Christ’s stead”, 2 Corinthians 5: 20.
CAC Yes, and “Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me”, 2 Corinthians 13: 3. Christ was the true evangelist, and every true evangelist is the vessel of the voice of Christ.
Then the Lord explains how things work in detail. There are those from whom Satan takes away the word immediately, and the Lord does not attribute this to the carelessness of people. We must remember that the Lord does not speak of Satan as we do. Sometimes we are ready to say that Satan does a good many things which he does not do, but the Lord does not do that. This is a direct activity of Satan — Satan takes away the seed. We are told in Matthew that it is when the hearer does not understand, but the Lord does not bring that out in Mark. It ought to be a warning to us to be very careful when we do not understand things. In connection with ministry we ought not to let things pass that we do not understand. If a brother says something you do not understand, go and tell him so; we ought to be concerned to understand what we hear. If we do not understand and are careless, we make it an easy job for Satan to take away the seed. We are far too careless, even as believers, about the word. We may lose a present and lasting joy through being careless. If we do not understand and do not take the trouble to enquire, Satan will take it away. People say sometimes, It is over my head, but they ought to ask. I knew a man who was converted in Yorkshire, and from the first day he began to read his Bible. Every scripture he came to that he did not understand — and there were a good many — he put a little cross against in the margin of his Bible; so, when he came across a believer, he had always a profitable subject of enquiry and conversation. I never knew a man grow so quickly in spiritual knowledge.
[p. 45] He was in dead earnest, and what he wanted to understand he would have out with everyone until he did understand it. Satan takes a good deal away because we are so careless. Paul said to Timothy that he had fully followed up his teaching; Timothy had not been careless about a bit of it. The Lord warns us against the positive action of Satan in taking away what is sown so that we may just as well not have heard it. If Satan takes it away it might as well never have fallen on the ground.
Ques Does the Lord speak of understanding this parable as important?
CAC Yes, it is a basis of spiritual understanding, and it is most essential for those who are serving the Lord to know these things and weigh them.
Then there is a second class who are marked by superficiality, no depth of earth. That touches a good many of us. These are the people who enjoy the meetings: they say, ‘It was so interesting, I never heard anything like it before’; but you never hear them say, ‘That reading cost me a sleepless night’. There is no activity of conscience with them, only joy. When the word acts in the conscience there is no joy at first, because it raises the whole state of soul before God, and brings the soul consciously into the presence of God. That for a sinful creature could never be a happy experience. There is no bringing in righteousness apart from conviction of sin. There is nothing experimental in this class of hearers; the word is received happily, and any exercise of soul is so shallow that it does not result in any fruit being produced for God, so that, as soon as things are difficult or any test arises, instead of the work of God being consolidated, they are stumbled and offended. When there is a real work of God, opposition consolidates it, and persecution burnishes it and makes it brighter than before. Tribulation and persecution test whether they have any root in themselves or if they have only adopted some new idea which sounds very nice. The efforts of the enemy to hinder and oppose bring out the reality of the work of God when there, but if it is not there, they expose the shallowness of what is there. As to its application to ourselves, it would lead to prayer for a deepening of the work of God in our souls. If anyone has a consciousness of the work being shallow, let him be exercised and pray that the work may be deepened: all such exercise shows there is an honest and good heart. We [p. 46] all feel how shallow we are and one prays that God’s work may be deepened and matured, and that there may be something in the way of definite fruit for God.
The effect of receiving all this instruction from the Lord would be to maintain divine exercise in the soul, so that, as we see the great hindrances to fruit for God, we take up the exercise of it so that fruitfulness may not be hindered in our souls, and it gives us understanding as to why there is not fruit in others. The exercise raised in this chapter is that there should be fruit for God. I think fruit in Mark must have service in view; in Romans it is the service of God, we are become bondmen to God, and in chapter 7 we bring forth fruit for God as the result of being married to Christ. We do not bring forth fruit for God without exercise; there must be the knowledge of God first; and there must be the presence of the Spirit; and marriage to Christ. All this in its working out calls for a good deal of exercise. There is an exercised mind in Romans 7 which is anxious there should be fruit for God, but we have all to learn how to produce fruit for God. None of us produces one bit of fruit without learning how to do it; and then learning to surmount the thorns — the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things. They have to be seriously weighed and surmounted, or there will be no fruit for God. If I am occupied with the cares of life, however legitimate, I shall not produce fruit for God. So with the deceitfulness of riches — the more you acquire the more tendency there is to get your mind on it. If my mind is on that, I shall not produce fruit for God. Then the lusts of other things; it is astonishing how things come into the mind as objects of desire. People are not so much hindered by what they possess as by what they would like to possess. It might not be riches, but almost anything may become an object of desire.
Ques When souls are born again, they desire to serve God and then they find barrenness within.
CAC When there is desire to serve God and to serve the Lord, the hindrance begins to be felt — that is like the clearing of the ground; it must be cleared in order that there should be something secured for God. If the Lord indicates the hindrances, it is most instructive. If I want to be fruitful I like the Lord to tell me what hinders, I am anxious He should tell me, and I do not take it amiss for Him to [p. 47] tell me.
Ques In Mark the fruit increases?
CAC Yes, that is very interesting; it goes from thirty to sixty and from sixty to one hundred. That is the effect of the service of Christ as rendered to every one of us: there is increase instead of things diminishing if we become subjects of the service of Christ. But if things are left to our responsibility we can understand Matthew telling us how they go from sixty to thirty. One loves to think of increase. Suppose all of us here were producing thirty, how nice it would be to move on to sixty.
Ques Is exercise on the line of clearing the ground?
CAC Yes, it is a great thing to break up your fallow ground, as was said by the prophet to Israel. As we are exercised in the fear of God the process goes on — the breaking up of the fallow ground and drinking in of the rain that falls upon it. The precious ministry of Christ from heaven is always falling upon us, and if the ground is broken up and the rain comes down, there is sure to be fruit, and increasing fruit, too.
The first class of hearers are not believers at all. The second and third make a profession and carry on for a time, but there is no fruit from any of the first three. The things that hinder fruit will always hinder fruit: they hinder fruit in me as a believer as much as they hinder it in a mere professor. I cannot say, The various hindrances are deadly ones, but as I am converted they are comparatively innocuous. No, they are deadly everywhere. “The lusts of other things” is a deadly principle wherever you get it.
Ques It is only the good ground that bears fruit?
CAC There never could be any good ground if there is not a holy seed. There is a holy seed, and if not there never will be any fruit. Though everything public is cut down as in Isaiah 6, yet God has His tenth, His holy seed — that is the real substance for God, and where you have the holy seed and good ground there is fruit. Perhaps there is not as much as there might be, but there is fruit, though it may be only thirty instead of sixty. I take it the fruit in this gospel would be the work of faith and the labour of love. The Thessalonians had it, “Work of faith, and labour of love, and enduring constancy of hope, of the Lord Jesus Christ”. That is fruit and it all springs out of the knowledge of God. They had the true knowledge of God though they were only young converts, and that precious fruit appeared, the work of faith and labour of love: they [p. 48] started from the outset on the line of serving the living God. The measure of fruit in us is the measure of how we go on with the work of faith and labour of love. We can all reckon ourselves up as to how much we are on that line. The service is the service of God just as the service of Christ was, but its beneficial results are manward.
There was great gain in being about the Lord (verse 10) as those with the twelve were. We would get spiritual understanding of how things work, and we would get to know what helps and what hinders, so we would acquire an education that qualifies us for service; and then the result is there is a light for God in this world (verse 21), the effect of what is carried on secretly. You cannot see what is going on in my soul, and I cannot see what is going on in your soul, but the result is the light is to be set on a lampstand so that everyone may see it. Faith brings God into the soul so that in this gospel we are to take heed what we hear. The Lord speaks about what is hidden being brought to light. That is not what is bad but what is good. The hidden good that God has worked in the souls of His people is all coming to light in testimony. Whatever we hear we are to hear in the spirit of service — “take heed what ye hear” — so that we may be able to measure it out to others. In the proportion in which we measure it to others we prosper ourselves — “with what measure ye mete, it shall be meted to you”. That is not like the Sermon on the Mount, where we are treated as we treat others. Here it is what we receive we serve out to others. We are to take heed to the word because it is entrusted to us for others, and as we measure it out it is measured to us. You will never find yourself empty by passing on the precious word; you will get an increase. People dry up if they do not pass things on. That is the difference between hearing in Mark and Luke. In Luke it is how you hear; if you look at the context you see it is that you are to take heed so that you may become possessed of the thing for yourself; you are to listen intently, it is how you hear that you may acquire the thing for yourself. In Mark you are to pay attention and take heed what you hear because it is incumbent upon you to serve it out to others. The character of the thing must be heeded and pressed on your soul so that you are able to measure it out to others, and as you do this you get more and more measured out to you. People often say of a gifted servant, How can he go on always fresh [p. 49] and full and never empty? Why is it? The secret is that he is measuring so much out to others that he gets it back himself. Everyone here can prove it. Everyone here has tried at some time or other to pass on to some soul what is precious to his own heart. What was the effect? You got a great deal more in your own soul. As we measure it out it is measured to us again. That is why some of us get very little, because we measure so little out to other people. What conversations there would be among the brethren if they spent their time in talking of things they want to understand! You may say, I have nothing to say; but is there nothing in the Book that you do not understand? If you asked a few questions about that, it would soon set the ball rolling.
We were speaking last week of the sowing, and the result for God wherever the kingdom of God is in power. There may be cases where it is only in word, and then there is no fruit. If the kingdom of God is in power there must be a result for God.
Ques What connection has the light with the parable of the sower?
CAC It indicates that whatever God works secretly in the souls of men is intended to come out in public witness.
Rem The light which was given to Israel did not become public witness.
CAC Exactly. In connection with the kingdom of God, when He asserts Himself in power it results, as it did not in Israel, in the light being on the candlestick — it was light for God. Whatever light one may have in one’s soul is never in its right place until it is on the candlestick, where it comes into view. It is a public shining to be seen by all. Before it is on the candlestick it is made good in the souls in whom God has wrought. He works it in first and then sets it up in testimony.
Ques When you say ‘public testimony’, you do not mean necessarily public speaking?
CAC No. It is a question of there being that in the walk of the saints which is a distinct witness for God in the world; people can take account of the shining of divine light in the world.
Ques What do the bushel and the bed mean?
CAC They indicate that the light may be hidden by what is connected with a business life, or by self-indulgence.
Ques “There is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest” — would that be connected with the lampstand?
CAC Yes. In a sense the divine work is hidden; it is a secret thing at first; the work begins in men’s souls, and cannot be taken account of. Many hidden, secret, exercises have been wrought of God in men’s souls that have not come to light yet, that have not come to any expression, but the divine intent is that whatever is divinely wrought within should come into expression. We were speaking last week of the Thessalonians as a sample of persons in whom fruit was produced; their faith was everywhere spoken of, the light was on the lampstand. What is in a person’s soul is hardly a witness, but when it begins to affect that person’s course and manner of life, the whole character of his ways, it comes into witness, the light is put on the lampstand.
Ques Is it the enemy’s tactics to cover the light so that it should not be manifest?
CAC Yes, he is the adversary of God. Satan is not particularly adverse to the blessing of a man except so far as the glory of God and of Christ are bound up in it.
Ques Does it suggest that God will see to it that His own work will become manifest?
CAC Yes, there is great comfort in that. God will bring to light what He effects in souls; what is given is given that it may come into service, so the Lord says, “Take heed what ye hear; with what measure ye mete, it shall be meted to you; and there shall be more added to you”. What one receives is to express itself in service, and the prosperity of the servant depends on liberality, what he measures out to others of the good he has got himself.
Ques Is the kingdom always in power?
CAC Yes, and, where it is, there must be some expression of God in the subjects of the kingdom. The meaning of the kingdom of God is that the influence of God has begun to exert itself on the person.
Ques What does it mean, the seed grows “he knoweth not how”?
CAC That is important because it shows how the development and result of the sowing are entirely the work of God. The sower has nothing more to do with the seed after sowing until the harvest; he simply casts the seed on the earth. Even the blessed and perfect Servant Himself was not the [p. 51] One who gave the increase, so the verse quoted is very striking. We would only get a verse like that in Mark’s gospel; we should not find it anywhere else.
Ques Does it correspond with, “That hour knoweth no man, ... neither the Son”?
CAC Yes, and we do not get that statement outside Mark.
Ques “Mine ears hast thou opened” — is that the mark of a true servant?
CAC Yes, the ear speaks of obedience. The ear of a servant is the characteristic member of his body, so, if the Spirit says in the Old Testament, “Ears hast thou prepared (digged)”, the Spirit translates it in the New Testament, “A body hast thou prepared me”. It is a body entirely for service in obedience.
What we find here is the action of God in giving prosperity to that which Christ sows, so that in result there is a full answer to the sowing in the harvest. Between the sowing and the harvest the Lord leaves things; it says He sleeps. That is a great lesson for a servant — to leave the increase to God. It is a remarkable expression, “he does not know how”. It is a lesson we have to learn, that God is the increase-giving God. Paul may plant and Apollos water, but God gives the increase. We learn the sovereignty of God in these two parables; they are full of instruction. They give the two kinds of development going on. There is the development going on in view of the mature result for Christ; and there is another development going on which results in what is great in this world, but which ultimately affords shelter for what is evil. The question is, What kind of development are we identified with in our thoughts and affections? What marks the kingdom of God in power is a steady and continuous progression. Everything moves on in a continuous development in view of the full corn in the ear. That is the line on which the divine work moves; that is the spiritual development in the kingdom of what was sown by Christ in the souls of the people of God. It is developed by divine working. It is God who gives the increase: every bit of increase is of God, and it is given by God. God secures the prosperity of what Christ sows, He secures the development to a full result in the harvest. That is characteristic of the kingdom of God on the spiritual side. There is no decline there; people walking in the Spirit never decline. It is what the thing is — Christ casts the seed on [p. 52] the earth, and He leaves it there and there is no intervention on His part until the harvest. God produces conditions favourable to fruitfulness, so that, not only is there a divine seed, but earth is capable of bringing forth fruit of itself. I suppose the earth would set forth those conditions in man which are the product of divine working.
Then there is instruction as to the public development, too. The public side is the little mustard seed which becomes a great tree, so that the fowls of heaven find shelter there.
Ques Does the full corn in the ear refer to the individual or to the whole thing?
CAC It contemplates the whole thing, but the principle would apply to the individual. It contemplates the full result for Christ; what He has sown is left to develop by the work of God in the souls of His people, and there is continuous progress from blade to ear, and to full corn in the ear. It is very encouraging because we are apt to think more of the public side where things go from good to bad, and from bad to worse. As to the individual saint development should mark him until there is full result for God. One sometimes sees an aged saint in whom one feels there is a full ear of corn.
The sowing of Christ is the starting point, and ultimately there is a full result by the working of God, by the presence of the Spirit, and by the divine nature in the saint which sets forth the earth bringing forth fruit of itself — there is power for fruitfulness in the earth. James exhorts to patient labour to wait for the precious fruit of the earth, “having patience for it until it receive the early and the latter rain”. He says, “Ye also have patience ... for the coming of the Lord is drawn nigh”. The saints were suffering, but all the suffering was developing precious fruit in the ear. There is always progress and development if we are with God.
Ques What does the sleeping and rising up mean?
CAC It indicates a lengthened period during which the sower does not interfere with what is going on; he has patience and leaves the development, he waits for the harvest. That is the attitude of the Lord at the present time. The Lord is waiting for the precious fruits of the earth, and the early and the latter rain are coming down upon it — what is the result? One feels the real test of the value of any ministry is not whether it is scriptural, or clear, or intelligent, but whether there is fruit produced by it. The Lord has sown the divine [p. 53] seed, and He is the Labourer waiting and marking the increase that may take place without His intervention. The Lord is patiently observing how the precious seed which He brought here is developing, whether it has reached the blade, or the ear, or the full corn in the ear; He is watching the souls of the saints in view of the harvest. John the baptist spoke of the floor being thoroughly winnowed, the chaff burned, and the wheat garnered. The harvest is a great thing for God and for Christ. The Lord is intensely interested in all God is doing to give fruitfulness to that precious seed which He has sown in view of the harvest.
The Lord is presented as Sower in the first half of this chapter, and as Sleeper in the last half of the chapter.
Ques What is the significance of the next section — going over to the other side?
CAC The Lord shows us another aspect in connection with what is going on at the present time. That is, He leads His servants to expect that in the course of their service and testimony they will encounter the power of Satan. The great test of the present time is, Can we trust the Lord asleep? It is unbelief that wakes Him, not faith; He rebuked them for unbelief when they woke Him.
Ques Did they doubt who He was?
CAC I do not think the disciples had understood who He was, though it says, “They took him even as he was in the ship”. I suppose in a sense we have all taken Him as He was, but it is another thing to learn what He was, and if they had learnt that they could have had no fear of the boat sinking. It was a test as to whether they had estimated the greatness of the Person who was there. “Having sent away the crowd, they take him with them, as he was, in the ship” — the Spirit suggests in that the greatness of the Person and all that had come out in Him. He was the beloved Son of God. He had bound the strong man, and shown Himself superior to all the power of evil. There was abundant evidence of who He was, and it was all there; they took Him as He was. In the blessed reality of His Person He was there, but they had not estimated it, so, when the storm came and He did not intervene but slept, they wake Him in unbelief. It showed how little they had estimated who the Person was. We are often tested in that way. When Satan’s power comes into conflict with the testimony it looks sometimes as if the ship were going to sink — the ship filled.
[p. 54] What would give quietness would be the sense of the greatness of the Person whose testimony it is, and who is with His own. “They feared with great fear” — that shows how little they had estimated Him aright. We should never be in the least perturbed if we understood the power of the Person with us, because the Lord is with His own. He does not manifest it by some remarkable act, because it is characteristic of the present moment that He is asleep; there is no outward activity. The great exercise of the testimony is that we should learn to believe on Him. What a triumph it would have been if they had said, ‘He is asleep, and it is all right!’ The attitude the Lord takes up in any circumstance must be a model for His own. He knew all about the storm and the gusts of wind, but He was asleep and perfectly restful. We often want Him to do something. I have often prayed Him to do something, to wake up and move. He is saying, ‘Can you not trust me asleep without a word or act just because you know Me?’ It was certainly the right attitude which we find in the Lord; He was never out of time or tune. If it had not been right for Him to sleep He would not have been asleep: He was absolutely unperturbed in spite of the hostility of the enemy. I suppose He would have been alone in that: even Paul said, “Without were fightings, within were fears”. One often thinks of the bride in the Song of Songs, “I charge you ... by the gazelles, or by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please”. She would not have Him disturbed — that is right, it is the language of love. If we love and trust Him we do not want Him awaked. The disciples awoke Him in unbelief: nothing can sink the boat if He is in it.
Ques The Lord slept in the storm — is not that the thought that He never ceases to be in control?
CAC Yes, that is it.
‘My bark is wafted from the strand,
By breath divine.
At the helm there rests a hand
Other than mine’.
Though He is outwardly quiescent, yet everything is under His control. The storm is as perfectly under His control when He is asleep as when He rises, and says, “Peace, be still”. If He does not act, yet all is under His control.
Ques What do the “other little ships” suggest (verse 36)?
CAC It indicates that there are ships that have not [p. 55] the Lord on board. I suppose there are ships where the Lord is not. The great exercise is to move at His bidding: everything in the testimony of the Lord must be at His bidding. He had said, “Let us go to the other side” — it is at His bidding they go and they take Him as He was in the ship. They had that much affection that they would not go without Him. The Lord is very pleased to go with those who are in obedience, who are subject to His bidding and want Him. The Lord will always go with those who want Him.
Ques Might we have the Lord with us and not know Him?
CAC It is only of the fathers that John says, “Ye have known him that is from the beginning”. We may have a sense that the Lord is with us, and not have a right estimate of who He is, of the greatness of the One who is with us. The disciples would not have gone without Him, but they had a feeble sense of who He was; they said, “Who then is this?” It would have been better if they had said that before.
Ques Peter slept in prison?
CAC Yes, Peter sleeping is very fine; it is like the Lord. Peter was not a very sleepy man naturally, but he could sleep chained between two soldiers who were going to cut off his head the next day; he got a restful night. You might have said to him, ‘How can you sleep when they are going to cut off your head tomorrow?’ Peter would answer, ‘Nothing of the kind, the Lord told me long ago that I should live to be an old man, and I am not afraid’. Peter had absolute confidence in the Lord. That is the lesson of this chapter. In connection with the difficulties and conflicts of the testimony and service and the opposition of the enemy, the Lord would have us restful, and not dependent on what He does. We are just to trust Him if He does not do anything.