COMPLETENESS IN THE GOSPEL - GOSPEL ADDRESS
[p. 213] COMPLETENESS IN THE GOSPEL - GOSPEL ADDRESS
J Taylor at Winnipeg, 25th May, 1941 Acts 3:16; Revelation 7:13 - 17 It is in mind to stress the idea of completeness in the things of God. There has been completeness from the divine side which we all accept, but what is to be stressed is completeness from our side, that we go the whole way. The idea of finish marks God’s way and works. If we trace the way the Lord went as indicated in the gospels to secure us, we shall find that there was finish and completeness. The thought becomes wider and greater as we trace the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, the redemption work was complete. That is a point that should always be stressed in the gospel; “I have finished the work ...”, He says. The apostle Paul speaks of the gospel he announced to the Corinthians and says, “Which also ye received ... that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures”. All this detail is brought in as we view the vicarious work of Christ. It was complete; but for the fullness of the gospel, the exaltation of Christ must be added. Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 15:5, that Christ “appeared to Cephas” - he brings forward a witness to the fact of the resurrection - “then to the twelve. Then to above five hundred brethren at once” - at one time - that would be more than five hundred and twelve witnesses to the resurrection of Christ.
Now the resurrection of Christ does not take in the fullness of the gospel, though it certainly goes a long way. Scripture is extremely accurate as to what is the end in the gospel. Then the apostle Paul says, “He appeared to James”, to one brother, a reliable man, reliable in the service of God, a person you could trust.
Vacillation in the things of God is despicable; Christianity requires men that stand by the truth. Well, Paul says, “He appeared to James; then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to an abortion (one born out of due time) - he appeared to me also”. This man who says of himself that he was less than the least of all saints, says Christ “appeared to me;” one who was not fit to be called an apostle, because he persecuted the assembly of God. But, says Paul, “By the grace of God I am what I am;” a great matter to understand. In the service of God, administrative service, a man is what he is; you understand that you are what you are, by the grace of God. A real Christian is what he is by the grace of God, and it is required that we recognize a man according to what he is. Paul went to the third heaven, by the grace of God being what he was. All this not only brings us to resurrection, but to a risen Man, witnessed to by all these persons. The Lord saw to that. Peter,
[p. 215] in his address in Acts 2, makes clear the point that, not only is Christ raised from the dead - He is that, but he quotes His own words from Psalm 16 - “Thou wilt not leave my soul in Sheol” - think of the Lord of Glory saying that! -”neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption”. That is what the Lord says Himself. Then Peter goes on to say that, besides His resurrection, “God has made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ”. That is the top stone of the truth - the exaltation of Christ.
The gospel has all that in mind. A risen, exalted, and glorified Christ is presented in the gospel. Then Peter says, “Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which ye behold and hear”. What was “this”? Certain persons had been in the-upper room in Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit had come on them. How did He come? They heard a sound from heaven as of violent impetuous blowing - not as He came on Jesus - they heard “as a hard breathing” see Acts 2:2 (J.N.D. note G), or as the authorized version renders “a rushing mighty wind” filled all the house and they heard the sound of it. What God sent filled the house where they were sitting. A wonderful thing to hear the sound of the gospel until it fills you! It is part of the gospel to give you to know that the Holy Ghost is available to you. It is part of the [p. 216] gospel testimony, as Peter says to these people, “this” which ye now see and hear. What did they see and hear? There were critical people in Jerusalem that day, there were mockers. As they heard the saints talk of the things of God, they found them to be different to what they used to hear. Well, these mockers say, they are full of new wine; and Peter begins there. How wonderful that God comes in just where we are. Peter knew something about wine; he says ‘People do not get drunk in the morning’. He condescends to use that thing, and the first gospel address, perhaps the greatest, began with a reference to wine. By the simplicity of Peter, God comes down to the ignorant attitude of ungodly people. He meets you on your own ground. He unfolds the greatest things from the commonplace reference to the time of day when people drink wine. He refers to the greatest thing - that Jesus is at the right hand of God: “Being exalted by the right hand of God” (Note the word “exalted”). He showed that it was not wine, but the Spirit of God “poured out” as the great effect of Christ having died, and He was buried, and He is now raised and exalted.
The whole matter is settled; it is a finished matter. The great plan of the gospel is a finished matter. It is not only sanctification - great as that is - nor justification, but the indwelling of the Holy Ghost come from a risen glorified Christ is the finished matter. Anyone who stops short of that finish has stopped short of [p. 217] Christianity. There are many who have. The apostle Paul met certain at Ephesus who were like that. He says to them, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed?” You say, I do not believe it is right to preach the gospel like that. These Ephesians were men who had received something in the way of light, but while thousands receive light, not many go the way the gospel indicates. Really they are only half finished, if they have never gone on to the Holy Spirit. So he says, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit since ye believed?” They say, “We did not even hear if the Holy Spirit was come”, Acts 19:2. How many there are like that. Maybe you hide behind ignorance, making ignorance a virtue. You ought to be ashamed if you have never heard of the Holy Spirit. Ignorance is no excuse. They had never heard of Him, but there was one thing in their favour, they wanted the truth. The gospel meets you where you are. So the apostle Paul tells them about Jesus. They had been baptized to John’s baptism. It has often been said that John was a great baptist. His disciples were real believers, so real that when they heard of Jesus (John 1:37) they left John and followed Him. The Lord turns and sees them following. The Lord turns and looks into this room. How many can He see here who received the gospel like this? The Lord looks around to see you; the Lord is glad to see you. He looks into your heart to see what your motives are. There were two following, the [p. 218] name of the one was Andrew, the other was possibly the writer of the gospel. So the disciples of John followed Jesus and He looked around and saw them following. He is pleased to see you here tonight. You could have been at home reading a novel. Many people do that on a Sunday night, many do worse than that. He says to them, What seek ye? What have you come for?
They answer Him, Rabbi, where dwellest Thou? The scripture says that they called Him by that name, which being interpreted means Teacher. When Judas calls him ‘Rabbi’, then the Holy Spirit makes no comment, but when learners call Him ‘Rabbi’, then the Holy Spirit says - it means ‘Teacher’. These men are seeking the whole truth, they would be where Jesus is, so they ask, “Where abidest Thou?” He says to them, “Come and see” - beautiful words! Have you come to the meeting tonight to find out where the Lord abides? They abode with Him that day. All this brings out that there is no limit in the things of God, if you will go the whole way. Some people are always talking about millennium, about the wonderful times they will have then. What is your outlook as a Christian? What is the finish? Oh, you say, we are going to be with the Lord! No, that is not the finish; the finish is to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. We are going to be His companions forever, He, the firstborn among many brethren. Is not that a wonderful finish?
Do I want to stop short of that? There is the [p. 219] gospel of heaven as well as the gospel of creation, and we want to go the whole way. Well now, I want to show you how this is worked out in Acts 3. The great power of the gospel is in the completing of the matter. Peter says in verse 16, “By faith in His name, His name has made this man strong, whom ye behold and know, and the faith which is by Him has given Him this complete soundness in the presence of you all”. Now I want you to note these words - “complete soundness in the presence of you all”. I suppose God selected this man at the gate of the temple because he was a well-known man. There was a man in our neighbourhood who was wheeled about, and he was a well-known person. Only the fact that he was wheeled about distinguished him as over against others. So this man sat at the gate of the temple, and God selected him for this perfect soundness because everyone knew him. They all knew him as unsound, for he was lame. There he was laid regularly and people who went into the temple saw him. Heaven saw that man there many a day; heaven was waiting an opportunity to exhibit that man in Jerusalem as a great heavenly example of the completeness of the gospel, a man in perfect soundness. God has gone all the way - the very best is for you in Christ. Will you go all the way and receive this perfect soundness? Now you could say to this man, you were very lame. It does not say that he had ever walked. It says they carried him to the [p. 220] gate of the temple and laid him there to beg. You may say to him, ‘Well, I am glad that you are better, but have you any after-pains?’ Wonderful operations are performed today, but there are always after-pains. This man would say, there were none at all; there is not a bone in my foot or leg that has not been affected.
I want to bring out the finish of this matter. It is a matter of faith, it is faith in that Name which had affected that person in such an extraordinary manner. I would like all here to grasp this matter of faith. Have you any? The person who has it is regarded as very highly privileged. The Lord says to the woman in Luke 7 - “thy faith” - not simply “faith”, but “thy faith”. Now to this man Peter says, “Look on us”. He does not say that in the second chapter to those mockers. God looks on mockers. If you are a mocker, God looks with scorn on you.
Peter began with mockers, but to this man he says “Look on us”. Now take up this matter of faith. Peter says it is faith in His name, the name of this Person, Jesus of Nazareth. It is a question of name; take in this word “name”. I hope everyone here will get into his soul the need of faith. “By faith in His name, His name has made this man strong, whom ye behold and know. And the faith that is by Him has given him this complete soundness in the presence of you all”. It is faith in His name, get that into your souls. “Neither is there another name given under heaven”, says Peter. And elsewhere,
“Whereby we must be saved”. At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess, to the glory of God the Father. Then, it is through faith in His name. Jesus is the author and finisher of faith, the completer of it. Peter says, it is through the name of Jesus. Peter had faith. I am labouring in my soul at this moment to impart to you something of this, that you may get into your soul faith in that Name. “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk”. Well, did he rise up and walk? No. Peter gave him his right hand and raised him up. Faith was in Peter. “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God”. It is necessary to have faith; you must get it. I would lay this upon you, get faith! Peter carried it to this man. Where does faith come from? It comes from Jesus - the faith which is by Him. If you are to reach the inheritance, you must get faith. You will not need it in heaven, but you will never be found there unless you have faith here. It comes from Jesus. You come into all the wealth of things by the faith which is by Him. There is faith operative here tonight.
Some of us have very little, but there will never be perfect soundness unless we go the whole way. Peter shows you the way to this - it is by faith, it is by Him. I place that obligation upon you - get faith! It is the gift of God. It is essential.
God gives it; it is the gift of God, and it says it comes by hearing. Supplicate God and you will get it. Listen to the word of God; hear about [p. 222] Jesus, the Author and Completer of faith. Peter says, “The faith which is by Him has given this man perfect soundness in the presence of you all”. It is sufficient for every man, woman and child in the universe to be saved.
Well, now I want to say a word on Revelation 7. It is a great book of numbers. Christianity is no small matter. Think of the completeness of the great city we were considering here today; its length, breadth and height, a wonderful city! Have you ever thought of the number of persons going-to make that up? In connection with the woman Jezebel, we see the great number of her children, dead; but God says, There are a far greater number of the living. God is not the God of the dead but the God of the living. The heavenly city is composed of living persons. Here there is a great crowd which no man can number. These do not belong to the heavenly city. The Spirit of God describes them for us. “These are they who come out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb”. In verse 9 it says they were “a great crowd”. These are they who come out of the great tribulation. The reading in the New Translation is that they come out, they are that kind of people. There is a great deal of tribulation at the present time. You say, is that the gospel? Yes, it is the gospel. We need to be delivered from this pressure, the gospel requires that we are delivered. There is great pressure [p. 223] occasioned by the war; what about us? Well, you may say, I have not come out of it; that is, historically. A year from now we might be able to say, we have come through it. But these are coming out from the tribulation. Not the tribulation removed, but they are coming out of it. The Lord Jesus says, those days are shortened for the sake of the elect. They are coming out of it. Not only are they washing their robes - the Spirit of God does not stop there, they are washing their robes to make them white. It is beautiful! Linen is bleached to make it white. The Spirit of God makes much of the whiteness on the mount of transfiguration. So these people are washing their robes to make them white, because believing on the Lord is going on all the time. “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved” - not ‘art saved’. The word ‘believe’ means you have utmost confidence in the one you believe in, you go the whole way. You get the matter completed. The man says, What shall I do to be saved? The answer is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved”, that is, you by yourself. Then further, “Thou and thy house”. Acts 16. First yourself, by yourself; and then yourself with your house. How can the house be saved unless you are saved? The jailor would understand the value of the Greek word for ‘believe’. He went the whole way. Not only for himself but his house. He went the whole way with the matter. It says, he believed in the Lord and rejoiced with all his [p. 224] house. What a scene in that house, as the jailor took Paul and Silas and washed their stripes - by the gentle hand of love the work was well done; then he sat at table with them, and rejoiced, and all his house was brought into it. The household matter is an important phase of the gospel.
So here in Revelation 7 - “These are they ... and have washed their robes and have made them white”. Many people stop halfway and are content to have half-washed robes. You will never be able to come before the throne of God with a half-washed robe, God will not allow that, He wants us to go all the way. He would say, I went all the way, I spared not my own Son, but delivered Him up for you, and you are not going all the way. I say to you young people, you cannot stand before the throne of God with half-washed robes. The blood makes them white. It is available for you. Use it. You must wash your robes and make them white if you are to stand before the throne of God - able to serve Him day and night in His temple. If I would come into this I must wash my robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. Then God Himself can dwell among them. The Lord Jesus can dwell among them. What a privilege! It is worthwhile washing for such a privilege.
Then, “God shall wipe every tear from their eyes”. Think of the service of the blessed God in this, taking means to wipe the tears from their [p. 225] eyes. Sometimes putting them into a bottle. Why cannot we go all the way and be real Christians? People of real service to God in the temple day and night!! To be led to the fountains of water, and to have tears for God to wipe away. Who is there who has not had tears? There is not a Christian worthy of the name who has not had tears. Think of the beloved brethren across the water, (1941) as much as we know of them, what tears for God to wipe away! What a service of the blessed God wiping away our tears! The Lord Jesus washed the feet of the disciples and wiped them with the towel wherewith He was girded, and here we have God wiping away our tears. The true tears of Christians are wiped away by their God. He treasures their tears. They are so precious to God that He puts them in His bottle. Psalm 56:8. May God bless His word.