THE ADMINISTRATION OF BLESSING IN THE HANDS OF CHRIST
It is a great thing, dear friends, to know that there is Someone who can be called upon. It says here, “The same Lord of all is rich towards all that call upon him”. That, of course, refers to the Lord Jesus Christ exalted, as He is, at the right hand of God. Indeed the scripture says that He is “at the right hand of God, gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being subjected to him”, 1 Pet 3: 22. So that Jesus is in an unassailable position, and He is there to administer the grace of God to whosoever will. If there is someone here whose sins are not forgiven, you may call upon the Lord here and now, for He is “rich towards all that call upon him”. If there is someone here who is not established in peace with God, you may call upon the Lord, for He is rich towards all that call upon Him. If there is someone here who has not received the Holy Spirit, you may call upon the Lord, for He is rich towards all that call upon Him. If there is someone here who is not satisfied with his ecclesiastical associations and does not know what he has to do, you may call upon the Lord, for He is rich towards all that call upon Him. He is set in that position by God, to administer the grace of God to every needy soul.
You remember in the history of Joseph, when famine prevailed everywhere (save that there was corn in Egypt) there were those who went to Pharaoh and asked for corn and the word from Pharaoh to them was, “Go to Joseph: what he says to you, that do”, Gen 41: 55. And that is the position today, that God is directing attention to Christ, He has set Him in the position of administration. It is a great thing to have to do with Jesus; everyone must have to do with Jesus, God has said “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow … and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”, Phil 2: 10, 11. You may remember also in the history of Elijah, again it was a time of famine; for three and a half years there had been no rain and then on mount Carmel Elijah vindicated the rights of God and the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt-offering and all that was connected with it, intending to convey to us that God has found unfailing satisfaction in the work of Christ when He offered Himself the Just for the unjust. He was the One whom God provided as a ransom; He gave Himself a ransom for all. Well now, as a result of God being vindicated, as He has been vindicated in the death of Christ—for in that death sin has been judged unsparingly, and at the same time, love has been told out—Elijah said that there was a sound of rain. Rain was the great thing needed at the moment, and Elijah told his servant to go to the sea and look, and the servant said, “There is nothing”, and Elijah said, “Go again seven times”, and at the seventh time the servant said, “ Behold there is a cloud, small as a man’s hand”, 1 Kings 18. That is the position now, that a Man’s hand has come into view, that is, administration is now in the hands of Jesus, administration of blessing for whosoever will, based on the precious death of Christ and God’s acceptance of that death. And the result, there was a great pour of rain. It speaks of the great fulness of blessing that is now being administered by the Lord Jesus Christ to whosoever will call upon Him. But God takes account of the needs of men, and He says, “How then shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without one who preaches? and how shall they preach unless they have been sent?” So things are traced back to their source; things must start with God Himself; the glad tidings are God’s glad tidings, and He fits the preachers and sends them forth.
The most evangelical prophet in the Old Testament was Isaiah, and you know how he was fitted to become a preacher. He said, “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple”, and the seraphim said, “Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”, Isaiah 6. You might say, ‘The whole earth is not filled with the glory of God at present’, and that is very true, but the vision that Isaiah saw was a vision of the world to come, and it shows that God is going to dispose of the present order of things and introduce in its place an order of things filled with God’s glory.
Well now, as Isaiah saw this vision, it had the effect of convicting him in the presence of God and he said, “Woe unto me! for I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts”, and, as he was thus marked by conviction—for God loves to see a humble and contrite spirit—one of the seraphim flew to him. The seraphim represent what God has amongst His people, those who are sympathetic with Himself and at the same time are sympathetic with their fellow-men, and that is exactly the position of many here tonight, that, through grace, we know a Saviour God, and we are sympathetic with our fellow-men for we ourselves have needed forgiveness of sins. So one of the seraphim flew to Isaiah with a glowing coal taken from the altar and he made it touch his mouth and said to him, “Behold, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin expiated”. It was a glowing coal taken from the altar; it is a fresh living application to yourself of the abiding efficacy of the precious death of Christ. Now Isaiah, as receiving forgiveness of sins, heard a voice saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”. And Isaiah said, “Here am I; send me”. That is the position from which God works—How shall they hear without a preacher? A preacher is not taken up because of his ability to speak; a preacher is taken up because he has tasted the grace of God for himself, he has known what it is to call on the Lord and has proved that the same Lord over all is rich to all that call upon Him. So, we can commend the Lord to all here. I say, if there is one young person here whose sins are not forgiven, why not receive forgiveness of sins now? Why not believe in Christ? Why not call upon Him? You are surrounded by those who know the reality of these things, and not only know the blessedness of having every burden taken from their consciences and hearts, but also know what it is to find satisfaction as a result of receiving the Holy Spirit whom God gives to those who obey Christ.
Then that raises another matter. It says in verse 16, “But they have not all obeyed the glad tidings”. From God’s point of view the blessing is for all, and repentance and remission of sins are preached in the Name of the Lord Jesus without any restriction or limitation at all, but then it raises the question whether all have obeyed the glad tidings. God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Christ, and, if you have not the Holy Spirit, you are outside these things. You remember the parable of the ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom and, to all outward appearance, they were very much the same, but five had oil in their lamps and five had no oil. And the bridegroom came and the door was shut, and those who had no oil in their lamps found themselves outside—and outside forever. You cannot afford to be without the Holy Spirit; it is the great gift that God proposes in the gospel. Peter said on the day of Pentecost, “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. For to you is the promise and to your children, and to all who are afar off”, Acts 2: 38, 39. See how unrestricted God is! Yet there may be someone found without these things, and the secret is that they have not obeyed the glad tidings, and that they have not called on the only One who could give them the blessing. So, it says here that “every one whosoever, who shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved”. Whatever you need to be saved from you may receive the salvation at the hands of the Lord Jesus. God intends that everyone should have to do with Christ; He has committed all judgment into the hands of the Son. I urge everyone here who has not yet received the Spirit to have to do with the Lord yourself. He will never make light of sin, for He has Himself borne the judgment of God against sin and has died as bearing the penalty due to us on account of our sins; but, on the other hand, He will tell you that He Himself has died, that He has borne the judgment that you might be saved, and receive the Spirit and enjoy the love of God, and find your portion among the saints of God.
Now in closing I refer to this most impressive verse I read in Genesis. Two twin brothers with godly parents, brought up in the light of the promises of God, and it says, “the boys grew”. It is a word for the boys and girls present that God has His eye on you as you are growing up. It may be that the boys and girls present are like Jacob and Esau, perhaps you are the children of godly parents and have been instructed in the things of God, and God is watching you grow, He is watching to see how you are going to shape. There was no difference outwardly between these two boys, Esau and Jacob; there was not even a difference in age, for they were twins. They had the same parents and the same training, and it says that “Esau became a man skilled in hunting, a man of the field”; that is what he became, a sportsman, popular amongst his fellow men. And, on the other hand, “Jacob was a homely man, dwelling in tents”. The world around would think much of Esau, but it would think little of Jacob, who was a homely man and preferred to remain in the company of his father and mother, and of his grandfather, too, for we are told in Hebrews 11 that Abraham “dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise”. Now there came a moment in Esau’s history when he came in from the field and was faint and he asked his brother to give him some pottage and Jacob said to him, “Sell me now thy birthright”. God was ordering all this just to bring out what was in Esau’s heart, because God knows the training you have grown up under and He is watching to see how you are going to respond to it. And Esau reasons like this; he says, “Behold, I am going to die, and of what use can the birthright be to me?”; that is, he had no outlook beyond this life. God intends that we should all have an outlook beyond this life. Christ is risen from the dead, He is “the beginning”, it says, “firstborn from among the dead”; He is the beginning of a world of glory to which God has called us, and the young people, as brought up by godly parents, are in a specially favoured position. God is looking to see whether you appreciate the things your parents appreciate, or whether your outlook is bounded by this life and this world. So, Esau despised his birthright. If you go into the world the great danger is that you will despise your birthright. It says, “the boys grew”; you are growing; every birthday you have tells that you are growing a little older; God is watching to see what your outlook is. So Esau despised his birthright, and we are told “he found no place for repentance, although he sought it earnestly with tears”. He desired the blessing without the moral conditions attaching to it. Blessing comes to us all on the ground of pure mercy and grace from God, but conditions on our part are necessary, and the conditions are repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is preached that you may receive Christ and receive the Holy Spirit, and, as you receive the Spirit, you will be one of the assembly. The assembly is what is here for God at the present time, and, though the world does not know it, God shapes and controls the whole course of things in this world by reference to the assembly, for His eyes are on it perpetually. You cannot afford to be without having a part in it. In the New Testament Esau is likened to a fornicator and a profane person, Heb 12: 16. If you go into the world that has crucified Christ you take on the character before God of a fornicator, for you enter into a link that is essentially unclean. If you despise the blessing which your parents have told you about, God regards you as a profane person. Well now, God has sent out the gospel that you should not be marked by these things. The Lord on high is rich to all that call upon Him; He will give you exactly what you need, peace with God, the love of God shed abroad in your heart, and a portion among the saints, and much else besides. So the Lord would say to every one of us, “Behold, I stand at the door and am knocking”, Rev 3: 20. If there is any one here who has not yet received the Lord, that is the position, and He says, “if any one hear my voice and open the door, I will come in unto him and sup with him, and he with me”.
May the Lord bless the word to us all.
ROTTERDAM
5th June 1960
From The Word Proclaimed, 1960
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