"TAKE HEED WHAT YE HEAR", "TAKE HEED ... HOW YE HEAR"
“TAKE HEED WHAT YE HEAR”, “TAKE HEED ... HOW YE HEAR”
It is inconceivably gracious of the blessed God, that He should so freely and fully give us His word, that we may understand His mind. On the other hand, it is deplorable to see the levity with which this great favour is accepted; and yet it is as we “hear”, that we receive. “For he that hath, to him shall be given”, The more fully and freely God has made know His mind, as we see in our own day, the more it [p. 378] is perverted by the ignorant and unbelieving, and even when truly accepted it is by many so qualified and humanised that it has neither edge nor weight in the soul.
In former days Aaron was “spokesman unto the people” (Exodus 4: 16), and propounded the word of God at the dictation of Moses; yet we find, so little did it rule him, that while Moses was in the mount with God, Aaron was making a calf for the people.
If we look around us in christendom we see that man’s imitation of divine work is that every candidate for the ministry must be prepared, and ordained for that sacred service. I refer to this only to show that religious man has a sense of the gravity of being a servant of God. Now, where there is more reality, and even true zeal, there is often a great lack of gravity in entering on the Lord’s service. A young man of piety and zeal tries how he can preach, and if he can arrest souls, satisfies himself that he is called of God; but he may have no real idea of being “sent”, or of the message. “How shall they preach, except they be sent?” (Romans 10: 15).
There are, as far as I see, three classes of preachers, the first class like Ahimaaz (2 Samuel 18: 22) is neither sure of being sent, nor of the message. In general the gospel of this class does not go beyond the superiority of Christ as a sacrifice to the Paschal lamb, or to any of the offerings under the law. Therefore the chief point of their preaching is pressing on the sinner the necessity of having Christ as a sacrifice for his sins before God; there is seldom any light as to how God has wrought from Himself. There is an idea of the atonement in the blood of Christ, but no idea of reconciliation. Reconciliation is not taught in the Old Testament and the word ‘atonement’ does not occur in the New Testament. Though souls get assurance of salvation from this preaching they do not get acceptance; it cannot lead them beyond trusting [p. 379] in the blood; they try to live conscientiously, but they have not full peace; if they have seasons of joy, they have also seasons of depression, and this often goes on to the end of their lives without their making any advance. With the preachers themselves there is seldom advance, for the measure they mete is measured to themselves; and instead of their path being as “the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day”, (Proverbs 4: 18) they seem to grow darker, and with really less enjoyment at the end.
With the second class of preachers, the main point is pressing on their hearers the forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ. These know justification - they preach Christ risen as the receipt for the debt paid - that He was “delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification”, Romans 4: 25. Many of their converts being justified by faith and having received the Spirit, have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. They rightly press the work of God’s grace, that it is all His own work. This is objective truth, and most important in its place. It is what we must begin with, but many do not get beyond it, and if they do not, they do not enjoy the deliverance which the Spirit of God would effect in their souls, if they truly sought it. But instead of seeking true deliverance they assume to have it by the reckoning of faith, and that because God sees them clear from the old man in the cross, that they are clear from him themselves. Thus by this delusion they lose practically the work of the Spirit in them, and unless awakened from it, they do not advance beyond the fact that God clears them by His own mighty grace, which is, of course, the beginning of all blessing. They read the word and find that all is theirs because they belong to Christ, but they are not in the power and enjoyment of it; they see all the purposes of God’s sovereign grace, and speak of them in that way; but as far as I know they are not in the enjoyment of [p. 380] the condition which His grace bestows. There is consistency in this, because if they have refused the first work of the Spirit, which is deliverance, by assuming that they have it already, they cannot advance in the work of the Spirit. They may cultivate everything that is good, and benevolent, and be very demonstrative in brotherly love, but they do not seem to increase in the enjoyment of the purpose of God for them. To know Christ as Head, is made a matter of knowledge and doctrine, instead of association with Him; and likewise the truth of union is spoken of as something to be learned, instead of being realised as led by the Spirit into union with Christ. Thus, though the start was good, they do not seem to advance; there is really no enjoyment beyond the gospel, because of the imperfect way they have apprehended the truth.
The third class begin from God: Christ, as we see in all the gospels, is the prominent object. In Luke we find, “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord”. (Luke 2: 10,11) In John’s gospel, John the baptist proclaims, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world .. . he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit”. (John 1: 29, 33) He not only removes all that is contrary to God, but He brings in everything according to God.
We see beautifully exemplified in the thief on the cross (though there was no preacher), that he has to do not only with the work, but with the One who did the work, and he is to be in company with Him in paradise. The apostle Paul could say to the Corinthians, “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified”. (1 Corinthians 2: 2) We find afterwards when he explained himself that this was the gospel of the glory of Christ which was especially committed to him. The nearer you are to Him in glory the more you are assured of the righteousness that is ministered [p. 381] from glory. You are not only justified by faith and have peace with God, but you joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation. “In whom .. . ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory”. (1 Peter 1: 8) This is all through the sovereign goodness of God to you, when you appropriate it in faith; He has accepted you in the Beloved. But now you have to learn, that not only has God removed everything from His own eye, but by the power of His Spirit He delivers you from the old man, and that you are in Christ, and that “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” makes you “free from the law of sin and death”. (Romans 8: 2) You have begun life in Christ, and you can say, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me”, Galatians 2: 20. If you are established in this grace you know that Christ is formed in you, and you are then ready to apprehend the great range of His grace for you. Except as you are free of the old man, you are not in the life of Christ, and never could know Him now as the living Stone, nor as Head; nor realise your union with Him in heaven.
The great difference between this last class, and the other two, is that not only is the work prominent, but Christ Himself is prominent. It is very plain that if Christ personally is before you, there must be an endless range for your heart, for you never can come to the end of Him. One portion of His grace could not satisfy; Himself alone can satisfy the heart. If you dwell on a passage of scripture only, you get only a partial apprehension of the truth, for Christ Himself is the truth; and according as Christ Himself is apprehended by the soul, so you impart to others; then it is true that “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you”. (Matthew 7: 2)
In our own day when God vouchsafed to give a restoration of the knowledge of His full purpose in grace, it was seen that the first part, the certainty of [p. 382] our salvation, was to be appropriated by faith, which is blessedly true; it was apprehended that God in His grace transferred a believer from Adam to Christ. But subsequently it was taught, and insisted on, that not only the first part, but all the purpose of His grace for us, could be appropriated and realised by faith, which is an imperfect apprehension of the truth, The truth is that our salvation must be appropriated by faith, but as the believer is on new ground in Christ, it is only by the Holy Spirit that we can appropriate and enjoy the range of God’s purpose and grow up into the Head; the Spirit only can lead us into it. Thus, by the craft of the enemy, the great goodness of God to us in this latter day has been in a great measure lost sight of, and some are asserting that they know all the purpose of God in grace without having the great blessing which would result from being practically in each step. Surely this is enough to make the Lord’s warning very emphatic to us in this day, “Take heed ... how ye hear”. Luke 8: 18.
In conclusion I press the great contrast between the two latter classes. They both begin aright. They believe that the whole range of God’s purpose is to be first apprehended by faith, and that the first step, our salvation, is appropriated by faith; that salvation is that God in His grace transfers the believer from Adam to Christ; but the former class do not see that all the rest of the purpose of God is only known as you are in Christ by the Spirit of God. Their mistake is that they think that because salvation is appropriated by faith, all the other parts of His grace can be likewise appropriated. For example, they assert that you get deliverance by the reckoning of faith, and do not see that you start on new ground, and therefore that your deliverance can only be in the life of Christ, and if you do not take the first step you cannot enjoy any of the rest. Hence while those who say that all can be appropriated by faith are zealous as to doctrine, they [p. 383] really are not in the power and blessing of what is true for them. They believe in separation to God for all the children of God, and they gather together in the name of Christ, looking for His presence, refusing human ministry, and are correct in detail according to the letter of the word, but they have not got it vitally, they have not really learned Matthew 14; they have not crossed over to where Christ is, and they have not come to Him as the living Stone. They could not, because they are not practically in the life of Christ. They can speak clearly and interestingly of the Lord’s presence in the assembly; of His being Head of the church and of our union with Him, but they are not in the enjoyment of this great position.
Now, on the other hand, those who believe that there is no deliverance, except in the life of Christ, have the unspeakable joy of being free from the law of sin and death. They can leave everything here to join Him in the assembly; they know Him as Son over God’s house, in the holiest of all; untold blessing is theirs. When they learn what it is to be dead with Him from the rudiments of the world, they are with Him in His own home, where He directs and counsels them, and finally they are led by the Spirit of God to realise their union with Him in heaven; so that they come forth in full concert with His mind, and in the greatness of His power, to act for Him here in the church and in their own house. Thus we plainly see the importance of “Take heed ... how ye hear”. Luke 8: 18.