NOTES ON SCRIPTURE 1895 NO. 12
NOTES ON SCRIPTURE 1895 NO. 12
In the gospel you are not only saved from judgment, but you are given a new place. Israel was not only delivered out of Egypt, but they had to come to Canaan. It is a great point to apprehend the fulness of God’s grace. The Lord says to the thief on the cross, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (the third heaven), Luke 23:43.
The word to the servant is, “Compel them to come in”; not merely, as some say, come to Christ, but come to the new place. The prodigal did not enjoy his father’s reception until he was fit for his presence - the best robe on. It is only in the Spirit we can enjoy our acceptance, and there we have new tastes and interests, and the more we make merry there the less we like mere natural things. No believer has answered to the heart of God who has not enjoyed his acceptance; he has not responded to the love of God. He may be sure of his safety, but he has not answered to God’s desire for him; he has not entered into the joys of his Father’s heart in having him, the prodigal, in His own house. It is of deep importance to insist on the new place for the believer. An evangelist has not [p. 55] properly finished his work until the convert is brought to the house The Jews refused the great supper - heavenly festivity; they preferred, like many christians now, their earthly blessings, good in themselves, the land, the oxen, the wife; but these do not come from the house - the Father’s house. When the believer is drawn away by earthly favours, he assuredly is not enjoying the great supper. “No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new”. (Luke 5:39) The natural taste when gratified governs you, but great is the loss of blessing when it is so. The convert has lost his true place with God, he has not answered to God’s pleasure, he has not reached the joys of the Father’s house, he is not walking in the Spirit, he is not in liberty; he cannot be free of the natural man, because he is engrossed and pleased with the things and favours that suit the natural man. He is not in the hope of the gospel (Colossians 1: 5), and all that is consequent upon knowing the gospel cannot be known if the gospel be not known; and the gospel is only known in part if the new place given to the convert in the Father’s house be unknown. You may be out of Egypt, but you are not in Canaan.