THE GRACE OF THE PRESENT DISPENSATION
[p. 43] THE GRACE OF THE PRESENT DISPENSATION
I am impressed at this time with the grace of the present dispensation; the grace in which God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, presents the testimony in this our era; and it is my desire that you all may be impressed with it. Luke is specially intended to convey this grace to us. It is he who tells us (quoting the Lord), that the glad tidings should be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem; and in that statement is wrapt up the grace to which I have alluded. Further, he tells us that the apostles who should present the gospel, were to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they would be clothed with power from on high. I need not say they were equal to the clothing that would descend upon them; they were not babes; heaven knew their measure; and as having grown up under the influence and culture of the Lord, they were equal in their constitution and growth to the heavenly clothing.
You will remember how the mantle of Elijah fell from him as he ascended into heaven; and Elisha, the vessel through whom the testimony was to be set forth, took it up, and, rending his own garment, appropriated it. He had been under Elijah’s tutorship, and he recognised that the clothes which he had worn while at school would not be suitable when he faced the sphere of his testimony here; so he takes up Elijah’s mantle, and appropriates it. The disciples had been, so to speak, at school. I think it is well for young people to consider this matter. Young Levites were permitted to enter upon a sort of apprenticeship at the age of twenty-five years, but they were not to take up their levitical work strictly [p. 44] until they attained the age of thirty; then it was that the clothing suitable for public service was put on. Even our Lord Jesus Christ led the way in this, for, though perfect in every stage here, the heavens were opened on Him at the age of thirty, and the Holy Spirit came down in the bodily form- of a dove, and abode upon Him; and it was in that garment, so to say, He went forth to testify, and this chapter tells us that He returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.
So, correspondingly, His disciples whom He had taught were to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until clothed with power from on high. They were not morally inferior to the clothes. You will remember, when Peter stood up, how beautifully they sat upon him. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down in the form of cloven tongues as of fire, and sat upon each of them. Each one would therefore be conscious of what had come down. And if the Holy Spirit sat on each there would be that deliberation, that restfulness, which is befitting levitical work. Peter stands up with the eleven, and in his heavenly clothing he presents the glad tidings. It is the only clothing becoming to a servant of Christ. We may see around us people wearing religious habiliments, but they are not in keeping with the heavenly garments. Heavenly garments alone befit the message that is to be presented. And so, reverting to our Lord as having received the Holy Spirit, Luke tells us that He descended in a bodily form upon Him pointing to the fact that the Spirit did not come in part, but in entirety. Think of the grace and power wrapt up in the presence of the Holy Spirit in that bodily way!
This is the dispensation of all dispensations, in the mind of God. The Holy Spirit has come in in His entirety; a divine Person has come in, and the testimony is to be presented in its fulness, and in all [p. 45] the grace and power involved in the presence of the Spirit. Our Lord Jesus Christ being divine, being equal with the Father, was alone equal to such clothing. Coming in at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit sat on each of the hundred and twenty. It was a collective idea, but each one was taken account of. Whereas the Holy Spirit came in a bodily form on our Lord, and only on Him in a bodily form.
It is in taking these things in, dear brethren, that we get some idea of the initial presentation of the testimony in the gospel.
So, in keeping with what I have been saying, the Lord is seen in the synagogues, in this evangelist. He, of course, is also seen operating in the synagogues in the other evangelists, but pre-eminently in Luke you will find Him there. And I wish to show that His operations are carried on in relation to men in this world, first in the religious sphere, then in the domestic sphere, and finally in the business sphere.
Now I dwell on the religious sphere first. What you find in this evangelist is that the Lord returns into Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and He came to Nazareth where He was brought up, and entered into the synagogue. I mention this point about the synagogue because it represents man in his religious relations; and these religious relations were hostile. It is in that connection that you see the grace to which I have alluded.
The Lord invades the religious sphere, notwithstanding its known hostility. You will remember that the sequel to the first synagogue visit was that all that were in it were enraged; not as they came out of it, but in it. Was the Lord not aware of the innate opposition to Him in the religious world? He was; but nevertheless He went into the synagogue according to His custom. He would invade the religious sphere; He would show the magnitude of the grace that overcame the murderous opposition that existed [p. 46] in the religious sphere. Notwithstanding that opposition, He brings out and establishes the dispensation in its religious features in the synagogue in Nazareth.
And what I would remark is that whatever exercises there may be about the religious world, we must bear in mind that God operates in it; that He has got a right to operate in it; that it is in keeping with the dispensation that He should operate in it, and that His operation in it is the very expression of the grace of the dispensation. So you find that in the synagogue there is a Bible. I thank God for the presence of the Bible. If I were to go into a Turkish mosque I should not find a Bible there; if I were to go into a pagan temple in China there would be no Bible there; but in many of the so-called churches of this country, and of Europe, there are Bibles; and surely we should thank God for those Bibles. For the placing of Bibles in such places could not be attributed to the enemy; the open Bible in Europe is not the work of the enemy, it is the work of God. It involved tremendous conflict to obtain liberty that the Bible should be appointed to be read in churches. Is it nothing that it is read there? It is indeed otherwise. I do not propose to read it in churches, but nevertheless the Bible is there, and the Bible is read, and where the Bible is read God can operate, and He does operate. He is greater than the opposition of the religious system.
And so it says they handed Him the Scriptures. He did not bring a Bible in as far as we can see, there was one there. And He stood up for to read, and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”. Think of that! There was in the synagogue that which witnessed to, Christ. “He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor; he has sent me to preach to captives deliverance,
[p. 47] and to the blind sight, to send forth the crushed delivered, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4: 17 - 19). Was that not wonderful! He read it. The passage had never been read before like that; doubtless it had been often read before, but never like that. And then He sat down; as if He was inaugurating the dispensation. He sat down, having read that text; it was selected by Himself as governing the dispensation. You cannot limit that text; it may be read anywhere; and wherever it is read, God is with the reading. It does not appear there were any results, but there was a testimony. Thank God for the testimony! He sat down and began to say to them, “To-day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears”. If not in their hearts, it was fulfilled in their ears. There was a testimony. God is wondrously interested in His testimony. Presently they were enraged, because He spoke the truth. Nevertheless there was a testimony.
Well, now, He spoke to them, and as they listened to His words they were enraged, “and rising up they cast him forth out of the city, and led him up to the brow of the mountain on which their city was built, that they might throw him down the precipice”. How dreadful to contemplate the innate opposition there is to Christ in the religious world! But God is greater than the opposition, and in His grace rises above man’s wickedness, and continues the testimony.
Then the Lord comes to Capernaum, and again enters a synagogue, and now He finds a man with an unclean demon. Think of that in a synagogue! In the official religious meeting place, as you may say, of the town, there is a man with an unclean demon. The Lord rebukes the demon. The grace of God, you see, moves on in its majesty from synagogue to synagogue. And the demon comes out, and he comes out without hurting the poor man! Such is the gracious consideration of God, that the demon is [p. 48] ejected, and no harm accrues to the man. You see how complete is the power in the hands of God. The man is unharmed, and he is relieved of the unclean demon. Now such is the presentation of grace in the religious world. I dwell upon it because I see and find in my own heart the tendency to narrowness, to limit the operations of God. God is operating; He is operating everywhere. You may say, Why don’t we go to these places? The answer is very simple — the servant has to obey; and I should not go to these places. What the Master may do is another matter. He has got rights; He has got ways and means. The servant’s part is to do what he is told to do. “Obedience is better than sacrifice, Attention than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15: 22). We may not be able to cope with the murderous hostility that exists in these systems, but the Lord can, and He can rescue the souls of men notwithstanding those conditions, and He is doing it.
I next touch on the domestic sphere. And here we do not find the same opposition. I have no difficulty about going into any family, if the door be open. The Lord left the synagogue, we are told, and entered into Simon’s house, who was potentially a great servant, but this fact was only known to the Lord at the moment, and his wife’s mother was taken with a great fever. There can be no doubt that the enemy had an eye on Peter at this early stage, and divine discipline doubtless required that there should be a person in his house in this state, for he was already in the school of God. The greater the service one has to enter upon, the greater the privilege, the greater the discipline; and the discipline in having a mother-in-law with a great fever in the house, would be considerable. It is a very serious matter beloved friends, when Satan can operate in our houses. She was not possessed with a demon; things are not so serious but nevertheless there was that there which [p. 49] would preclude all peaceful and restful service Godward or manward. And it says that the Lord stood over her. It does not say He stood over the man in the synagogue, but He stood over the woman in Simon’s house.
The secret, I believe, of all household difficulties lies in insubjection. And here is a Man with all divine authority vested in Him, standing over her. She never had such an experience as that before. Peter could not have stood over her with any measure of moral weight evidently, for he was not right himself. No one can have moral weight in his house until he learns to judge himself. No one can rule another until he learns to judge himself. He who rules his own spirit is greater than he who takes a city. But the Lord was here in holy subjection to God, and in Him was vested all the authority of God; and He stood over her, and rebuked the fever, and it left her. We need that, dear brethren. The Lord is operating in the domestic sphere, and what He would bring about is subjection. So the fever left her, and she stood up and served them. How immense was the help to Simon, that the Lord had brought in, in such a striking manner; the element of authority. The fever leaves her, and she stood up to serve. You have to stand up; it is no time for laziness; it is a time of service, and you have got to stand up.
Now, finally, I touch on the business sphere. In the next chapter there is great interest. The people are crowding to hear the word of God. There is very great interest in preaching at the present time, but is there anyone to present the testimony? One has the feeling that the businesses of the brethren are standing in the way, and the testimony suffers. You know business is a most insidious thing; it is usually entered on to make money; it may be in some cases to make a livelihood, but business usually opens up to moneymaking. And here are men in [p. 50] business: Simon Peter, and James and John; they are partners. I suppose they would enlarge their business by entering into partnership. But the people were crowding on the Lord to hear the word of God; that which is of supreme interest to heaven — the word of God. The people are hungering and thirsting for it. And the Lord enters into Simon’s ship and He requests him that he would thrust out a little from the land; and He sat down and taught the people.
Teaching is a tedious matter; it is a matter that requires deliberation. By the space of three years Paul taught at Ephesus. Teaching requires deliberation; and the Lord Jesus sat down and taught the people. But in doing this He was within the radius of Peter’s business affairs. Some would eliminate divine things from their business, making their business one thing, and the Lord’s things another. But the Lord invades Peter’s business affairs; He sat down and taught the word of God in Peter’s boat.
If I am not right in my business affairs, I cannot be right in the house of God, nor can I have any part in the teaching; and this is the lesson Peter has to learn, if he is to be the great leader in the service. The Lord invaded Peter’s business affairs when business was bad. There can be no doubt that mercy lies behind poor business. God has His own designs to work out through the depression of business. There were empty boats, but the owners of the boats were washing their nets. That is a good occupation — washing your affairs. You know if you go into the business world, it is full of filth. The nets have to be washed; our business affairs have to be washed, and we have got to attend to the washing. Peter and his partners were doing that. So far so good! But there was more to be learned than the necessity of washing the business affairs, though that surely is important.
[p. 51] And now the Lord finished speaking. There is something very beautiful in the way Luke presents things. There is a time to finish speaking. Long addresses are not generally profitable. The Lord finished speaking, teaching the people lesson after lesson — wonderful things! and now He would secure Peter. You know the Lord is seeking vessels to rightly represent the dispensation, and He was set on having Peter. He had him in His mind; Peter was long foreknown. And now the Lord is in his boat; and He says, “Let down your nets for a haul”. And there is the humbling acknowledgement, “Having laboured through the whole night we have taken nothing”. The Lord is going to secure Peter, but He would not take him away from a bad business.
It is a poor thing when a man relinquishes his business and goes into the Lord’s service when trade is bad. It is a very questionable thing to do. But if you leave a prosperous business to do so, that is another matter. The Lord would give Peter the honour of entering on the service from a good business; and so He says, “Draw out into the deep water and let down your nets for a haul ... and having done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes. And their net broke. And they beckoned to their partners who were in the other ship to come and help them, and they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were sinking”. The partners were brought in; they had had a share in the small sales; now that they have become great they will share in the prosperity. It was a question of sharing everything! And now the servant is secured. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees. “Jesus’ knees” are peculiar to Luke. It is Luke who specially presents Jesus praying.
Now you may depend upon it, the Lord had been speaking to the Father about Peter. I do not know [p. 52] of anything so encouraging as prayer. Brothers and sisters alike — for they are all priests — have access to God. How much may not be accomplished by an appeal even by one sister to God, to meet the situation! The Lord, according to this evangelist, was much occupied in prayer. Prayer governed everything, as one might say, and it governed Peter’s confession; he fell down at Jesus’ knees. He would need those knees again; the Lord would pray for him again; he says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord”. But he was at Jesus’ knees. How we need the intercession of Christ as we discover our sinfulness! But the work was done; he had found out that he was a sinful man in his business affairs.
You know there are plenty of things that could be brought up in one’s business affairs that would prove that one is sinful. Under no circumstances will a man be proved a sinner more easily than in his business affairs. And so in Peter’s affairs he is convicted of being a sinful man. In whatever way he sinned his sinfulness had shown itself, and it was now all out; whether he had been unfair to his partners or not I do not know. But anyway the thing was now out, and he falls down at Jesus’ knees; he is a sinful man. It is a wonderful thing to come to that. We can never be here as descriptive of the dispensation until we come to that — until we have learned our sinfulness. And Jesus said to him, “Fear not; henceforth thou shalt be catching men”. Is there anyone here who would aspire to that? The Lord, I believe, is looking for such. The need abroad is great, yet God will not take us up in order to meet it, save as we are clothed with power from on high. And for that we have got to discover that we are sinful men. And then that precious word, “Fear not;” He says, “thou shalt be catching men”. He will enable you to do it, for it will be the Lord’s own work.
[p. 53] And so Peter is affected, and the partners are affected. For if God causes His light to come into our business affairs, everybody will be affected, and first of all the partners — James and John. And they pull their boats ashore, and leave all — leave all! And they followed Jesus! That is the word, dear brethren; leaving all, they followed Him! The Lord is beckoning to us. He would have followers; those who catch men. That is the way Luke puts things. Not in a time of depression, but in a time of excessive prosperity, they leave all, and follow Him. It is not that they despised the boat, or the fish; for they pulled the boats ashore. Somebody else can see to them; they were creatures of God, to be used ashore; but as for themselves, they followed Him!
The Lord is beckoning to us at the present time, calling attention to the need. But He insists on the qualification. He has means whereby He can carry on His work, but He would employ us. And if He is to employ us, there must be the qualification; there must be the complete surrender, and an acknowledgement of what we are; and then the clothing from on high of which I have spoken. But here it is the attractiveness of Christ. And they leave all and follow Him! May God help us to do so.