⬇ EPUB

COMPLETENESS IN THE THINGS OF GOD

^[p. 402] COMPLETENESS IN THE THINGS OF GOD

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. The idea of the thing is that we are to go the whole way. The idea of finish marks God’s way and works. Also if we trace the way the Lord went to secure us, as indicated in the gospels, there was finish and completeness. The thought becomes wider and greater as we trace the work of our Lord Jesus Christ; the work of redemption was complete. That is a point that should always be stressed in the gospel. “I have completed the work”, He says.

The apostle Paul speaks of the glad tidings which he had announced to the Corinthians and he says, “which also ye received”. He says, “That Christ died for our sins, ... and that he was buried”. All this detail is brought in as we view the vicarious work of Christ. “That he was buried; and that he was raised the third day, according to the scriptures”,

1 Corinthians 15: 3, 4. Was that as far as Paul ever went?

It was so far complete. But the exaltation of Christ must be added to that. Then it goes on to say, “He appeared to Cephas”. He is now bringing a witness to the fact of His resurrection. And then He appeared to the twelve; then to five hundred brethren at one time. That would be five hundred and twelve if we like to put it that way! Five hundred and twelve witnesses to the resurrection of Christ!

The resurrection of Christ does not take in the fulness of the gospel, but it certainly goes a long way. Scripture is extremely accurate as to what is the end of the gospel. Then the apostle Paul says, “Then he appeared to James”. One brother, a reliable man! He was 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”. The man who was less than the least of all saints says, “He appeared to me”, the one who was not meet to be called an apostle because he persecuted the assembly. “But by God’s grace”, Paul says, “I am what I am”. It is a great matter to understand, in the service of God, administrative service, a man is what he is. You want to 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 recognise a man according to what he is. Paul went to the third heaven, but he says, “By God’s grace I am what I am”. All this still only brings us to resurrection, to a risen Man witnessed to by all these persons. The Lord saw to that.

Then Peter in that address in the beginning of Acts makes clear the point that not only is Christ raised from the dead-He is that-but to quote His own words prophetically from Psalm 16, “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hades”. Think of the Lord of glory saying that! “Not leave my soul in hades, nor wilt thou give thy gracious one to see corruption”. That is what the Lord Jesus says Himself. Then Peter goes on to say that, besides His resurrection, “God has made him, this Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ”. That is the top stone, the exaltation of Christ!

The gospel has all that in mind, for a risen, exalted, glorified Christ is presented in the gospel. 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 that? Certain persons had been in the upper room in Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit had come upon them. How did He come? He came in a violent impetuous blowing, not as He came on Jesus. In the house they heard a sound as of hard breathing, and it filled all the house. They heard the sound of it, and the sound filled the house. What God sent filled the house where they were sitting. It is 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 Spirit is available to you. It is part of the gospel, as Peter says to these people, “this which ye behold and hear”. What did they see and hear? They were a critical people in Jerusalem that day; there were mockers in Jerusalem that day. As they heard the saints talk of the things of God they found them to be different to what they used to be.

Well, these mockers say they are full of new wine. Peter begins there. How wonderful it is that God comes to 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. The simplicity of Peter; he knew when people drank wine! 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 the day when people drink wine. He refers to the greatest thing, that Jesus is at the right hand of God, “Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God”. Note the word ‘exalted’. He showed that it was not wine, but the Spirit of God. That is the great object of all this. Christ has died and been buried and is now raised and exalted. The whole matter is settled. The great plan of the gospel is a finished matter. It is not only sanctification, great as that is, or justification,

^[p. 405] but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, from a risen glorified Christ. It is a finished matter. Anyone who stops short of that finish has stopped short in christianity. There are many like that. 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?”; Acts 19:2. You say, ‘I do not believe it is right to preach the gospel like that’. These were men who had received something in the way of light. While thousands receive something in the way of light, not many go the way the gospel indicates. Really they are only half finished, if they have never gone on to the Spirit.

So Paul says, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed?”. They say, ‘We have not even heard of Him’. How many there are like that. Maybe you hide behind ignorance, and make ignorance a virtue. You ought to be ashamed of yourself 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. They had been baptised to John’s baptism. It has often been said that John was a great baptist. There is a church called the Baptist church now, but it is nothing beside John’s church. His disciples were real believers. So real that when they heard of Jesus they left John and followed Him. The Lord turns and sees them following. As the Lord turns and looks into this room, how many can He see here who receive the gospel like this? The Lord looks around to see you. You have come here tonight; the Lord is glad to see you. He looks into your heart, and what are your motives? There were two following; the name of the one was Andrew, the other was most likely the writer of the gospel. I am not saying it was the writer of the gospel, mind you, but it is very likely. So the disciples of John followed Jesus, and He looked around and saw them following. He is pleased to see you ^[p. 406] 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”, that is, they called Him Lord. The scripture says that they called Him by that name, which being interpreted means ‘Teacher’. When Judas calls Him ‘Rabbi’, 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, and so they say, “Where abidest thou?” and He says, “Come and see”. Beautiful words! You have come to the meeting tonight, is it to find out where the Lord abides? Then it says, “They abode with him that day”. All this brings out that there is no limit to the things of God, if you will go the whole way. Some people are always talking about the 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, His companions for ever and ever, He being the first-born among many brethren. Is not that a wonderful finish! Do I want to stop short of that? There is the gospel of heaven as well as the gospel of creation, and then also there is the gospel of the land.

Well, now I want to show you how this is worked out in Acts. 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 sound ness 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 ^[p. 407] 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 from others. This man in Acts 3 sat at the gate of the temple, and God selected him for this complete soundness, because everyone knew him. They all knew him as unsound. He was lame, and he was laid there regularly. 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. Complete soundness!

God has gone all the way. The very best is for you in Christ. Will you go all the way?

You could say to this man, Now you were very lame. It does not say that he had ever walked. It says, they carried him to the gate of the temple, and laid him there to beg. You might say, to him, Well, I’m glad that you are better, but have you any after-pains? Wonderful operations are performed today but there are always these after-pains. This man says there were none at all. There is not a bone in my foot or my leg that has not been affected. Not one!

I want to try to bring out the finish of this matter. It is a matter of faith. It is faith in that Name, which has affected that person in such an extraordinary manner. This matter of faith, I would like all here to grasp. Have you any? The person who has it is regarded as very highly privileged. The Lord says to the woman, “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 John and me’.

Now take up this matter of faith. Peter says it is ^[p. 408] faith in His name. It is this Person, the name of Jesus of Nazareth. It is a question of the name, we want to take in this word ‘name’. I hope every one 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 which is by him has given him this complete soundness in the presence of you all”. It would take too much time for me to work out this phraseology. It is faith in His name-get that into your souls! “Salvation is in none other, for neither is there another name under heaven”, says Peter elsewhere, “... by which we must be saved”. At the name of Jesus every tongue shall confess, and every knee shall bow to the glory of God the Father. Then, it is through faith in His name. Jesus is “the leader and completer of faith”, Hebrews 12: 2. 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. Peter said to the man, “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazaraean, rise up and walk”. Well, did he rise up and walk? No, Peter gave him his right hand. Faith was in Peter, and Peter carried it to this man.

It says in Romans 10: “Faith then is by a report, but the report by God’s word”. It is necessary to have faith. You must get it. I would lay this upon you, Get faith! Where does faith come from? It comes from Jesus. “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 complete soundness unless we go the whole way. Peter shows you the way to this, faith; it is by Him. I say, You get it! I tell you to get it tonight.

^[p. 409] I place that obligation on you, Get faith! It is the gift of God; it is an essential tool, and 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 Jesus, the Author and Completer of faith. Peter says, “The faith which is by him has given him this complete soundness in the presence of you all”. It is sufficient for every man, woman and child in the universe to be saved.

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 holy 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 in Revelation 7 there is a great crowd which no man can number. These do not belong to the heavenly city, but 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 we get “a great crowd, which no one could number”, and then it says, “These are they who come out of the great tribulation”. The reading 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, and the gospel requires that we are delivered. There is great pressure occasioned by the war. What about us? Well, you may say, I have not come out of it, that is historically, but a year from now we might be able to say, We have come through it. But these are ^[p. 410] coming out from the tribulation. It is not that the tribulation is removed, but they are coming out of it. The Lord Jesus says that those days are shortened for the sake of the elect. They are coming out of it. It is not only that they are washing their robes: the Spirit of God does not stop there but it goes on to say they are washing their robes to make them white. It is beautiful! For there is washing and washing, you know. Linen is bleached to make it white. The Spirit of God makes much of the whiteness of the Lord’s garments on the mount of transfiguration.

So these people have washed their robes and have made them white. How many, alas, today, ask the question, When were you saved? meaning, When did you believe on the Lord Jesus? It is a misuse of the words, because believing on the Lord is going on all the time. “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved”. Not ‘thou art saved’. The word ‘believe’ means you have utmost confidence in the One you believe in; you go the whole way. You get the job completed. The man in Acts 16 says, “What must I do that I may be saved?”. The answer is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved”. That is, you by yourself, but then there is another ‘thou’, for it says, “thou and thy house”. 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, ‘believe’. He went the whole way. Not only him self but his house. It says, he “rejoiced with all his house, having believed in God”. 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 laid the table for them. He rejoiced and all his house is brought into it. The household matter is an important phase of the gospel.

So here “These are they who come out of the great tribulation, 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, I 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 say, I washed. But what about the whiteness? You must wash your robes and make them white if you are going to stand before the throne of God, and be 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 worth while washing for such a privilege.

God “shall wipe away every tear from their eyes”. Think of the service of the blessed God, as it were taking a handkerchief and wiping the tears from their 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 by the fountains of water and to have tears. 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, 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 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, according to Psalm 56, He puts them in His bottle.

May God bless His word!

← Previous Article 39 of 44 Next →