THE WILL OF GOD
[p. 186] THE WILL OF GOD
1 Peter 3: 17 - 22; 1 Peter 4: 1 - 2
I think there is a certain progression of thought in this passage — certain things standing in connection one with another. First, you get the thought on the part of God towards man in connection with salvation and the characteristics of salvation, and the purpose of it, viz., that we are not to be here for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. We get a similar line in Titus: “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”. I think it is impossible to be a recipient of the grace of God without looking for the glory, and on the other hand, you want to see the character of God coming out in believers “in this present world”.
Here in Peter we see that the will of God stands in contrast with the lusts of men. There is the greatest possible irregularity in lusts, but, in the kingdom of God, we are morally under the rule of God, and in order to be here for the will of God we must not come under the moral irregularities of men.
I want to speak a few words, beloved friends, on the steps which lead up to chapter 4. You cannot take up the fourth chapter without the end of the third — “the answer of a good conscience toward God”, verse 21, “not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ”. A good conscience is the answer to every enemy, it is by the resurrection of
†Notes of Meetings at Stourbridge, October 23rd to 26th, 1899. (Carefully revised by a brother who was present at the meetings.)
Christ. We come into God’s salvation that we may be here for God’s will. It ought to be a question with us, if we are here for God’s will. We must be here either for the lusts of men, or for the will of God. Either we are governed by the lusts of men — “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” — or we are here before God for the end God has in view. Grace has taken effect if we know the will of God — “that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”. (Romans 12: 2.)
This passage takes us back to the beginning of testimony on the part of God. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. We get a reference to Him who is the spring of all testimony — the preacher was Christ. Noah was the vessel, he preached the righteousness of God and the judgment which was impending, but he was only the vessel, the real preacher was Christ. The testimony was really in the Spirit of resurrection — it was on that ground that God saw fit to approach man. He could not approach man as living man, because death was upon all men, but He approached man by the Spirit of resurrection.
Let us look at the passage — verses 17 to 19. The Preacher at the present time, even as in the days of Noah, is Christ; the testimony is God’s, and the source is God. There are many vessels down here, but the preaching is in the power of the Spirit, and the Spirit is on the line of resurrection. The spring and secret of God’s ways in regard to man has always been based on resurrection, it was foreshadowed in the testimony of Noah before the flood. What is very interesting to notice is the consistency and unity of God’s ways from the beginning. Man came under the judgment of death, and when God approaches man, it is in the power of the Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead. We ourselves have the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is not only the death of Christ, but His resurrection, that is important.
[p. 188] God, from the beginning, had His own way before Him, and knew how He would burst the bonds of death. The death of Christ was to be the proof that death was upon all men (2 Corinthians 5: 14), and it was impossible for God to help man as he was, for He could not reverse his sentence, hence all blessing must be on the principle of resurrection. This testimony went out from the outset.
The apostle now passes on to the flood. The waters of death became salvation for Noah, and the apostle refers to baptism as a like figure. Baptism is the door of introduction into the house of God: the house of God is the dwelling-place of God, and the place of salvation. This afternoon it was pointed out that salvation, in a public way, comes in with the coming of the Lord. “As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation”. (Hebrews 9: 27.) Here we see that salvation is bound up with the coming of the Lord; but salvation comes in, in the meantime, in connection with the house of God, which is the place of salvation because God is dwelling there. Its foundations were laid in redemption. Christ took up all that lay upon man — the judgment, the curse. He took up our liabilities. It was not man, but Christ, who built the house of God — no man had any hand in it. Then, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended, and in this way God took up His abode in the house which Christ had prepared. Every liability of man was taken up by Christ. He laid the foundations, and gathered the materials to form the house, and God is come to take up His abode there. It is not a material house — not made of bricks and mortar — it is composed of living stones — souls — and those who constituted the first presentation of the building were baptised by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The house of God was then, in a sense, perfect and entire in itself, and it has been pushing out in one direction and another ever since,
[p. 189] first in Judaea and Samaria, and afterwards amongst both Jews and Gentiles. It is the same house still, pushing out in all directions. It may be obscured in the present day by what has come round it, but it was built by Christ, and has continued to spread itself out from that day to this.
To me the point is this — baptism by the Holy Spirit brings us into God’s house, and God’s house is the place of present salvation. I would like it to be impressed upon every one present. Where do you find the house of God? You find it wherever there is the truth and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. It grows up in the world, I cannot point to it, but if God gives you any insight as to the working of the Holy Spirit, you will soon find it.
Now, as I was saying, Peter takes up baptism as analogous to what happened in the case of the ark, setting forth a salvation connected with and characterised by the power of resurrection — “not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ”. That is what is characteristic of salvation, the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have what God has been occupied with from Noah until now. Christ Himself was, of course, the actual testimony of resurrection. God’s way in regard to man was to be set forth in Christ Himself, who died, and was buried, and rose the third day, that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached us his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”. The resurrection of Christ is God’s great testimony to man. It means that God has come out in Christ in grace. In the case of Christ Himself, God has broken the bonds of death, and Christ has risen, and the acceptance of God’s testimony is that which establishes a good conscience toward God. It is a great thing that it has been made possible for us to enjoy this, that we should be entitled to the possession of a good conscience,
[p. 190] and to have a place in God’s house — that into which baptism, as a figure, introduces us. A good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ is proper to the house of God.
Let us look a little at what we get in regard to Christ, who is gone into heaven. God has given wonderful expression to His appreciation of what was effected by Christ in regard to man. God has distinctly expressed divine appreciation of what Christ has done. One who was according to the will of God was made chargeable with what lay upon man. Where is He gone? Into heaven. Stephen saw Him there, standing at the right hand of God. He was received into heaven. Think of that! A man received with acclamation into heaven! It was the expression, on the part of God, of divine and infinite satisfaction. The great supper in Luke 14 is the answer to it down here, and the great supper comes to pass in the house of God, and in this house the witness is brought by the Holy Spirit that Christ “is gone into heaven, and is on the [p. 191] right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him”.
As far as I understand it, salvation consists, in one sense, in a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The power of death is broken, and by the acceptance of God’s testimony you have a good conscience. You are not entitled to a place in God’s house unless you have a good conscience, and this practically involves salvation. I look up to heaven, and nothing stands between me and Christ, because I have a good conscience toward God. I am going in the direction that Christ went, and I am not afraid of any enemy down here. Salvation consists in being delivered from the fear of any enemy; it may be the devil, or man, or death, but if I have a good conscience toward God, I am not afraid of any enemy. They may come against me in deadly array, but I am not afraid of any evil. I look up to heaven, and I see the Man who met every liability of man down here. He is in heaven, on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him. A good conscience toward God has set me free from the influence and fear of any enemy.
It is wonderful to me to see how God’s house was built by Christ, established on the foundation of redemption, and indwelt by the Spirit of God, and how it has pushed out from the beginning of christianity until now. The house is composed of those who have a good conscience toward God, and have no fear of any enemy. This is the sphere on earth where God dwells. If I am conscious of being brought into God’s house, I have no fear of any enemy, and can dwell in peace where God dwells. I dwell where God dwells, and how could I do this if I had not a good conscience toward God? I can dwell in peace and security and salvation where God dwells.
You may say this is not at all profound. No, dear friends, it is very simple; what people want is to be established in first principles, and the recognition of being able to dwell in peace where God dwells is one of the most important of them. When Christ comes, everything here that man has built will go down like a house of cards — every authority and power will come to nothing. In the meanwhile, what God is effecting for the present time is expressed in the words of Christ, “Compel them to come in, that my house may be filled”.
I will say just a few words about the exhortation at the beginning of the next chapter. What I want you to remember is this, beloved friends, that Christ took flesh simply to suffer in; it was perfect in Him, untainted, holy, unlike any other man. He took part of flesh and blood, “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death ... and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage”. Therefore scripture is perfectly explicit that He took the flesh simply to suffer in it. His entire pathway in the flesh was suffering. He “endured” the “contradiction of sinners against himself”. We are to arm ourselves with the same mind, the flesh is to suffer, not to be gratified. Suffering is the opposite of self-gratification — we are to suffer in the flesh, instead of to gratify it. “He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin”.
Beloved friends, if I gratify the flesh, I go on in sin; if I suffer in the flesh, I cease from sin. Christ has suffered for me in the flesh, so now there is no room for me to gratify the flesh; I arm myself with the same mind to suffer in the flesh, and I cease from sin. I may say I would not like to gratify the flesh. I would not like to be a glutton, for instance, or to please the flesh in many other ways which might be mentioned, but, beloved friends, that is not enough. It is he who has suffered in the flesh who has ceased from sin. The connection between myself and the world is severed by suffering in the flesh. I might attempt to shut my eyes to the world, but that is no good; the only way is to arm myself with the same mind as Christ — we suffer in the flesh, and cease from sin.
Beloved friends, there are two great principles presented to us in the world. First, there is the will of God, and we read of Christ, “Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God”. Christ put the will of God into presence down here, and not all the forces of evil can rout or set aside the will of God here, it is established on foundations which are immovable. Man tried to build a tower whose top should reach to heaven, but it came to nothing; everything that God builds is built on stable and immutable foundations, and nothing can dislodge that which is established according to the will of God.
The lusts of men are also in the world on every hand. The system pervaded by them comes close home to you, you cannot get clear of it, you cannot shut your eyes to it. But, beloved friends, “He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God”. It is wonderful to be in the line of Christ, “Lo, ... I come to do thy will, O God”. Christ built the house of God, and nothing can dislodge it. We have got to live down here in relation to God’s house — we can enjoy the fatness of God’s house. To be here for the will of God is bound up, I have no doubt whatever, with the house of God. No doubt every man upon earth ought to be here for the will of God, but, through grace, we are here on that line, and our wonderful privilege is to ‘arm ourselves with the same mind as Christ’, so that we should no longer live for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
In closing, I would just refer again to the beginning of God’s testimony in the world. He testified through Noah. Christ is the testimony now, and Christ is also the preacher. Not only is Christ the preacher, but He is God’s testimony to man, “To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins”, and it is in view of that testimony that we have no more conscience of sins, but we have a good conscience toward God.
Now, dear friends, if Christ suffered for us in the flesh, it is only fitting that we should arm ourselves with the same mind. Is it not only just and right that as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, our part should be to suffer in the flesh also? We are here not for the lusts of men, but for the will of God, and it is a very great thing that God should have His place, and that His will should be the governing principle over my heart and life.
May God give us to understand that we have a good conscience toward Him by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that we are to be here, not for the lusts of men, but for the will of God!