HOW WE ARE EDUCATED TO HAVE SYMPATHY WITH GOD IN THE GOSPEL
[p. 34] HOW WE ARE EDUCATED TO HAVE SYMPATHY WITH GOD IN THE GOSPEL
Luke 13:35; Luke 14:1 - 23; Luke 15:22 - 32
I want to say a word about the house of God as it is presented to us in the gospel of Luke. Luke has his own way of presenting the truth, as specially fitted of the Lord, and he invariably presents it as in relation to the gospel; that is, he presents the subject in relation to the service of the Lord Jesus Christ as the anointed One, according to chapter 4, for the presentation of the gospel. He writes, as he tells us, “with method”, which is an important feature in ministry. He says, “it has seemed good to me ... . to write to thee with method, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things in which thou hast been instructed”. (Luke 1:3,4) He brings in households and opens up to us the conditions that existed in these households.
John, on the other hand, treats more of the family; he is concerned with the derivation of the saints; that is, they are God’s children; not so much their public history, what they had been, but their origin, and how they were being educated by the Lord for their place in the Father’s house, which He had gone to prepare. So John says the son abides in the house for ever; he has an eternal thought in mind, whereas Luke is concerned with what is provisional as connected with and supporting the gospel testimony during the period known or spoken of by the Lord and also by the prophet as “the acceptable year of the Lord”. Luke, therefore, as I said, deals with households or houses, in which the various heads were responsible, having in view that they should have a part in God’s house; in other words, whether it be a parent or child, the thing in view with each [p. 35] of us in household culture and nurture is that we should have part in the house of God as it is set up here provisionally in relation to the gospel.
So in Luke 4 we read, that the Lord enters into Simon’s house, a man who was afterwards to have a very great place in the house of God, and the Lord finds Simon’s wife’s mother sick of a fever. He, standing over her, rebukes the fever. He did not rebuke her, because He was dealing in grace; He rebuked the fever; He would relieve her. The fever left her, and then He took her by the hand and raised her up, with the result that she served them, not only Him, but them. Now this is an item of importance, and as one might say, the first item of education in view of what the evangelist has in his mind. We have to learn to be free of the fever, whatever that may be in each case. It is a common malady spiritually, and we have to be free of it in order to serve; in fact we cannot serve if we are not free, for we have to be served. Thank God there are those who are free of it to serve those who are not, but His thought is that the house should be free of feverish, irritable, complaining persons.
Then in chapter 5 a man who is a paralytic is brought to the Lord; he needed to be served; he was not exactly irritable, but burdensome. He was brought to the Lord by sympathetic persons who cared for him. Luke does not tell us the number of men, it simply says, “men brought in”; but Mark says, that there were four. It says he was carried on his “little couch”, for that is how it should read. It is a suggestive thought, there was a certain advantage in this man’s case in regard to those who had to do with him, the couch was “little”; and the Lord in answering the thoughts and reasonings of His enemies says to the paralytic, “Arise, take up thy little couch and go into thy house”. The Lord did not rebuke the palsy, neither did He stand over [p. 36] the man, nor did He take his hand; for here it is a question of His authority, the authority of His word, the word of Christ.
As I remarked, the advantage of the little couch is obvious; he was evidently a little man, his circumstances were little, and of course, that has a spiritual meaning. It is dangerous to be big; even as unconverted, a great man is at a great disadvantage, and certainly a man should not be bigger or greater after conversion than before. It is not the Lord’s intention that His people should spread out like trees in the world; His thought is rather that His people should be reduced in an external way; certainly if they are being educated to have part in the house of God, it is of all moment that they should accept that littleness is the divine thought; not littleness, surely, in a spiritual way; that is another matter, but littleness in regard of human circumstances; there is a great advantage in it. Og, king of Bashan, was a big man and had a very large bed (Deuteronomy 3:11); but this man in Luke must have been a little man, for he had a little bed, suggestive of the fact that he was a man of little circumstances and no doubt for that reason, he came in for more sympathy in his soul’s needs; for he is a type of condition of soul.
Then, later in the chapter Levi, who is no doubt the counterpart of the man with the little couch, invited the Lord into his house. He was evidently a man of riches, a man of means; but being the counterpart of the man with the little couch, he was not big in his own apprehension. He did not regard his means as adding to him in any wise; they never add to us; on the contrary, the tendency is for them to detract from a person spiritually unless he holds them in regard of Christ, as a steward and a good steward. Unless he holds them in that light, the tendency would be to detract from him spiritually. So Levi makes a great entertainment for Christ in [p. 37] his house, and the kind of people that the Lord would desire to have, from Luke’s point of view, were in the house, “a great crowd of tax gatherers and others”. I am referring to that in a moral way, so that we might see how Luke would lead us on in our education, in order that we might have part in the house of God. We shall all have part in the Father’s house; God will have us there; the Lord has gone to prepare a place there; but I am speaking for the moment of the house in its provisional aspect in relation to the gospel.
I am somewhat afraid, dear brethren, that we are forgetting the gospel. I believe it is the divine thought that an evangelistic spirit should be found with the people of God at the end. I say that advisedly. I believe God will bring that about, not only an assembly state in regard of Christ, but an evangelical sympathy in sentiment and feeling. Luke speaks of the year, “the acceptable year”; mark it is not only what was preached in the year, but that the year itself was preached. He says, “to preach the acceptable year of the Lord”, as if it were glad tidings that there should be a long period of grace called “the acceptable year”. That should be kept in mind; we are near the end of it, but it still remains, and the point is that there should be that spirit of evangelisation until all the elect shall be saved. I believe God will bring that about, and Luke has it in view.
So Levi makes a great entertainment for Christ and then he had the kind of guests in his house that the Lord would appreciate; not his rich neighbours or relatives, those who could repay him, but he gets together the kind of people that the Lord desired; there was a company of publicans and sinners there. This drew out a certain opposition and criticism, for we read, “But their scribes and Pharisees murmured”, but Jesus said, “I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance”. Levi anticipated, or understood, the point of view, that it was the acceptable year, and the feast was in accord with it. He entertained Christ in that relation; it was not exactly a family affair, that is more John’s side. Levi entertained the Lord in a manner in keeping with the acceptable year which had begun.
I have mentioned these three incidents of houses that we might have them before us as indicative of the educational line which Luke has before him in his gospel, to prepare householders for the house of God. Matthew speaks of the householder; he says that a scribe instructed into the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, who brings out of his treasure things new and things old; that is Matthew’s point of view You can understand how Matthew would bring in the old things, the testimony of Moses and the prophets; the householder must have them in his treasury; the old things are there, not in the sense of cast-off things that are threadbare, but as antiques, things of value. There are such things in Scripture, and we must be on our guard not to discard the things of the Old Testament. They are kept in the treasury of every scribe instructed into the kingdom of heaven, and he brings them forth as he has opportunity; he delights in the antiques as one might say, but he brings in the new first; the things in the New Testament are brought in and developed, but he does not forget the old: he calls attention to the old things, how they all point to Christ. There are old things and new things, and they both go together, they belong to the treasures of the scribe who is instructed into the kingdom of heaven. That indicates Matthew’s point of view. He is concerned about Christ as the Heir of David, and necessarily, all things that come down, as one might say reverently; the things are handed down that belong to the family and should be treasured in the household, from Matthew’s standpoint. But Luke is concerned about the sympathy, the evangelical sympathy, of the people of God.
Now there is another feature in chapter 10 as to Mary and the house of Martha, in Bethany. It says that Martha received the Lord into her house; the Spirit of God says that; she had the house and she had extended hospitality, genuine hospitality. Now we may be hospitable and yet not teachable. We have to acquire the habit of being taught of the Lord in our houses. Hospitality is spoken of in Scripture and valued in Scripture, but teachability is more important than hospitality. The Lord will teach us, and so it says, “Mary having sat down at the feet of Jesus, was listening to his word”. That is how it should read. What a character she was! He was speaking, and whatever He said she listened to it; that is the true disciple; she was truly teachable, simply listening to whatever Christ had to say. Do you know anything about listening to Him? He is very varied in what He says. Whatever He said, Mary listened to it, but Martha did not. Martha owned the house; she extended hospitality and received Him into the house, and not only so, she served, she did the work; but one thing was needful and that was teachability. If we are not teachable, subject to Christ, receiving His word, all else will fail; so the Lord puts that right, so far as His word went; He said, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but there is need of one and Mary has chosen the good part”. He had the house of God in view, and the one thing that He spoke about was essential in the house of God, that is, to listen. Martha might be hospitable and active in her house, but in the house of God where would she be? She was not listening, she was occupied with the cares and things of her house.
The position in the house of God is, that the [p. 40] Spirit speaks there, and Christ speaks in the house. If we have not learned to listen, it is quite evident that we have missed the gain of what is going on; and hence the great advantage and gain of acquiring the habit in our houses of listening to the Lord and being taught of Him, of becoming teachable. Well, Luke presents all these things, as I have said, in view of the house of God.
Now I come to chapter 13. The Lord says to the Jews, “Your house is left unto you”. The word desolate in the authorised version should not be in the passage. We are now dealing with what had taken place in the house of God. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” And then He adds, “Behold, your house is left unto you”. Now, dear brethren, how do we stand in relation to our local company? Is it your company, or is it God’s company? Is it God’s house? If it is yours, if you regard it in that light in any way, if you rule there, and your influence there, your example there, has in view that it is yours in any sense, then you are in danger of it being left to you. I suppose we might say Christendom sets before us a solemn example of it; what once had the name and the reality of being God’s house is left unto them. They have arrogated it to themselves. Now God says, It is yours. God is not there, and it is all out of order if God is not there. “Behold! your house is left unto you, and I say unto you that ye shall not see me until it come that ye say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord”. The Lord says a very solemn thing, that they are not to see Him until they shall say, “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord”. They will have to come back to divine authority,
[p. 41] divine order, for apart from these things they will not see Him.
Then the Lord proceeds to show how we are to be in the house of God. He begins by finding, in the house He was invited to, a man who had the dropsy, whatever that may be spiritually. It was some disease, and shows, that that which might have been helpful to the man, has, through some abnormal formation, rendered him inflated in the house. This man who might have been helpful to himself and to others is rendered an invalid in the house; but the Lord heals the dropsical man, and that is grace. We can reckon on the healing of the Lord; and I do not know of anything that is more encouraging, in having to do with the house of God, than this; where one is exposed to disease and will is not at work we can reckon on divine healing, the healing of the Lord. How could we go on without this? Where should we be? But the Lord comes in and touches this brother and that brother, and this sister and that sister; apart from this we could not walk together, but we can reckon on the Lord putting us right and keeping us right.
Then He goes on to note how certain ones chose the chief rooms. He says, so to speak, I have healed that man, but here is the certain road to disease. Should we not be wise and take the road that will save us from it? The Lord marked those who chose the first places, those who sought a place in the house of God, and, in His own way, while exposing the working of the flesh, He shows the wisdom of taking the lowest place. He says, You are placing your host at a great disadvantage. Why should I place my brethren in the position of humbling me? If they do not, the Lord will; it may take days, or months, or years, but he will do it; for He is over the house of God and nothing escapes His notice. Then He says, You will have honour in the presence [p. 42] of the guests if you are only humble enough for it. The Lord has more pleasure in honouring a brother than in humbling him. “He lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes”; (1 Samuel 2:8) that is His way. If we have to do with the house of God, we must be humble and take the lowest room. The house belongs to Christ and all the rooms in it are His. He must have His way, and He gives each of us our position according to His wisdom. He has His own prerogatives, and He gives each servant according to His sovereign will.
Then He says, If you invite, do not invite your rich neighbours. That is, you are not to do things for recompense in the house of God. The world in the very principle of it never does anything except in view of recompense — a return; this is what marks the flesh. What the Lord enunciates here is that you are not to have that in mind at all; what you are to have before you is to reflect what God is, and what He has in mind, that is to say, the gates of Zion; “The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob”. (Psalm 87:2) He is interested in every one of us. He loves the gates of Zion; that is really the assembly. It is the sovereignty of God. He administers according to His sovereign love and bounty; and so He loveth the cheerful giver, for such a one is in accord with the gates of Zion. So in making an entertainment you are not to have recompense in mind; you want to satisfy the love of your heart; you do not discriminate against the poor in favour of the rich, as the Corinthians were doing, but you invite those who cannot repay you, you act in love and grace. To such the Lord says, “Thou shalt be blessed and it shall be recompensed thee in the resurrection of the just”. You will have it then.
Then one of them that sat at meat with Him said, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God”. The man had taken note of what the Lord said, and he says in effect, I would like to eat bread in the kingdom of God, where things are regulated according to God. One has seen queues of people (especially on the Continent) waiting for bread and other necessaries to be doled out to them, but that is not like the kingdom of God; the kingdom of God is different from that. God says, “I will abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her poor with bread”. (Psalm 132:15) How the heart looks on to the time when this very earth shall be marked by that instead of the scanty provision! Not that one would say anything against the effort to secure just distribution, one is thankful for it; but I am only contrasting it with the kingdom of God. I suppose we as Christians can testify to what it would be to eat bread in the kingdom of God, the order of things which God administers, for as in it one feels that one is nourished by God Himself, “Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation nor shadow of turning”. (James 1:17) He feeds us bountifully; it is all according to divine order. So the Lord, when feeding the multitude, made them sit down, and then He blessed the bread, then broke it, and they were all abundantly satisfied, and there were twelve baskets over. I only speak of the kingdom of God as it is put here.
Then in Luke 14 the Lord opened up the parable of the Supper, which is so well known to many of us here. He says, “A certain man made a great supper and bade many”. He uses the suggestion of a listener to bring out something that was greater than the kingdom; that is, God’s celebration in His house of the death and resurrection of Christ. He shows, in the parable, God’s delight in the work of redemption, in the accomplishment of righteousness. He would have all to have part in it. He first sends an invitation, and those invited refuse to come. Then He urges [p. 44] some from the streets and lanes of the city to come in, and compels others. One would dwell on the means that God uses to compel souls to come into the house; He says, “Compel them to come in”. That is how God looks at things; He never raises a doubt; He never raises a question of the possibility of their refusing. Those who were bidden refused, but with the other two classes the thought of refusing is never hinted at. God has His own way in bringing souls in.
I suppose everyone here can testify to the compelling grace of God in taking us out of the wretchedness in which we were and placing us in His house; not that we are in the house in that wretchedness. Other scriptures teach us how we are there; indeed, chapter 15 shows us how we are to be there; we are to be there in the best robe. The best robe is not presented as fitting us for heaven; it is a question of our place here, for the elder brother hears the music and the dancing. The house must be filled, and it will be filled with those whom God compels into it. Remember, all the education that went before is in view of the house, all these people who have been compelled to come in are not there without education, God sees to that. The point of view is grace; how the house will be filled, and how, as filled, it expresses the grace of God during this acceptable time.
Now just a word about the robe. When you come to the returning prodigal you get the word “Bring forth the best robe”. It does not say from where the robe is brought forth; and although the best robe and the shoes and the ring were put on the prodigal, we are not told that he was brought into the house. In chapter 14 they were compelled to come in, but in chapter 15, the Lord does not say that the prodigal was brought in, the reason being that he himself was part of the house. In his not [p. 45] being brought in, I apprehend the point that the Spirit has in mind is that as clothed in the best robe and shod and ringed we form part of the house; it is the dignity of it in chapter 15. The people who are there show us what the house is. Then following upon that we have the music and the dancing and merriment; and the elder brother comes up and hears the music and dancing.
The place that music and dancing have in relation to Christianity and the grace of God is very striking. In Psalm 87 we read: “As well the singers as the dancers say, all my springs are in thee”, that is, in Zion. They do not draw anything at all from the world, they owe nothing to the flesh; they draw everything from that blessed city called Zion. “All my springs are in thee”. I think in that way we have the constitution of the house. By the presence of the Holy Spirit, and all that is involved in that presence, we learn the meaning of merriment. What incomparable holy emotions are felt in the house of God! Thus we are led on and up to it according to the lines indicated in Luke, and we learn to value those holy emotions, which have touched the spiritual chords of our hearts. The Holy Spirit produces the music and the dancing in the presence of God, whose delight is in those He has brought there, for they are there all according to Christ.
I do not add more; that is the line I had before me, and I hope it is plain to each of us that God would have us in His house in full sympathy with Himself in regard to the gospel testimony.