LUKE 11
We have seen the Lord in the previous chapter as the Revealer; that would clearly be on the divine side, but we see Him here as the Teacher, and that would have reference to our side. Prayer would represent spiritual exercises on our side that are brought into activity as the product of the revelation: that would be the true character of prayer. No one has ever before spoken to the Father in such a way as the Son spoke to Him. I suppose the disciples must have felt the wonderful character of His speaking to the Father, and they were so moved by it that there was a desire with them to be taught to pray. I think we have all to feel that we need to be taught to pray; that is, prayer in a spiritual sense is not merely the expression of need, but the expression of exercises brought into being in the light of the revelation of God.
It was said of Saul of Tarsus, “Behold he prayeth”. His prayers were set in movement by the light above the brightness of the sun. His prayers got their impulse from heaven, and we can understand that a new set of desires began to work in his heart, brought about by the heavenly light that had reached him. All his prayers would have been coloured by that heavenly light. I believe that prayer in the Christian sense is the result of coming under the influence of Jesus as the Revealer on the divine side, and as the Man of prayer on the dependent side. The most holy parts of Scripture are those parts that record [p. 132] the utterance of the Son to the Father in prayer. It is the pure, salted, holy incense — most holy — nothing is more affecting than to hear the Lord speaking to His Father. I suppose we all feel instinctively that in John 17 we reach a spot compared with which there is nothing else in Scripture, it is the inmost shrine. One divine Person in manhood speaking to another, the Father — it is the very inner shrine. Now the full truth is out and the Father’s Name is manifested; now all suitable and spiritual prayer must be in the light of that.
The Father has been revealed and the disciples are looked at as being in the light of that, as those to whom the Lord has manifested the Father’s Name, so they can say “Father”, can speak to God in the light of revelation. We get into the habit of saying “Father” without thinking of the greatness of it; we forget that men like Abraham, David and Daniel could never say “Father”. I am using language that not one of the blessed men in the Old Testament could use. The name of Father could not be used in addressing the blessed God until the Son was here in manhood and manifested the Father’s Name, and so put it in the hearts of His disciples that under His blessed teaching they could say “Father”. Only the Lord could teach that: we are as dependent on the Lord now as the disciples were for ability to say “Father”. He has manifested the Name of God as He knows Him; He was Father to Him, and what He was to Him He has been pleased to reveal to others, and through His teaching He gives ability to take up a position with God which corresponds to His own. We want to start our exercises as to prayer in the light of revelation. The full truth is out; God is known in all the fulness of grace that belongs to the Father. It is not relationship here but revelation; that is, the blessed God is known as the Father, it is the Name of supreme grace — “Hallowed be thy name” — that holy Name which we can only utter in company with Jesus, the beloved Son, as taught by Him. Our first desire as taught by Him is that that Name should be hallowed. It would seem to be the contrast to what is said in Romans 2 of the Jews, that God’s Name was blasphemed among the nations on their account. The hallowing of the Father’s Name brings in the highest possible standard of sanctification for the saint; that is the character of my sanctification as taught by Jesus. I must not suffer anything less than the sanctity of that Name, or than what is in accord [p. 133] with that grace. If I speak unkindly of a brother, that is not hallowing the Father’s Name.
This prayer covers what is essential to the testimony. It does not cover the petition for the Spirit; that is added lower down. It covers the revelation of God as Father, which the disciples had before they received the Spirit. In John 17 we get into deeper waters; there we find a new relationship set up in which the saints are set and are loved with the same love as the Son; but this prayer has to do with the light of revelation before relationship is realised. Relationship is dependent on the Spirit in our hearts crying “Abba, Father”; it is those who have the Spirit who can be consciously in relationship. Here it is revelation, what God is in grace shining on the soul and profoundly affecting it, giving it a new character and changing all its desires. I take it that the words “Thy name be hallowed” are not merely a pious sentiment, but that the saints are set that the Father’s Name should be hallowed in them; it is in the saints. It is not hallowed anywhere else, it is blasphemed by the world; but, if Jesus has become to me the Revealer and Teacher, the Father’s Name will be hallowed in me, in my words and in my ways. I feel how little one knows the power of it, but it is the truth.
Then the thought of the Father’s kingdom is beautiful. It is not the kingdom of the Son, but the Father’s kingdom. I suppose the saints are viewed as having known and tasted what the Father’s kingdom is, so they desire it to come and radiate its light and blessedness. They can ask for it to come because it is in them. The Father’s kingdom is known in the hearts of the saints and therefore they can greatly desire that it should be known universally. I should suppose the Father’s kingdom will come when all that the Father has wrought in grace in His saints is made influential universally. It is wonderful that the Father is working in grace. The Father is always viewed in Scripture as the Originator of the work of grace; He has been working for two thousand years through innumerable exercises in His saints, and by their learning the blessedness of His kingdom in His beloved Son, and He is going to bring all that out, the fruit of His working, in such a way that it will gladden the universe — “then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father”. So things will not only be morally suitable to God but there is the influence of grace.
[p. 134] In the kingdom of God everything is suitable to God — righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost — all is morally suitable to God. But in the kingdom of the Father we get the influence of all that is blessed in the divine nature. It is a beautiful thought which shows that the kingdom will be permeated by the sweet influence of grace. It is where the fruit of the Father’s work is displayed; it will all be displayed when what the Father is doing is complete. Think of all the grace of the Father — He is good to the unthankful and evil — that is something additional to what is morally right. There is a motive working in the Father’s heart making Him good to the unthankful. Lower down we are told He is compassionate, there are tender feelings in His heart, and all that will give character to His kingdom. So it is not enough to think of the coming kingdom merely as a reign of righteousness; the thing is taking shape now, and whatever I do under the influence of the Father’s grace is essential to His kingdom. Suppose some one insults me and I do not resent it, but pray for the one who despitefully uses me and persecutes me. That is an expression of the Father’s kingdom. His kingdom refers to the sphere of His influence. There is a certain sphere of the Father’s influence and that at present is confined to His saints; they so know the sweetness of it that they pray for it. If we think of how the Lord manifested the Father’s Name, how in this gospel He moved about, what touches of grace, what consideration, what tenderness and patience — it was bringing out the Father’s Name and all that constitutes the Father’s kingdom. It is in the light of that that I should look at the needed bread for each day; one can understand the necessity on these lines for the needed bread each day. How are we to be supported on such spiritual lines? It is only by needed bread for each day. Our individual path is divided into days. It has often been said that church exercises are weekly, but our individual exercises are daily, and each day we must have needed bread; if we do not get it we shall break down in the testimony of the hallowed Name of Father.
The manna emphasises the need for fresh supplies every day. Supposing I knew at the beginning of the day every circumstance that would try my spirit or that I would come up against, I could brace myself up for the occasion and I could consider what I could do, but I do not know who will irritate me or what little opportunities I may have of upholding the testimony to the Father’s name which I may miss by my carelessness. But the Father knows each circumstance which will come into my life every day, and He can give me the needed supply so that I shall not break down in testimony. The Lord had His instructions every morning, “He wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the instructed” — He was taught how to speak a word in season. Think of the hallowed communications that the Lord had with the Father on the morning of John 4, and the Father putting in His heart and lips the very word He should speak to the woman at the well! He got the word that morning. There is a full supply of needed bread for each day if we would only prove it. Not one of us will ever have a day like this one, and we shall never see this day again; so it is important that we should rise to the elevation and not break down in testimony. If we took up this line we should be sustained in the testimony to the Father’s Name, and His Name would be hallowed. It would be a miracle, and yet distinctly within the bounds of possibility. Christians have often told me of severe testing coming upon them unexpectedly, and that if they had not received the little word they had in the morning from the Lord they could never have gone through it. A brother once said to me, I knew an unusual demand would come upon me because of the support I got from the Lord in reading this morning. In that way when a test comes we are able to exhibit something of the Father’s Name instead of exhibiting flesh and nature. None of us could do it except by getting the needed bread for each day.
Then the Father’s Name comes out in the spirit of remission. Suppose a brother offends you, how will you meet that? We all offend each other some time. Do I want an apology? Can it be met by the spirit of requisition, or by the spirit of remission? The saint who can take up this prayer has met all in the spirit of remission, so he can count on the Father to remit his sins. He has tasted the luxury of making a release. The year of release is not only for the benefit of the debtors but for the privilege of the creditor. Suppose a brother or a sister is not just what I expect them to be, suppose they hurt or even injure you! You may have a hard feeling, rankling and souring you and making you unhappy. What a privilege to make a release! The creditor gets something off his mind that has been rankling. You may say that he or she did very [p. 136] wrong. Well, is there any sin so great that it cannot be met by the grace of remission? God has shown us there is not. But we want some food to enable us to do this, so the divine nature must be built up and nourished, for naturally we should like to exact every penny of the debt. After all, the Lord supposes that we all have many sins that have to be remitted, and James says, “In many things we all offend”. It is no use to say we are not sinners. If we were honest with ourselves we should have to admit a great many sins, so how can we go on happily without the sense of the Father’s remission? Many Christians have unhappy lives because they have nor a sense of how readily the Father remits. The reason is that they have not tasted the luxury of remitting — it may be little things, little offences, little hurts that have touched our pride and vanity.
Then we are to say, “Lead us not into temptation”. That shows the saint knows himself, he is not under any delusion as to temptation. In the mercy of God things that appeal to me may never have come in my reach. I believe with every one of us there is something that would be too much for us if we were tempted, so we say, “Lead us not into temptation”. I want to be kept by the Father’s grace from these particular things that would be too great for me to withstand, and from circumstances that would be too great a test for me. So this prayer finishes in profound humility, a true spirit of self-distrust, true self-knowledge. There is no self-confidence; we are cast on the Father that if He left us in temptation we should be sure to fall, and so in true self-judgment and humility we pray to be kept.
I think this prayer shows how saints are preserved in the divine testimony. It will be fatal if we disregard it. We do not want it as a form, but we want the Lord to teach us to pray this prayer.
The revelation has the effect of producing confidence, so there is no sense of difficulty in getting things from the Father. The Lord uses figures to illustrate His meaning, but we find that the figures are taken up in some sense by way of contrast, not only of comparison. For instance, a man has a friend, but if he goes at an unusual hour like midnight to prefer his request, he may find the friend unwilling, though he may by importunity overcome his unwillingness. Now the Lord indicates that you will never have to do like that with the Father, though we are to ask, seek and knock. Again, the Lord speaks [p. 137] about a man who is a father, if his son asks him for bread, will he give him a stone; or a fish, will he give him a scorpion? No, He says, You would not do that yourselves, evil as you are, “How much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him”. He contrasts the blessedness of the Father with the disposition of an earthly parent to do the best for his son. The disposition of the Father is placed on a higher plane altogether — “How much rather”, the Lord says. So again in chapter 18 where the Lord speaks of prayer in connection with the unjust judge and the widow. The judge does not respond to her request; his heart does not move him in the least degree towards her, but he is harassed by her continual coming, so she gets what she wants. It is very different from the way God treats those who come to Him, though we are to persevere in our prayers.
I think our want of confidence arises from our feeble apprehension of the revelation of God as Father. Dependence in a true sense is based on confidence, and therefore it is happy. We all know what it is to be dependent for certain things on people in whom we have no confidence, and it is misery. In a sense all men are dependent on God, and often it is without any confidence in Him, so they are not happy. The believer in the light of the declaration has confidence, therefore his dependence is of a confiding nature, and he knows it is not difficult to get things from the Father. The Father is moved in the most active grace in response to every true desire that comes to Him in answer to the declaration that He has made.
It is noticeable that the Lord has much before Him the question of food supply. There is a spiritual suggestion in it which seems to show the paramount importance of the food supply. I take it that, having received the declaration that has been brought to us by the Son, we require to be nourished in it by food; the confidence of our hearts has to be preserved in strength by spiritual food; that is, food which continually nourishes us and strengthens us in the knowledge of God. I think that is the primary necessity of happy Christian life. The ministry of Christ in the power of the Spirit nourishes the knowledge of God in our souls, so that, instead of confidence waning as time goes on, we are getting more and more confidence in God. The knowledge of God is the one thing needful. Paul said to the Corinthians, “Some have not the knowledge of God”; he was writing to believers and they had not the [p. 138] knowledge of God. Speaking generally, the food would illustrate the ministry that is found in the assembly, and that there should be a full supply of it is a matter of exercise and confidence in God. In Colossians Paul speaks of “growing by the true knowledge of God” — food in a spiritual sense is what nourishes us in the knowledge of God.
All this is of the greatest importance in view of the Spirit coming in. This chapter brings us to the gift of the Spirit. This attitude of confidence is the preparation of soul for the reception of the Spirit. It is wonderful to so know the Father under the teaching of the Son that we are perfectly assured that He would give us the Holy Spirit, so that we may have resources and revenue equal to our citizenship which has been made known to us in the previous chapter.
Luke seems to give us the moral conditions which prepare the soul for the Spirit, and I do not think we get the gain of the Spirit until those conditions are present. I do not say that persons have not the Spirit before these conditions are reached, but they have not the gain of the Spirit. Many people have the Spirit who have not the gain of the Spirit. The Galatians had the Spirit, and yet had gone far from the light of revelation. The Corinthians had the Spirit, but the revelation was obscured by their carnality, so Paul had to say, “some have not the knowledge of God; I speak as a matter of shame”. Here we see the moral conditions which are preparatory to the reception of the Spirit according to Luke’s presentation.
It is a great thing to be assured of the Father’s willingness to give us a priceless gift. The object of the Spirit’s being given is that saints may occupy effectually and intelligently the place in testimony which Jesus held so perfectly when here. So completely would that be brought about that the Lord could say in chapter 12 that the disciples would not need to think what they should say — “the Holy Spirit shall give it to you in that hour” — a wonderful qualification for testimony. We come into the power of it along these moral lines.
There is a moral order in these things as Luke relates them. First the Lord tells His disciples to rejoice that their names are written in heaven, which is a greater thing than to have power to cast out demons. If that is so, should we not like to be in possession of something positive and heavenly now? The Lord is leading up to this, so that we should have confidence in the Father to give the Holy Spirit so that we might live here [p. 139] on the wealth of the heavenly revenue. We have not only the citizenship — that is wonderful — but we have the resources and revenue, all the wealth of the Spirit as given by the Father. The Lord would encourage us to exercise liberty and confidence; He would dismiss from our thoughts any question or uncertainty in praying in the light of the revelation. A person in the light of the revelation would never want anything inconsistent with it.
The reception of the Spirit is presented in a great variety of ways in Scripture in order to preserve us from taking it up in a formal way. There are hardly two scriptures about the reception of the Spirit which speak of His coming in the same conditions. There is variety and diversity to keep us out of all ruts, to make us exercised as to the living reality. This is Luke’s presentation, so that as having confidence in the Father we ask for the Holy Spirit. We are so assured of the grace that is bound up in the Name of the Father that we count on Him with confidence to give even such a stupendous gift as the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is for ourselves, but it is in view of the wonderful place we are set in by the revelation of the Father as left here to be in the testimony of the Father. The Lord said, “I have given them thy word” — that is the Father’s word in testimony.
If we do not move on these lines we shall be in danger of what follows, and that is very solemn. The revelation is rejected and Satan gets possession. The house is swept and garnished; things are outwardly respectable, and yet wicked spirits come and dwell there, and the last condition is worse than the first. That is the state of Israel, but it is also exactly the state of christendom. We are either moving on the line which results in the reception of the Spirit and all the wealth connected with that, or else we are on the other line where plenty of sweeping and garnishing are going on — all is outwardly right, but there is no place for God or Christ, and wicked spirits have come in to dwell. That is what Christendom is drifting into. But we want to be giving place to the Holy Spirit and the Father’s Name. There can be no neutrality. It is Christ or Satan; there is no middle path. “He that is not with me is against me”. It is the path giving place to the Spirit out of heaven, or the path resulting from wicked spirits coming in and getting possession. That is the solemn aspect of things presented here.
[p. 140] I think the Lord presents these things to confirm us and to encourage us in confidence in the Father. I feel that if I knew God better I should never have a misgiving about anything; I should be able to count upon Him about everything. What a wonderful thing it is that there is a Person out of heaven now dwelling in the saints! Not only are we heavenly by calling, but there is part of the very essence of heaven in us by the Spirit now. If this is so, do we not want to give more expansion to it now, more room for the expression of it?
We have been speaking of the Lord as the Teacher, teaching us to pray, in the light of the revelation which He has brought to us of the Father, so that prayer becomes the expression of confidence. That being the case, one can see how the power of evil manifests itself in dumbness. For a man to be dumb indicates that he is not able to speak to God; he is not in the light of the revelation, and there is therefore no confidence to speak at all. The power of the kingdom is necessary in such a case. If that power did not act sovereignly, nothing would be wrought. The Lord acted sovereignly. He cast out the demon; it was His own activity in the power of the finger of God. It is a great object with God to give evidence in this world that His power is greater than all the power of evil, so the character of two kingdoms comes to light: the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God. Therefore it is no longer possible to be neutral; that is why the Lord said, “He that is not with me is against me”. Neutrality is impossible when the character of the two kingdoms is manifest. If there was not a single soul in Teignmouth able to speak to God in the confidence of grace, there would be no evidence in the town of the kingdom of God. The Lord is encouraging confidence, encouraging us to speak to God in the light of the revelation that has come to us, to speak in confident assurance. It needs the finger of God to bring that about. There is a demon holding the ground and he needs to be dispossessed. The Lord here is dispossessing the demon and showing that the kingdom of God is stronger than all the power of evil. The question is, Are we going to identify ourselves with Him? Neutrality is impossible.
The finger of God accomplishes what is altogether beyond the power of the creature. When the dust was turned into lice in Egypt, that was beyond the magicians to imitate, and they said, This is the finger of God. Certain things were in [p. 141] their power to do, but it was not in the power of the creature to turn death into life. If one soul is in the light of the revelation of the Father so as to be able to speak to Him confidingly, that is the finger of God. It is the mighty power of God exercised by the Spirit. Every believer who can speak confidingly to God is the evidence of it, of divine power greater than evil.
There is not only deliverance, but the heart is occupied. What comes out in the Lord’s words that follow is that there is a man from whom an evil spirit has gone out, but his heart is not occupied. Now you want something to occupy your heart that is security against evil; you want God brought in as known in His beloved Son so that the heart is occupied. It is not only deliverance effected but the heart occupied and preserved against any return of the power that has been dispossessed. We want to be so secured that the power may never return, not merely to be delivered from it; otherwise the last state will be worse than the first. It was so with Israel and it will be so with Christendom. We want Christ to have such a place with us that the house is not simply swept and garnished but occupied. In Matthew we have the word ‘unoccupied’ as to the house. It is not enough to have an outward deliverance — that may be providential. Israel was in the position of a man from whom the evil spirit had gone out; the evil spirit of idolatry went out, but it was not cast out by the finger of God. It went out, I might say, providentially; God so ordered it. But when the Lord was presented to them, when God came near in the Person of Jesus, they would not receive Him, so the house was unoccupied; it was empty though swept and garnished. That is like Christendom today. Providentially Christendom has been freed from the gross evil of the heathen world, but there is no security in that. Security lies in giving the Lord Jesus a place in our hearts, so that we are not unoccupied. He is not only the Owner but the Occupier; if He is this there is security against evil.
People are deceived by the house being swept and garnished. Things are made respectable, but there is no occupier, and it is going to issue in apostasy. The last state will be worse than the first. Our only security is in being inhabited. The Spirit brings Christ in. If we have the Holy Spirit out of heaven, we have a divine Person from the place where Christ is. He comes to be the witness of the glory of Christ in our [p. 142] hearts, so that the house is occupied, and the evil spirits cannot come back. If the evil spirits have been cast out they will never come back, but if they only go out they may come back. There is that difference between what God does providentially and what He does in power. If the spirits are cast out by the finger of God they will never come back. If the Person who brought the deliverance occupies the house there is perfect security. The top note of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3: 16 is, “that the Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith”. It is Christ in the affections that gives permanent security,
The Lord felt it when they wanted a sign (verse 29); it was the evidence that they were a wicked generation. In presence of all that there was in Him, to want a sign proved man wicked, and He says that no sign should be given them but the sign of Jonas the prophet. Jonas brought to the Ninevites the testimony of their real state under the eye of God. God said, “Go to Nineveh and cry against it”, and Jonah’s preaching was, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown”. The Lord is virtually saying to them, You can only get blessing on the common ground of the heathen world. He is putting this generation on a level with the Ninevites.
The wonderful thing is that their state is demonstrated in the Son of man. The state of Israel and of the Gentile world is not demonstrated by judgment falling on them, but by judgment coming on the Son of man; so their state is demonstrated in the way of supreme grace. John the baptist shows the state of man to be corrupt and that the tree must be cut down, but the Son of man shows how the tree has been cut down in holy judgment, but in the way of grace to men. Therefore the Son of man is the sign. The Jews might have thought of Him as the Son of God, or have gloried in Him as the Son of David, but God says, No, you must be widened out and get blessing on the same ground as the Ninevites. As Son of man He was the great expression of the universality of God’s grace. The only thing that saved Nineveh was God’s pity, with which Jonah was not in fellowship. God said to him, You have had pity on the gourd, and you do not want Me to have pity on Nineveh, “where there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle”. It is the pity of God on His creature that the Son of man takes up in grace. The Lord is telling the Jews that they [p. 143] must come down to that platform, the Son of man taking up in grace all the judgment of God on man’s sinful condition, so the Son of man is the great sign of man’s condition and the blessed evidence of God’s grace to His creature. The Lord’s widest glory is His glory as Son of man; it was as Son of man that He came to seek and save the lost. There are no distinctions there, fin Jew and Gentile are lost; there is only one common ground on which the Son of man can touch men, and that is the ground of His death. Jonas is the great sign that everything offensive to God is removed from the eye of God, and Solomon is the great sign that everything delightful to God has come in.
In Matthew 12 the Lord speaks of Jonas being three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, and says, “thus shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights”. He showed that the Son of man was going down to the very bottom; He not only died but was buried. The whole extent of the removal of man was effected by Christ; it was not only death but burial — going into the heart of the earth. Burial is complete removal; death is not. If a man dies, be is in evidence there as a dead man; but when he is buried he is no longer in evidence, he is gone. That is the importance of the burial of Christ. It means the absolute removal of man from the eye of God; he is out of sight.
We cannot preach a full gospel without speaking of the burial of Christ. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 what the glad tidings which he announced were: “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and he was buried”. It is part of the gospel. We must have the penalty dealt with to the full extent. To die is part of the penalty, but not the whole of it, for God had said to Adam, “dust thou art and to dust shalt thou return” — that involves burial; Adam was to disappear from the eye of God. So in the death and burial of Christ man disappears from the eye of God. We are to be consistent with His death and with His burial too. We are to realise it every day as we walk about this earth; we are to be consistent with the burial of Christ in the place where He was buried; there is no Christianity without that. In Jonas we see the complete removal of the man who was under the judgment of God, and that is what the Son of man has done; He is the sign of it. The Son of man has gone into death and burial to remove the man of offence. It is not the pulling of [p. 144] the old man to pieces but seeing the blessedness of the Son of man having removed him. If the Son of man has removed him, it is unrighteous to bring him back.
In Solomon we have all the wisdom of God; all the profound thoughts of divine wisdom in regard to man were spoken by Solomon. The Lord intimates in connection with Solomon that people afar off would come. The queen of Sheba sets forth the Gentile company who would appreciate Christ — the wisdom of God — when Israel had disregarded it.
Solomon was the centre of a system where everything spoke of the fame of Jehovah’s Name: the house he had built, the sitting of his servants, the ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah. All was secured in suitability to the Name of Jehovah, and that was what the queen of Sheba heard about. Movement is required to reach Solomon. These are the two sides of the truth: Jonah represents grace and compassion going out to men in their need and opening a door for repentance to them. God’s pity is the word used in Jonah, and even the cattle are spoken of, showing that God was thinking of His own creation. The end of Mark speaks of the gospel being preached to all creation, showing God’s interest in all creation and His regard to the state into which it has come. That side of the truth is brought to us, but to reach Solomon a journey has to be undertaken, and it will only be by lovers of God. Solomon has to be found where he is; he is found in his own circle where everything is delightful to the heart of God.
These are the two sides of the work of God. I do not think we shall understand the calling of God unless we see these two sides. When the calling of God is presented to us in an elementary way in I Corinthians, Christ is spoken of as God’s wisdom, and He is made the wisdom of God to us. The apostle has in view for the saints a whole system of things, predetermined “before the ages for our glory”. It is a positive construction of what is delightful to God in the power of the Spirit, a system marked by glory — “Solomon in all his glory”. The queen of Sheba heard of his fame in connection with the Name of Jehovah. If we think of man as sinful, God must come to him; if the sign is to reach him it must go to him where he is. Jonah is the sign of grace which will bring man to repentance so that he is free from all his old associations; but God has something more in mind than that, something for [p. 145] lovers of God. It seems to me that the queen of Sheba came as moved by her affections; she had problems to be solved and she was prepared to appreciate the wonderful character of divine wisdom seen in Solomon’s surroundings. It is a great thing when we begin to be interested in divine wisdom, to study the way wisdom is spoken of in the epistles. The system into which we are brought is an evidence of the wisdom of God, so that in result the principalities and powers in the heavenlies will learn in the church the “all-various wisdom of God”. All is for God’s delight, and it is all connected with Christ, because He is the wisdom of God.
Unless we leave the world we shall not intelligently form part of the vessel of divine light which is here for the pleasure of God. There is the shining forth there of all that is of God and suitable to God; it is substantiated in Christ and in the power of the Spirit, and even the bodies of the saints are to be irradiated with the glory of it. God moves to us in grace that we may move to Him in love, and in result the light that is going to fill the city will be found morally in the saints now.
“The light of the body is the eye”. Our appreciation of light depends on our capacity of vision; so the Lord turns from the thought of light in its source to speak of the condition capable of seeing it. That is where exercise comes in. The most blessed light is shining; there has never been greater shining of spiritual light than now, but the organ of perception is of the greatest importance.
The light has “shone in our hearts” (see 2 Corinthians 4). God shone in the heart of Paul for the shining forth; and in a sense nothing can add to the brilliancy of the shining forth. But if light is to characterise the vessel, if it is to be put on a candlestick for public witness, certain conditions are requisite; we need a simple eye — a vision unobscured by any selfish motives, by any form of idolatry. It is contrasted with the wicked eye; the eye is either simple or wicked. Paul prays for the “spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him” — that would give a simple eye. It is the divine intent that the spirit of wisdom and revelation should be given to the saints, so that there is no foreign element to obscure the vision. It is not complicated by a variety of motives, not by any element of self-pleasing, self-seeking, or self-exaltation. All that is idolatrous and wicked in character is out of harmony with the blessed revelation, and with the confidence which [p. 146] revelation produces; it is out of harmony with the Spirit and leads to an evil eye. A simple eye is just the opposite.
It is interesting to see the general thought of light in verse 33: “No one having lit a lamp sets it in secret, nor under a corn measure, but on a lampstand, that they who enter in may see the light”. That is the general idea of light, and then we have the way it is taken up by saints, so that what shone so perfectly in the Son of man might shine in them, and their very bodies are to be luminous. That is a thing no Pharisee can imitate. He could put on a clean garment, but it could never be a shining one. The two men in the end of this gospel were in shining garments, so the character of God’s shining in Christ should mark the saints. The light was obscured at Corinth; the candlestick was there with all its vessels, but the light was obscured; the lamps needed priestly attention. But the light was radiant in Paul, and it was intended to be radiant in the saints so that the light might be as the candlestick; that is, be definitely set up in a defined position. It is not exactly the light of the world, but it is a question of those entering in — “that those who enter in may see the light”. There is a sphere secured among the saints where there is divine shining. I have said to people who complain of poor meetings, You were never in a meeting so poor that nothing was said in praise of God and His beloved Son. People come in to see the shining; you go out with the gospel.
The divine intent in bringing in a light is that it should be public, not secret. There is a certain sphere where it is found and it fills that sphere with its radiance. That shining is not only when we are together, though it is seen particularly when saints are convened; we are saved then from distracting influences. The delivering power of the kingdom is known when we come together; we come into a sphere where there is a different element. There is the shining there and no place for darkness, whether we come together for the breaking of bread, or for prayer, or for reading. It is the place for the light.
In contrast with this we see (verse 37) that there is a system that professes to entertain the Lord — the Pharisee invited Him to dine. Ostensibly he was honouring the Lord, but it was only to exalt himself, and his surroundings were only darkness. There is a system of darkness obtaining after the full light has come in; and the end of that system will be so opposed to [p. 147] God that the blood of all His faithful witnesses will come upon it, as we read in Revelation 18. The great thing for us is to cherish the light, to be intelligently occupied with the light, and in that way we shall be preserved from the darkness.
God works from within. In the system of darkness all outside is respectable, but the inside remains selfish and wicked. God works from within that there might be hearts capable of entertaining Christ. What the Pharisee did outwardly we are to be prepared to do inwardly. It is good to understand that God is dealing with the inward parts; the external system will not do. “Thou desirest truth in the inward parts; in the hidden parts thou wilt make me to know wisdom”, Psalm 51: 6. God begins there; He does much in secret with souls before any of it comes to the top. The enemy would like to hide what is there of God, but God means it to shine. God is working to bring people to have no confidence in the flesh; His complaint about the Pharisees was that they were particular about little things, but left aside judgment and the love of God. What is God’s estimate? What does He think? That is the thing to be concerned about. For instance, I see the judgment of God in this: “In thee have I found my delight”. That is His judgment, that is the estimate He has formed of His beloved Son, and we want to have His judgment about things. Everything is judged in the light of God’s judgment in regard to Christ. He has a judgment of what is delightful to Himself, and all His work in our souls is to prepare us to have His judgment, His delight, so that instead of selfishness and wickedness there is Christ and He becomes the hidden Man of the heart.
This chapter is important as giving us the character of the system that professes to entertain Christ but is really a system of darkness and only uses Christ to exalt self. The judgment of God is not considered and the love of God not known. It is very important to have the judgment of God first, then we reach definite conclusions. Everything in Christianity is marked by finality; the judgment of God has been pronounced, and the wisdom of man is to regard it. If I regard God’s judgment as to Christ I shall be committed to regard His judgment of man after the flesh. To maintain the judgment of God and the love of God there is a vessel of light, and it is in contrast with the religious system that professes to honour Christ. The things the Lord speaks of in this chapter are the [p. 148] positive things — the judgment of God, the love of God, wisdom, the key of knowledge, the Holy Spirit — what an amount of precious substance shining in contrast to the system of darkness!
God is working on the line of secret things; He is working for heart purification; He is moving to secure an inward result first. He is working to set up a vessel of light, and to secure it He must work inwardly. Paul speaks of our hearts being purified by faith — if God comes in sin goes out. Faith rings in God and Christ, and if so we get rid of selfishness and wickedness. The Pharisee did not bring Christ in morally or spiritually; he represents that system of things that nominally acknowledges Christ and treats Him with respect, but had nothing inward. God only gives His Spirit to purified hearts; the gift of the Spirit is a witness that hearts are purified.
Paul speaks to the Colossians about the glad tidings growing and bearing fruit. It is not only individually, but in the way the saints are set together and move together so that people come in and see the light. It is found in the Christian company. The mutual relations of the saints are formed in the light of revelation, and in confidence in God, and in the presence of the Spirit, so that there is a whole system of spiritual things that is light in contrast to darkness.
The giving of alms (verse 41) involves the activity of grace. If we are moving in the activities of grace we shall not contract defilement; there is a protective armour round the soul. It is very often our slackness in the activities of grace that opens the door for what is unclean. If in the activity of grace we are seeking the good of others we are outside the range of what is unclean; selfishness, wickedness and uncleanness are shut out. In Leviticus 11 we are told that a quantity of water is not defiled even if an unclean animal or insect falls into it. Where there are such activities of the Spirit as are found when the saints come together, what is defiling is excluded. It is engagement with positive good that excludes evil. Deliverance in a practical sense is found in moving on with activities which are pleasing to God. It is worthy of God to work on that line. If a saint is down, how will you help him? Not by telling him he is down, but by bringing in something positive. God always presents something positive to us. J.N.D. said, “The way of peace within and power without is to be always and only occupied with good”. That is the simple eye. Paul spoke [p. 149] to the Philippians about beautiful things, and says, “think on these things”.
Paying attention to the outside while the inside is unclean, paying great attention to trifles — all this is an element of darkness. I have observed that when people are very punctilious about trifles they generally fail grievously in big things. We can clothe ourselves with credit by being particular about something that does not cost us much. To tithe little herbs is no cost, but the Pharisee can take credit by it. It is right to attend to little things, for the Lord says, “these ye ought to have done, and not have left those aside”. Do not neglect little things, but do not attach undue importance to them. To present things in a burdensome way belongs to the system of darkness. Paul never put burdens on the saints, but he showed how ready he was to carry all the things that came on him. You cannot read his ministry in the epistles without feeling that there is a man there ready to help you to carry your burdens, whether it is soul exercise, personal difficulty, or church sorrow; he will not come in with demand but with a helping hand. We are not to come in with the spirit of exaction — that belongs to the system of darkness. Paul took up the whole burden of the trouble in Galatia; he took it up on his spirit, and brought in an extraordinary ministration of divine wealth. That was how he corrected; he gave alms practically. Burden-bearing belongs to the vessel of light, and we want to get more and more into the shining so that we might get clear of all the elements of darkness, though they commend themselves to us naturally.