SONS OF GOD

W. Lamont

Galatians 3: 26; 4: 6, 7; Romans 8: 14; 2 Kings 2: 3, 5, 7, 8, 15–25

To be a son of God has a ring of dignity about it. Of course there are others who have that privilege as well. I suppose in some way all the families will have sonship. Ephesians would indicate that, every family in the heavens and on earth, every one named of the Father (see Ephesians 3: 15), so in that way as named by the Father they will know sonship. We, as believers now, are privileged to be sons of God in a distinct and unique way; it is elevating to think of it, it lifts the soul above every petty trouble to regard ourselves as the result of the work of Christ, and faith in Him, as having the dignity of being sons of God.

Paul tells the Galatians, “for ye are all God’s sons by faith in Christ Jesus”. They were acting otherwise, they were not acting according to the dignity of sonship, they were acting in some ways according to the principles of the world, not according to their status. If you have faith in Christ Jesus you are a son of God, and there is no greater privilege in the universe of God than to be a son of God. It is the portion of every believer, every one who has faith in Christ.

Jesus. How great that is! We are gathered together here in this city, a comparatively small number, but in our affections we can embrace all the saints. We can regard every believer in Dundee, and every believer universally, as being a son of God on account of faith in Christ Jesus. The fact that we may not act according to the dignity of it is another matter altogether.

Nevertheless it stands, and stands in its absoluteness never to be changed in time or eternity, that if you have faith in Christ Jesus you are a son of God.

The gift of the Spirit does not confer sonship on us, we are sons by adoption; we are sons as a result of what Christ has done, and we are sons of God by faith in Him. But, as Paul tells them, “because ye are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts”. Think of the privilege of that! Our hearts having a sense of His Spirit indwelling us, the Spirit of God’s own Son. A wonderful matter! I challenge myself sometimes if I realise the tremendous importance and dignity and privilege: of it, to have in my heart the Spirit of God’s Son. If we realised it beloved brethren, and were in the gain of it what a difference it would make. I often ponder Mr Stoney’s exhortation to the brethren at Quemerford, it could be a very current word to all of us, ‘Brethren, ye are heavenly, act like it’. So if we make way for the Spirit of God in our hearts what a difference it would make, giving us the capacity to represent God, and to till out by the means of the Spirit of God’s Son in our hearts, the cry,

“Abba, Father”. What that means to God! We should learn to think on these lines. How selfish we are even as believers sometimes; how often we consider for ourselves. I think a son of God considers first for God, and has the power to do so. This cry; “Abba, Father”, involves both affection and intelligence. It is a most remarkable expression. It is used three times in Scripture, firstly by the Lord Himself.

Sonship in all its perfection has been set out in Him; He having sonship in a unique, way, the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father; and as the Father Himself could say,

“This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight”, Matthew 3: 17. The Father could express delight in His beloved Son as to His earlier life, these years of which we know very little, hardly anything at all up to the time when He was about thirty years of age. All these years of the Lord’s life were pleasurable to the Father, bringing forth that word, ‘This is My beloved Son’. As here on earth He was unique, not another like Him. On the mount of transfiguration it was a matter of His public service. He was always untainted

by sin. After the temptations, the devil left Him for a time; Jesus said, “the ruler of the world comes, and in me he has nothing” (John 14: 30), a most remarkable expression. Satan had no point of contact in Christ whatever, the holy sinless One. That is the blessed Man in all His perfection whose Spirit we have in our hearts, and are able to use the very same words that He used; but He used them in the extremity of circumstances that we will never know, the agonies of Gethsemane. So we can cry, “Abba, Father”, as persons whose affections and intelligence are directed Godward. As being sons of God, and the brethren of Christ, one of the greatest privileges for believers down here is to answer to the Lord’s request, “this do in remembrance of me”, 1 Corinthians 11: 24. What a privilege, beloved brethren, it is to assemble for the Lord’s supper, the doorway into the whole matter of the service of God, where we can freely in affection and intelligence use this very language, and cry, “Abba, Father”.

In Romans 8 it is very specific, it is more than, “ye are all God’s sons by faith in Christ Jesus”, it is, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”. Paul does not put it that way to unchristianise anyone; nor does it nullify the fact that every true believer is a son of God, but it is to raise a challenge as to being led by the Spirit and being a son characteristically. I wonder what that raises in our hearts, the great privilege and responsibility of being a son characteristically. We spoke in the reading about Rebecca and her maids, following the servant (Genesis 24: 61), it is similar to this—“as many as are led by the Spirit of God”. There were persons who were prepared to take that journey in the wilderness. For us it involves the moral journey described in the epistle to the Romans, in the first seven chapters, learning in these deep lessons what it is to come to know the Deliverer.

We come to the beginning, you might say, of the service of God, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”, Romans 7: 25. We speak a lot about deliverance, but we cannot

have deliverance apart from knowing the Deliverer.

Well, Paul says, “for as many as are led by the Spirit of God”, not as few, but “as many”. He is saying there is a particular class of persons who are not only sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus, but there are persons who are characteristically sons of God because they are being led by the Spirit of God. That is they are with the Spirit of God in what He is saying and doing today. I would link it with the overcomer in Revelation. We have often said in the first three churches the hearing is before the overcoming, in the last four the hearing is dependent on the overcoming. I think the last four references to the overcomers are as to persons who are prepared to be led by the Spirit of God. My desire for oneself, and for all the dear saints, is that not only should we be sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus, but we should be sons of God characteristically, as persons who are marked by the fact of being led by the Spirit of God. It involves subjection, it involves a broken will, and that I am subject to Christ as Lord; it involves that I know something with the saints, of the operation of the Lord’s headship.

Then as being led by the Spirit of God, in what direction is He leading? One thing is certain.

He is not leading the saints into the world. He is not leading the saints into matters that run counter to all that He has done in the recovery or in the history of this dispensation. He is leading in a certain direction, like the type in Genesis 24. He is directing us towards the heavenly Man. It is a wonderful privilege to have part in it, not only objectively, but to have part in it as having the knowledge in our hearts that we are among those who are being led by the Spirit of God. It is not a question of presumption; if we presume to have it or claim to have it, it is a very sad thing; but it is a question of being it characteristically—“as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these”—it is emphatic, “these are sons of God”. Beloved brethren, I am sure we would

all love to be among them.

In 2 Kings, which represents typically the day we are in, it begins with a man fallen. Those who have followed the Scriptures and have followed the truth, would know that 2 Kings, in chapter 1, begins with a man who fell through the lattice, never to rise again. That means there is one order of manhood gone and gone for ever, an order that could never please God, has been removed in the death of Christ, and in the burial of Christ has been put out of God’s sight for ever, never to be resurrected again. But in chapter 2 there is a man who has gone up.

How wonderful! What characterises this dispensation is that God has put one order of man judicially out of His sight for ever, and He has received one blessed glorious Man into His presence to be there eternally. I want to say a solemn word to the brethren, especially to those of us who are younger, as to sonship as spoken of in 2 Kings 2, the danger of simply being sons of the prophets. What has come down to us has been at great cost, others have laboured, we have benefited by their labours. Are we going to give up what has come to us so preciously, has been fought for, has been contended for in a right sense. Paul says to Timothy, “a bondman of the Lord ought not to contend”, 2 Timothy 2: 24. That stands, but it is also said, “contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints”, Jude 3. That is not contradictory, it is the spirit in which you do it. When it is not a matter of the truth you would not contend. If it is a personal matter and the truth is not at stake, let it go, but if it is a question of the truth contend earnestly for it, do not give it up.

Here are men, sons of the prophets and they are at odds with what the Lord was doing at this particular time. Elijah was about to go up, and Elisha ready to take on in the spirit of the heavenly Man; that is how the testimony is going to be continued. A Man has gone up, and the Spirit of God has come down, bringing about features of the same kind of manhood down here as is seen in

perfection in that blessed Man at God’s right hand. Here are these sons of the prophets and they raise objections at every turn. The answer is, “I also know it—be silent!” Then again in verse 5, “I also know it—be silent!” They were not with the man of God in what he was doing. Then in verse 7 they stood afar off, they were neutral, they took a neutral stance. The whole Bethesda issue of neutrality is obnoxious to the Lord. They stood afar off, they were mere observers, they were not participators. What a thing it is to be an observer or to be neutral when the Lord is doing something. We can be so obsessed by what the enemy is doing; if we are obsessed by what the enemy is doing, we will become casualties ourselves.

The secret is, to seek the help of the Holy Spirit to see what the Lord is doing and be fully with it.

So these persons stood afar off, fifty men of the sons of the prophets observed what was going on. Then it goes on here, “the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho”, the opposite side. These great things were happening, man going up, an exalted heavenly man, and in figure the double portion, the Spirit coming down. These persons were all awry as to what was happening, and say, “lest perhaps the Spirit of Jehovah have taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some ravine”. That is another thing that the enemy is after, to deflect the saints from a Man that has gone up, to nullify the truth of Christ risen and glorified, that is what the enemy is at. Here it was the sons of the prophets, those that were brought into matters naturally but were not vitally in what God was doing.

It is coming to light that there are some persons determined to have their way whatever the cost, and the cost is too monstrous to think. I came across a letter by Mr Raven as to a local trouble in the last century, where he wrote, ‘It is too monstrous to think that we are to be wrecked over a miserable local trouble’ (‘Letters’, p.93). We need to weigh that up. So the prophet says, “Send”,

he yields to them. They thought that the heavenly Man, the ascended Man must be still down here. That is what the enemy is at, to bring the truth of Christianity down from its heavenly level to the level of what is down here, the level of the world. Then he says a word of rebuke to them, “Did I not say to you, Go not?”

Then honest men come to light (it does not say the sons of the prophets). It says in verse 19,

“And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold now, the situation of the city is good, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is barren”. The matter is put right in that city, using a new cruse, and salt in it. A new cruse is typical of Christianity, and the salt what is preservative; what is new, what is living, and what is preservative. Let us be on the line, beloved brethren, of what is preservative, not on the line of what is destructive or divisive.

These honest men say that the situation of the city is good, but the water is bad; there are certain things wrong, certain things wrong in the city, in that particular city, and the answer is brought by thee new cruse and salt in it. They brought it to him, “And he went forth to the source of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith Jehovah—I have healed these waters”. So the answer, beloved brethren, as seen in this scripture and in many others, including Deuteronomy 21, is in the place; and if anything needs to be put right, it must be put right there.

I trust the Lord will encourage us to see that we have part in the greatest matters in the dignity of being sons of God, and I hope and trust that the Spirit of God will help us to act and move and walk and talk in the dignity of it, and comport ourselves down here in all our affairs, individually, household-wise, in our local meetings, in our relationships with other meetings, and with all men as befits sons of God, for His name’s sake.

Address at Dundee, 1 May 1993

REMEMBRANCE

D. J. Hutson

Ephesians 2: 11–13, 19–22; 2 Timothy 2: 8, 9; Hebrews 13: 7, 8

I would like to continue speaking as to the matter of remembrance. Evidently the apostle must have thought that there was some danger of forgetting, or the exhortation to remember would have no force, and I believe we would find that in our own hearts, so let us bear the word of exhortation. You will notice that each reference that I have read stands related to Jesus Christ; everything for God has been secured in that blessed Man once humbled here but now in glory, an order of Man that was seen in the condition of blood and flesh as we are, but apart from sin, a life here in that condition which will never be seen again. All that magnifies to us, and should move our affections as to the greatness of the sacrifice of the life of Jesus.

In that relatively short life, shorter than the lives of most here, there was in the condition of blood and flesh that which was wholly perfect and delightful to God. It was never seen before in that condition and will never be seen again, and it was given up for ever. God will never have again in that condition what He had in Jesus. Should it not affect us? But thank God He is now in a condition in which we can be with Him according to the purpose of God that we should be conformed to the image of His Son, and that not simply for our glory; but for His,

“conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brethren”, Romans 8: 29. The more there are the greater His place, and we are secured in order that He might have that place. May He ever be before us!

So, He comes into each of these references that I have read, but we are not to forget what it has cost that we should have any part at all in these things and that the Scriptures might be a living word to us, that the Holy

Spirit might take of the things of Christ and show them to us. What it has cost we are never to forget—“Wherefore remember”—and the more we realise where we were, without Christ, without God, without hope, the greater will be our appreciation of the blood of the Christ, the basis on which we stand before God as washed from our sins. So the apostle says,

“Wherefore remember”, we are not to forget it. We are not to go on casually—there is that which is rightly social, with true friendship, for Scripture speaks of the friends, “Greet the friends by name” (see 3 John 14), but we are to realise the level on which those friends have been secured for us; that all has been secured at such infinite cost, and all stand before God on the basis of the precious shed blood of Jesus. Let us value one another thus, beloved brethren.

Then it says, “So then ye are no longer strangers and foreigners, but ye are fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of God”. How broad that is; let us not confine it to those with whom through infinite grace we are able to walk in fellowship together. The Lord knows those that are His, what a company, and we shall soon see them. The coming of the Lord Jesus is imminent. He will raise those who have fallen asleep through Jesus, and take them with those who are alive on the earth at the time, an innumerable host as far as we are concerned, but every one known by God. We shall soon see them, but let us not forget that we are fellow-citizens with them, fellow-citizens of the saints and of the household of God.

What large thoughts these are! We are in a day of ruin, few are available to us; as one said in the reading, how we have to hang our heads in shame as the Lord Jesus says as to, “those thou hast given me I have guarded, and not one of them has perished”, John 17: 12. How many we have lost. Nevertheless, the Lord knows those that are His, and soon all are to be brought out in glory—fellow-citizens of the saints and of the household of God. May we realise the greatness and the glory of what we are

brought into, and on the other hand, remember where we were, without Christ, without God, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, having no claim at all. How it would but magnify to us the infinite grace, the wonderful mercy that has met us where we were and brought us into such a company.

Then, “Jesus Christ himself being the corner-stone”; what a word that is. The foundation indeed, as the apostle could say, “For other foundation can no man lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ”, 1 Corinthians 3: 11; As coming in among the Corinthians, he would remind them that that same Person had been crucified, for he determined to know nothing among them but Jesus Christ and Him crucified (see 1 Corinthians 2: 2). What a bearing that would have in Corinth, but here Jesus Christ Himself is the corner-stone. That is, everything takes character from Him; every line in perspective in the house of God, as it were, taking its bearing from the corner-stone. Jesus Christ. As I said, that is an order of Man that was seen here in the condition of blood and flesh, but an order of Man that is now in glory. It is an order of Man into which we are introduced because by His death He has closed up one order altogether; He has taken away the first that He might establish the second. He established it Himself, “Jesus Christ himself being the corner-stone, in whom all the building fitted together increases to a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit”. It is a wonderful thing that the saints are of this order so that God might have a dwelling place on earth at the present time. What will it be in that day, when the tabernacle of God will be with men, and all will speak to Him of Jesus Christ. How great and glorious He is! He is able to give character to every one so that the universe of God will be filled with an order of man which was once seen here in Christ in perfection but is now in glory.

So in a day of ruin such as that in which we are

Paul says, “Remember Jesus Christ”. There are plenty of other men around—the character of man that is all around us, and the character of man that we find within if we allow the flesh to have its way but we are to “Remember Jesus Christ raised from among the dead, of the seed of David”—a Man after God’s own heart who is there now in the glory, “according to my glad tidings”. What glad tidings they are, glad tidings of God concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (see Romans 1: 1–4), all centring in another Man in another world, in order that we might have part with Him there. And the apostle says, “in which I suffer even unto bonds as an evil-doer”. It was a, suffering order of humanity here; how He suffered! Think of that reference in Peter, I have pondered it a little of late, “for Christ also has suffered for you, leaving you a model that ye should follow in his steps”, 1 Peter 2: 21. It is not there His atoning sufferings, those come later, “who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1

Peter 2: 24), but He suffered for us giving us a Model. What a Model we have in Jesus. The Holy Spirit would keep Him before us that we might follow the Model. But it cost Him something to give us a Model; what it cost Him who can say; what it was for Him to be in this world surrounded by sin and sinners, and yet going through in every step infinitely pleasing to His God and Father, absolutely subject to His will, giving us a Model, and He suffered for it. Let us value the things for which Jesus suffered. He suffered for our sins, He suffered for us, and He suffered to give us a Model. Let us realise, as we are called upon to follow, in His steps, what suffering those steps cost Him.

It would be, I think, typified in the acacia-wood in the tabernacle. The ark was of acacia wood covered within and without with gold, but the boards of the tabernacle were of acacia wood. They would be like those who remember Jesus Christ, standing on the sockets of silver, secured on the basis of redemption, but able to stand here as He stood in a suffering pathway to

carry through the testimony in the wilderness; to enshrine; may we say, the glories of the testimony at the present time and to uphold the principles which relate to the house of God so that the testimony might go through in power. These things are open to us, beloved, as we remember Jesus Christ—“Remember Jesus Christ raised from among the dead; of the seed of David, according to my glad tidings”. Then it says, “the word of God is not bound”, how we can be thankful for that. How we can be thankful for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit bringing these: things to us so that they are not merely mental acquisitions, but living realities, having an inward effect upon us so that what is formed is coming into expression of the order of Jesus Christ.

It was said in the reading that there were those who have gone before. In Hebrews it says,

“Remember your leaders who have spoken to you the word of God; and considering the issue of their conversation, imitate their faith”. It has been said that a true leader among the saints, leads to Christ, and that is what we have here. So the writer goes on immediately, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come”. He is a perfect glorious Man. As I said, seen here in testimony, soon to be revealed in glory, but He is a living Christ today. He is still the same; unaffected by circumstances here, and can I say reverently, unaffected by the glory. We were reminded that a beloved servant of the Lord some years back said as to Joseph, that the pit did not change him, the prison did not change him; the glory did not change him, he was the same all through, and it came into evidence as he kissed all his brethren and wept. What a man he was, nothing changed him, he was like Jesus. As another has said of the Lord Jesus, His yesterday was the cross, for yesterday was a period of time with a beginning and an end, and the pathway of Jesus had ended in the cross; forever is the glory; but He is a living Christ today, available to us near to us in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the end to which those who have gone

before would lead us. This is what we have seen come into evidence in them, and this, beloved, is what should come into expression in us, that consistency, that evenness, something of that character coming into expression in the saints as we remember Jesus Christ. There are those who have gone before, men of like passions to ourselves in whom these features have been displayed, who would not draw attention to themselves, but draw attention to Him.

You think of the address of Paul to the Ephesian elders, and how he left them, how, as it were, he retired in the glory of Jesus. He could speak of himself and his labours among them, how he had gone from house to house, how he had gone about preaching the kingdom; and announcing to them the counsel of God. What a man he was! He loved the brethren and laid down his life for them. But at the end, what does he say? He says, “to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive”, Acts 20: 35. I think those Ephesian elders, although they would value what Paul had said in his ministry and what he had been among them, would value most that which he left to them of the words of the Lord Jesus. Can we do that, beloved? Can we, as moving among the saints, leave them something of Christ which is fresh, which perhaps they have not seen before? Paul, as it were, retired from them, and that was his parting word, for it was the issue of his conversation, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come”. So he retired with that word, to remember the words of the Lord Jesus. Would that one may leave as a result of these meetings today some impression of Him. John the baptist could say, He must increase but I must decrease, and the more he was pressed the less he said, until all he had to say was, No. That is how we should serve among the brethren; that is how the leaders who have gone before have served, and what they have left with us is an impression of Christ, an impression of the enduring humanity of Jesus.

Well, beloved, let us remember these things, and in closing, may I be forgiven for another reference in Ecclesiastes—“And remember, thy Creator in the days of thy youth!”

(Ecclesiastes 12: 1). I would speak to my younger brethren especially. It is vital while your minds are clear, before they get cluttered up with so much that we have to engage ourselves with in the path of responsibility, that you give yourself to reading the Scriptures and getting acquainted with the ministry. I find that what comes back to mind at the present time is what I remember from my earliest days. Had I pursued it more constantly, and followed it up with diligence I would have much more. In the days of youth, when the mind is fresh, receptive, and able to take in these things, make acquaintance with the Word of God primarily, and the valued ministry which has come to us. I believe you will find that what comes before you, and what fills your heart is Jesus Christ. It is that order of Man that is the theme of this precious book. The Holy Spirit would make it known to you, and the more you are acquainted with it the more you will know of Him, the more you will feed upon Him, and the more you will have a constitution which is able to be here bearing the testimony and sustaining the service of God. May the Lord help us in it for His name’s sake.

Address at Edinburgh, 8 May 1993

GOD’S PROVISION FOR MAN’S BLESSING

J. Spinks

Genesis 22: 4–14; Luke 10: 30–35

I would like to say something about what God has provided for the blessing of man. The gospel is preached to the end that we may come to know God as a Saviour God. Everything that has come in through sin,

God has met in His own glorious way in the person of His Son. I suppose that everyone here knows how sin came into the world through the disobedience of one man. The enemy, by instilling doubt in the woman’s heart as to God, paved the way for the introduction of sin into the world. By man’s standards the sin of Adam does not appear too serious, but, it introduced the principle of lawlessness into the world. How God must have felt His fair creation being marred by lawlessness, a principle that was foreign to God and to all that He had in mind for man, and one that would bring in its wake the sorrow and misery which we see all around us today. Even the young people soon realise that this world is not a happy place. We do not have to be very old to see that it is a place of sorrow and sin and misery, and the older we grow the more we feel it.

God never intended, that, of course. He is a God of love and does not inflict sorrow on His creature. What has come in is the result of sin. Satan has, by his influence, introduced the principle of sin and lawlessness into this world, and has altered the constitution of man in the doing of it. So man is a fallen creature. Perhaps you have heard that expression before, but it means that he is not what God intended him to be—I am referring to what we all are as after the order of Adam. The introduction of sin has so altered the constitution of man that he can actually take pleasure in that which is hateful to God. Think of man, the top-stone of God’s creation, deriving pleasure from sin. Scripture speaks of “the ... pleasure of sin” (Hebrews 11: 25), and we see that all around us. What largely occupies man, what he finds his life in, what he finds pleasure in, is that which is obnoxious to God. We have to think about these things.

Perhaps where we are young we do not think too deeply about them, but as we grow older we begin to realise the awfulness of sin, and the distance that it has brought in between man and God.

The scripture we read in Genesis shows us how God

Himself has acted to bring in a remedy. The sin question was so awful, so far reaching in its effect, yet God has acted in a way that has brought glory to Himself. He could have swept the scene in judgment, and glorified Himself in the doing of it, but the wonderful truth of the glad tidings is that, “Mercy glories over judgment”, James 2: 13. So we read in verse 8, “God will provide himself with the sheep for a burnt-offering”, and in verse 14, “On the mount of Jehovah will be provided”. God can never be thwarted in His purpose in relation to man. That is really what the enemy had in mind from the outset. It is not that he cares about man, but his constant attempt is to hinder God from finding pleasure in man. God had great thoughts in mind for man. God had pleasure in creation; almost every day He pronounced it good; every day was building up to the day when He would bring in man. Think of God creating man, in His own image and likeness. It says, “Let us make man”, Genesis 1: 26. I think it implies that man is a result of divine counsel, divine Persons took counsel together in order to bring this wonderful being into God’s creation, a being in whom God intended to have pleasure and have response from, and with whom He could communicate.

So it says here that Abraham saw the place from afar. God was never taken unawares. We read in Peter about the “blood of Christ, foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world”, 1 Peter 1: 19, 20. Even before the necessity for redemption arose, the Lamb was foreknown in the purpose of God. Think of the glory of the incarnation—God manifest in flesh, the One who came in to take away the sin of the world. So Isaac is a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus as the One who was “obedient even unto death”, Philippians 2: 8. With his youthful strength and vigour he could have resisted but he did not. He asks Abraham certain questions, and in this respect does not come up to the antitype for the Lord Jesus knew full well what was before Him. As coming into manhood the Lord had certain rights as Son of Man.

He was the true Heir. The inheritance was rightly His but it had been spoiled by sin, and there were liabilities that had to be met. The Lord took on these liabilities and discharged them to the glory of God, blessed be His Name! The wood of the offering was laid on Isaac. The Lord said prophetically, “then I restored that which I took not away”, Psalm 69: 4.

This scripture is a wonderful type of the Father and the Son moving together to meet the moral issue that sin had brought in. It has been pointed out that the first mention of ‘love’ in scripture is in this section. We see it beautifully portrayed in the gospels, John’s gospel in particular. We see there love in its purity, the Lord Jesus enjoying undimmed communion with His Father, “a glory as of an only-begotten with a father”, John 1: 14. How the disciples would have reflected on that! They had witnessed something that had never before been seen on earth; the perfection of the holy relations of a blessed Man with His God. What God intended for every man was seen in holy perfection in Jesus. Not, one action, not one thought, not one expression came in to dim the joy of that communion.

But then there was the fire and the knife in the hand of Abraham, instruments of judgment.

The incoming of sin had challenged the rights of God. The matter had to be met; God could not overlook sin. When sin came into the world it was immediately followed by a pronouncement of judgment; death and the curse. So the, fire and the knife were there, they could not be turned aside, but who was to be the victim? The issue had to be met, but how was it going to be met? God met it in the Person of His Son! How wonderful to think of it!

“Thine only son, whom thou lovest”. In the tabernacle system the offering had to be without blemish. The Lord Jesus was the only One who could meet the divine requirement. The cross of Christ is the expression of divine love in its fulness. At the very point where man’s hatred and enmity were fully

exposed, divine love was expressed in its fulness. John writes in his epistle, “he is the propitiation for our sins; but not for ours alone, but also for the whole world”, 1 John 2: 2. So that on the basis of the finished work of Christ, God can extend forgiveness to repentant sinners in the whole world. So Abraham binds Isaac and lays him on the altar, upon the wood. He then takes the knife to slaughter his son. Think of the feelings of a father as he took that knife! It would give us some little insight into the depths of God’s feelings as He delivered up His Son. At that time there was no voice to stay the knife. There was no intervention from heaven at the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. When the time came for the judgment-sword to fall on the holy head of Jesus there was no voice to stay it. The only voice that was heard at that time was the cry that came from the lips of the Saviour, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” There was no immediate answer to that cry. The answer, I believe, is in the heart of every one who has come to know and love God, every one who has come to trust in the precious blood of Christ, an answer that will fill out eternity. What an answer there will be to the sacrificial love of the Lord Jesus.

In Luke 10 we see how God has provided for the helpless condition of man. It is a sorry picture of fallen humanity. After falling into the hands of robbers the man was stripped and wounded, and left in a half-dead state. One of the effects of sin is to degrade man. It has stripped him of the dignity that was given to him by God. We see it in an extreme way in people who get involved with drugs and abuse their bodies in various ways. But then we find the degrading effects of sin in our own hearts and it is a very distressing thing. What is the answer to it? In the gospel God has provided for that condition! That is a wonderful thing to lay hold of, because even when we are believers we can be affected by this. I trust that every one here is a believer. I trust that every one here is saved by faith in the precious blood of Christ. But even after conversion we

are conscious of very great weakness. In a way this man epitomises the utter helplessness of man, wholly unable to do anything to help himself. The priest and the Levite passed by. They were unable to help. I suppose they represent the inherent weakness of the old system, which could do nothing to remedy the condition of man. Even the high priest was “clothed with infirmity” (see Hebrews 5: 2), and had to offer for his own sins, as well as those of the people. In that respect he was no different from you and me. Here we see the true Priest, the One who was without sin, coming up to that poor man with everything that was required for his complete restoration. “A certain Samaritan journeying came to him”. How we love to think of it! He bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine. Think of the healing, effect of the gospel, “I am Jehovah who healeth thee”, Exodus 15: 26. It is a beautiful picture of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who has come in to bring the fulness of divine resources to man, not only to meet his guilt, but also to meet his state.

Then he put him on his own beast. That may be a reference to the Holy Spirit. The power that carried the Lord Jesus in testimony, the power by which He glorified God, was the power of the Holy Spirit. We have to recognise, of course, that as a divine Person, He had inherent power; but as a blessed lowly Man He moved through this scene in the power of the Holy Spirit. The glory of the glad tidings is that that same power is available to you and me, another wonderful divine provision! It has been coming home to me more and more that in the gospel we cannot over-emphasise the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the only source of power, the only source of satisfaction, the only means by which God will get anything from our lives here. O let us see to it that we know what this power is! I would just like to appeal to you, dear young one, make sure that you have the Holy Spirit. I can look back on my history and remember the feeling of abject weakness. I knew I was the Lord’s, and I had certain desires that were right, but I

felt totally unable to fulfil them. I am thankful to God that eventually I came to prove another power, the power of the Spirit. The Lord said regarding the Spirit, “that he may be with you for ever”, John 14: 16. What a precious promise that is! It is a wonderful triumph that persons who have been under the power and domination of sin can be here for the glory of God. It can only be so as we are conscious of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

So the man is brought to the inn, another wonderful divine provision. God has not only met the question of our guilt in the blood of Christ, and provided the answer to our state in the gift of the Spirit, but He has provided a sphere down here where we can enjoy divine love. It really relates to the Christian circle. God has provided an environment of love where we can await the return of our Lord Jesus. The world has a certain pull, we are all aware of that, but God never intended believers to find their life there. There is a sphere here, in the world but not of it, where divine love is known, where there is warmth and comfort and Christian fellowship. Christian fellowship is a wonderful thing. Men put great store on fellowship. Men are made that way, they enjoy the company of others who are like-minded to themselves.

Some, of course, spend a lot of time and money trying to get into what they think are the right circles. Some of these clubs and societies have waiting-lists and people wait for years to join.

Then consider the fellowship that believers are brought into, the fellowship of God’s Son.

How wonderful!

Then the Samaritan gave the innkeeper two denarii. I think the suggestion is that his return could be expected at any time. The Christian circle is the place where we can wait for the Lord’s return. The, focal point in the Christian fellowship is the Lord’s supper. It is a wonderful privilege! When the Lord left the disciples in John’s gospel He left them many precious promises, but perhaps the greatest was, “I will not leave you orphans, I

am coming to you”, John 14: 18. What a thing it is to experience, even in a small way, the Lord coming to us, coming into a circle comprised of persons whom the Lord has rescued from the world, all able to say something about that glorious Man, who met them in the power of grace, and brought them into the circle where divine love is known. It is not only divine compassion (that was known on the journey), but divine love in its fulness. Soon the Lord will return to take His own to be with Himself. Meanwhile He has left this wonderful provision for His lovers—to remember Him in the scene of His rejection.

If you have not yet committed yourself to the fellowship, do not put it off. Do not leave it to another day. The enemy is adept at suggesting we should put things off to another day. He would suggest that there is time enough to commit yourself to the Lord’s things, so that you can enjoy a little of the world while you are young. When you touch the world the enemy knows how to draw you further and further into it, and what you find is that those stirrings of conscience, those stirrings of affection for Christ, gradually become dim. The only place of safety is the Christian circle, and the only way of blessing is to commit ourselves in the breaking of bread to the testimony of the Lord Jesus till He comes.

May the Lord bless the word, for His Name’s sake.

Preaching at Bo’ness, 9 February 1992

EXTRACTS

Now I come to what is in my mind—the passing on from older brethren of what they have, or rather what there is, for at the most they only share in what there is. But what is to be passed on is to be shared in by those who follow. There are a good many here on the following line, not many on the leading line, not many

about to die. I am speaking of what is ordinary, the young ones here have good hope to live.

You are encouraged in that very point—“that thy days may be prolonged”. God would not address that to old men about to die; He says it to young people. “That thy days may be prolonged in the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee”, Exodus 20: 12. God needs you, born into this world and grown up; God needs you and He is willing to enter into all your matters, aspirations, prospects and purposes. In these circumstances there is perfect normality attached to these things. God, speaking reverently, would take a normal account of youth. I sometimes marvel at the Lord Jesus—God over all, blessed for ever—yet taking up a babe into His arms.

Luke tells us that the Lord Jesus took infants into His arms. Think of the Lord Jesus, the Creator of the universe, God over all, taking an infant into His arms! The older one gets, the more one becomes fond of children, direct from the Creator. They have received their spirits from the Creator. The Lord knew that, and took infants into His arms and blessed them. Some would forbid it, but He said, “Suffer little children to come to me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God”, Luke 18: 16. He took them into His arms and blessed them.

Matthew 19: 15 says, “Having laid his hands upon them, he departed”, meaning that He left them to their parents. Not the grandparents. We must not assume that the responsibility of parents belongs to the grandparents. It belongs to the parents. It is true indeed that Abraham

“dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise”, Hebrews 11: 9.

He dwelt with them, but that could only be a characteristic feature. It would be what a grandfather’s love would lead him to do in his interest in them as heirs with him of the same promise. And if the Lord took infants into His arms and blessed them, and went away, that did not mean they should not be cared for. Far otherwise! He meant that the parents should take care of them. Parents are called upon to do that. “And ye fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring

them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord”, Ephesians 6: 4. They are to provide for their children. “For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children”, 2 Corinthians 12: 14. So that they have a great place with God. Indeed the Lord Himself tells us, “Their angels in the heavens continually behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens”, Matthew 18: 10. The angels are ministers of children as well as grown people. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out for service on account: of those who shall inherit salvation?”, Hebrews 1: 14. The angels are subordinate, even to children! So that children are to be cared for.

J. Taylor (Vol. 78, pp.84, 85)

Now in chapter 1 of Revelation glory is ascribed to the Lord because He has washed us in His blood. Then in chapter 7 a great crowd, that no one number, have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. These people themselves have done it, but in both instances it is a question of the blood. In chapter 22 it is obviously the water that is in mind; there is no constant application of the blood but there must be of the water. Those who wash do it all the time; they are never other than clean.

J. Taylor (Vol. 96, p.252)

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