THE MAINTENANCE OF GRACE
[p. 158] THE MAINTENANCE OF GRACE
Luke 23:34; Ephesians 4:32; Deuteronomy 19:1 - 4; Deuteronomy 19:8 - 10
These scriptures treat of grace. Grace is intended to characterise the whole period between the coming of the Holy Spirit from heaven, and the coming of the Lord for His people. It will be a great triumph (and I believe we may expect this), if it ends up with the maintenance of grace. If it is to end thus, the assembly, at least in principle, must be in evidence. And so in the book of Samuel, which is typical of what I am speaking, we find that feature of the assembly in type in Abigail. She is introduced after the death of Samuel as one “of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance”, 1 Samuel 25:3 and who in a crisis maintained the position in the prevention of punitive judgment. The time of vengeance is not yet, though it soon will be. And so Abigail stands in the way of that; she prevents in grace, tactfully and with humility, the act of vengeance which was in David’s mind; she prevents blood-shedding.
Now that position in 1 Samuel 25 indicates how matters stood at the outset. The assembly is seen as understanding the dispensation and as possessing, by the Spirit come down from heaven, the means of meeting anything that would mar the dispensation. That is what I have in view. The epistle to the Ephesians is that which treats of the assembly position in this respect, as in other respects also. It is here you specially get the feature of superlatives employed by the Spirit, as depicting the dispensation or the endowment, or furnishing, of the assembly. So that we get such an expression as “the glory of his grace”. Ephesians 1:6 Think of the glory of it! David’s intention of smiting Nabal would not be the glory of divine grace!
And then we have the expression, “The riches of his grace”. Ephesians 1:7. Ephesians gives things in their fulness; it rises to the altitude of the gospels, and nothing can exceed that. But the design is that the work of God should culminate in what is equal to that; of course Christ must ever be supreme: He must “have the first place in all things”, Colossians 1:18 but what is in view is “the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ”. Ephesians 4:13 That great result is designed for the assembly; so we have rich superlatives as describing grace, or love, or counsel as applying to her. Ephesians gives you fulness; so that, as I said, we have such expressions as “the praise of the glory of his grace” Ephesians 1:6, and “the exceeding riches of his grace” Ephesians 1:7 — marvellous thoughts! That is what is to be displayed. As we shall be “in the heavenlies”, Ephesians 1:3 we shall be to the praise of the glory of God’s grace, and the exhibition of the exceeding riches of His grace. So you see what is in the mind of God, and what He would have maintained correspondingly in us now.
I therefore read Ephesians 4:32, which refers to the kind of forgiveness with which we have been forgiven, not by, but “in Christ”, that is, on that level. It is a great thing, dear brethren, to study and experience spiritual altitude. It takes a strong heart, as in natural things; but what strength of heart is obtainable, as we find in this same epistle. We are to be “strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man; that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts”. Ephesians 3:16,17. It is to be obtained on the principle of bowing the knees. “For this cause I bow my knees”, Ephesians 3:14 says the apostle; the thing is so great and blessed that we must not come short of it. If the Ephesians were not bowing their knees, the apostle was. That is how it is obtained; and then it adds, “To him that is able to do far exceedingly above all which we ask or think, according to the power which works in us” Ephesians 3:20.
— it is something that is here, “the power which works in us”. Ephesians 3:20. It is in regard of such the prayer is. It is that we might have strength of heart for the great position this epistle contemplates; that we should not be on the level of religious man, but on the moral elevation indicated here.
The forgiveness and feelings that mark the saints are to be like those that are in God, that is, God in Christ. “God also in Christ has forgiven you”; which is the level, as indicated in the gospels. And so I chose what I apprehend is the supreme expression of grace. No one who loves Jesus can read Luke 23:34 without being touched by it. It is the supreme expression of grace in the presence of all the power that Satan could marshal against Him. The opposition of the world under Satan was there in all its force, not in any detached or promiscuous way, but in an ordered way, for the prince of this world had come; the position was a military one. Satan had come with his forces and was acting against Christ, and then the supremacy of grace shines forth, as He says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. The more you look into it, the more it affects you; it is the moral greatness of Christ in the presence of wave after wave of bitter opposition and hatred. He rises above all and prays for His persecutors: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. He is preparing the way for the cities of refuge, establishing the principle of them.
If we compare Ephesians with the early chapters of the Acts, it enables us to understand how the assembly, as formed by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, became the residence of that grace. It was not to go back to heaven with Him who brought it. The idea of Christ coming in, in that sense, is to leave here His fulness. The assembly is the fulness of Christ. The assembly was to be the residence of [p. 161] that which He set out in those few words, charged with such deep meaning, “Father, forgive them”. It was supreme grace. It is not simply in one person now; grace shone in Christ in all its fulness, “We have contemplated his glory”, says one who loved and revered Him, “full of grace and truth”, John 1:14. He was full of it! Grace first, and then truth. What a wonderful combination! It is said of Him, “In him all the fulness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell” Colossians 1:19 — who can take in such a thought? It is an expression conveying the greatness of His Person. It is that Person who is described as “full of grace and truth”. John 1:14 And then the same writer says, “Of his fulness we all have received, and grace upon grace” John 1:16 — that is one wave after another. James says, “He giveth more grace”. James 4:6. It flows from that reservoir, but with us it is a question of capacity, and the word comes to us as in Hebrews, “Lest any man fail of the grace of God”. Hebrews 12:15.
Hagar is a type of one that failed of it. It is in connection with her that the idea of a well, representing the system of grace, is first seen in the Scriptures; it rises above man’s will. It says the angel found her by the well; he found her there, and she saw God there. In Genesis 21 she has a son, they were both outcasts, but grace followed them. There came a voice from heaven, “Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is”. Genesis 21:17. And what a lad he was! Typically, he was a persecutor of Christ, and yet the grace of God was by them. Hagar’s eyes were opened and she saw a well of water and gave the lad drink; she partook of the grace, but she failed of it. She went to Egypt to get him a wife; she went to the world.
That is how the matter stands; they failed of the grace of God. To say the least, going to the world places your position in doubt; for how can any one [p. 162] speak of you as an example of grace if you are going to the world for a wife for yourself or for your son — or are seeking to provide for your children on that line? Ishmael had an Egyptian wife, and it was some of his posterity that purchased Joseph as a slave. He became an archer; which implies long-distance fighting, conflict which has little sympathy or heart. The archers, it says, shot at Joseph. Thus as a sure result of failing of the grace of God we become persecutors of Christ.
I wish now to show from the type in Deuteronomy how all this works out. We see it in the manner in which the subject of the cities of refuge is introduced here. The thought is mentioned elsewhere, but the presentation of it in Deuteronomy serves me in what I am seeking to bring before you; that is, our qualification to be the residence of this grace, so that we may answer to the dispensation, and not be below the position set out in Ephesians. In Deuteronomy 19:1 we see the circumstances under which these cities should be selected: “When the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations ... and thou succeedest them, and dwellest”, then “thou shalt separate three cities for thee”. The explanation of the unforgiving spirit that is so often apparent with us, is the want of understanding and enjoying the position that God has given us. That is to say, there is hardness of spirit and unforgiveness, because of spiritual poverty. We are not, in that sense, great enough to forgive.
The principle of grace is that it rises above whatever there is in man. It takes us up whether good or bad, whether we are big or little sinners. The exceeding riches of grace rises above the worst kind of man or woman, rising above their guilt and subduing them, making them exponents of it, as in the case of Saul of Tarsus. As I have shown, the Lord was superior to the whole tide of evil in the expression of grace as He says, “Father, forgive them”. There was [p. 163] one man by His side, a thief, who was touched; the light of grace shone into his soul, and he said, “Remember me, Lord, when thou comest in thy kingdom”. Luke 23:42. He was alongside the flow of grace; it was there, and it flowed into his soul and subdued him. Though he was persecuting before, for it says he “cast the same in his teeth”, Matthew 27:44 grace overwhelmed him, and the Lord answers his desire: “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise”! Luke 23:43. The man was lifted into the supreme place of blessing with Jesus — He says, “with me”. Who can express the depth of feeling in the Lord when He said, “with me in paradise”? It is the triumph of grace!
What maintains us in this richness of grace? “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich”. 2 Corinthians 8:9. It is rich people, in that sense, who become collectively the residence of this grace. And thus the dispensation is maintained at its proper level, the level of that wonderful passage in Luke 23.
So in Deuteronomy, in the type, Moses is instructing the people who are going into the land; it is his exercise that they might be in it like God, for they were the “sons of Jehovah”. He was himself a very old man, and in this book he speaks of that land in which he himself fain would be — how he would grace it! Indeed, he was in it later, on the mount of transfiguration, and he was talking with Jesus. It was Moses speaking to the Lord, “with him”, as if to call our attention to the fact that he was great enough to do such a thing. Think of the glory of that Person as He was transfigured before them! (Luke 9:32). The fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment white and glistering! And Moses and Elias were speaking with Him. Moses saw that goodly land, and Lebanon. He could not go in then, but he entered in now in this glorious fashion.
Here he says, “When the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations ...”. Israel have the cities and the houses; they are set up in wealth in the land. We understand the land, typically; it is God’s best for us. God waters it with rain from heaven; it is a land of water brooks; the beauty of all lands. God expatiates on the richness of that land, and they were now in it. Their enemies are contemplated as being cut off, and they are set up, as we may say, in heaven; not literally, of course, but heaven as it is realised now, which is what the type sets forth. They are set up in it in dignity, for they were sons of Jehovah.
These things must be understood spiritually; the saints are thus contemplated as in possession of God’s best. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”. 1 Corinthians 2:9. It is on that level, and refers to the most blessed things, all brought in for us by the Spirit, who is “the earnest of our inheritance”. Ephesians 1:14. We are supposed in this type to be in this position and status of wealth. The assembly is to be the residence of grace.
The subject of the cities of refuge is not presented here as elsewhere, but in keeping with this book, so that we may understand that this principle of grace is to be present; there is to be the existence of it in “three cities”. He mentions three first, which is peculiar to Deuteronomy. It says, “Thou shalt separate three cities ... thou shalt prepare thee a way”. We have the cities in the land in all this richness; now he says, “Prepare thee a way”. There is the possibility of a man slaying another unintentionally. As the Lord Jesus said, “For they know not what they do” — it is not regarded as deliberate. The land is to be divided up so that these cities may be within running distance of the manslayer. In other words we are to consider them. Due care in [p. 165] this respect is to characterise christians as forming the assembly.
It is worthy of note that the death of the high priest is not mentioned in Deuteronomy; you are not to put anything in the way of the manslayer reaching the city of refuge. You must put the city so that he can run into it, even if it is a long way to go. In the antitype it is not literal, but how many have been turned aside by accident. The axe-head flies off; it is the defective instrument used. The epistle to the Romans is intended to make us good instruments; we are to be “instruments of righteousness”. Romans 6:13. None such will have a head, so to speak, that will fly off and kill a man. If we take care of our instruments, no one will suffer.
The chapter is dealing with grace, and while the killing is not intentional it is most solemn, for the man is killed; his wife and children have to be taken account of. Still grace prevails, for every facility is afforded the manslayer to reach the city of refuge. The Holy Spirit says, “Thou shalt prepare thee a way” — a way so that he can easily get there before the avenger of blood overtakes him. You can see how this enters into our relations in the assembly. We are to move on the level of Ephesians: “Even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”. There must be no obstacle. The same applies to the sinner; God has made a way, as it is said, “There is forgiveness with thee”. Psalm 130:4.
Then there are the additional three cities; they contemplate expansion. “If the Lord thy God enlarge thy coast ... thou shalt add three cities more” (verses 8,9). I have no doubt in the dispensational sense that refers to the extension of the testimony in Paul. The first three would be what existed at Jerusalem, “The Lord added to the assembly daily those that were to be saved”. Acts 2:47. That would refer to the cities of refuge; they were there; grace was residing there according [p. 166] to the early chapters of the Acts. Then later the apostle Paul always went to the Jews first; this would be in keeping with the other three cities; full room was made for the Jews even in Rome. They went away and missed their opportunity, but there it was. Thus, dear brethren, if there is to be expansion, if there is to be increase, we must not let this principle be wanting, the principle of grace. We must keep pace with the work of God. Three is abundant evidence of anything; twice three in the case before us is the superabounding grace of God. The more we are brought into the inheritance, the more the grace, and thus the dispensation is carried on at its proper level until the end.