ADDRESSES AT MANCHESTER
[p. 145] THE INFLUENCE OF HEAVEN
I have drawn attention to the parable in the tenth chapter, which we are accustomed to call the parable of the Good Samaritan, as presenting a starting point in God’s ways in grace, in the introduction of Christ as a neighbour to man. There could be nothing antecedent to that as the full expression of grace. The beginning of all help for man was in the introduction of One who was capable of showing mercy, that which man really needed. In order to prove the condition of man, God saw fit to give the law; but God knew from the outset that that could not be of any avail to man: what man really needed was mercy. We never should have made any movement toward God if He had not shown mercy to us. Nothing could bring man one point nearer to God except the mercy of God, and it is on that ground that the neighbour comes in.
We see after that, the training or education of the disciples, and the character of the new witness, which comes out in the twelfth chapter. Then, in the fourteenth chapter, Christ having come into man’s house, is of necessity a standard for man, however man may fail of it.
Now the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters are very important: they bring to light the influences which are at work here in the world. On the one hand, in this chapter, we see the influence of heaven; and in the next the influence of hell. These are points of great moment, because no one can doubt that men are acted upon by influences from without: there is not enough in man, as a matter of fact, to account for his conduct. That is the conclusion to which a thoughtful person must come. Man is a battleground between [p. 146] influences. Wherever the influences come from, there are such abroad in the world, and men are affected by them. I can remember to have seen a nation carried away almost to destruction by a kind of frenzy. I do not think the influence lay in the people, but it was there, and the people were acted upon by it.
Now in the fifteenth chapter the influence is from above; in the sixteenth it is from beneath. I refer to the rich man in the sixteenth chapter. The rich man paid no regard to Lazarus at all. Where did that come from? We read that he died and was buried, and in hell he lifted up his eyes. In a sense, it was a kind of natural descent. It was not the idea of a man cast violently into hell, but descending to it, so to speak, naturally. The man simply went to the place by which he had been influenced whilst on earth. What came out in the rich man was a selfish disregard for others, under an influence which came from another scene.
But my object now is to speak of the influence of heaven, and it is a great thing to apprehend that there is such an influence in the world, producing certain results, and, I may say, an answer to itself. Heaven is a long way off morally. But the Lord invoked heaven very frequently. One supplication which He enjoined was, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. I think I could pray that any time; it is a very good prayer. The Lord said a great deal about heaven. He taught the disciples about their Father in heaven, and brought the light of heaven in continually. Heaven was not, I suppose, a thought foreign to the mind of a Jew. In this chapter the Lord opens up in a remarkable way the influence of heaven down here. It is felt here in the world, and produces results, and in a sense is to be reflected in man here in the world. When the prodigal was with the father, in the best robe and with the ring on his hand, I cannot [p. 147] doubt that he reflected the joy of heaven. I suppose it is what properly should characterise God’s house — the joy of heaven reflected here upon earth. Christians are not looking for earthly joys; if they are, I am afraid they will be grievously disappointed. They may get them for a moment, but they will fail; all find how evanescent they are. But God would not have us to court earthly joys. God may give us mercies, and comfort our souls with them, for He is a God of mercy, and favours us; but I do not think He would have us to be looking for earthly joys: He would have us to drink into the spirit of heaven, and in that way to reflect the joys of heaven. But we must first apprehend the influences of heaven which are felt in the world.
Now I think that reconciliation is the effect which the influence of heaven is intended to produce down here. The ministry of reconciliation is really an influence of heaven at work here, to produce a result that will cause joy in heaven, and that joy is to be reflected in those who are the objects of that ministry. The practical result of that is that you get communion between heaven and earth. I believe that was prefigured in the feast of tabernacles and is brought to pass in the present time. God gives us to understand something of the joy of heaven, and that is the result which God has intended to bring about. Another thing is seen in the seventh of John following upon it, viz., that out of the belly of the believer flow rivers of living water. This is because he is connected with the scene where Christ is; his mind is set on things above; he participates in heavenly joys and understands heavenly influences.
Now to turn again to the fifteenth of Luke. The beginning of the chapter is connected with the end of the preceding one. Evidently the Lord had something special to communicate, because He made an appeal to him that had ears to hear. The publicans and [p. 148] sinners drew near to hear Him, and that becomes the occasion of all that is related in the chapter. The Lord, through the chapter, vindicates Himself by showing that He was in a line with the influences of heaven (verses 4 - 6). Evidently the neighbours and friends had been in sympathy with the man in seeking the lost sheep; he would not have appealed to them had it not been so. In the face of verses 8 to 10, no one could gainsay that the influence of heaven is at work in the world, and the result is to cause joy in heaven, and that joy is reflected in man here upon earth. Supposing earth were left to itself, without any influence of heaven, where would man have been at this present moment? I do not know whether the world would have gone on; but if so we should have been in the darkness and degradation of idolatry. There was nothing in the world that ever delivered it from idolatry. Philosophy never did; the philosophers were idolaters themselves. Whatever they wrote was powerless with the people; it produced no effect. What they wrote was read and considered by a very limited circle; it produced no moral effect, because it never brought God to man. Whatever cobwebs they might spin from the rudiments of the world or the traditions of men, philosophy was powerless to affect man, for nothing does affect man radically except the light of God. The world was incapable of delivering itself from the bond and power of evil in which it was bound. Had it not been for the influence of heaven, we should still have been in the darkness of idolatry. What is it that has emancipated the mind of man, so that he should be active in the investigation of natural laws? It is the light which has been brought in by Christianity, so that the mind has acquired great activity. Whatever deliverance there has been for man’s mind from debasement and degradation has been the effect of the revelation of God. My point is that it is the influence of heaven. If earth had been [p. 149] left to itself, and man had only been affected by the influences of earth, he would have remained degraded to a degree. There was the influence of hell in the world from the time that sin came in, and the condition of things in the world would have been appalling had the earth been left to itself, and unaffected by the influence of heaven.
Now the Lord was the expression of the influence of heaven down here, and that is the way in which He vindicates Himself. He said, as it were, ‘I am here in perfect concert with heaven. I am not here simply as a benefactor of man; I am here in concert with the mind of heaven, and heaven is in perfect sympathy with Me’. That was His vindication in regard to the charge of eating and drinking with publicans and sinners. If He did eat with publicans and sinners, it was no very great degradation if He had heaven in sympathy with Him; there was then no moral reproach in being found amongst publicans and sinners. If all heaven could have been here upon earth, it would have been found in the company of publicans and sinners. Do you think heavenly beings could find much delight in Scribes and Pharisees? When a heavenly being came to earth, he went wherever there was a possibility of entrance for the influence of heaven. The publicans and sinners were less averse than Pharisees to these influences, and the Lord had come here, in the mind of heaven, to seek the lost sheep. The lost sheep refers, I suppose, to the Jew. There were ninety-nine that had not gone astray — or at all events that did not think they had — but there was one that had, and the shepherd goes to seek that one. The Scribes and Pharisees did not concern themselves about the one that had gone astray, but the Lord does. He virtually says, ‘The ninety and nine are able to take care of themselves; I will go after the one that is lost’. It was the blessed influence of heaven which was concerning itself to recover that which was lost on earth.
[p. 150] Then we get the parable of the lost piece of silver. The house is being swept to recover the lost piece. The light of the gospel has been brought into the world; and the object is to bring into view the lost piece of silver. There is something in the world which has been lost for God, on which He sets a value, and that has to be brought to light by the gospel. We cannot avoid the truth of election. If there were no election, there would be no sovereign mercy. There is that, for God will maintain responsibility. God will not do anything upon earth that sets responsibility aside. It is essential to the glory of God to maintain responsibility, in order that He may be just in His judgement all round. Angels came under the judgement of God, so did the world before the flood; God maintains for His own glory responsibility all round, and hence mercy must be sovereign. If mercy were universal, there would be no maintenance of responsibility; but God maintains responsibility and acts in the sovereignty of mercy. Hence you get the elect of God, the subjects of sovereign mercy. Though the number of Israel should be as the sand, it was a remnant that should be saved.
The glory of God would be compromised if God gave up the maintenance of responsibility. Hence the light comes into the house, testing as it were the whole world, but in order to bring into view the lost piece of silver, that which was of account and precious in the mind of God, the object of His sovereign mercy. All this comes out in Romans 11 — Israel has to come in on the ground of mercy. Now the influence of heaven had come in to maintain the light in the world. The preaching of Christ is maintained by the influence of heaven. I think everyone ought to rejoice that there is an influence from above maintained here by the Spirit of God. The work of the gospel is going on to bring to light the lost piece of silver. The first part of the epistle to the Romans is on the line of testimony [p. 151] and responsibility; but when you come to the end of the doctrinal part you find that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. That is the conclusion to which you are brought. The effect of the testimony has been to bring to light those who are the called according to His purpose. I do not think any one of us would ever have loved God had we not been the called according to His purpose. I am sure I should never have thought of loving God had it not been that God saw fit to show mercy to me. Saul of Tarsus was self-confident, and would have scouted the thought of mercy; and yet God met him with mercy, and he loved God because God had first loved him.
Now I pass on to the latter part of the chapter. What I want to point out is, that the prodigal was being acted upon by the influence of heaven. There is hardly a greater comfort to my mind than that this world is subject to the influence of heaven; it is not left to itself. There is an influence of heaven here acting upon man. It does not do to make too much of man’s work. God may use men to enlighten others, but you must not make too much of that; what is really operative here is the influence of heaven, eventuating in the ministry of reconciliation. That ministry is committed into the hands of man; but behind it all is the influence of heaven. The prodigal was up to a certain point held in by the providence of God. In God’s providence he was allowed to go into the far country and waste his substance, and then to be in want. It is pretty much a picture of the Gentile, who had been allowed to go far away from God and to drop down into every kind of debasement; he had come to a condition of moral dearth. What is presented to us in a material way here, is really a picture of where man has got to by reason of sin. The Jew had a measure of light, but the Gentiles were in complete moral dearth. Why do people in the world [p. 152] want excitement? Because they are afflicted with moral dearth, and they go to all kinds of things to seek satisfaction, and they never really get satisfaction at all. They never arrive at a point of contentment. The craving after exciting literature proves a condition of moral dearth: people fill their belly with husks. No one gave to the prodigal. Giving is not the principle of the world, nor has the world ability to give to people that which will satisfy them morally.
Now the next thing is, that the man came to himself. That is the effect of the influence of heaven acting silently and underneath the surface. Elihu explained to Job the activity of God in regard of men. People are awakened in a most extraordinary way: and this is the influence of heaven at work in the world. I thank God that influence is at work. Were it not for it, no one would come to himself. Not all the preaching in the world — even apostolic preaching — could ever bring man to himself. That is the first great step: repentance is wrought. Now that the prodigal is awakened, he is enlightened more or less. He has come under the evangelist, or someone who has enlightened him; then he comes to the father, and is welcomed by him. The father has pleasure and satisfaction in receiving him. God delights in recovery. The Scribes and Pharisees did not delight in recovery: the publicans and sinners might have gone to the worst so far as they were concerned; but God delights in recovery. You may blame God if you like, but there is mercy with God. Hence it was that the prodigal, when he returned to the father, was welcomed.
Now I want to give you an idea of reconciliation. I think the object of reconciliation is that there might be a point of complacency for God. It has originated with God Himself. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself; but the point in it is that in the very scene of distance there might be a point of complacency for God. Had there never been distance,
[p. 153] there could not have been reconciliation. Reconciliation is a relative term, dependent upon a previous condition of alienation. When Christ came to earth, there was for God a point of complacency in man. But that point of complacency was limited to Christ, though it could not remain so, because reconciliation which was in view had reference to those who had been morally away, like the prodigal, and the point was that the complacency should be found where there had been the distance. How was that to be brought about? There were two simple things necessary: one was that the old man must be removed, and the other than Christ must be in his stead. That is reconciliation. Both are effected by Christ. One was effected in the cross — where the old man was crucified, and the other is effected by the communication to man of living water. That is where reconciliation is brought into effect, the practical result being that the one who receives living water appreciates Christ, and hence he furnishes a point of complacency to God: where the distance was, the complacency is. That is a wonderful thing to be brought to pass. The prodigal is divested of all that marked him. He is the same person, but divested of all that characterised him. He was clothed in the best robe: he furnished a point of complacency for the father. That is what the influence of heaven has brought about down here on the earth. Numbers of us can say our old man has been crucified with Christ: that is one side; but Christ has made us to partake of living water, and that has brought about in us the appreciation of Christ. If anyone were to ask me as to that in which I differ from people in the world, the only point I could mark would be this, that I appreciate Christ, and I would be prepared to let everything go for the sake of Christ. I greatly prefer Christ to myself, and I feel very much ashamed of everything in myself, in the light of Christ.
[p. 154] Where the appreciation of Christ is, there is the best robe, the ring on the hand and the shoes on the feet. Such an one is approved of God: God has found a point of complacency, and that point is Christ. That is how the ministry of reconciliation is going on — all based upon the old man having been crucified with Christ. The apostle Paul says, ‘You hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to bring to an end the old man, that He might present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight’. That is what has come to pass, and it is all the effect of the influence of heaven here in the world. Man has a part in the work of grace; but after all, what is really effectual in the world is the silent, unseen influence of heaven, that is bringing to pass what is according to God. It is carried on at the present moment by One who has come down here, from heaven, as the Servant of Christ. So long as Christ was here upon earth, the influence of heaven was centred and expressed in Him. Now it is in the Spirit of God, who is working down here, bringing that influence to bear upon man, that man may be affected by it, that there may be here a point of complacency for the Father in heaven.
Heaven and earth are brought into communion in the point of complacency which God has found down here upon earth! Think of the eye of God resting on Christ down here! Those who were round the Lord when on earth came into the complacency in which Christ was; but now it is no longer Christ personally upon earth, but Christ in the saints, by the Spirit of Christ. Where the old man was, and distance, the distance has gone with the old man, and complacency is there, for the eye of God rests upon Christ in the saints. The robe, the shoes, the ring, are all characteristics of another Man. It has been said by one intelligent in the things of the Lord, that the best robe formed no part of the prodigal’s first inheritance.
[p. 155] When God fitted out man in the beginning, He did not fit him out with the best robe, the shoes, and the ring: he never could have those until the introduction of the man in whom God is glorified. Now that the Man from heaven is brought in, you get the best robe, the ring, and the shoes, for the one who had come under the influence of heaven.
The elder brother represents the Jew who is incensed at the idea of the Gentiles being brought into God’s mercy. The father vindicates his reception of the younger brother. The younger brother does not get the elder brother’s portion. The father says to the elder brother, ‘I am not wronging you: all that I have is thine. I am not taking your portion to bestow it on the Gentile’. The Gentile has another portion, and that is, that he reflects the joy of heaven. That is our portion — first to be conscious of the joy of heaven, and then that that joy should be reflected in us down here, so that we might be in the communion of heaven — that we might be bright in our souls, without having any earthly or material portion. I do not want land, or five yoke of oxen, for I have a very great portion, and that is, the joys of heaven. You get the practical and blessed result, the communion of heaven and earth.
What a mercy it is that there is the influence of heaven! Picture what a state the world would have been in had it been left to itself! But this influence has been brought into operation, and produced its own blessed result. Do you not think that the prodigal was bright when they ate the fatted calf and began to be merry? He had his part in the merriment. I do not suppose he coveted the elder brother’s portion; he did not want any oxen or land; he was content with his own portion with the father. He had really learnt by divine teaching that the old man was crucified with Christ: God had removed that man, and he had nothing whatever to glory in save that which had [p. 156] been conferred upon him in the grace of heaven.
You cannot glory in yourself — in your flesh — but you are entitled to glory in Christ, and the prodigal had reached that. We begin to be merry, and it is a joy that will know no end.