THE WORK OF GOD
[p. 388] THE WORK OF GOD
Luke 7:1 - 10; Matthew 15:21 - 28; Genesis 24:18 - 21
It is in mind to say something about the work of God, and I have selected three scriptures in order to speak of this, and to see the character of the persons in whom it is seen, and I begin with Luke having in mind that the work of God is seen in the military element, and I may say here that the thought of wonder appears. We have no reference to wonder at the end of the physical creation, although, of course, it was indeed wonderful, but as to what God had in His mind, the idea of man that He should work in him, we have, in the Lord, remarkable evidence of wonder. You can understand that in referring to the Lord in this way, it is only to bring out how the realm of God admits of the thought of wonder, and in Luke God is seen working — it is grace. The word would not appear in relation to the physical creation. It appears in relation to man, and in this particular case in relation to the military, because it is a great military time, we might say, The world is filled with military renown, defeat, too, and it is not without significance that the Lord selected at this particular time of His service a military man, as I might say God ordered it in His operations, for it is a question of God, and in view of the great place the military has at the present time it certainly is worthy of our consideration that God is not making little of that of which man is making so much. But God is working among the military, and we are not unacquainted with the military, our sons and our daughters, our brothers and our sisters are having and have had to do with it, and to do with it not in a victorious way militarily, but morally, and that is a greater thing. Moral victories are the greatest.
So we have this centurion: “a certain centurion’s bondman who was dear to him was ill”, a certain centurion. I just comment on this to come to the point that is in mind, that he was in good favour with the religious class, and they represent him commendably, saying that he is worthy for whom He should do this “for he loves our nation, and himself has built the synagogue for us”. The passage suggests to us gospel circumstances, circumstances available for gospel testimony. The religious element is there, but not adverse; the military element is there regarded with favour; the servant, or working class is there in the servant; and the Lord Jesus is there, and so it is that one believes that the present juncture affords great opportunities to the brethren. It is a time for evangelical feeling, and evangelical testimony and work; the opportunities are great, and the fact that a military man is in evidence is surely something to note.
We are not unacquainted with the military, they are near to us; we love them and think of them all, how God has prospered them, and how the work of God has proceeded in them, and how they have been under reproach, and how they stood in the reproach, and now it is a time they should be honoured, but honoured in a moral sense, and so the circumstances afford these elements. There is the military among ourselves, not militant, although the word ‘military’ applies to them, for they are not militant, they are followers of the Lord Jesus who said that His kingdom was not of this world; they have learned how to put the sword into its place and leave it. It will be needed again from their point of view, but for the moment they are not militant, they are conscientious, an element that belongs to the moment is conscience, not simply the abstract idea of conscience, but conscience in regard of God and of the brethren, conscience in regard of the government, and so they [p. 390] afford an element of great advantage in the way of testimony at the present time.
So I proceed to call attention now to the centurion, what a man he was, and that he should come in contact with the Lord Jesus in these circumstances is the more to be remarked on, and that he was commendable and commended by the Jews. But he comes in contact directly with the Lord Jesus, and becomes a great moral trophy in these circumstances — notice that they represent him commendably. Then “Jesus went with them”, ready to join in even with them, and “when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent to him friends, saying to him, Lord, do not trouble thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof. Wherefore neither did I count myself worthy to come to thee. But say by a word and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having under myself soldiers, and I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my bondman, Do this, and he does it”. These are the words that fell on the ears of the Lord Jesus, the words of a military man, an officer, no ordinary soldier, a man having men under him, men who would obey him, and having depicted these circumstances to the Lord he uses the word ‘also’, as much as to say, Lord, that is your picture. He was respectful, he recognised that the Lord Jesus was here in authority, but in authority in the sense of being under it. It was graded authority beginning with God and coming right down to the Lord Jesus. I say, coming right down, for the Lord took a lowly place, and the centurion recognised that He was a Man under authority, and that all He had to do was to say the word, “Say by a word and my servant shall be healed”.
I am enlarging somewhat on this point to bring out that it was the work of God, and the work of God [p. 391] which causes the Lord to wonder, causes the Lord to be affected, and so the word is, “And Jesus hearing this wondered at him, and turning to the crowd following him said, I say to you, Not even in Israel have I found so great faith. And they who had been sent returning to the house found the bondman, who was ill, in good health”. Now I have arrived at the point that is being stressed, that is what the work of God is, not as in the physical creation, however much there may be to wonder at there. The Lord Himself called attention to the lilies, how they grow; that is the work of God in creation, but here it is a centurion, a Roman officer, and he has got a servant and he loves him. Think of what all that meant to the Lord Jesus. He had come into the scene in lowly grace as a lowly Man, so as to regard the circumstances, and as it were with wonder — one would speak reverently and with caution, but the word is noticeable, and is to be understood, and it applies to the work of God in how many there may be in this hall. One looks at the faces of the brethren (not because they are listening to one, I hope they are listening to the word of God), what a picture for heaven to see so many of us, speaker and hearers together influenced by the word of God, influenced by the work of God. I cannot speak of anything morally more important than what I am saying now. Here is a man, the subject of the work of God, and the Lord marvels at him, and is it not that there should be a radiation of this at this juncture of gospel testimony and gospel results, for surely it is an opportunity for God to carry on according to His own heart, not only His own mind, but His own heart — “God so loved the world”, John 3:16. It is a time just now for gospel testimony and results from it to follow, and they will be for His own pleasure, for the scene affords pleasure for the heart and mind of God, and the heart and mind of Christ, the Spirit Himself [p. 392] operating, the great potential Operator subjectively here since Pentecost, unfailingly operating to bring about conditions affording pleasure for the heart of God. It is a question of what is for the heart of God, and hence we have this centurion causing the Lord to wonder, and surely to think of what he and many like him would be eternally.
And this brings me to speak for a moment of faith. Without faith there is simply nothing. What I am saying and what is here is a case of faith. Faith exists. There is hardly anything one can speak of so important as faith at the present time, because the enemy’s aim is to use military achievements, and presently industrial and social effort and achievements to accomplish things. The enemy has marshalled his forces for it and will be successful because of what man is, but God is ready to operate, so this centurion becomes suggestive of what is the great point at the present moment, namely, the possession of faith. Let me be allowed to be simple with a word of exhortation. We need faith, and faith is available. The Lord says: “When the Son of man comes shall he indeed find faith on the earth?” That was His question; it was not answered, but I do know there is faith on the earth now, that the results of what has happened, and present sorrows, denote the existence of faith in the brethren, I know that. But the Lord speaks of great faith, and He speaks here in a relative sense, there was not the like of it in Israel. It has a present application, so we are reminded we are not to be content with the thing as it is — more and more is the idea. If there be faith, let it be increased, let me not forget what the Lord said in answer to the disciples, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say to this mountain, Be transported hence there, and it shall transport itself”, Matthew 17:20. I am not ignoring that He said to Peter, “O, thou of little faith”, Matthew 14:31. I am afraid that applies to most of us: I [p. 393] am thankful it applies to us at all, but the Lord is talking here of great faith.
Now I leave this case and go on to the woman of Sidon in Matthew 15. In verses 27 and 28 she says, “Yea, Lord; for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the table of their masters. Then Jesus answering said to her, O woman, thy faith is great. Be it to thee as thou desirest. And her daughter was healed from that hour”. The scene in Luke 7 involves a military officer, religious leaders, and a servant who represents the working class. These are grouped now, too, only the working class, you might say, are on the top. The relations between the centurion in Capernaum and his servant are most touching, He loved his servant. If all employers loved all those employed, I should say there would be an end to unionism. Love is the great thing, and God is going to bring about love, the great moral triumph where love will prevail. But here we have a class that is under reproach, not because of its religion, or love for Christ or the people of God, but the woman is a Canaanite, a heathen, an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, and a stranger to the covenants of promise, Ephesians 2:12. But the Lord sees fit to select her to bring out this matter of faith. The gospel aims at that, and so the Lord says, “O woman, great is thy faith”. The daughter was made well.
I will dwell for a moment on the effect of Satanic wickedness on young women. She was ailing from an unclean demon, that was her malady, but she was made whole. As the centurion yielded to Christianity, to the results of the gospel in a most marked way, so she, a woman under reproach nationally and her daughter possessed by a demon, becomes a trophy of the gospel. Is it not within our reach? We should not be neglectful of the moment. One of the greatest things is to maintain the character of the dispensation,
[p. 394] and that character requires gospel testimony and gospel results.
Now to go on to the third passage, Genesis 24:21. “And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not”. What made him hold his peace? I am going to speak a word about the assembly. The assembly is before us in this remarkable chapter, one of the longest and most remarkable in the Bible; the theme is Christ and the assembly. Paul says, “I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”, Ephesians 5:32. It is a great matter. I believe the Lord is stressing the assembly, the assembly as a whole, not so much the local as the universal feature, and it is the greatest thing, as I understand, in the universe. It is referred to in that sense in the Scriptures; it is referred to femininely and in many other ways, and it comes into line in the testimony of God as the most exalted and the greatest thing in the whole universe, and my hope is that what I have entered on now will lead the brethren to think a little more of it, and its dignity, and what it is in the mind of God in the sense of exaltation, what it is in the sense of lovableness, what it is in the sense of administrative ability. It is going to appear in all these senses, to come down from God out of heaven, having the glory of God. Let us think of these ascriptions and fit ourselves into the thing that is spoken of and see if we cannot learn to walk a little more in its blessed light, the light most precious, that is what it is, the light of the assembly which radiates throughout the whole universe. Anything that is to be made a matter of instruction will come out through it, it grows into a holy temple in the Lord; it grows, and we want to be in the growth. It is a question of growth, not that we shall grow eternally as has sometimes been said, and I would here warn against novelties. I am ashamed and alarmed at the novelties that are put out in readings [p. 395] and private conversations without any effort to support them by Scripture. God has His ideal, and He finishes His work; the unfinished parts go on here until they are finished, to “present every man perfect in Christ”, Colossians 1:28. Beware of novelties. Let Scripture have its force amongst us in our Bible readings, in our addresses (I am not, of course, eliminating myself) and in our conversation at our tables let it ever come into mind what the Scripture says, “What saith the scripture?” Romans 4:3, Galatians 4:30. The Bereans searched the Scriptures to see whether “these things were so”, Acts 17:11.
So the assembly, as I was saying, is so great and so glorious, and this type is most descriptive in the sense in which I am speaking. The idea originated with Abraham, that is to say, by extension the thought of the assembly originated with the Father; it originated with Christ, but it is more with the Father, the great thought running through this long chapter originated with Abraham. We are now in the presence of God and in the presence of the Father’s affections for the Son and whom the Son is to have for His bride, and so the eldest servant of his house must be in charge. It is a great matter to have in our minds that the Spirit of God is here and is in charge — what was said of the Angel in Exodus.
We should be afraid of saying anything contrary to Scripture, do not let it pass. The father is in mind; we are in the presence of the father and the eldest servant in his house, typically the Holy Spirit. It is wonderful that the Spirit should take such a place and be so lowly. Even the servant’s name is not given here, it is the eldest servant of the father’s house, the one most reliable who has everything in his hand, and who sets out on his mission, that mission being to secure this person who is described here, and who causes him wonderment. I am speaking to those who form the assembly, and it is a question of bringing it right down to ourselves as to whether [p. 396] we have these traits coming under the hand of the Spirit of God in His holy operations here below in our assemblies, in our services, whatever it be, in our ordinary occupations, let us be in the presence of the Spirit of God. He is here present; even for ordinary matters we can reckon on the Holy Spirit to be with us.
Verse 16 says, “And the maiden was very fair in countenance”, notice that, “a virgin, and no man had known her. And she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her” — we should seek to visualise this in a spiritual way — “and said, Let me, I pray thee, sip a little water out of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord!”
I speak to the young brothers and sisters here. One has to come back to them; they are the ones heaven is looking on, expecting from; one generation goes and another comes, and the present one is the one to be relied upon; it is a question of quality in men coming out of the Army. How is the assembly to be displayed in them, and the young sisters, too, what is the Spirit of God looking on, what is He expecting to see? Rebecca said, “Drink, my lord! and she hasted, and let down her pitcher on her hand” (notice the ‘hand’), “and gave him to drink. And when she had given him enough to drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also”. There were ten of them, and I need not comment on how much water it would require to satisfy all those camels, and Rebecca undertook to supply them with water. Let us not say anything at all about how much we have to do. It is a time of doing. God is doing, the Spirit is doing, the ministers are doing, the angels are doing. It is a time of activity, of skill, a time also of ability, and so Rebecca is emblematic of all this in the way she undertook to supply the need of these camels.
However, the word that I am coming to now is she “drew for all his camels ... And the man [p. 397] was astonished at her, remaining silent, to know whether Jehovah had made his journey prosperous or not”. The answer is in the affirmative, it was prosperous in the extreme, and the very centre of it, the evidence of the prosperity is the quality of this young person and how the servant admired her, for that is the idea. I have already alluded to the quality of wonder in the divine realm, and these qualities are in ourselves; they are intended to be there, and, thank God, they are there. I speak in a certain way victoriously, that God has brought about such a number of persons who are of the assembly, and who have it within their reach to dignify it, to make the assembly the greatest thing. It is that now in administrative power, and it will be that eternally, and so, as I said, it is within our reach to beautify the thought, to begin with the abstract thought of the assembly. It runs right through this chapter, and remember the apostle’s words, “I speak as to Christ and as to the assembly”. Let us not only speak, but think and pray about it, so that it may come out more and more according to what it is in the divine thought, and according to what it is by the working of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is the great medium of all operations beginning with new birth. He was not the medium of the physical creation, although He had a part in it: it was by the Lord Jesus, not as the Son, but as God, He created the heavens and the earth. He Himself is the Creator of all things, let us never forget that. Scripture is full of it, but the Holy Spirit is also here on the subjective side operating, and all the operations are in His hands and they are successful.
One looks at the number present here, not in any natural sort of way to glorify ourselves, but to glorify God. We are the fruit of God’s work, the fruit of the Spirit’s work, and we may say the fruit of the work of each other. We are to be workers with each [p. 398] other, to help each other. Let us glory in our great calling, let us honour it, let us not degrade it, let us maintain the greatness, the glory, the dignity of the assembly, both in its beauty and its workmanship, and in all else that I can speak of and enlarge on, but let it be in our hearts, and let us rise up from this place and go forth in the sight of God and of heaven. It is an opportune time to go in for all these things. There is only a little while, and we are all caught up to heaven, as it is said in Acts 10, in regard of the sheet — it was taken up into heaven. It was let down, but it all went up into heaven. It is a question of testimony, and then going up to heaven and coming out in a great administrative way, first in the millennium, and then the state eternal.
May God bless His word to us.