THE WORD OF CHRIST
[p. 30] THE WORD OF CHRIST
Luke 5: 1 - 11; Luke 7: 1 - 10; Luke 19: 1 - 10
I wish to speak so as to present the word of Christ, a subject that will be interesting to you, for His word must govern; we must come under His authority and move at His direction if we are to profit by the service which the Lord is ready to render us. I would remark of Luke that he is the most evangelical of all the writers about our Lord’s service, for he presents the Lord as serving in the synagogue. Others do too, but Luke emphasises that the Lord, as led by the Spirit, was driven into the wilderness and tempted by the devil and that He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee and that He was teaching in their synagogue. That is to say, Luke disarms all religionists of any prejudice against Christ.
Whatever your choice of a religion may be, the Lord will not at the first raise that question with you, but He is set on your salvation. And so in view of the Jew being saved, Luke points out that the Lord shows them the greatest consideration at the outset of His service. Luke tells us that it was His custom to enter into the synagogue — instead of avoiding it. Luke tells us how He deported Himself in the synagogue in His own town of Nazareth. He entered into it as usual and “stood up to read”. There was handed to Him the roll of the prophet Isaiah, and He turned it over and found the scripture and He read it. I am speaking of His manner in the synagogue and how He would not move against religious prejudice.
He is after your soul. The time will come by-and-by when He will speak to you about your religions associations, but for the moment He wants you. He has come to seek and to save the lost, wherever they are, whether in the synagogue, or elsewhere, whether [p. 31] it be the king on his throne, or the prisoner in his dungeon. They are all lost and He has come to seek and to save the lost.
And so it was that He read the scripture to them and sat down. The Holy Spirit dwells on what He did in that synagogue and He says, “To-day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears”. What a moment for those in that synagogue. There is nothing said of any one being saved on that day. The facts rather show that the spirit of opposition was aroused, so that they led Him out to the brow of the hill on which their city was built so as to cast Him down headlong, but He went on His way.
He goes into another synagogue; he casts out a demon in it, and then He leaves the synagogue and goes into the house, as if to say, They will let Me do a little more, perchance, in the house. He enters Simon’s house, a wonderful day for Simon. But there is no evidence that Simon got any blessing through the visit. His mother-in-law got help, and I have no doubt Simon regarded that as a blessing, but I only wish to call attention to the sphere of the Lord’s activities, that now He is moving out from the synagogue into the house. He is seeking. If He found you in the synagogue He will save you there, if He finds you in your house He will certainly save you there.
But there are two sides to salvation. Whilst He saves, there has also to be submission to His word. There is nothing said as to any remark by Simon in the house. Jesus heals his mother-in-law. He stood over her. She will never forget that. She would be conscious as that glorious Person stood over her that here was One to be listened to; there was power there, and she proved it. She rose up when the fever had left her and served them.
But I am thinking also of Simon, and the Lord’s way of following up the lost, and so He goes down by [p. 32] the seaside. The synagogue had had its day and the house its opportunity, and now He goes down by the sea and there were two boats there. He is now following men up in their business relations. Maybe He will get you there. You see the Lord is most persistent in seeking he lost. And He enters into one of the boats with Simon, and He says, “Draw out into the deep water”. He asks them to do it. It is not a question of His authority, for when you enter into a man’s house, or into his business, if you are to help him you must not order him. It is not the time to order people to do things, but to beg them to do it. The Lord would descend to that, beloved, in His grace. He would go any length to reach you, He begged them — asked them to push the boat out, and He sits down and He teaches the people the word of God.
These were wonderful times; the word of God was being spoken and the Lord sat down, as if He loved it, and He spoke to the people out of the boat, for the Lord knew how to reach them, He knew when to stand and when to sit. He finished speaking to the people, but He had His eye on Peter, and now when the speaking was finished He directs them. Notice the word. It is no longer a request, the time has now come when the Lord asserts His right. He has got rights. Had you listened to Him in the boat you would have had to admit that there is a Man with a certain moral right, not only to be heard, but a right to command. And so He says, “Draw out into the deep water”.
I want to show you that Peter’s salvation depended upon the recognition of the Lord’s word. It is a critical time, and it may be so in some of your souls at this moment, for God brings a crisis in men’s and women’s lives when things hang in the balance — a time of decision.
Well, the Lord says, “Draw out into the deep water ...
for a haul”. It was certainly worth the experiment, even from the standpoint of a fisherman, but Peter had no confidence whatever in any results. He says, “Master, having laboured through the whole night we have taken nothing, but ..”. Now I want you to notice that in spite of his unbelief as to the results he was submissive, and that submission was the beginning of his spiritual history.
I want you to pay attention to the Lord’s word, whatever He says. You remember what His mother said to the servants at Cana, “Whatever he may say to you, do”. Whatever He says, whatever you may think of the results, be subject to the Lord. It is your salvation. Peter wisely said, though it was contrary to his experience, “But at thy word I will let down the net”. He will do it, and he did it.
Now you see the Lord is in His own sphere in this position. In the synagogue He was in the religious sphere. He does not command there. In Simon’s house He was in Simon’s sphere, but in the sea He was in what belonged to Him. The sea is His and He made it. Think of the rule the Lord had there. He is now in His own sphere. If you want salvation, then I present this passage to you, “But at thy word I will let down the net”. You see the Lord says, “Let down your nets”. There is that which you have to do, it is a question of submission. And the net was full of fishes, so that it broke. The fish are of small importance, for the Lord was after Peter.
He was after more, He had a partnership in His mind too. Peter was to be a fisher of men. He was to be taken out of that business relation and act in something greater. It is the Son of man speaking, beloved friends. He is the Creator of the sea and the fishes that were in it. He could command them. He is no less than Jehovah; He made the fishes great and small. The light entered into Peter’s soul. How [p. 34] many of us have experienced light entering into our souls? — those wonderful moments, never to be forgotten! As Paul said, “God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine who has shone in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 4: 6). It shone into Peter’s heart. He fell down — you see the work is going on. Millions of people are affected superficially by the light of the gospel, but how many fall down.
Saul of Tarsus fell down, struck by the light which shone upon him — very like his great fellow-apostle, Peter. They both had beginnings similar in that instincts sense, only Peter fell at Jesus’ knees. What instincts were at work in him, truly spiritual instincts, so that whilst his words convey that he was unfit for the Lord, instinct — fruit of the Spirit’s work — compelled him, and he fell down at His knees.
You say, What about His knees? In Luke they speak volumes. Luke presents Christ as a praying Man. Had He not prayed for Peter? You may depend that He had. He says later on, “I have prayed for thee”. Can we doubt for a moment that Peter understood, the Lord had whispered in his ear at some time and said, Peter, I prayed for you, I was after you. I was in your house, and nothing happened. I spoke in the boat and nothing happened. I was after you and I commanded those fishes, I brought them all up so as to get you. That is what the Lord can do; what things He can do to get one soul!
Maybe I am speaking to somebody who has no affection. The Lord has been doing a lot of things in your circumstances to get you. Have you been resisting? I do not pursue that subject, it is a question of coming under the word of Christ; that is the point I want to make.
Now I come to Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus has a story. He is evidently a converted man. The Lord had passed through Jericho. You can think of the Lord — I can — as He passed through; what memories were [p. 35] in His blessed heart as He passed through those streets. He would think of Rahab, and much that followed as He passed through. It was the place of the curse, you know. But here is a rich man, Zacchaeus, who wants to see the Lord, who He was. I am speaking now to people who are already converted and who are interested in Christ. You would not allow anyone to say anything against Christ, but are you controlled by Christ? Have you taken your own way to get a view of Christ, have you run on before?
He was a rich man, we are told, but he was little in stature. Rich people are not the people that grow great spiritually. Riches will never help you to grow spiritually though you may be a Christian. As I say, this man was wealthy. The Holy Spirit says he was rich, but he was small. But he was one of those whom the Lord expressly states He had come to seek and to save. He says He came to save the rich, to seek the rich and the poor, and Zacchaeus wanted to know and see who this was. He was not content simply with reading about Jesus. He may have read the Old Testament, and he may have been told who Jesus was, but he could not have seen Him. Luke makes much of what you see. Have you seen Jesus, who He is? You say, He is my Saviour. Yes, thank God, He is mine, but I see more than that. I have seen something of who He is.
Then you see Zacchaeus took up a position of his own, he went ahead. He ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree, where everybody could see him, but there can be no doubt he was accustomed to make a show. He had no compunction about being stared at. Rich men are prone to that, they like to take the leading place, so that I have no doubt that Zacchaeus was not in the least disconcerted by the crowds looking up at him, and yet I have no doubt he was sincere, for he wanted to look at Jesus. But [p. 36] he was not regulated by the Lord’s word. Had Zacchaeus remained up in the tree till the Lord had passed by, would he have seen what he saw now?
Moses sought to see the glory, but he would have died had he done so. He saw the back parts, and certainly Zacchaeus is not going to be more favoured that he should see it. If you would see the glory of Christ, and who He is, you must be regulated by the word of the Lord. Are you? And so you see He says, “Zacchaeus ... come down”. The Lord looked up. I do not think it disturbed him one bit when the Lord looked up. He would show himself. But then the Lord says, “Zacchaeus ... come down”. Think of it. The Lord knew his name, and He says, “To-day I must remain in thy house”. What grace! Does he hesitate? Are you hesitating to get out of that false position you are in? Do not hesitate, He has got great things for you. He has got Himself for you. You shall have Me in your house if you want to see Me. He says, You can have Me in your house. Zacchaeus made haste. Are you going to do it, to allow the word of Christ to regulate you?
And now the Lord is in his house. You bring the Lord into the house and then He is prepared to control you in it and He is going to do great things for you. Listen to this man speaking. He says “Lord”. He does not address the crowd. True enough you have got to hear what they say about you. Zacchaeus heard them, and so he said, “Lord”. He has got redemption, he is learning to say, Lord. And what does he say? He wants to give the Lord an account of his riches. He was a rich man, and these people had said he was sinful, but he gives the Lord an account of his riches. Do we all do that, beloved? We have to reckon with the Lord in regard to what we have got, and so he says, “Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation,
I restore him fourfold”. Now that is the way to reckon. You may say he has come under the Lord’s word, he is a regulated man and he is giving an account to the Lord of his wealth. He is a righteous man. This man, as the Lord says, is a son of Abraham. He belongs to the noble family of faith. Let them say what they will, that is what you are brought into. And so He says, “To-day salvation is come to this house”.
Now I will finish briefly. I want to show you how the word is appreciated on its own account so that you can speak of it to others. The centurion is a very remarkable man. He is one of the finest characters in Luke’s gospel, and there are many characters in Luke. He is a Roman officer. Different from Zacchaeus, who was a tax-gatherer; different from Simon, who was evidently a fisherman. Each has his own significance, but now we are in the presence of a Roman officer who is resident officially in the town of Capernaum. He is on good terms with the Jews, for Luke writes from that point of view. This Roman officer, who ruled in Judaea, was on the very best terms with the Jews. He built a synagogue for them, he loved them, and they were ready to come to Christ on his behalf.
And so he sends them to the Lord. He had never met the Lord before, but he had heard of Him. Evidently he was on the very best of terms with his servant. He loved his servant, but his servant was ill and he would appeal to the Lord. He sends to the Lord to come and heal him. It appears that he had some exercise. He might say, Now I have sent the Jews, I will wait till He comes, but no, he has some exercise, he sends other servants. He says, The message I sent Him is not suitable. How fine that is. How respectful he is. He sends servants to the Lord, and says, Lord do not come to my house, for the truth came home to him that this was a great personage.
[p. 38] He thought of his own position as having authority, and so he says to himself, Why, if that were so, He does not need to come any more than Caesar would need to come here to have his word carried out, or that I should go down to speak to my soldiers, all I have to do is to send, “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”.
Now do you apprehend the Lord in this light? It would make you very respectful you see. You would apprehend Jesus in heaven, that He is meant to be there, set in authority, and that His word prevails everywhere, in Japan, in India, in America. Do you apprehend Him in that light? If you do you pray, and you may accomplish more for souls than by preaching. If you apprehend the Lord in heaven having all authority and His word prevails everywhere, you pray. You pray for souls. You say, Lord, all you have got to do is to say the word and this one or that one shall be healed. Now this is a very fine principle of the truth, and it would greatly enlarge you in that regard, greatly increase your confidence in the Lord, for we know that He can do everything.
He sends a message to the Lord, a very fine expression of his own humility, befitting surely his position. He says, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but say the word. May He say that in regard to some of you; “Say by a word and my servant shall be healed”. And the Lord turned round to those who followed and said, “Not even in Israel have I found so great faith”. And they returned to the house and the servant is healed. It was a question of the word of Christ.