GRACE COMMENSURATE WITH GLORY
GRACE COMMENSURATE WITH GLORY
FER We have had a good bit in the last two meetings of the kingdom, and another point is that grace is equivalent to glory. The greater the glory the greater the grace; in that connection we see the means by which the new man was formed. This chapter gives us the features and characteristics of the new generation, that is their moral features. In the early part of the chapter they are the friends of Christ, and are sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit, that is the foundation of it. The position of the generation is that they are disciples of Christ, and children of God, and we have their moral features coming out. The Lord calls them His friends, and the power that supports them is the Holy Spirit. The general idea of friend is that a man gives his confidence to his friend. It is all anticipative here — what was coming to pass in His exaltation and the coming of the Holy Spirit; it all hangs on the expression in chapter 9: 51, “When the time was come that He should be received up”. It is an important principle, the greater the glory the greater the grace; grace is commensurate with glory and can only be measured by glory.
ER What do you mean by grace?
FER For instance, we get the Spirit consequent on the glory. You get justification by resurrection and the Holy Spirit by the glory. The higher man goes the greater the grace. In chapter 11 there was no light in those who professed to be here for God; the light in them was darkness, but we have a new generation brought in whose character is described in Philippians 2: 15, “the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation” etc. The generation is also described in this chapter, they have no part [p. 252] dark, the body is full of light, and they have no care, they seek the kingdom of God, and they wait for their Lord. It is in connection with waiting for their Lord that responsibility comes in.
DLH I suppose that Christendom of today is pretty much what Judaism was in that day?
FER I think so; there is not much light there, it has become darkness. I think they use the word of God in such a way that their light has become darkness. The most insulting thing that ever was brought forward is the higher criticism. The rules of criticism, and all that kind of thing, may apply to the literature of the world, but they cannot apply to another world if they do to this world.
DLH It supposes that man is in a position to judge.
FER To me it is all bare folly. It is a great thing to see that Scripture, from beginning to end, is all taken up with the world to come and not with this world. No part of Scripture was written until man fell, and it has all to do with another world which God had in view. From Genesis to Revelation it has reference, not to this world, but to the one to come. In this chapter you get the features of the new generation which is actually in this world, but the features do not belong to this world. Men are very careful and anxious, and the principle that governs a man of this world is really independence, and seeking to provide for himself, but you get a principle the very contrast of that here. Men do everything, they insure their houses, lives and businesses, which may be very well in a way, but they have not the marks of another world, the world to come.
DLH It is all insured there.
FER It is all insured in God, it is only a question of faith in God, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you”. (Matthew 6: 33.) No man can really go beyond his knowledge of God, that is certain. It is [p. 253] a question of the knowledge of God, and no man can go beyond his knowledge of God. We have an illustration of the man that lays up treasure on earth and is not rich towards God. The poor are rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, that is the point here, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”. (Luke 12: 32.)
DLH It is striking how the Lord refuses to put anything right in this world.
FER Yes, it is too late in the day.
DLH The great point in the minds of people generally is to put things right, and nothing seems more commendable in their eyes than to put things as right as you can.
FER And on your part provide for every possible contingency; that is what prudence dictates.
JN Why does it say to the poor the gospel is preached?
FER Because the rich do not want it. It is remarkable that in a chapter of this kind you do not get the idea of Christendom and corrupted Christianity, you get the real genuine thing, the features of the true and real generation.
DLH Though in the next chapter you get the idea of Christendom.
FER Yes, the Lord goes on at the end of the chapter, He shows the course things take on earth consequent on His rejection, but at the same time you learn that you cannot trust anything external, and the only thing is to be within. Anything that comes in contact with earth is bound to be corrupted, as things are. We have a great pursuit, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you”. (Matthew 6: 33.) The kingdom is that which a man can pursue with all his energies, and there is no disappointment there.
DLH Is the idea seeking that in which God [p. 254] is interested?
FER I think so, it is gospel work really. It is the presentation of the grace of God bringing salvation, so that man on earth may really have a haven of security. If government was all upset and anarchy was ruling in a neighbouring country, for instance Ireland, the great thing would be to get where government was maintained for security. I think a man comes into the kingdom for security. The grace of God brings salvation and gives you security. Here it is pursuing the kingdom, it is looked at in an abstract kind of way and you seek it, it is your object. If you seek it now it becomes your riches afterwards, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”. (Luke 12: 32.)
Ques When would all things be added to us?
FER Now; if people do not get all they want it indicates they are not seeking the kingdom.
DLH I remember a remark of Mr. Darby’s that every one has as much of Christ as he desires.
FER Yes, I must confess my sympathies go out a good bit to the evangelist brothers, because they want steadying a bit, but I really think they have more heart than most of us. We get steadied when we come to the readings.
Ques Is there anything special in “Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things” (Luke 12: 30)?
FER Yes, He knows your need of all things, you are children, that is the idea in the chapter. You are disciples of Christ and children of God, and you are like men that wait for their Lord. Seeking the kingdom of God is not responsibility, but privilege. In the absence of Christ responsibility comes in in connection with our waiting for Him, taking care of His household. Waiting for the Lord brings in the idea of responsibility of the servant, if the Lord were here there would be no responsibility. We are to be faithful to Him in His absence.
DLH The thought is if the Lord were here [p. 255] He would look after His own interests, but if He is away He gives us the privilege.
FER Exactly, and that tests our faithfulness. You serve because of affection for Him. The expression really is ‘waiting for their own Lord’.
TB Does that bring out the value of the word “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19: 13)?
FER Quite so.
DLH And you get the waiting and the doing.
FER Yes, but I do not think waiting makes men idle. I do not at all agree with the illustration that has been used in connection with watching, namely the two women waiting for the boat coming in, one at the pier-head and the other at home. My sympathy was really with the one that waited at her home. If you are watching for the Lord you are occupied with His interests, not straining every nerve, but taken up with His interests, His household.
DLH You are in fact doing what He sets you to do.
FER Yes, as a watcher you have your loins girded and your lamps burning.
Ques Does responsibility mean being consistent?
FER It is really being faithful. Responsibility is discharged in being faithful to the Lord in His absence. It is a great thing to see the marks of the generation; it is a great test to us how far we answer to it. It is a generation that has been begotten of God, in a sense, and it is worth while to see how far we answer to it.
TB That is what you call new creation?
FER It is a generation of a new order, such as never was here before, and what produced it was that their souls had come under the light and teaching of Christ.
DLH That is, you are sitting at His feet?
FER Yes, and the Lord teaches the disciples to pray. In this chapter you get the support of the Holy [p. 256] Spirit. They were to confess the Son of man, and though they might be brought before kings they were not to premeditate, the Holy Spirit would teach them in that hour what they ought to say. They had the support and countenance of the Holy Spirit.
JHK What is the force of verse 50?
FER The Lord goes on to show the course of things on earth, He could not leave the earth as He found it. The fact of Christ having been here must produce a profound effect on things here, it produced a momentous consequence, whether people accepted Him or not, it brings out the fact that He did not send peace on earth but a sword, fire and division; anything but peace, though He had no pleasure in the sword, fire and division; it is the consequence of His having been here; everything was tested by His having been here.
TB God’s attitude at the beginning was “Peace on earth”.
FER Yes, but Christ does not leave things as He found them. The position of Israel was like a fig tree, they were just about to be cut down, and the Lord warned them that unless they repented they should perish. The grace of the kingdom breaks up the sabbath, and in turn the kingdom is corrupted, and then comes the moral of it, that is, to be within. You can no more trust Christendom than you can Judaism, you cannot trust anything external in Christ’s absence.
DLH The light is no more in Christendom, as such, than it was in Judaism as such, but there is a new generation.
FER They are hid within, that comes out in the latter part of the chapter.
TB The difficulty today is the cry of peace; He sends fire on earth. It refers to what He should be where He was rejected, but when Christendom becomes in that condition it becomes very difficult.
FER They want to get rid of division, fire and [p. 257] sword.
DLH It comes in now in a Christian household if a person wants to stand for Christ.
FER The principle of man is accommodation. Israel’s anxiety was to be like the nations, and so the Church wanted to accommodate herself to earth, and hence you get the mustard tree and the leaven. What is going on today with the leaders in Christendom is accommodation to science, philosophy and the like; the consequence is that what is of God in Israel and the Church is completely corrupted. Christendom is without, and Judaism is without; the point with us is to be within, because you cannot trust anything external. The place of brethren is a place of privilege; if you apprehend our position we are, in a sense, shut in where the Holy Spirit is.
Ques When you speak of ‘within’ you refer to earth?
FER But you have to learn that you cannot trust anything external, Christendom in the form and shape it is. The thing is to be within, in the truth of fellowship, where you get the presence, power and support of the Holy Spirit. The position of brethren is one of great advantage.
DLH That is where the ‘strait gate’ comes in?
FER That is how you come properly into fellowship. In early days no one came into fellowship save as baptised. They had to come through the figure of death, and we have to come through death in a sense; you have to accept death, and you have to be buried. Those who ignore the presence of the Holy Spirit do not get His support very much; the Spirit may serve them to prevent them from going to extremes.
DLH The death of Christ is accepted readily in regard of its benefits, but as applied to ourselves it is the narrow gate to salvation, which really means to be saved out of the condition of things.
FER I think so, “Save yourselves from this untoward generation”. (Acts 2: 40.) The thing in [p. 258] that day was to get into the house of God. I do not believe that anybody comes rightly into Christian fellowship if they do not understand that in so doing they are leaving the world. I would not bar the way at all, but you must come properly in by the strait gate. If you speak of the Holy Spirit, the Lord says “Whom the world cannot receive”, (John 14: 17), and hence if you are to get the gain of the Spirit’s presence it seems to me that you must leave the world, and it becomes a much more difficult thing when it is a question of leaving a Christian world.
TH What comes in with the healing of this woman?
FER The point was the sabbath, and the Lord vindicated. The grace of the kingdom would break it up. The law is not dispensationally set aside, but the grace of the kingdom has broken up the legal system. They wanted to bind the woman hard and fast in the legal system, she should not have come to the Lord on the sabbath, but the Lord showed that the grace of the kingdom would break up the legal system, and it has done so. Instead of the kingdom maintaining its own proper character as the support and sway of God in the power of the Holy Spirit, it is accommodated to earth. There is nothing for you but God’s house. Judaism was outside and Christendom has become a power in the world, and the only thing for us is to be inside where the Holy Spirit is. There is nothing astounds me more than this, how people can ever leave the fellowship of brethren and go back to system; it is a thing I cannot compass at all.
DLH Our danger would be lest we should get into a system of things.
FER Yes, I think God has been very good, and blown upon all the ecclesiastical things about which brethren were very much concerned at one time. They used to talk about the ‘ground upon which we were gathered’, and the ‘truth of the one body’, to which [p. 259] they had a very strong inclination; all that is within my memory. If we are inside, within, you have the light. The One who should have been the crown of everything they would not have within, and He is content to be without. At the close He says to them “Your house is left unto you desolate”. (Luke 13: 35.) When He comes into the house He will set everything right, but while He is absent all is wrong.
Ques Is it not the same thing in Laodicea?
FER Morally He is outside, Christendom is tested; He stands at the door and knocks.
DLH Who does Herod stand for here?
FER I always thought that he represents a sort of time-server, a worldly kind of man. He was king and he was content with the Roman domination; he was content to accept the Gentile, he was an Edomite.
FC He ought to have been as a shepherd.
FER That is the idea.
FC Instead of that he was a fox.
FER Yes, a crafty, cunning man.
FC The Lord was a gatherer, and he was a scatterer.
FER The Lord perfectly appreciated Herod’s character, he was never anything else than a timeserver. He and Pontius Pilate became friends, that lets you see what he was. It was a most unnatural alliance for a king of the Jews to be hand in hand with the Gentile governor.