Luke 19: 1-22 to “bondman”, 28-38
Galatians 2: 16-21
Ephesians 1: 13-14
The hymn (257) we sang mentioned two claims. One verse said of Christ,
His shed blood upholding the claims of God’s throne.
Another verse spoke of being -
… freed from the world and its claims.
The chapter we began with in Luke’s gospel speaks about the Lord Jesus claiming a house for Himself; then in the story the Lord Jesus tells there are the claims of the high-born man who came back to see what was due to Him. Lastly there was the claim of the Lord Jesus on the colt. There are many claims we could speak of. God has a claim on you. As the Creator He has a claim on you. I do not know whether you recognise that or not but it is still very true, and many here have trusted in the Lord Jesus and have owned His claim on them. The scripture we have read in Galatians speaks about one man who gladly yielded to that claim - the claim of love - and he devoted the rest of his life to the service of the One who put that claim on him. I wonder if you have ever thought about all those claims. There are many other claims we could speak of; there are the claims of righteousness, and I wonder if you think about those too.
The man we read of in the first scripture, Zacchaeus, thought that he would answer to the claims of righteousness in his own strength. He speaks about what he had done, and of trying to establish his righteousness, but the Lord Jesus speaks to him of a much higher claim than that; and the Lord Jesus would give you to understand His claim on you. When the gospel is preached, people often resort to trying to establish their righteousness on the basis of what they have done, living a good life and so on. I was told of an interesting conversation some while back with someone who was preaching the gospel, and the man he was speaking to was saying, ’Well, you live a good life, you do what you can and do your best, and then when you die you go to heaven’. The preacher said to him, ’You go to heaven! And how are you going to get there?’. That is quite a question to think about. It is a very valid question, but if you speak about going to heaven when you die, how are you going to get there? What power will take you there? The gospel writer that we have read from, Luke, writes with method. We have read one of the parables in chapter 19. If you follow all these parables backwards, they take you back to chapter 16. There it speaks of two men who lived their lives in certain ways, and when it came to the point of death, there was a poor man who was carried away by the angels into the bosom of Abraham, as it says, which we would understand as being taken into heaven, and there was a rich man who lived another way, and it just says simply that he "died and was buried. And in hades lifting up his eyes, being in torments, he sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom”, v 22, 23. It speaks about the chasm that is fixed, v 26. It is a very solemn matter that from the moment you die your eternal destiny is fixed; so if you aspire to being in heaven when you die, then how are you going to get there, as the preacher asked?
Well, every soul who has trusted in the Lord Jesus can tell you the answer to that question. The Lord Jesus has paid the price of the penalty of sin and He has shed His precious blood. His blood has been shed and if you trust in that blood then you are justified: God would justify you. The epistle to the Romans teaches us that - justified by faith in Christ - and no-one can raise any question as to those whom God justifies. What a tremendous matter that is. It is God who justifies; it is not myself. I do not seek to justify myself. I suppose you could say that Zacchaeus was on that line to begin with; then, how different if it is God who justifies you, and He can do that righteously. We have spoken of the claims of righteousness. God is right in doing that because He can point to the work of the Lord Jesus, that perfect atoning work. By atoning, I refer to the power to deal with the matter of sin and of sins, with my past history, the things I have done wrong, the offences that I have committed. People do not like to talk about sin nowadays. It seems it is an unpopular subject. When you come to the preaching you have to be prepared to face facts, and to acknowledge that God has claims in righteousness, but through faith in the blood of the Lord Jesus and through the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross you can be counted righteous by God Himself and you can know the power of salvation. One speaking of heaven composed a hymn about it, as to conditions in heaven. It says,
Where deceiver ne’er can enter,
Sin-soiled feet have never trod;
(Hymn 206)
So, if you aspire to go to heaven, then would you be happy there? Another has suggested that the natural man would not be happy there in those conditions where sin-soiled feet have never trod, and no deceiver can enter, JND Collected Writings vol 25 p234. It could only be as a cleansed sinner that you could ever enter there, and the cleansing is through faith in the blood of the Lord Jesus. That is God’s appointed way. Sometimes you think you can hardly take it in - that God has made such a way, that salvation should operate in such a manner, but it is true. Simply by trusting in the work of Another, the blessed Person of our Lord Jesus, by trusting in His work, you can be counted righteous by God. We can see it as we have read of Zacchaeus. It says others were accusing him, perhaps justifiably, perhaps not, but then he has to do with the Lord Jesus for himself, and that is what we would long for, that you would have to do with the Lord Jesus for yourself because you can only be cleansed and made righteous in the sight of God if you have to do with Him. You have to do with the Lord Jesus for yourself. No-one else can have that transaction but you by yourself. It is a personal matter. Zacchaeus had to do with the Lord Jesus for himself, and that is exactly the same with you, but what to me is a wonderful matter is that the Lord Jesus has come here. As someone has said, ’He has come within our range’ (JT vol 15 p76), a Man, a blessed Man: He has come within our range; He has come right here. As He came to Zacchaeus’s house, He would come right into your circumstances and would have to do with you. We sang,
How ready e’en now is our God to impart
Rich blessings ...
God is so ready that He has made available the Lord Jesus to you, so readily, so easily available to you as a Saviour. All you need to do is reach out in faith and trust in Him. These are the terms of the glad tidings; the gospel that flows out today. He is available to you now, today. You do not have to do some great deed. One scripture says, “Do not say in thine heart, Who shall ascend to the heavens? that is, to bring Christ down; or, Who shall descend into the abyss? that is, to bring up Christ from among the dead”, Rom 10: 6, 7. It is not left to you to do some great feat to establish your salvation. The Lord Jesus has done it all for you. Those claims of righteousness, the claims of God’s throne that we spoke about, He has met them and in His work on the cross He has answered those claims fully and glorified them, and now the blessed value and efficacy of His work is available to you to lay hold of.
It says that Zacchaeus made haste and came down, and received the Lord Jesus with joy. If you are reassured and know the blessedness of trusting in the Lord Jesus, and discovering that your sins are forgiven through faith in His blood and in His name, then joy is your portion. It cannot be otherwise. If you are relieved from a burden; what lifting of pressure it would bring. It is like that story that John Bunyan told about the pilgrim with the burden on his back: that burden is lifted. It rolled off his back and rolled away down the hill and is gone forever. That is an illustration of one soul’s expression of how the burden of sin was lifted from him and as you experience that moment in your soul, when you trust in Him, surely you would also know the joy of your salvation. Every soul who has that experience knows what that joy is. Joy is a short commodity in the world today. The world is full of sadness and death and pressure and distress and all these kind of things, but God would give you to know the joy of His salvation. It says, “he … received him with joy”, and not only that, further down, “And Jesus said to him, To-day salvation is come to this house, inasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham”. That was because he had faith. He became one of the household of faith, and it says, “salvation is come to this house”.
Oh, if you have not known the joy of salvation yet already, would that you would know through trusting in the Lord Jesus that it has come to you today because it is available to you today. You can lay hold of it today, and it is here ready and available for you now. There is no doubt about God’s disposition, there is no doubt that the Lord Jesus is ready and willing and available to you today, but it is for you to stretch out in faith and lay hold of Him. To me it is a wonderful thing that you can lay claim on Him. We have spoken about claims of God and other claims upon you, but then you can put your claim on the Lord Jesus. You can lay claim to the value of His work. Would that you would do that if you have not done it already. It says, “for the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost”. Someone said that if you find a piece of litter on the street you do not say it is lost, because it has no value; but if you find a ring or a coin or something precious on the street you say, ’Someone has lost this’ because it has value. I can say that to you as in the sight of God. You have value in the sight of God, and unless you have had to do with the Lord Jesus you are counted amongst “that which is lost”. But as having to do with the Lord Jesus, laying claim in the faith of your soul upon His work, then you are found, you are found by Him and you are saved; salvation meaning that you are saved from a lost eternity but, more than that, you are saved for something, you are saved for His service.
The next section where we read speaks about things that are committed to one and another by one who had certain rights, who had claims upon them. It is a picture of the present situation. The situation at the moment is that the Lord Jesus has died, died upon the cross. He was put there by wicked men. He died and was buried and, as we know, He was raised again, “raised … by the glory of the Father”, Rom 6: 4. He could not be held by that power. It says, “A certain high-born man went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and return”. So the Lord Jesus is ascended and He is glorified. Think of the glory of His present position! It speaks of “A certain high-born man”, and what could compare with the glories of the Lord Jesus, the estate that He has, the honours that are on His brow now as having entered into heaven itself? Think of all that He has done, everything He has accomplished and, you may say, how high-born He is!. What glories belong to Him, and what a place He has now (because it is a distant country). The Lord Jesus is no longer here in this world, but we are here and He is coming back again. It is a certainty and sure as anything can be that the Lord Jesus is coming back again. He will return, and He will return to receive and inherit what is rightly due to Him, but in the meanwhile we are left here in the scene of His absence, and there is what is given to us. The question is, ’What am I doing with it?’. I would suggest that we ask ourselves, ’What is the most valuable thing we have?’. If we consider for a moment, what do we treasure most? Surely every soul that has been affected by the grace of God would say that the greatest thing they have is the knowledge of God and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. What are you doing with that knowledge? It is a tremendous thing; if you have come to know the Lord Jesus for yourself you have a precious light, a tremendously valuable light, which is beyond words. But then, what are you doing with it? It says here, “Trade while I am coming”. Has that light affected you so that it shines out for others? There is an area, too, where the knowledge of God and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus are valued, where you can enjoy the company, where you can enjoy the fellowship and sharing the knowledge of God, in the company where these things are valued. Then there is a testimony that goes out too. It is a very important matter that there should be a testimony to the claims of God. It is your privilege to take part in that. If you have been affected by the grace of God, it is your privilege to speak to others of that grace and tell others of the God who is so ready to impart blessings, and has done towards you. And, if you share in the privilege of doing that, there is the confession of the Lord’s name. Everyone who has sought to confess that Name before men will know the joy that comes into your soul as you do it because that Name has value in heaven, that Name is a precious Name. That is in this area of testimony that is given to that Name. As I say, we are in the time of the Lord’s absence and it is our privilege in this time to be here to represent Him and to be here for His glory. There is a time coming when the Lord Jesus will return; very soon He will return. We do not know when He will come back. It could be any moment now and then there will be the time, as we have read of here, when these various bondmen come up and have a conversation with the Lord Jesus about how they have done. And what could equal receiving those words from the mouth of the Lord Jesus, as it says in verse 17, “And he said to him, Well done, thou good bondman”? Surely every soul would covet to receive those words from Himself. The Lord Jesus is perfectly fair. I did not read much about the man who laid up the mina in the towel. I do not want to be occupied with him except to say how it makes sad reading, but rather be occupied with encouraging us to be on the line of these first two bondmen.
Then we read further about the section where the Lord Jesus puts a claim on an animal, as it speaks of it here, a colt. It was tied up. The Lord Jesus has a right to every creature, and He has a right to you, and you can put yourself in the place of this claim. The Lord Jesus would claim you for His service. He who has given everything for you; surely you would acknowledge that He has a right to claim you for Himself. All the disciples are told to say is, “Because the Lord has need of it”, and how much the Lord has need of you to today! I beseech you to answer to that claim, to acknowledge that He does claim you today for His service, and it is your privilege, your part to acknowledge that claim.
I felt impressed to read this section in the Galatian epistle because it tells us about one man who acknowledged those claims, the claims of love. He speaks about how he previously tried to answer to the claims of righteousness on the principle of law, and then realised that he could not do it on that basis. That is really the history of the children of Israel. As it says here, “on the principle of works of law no flesh shall be justified”. Then he comes to this point when he says, “I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me; but in that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me”. I thank God that I can say that. This scripture is very precious to me, “the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me”. If someone in your family, a relative, or some other person had given their life for you, you would surely acknowledge the claim that they have for your affection, and it would demand your attention that someone gave their life for you. But the wonderful thing in the gospel is that it is the Lord Jesus, “the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me”. Surely such a great and glorious fact would command your attention and constrain your heart to yield to such claims. There is no claim like that, “the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me”. Can you say that? Is He to you the One who has given Himself for you? He says that He has loved me. Think of the love that He proved at the cross, love without equal. There is no greater love than the love of the Lord Jesus displayed there. Then, what is your answer to that love? Has your heart bowed to Him in acknowledging the claim that He has upon you? Has your heart bowed to Him? It is not just a matter of mentally assenting to certain terms, or accepting doctrine, or agreeing to follow a certain line of teaching or even just, as men say, becoming religious. That is not the point at all. The great thing in the gospel is that there is a claim of love; you have to find that there is One who has given Himself for you. How tremendous a matter that is! And in giving Himself for you He has shed His blood for you. We have spoken of the value of that blood. It has infinite value in the sight of God, and all the value of the preciousness of the work of Christ, and the preciousness of His Person and His value in the sight of God, is all yours as you trust in Him. How tremendous a scope there is in the work of Christ. The preacher speaks in detail of it every week in the preaching here in this room, and no preaching is quite the same as the ones before because the work of the Lord Jesus and His Person is infinitely great, but then that is the Person who has given Himself for you. May you bow to His claim!
I read last of all in the Ephesian epistle. The writer speaks of those who have trusted in Christ and of being “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the acquired possession to the praise of his glory”; so if God has put His claim on you He has put the seal of that claim on you too. I think the gospel would be incomplete without reference to the great matter of the giving of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, a Person of the Godhead, came down at Pentecost following on the ascension and the glorification of our Lord Jesus Christ, and (if received) lives in the hearts of every believer on the Lord Jesus Christ. You may find it difficult to understand that, but it is nevertheless true. It says here, “ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”. The Holy Spirit dwells within your heart, a blessed, divine Person, One who can tell you more and more of the glories of the Lord Jesus and the infinite value and blessedness of His Person and His work. He can tell you the place that He has and He is an indispensable Friend. All these things we can say of the Holy Spirit of God, and that is the One we have been sealed with. He is “the earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the acquired possession to the praise of his glory”. We speak of claims, and there are many claims, but there are claims of God’s glory and these are fully upheld by the Lord Jesus, never more clearly seen than when on the cross. Those claims were upheld and now, as a believer in the Lord Jesus, you can be assured that with the sealing of the Holy Spirit you are made fit for the realms of glory. We speak of heaven, and as a cleansed sinner, a forgiven sinner, justified, and the Scripture speaks of being glorified too, all these things can be yours. May you know the power of them! May you bow your heart to the One who has given everything for you! Surely you would agree there is no claim like that. I would like to impress that on your soul, that the Lord Jesus has a claim on you, God has a claim on you. Would that you would answer to that claim! We spoke briefly as to the claims of the world and surely they would become as nothing. What claim does this world offer that compares with a claim like that, the claim of the love of the Lord Jesus for you? May you bow and own it. For His Name’s sake.
Edinburgh
27th March 2011