Jesus, Full of Grace
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"Jesus, Full of Grace"
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves."
Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?"
"Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil."
Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side."
She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one."
But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.
She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left." 2 Kings 4:1-7
It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit, the Divine Author of the Bible, to embody and exhibit some of the most important, spiritual, and magnificent truths of His word in the form of type, symbol, and similitude. Neither His wisdom nor His love, in thus throwing a drapery of apparent obscurity around revelations so momentous, can be questioned. It cannot be reasonably denied that God, who saw proper to unveil His own mind, and in a way of extraordinary revelation, communicate his will to man, could as easily, if so it pleased Him, not only have accompanied that revelation with the self-evident assurance that He, and no other, was the Speaker; but that also He could have cleared away whatever was mysterious and obscure from each truth, causing it to stand forth, palpable and demonstrative, bathed in the splendor of its own Divine effulgence. But with a view, doubtless, of simplifying the meaning, of heightening the grandeur, and of deepening the solemnity of truth in the estimation of the human mind, this peculiar mode of conveying it is, in part, adopted.
Nor for these reasons alone. The spirit of earnest and persevering research, is the spirit which a proper and successful study of the Bible demands. It is not everywhere upon the surface of God's word that the most important instruction is found. Though even there, truths the most spiritual and precious are sometimes scattered like brilliant constellations pendent from the firmament and visible to the naked eye; or, as gems detached from the ocean's cave, are sometimes thrown upon the shore, and gathered up by the pensive traveler. But in most cases the truth of God lies deep and invisible. A superficial and careless research will not conduct the investigator to its richest revelations. The mine must be excavated, the firmament must be explored, the ocean must be fathomed- in other words, the Scriptures must be searched with much prayer for the Spirit's teaching and with patient continuance; or their greatest beauties and their costliest treasures will remain concealed.
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God;" and there is no type, nor symbol, nor parable, nor story, nor song, which enfolds not some profound truth, and which conveys not some deep practical lesson of wisdom, or some rich word of comfort, or some precious unfolding of JESUS, the "price of which is above rubies."
To this class of revealed truth may be assigned the instructive narrative which has suggested the topic of the present chapter of our work. The entire story is inimitably beautiful and exquisitely touching. And, were we to descant upon the doctrine of God's providential care of His people, the timely and considerate aid which He has ever been wont to extend on their behalf in seasons of trial and of emergency- limiting ourselves to these points, we should find rich and ample material in the narrative before us, for extended and profitable reflection.
The most prominent figure in this simple picture of real life, around whom gather the light and interest of the entire scene, is the prophet's widow. Her husband dying insolvent, she was found battling single-handed and alone with the embarrassed circumstances of a desolate and an impoverished widowhood. To this gloomy feature of her history must be added a trial, which, to a mother's heart, would be the filling up of the cup of sorrow to the brim- her husband's creditors had come to claim her two sons as bondmen, thus severing the last link of earth-born happiness, and suddenly bringing down her gray hairs with sorrow to the same grave which had just closed upon the husband of her youth.
At this crisis of her affairs the prophet Elisha comes to her door; his steps guided there, he knew not why, by the unseen yet ever-working hand of the widow's God. A solitary cruse of oil constituted all the temporal wealth of the widow. But God can bless, and in blessing can multiply the little that the righteous has. Therefore it is that "the little that a righteous man has, is better than the riches of many wicked." To see the power of God, nor less His love, in increasing to a sufficiency 'the little' of the righteous, stamps it with an infinitely greater value than the wealthiest revenues of the ungodly. And now God will augment her stinted resources to an abundance, although he would work a miracle to accomplish it.
At the command of the prophet, a number of vessels were obtained, 'empty vessels, not a few.' Then closing the door, this interesting group shut in with God, she proceeds, at the bidding of Elisha, to pour out the oil from the one full vessel into each empty vessel- They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."
And now did the widow's heart sing for joy. Her bond cancelled, her sons redeemed, her need supplied, and the lives of all thus rescued from famine and from death; what a radiance would light up that dreary dwelling, and what music would break from those grateful hearts! Oh, how good is God! He is a 'Sun and a Shield.' He is a 'very present help in trouble.' Reader, are you a widow, adding to the bitter anguish of recent bereavement, the sadness and the gloom of exhausted resources, of embarrassed circumstances, and the pressure of claims which you cannot meet? Take comfort from this sacred narrative, and from the 'exceeding great and precious promise' of your God- "Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me."
What an amazing promise is this! What a word spoken in season! Who but God could speak it? He has spoken it, and He speaks it, bereaved widow, to you. It is your promise, as exclusively yours as though you were the only individual to whom it were addressed. God stands prepared to make it good. "I have sworn by my holiness that I will not lie," thus pledging His truth and holiness to fulfil this and every other appropriate promise in your individual and happy experience. In view of this precious promise can you not, then, rise superior to your present circumstances, exclaiming with the prophet, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no food; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!"
But interesting and profitable as it might be to pursue this train of thought, our present and main design is to consider the narrative as illustrating, in some of its principal features, the higher operations of God in grace, rather than the subordinate arrangements of God in providence. The sacred episode presents this interesting subject in three essential points of view: the character of those whom the Lord Jesus replenishes with His grace; the sufficiency of the grace that is in Jesus to meet each case; and the continuance of the supply of grace until the great purposes of grace shall have been accomplished, and the mystery of God shall be finished. "They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, 'Bring me another one.' But he replied, 'There is not a jar left.' Then the oil stopped flowing." And oh, that while bending our attention to this all important subject, 'great grace' may descend both upon the writer and the reader!
The vessels which the prophet commanded to be brought, let it be observed, were EMPTY VESSELS. Spiritual emptiness- an utter destitution of all original holiness and grace- is the great and essential characteristic of all who become partakers of the grace of Christ. They receive not this grace as saints, but as sinners; not as the righteous, but as the guilty; not as the meritorious, but as the unworthy. They become its recipients exclusively upon the ground of their utter destitution of all native righteousness whatever. With what clearness and power has the Holy Spirit delineated their spiritual condition! They are represented as 'poor,' as 'blind,' as 'sick,' as 'naked,' as 'in need,' as 'lost,' as 'enemies to God,' as 'despising and rejecting Christ,' as 'covered with filthy rags,' as self-destroyed,' as 'in their blood,' as 'without strength,' as 'ready to perish,' as 'sinners,' as the 'ungodly,' as 'joined to idols,' as 'lovers of pleasure,' as 'condemned,' as 'without God'- atheists; as 'without hope'- hopeless.
Melancholy, yet true, description of fallen man! That you will not admit this natural destitution of all holiness to be your real state, my unconverted reader, does not in the least degree invalidate the fact. So far from this, the very denial is but a stronger confirmation and a more fearful aggravation of the awful truth. For a maniac to deny that he is insane; for a dying man to deny that he is sick; for a bankrupt to deny that he is insolvent; for a galley-slave to deny that he is in chains- what folly and what madness were this! And yet this moral folly and insanity are yours, so long as you say, "I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
But deny it though you may, this is your actual condition. As to any holiness and strength, heavenly wisdom, spiritual purposes and desires, your soul is an 'empty vessel.' Not a solitary ray of Divine light illumines your understanding, not one pulse of spiritual life throbs in your soul, nor one spark of heavenly love glows in your heart. No, more; there is not only the absence of all spiritual good, but there is the actual existence of all spiritual evil. The mere negation of holiness, if we can suppose such a state, would be less gloomy and appalling than the positive indwelling and supreme dominion of sin. Sin dwelling in you, Satan lording over you, and hell gleaming in your face, presents a picture of woe which baffles all description. You are a spiritual suicide, for you have destroyed yourself. You are a spiritual homicide, for your influence has destroyed others. You are a spiritual deicide, for the tendency of your sin is to annihilate the existence of God. Thus are you at war with universal being. Such is the power, and such the tyranny, of that monster evil- SIN!
Startle not, my reader, at my application of this appalling description of fallen nature to you. Read it not for another, but read it for yourself. Turn not away from it in unbelief and scorn. It is needful that you should recognize in yourself the moral image of the first Adam, that you might be led to seek a transformation into the moral image of the Second Adam. Your soul-I reiterate the truth- your soul is this 'empty vessel.' God has gone out of it; and as to the existence of any holiness, it is a vast and gloomy void. What can fill His place? Philosophy has tried, and Science has tried, and Poetry has tried, and the World has tried, and Wealth has tried, and Power has tried, and Pleasure has tried, and Friendship has tried- and all have failed to fill your soul's deep emptiness! Each exclaims, as in despair it retires, "It is not in me!" Presumptuous thought, that any created good, whatever, could fill a place designed for, and once occupied by, God Himself!
But there is a process by which the soul is brought to the knowledge of its spiritual destitution and emptiness. This transpires in that first stage of conversion which we denominate the conviction of sin. It is at the period when the 'plague of the heart' is felt, when the inward leprosy of sin is discovered, and the soul lies prostrate before God in the spirit and breathing the prayer of the publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner." What a change now passes over the soul! No longer disguised and denied, the startling discovery is made and acknowledged, "I am the chief of sinners." How has the 'gold become dross, and the wine water!' How impotent now the vaunted strength! how poor the boasted riches! how loathsome the prided greatness! how insignificant the paraded grandeur! how groveling the lofty pursuits! A world seems suddenly to have vanished, a universe to have disappeared; and a vast void rushes upon the view, with its dark, shoreless ocean, and its lowering and unending sky. Roused from his long and profound slumber, lo! he finds himself, as it were, the solitary occupant of this void, and the desolate voyager upon this ocean- traveling he knows not where! The spell that bound it is broken; the enchantment that held it is dissolved; the dream that entranced it is vanished; the slumber that stupified it is aroused; and the soul awakes to consciousness, to reason, and to life.
In what an imaginary, unrealistic world has he been existing, and he knew it not! What a craving emptiness has he been cherishing, and he suspected it not! And all the while he wondered why happiness was a stranger to his heart, and that joy fled at his approach. It was "as when a hungry man dreams, and, behold, he eats; but he awakens, and his soul is empty; or, as when a thirsty man dreams, and, behold, he drinks; but he awakens, and, behold, he is parched."
But another step is necessary to complete the soul's consciousness of its emptiness- the step that brings it to the cross. The great change which conversion effects, has a particular and an essential relation to sin. Before conversion, the love of God not having been brought into close contact with the mind- the conscience and the heart, thus receiving their impressions of Divine holiness through the intellect, continue in a dark and torpid state as to the nature, the guilt, and the consequences of sin. To this cause- an ignorance of the law of God, may be traced most of, if not all, the errors that have ever distracted the Christian Church, the sins that have polluted the world, and the ills that have affected our race. Blindness to the Divine holiness, which the law of God was designed to mirror forth, is the root of all sin, and sin is the source of all evil. Sin is the transgression of the law." Until the mind is brought to see the extent of the law's requirements, the purity of its precepts, and the inflexibility of its demands; it must have inadequate conceptions of the holiness of God, and, consequently, of the 'exceeding sinfulness of sin.'
The believer, viewing the precepts of the Divine law embodied in the life of Jesus, adopts it as his rule; and seeing the holiness of the Divine law exhibited in the death of Jesus, stands in awe of its spotlessness. In both, he sees how infinitely holy God is; and thus by conforming to the example of Christ, and by contemplation of the death of Christ, the one deep, ardent desire of his soul is, that he might be a "partaker of God's holiness,"- the highest, as it is the happiest, attainment to which, on earth or in heaven, he can arrive.
But oh, who can describe the holy, tender contrition which now takes possession of the soul brought near to the cross of Jesus? Who, but God, can fully interpret the meaning of those flowing tears, of that uplifted glance; of that panting of the heart, of that breathing of the lip- the heavings and the language of a soul moved to its center because of sin? If words of man can express these deep and holy emotions, David's penitential confession and prayer have done it. "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight."
I have, dear reader, at this stage of our subject, to propose a solemn and heart-searching question. Has this humiliation for your state reached your heart? Has this, contrition for sin touched your spirit? Are you acquainted with that "godly sorrow which is unto life," that "repentance which needs not to be repented of?" Do not be indifferently to this conviction. It is the first link in the chain of your salvation. It is the first step in your journey to the cross. No man will arise and go to Jesus, until convinced that he stands in need of Jesus. A Savior weeping, as it were, tears of blood, will only be looked upon by a sinner weeping tears of godly sorrow. A broken-hearted Savior, and a broken-hearted sinner, dwell together in the sweetest harmony. Thousands pass by the cross of Jesus and never raise a glance towards it. And why? The problem is easy of solution. They have never experienced a heart pierced and sorrowing for sin. The veil that is upon their mind hides the cross of Christ from their view. The look of forgiveness beaming from the eye of that Divine Sufferer, never meets their imploring look of sorrow and of faith. They have felt no burden of sin to lay upon Jesus, no sense of guilt to lay upon Jesus- and so they pass Him blindly, coldly by.
Oh awful condition! To be borne down with a load which Jesus only can unbind; to be enchained by sins which Jesus only can break; to be suffering from a distemper which Jesus only can heal; to be dying a death from which Jesus only can deliver; to be going down to a hell whose door Jesus only can shut- and yet to remain insensible and indifferent, is appalling indeed. Reader, if this is your state, of what are you thinking, of what are you dreaming? Of what opiate have you drunk, that you are so unconscious? By what spell are you bound, that you are so infatuated? With what delusions are you ensnared, that you are so insane? Do you imagine that your condition will always continue as it now is? Will not the fumes of that opiate evaporate, and the world's spell be dissolved, and the mental hallucination vanish, and this corpse-like coldness and this grave-like darkness to all the great and momentous realities of eternity, give place to other and appalling emotions? Doubtless they will!
There is fast approaching a period that will change the entire scenery of your future existence, and the relations of your present being. A sick and dying bed will impart another aspect to everything around you; and will place your character as a responsible, an accountable, and an immortal being in a new and an awful light. Do you now anxiously inquire, What, then, must I do?" The word of God supplies the answer,"repent and be converted." throw down your weapons! Relinquish your hostility to God! Humble yourself under His mighty hand. Lay down the weapons of your rebellion before the cross. You must repent, or you cannot be converted. You must be converted, or you cannot be saved. The whole case resolves itself into this- REPENT, or PERISH!
Thus does the Spirit of God empty the soul, preparing it for the reception of the grace o Christ. He sweeps and evacuates the house. He dislodges the unlawful inhabitant, dethrones the rival sovereign, and thus secures room for the Savior. He disarms the will of its rebellion against God, the mind of its ignorance of God, and the heart of its hatred to God. He throws down the barriers, removes the veil, and unlocks the door, at which the Redeemer triumphantly enters. In effecting this mighty work He acts as the Divine Forerunner of Christ. What the Baptist was to our Lord, 'crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord,' the Holy Spirit is in heralding the entrance of Jesus to the soul. He goes before and prepares His way. The Divinity of the Spirit furnishes Him with all the requisites for the work. He meets with difficulty, and He removes it- with obstruction, and He overcomes it- with opposition, and He vanquishes it. His power is omnipotent, His influence is irresistible, His grace is efficacious. There is no soul, however filled with darkness, and enmity, and rebellion, which He cannot prepare for Christ. There is no heart of stone which He cannot break, no brazen wall which He cannot prostrate, no mountain which He cannot level. Oh for more faith in the power of the Holy Spirit in the soul of man! How much do we limit, and in limiting how do we dishonor, Him in His work of converting grace!
The providential dealings of God are frequently instrumental in the hand of the Holy Spirit of accomplishing this emptying process, thus preparing the soul for the reception of Christ. The prophet thus strikingly alludes to it: "Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel." It was in this way God dealt with Naomi. Listen to her touching words: "I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty." Thus it is that the bed of sickness, or the; chamber of death, the loss of creature good, perhaps the loveliest and the fondest, has prepared the heart for Christ. The time of bereavement and of solitude, of suffering and of loss, has been the Lord's time of love.
Providence is the handmaid of grace- and God's providential dealings with man are frequently the harbinger of the kingdom of grace in the soul. Ah! how many whose glance falls upon this page, may testify- "Even thus has the Lord dealt with me. I was full, and He has emptied me. I was rich, and He has impoverished me. I was exalted, and He has laid me low. Not one cup only did He drain; not one 'vessel' only did He dash to the earth, but many. He has emptied me 'from vessel to vessel.'" Happy shall you be if the result of all this emptying and humbling shall be the filling and enriching of your soul with larger communications of grace and truth from Jesus.
A 'cloud of witnesses' around you testify to this invariable principle of the Lord's procedure with His people- that He enriches by impoverishing them; strengthens by weakening them; replenishes by emptying; and exalts by laying them low.
"Lord! why is this? I trembling cried
Will You pursue Your worm to death?
It is in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith."
"These inward trials I employ,
From self and pride to set you free,
And break your schemes of earthly joy,
That you may seek your all in me."
From thus tracing the process by which God prepares the soul of man for the indwelling of His grace- in other words, from a consideration of the 'empty vessels,' let us direct our attention to another suggestive part of the narrative- THE ONE VESSEL OF OIL. It will be recollected that the resources of the widow consisted of a single pot of oil, from which all the empty vessels brought to its fulness were supplied. How expressive the emblem! The Lord Jesus Christ is the One Divinely appointed Head of all grace to the Church. Written as with a sunbeam is this precious truth. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." "It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ."
The headship of Christ sets forth the same truth. It is declared that God has given Him to be "Head over all things to his church, which is his body, the fulness of him that fills all in all." "Not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and ligaments, having nourishment ministered, and knit together, inereases with the increase of God." Thus clearly does the Holy Spirit set forth the Lord Jesus as the one vessel of grace provided for poor empty sinners.
The fitness of this truth will instantly appear. It was a necessary part of man's redemption, that there should be a single Depositary, one Head, for the custody and administration of this infinite fulness of grace. The question might be supposed to arise- In whom of all the creatures of God shall this grace be deposited? To whom shall be intrusted the keeping and the dispensing of this precious treasure? Adam? It is true that he once stood as the head of all holiness and happiness to a Church yet unfallen. In himself poor, as all dependent creatures of necessity must be, God yet made him the head of all life to countless myriads of beings. But what was the result? Weak in himself, and proving insufficient even for a state of sinlessness, he fell; and in falling, wiped out the holiness, the happiness, and the immortality of a world. It was such an experiment upon the power of created strength as would forever prove the utter weakness and vanity of man even in his best state. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." Not to man, then, would this precious treasure be intrusted. We must look elsewhere for the being in whose hands it should be placed.
Shall some angel of superior rank and intelligence, of peerless beauty and strength, be the depositary of God's grace to sinners? Still the same objection presents itself. Angels are but finite creatures, weak and dependent; and as such, a portion of their order once abandoned the abode of infinite purity and love, preferring, in the madness of their pride, "to reign in hell, rather than serve in heaven." The angels that kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." Thus, then, is it clear that God could not confide the keeping of that grace which was to save lost sinners, and bring them to glory, to any mere creature, human or angelic. Beyond angels and men, then, we must travel.
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