Man is a “frail” creature! Even saints, who do their most to “please” God (Phl 2:13). Though they still possess the sin nature—it no longer possess them, by causing them to desire sin (Rom 8:9). The primary infirmity of the believers is knowing and hating the “old man”; and thou they still sin, they know now they are no longer considered “sinners,” but “righteous” (Gen 13:13; 1Sa 15:18; Pro 13:21; Luk 15:1; Rom 5:8, 19; 1Pe 4:18).
NC
The dying prayers of Stephen had hardly ceased when the Holy Spirit began an altogether new work amongst the Gentiles, in the call of the Church—the Bride. So, immediately after Sarah’s death (and distinctly connected with it by the Scriptures) we find Eliezer charged with a mission by Abraham to the Gentile lands to find a bride for his son. There is a very solemn determination expressed that she shall not be taken from the land of Canaan. If a Jew be converted in this dispensation, he is incorporated in the Bride, and he ceases to be Jew (Gal 3:28; Col 3:11); that would not be so in any other dispensation.
Eliezer is a well-known type of the Holy Spirit “sent down from heaven” on this gracious embassy. He knows the mind of the father; he is in continual communion with God; he proceeds with deliberation, directness and dignity. He calls, wins and adorns the bride; he conveys and guards her through the wilderness until she is safely home, when he delivers her to the bridegroom, who goes forth to meet her.
Eliezer, in doing this, uses instruments of a humble and imperfect, but, in his hands, effective nature—the camels. They only partially meet the requirements of God; they chew the cud, but not fully divide the hoof. The Holy Spirit is conveyed by humble and imperfect servants who have not a completely separated walk, but who nevertheless chew the true spiritual cud, and have inward resources of refreshment, which enable them to traverse the parching desert. But observe how defenseless they are! The camel has no means of protection in itself. How trackless the desert is! Unless the Holy Spirit guard and guide the servants of the Church, they are helpless. Would it be straining the figure for one to say that the time when their mission is being perfected is just the time when they are to “kneel at the well”?
The sheep represents the believer as an object of protection, equally defenseless but dispensationally perfect—“clean every whit” (Jhn 13:10); but there is no thought of the sheep working. The camel however is an instrument of service and therefore imperfect. The old salve said that “the Lord could strike a straight blow with a crooked stick”; and it is to the greater glory of the Lord that He can do such wondrous work with such infirm instruments. It is of no particular credit to anyone to do good work with good tools; but to do good work with bad tools, what patience and wisdom are required! God is carrying on His work in the call of the Bride, not by reason of the consistencies, but in spite of the inconsistencies of His servants.
Even the best of the agents used by the Holy Spirit in the call and escort of the Bride have been thus infirm: Peter denied his Master; James and John “knew not what spirit they were of” (Luk 9:54, 55); Augustine was tainted with Manichaeanism (before his mother Monica took him to hear Ambrose preach); and Thomas ‘a Kempis with monasticism (monk life); John Huss (1369-1415) was somewhat revolutionary; Erasmus somewhat cowardly; Luther somewhat overbearing ( concerning consubstantiation); Wesley and Whitfield quarreled; and look at our own times—well, let us commence by judging ourselves.
—J C Bayley
MJS daily devotional excerpt for December 12
“There is an entirely baseless sentiment abroad which assumes that every teaching of the Lord Jesus must be binding upon the believer during this age simply because He said it. The fact is forgotten that He, while living under, keeping, and applying the Law of Moses, also taught the principles of His future earthly kingdom, and, at the end of His ministry and in relation to His Cross, He also anticipated the teachings of grace. If this threefold division of His teachings is not recognized and maintained, there can be nothing but confusion of mind and consequent contradiction of truth.
“The Gospels are complex almost beyond any other portion of Scripture, since they are a composite of the teachings of the law, of grace, and of the coming kingdom.”
—Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871-1952)
NC
Instrument Notwithstanding
The dying prayers of Stephen had hardly ceased when the Holy Spirit began an altogether new work amongst the Gentiles, in the call of the Church—the Bride. So, immediately after Sarah’s death (and distinctly connected with it by the Scriptures) we find Eliezer charged with a mission by Abraham to the Gentile lands to find a bride for his son. There is a very solemn determination expressed that she shall not be taken from the land of Canaan. If a Jew be converted in this dispensation, he is incorporated in the Bride, and he ceases to be Jew (Gal 3:28; Col 3:11); that would not be so in any other dispensation.
Eliezer is a well-known type of the Holy Spirit “sent down from heaven” on this gracious embassy. He knows the mind of the father; he is in continual communion with God; he proceeds with deliberation, directness and dignity. He calls, wins and adorns the bride; he conveys and guards her through the wilderness until she is safely home, when he delivers her to the bridegroom, who goes forth to meet her.
Eliezer, in doing this, uses instruments of a humble and imperfect, but, in his hands, effective nature—the camels. They only partially meet the requirements of God; they chew the cud, but not fully divide the hoof. The Holy Spirit is conveyed by humble and imperfect servants who have not a completely separated walk, but who nevertheless chew the true spiritual cud, and have inward resources of refreshment, which enable them to traverse the parching desert. But observe how defenseless they are! The camel has no means of protection in itself. How trackless the desert is! Unless the Holy Spirit guard and guide the servants of the Church, they are helpless. Would it be straining the figure for one to say that the time when their mission is being perfected is just the time when they are to “kneel at the well”?
The sheep represents the believer as an object of protection, equally defenseless but dispensationally perfect—“clean every whit” (Jhn 13:10); but there is no thought of the sheep working. The camel however is an instrument of service and therefore imperfect. The old salve said that “the Lord could strike a straight blow with a crooked stick”; and it is to the greater glory of the Lord that He can do such wondrous work with such infirm instruments. It is of no particular credit to anyone to do good work with good tools; but to do good work with bad tools, what patience and wisdom are required! God is carrying on His work in the call of the Bride, not by reason of the consistencies, but in spite of the inconsistencies of His servants.
Even the best of the agents used by the Holy Spirit in the call and escort of the Bride have been thus infirm: Peter denied his Master; James and John “knew not what spirit they were of” (Luk 9:54, 55); Augustine was tainted with Manichaeanism (before his mother Monica took him to hear Ambrose preach); and Thomas ‘a Kempis with monasticism (monk life); John Huss (1369-1415) was somewhat revolutionary; Erasmus somewhat cowardly; Luther somewhat overbearing ( concerning consubstantiation); Wesley and Whitfield quarreled; and look at our own times—well, let us commence by judging ourselves.
—J C Bayley
MJS daily devotional excerpt for December 12
“There is an entirely baseless sentiment abroad which assumes that every teaching of the Lord Jesus must be binding upon the believer during this age simply because He said it. The fact is forgotten that He, while living under, keeping, and applying the Law of Moses, also taught the principles of His future earthly kingdom, and, at the end of His ministry and in relation to His Cross, He also anticipated the teachings of grace. If this threefold division of His teachings is not recognized and maintained, there can be nothing but confusion of mind and consequent contradiction of truth.
“The Gospels are complex almost beyond any other portion of Scripture, since they are a composite of the teachings of the law, of grace, and of the coming kingdom.”
—Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871-1952)