Abraham—Called by God: HAVING NATURAL WEAKNESS AS ABRAHAM AND LIVING IN THE NATURAL LIFE AS JACOB

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HAVING NATURAL WEAKNESS AS ABRAHAM AND LIVING IN THE NATURAL LIFE AS JACOB

Abraham journeyed from there toward the south country, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister.…

Genesis 20:1-2

And Isaac dwelt in Gerar. And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister…

Genesis 26:6-7

And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Genesis 25:27-28

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children…. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him.

Genesis 37:3-4

In the past two messages concerning Isaac, we have seen that he was the heir of grace and that he rested and enjoyed throughout his entire life. Now we must see that with this grace-enjoying person there were still the natural weakness and the natural life. It is difficult for us to understand this point. According to our natural, religious concept, we always think that if we are natural, we cannot have the enjoyment of grace. According to our religious concept, the enjoyment of grace depends upon how spiritual we are. In our teachings and exhortations, especially to our relatives and children, we say that in order to enjoy the grace of God we must be good, and that if we are not good, we are through with God’s grace. Probably none of us has ever thought that participating in the grace of God does not depend upon our being spiritual. On the contrary, we all have thought that we must be spiritual in order to enjoy the grace of God.

Isaac was a model, a pattern, of the enjoyment of God’s grace. In the whole Bible there is hardly another person who enjoyed grace as much as Isaac did. Throughout his entire life Isaac did nothing except enjoy the grace of God. His life was a grace-enjoying life. Nevertheless, in Isaac we see exactly the same natural weakness as we saw in Abraham. Furthermore, in Isaac we also see the natural life of Jacob. Like Jacob, Isaac lived in a natural way. Jacob loved his son Joseph according to his natural taste (37:3-4), and this caused trouble in the family. Joseph’s brothers hated him because of his father’s partial love for him. Isaac also loved Esau partially, loving him because he was a skillful hunter and could obtain the venison which Isaac loved (25:27-28). Thus, Esau was a father’s boy. By this we see that Isaac and Jacob were the same as far as the natural life is concerned.

If you say that Isaac did not cheat anyone, I would point out that his wife Rebekah was his cheating helper. In a sense, Isaac differed from Jacob in the matter of supplanting, but this gap was filled by Rebekah. Every wife is a part of her husband; she is her husband’s completion and perfection. Without Rebekah, Isaac probably would not have been an expert at cheating. But with Rebekah, he certainly became the same as Jacob. Jacob learned how to supplant from his supplanting mother, and his supplanting mother was the supplanting completion to his father Isaac. Therefore, in Isaac we see the natural life of Jacob.

Isaac was a grace-enjoying person. According to our natural concept, a person who has a natural weakness and who lives in the natural life can never enjoy the grace of God. This is our concept; it is not God’s word. In the Bible, we cannot see that Isaac was very spiritual. He was a man who still had a natural weakness and who still lived in the natural life. Why then did he have such an enjoyment of God’s grace? Simply because God had ordained it that way. With us Christians, there is the aspect of God’s ordination. As we have already pointed out, it is our destiny to enjoy the grace of God. This destiny was preordained before the foundation of the world. Do not think that if you are spiritual, you are privileged to enjoy God’s grace and that if you are not spiritual, you cannot enjoy His grace. This is a religious concept, and the Bible does not teach this. After hearing that enjoying grace does not depend upon our being spiritual, some may say, “If we don’t need to be spiritual to enjoy God’s grace, then let us be unspiritual.” Do not say this. Neither being spiritual nor being unspiritual will help us to enjoy God’s grace. It is entirely a matter of God’s ordination, and it does not depend on what we are nor on what we can do. With us, there is the aspect of Isaac. We have been ordained by God to the enjoyment of grace. If we are spiritual, we shall not enjoy grace more, and if we are unspiritual we shall not miss the grace of God. But we should not say, “Let us do evil that good may come.” Do not waste your time trying to be spiritual or trying to be unspiritual. Simply say, “O Lord, I worship You for Your ordination. You have ordained me to the enjoyment of grace.” At the least, we all are a part of Isaac. In our being there is the aspect of having been ordained by God to the enjoyment of His grace.

When do you enjoy grace more—when you feel that you are spiritual and good in the eyes of God, or when you are down and feel that you are absolutely unworthy? I have enjoyed grace the most when I have been down. But we should not say, “Let us be down that we may enjoy grace the most.” If you try to do this, it will not work. Again I say that it does not depend upon us but upon God’s ordination. I hope that my word will encourage you neither to be spiritual nor to be unspiritual. Rather, I hope that it will encourage you to be nothing. But do not try to be nothing, for your trying is still something. If you could say, “I’ll go home and forget everything,” that would be wonderful.

In the record of Isaac’s life we see a person who enjoyed God’s grace in every way. Do you believe that a man who had such an enjoyment of God’s grace could still have the natural weakness of lying in a substantial way? He lied in the way of sacrificing his wife. Perhaps we would say, “If I were such a person, I would never lie in that way.” Do not say this. We may enjoy even more grace and then lie more substantially than Isaac did.

Consider your experience. Although you have never lied in sacrificing your wife, you have lied substantially to your wife. In my early years, I was much affected by religious concepts, believing that Christians, especially the so-called spiritual Christians, would never lie. Eventually, I discovered that Christians, including the so-called spiritual ones, also lie. Not only the worldly people lie; the Christians and the spiritual people also lie. This is the condition of the fallen race. What then shall we do? We should not do anything. God has selected us out of this fallen race, and His ordination has come to us. This does not mean that when we behave ourselves or become spiritual in the eyes of God, we shall then receive more grace. Although Isaac never tried to behave himself or to be spiritual, he continually enjoyed grace. I do not encourage you to be religious or to be unreligious. I do not encourage you to be anything, for the enjoyment of God’s grace does not depend upon our being spiritual.

Isaac wanted to bless his son Esau. However, he mixed the blessing with his natural taste. In 27:3 and 4, Isaac said to Esau, “Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; and make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.” Isaac seemed to be saying, “Esau, before I die, I would like to eat venison one more time. If you get some venison for me, then I shall bless you.” Here we see that Isaac mixed up God’s blessing with his natural taste. Although we may wonder how such a person could bless others, Isaac did bless.

Isaac, who was not religious like we are, was not conscious of being unspiritual. Suppose you are a father who wants to give a blessing to one of his sons. I believe that you would be very cautious and alert, praying, fasting, and daring not to speak in the flesh nor according to your natural taste. If you were a Chinese brother, you certainly would not say to the son whom you are about to bless, “Son, go to Chinatown and get some Chinese food for me and then I’ll bless you.” No Chinese brother would dare to do this, because we are all so religiously conscious of being spiritual. We all would say, “Now that I am about to bless my son I must be with the Lord and not have my natural taste.” Isaac, however, was bold, telling Esau, “Before I die I would like to eat venison once more. Get me the venison that I love and I’ll bless you.” Isaac was honest, saying, “My soul may bless thee” (27:4). What a mixture! Isaac, who continually enjoyed the grace of God, blessed blindly. But he blessed in faith, and his blessing was honored by God (Heb. 11:20).

When I read this portion of the Word as a young man, I was unable to understand how there could be so much mixture here. I said, “Isaac, what are you doing? If you want to eat venison, then don’t talk about blessing. You shouldn’t mix your natural taste with God’s blessing. How can God honor a blessing that is mixed with your natural taste?” When Isaac plainly told Esau that if he would prepare venison for him he would bless him, he was not conscious of being religious. He was altogether outside of religion. There was no religion in his concept. If we had been there, we would have said, “Isaac, don’t talk this way. If you want to have your natural taste, don’t talk about God’s blessing. God will never honor your blessing. Isaac, you are absolutely wrong.” But Isaac would have said, “What are you talking about? I have never heard such religious talk. I don’t have this concept. I have no religious consciousness whatsoever. I only know two things—that I want to satisfy my taste and that I want to bless my son. After I eat some meat, I shall bless my son. I don’t know what it means to be spiritual or religious. I only know that I am the father, that he is my son, and that the greater always blesses the lesser.” When I was young, I was much troubled about this, being unable to understand how Isaac, who enjoyed so much of God’s grace, could still have the same natural weakness as Abraham and the same natural life as Jacob.

We need to see two points very clearly. Firstly, grace is not based upon what we are. Whether we are good or bad, spiritual or unspiritual, means nothing. Because God has ordained us to be the object of His grace, grace comes to us, and we cannot reject it. Secondly, as we have mentioned several times, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not three separate persons in the experience of life but represent three aspects of the experience of one complete person. This is why in Isaac we can see both Abraham and Jacob. Isaac had the natural weakness of Abraham and the natural life of Jacob.

HAVING NATURAL WEAKNESS AS ABRAHAM

As we have seen, Isaac had the same natural weakness as Abraham (cf. 20:1-2, 11-13). Do you not have a natural weakness? Even the most spiritually conscious person has some natural weakness. What kind of weakness do you have? Although we all have some natural weakness, none of us can designate it. We know that we have such a weakness, but we do not know what it is. If you are certain that a particular matter is your natural weakness, that is not your weakness. Before Isaac was exposed in chapter twenty-six, he probably never realized that his natural weakness was the same as Abraham’s. He might have thought that his weakness was one of many other things. But one day he went southward and his natural weakness was exposed.

By ourselves we can never know our natural weakness; it must be exposed. None of us is able to understand his own weakness. You yourself may not know your own natural weakness, but it is clear to everyone else because it has been exposed to them. Whoever would stay with you for a time would see your natural weakness. According to your religious concept, if you have some natural weakness, you should be through with grace. But God’s grace is still with you. In the early days I also had this thought. But I have learned that grace does not depend upon what we are. Every object of divine grace has a weak point. Do not think that the Apostle Paul had no weakness. Peter, John, and Paul all had their weaknesses, but their weak points did not frustrate them from enjoying God’s grace. Every one of us has his natural weakness. There has been only one person in history who had no natural weakness—Jesus Christ.

I am not encouraging you to be either spiritual or unspiritual, but I am encouraging you to be bold in the enjoyment of grace. Do not be deprived of the enjoyment of grace by your religious concept. Drop your concept and praise the Lord that you are the object of divine grace. Although we are unable to designate our natural weakness, we do know that we have some. Others, such as our wife, husband, or roommates, know what our weakness is. While others know, it is difficult for us to know. Some of us may not know our natural weakness until we see the Lord face to face. Praise the Lord that we are blind to our natural weakness. If we were not blind to our weakness, we would be frustrated from enjoying grace. While I am not encouraging you to keep your natural weakness, I am saying that it is good that we are unaware of it. When we are conscious of a certain weakness, our religious concepts frustrate us from the enjoyment of grace. But when we do not know our weakness, we only know to enjoy the grace of the Lord. In Genesis 26, Isaac’s natural weakness was suddenly exposed. That exposure, however, did not frustrate him from the enjoyment of God’s grace. In other words, the exposure of Isaac’s natural weakness did not hinder him from trusting in God.

Isaac, leaving Beer-sheba, journeyed downward, southward, not to Egypt but to a place close to Egypt (26:1-2). God’s intention was that His chosen people stay in the good land. Whenever the natural weakness of His people arose, they always went downward. We cannot find one instance in which God’s people went upward, northward, when they were weak. The worst thing to do was to go downward to Egypt. This is what Abraham did (12:10). The second time Abraham went southward he only went as far as Philistia, the land of the Philistines (20:1). As Isaac, who was repeating Abraham’s downward story, was going southward, God intervened and warned him, saying, “Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of” (26:2). Isaac’s intention might have been to go down into Egypt, but God commanded him to dwell in the land of which He would tell him. Although Isaac did not stay in exactly the right place, he still had peace in enjoying God’s grace. He was absolutely unconscious of being religious. How good it is to have no sense of being religious! However, once the enemy has injected something into our knowledge, it is very difficult to extract it. My burden in this message is to tell you that the enjoyment of God’s grace does not depend upon our being religious. In Isaac we see a person who was not at all religious; yet he enjoyed the grace of God all the time.

Isaac not only did not stay in the right place; he also lied at the sacrifice of his wife (26:6-7) just as Abraham did. However, he and his wife were preserved by God’s sovereign care (26:8-11). It was God’s grace that kept him from the sacrifice of his wife.

Abraham—Called by God: RESTING AND ENJOYING

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RESTING AND ENJOYING

Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.

Genesis 24:63-64

And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi.

Genesis 25:11

Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife.… And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.… And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

Genesis 25:20-21, 24

And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.

Genesis 26:24-25

We thank the Lord that in the Old Testament He has given us a wonderful and clear picture of the experience of life. In the New Testament we have the revelation of the experience of life, but we do not have as clear a picture of it as we have in the Old Testament. We are all familiar with the proverb which says that a picture is better than a thousand words. Although we have spent many years considering the experience of life as revealed in the New Testament, we cannot be certain about it only by the words in the New Testament. We also need the pictures in the Old Testament. By the Lord’s mercy, we have seen through the years that all the stories in the Old Testament depict the various aspects of the experience of life. Deep within, I feel that the Lord has shown us the full picture and has enabled us to understand its real significance.

As we have already pointed out, there are three aspects to every Christian’s experience of life—the aspect of Abraham, the aspect of Isaac, and the aspect of Jacob. If we did not have this clear view, we would only consider Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as three separate individuals. But, after receiving the revelation and understanding it in the light of the New Testament, we realize that these three men are not three separate individuals, but three aspects of one complete person in the experience of life. Some, finding it difficult to believe that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob represent three aspects of one complete person, may say, “How can you say that Abraham is not a complete person? Abraham is just Abraham, and the same is true for both Isaac and Jacob.” If you do not believe that these three people are three aspects of the complete experience of one person, I would ask you this question: Can you see God’s selection in Abraham? The first item in our experience of God is His selection, His choice, which was made before the foundation of the world. We see this clearly in the New Testament (Eph. 1:4), but we cannot see it in the experience of Abraham. Thus, as far as God’s selection is concerned, Abraham needs someone else to perfect him. The selection which we cannot find in Abraham’s life is revealed in Jacob’s. In addition to being selected, we Christians are also called. In Isaac we see neither selection nor calling. Hence, in himself, Isaac is not complete. Isaac’s calling is in Abraham just as Abraham’s selection is in Jacob. By these two examples we should all be convinced that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob depict three aspects of one complete person in the experience of life. In a sense, we are all Abrahams, for we have been called and have learned to live by faith in God and in fellowship with Him. Since we have also been put into the position of grace, we are also Isaacs. As we shall see in later messages, we are Jacobs as well.

The aspect of Isaac unfolds the matter of grace. We have not only been called and have learned to live by faith in God and in fellowship with Him, but we are daily enjoying something of God. If we do not have any enjoyment in our Christian life, we will not be able to live the Christian life. Rather, we would be very miserable. Praise the Lord that we not only have the aspect of Abraham but also the aspect of Isaac, which is the aspect of grace. Grace simply means the enjoyment of God. It is God Himself becoming our enjoyment in our spirit. Many times we have difficulties which trouble us mentally and emotionally. Nevertheless, while we are suffering in our mind and emotion, there is a sweet sense deep within our spirit. It seems that if we did not have this suffering, we would not have this enjoyment. The Christian suffering brings us the Christian enjoyment. From the moment we called on the name of the Lord Jesus and received Him as our Savior, we began to have these two aspects in our experience. Perhaps the very night you received the Lord Jesus your wife gave you a difficult time, disagreeing with your becoming a Christian and calling it silly. She immediately began to persecute you, and you suffered in your mind, emotion, and senses. But while you were suffering, deep within you sensed something sweet which caused you to be happy. Thus, even at the beginning of your Christian life you had both the aspect of suffering, which is the aspect of Abraham, and the aspect of enjoyment, which is the aspect of Isaac.

In the previous message we saw that Isaac inherited grace. With him, everything was a matter of grace. He was born in grace, was grown up in grace, and was made an heir of grace. In this message we need to see that with Isaac there was also the matter of enjoyment. His life was a resting and enjoying life. The record of Isaac’s life does not indicate that he suffered much. Rather, it reveals that he was always resting. This is proved by his meditating in the field (24:63). Could Isaac have meditated if he had not been quiet and restful? No. In order to meditate we must be restful. Whenever we are troubled, we are unable to rest. Isaac was always resting. In Genesis 24, he had lost his mother, did not have a wife, and his servant had gone away from him. Yet, he was not troubled. He went to the field to meditate, not to cry out to the Lord. He did not say, “O Lord, what should I do? I have lost my mother, I do not have a wife, and my servant has gone away. Lord, have mercy upon me!” Isaac did not cry out in that way. Instead, he meditated.

Although we cannot find the word resting in the record of Isaac’s life, the fact is there nonetheless. Isaac was a very restful person. In spite of the troubles he encountered with the Philistines over the wells, he was always at rest. Although Isaac faced some troubles, he himself was not troubled. While the Philistines were contending for the wells, he remained restful. Isaac seemed to be saying, “If you don’t want me to stay here at this well, then I’ll go elsewhere. When you come to bother me there, I’ll go to still another place.” By this we see that Isaac was truly a restful person. Are you always restful? Consider your experience during the past twenty-four hours. Did anything bother you and cause you to lose your rest? Most of us would have to admit that we have been troubled. This shows that although we are Isaacs, we are not always resting. Recently I was doing some difficult and exhausting work on the book of Revelation. But I can praise the Lord that as I was working, I was very restful and I could say, “I have nothing and I can do nothing. There is no need for me to do anything, because the Lord is doing it all.” We all need to be restful people.

Isaac was not only resting; he was also enjoying. His entire life was a life of enjoyment. When he was old, he still had the taste for “savoury meat” and asked Esau to go out to the field and prepare him the meat which he loved (27:1-4). When Rebekah heard this, she called Jacob to fetch her two kids of the goats that she might prepare the meat for Isaac (27:5-10). Eventually, after both Jacob and Esau had come with meat for their father, Isaac got a double portion. Esau, Rebekah, and Jacob were busy, but Isaac just sat there enjoying the meat. By this we see that Isaac was an enjoying person, always enjoying the provision of grace. This enjoyment was his destiny.

Enjoyment is also our destiny. Young brothers, do not worry about finding a wife. If you remain restful and full of enjoyment, the best wife will come to you. In our Christian life there is the aspect of enjoyment. I have been striving since I was twelve years of age. Now, after almost sixty years, I can testify that many times my striving has frustrated the coming of the enjoyment. If I had not striven, the enjoyment would have come much earlier and in a richer way. Why does striving frustrate the enjoyment? Because enjoyment is our destiny. We all have been predestinated for it. Young brothers, forget about your striving. Simply go home, pray, praise, and sleep. The next morning rise up, have a good morning watch, and eat a hearty breakfast. Do not worry about finding a wife. Rebekah will come to you. This is the enjoyment which is our destiny. Are we not the sons of God? How can the sons of God be pitiful people? We must declare, “Praise the Lord that I am a son of God! The almighty, all-sufficient God is my Father!” The word father denotes a rich provision. As long as we have a rich father, we have the provision and have no need to worry. We should simply enjoy this bountiful provision. This is our destiny.

LIVING IN BEER-LAHAI-ROI

Although enjoyment is our destiny, we must still take care of the place where we have the enjoyment. Let us consider the names of the places where Isaac had enjoyment. Firstly, we have Beer-lahai-roi, which means “the well of the living One who sees me” or “the One who reveals Himself” (24:62; 25:11). At Beer-lahai-roi God visits us and reveals Himself to us. Secondly, Isaac had some enjoyment at the well named Esek, which means contention. Esek was a place of contention, fighting, and quarreling. The third place was Sitnah (26:21). Sitnah means enmity, hatred, or opposition. The fourth place was called Rehoboth. Rehoboth has a positive meaning—“broad places” or “broad ways.” The last place was called Sheba, which means an oath (26:22-33). Hence, Beer-sheba means the well of an oath. Isaac enjoyed grace at each of these five places.

Before we consider the significance of these places, we must see where Isaac was grown up. He was grown up in Beer-sheba beside the well and the tamarisk tree. Before he was married, he left Beer-sheba and went to the south country (24:62). As we have seen, in the Bible to go southward means to go downward. I do not believe that Abraham left Beer-sheba or Hebron when Isaac did. He remained either in Beer-sheba or in Hebron. After his mother had died and his servant had left, Isaac went downward to the south country. Then he returned. The King James Version says, he “came from the way of Lahai-roi.” In Hebrew, it says he “came from going to Lahai-roi,” meaning that he returned from Lahai-roi. As he returned from going to Lahai-roi, he gained a wife. If he had stayed in Lahai-roi, not returning to Beer-sheba or Hebron, he would have missed that meeting with Rebekah. When he came back from going to Lahai-roi, Rebekah came. Abraham’s servant did not know that Isaac had left the place where Abraham was. It was of the Lord that Isaac return from his downward way. He returned because he was destined for the enjoyment.

We all have had similar experiences. After going downward, we suddenly said, “Oh, I must go back.” The time of our return was the exact time that Rebekah came. I have experienced this a number of times. I have gone downward and then suddenly said to myself, “I must go back.” As soon as I returned, the enjoyment came.

As soon as Isaac had returned from going away, the enjoyment came. By coming back to the proper standing, he obtained a wife. However, after his marriage, he and his wife journeyed southward again. Genesis 25:11 says that after the death of Abraham, Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi. As a result of going downward, he found himself at enmity with the Philistines.

We need to see a clear picture of Isaac’s record. He did not go downward as far as Egypt. He went southward to Philistia, to the land of the Philistines. According to the record in Genesis, God’s people have difficulties whenever they go southward. Abraham had trouble in Egypt and in the land of the Philistines. His son Isaac also had trouble when he went to Philistia, for he had contention and enmity with the Philistines. Although he enjoyed the broad ways, the widening, at Rehoboth, he did not have the Lord’s appearing there. In Lahai-roi, Esek, Sitnah, and Rehoboth there was no appearing of the Lord. The Lord did not appear to Isaac until he went up to Beer-sheba. The very night that Isaac went up from Rehoboth to Beer-sheba the Lord appeared unto him (26:23-24).

Here we must see a crucial point, a point about which many Christians are not clear. As Christians, we are destined for some enjoyment. Wherever we are and whether or not we are right or wrong, we have been destined for enjoyment. Even when Isaac went downward to Lahai-roi, he still enjoyed a well, the well of the living One who sees us and reveals Himself to us. Some might say, “This is wonderful. As long as I have the living One and He sees me and reveals Himself to me, that is good enough.” In reading the Bible, however, we must keep the principle of the first mention. Lahai-roi, which is first mentioned in 16:14, was the place where Hagar went after fleeing from Sarah. Since Sarah represents grace, Hagar’s fleeing from her meant that she had left the standing of grace. In the wilderness, in a place of suffering, God visited her. Hence, Lahai-roi was a place where one who had left the standing of grace could still have some enjoyment of God’s visitation.

In the past we might have questioned whether our standing was right, feeling that we were somewhat removed from the standing of grace. Although we had this doubt within us, we still had some enjoyment and we comforted ourselves, saying, “If I were wrong, I would not have this enjoyment. But here I have the well of the living One who visits me. Since I have such an enjoyment, this place must be all right.” But it is not all right. On the one hand, we are destined for enjoyment, and wherever we are we shall have some measure of it. On the other hand, we may have this enjoyment on the wrong standing, not in the place where Abraham planted the tamarisk tree, but in the place where Hagar escaped from grace. Lahai-roi was the place of one who had escaped from grace but who still enjoyed something of God’s visitation. Nearly all of us have had this experience. We doubted our position, but we still had some enjoyment and felt confirmed by it. Do not take this enjoyment as a confirmation. Although the enjoyment is our destiny, we may have it on an improper ground, at Beer-lahai-roi, not at Beer-sheba.

A well signifies enjoyment and satisfaction. Throughout his entire life, Isaac never suffered thirst. Wherever he went, to a wrong place or to a right one, there was a well. His life was marked with a well. Some may argue with us, saying, “You say that I am wrong in my position, in my standing. Why then do I have a well here?” Your enjoyment of a well does not justify your standing, for the enjoyment is your destiny. In the past, many of us held the religious concept that if we are wrong, God will give us up and we shall not have any more enjoyment. But however wrong we may be, we are still children of our Father, and He will never give us up. I may be the most naughty child, but each day I continue to enjoy my father’s provision. This enjoyment is our destiny, our portion.

When some hear that Isaac had a well wherever he went, they may think that, since this enjoyment is also their destiny, they may go wherever they want. Do not think like this. You may have a well for your enjoyment, but you will miss the Lord’s appearing and be unable to fulfill God’s eternal purpose. Later we shall see that God’s purpose can never be fulfilled in Lahai-roi, Esek, Sitnah, or even in Rehoboth. It can only be fulfilled in Beer-sheba, and we must remain there. If we do, we shall experience the Lord’s appearing and have the ground to inherit the promises to fulfill God’s eternal purpose. Although we may have wells, even “a well of living water” (26:19, Heb.), in other places, those wells cannot enable us to fulfill God’s eternal purpose. His purpose can only be fulfilled at the well near the tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba.

Although Isaac had some enjoyment at every place where there was a well, God was not satisfied and used the environment to force Isaac to return to Beer-sheba. God seemed to say, “Isaac, you are settled, but you are not settled in the right place. I shall stir up contention that will force you to go back to Beer-sheba.” Isaac had been going down, but God used the circumstances to force him to come up from Beer-lahai-roi to Beer-sheba. Since Isaac did not have the heart to return, God had to force him to return to His place.

Some Christian teachers have encouraged the believers to follow the example of Isaac and not to strive with others. According to this teaching, when we dig a well and others take it, we should simply tolerate it and give it to them. If we go to another place and dig another well and others take it over, we should not fight for it but go to still another place. Eventually, we shall come to the third place, the place of broad ways. But this teaching does not see God’s purpose, which was to bring Isaac back to Beer-sheba, the place where God appeared to him. At Beer-sheba, after the Lord’s appearing, Isaac built an altar, called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent (26:24, 25). Isaac did not build an altar in any other place. The Lord’s appearing with His promise and the testimony were all at Beer-sheba. Only at this place did Isaac receive the promise for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. He did not receive it at Beer-lahai-roi, the place of the living One who sees and reveals Himself; nor at Esek, the well of contention; nor at Sitnah, the well of enmity; nor even at Rehoboth, the well of the broad ways. Although Isaac had the enjoyment everywhere, he only had the Lord’s appearing (which is different from God’s mere visitation) in Beer-sheba. Only in the unique place, in Beer-sheba, could he inherit the promise and have a life of testimony for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. It is only at Beer-sheba, the well of the oath, that we can have the Lord’s appearing, inherit the promise, build an altar, call upon the name of the Lord, and pitch a tent as a testimony. Here and only here can we fulfill God’s eternal purpose.

The enjoyment which we may have everywhere because it is our destiny is not a confirmation or a justification of our standing. The correctness of our standing can only be determined by the Lord’s appearing, not merely by the enjoyment. In many places we have had the enjoyment, but when we were there, we had the deep sense that we did not have the Lord’s appearing. Moreover, in those places we did not have an altar or a tent, and we did not call upon the Lord’s name from deep within our spirit. Although we may have some enjoyment elsewhere, only in Beer-sheba can we fulfill God’s purpose.

SECURING A CHOICE BRIDE

We have seen that Isaac enjoyed all the wells. Wherever he went there was a well for his enjoyment. This reveals that whether we are right or wrong in our standing there is a well for our satisfaction. In addition to enjoying the wells, Isaac secured a choice bride (24:61-67). He gained her without doing anything. As he was meditating in the field, she came to him. Isaac was not a doing person; he was an enjoying person. His father and his servant did everything to secure a bride for him. Isaac did not even go to Rebekah; Rebekah came to him. In all of history I have never heard of another case in which the bride came to the groom. All Christian natural doings are just a type of supplanting, a type of heel holding. Never supplant or hold the heel of others. Rebekah is your portion and she will come. Before the foundation of the world, it was destined that Rebekah would be yours. Do you believe this? Do you dare to claim it? Isaac received his Rebekah simply by meditating in the field, not by doing anything. This is enjoyment.

GAINING TWIN SONS

After twenty years without having a child, Isaac gained twin sons (25:20-21, 26b). Did God not say in His promise that Isaac, the only seed of Abraham, would be the one in whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed? Suppose Isaac never had a son. How then could this promise be fulfilled? And if this promise were not fulfilled, how could God’s purpose be accomplished? Thus, it was not only Isaac who needed a son, but also God who needed a seed out of Isaac. Because Isaac did not realize this for twenty years, God did not do anything. God had a need and intended to do something about it, but He required the cooperation from the human side. For twenty years Isaac was only enjoying, not caring about his need for a son. But after twenty years, he realized that he had such a need and that his need corresponded to God’s need. Once he realized this, he prayed and God answered his prayer.

The same is true with us today. When we realize that our need corresponds to God’s need and then pray accordingly, God will answer our prayer. Actually, His answer to our prayer is the fulfillment of His purpose. Our need must be God’s need, and the prayer for our need should also be the prayer for God’s need. When our need corresponds with God’s and when we then pray for our need, God’s need will be met also. When Isaac prayed for a child, whose need was greater—Isaac’s or God’s? Surely God’s need was greater. Nevertheless, the greater need of God could only be fulfilled in the smaller need of Isaac. Only when man realizes his need and prays for it does God have the way to come in to fulfill His need. God has a purpose, and we have a need which corresponds to God’s purpose. But God cannot do anything until we realize our need and pray about it. Then God will answer our prayer to meet our need for the fulfillment of His purpose. Eventually, Isaac had a son, Jacob, who not only fulfilled Isaac’s need but also fulfilled God’s eternal purpose. Out of Jacob came Christ, who brings in the church, the kingdom, and the New Jerusalem. All these eternal things came about through the meeting of Isaac’s need, a need which corresponded with God’s need.

Enjoyment is our destiny, and wherever we go there will be a well. But in the enjoyment of God’s grace, we must render Him our human coordination that He may fulfill His eternal purpose through us. This means that our enjoyment of grace will never be in vain, for the enjoyment of grace on our side eventually becomes the fulfillment of God’s purpose on His side.

RECEIVING A HUNDREDFOLD HARVEST AND BECOMING GREAT

Isaac received a hundredfold harvest and became great (26:12-14). The word great in 26:13 means rich. Isaac “became great and continued to grow great until he became very great” (Heb.). He became rich by fulfilling the regular duty of sowing and through the Lord’s blessing. This also was a matter of enjoyment, but this enjoyment was not on the proper standing. Isaac might have said to himself, “My standing must be right. If it were not right, how could the Lord have blessed me with all these riches?” But God might have said, “Isaac, you are settled here and have gained great riches, but I do not agree with your standing. I shall raise up the circumstances to force you to leave this place.” May the Holy Spirit show us such a vivid picture here. On the one hand, there is the proper enjoyment; on the other hand, there is the improper standing. Even if we lack the proper standing, we may continue to have the enjoyment. But do not think that this enjoyment justifies your standing. As long as we have the enjoyment, our need is met. But for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, we need to get on the proper standing. Nevertheless, even if we are not on the proper standing, God still grants us His rich provision. This is wonderful. What a wonderful God! What a wonderful provision! We have been destined for the enjoyment. Even when we are wrong in our standing, we may still have the rich enjoyment. But God will not let us go. He will use our circumstances to bring us back to the proper standing that the fulfillment of His purpose might be realized.

FINDING THE “WELL OF LIVING WATER”

Before Isaac came back to Beer-sheba, he had enjoyment after enjoyment, grace upon grace. After receiving the hundredfold harvest, he found the “well of living water” and came into the “broad places,” the “broad ways” (Rehoboth, 26:15-22). Although he had enjoyment in such a rich way, his standing was not right and he was forced to leave the broad ways and to come back to Beer-sheba.

COMING BACK TO BEER-SHEBA

When Isaac returned to Beer-sheba (26:23-33), the Lord immediately appeared to him, speaking to him and confirming His promise, saying, “I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake” (26:24). Then, here in Beer-sheba Isaac began to have the proper testimony. He built an altar, called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent (26:25). Here in Beer-sheba he had a life for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. Eventually, here in Beer-sheba the opposers were subdued (26:26-31). Beer-sheba is the right place, the place where we can have the proper standing, and the proper standing means a great deal both to God and to us.

Abraham—Called by God: INHERITING GRACE

27

INHERITING GRACE

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

Revelation 22:21

Through whom also we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.

Romans 5:2

By the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me did not turn out to be in vain, but, on the contrary, I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God which is with me.

1 Corinthians 15:10

I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Galatians 2:20

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

2 Corinthians 13:14

We have pointed out in previous messages that, according to the experience of life, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are three parts of one complete person and that we should not consider them as three separate individuals. If we know the life in the book of Genesis, we shall see that, in the eyes of God, these three persons are one complete unit in the experience of life.

In this message we come to the second aspect of the experience of the called—the experience of Isaac (21:1—28:9; 35:28-29). It is not easy for Christians to understand the experience of Isaac. It is quite easy, on the contrary, to understand the three main aspects of Abraham’s experience: being called by God, living by faith in God, and living in fellowship with God. But what shall we say about Isaac? As we read the record of his life in chapters twenty-one through twenty-eight, what do we see of the experience of life? We do not see that he was called, lived by faith in God, or lived in fellowship with God. According to Genesis, we see how Isaac was born, was married, and begat two sons. But it is difficult to say what experience of life we find in the record of Isaac.

In the record of Isaac’s life the experience of grace is implied. What Isaac experienced was the inheriting of God’s grace. The grace of God was not as fully revealed in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament, because grace actually came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). After Christ came, there is a full and thorough revelation of grace, and in the New Testament the word grace is used again and again. The New Testament even closes with the mention of grace: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen” (Rev. 22:21). The Bible begins in the Old Testament with the word, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” and it ends in the New Testament with the word, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints.” Although the record in Genesis concerning Isaac does not have the term grace, nevertheless such a thing is implied there. This is the reason that it is quite difficult for many to understand the Bible. In the Bible, there may be a certain thing but not the term to describe it. Although Isaac’s experience is recorded in Genesis, it is difficult to designate the experience he had as the experience of grace.

According to the New Testament revelation, as far as the experience of life is concerned, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob should not be considered as three separate individuals, but as aspects of one complete person’s experience of life. Abraham represents the aspect of being called, of living by faith in God, and of living in fellowship with God. Isaac represents the aspect of inheriting grace and enjoying the inheritance of grace. Jacob represents the aspect of being chosen, being dealt with by the Lord, and being transformed into a prince of God. In the experience of life, there is the aspect of enjoyment, the enjoyment of grace. Most of us have heard messages saying that the Christian life should be a suffering life, a life of bearing the cross and groaning in prayer. Have you not heard messages telling you that today is not the time of enjoyment but the time of suffering and of bearing the cross, and that our enjoyment will begin at the time of the Lord’s coming back? I do not say that this is wrong, but I do say that it is only one aspect of the Christian life. There is another aspect—the aspect of enjoyment.

In the biblical and experiential sense, grace means enjoyment. Grace is the enjoyment in our Christian life. Our Christian life has three aspects: the aspect of Abraham, the aspect of Isaac, and the aspect of Jacob. In the aspect of Abraham we cannot see much enjoyment. Although Abraham was blessed and was enlarged, he did not have very much enjoyment. He lost his father, and Lot became a grief to him. Eliezer, in whom he trusted, was rejected, and Ishmael, the son he begat by his own endeavor with his concubine, was cast out. After Isaac was born, God required that Abraham offer him up as a burnt offering. Not too long after Isaac was returned, Abraham lost his dear wife. Throughout his whole life we can see the aspect of loss. Although the Bible does not show that Abraham suffered very much, he lost almost everything. Is this all the Christian life is? If it is, then the Christian life is only a life of losses. The matter of loss is just one aspect of the Christian life. Romans 5:2 does not say, “We have access into this loss in which we stand.” No, it says, “We have the access by faith into this grace in which we stand.” God has no intention of keeping us in loss. His intention is to bring us into grace, into the enjoyment.

God wants to bring us into the enjoyment of grace, but there is a frustration to this grace—the self. We ourselves are the frustration. Although Christ has come and grace has come with Him, and although we have been brought into the grace in which we stand, the greatest frustration to this grace is you and I. Hence, before we can have the experience of Isaac, we need Abraham who represents the first aspect of the experience of life. Abraham’s life reveals that if we would enjoy God’s grace and have the full enjoyment of God’s riches, we must be dealt with, circumcised, and cut off. If Abraham had not been circumcised, Isaac would never have been born. Isaac came after Abraham’s circumcision. After Abraham was circumcised in Genesis 17, God told him that Isaac would be born (17:19). Eventually, in chapter twenty-one, Isaac was born. Isaac came with God’s visitation. He was born by God’s visitation. God’s visitation equals the birth of Isaac. God visited Sarah and that visitation became the birth of Isaac. This is grace.

God has come to be enjoyed by His called ones. But if we would have this enjoyment, the self must go. Once the self has gone, Isaac comes. This means that grace comes. It is not easy to lose the self. In order for the self to go, we must suffer loss. Are you willing to lose yourself? I do not believe that anyone is willing to lose himself. Nevertheless, we must lose ourselves before grace can come. To lose the self is to lose our face. When we keep our face we lose grace. If we want to receive grace, we must lose our face. Brothers, as you deal with your wife in your daily living, you must be prepared to lose yourself. If you do this, grace will come. After Abraham was circumcised, Isaac came. This is the principle. With us, the self must go and then grace will come. We must firstly be Abraham and then we become Isaac.

It was not easy for Abraham to lose himself. In a good sense, God forced him to lose himself. When God called Abraham, He did not say, “Abraham, you must lose yourself and then I will come in to be your grace and enjoyment.” No, when God called him, He promised to bless him. The blessing in the Old Testament somewhat equals the grace in the New Testament. What is the difference between blessing and grace? When God gives us something free, that is a blessing. But when this blessing is wrought into our being, it becomes grace. God promised Abraham that He would bless him. When the blessing was wrought into Abraham, it became grace. Abraham’s self and natural man were the strongest frustration to God’s blessing and forced God to deal with him.

The same is true in our experience. We all have been called, and God has given us the blessings in Christ (Eph. 1:3). However, after being called, we are still in ourselves and exercise our self-effort to obtain God’s blessing. When I was young, I realized that my flesh was not good. When I was told that the flesh had been crucified on the cross, I was very happy. Then I began to exercise my own effort to put the flesh on the cross. But in exercising my own effort, I frustrated God’s grace. The crossing out of the flesh had already been accomplished; it did not need the exercise of my effort. Yet I, the self, was trying to put my flesh on the cross. That self was the greatest frustration to God’s grace. It separated me from grace. If we consider our past experience, we shall see that after hearing the good news, we tried many times by ourselves to obtain the things we heard in the good news. Our self-effort has been a frustration to God’s grace. Because of this, God has been forced to deal with us.

Being called by God, living by faith in God, and living in fellowship with God are all for the enjoyment of God. We have been called to the enjoyment of God, we must learn to live by faith in God that we may have the enjoyment of God, and we need to live in fellowship with God that we may participate in all His riches. All this is for one thing—the enjoyment of God. But we do not see this enjoyment with Abraham; we see it with Isaac. We all have had at least some experience of being called by God, living by faith in God, living in fellowship with God, and suffering loss. We are real Abrahams today. But we can also testify that, much to our surprise, in the midst of our loss there has been some enjoyment. While we were suffering a loss, unconsciously we were enjoying something. Whenever we suffered a dealing from God, we simultaneously had some enjoyment. While we were the suffering Abraham, we were also the enjoying Isaac. For this reason, the record of Isaac does not immediately follow the record of Abraham. Rather, it is mingled with the record of Abraham’s life. While Abraham was still there, Isaac came in, for they were not two separate individuals in the experience of life, but two aspects of the experience of a complete person. We need the experiences of both Abraham and Isaac. Perhaps even today you had a certain experience and said, “I don’t know why this has happened to me.” But deep within you do know. In the midst of your loss, you gain and enjoy Christ. This is the experience of Isaac.

If we only had Abraham without Isaac, we would be very disappointed with Abraham’s record. We would say, “What is the good of being the father of faith if it is only a matter of suffering loss?” But once we see the experience of Isaac, we shall say, “Now I understand why Abraham suffered the loss of so much. All the negative experiences of Abraham were for the positive enjoyment with Isaac.” Abraham was for Isaac. Abraham acquired a great deal, having been blessed and having become enlarged, but he gave all that he had to Isaac (24:36; 25:5). Abraham suffered for Isaac’s gain. The more Abraham suffered, the more Isaac gained. I would say, “Poor Abraham, you are just a suffering person. All that you have gained through your suffering is not for you but for Isaac.” We all must realize that today we are not only Abrahams but also Isaacs. If you say to me, “Brother, you are a poor Abraham always suffering,” I would reply, “Don’t you know that I’m also an Isaac? I have suffered loss that I might gain. I lose as Abraham and I gain as Isaac. I’m not just Abraham. My name is Abraham-Isaac. On the loss side, I am Abraham; on the gain side, I am Isaac.”

We are both Abraham and Isaac. As Abraham, we have been called by God, have learned to live by faith in God, and have learned to live in fellowship with God. At the same time, as Isaac, we do nothing except enjoy all we have gained from Abraham’s experience. Which kind of experience do you appreciate more—Abraham’s or Isaac’s? Without Abraham’s experience we cannot have Isaac’s. God is dealing with us as He dealt with Abraham that we might have the experience of Isaac.

The matter of grace has been hidden, concealed, and veiled throughout the years. What is grace? Grace is something of God which is wrought into our being and which works in us and does things for us. It is nothing outward. Grace is God in Christ wrought into our being to live, work, and do things for us. In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul says, “By the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” This word is quite deep. Paul did not say, “By the grace of God I have what I have. I have a good car, a good job, and a good wife by the grace of God.” He did not even say, “By the grace of God I do what I do.” It is not a matter of doing, having, or working; it is absolutely a matter of being. Hence, Paul says, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” This means that the very grace of God had been wrought into his being, making him that kind of person. In Galatians 2:20 Paul says, “No longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” If we put this verse together with 1 Corinthians 15:10, we see that grace is simply Christ living in us. It is “not I, but the grace of God,” “no longer I, but Christ.” Grace is not outside of us or beside us. It is a divine Person, God Himself in Christ, wrought into our being to be the constituent of our being. Because of the lack of revelation, Christians have misunderstood and misinterpreted grace, thinking of it as something outside of them. But grace is just the Triune God wrought into our being to be what we should be and to live, work, and do things for us so that we may say, “I am what I am by the grace of God. It is not I, but the grace of God.”

We all have been taught to have good behavior and to love one another. As a result, we try to behave ourselves and to love others. But it does not matter whether we can love others or not, for God will never recognize our love. Abraham succeeded in bringing forth Ishmael, but God rejected him. God seemed to say, “No, Abraham, that is not what I want. I want something that has been wrought into you and worked out from you. You brought forth Ishmael without My visitation. I was in heaven and you were on earth bringing forth Ishmael. Because he was unrelated to Me and to My visitation, I will never recognize him. One day, I shall visit Sarah and My visitation will bring forth Isaac. I will recognize only him.” If we love others in ourselves, God will never recognize that love, because it does not come from His visitation. God wants to visit us, get into us, live for us, and even love others for us. He will only recognize that kind of love. Your love is an Ishmael; the love by God’s visitation is an Isaac. Whether you are humble or proud, crooked or straight, means nothing. God does not recognize anything which comes out of you apart from His visitation. Whatever is not of grace is not recognized, not counted, by God. We all must say, “O Lord, I will not do anything without Your visitation. Lord, if You will not visit me and work something through me and out of me, I will do nothing. I will neither hate nor love, be proud nor be humble. I want to be blank. Lord, without Your visitation, I am nothing.” God’s visitation is the practical grace. When I love others and am humble by God’s visitation, not by my self-effort, that is the enjoyment of grace.

As we have seen, God’s intention is to work Himself into a corporate man that He might have a corporate expression. This is the basic concept of the divine revelation in the Bible. This is God’s eternal purpose. God called Abraham with the purpose of working Himself into him, but Abraham had a strong self. This natural self was the strongest frustration to God’s purpose. The same is true with us today. God’s purpose is to work Himself into us to be our life and even to be our living, but our natural self frustrates this. Therefore, God must cut us and deal with us that He may get into us to be everything to us. God does not need us to love others and to be humble that society might be improved. If God wants a better society, He only needs to say, “Better society,” and it will come into being. He calls things not being as being (Rom. 4:17) and does not need our help. God wants to work Himself into us to be our humility and our everything. He wants us to say, “Lord, I am nothing and will not do anything. I just open up to You that You might come in, make Your home in me, live in me, and do everything for me. Lord, You live and I’ll enjoy Your living. Whenever You do something in me, I’ll say, ‘Praise You, Lord. This is wonderful! I am not the doer; I am an enjoyer, appreciating all You are doing for me.’”

God’s intention today is to deal with Abraham that Isaac may come. His intention is to deal with our natural being that we may have the full experience of Himself in Christ wrought into us as our enjoyment. I have been experiencing married life for close to fifty years, experiencing much enjoyment and much suffering. Before I was married, I truly loved the Lord, and I often told Him how much I loved Him. After I was married, I went to the Lord and assured Him, saying, “Lord because I love You, I want to be the best husband.” Eventually, I failed. I went to the Lord and confessed all my failures. After experiencing the anointing, I was happy and I made up my mind to try again to be the best husband. But I failed once more, and this experience of ups and downs was repeated again and again. Later, I even gave a message in which I said, “The Christian life has many nights and mornings. Never be disappointed over your failures. Just wait for several hours and you will be in the morning.” For years and years I went through days and nights, nights and days. One day, I received the revelation and said, “Stupid man, who told you to do so? Christ is here waiting to be your grace. You must say, ‘Lord, I am nothing and I can do nothing. Even if I could do something, it would never be recognized by You. Come, Lord, and do Your job and be the best husband for me. This is Your job, not mine. You charge me, and I return the charge to You and ask You to fulfill it. Lord, You be the best husband and I will praise You for it.’” Whenever I prayed like this, the Lord always did the best job. This is grace.

Grace is God working Himself into our being as our enjoyment. The very God today is not only God the Father, but also God the Son and God the Spirit. Moreover, God the Spirit is the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:29), and this grace is the grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7), which is “the varied grace” (1 Pet. 4:10), the “all grace” (1 Pet. 5:10), and the “sufficient grace” (2 Cor. 12:9). The Triune God is such a grace, and this grace is now with our spirit (Gal. 6:18). Grace is the divine Person of the Triune God as the Spirit indwelling our spirit. It is the Spirit of grace indwelling our spirit to be our enjoyment that we may enjoy God as our life and our everything, even as our living. This is why every one of Paul’s Epistles ends with the words, “Grace be with you.” For example, 2 Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Grace is not outside of us; it is in us. Whatever we call it, the Spirit of grace or the grace of life, it is something living and divine in our spirit. We do have such a divine reality, the Triune God Himself, in our spirit as our grace and enjoyment. When He loves others through us, this love is our enjoyment. When He lives Himself out through us, this living is also our enjoyment. Day and night we may enjoy His living through us.

Why then do we suffer? Because the self, the ego, the natural man, is still here and must be dealt with. Praise Him that no dealing is in vain. Every dealing from God is a breaking of our natural man that we may enjoy more of Him as our grace. Thus, we have Abraham and Isaac; we have the suffering of the loss and the enjoyment of the gain. This gain is not the gain of outward things; it is the gain of the indwelling One, that is, the Spirit of grace and the grace of life. Again I say, whatever God gives as a gift outside of us is, at the most, a blessing. When this gift is wrought into our being, becoming the life element within us, it is grace. The blessing must become the grace. In the Old Testament, God gave many things to His people as blessings, but all those things were merely outward blessings. Before Christ came, none of those blessings had been wrought into God’s people. Christ came not only to die on the cross for us, but, after His death, to become the life-giving Spirit to enter into our being. Thus, in the New Testament, we have the terms “in Christ” and “Christ in you.” Now He is in us and we are in Him. Whatever God gives us in Christ has been wrought into our being and has become grace, our enjoyment. Now we are not merely under His blessing; we are in His grace and His grace is in us. What are you enjoying today—blessing or grace? The New Testament never says, “Blessing be with you.” Rather, it says repeatedly, “Grace be with you.”

Abraham—Called by God: HAVING NO MATURITY IN LIFE

26

HAVING NO MATURITY IN LIFE

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bare him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.…And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

Genesis 16:1-2, 15

And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.

Genesis 21:1-3

Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.

Genesis 25:1-2

The Bible is a complete revelation. The content of this revelation is God’s eternal purpose. As we have pointed out many times, God’s eternal purpose is to work Himself into a corporate man so that He may have a corporate expression in the universe. If we would understand any portion of the Bible in a proper way, we must keep this matter in mind.

In this message we come to Genesis 25. Many years ago, I did not like the first part of this chapter. But since there are no wasted words in the Bible, this portion of Genesis 25 must be very significant. If we do not keep before us the purpose of the revelation in the holy Word, we shall be unable to see the significance of this part of Genesis 25. By His mercy, the Lord has shown us the depth of this portion of the Word.

In both Genesis and Romans we are told clearly that Abraham was very old when he begat Isaac. Romans 4:19 says that Abraham considered his body as good as dead. Yet, forty years after Isaac’s birth, Abraham married again (25:1), and when he became one hundred forty years of age, he still begat six sons (25:2). How can we explain this? If he was as old as a dead person when he was a hundred years of age, he certainly must have been more like a dead person when he remarried at the age of one hundred forty. In chapter twenty-three Sarah died and was buried, in chapter twenty-four Abraham obtained a wife for Isaac, and in chapter twenty-five he himself married again. What does this mean?

Genesis 25 also includes a record of the birth of Jacob and Esau. Why is such a wonderful record included in the same chapter which names the six sons of Abraham’s concubine? The record of Abraham’s six sons is negative, whereas the record of the birth of Jacob and Esau is positive. If you were composing this chapter, would you put these two records together? None of us would have written this chapter in such a way. Nevertheless, according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it must be very significant.

HAVING NO MATURITY IN LIFE

If we consider all these matters, deep in our spirit we shall realize that the Holy Spirit’s intention in this chapter is to show that Abraham was not a person matured in life. Although he was old in his physical life, he was not matured in his spiritual life.

As we have seen, God’s purpose is to work Himself into a corporate person that He might have a corporate expression. In order to accomplish this, God created the heavens, the earth, and man with a spirit as his receiving organ (Zech. 12:1). This man was created in God’s image to express Him and with His dominion to represent Him in His authority. In Genesis 3 we see that Satan injected himself into man, and man became fallen. In chapters three through eleven man had at least four falls. After the fourth fall, God came in to call Abraham out of the fallen race and establish him as the father of the called race. God’s intention in making Abraham the father of the called race was to work Himself into that race for the fulfillment of His purpose. Although God did not have the opportunity to work Himself into the created race, the Adamic race, He now had an opportunity to work Himself into the called race, the Abrahamic race. The record from the last half of chapter eleven through the first part of chapter twenty-five shows how much God worked with this person. However, when we come to the end of the record of Abraham’s life, do we see a person who was matured in life and who expressed God in every way? No. Abraham was not yet such a person.

Many Christians appreciate Abraham too much. Although I respect Abraham and I do not belittle him, I must point out that, as the record of Genesis indicates, he was not matured in the divine life. Chapter twenty-four is wonderful, but it is not wonderful with respect to Abraham’s life but with respect to his activity. Abraham did a wonderful thing in choosing a proper wife for his son; yet, immediately after this, he remarried. Genesis 25 does not say, “After Abraham had found a good wife for Isaac, he lived with them in the presence of the Lord for more than thirty years. One day, he called Isaac and Rebekah to him, laid his hands upon them, blessed them, and then went to be with the Lord.” If the record were like this, we would all appreciate it, saying, “Here is a saint who was matured in life.” What is the proof of the maturity in life? It is blessing others. When we are young, we receive blessings from others. But when we are mature, we pass on blessings to others. Although Abraham was old, he did not bless anyone. This proves that he did not have the maturity in life.

MARRYING KETURAH AFTER SARAH DIED • The record in Genesis 25 is not a record of blessing; rather, it is a record of remarriage. Abraham married Keturah after Sarah died. Is remarriage a sign of the maturity in life? Certainly not!

BEGETTING ANOTHER SIX SONS AFTER ISAAC • Abraham’s life may be divided into three sections: the section with Ishmael, the section with Isaac, and the section with the six sons. Ishmael was produced by Abraham’s flesh, and Isaac was produced by God’s grace. What about the six sons? They were produced by even more flesh. After the birth of Ishmael, Abraham’s flesh was dealt with, and grace came in to replace it. But after the birth and growth of Isaac, Abraham’s flesh became active again. In the first section, the section with Ishmael, Abraham’s flesh was onefold, but in the third section, the section with the six sons, his flesh was sixfold, having been intensified six times. While the younger flesh produced one Ishmael, the older flesh produced six sons.

The Bible is honest, telling us that Abraham married Keturah and begat six sons by her. But Abraham knew God’s will. Verse 5 says, “Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.” Isaac was the unique heir, the heir chosen, designated, and established by God. None of the other sons were reckoned as heirs (v. 6), for they were all sons of the concubine and, like Ishmael, were rejected by God. Abraham had two concubines. The first gave birth to Ishmael, and the second gave birth to six sons. But God did not want any of them. Both before and after the birth of Isaac, Abraham did something which God did not want. How can we say that such a life is mature?

DIED WITHOUT MATURITY IN LIFE • The intention of Genesis 25 is to show that Abraham did not have the maturity in life. He died without this, for as we have seen, he died without blessing anyone. Although Abraham was good, he was not mature in the divine life. It is right that we appreciate him, but we must realize that he had a great lack. He was called, had faith, and lived in fellowship with God, but, to use a New Testament term, he did not have sufficient transformation.

What is transformation? Once again I would like to use the example of petrified wood. As water flows through the wood, the element of wood is carried away and the elements of minerals are added in its place. As the mineral elements are wrought into the wood, the wood is transformed into stone. This is petrification. We are wood, and the flow of living water must carry away our natural element and bring into our being all the divine, heavenly, holy, and spiritual elements. In this way we are transformed.

If you read chapters twenty-three through twenty-five again, you will see that Abraham was not a fully transformed person. He was a man who lived in fellowship with God and who acted according to His leading, but he was not transformed in full. Rather, he remarried and exercised the flesh which had been dealt with by God to bring forth six more “Ishmaels.” Although we must be like Abraham, we need to see that in himself he was not a complete pattern.

BURIED WITH SARAH IN THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH • Undoubtedly Abraham died in faith. His two sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah (vv. 9-10), which he had obtained for Sarah in chapter twenty-three. It must be that his sons buried him according to his desire.

NEEDING JACOB AND ISAAC FOR HIS COMPLETION

Although Abraham was good, he was not complete. He had to be completed and perfected by the lives of Jacob and Isaac. According to the implication of the divine record, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not three separate individuals. In like manner, their God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, is not three gods but the one Triune God. In Abraham, we see God the Father; in Isaac, we see God the Son; and in Jacob, we see God the Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the three-in-one, are the unique Triune God. In the same principle, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are a triune person. Being three-in-one, they are a complete person in the experience of life.

JACOB’S BEING CHOSEN • In Abraham’s record we see the matter of calling. According to the divine revelation, however, calling is not the first item. God’s selection comes before God’s calling. When Abraham was in Chaldea worshipping idols, that was the time of God’s calling, not the time of His selection. The time of God’s selection was before the foundation of the world. In eternity past Abraham was chosen, and in Chaldea he was called. But where is the record of Abraham’s selection? It is in Genesis 25 in the record of Jacob’s selection. In himself, Abraham had no selection; his selection was in Jacob’s selection. Abraham’s life had neither a full beginning nor a complete ending, for he had neither selection nor maturity in life, both of which are with Jacob. In other words, as far as the experience of life is concerned, by himself Abraham cannot stand as a complete person in the eyes of God. He needs Jacob and Isaac. These three persons, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, represent the spiritual experience of a complete man. In the record of Jacob’s life, there is no mention of being called. Where and when was Jacob called? He was called with Abraham in Genesis 11, just as Abraham was selected in Jacob. In Abraham we clearly see God’s calling, but we do not see selection nor the maturity in life.

In Genesis 25 we have three genealogies: the genealogy of the children of Keturah (vv. 2-4), the genealogy of the sons of Ishmael (vv. 13-16), and the genealogy of Isaac (vv. 19-26). In the first two genealogies no one is selected by God. None of the sons of Keturah nor the sons of Ishmael were chosen by Him. Even Esau, one born of Isaac, was not chosen. Of all those named in this chapter, only one is chosen—Jacob. These three genealogies are put together in one chapter for a definite purpose—to show the kind of person God rejects and the kind of person He chooses. God chose the most naughty one, Jacob, whose name means a supplanter, a heel holder. If we were God, we would never have chosen such a naughty, supplanting one. Nevertheless, Jacob was God’s choice. We see in this chapter that what Abraham produced was not what God wanted. None of his six sons was God’s choice. In producing them, all he did was in vain. Likewise, none of Ishmael’s descendants were chosen by God. After Isaac had been married for twenty years, he “entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived” (v. 21). Rebekah gave birth to twins, the second of whom was God’s choice. Of the more than twenty births recorded in this chapter, all were in vain except one. In this chapter God seemed to be saying to Abraham, “You have brought forth many children by your flesh, but all is in vain. Not one who is the result of your flesh is My choice.”

This chapter reveals that the life which lacks maturity will always labor in vain. If we are not matured in life, although we may be quite active, doing many things, all our labor will be in vain. None of it is according to God’s selection. Abraham was a dear saint with a very good life, but his life was not mature and he did much which was in vain. Nothing that came out of his flesh was God’s choice. Do you want to have a life like this? By the record of Abraham’s life we see that he was not complete. He needed Jacob and Isaac to complete and perfect him. As this chapter reveals, for his completion and perfection he needed Jacob’s being chosen.

JACOB’S MATURITY IN LIFE • Abraham also needed Jacob’s maturity in life. According to the book of Genesis, the first person to bless others was Melchisedec (14:18-19). As the book of Hebrews reveals, Melchisedec was a type of Christ. But even when Abraham was very old, much older than Jacob lived to be, he never blessed anyone. Although he received the blessing, he never passed on blessings to others. After Melchisedec, the next person to bless others was Isaac. But Isaac blessed blindly; he was cheated and did not bless in a clear way. Rather, he blessed the wrong person, giving the birthright to Jacob instead of to Esau (ch. 27). However, as the record at the end of Genesis reveals, Jacob, although he could not see well, blessed in a very clear way. After Jacob became mature, he blessed whomever he met. Wherever he went, he did nothing except bless others. When Jacob was brought before Pharaoh, the first thing he did was bless him (47:7). After talking a while with Pharaoh, Jacob blessed him again (47:10). Jacob was not only a blessed person; he was also a blessing person.

While it is easy to receive a blessing, it is not easy to bless others. A grandson cannot bless his grandfather, because the grandson lacks the maturity in life. Because Jacob was mature, he blessed everyone he met, including Pharaoh, who was an unbeliever, a Gentile king. Jacob did not feel that he had to do anything for anyone. His burden was simply to bless others.

Consider the case of Jacob’s blessing the two sons of Joseph (48:8-20). When Jacob laid his right hand upon Ephraim instead of upon Manasseh, the firstborn, Joseph was displeased and attempted to move his father’s right hand to Manasseh’s head, saying, “Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head” (48:18). But Jacob refused and said, “I know it, my son, I know it” (48:19). Jacob seemed to be saying, “I may be blind physically, but I am very clear spiritually. You don’t know what I am doing, but I know.” Here we see that Jacob blessed Joseph’s two sons with a clear, full, and rich blessing.

Jacob also blessed his twelve sons in a very clear way. These blessings are the foundation of the basic prophecies in the Bible. If we would know the prophecies in the Bible, we must go back to their foundation, to their basic elements, as seen in the blessings rendered by Jacob to his twelve sons. Jacob could bless his sons in a way that was full of divine revelation because he was fully matured in the divine life. He was born a Jacob, but he was transformed into Israel. He was born a supplanter, a heel-holder, but he was transformed into a prince of God. He had become so clear and full of life. When we are clear and full of life, we can do nothing but bless. This is a sign of maturity.

As we have seen, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob form one complete person in the experience of life. Abraham did not bless, because he did not have the maturity in life. Isaac, having some maturity but lacking the richness of the maturity of life, blessed in a blind way. Jacob, who was mature in life, blessed in a full and clear way. Whatever he spoke was the divine word, and whatever he blessed was a prophecy concerning God’s economy with all His children. Eventually, Jacob became Israel, the expression of God.

If we have the light from the Scriptures as a whole, we shall see that the book of Genesis is a miniature of the complete revelation of the entire Bible. At the end of Genesis we see a man called Israel, a transformed person who is transparent, clear, and full of life. The transformed Israel is a seed, a miniature, of the New Jerusalem. At the beginning of Genesis we have man created in God’s image. At the end of Genesis we have a transformed person, a man not only outwardly in the image of God, but a man in whom God has wrought Himself, making him His expression. Although many Christians appreciate Abraham, his life was not high enough. Israel’s life was much higher.

ISAAC’S ENJOYMENT OF THE INHERITANCE • For his completion, Abraham also needed Isaac’s enjoyment of the inheritance (24:36; 25:5). From the day Abraham was called by God, God began to rob him of things. Firstly, God took away his brother and then his father. Later, God rejected Eliezer, commanded Abraham to cast out Ishmael, and told him to offer Isaac on the altar. After Isaac had been returned, Sarah died. Abraham’s life was not a life of enjoyment; it was a life of being robbed. Isaac’s life, on the contrary, was a life full of enjoyment. Isaac did not do anything; he simply inherited all his father had.

In our Christian life we have the experiences of both Abraham and Isaac. On one hand we are always being robbed. God rejects whatever we have. He seems to say, “You like it, but I don’t like it. You want to give it, but I won’t take it. You want to preserve it, but I reject it.” In a very good sense, God always acts contrary to our wishes and intentions. Abraham wanted to take his father with him, but the father was taken away. He wanted to have Lot, but Lot separated from him. He wanted Eliezer to be his heir, but Eliezer was rejected. He wanted to keep Ishmael, but God commanded him to cast out the son of the bondwoman. Abraham loved his son Isaac, but God required that he be offered to Him upon the altar. A while later, Sarah, Abraham’s dear wife, was taken. I doubt that Abraham had much time for enjoyment.

But there is another side to our Christian life. While we are suffering the robbing, we are enjoying our inheritance. This is why the records of Abraham and Isaac overlap, whereas the records of those who preceded them, such as Abel, Enoch, and Noah, do not. The record of Isaac is mixed together with that of Abraham. While Abraham was suffering, Isaac was enjoying. While Abraham was weeping, Isaac was rejoicing. This indicates that our Christian life is a life of night and morning. Night is at our left hand and morning is at our right hand. In the Christian life, night and morning go together. Many times I have been unable to determine whether I was in the night or in the morning. While I was in the morning I was in the night, and while I was in the night, I was in the morning. On the one hand, I was Abraham being robbed of everything, and on the other hand, I was Isaac enjoying the inheritance.

We all have been selected with Jacob and have been called and have believed with Abraham. As we have been robbed with Abraham and have been enjoying with Isaac, one day we all shall be matured with Jacob. We should not say that a certain brother is a Jacob or Abraham or Isaac. We should call him a Jacob-Abraham-Isaac. He is Jacob at the beginning and at the ending, and he is Abraham with Isaac in the middle. These three are one complete person. As we have seen, the maturity in life is neither with Abraham nor Isaac but with Jacob.

The sign of the maturity of life is blessing. I have seen thousands of Christians. Nearly every one has been either supplanting or complaining. Some saints complain about the elders, the brothers, and all the churches. It seems that the only church they like is the New Jerusalem. Complaining is a sign of immaturity. When you have matured, you will not complain; you will bless, saying, “O God, bless all the brothers and all the churches.” For the one who is matured in life, the supplanting hand has become the blessing hand. The more mature you are, the more you will bless others. You will not only bless the good ones, but the bad ones and even the worst ones.

Abraham’s life was wonderful and has been appreciated by Christians throughout the centuries. But, as we have seen, he was not mature in the divine life. Our God is not only God the Father, but also God the Son and God the Spirit. He is not only the God of Abraham, but also the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. May we all see that we need all three aspects, the life of Abraham plus the lives of Isaac and Jacob. The Triune God is working within us as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit to make us the full expression of Himself. He is the Triune God, and we must be a person of three aspects in the spiritual experiences of the divine life. We need to be transformed in full. When we have been fully transformed, God will have the fulfillment of His purpose.