(7)
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:1, 14-15; 4:1-20, 26-29
In the Gospel of Mark we see a Person living a life according to God’s New Testament economy. This book does not reveal anything other than the Lord Jesus as this wonderful Person.
Let us now list a number of matters that have occupied people’s attention throughout human history: culture, religion, ethics, morality, the improvement of character, philosophy, being scriptural, being spiritual, being holy, and being victorious. These ten items cover the thoughts, ideas, and concepts of all people, including Gentiles, Jews, and Christians. People everywhere have their minds occupied with culture, religion, ethics, morality, the improvement of character, and philosophy. In addition, Christians may be occupied with being scriptural, spiritual, holy, and victorious. Many books have been written by Christian teachers on how to be scriptural, spiritual, holy, and victorious.
According to the Gospel of Mark, the Lord Jesus did not teach culture, religion, ethics, morality, improvement of character, or philosophy. Neither did He help people to be more scriptural, spiritual, holy, or victorious. As we pointed out in a foregoing message, the Lord Jesus did not live in the kingdom of law or that of ethics; He lived altogether in another realm — the kingdom of God.
As the One who lived in the kingdom of God, how did the Lord Jesus live? What did He do? In chapter four of Mark we see that the Lord was a Sower and that He sowed Himself as the seed into people. In particular, He sowed Himself into Peter and the other disciples.
It was not an easy matter for the Lord Jesus to sow Himself as a seed into human beings. To sow seed into soil is easy, but for the Lord to sow living seed into people was difficult. This difficulty can be illustrated by the problem parents sometimes face in getting medicine into a sick child. Because a child may strongly resist, the parents may have to hold him down and open his mouth in order to put the medicine into him. In a similar way, the Lord Jesus may have had to use angels as helpers in sowing Himself as the seed into us. It may have been necessary for us to be put into a difficult situation before we opened to the Lord to receive Him as the divine seed. Praise Him that in spite of the difficulty, He has been sown into us!
The Gospel of Mark shows the Lord Jesus living and working in such a way as to sow Himself as seed into people. Mark is not a book of culture, religion, ethics, morality, improvement of character, or philosophy. Neither is it a book teaching us to be scriptural, spiritual, holy, and victorious. Instead, the Gospel of Mark is a book presenting the Sower sowing Himself into us as the seed of a life that lives according to God’s New Testament economy.
It is possible that the thoughts even of the saints in the Lord’s recovery may be occupied with the matters of how to be scriptural, spiritual, holy, and victorious. Do you not want to be holy? Do you not want to be spiritual and victorious? Books written by Christians emphasizing the need to be holy, spiritual, and victorious may quote verses from the Bible to support their teachings. However, the Gospel of Mark does not touch this field at all. This Gospel does not teach us how to be holy, spiritual, and victorious. Instead, the Gospel of Mark presents the Lord as the One sowing Himself into the disciples.
The Lord’s close followers spent three and a half years with Him. During those years, He must have taught them many things. It is surprising that in the Gospel of Mark we do not find a hint concerning this. In this book we see that the Lord Jesus was continually sowing Himself into Peter and the other disciples. In chapter one the Lord saw Peter and his brother Andrew fishing. The Lord called them and, attracted by Him, they left all and followed Him (vv. 16-18). It may be that the Lord’s sowing of the seed into Peter began at that time.
When was Peter saved? This is a difficult question to answer. Was Peter saved when he was called in chapter one of Mark? If you say that he was not saved then, I would ask, “How could Peter have been called without being saved? The Bible reveals that once we are called, we are saved.” However, if we say that Peter was saved when he was called in Mark 1, we may wonder why he did not show any signs of being a saved one. Peter was selfish and natural. He was always in himself, not giving any indication that he had been saved.
Perhaps Peter was saved when his mother-in-law was healed, or when he declared that Jesus is the Christ, or when he saw the Lord Jesus transfigured on the mountain. But in none of these situations does Peter give any indication of being saved.
Peter told the Lord Jesus that even if the others would deny Him, he would never deny Him (14:29, 31). This might be a sign that Peter was saved by that time. However, soon afterward Peter denied the Lord Jesus three times. Then he went out and wept (14:72). Perhaps that was when he was saved. It certainly is difficult to determine the time Peter was saved.
From chapter one of Mark until the time the Lord Jesus in resurrection came to the disciples, breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22) was a long time of sowing. I believe that the Lord’s sowing of Himself into Peter began in Mark 1 when the Lord called him and he followed the Lord. This sowing continued until the resurrected Christ breathed on the disciples who had come together in a closed room. I believe that the Lord’s sowing was complete at that time. One proof of this is that in chapter one of Acts Peter is a different person. No longer is he natural. In Acts 1 Peter truly bears the signs of having been saved by the Lord. My point here is that the Lord Jesus as the Sower went through a lengthy process to sow Himself into Peter and the other disciples.
In your experience has it not taken the Lord time to sow Himself into you? In asking this question I am not referring to salvation, regeneration, justification, or reconciliation in a doctrinal way. I am speaking concerning our enjoyment of God’s salvation experientially. Some may think that for the Lord to take three and a half years to accomplish the sowing of Himself into Peter was too long. However, to the Lord this is not long at all, for to Him a thousand years are as one day (2 Pet. 3:8).
Instead of emphasizing the Lord’s teaching and training of the disciples, the Gospel of Mark gives us a clear view of how the Lord was doing the work of sowing Himself into them. From chapter one through chapter sixteen the Lord was sowing the seed into the “earth” of the disciples. He even brought this earth with Him wherever He went, all the while sowing Himself into it.
The crucial point is that God’s New Testament economy is not a matter of improving our culture, religion, ethics, morality, character, or philosophy. Neither is the New Testament economy of God merely a matter of helping us to improve in being more scriptural, spiritual, holy, and victorious. God’s New Testament economy is to sow Himself into us so that we may live a life according to His economy.
Is it merely a doctrine to you that God in His economy is sowing a wonderful Person, Jesus Christ the Son of God, into you? Is the Lord not a real and living Person within you? Some Christians oppose the fact that Jesus Christ actually dwells in the believers. They claim that He is in the heavens and is represented in us by the Holy Spirit. But from the Word of God and our experience we know that Jesus Christ is not only in the heavens but is also in us. He dwells in us as the life that lives according to God’s New Testament economy.
If we have seen this vision, it will control us and deliver us from culture, religion, ethics, and the other items that may distract us from God’s New Testament economy. It took the Lord a long time to rescue me from these things, especially from the preoccupation with being spiritual, holy, and victorious. I believe that many among us still aspire to be scriptural, spiritual, holy, and victorious. Perhaps even today you prayed, “O Lord, give me a victorious day. Yesterday, Lord, I was not victorious. I ask that today I shall be victorious.” As long as we who seek the Lord are not rescued from these things, we shall be frustrated in experiencing the wonderful Person of Christ and enjoying the life that is absolutely according to God’s New Testament economy.
Often in a wedding ceremony the minister, according to Ephesians 5, will charge the wife to submit to her husband and the husband to love his wife. I do not know of anyone who has succeeded in fulfilling this charge. What husband can say that in himself he is able to love his wife as Christ loved the church, and what wife can claim to be fully submissive to her husband? It is not God’s economy that husbands try to love their wives and wives endeavor to submit to their husbands. We wish to emphasize the fact that God’s economy is to sow Jesus Christ into our being. When Christ lives in a married brother according to God’s New Testament economy, there will be no need for him to try to love his wife, for he will love her spontaneously. Likewise, if Christ lives in a married sister, she will automatically submit to her husband. The vital matter is to be filled with Christ.
The ten items covered earlier in this message may be divided into two fields: culture, religion, ethics, morality, improvement of character, and philosophy are in one field, and being spiritual, scriptural, holy, and victorious are in another field. Most of today’s Christians are in one of these fields. Therefore, my burden is to direct the way out of both fields into a different field — the Son of God, Jesus Christ. When we are in this field, we are in the kingdom of God.
As an illustration, let me tell you about a certain sister who tried very hard to submit to her husband. Bothered by the fact that she was not able to submit, she spoke with me about her situation. I encouraged her to forget about trying to submit and turn her attention to Christ. I spoke with her about this two or three times, but she still did not receive any help. The last time we talked about this matter, I said to her, “You need to give up the thought of submitting to your husband and pay attention to Christ. You need to praise the Lord.” She asked me how she could praise the Lord when she was defeated in her efforts to submit to her husband. I told her that praise should come first and that victory would follow. However, her concept was that victory should come before praise. I went on to speak to her concerning Christ being her Savior in this matter. Eventually, the light shone upon her, and she was helped to focus on Christ and not on submission.
Many saints are still concerned with being spiritual, scriptural, holy, and victorious. As we have seen, these things are not God’s economy. God’s economy is to sow into us a Person who is real, living, and present. This is the reason that the New Testament tells us that through resurrection the Lord has become a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). The Lord as the Sower has sown Himself as the life-giving Spirit into us. The life-giving Spirit within us is the seed that has been sown into our being.
Recently we have seen that the Gospel of Mark presents a life that is fully according to and for God’s New Testament economy. This life is not a matter of culture, religion, ethics, morality, improvement of character, or human philosophy. Neither is this life merely a matter of being scriptural, spiritual, holy, and victorious. I believe that the saints in the Lord’s recovery will live this kind of life and in the meetings will give testimonies concerning it.
We need to be impressed with the fact that in His economy God does not care for anything other than Jesus Christ. God’s New Testament economy is to sow this Person into our being so that we may live a life that is fully according to God’s economy. Praise the Lord that the living Person of Christ has been sown into us! Now we can live according to God’s New Testament economy. May we all pray concerning this life and have more fellowship regarding it.
