THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

The Divine Dispensing
Message Four—The Dispensing of the Father

Scripture Reading: John 7:29; 5:24; 13:20; 14:24; Rom. 8:3; 1 John 4:9-11; 3:24; 4:13

I. No other book in the Bible uses this term, the Father, so many times as the Gospel of John; in chapter one, verse 1 God is revealed: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;” after chapter one it begins to reveal God the Father—John 1:1; 5:24; 16:27.

II. Chapter one of John says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God;” these children of God were born of God; it indicates that the father has dispensed his life into the child—vv. 12-13.

III. The Father is the source, and He is the initiator; he is even the initiation, the origination; the entire universe was initiated in this initiation, who is a divine Person—John 7:29; 16:27b; Rom. 11:36:

A. This source, this initiator, sent the Son; the Son was sent by the Father with a particular commission to do three main categories of things—John 5:24, 30, 36-38; 13:20; 14:24:

1. First of all, the Father sent the Son to take away sin, to condemn sin—John 1:29; Rom. 8:3:

a. And in order to do this, according to 2 Corinthians 5:21, the Son, who knew no sin, even became sin; actually, He became only the likeness of the flesh of sin; he did not have the sinful nature.

b. The Son was sent in the likeness of the flesh of sin to condemn sin; sin has been condemned—Rom. 8:3.

c. The Son of God was sent by the Father to accomplish such a commission, that is, to solve the problem of sin, to take away sin, to condemn sin through His death on the cross—cf. Matt. 27:45-46.

2. He has condemned sin in our nature; He has become the propitiation to deal with all our sins, offenses, and trespasses—1 John 2:2; 4:10:

a. Not only do we have sin in our nature, but we also have a lot of sins in our conduct; so God sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins—1 John 4:10.

b. Every sin, every offense, and every trespass makes a problem between us and God; so between us and God there is a lot of turmoil; but the dear Son of God died on the cross for our sins and became the propitiation to calm down every turmoil—Col. 1:20; John 3:16.

c. So He has condemned sin and calmed down the turmoil caused by our sins; now we have peace with God—Col. 1:20.

3. The Son of God was also sent by the Father to impart life into us—1 John 4:9.

4. The Son has been sent by the Father with such a threefold commission: to take away our sin, to propitiate concerning our sins, and then to impart the divine life into all His believers that they may be born of God—John 1:29; 1 John 4:9-10.

B. The Father sent the Son, and He came with the Son—John 17:8; cf. 1:14, footnote 6:

1. In John 16:32 the Lord said, “Behold, an hour is coming and has come, when you shall be scattered each to his own, and shall leave Me alone; and I am not alone, because the Father is with Me;” here the Lord told us clearly that He was not alone, but the Father who sent Him was with Him.

2. The Lord had previously spoken the same kind of word in 8:29: “And He Who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”

C. The Father not only comes with the Son, but after the Son comes to live and work on the earth, the Father lives with Him and works with Him; when He lives, the Father lives; when He works, the Father works—14:10-11.

D. Before the Lord Jesus went to the cross to die, He spoke to His disciples in this way: “All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He receives of Mine and shall disclose it to you;” this verse indicates that whatever the Father has is the Son’s—John 16:15:

1. The Son does not come in His own name; He comes in the Father’s name—5:43.

2. The Son does not seek His own will, but seeks the Father’s will—v. 30.

3. He does not speak His own word; He speaks the Father’s word—John 14:24.

4. He does the Father’s work, not His own work—John 4:34.

5. The Father was with the Son, and the Father gave everything to the Son; thus, the Father was embodied in the Son—Col. 2:9.

E. After the Father gave all that He had to the Son and was thus embodied in the Son, He gave the Son to us; we have been given not only the Son, but the Son with the Father—John 3:16.

F. The consummation of the dispensing of the Father is that the Father abides in us with the Son by the Spirit—John 14:23; 1 John 3:24; 4:13:

1. The Father can never abide in us just by Himself; He abides in us with the Son and by the Spirit; when One comes, we have all Three; this is the Father in the Son by the Spirit—John 14:23.

2. We all need a vision to see this! God’s economy is to reveal Himself as the Father with the Son by the Spirit as a living Person—1 John 3:24.

IV. “All the points covered in this message—the source, the sending, the coming with the Son, the living and working in the Son, the giving of all that the Father has to the Son, the giving the Son to us, and the dwelling in us with the Son by the Spirit—are for the dispensing of the Father Himself into our being. Hallelujah! We have such a dispensing within us. The Father abides in us with the Son by the Spirit.” (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 11)

 

Ministry Excerpts:

IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN THE TRIUNE GOD—
THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE SPIRIT—
BEING REVEALED FOR THE DISPENSING OF HIMSELF INTO US

No other book in the Bible uses this term, the Father, so many times as the Gospel of John. First, it reveals the Father, and then it reveals the Son. The Son comes after the Father. Following this it reveals the Spirit. In chapter fourteen the Father is revealed in the Son, and the Son is revealed as one with the Father (vv. 9-10). After this another Comforter is revealed as the Spirit of reality (vv. 16-17).

The Gospel of John the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—is revealed for the dispensing of Himself into us first as life, then as life supply, and then as everything. I did not realize this matter of God dispensing Himself into us until about twenty years ago. From that time onward I have used this word dispense very much. God dispenses Himself into His children. It is not too hard to understand.

Chapter one of John says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (vv. 12-13). These children of God were born of God. When a child is born of a father, what does it indicate? It indicates that the father has dispensed his life into the child. At the very beginning there was only one man, Adam, yet today there are millions of human beings on the earth. Through all the generations Adam’s life has been dispensed into his descendants. This is a proper understanding of the word dispensing.

CHRIST’S SOURCE BEING THE FATHER

Consider also where Christ came from. He said that He was from the Father (John 6:46) and that the Father sent Him (John 5:36). Not many Christians are clear that Christ, the Son of God, came from the Father. According to people’s natural mentality, Christ came from heaven. Have you ever thought that Christ came from the Father? His source was the Father.

AS THE SOURCE, THE INITIATOR

The Father is the very source, the initiator, because the Son came out from Him (John 7:29; 16:27b). In John 16:27 the Lord Jesus said, “You have loved Me and have believed that I came out from God.” It does not only say that I came from Him, but that I came out from Him. The Son came out of a source, and that source was the Father. So the Father is the source, and He is the initiator. He is even the initiation, the origination. The entire universe was initiated in this initiation, who is a divine Person.

SENDING THE SON

This source, this initiator, sent the Son (John 5:24, 30, 36-38; 13:20; 14:24). There are two Greek words used for the English word sent, one of which means to be sent with a special commission. This indicates that the source, the Father, sent the Son as an envoy with a special commission. The Son was sent by the Father with a particular commission to do three main categories of things.

TO CONDEMN SIN IN THE LIKENESS OF THE FLESH OF SIN

First of all, the Father sent the Son to take away sin, to condemn sin. And in order to do this, according to 2 Corinthians 5:21, the Son, who knew no sin, even became sin. Actually, He became only the likeness of the flesh of sin. He did not have the sinful nature. This is clearly illustrated by the brass serpent in John 3:14. The brass serpent did bear the form and appearance and likeness of a real serpent, but it did not have the poisonous nature of the serpent.

Romans 8:3 says that the law was impossible in that it was weak through the flesh, so God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin. This is just like the brass serpent being in the likeness of a poisonous serpent. The Son was sent in the likeness of the flesh of sin to condemn sin. Sin has been condemned. Sin is something which is in the universe among the human race, but it has been condemned. The divine government has condemned sin. You don’t need to be bothered by sin. When the law became a failure, God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin to condemn sin. This is the meaning of John 1:29: “Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!” Sin in this verse is in the singular number, and the world here means mankind. The Son of God was sent by the Father to accomplish such a commission, that is, to solve the problem of sin, to take away sin, to condemn sin through His death on the cross.

TO BE A PROPITIATION CONCERNING OUR SINS

Not only do we have sin in our nature, but we also have a lot of sins in our conduct. So God sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). He has condemned sin in our nature; He has become the propitiation to deal with all our sins, offenses, and trespasses. Every sin, every offense, and every trespass makes a problem between us and God. So between us and God there is a lot of turmoil. But the dear Son of God died on the cross for our sins and became the propitiation to calm down every turmoil. To propitiate simply means to make peace. You have a problem with God, and you have no way to make peace, but the Son of God became the propitiation to appease God and calm every turmoil between you and God. So He has condemned sin and calmed down the turmoil caused by our sins. Now we have peace with God.

TO IMPART THE DIVINE LIFE INTO US

The Son of God was also sent by the Father to impart life into us (1 John 4:9). In his one Gospel, John uses three illustrations concerning the death of Christ: the Lamb of God (1:29), the brass serpent (3:14), and a grain of wheat (12:24). The Lamb of God and the brass serpent are for dealing with sin and our sinful nature, but the grain of wheat is for life imparting. The grain of wheat dies in order to produce many grains. It dies to impart its life into many grains. The Son has been sent by the Father with such a threefold commission: to take away our sin, to propitiate concerning our sins, and then to impart the divine life into all His believers that they may be born of God.

COMING WITH THE SON

The Father sent the Son, and He came with the Son (John 17:8 and note 2). We do not have the ability to explain this. As a rule when I send you, and you go for me, I stay home. But when the Father sent the Son, it was not like this. When He sent the Son, He came with the Son. The Greek preposition para means not only “from” but “from with.” In his note on John 6:46, J. N. Darby says that para means from with. This indicates that when the Son came, He came with the Father. The Father sent the Son, and He came with the Son. In John 16:32 the Lord said, “Behold, an hour is coming and has come, when you shall be scattered each to his own, and shall leave Me alone; and I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” Here the Lord told us clearly that He was not alone, but the Father who sent Him was with Him. The Lord had previously spoken the same kind of word in 8:29: “And He Who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”

LIVING AND WORKING IN THE SON

The Father not only comes with the Son, but after the Son comes to live and work on the earth, the Father lives with Him and works with Him. When He lives, the Father lives. When He works, the Father works. The Gospel of John tells us clearly that while the Son speaks, the Father works (14:10-11).

GIVING ALL THAT HE HAS TO THE SON, THUS EMBODIED IN THE SON

Before the Lord Jesus went to the cross to die, He spoke to His disciples in this way: “All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He receives of Mine and shall disclose it to you” (John 16:15). This verse indicates that whatever the Father has is the Son’s. The Son does not come in His own name; He comes in the Father’s name (John 5:43). The Son does not seek His own will, but seeks the Father’s will (John 5:30). He does not speak His own word; He speaks the Father’s word (John 14:24), and He does the Father’s work (John 4:34), not His own work. Who is He? He is the Son with the Father. The Father was with the Son, and the Father gave everything to the Son. Thus, the Father was embodied in the Son (Col. 2:9).

GIVING THE SON TO US

After the Father gave all that He had to the Son and was thus embodied in the Son, He gave the Son to us (John 3:16). We have been given not only the Son, but the Son with the Father. The Father is with the Son, and the Father has given Himself to the Son. So when the Father gives the Son to us, we have both.

DWELLING IN US WITH THE SON BY THE SPIRIT

The consummation of the dispensing of the Father is that the Father abides in us with the Son by the Spirit (John 14:23; 1 John 3:24; 4:13). The Father can never abide in us just by Himself. He abides in us with the Son and by the Spirit. When One comes, we have all Three. This is the Father in the Son by the Spirit. We all need a vision to see this! God’s economy is to reveal Himself as the Father with the Son by the Spirit as a living Person. This divine Person has become a gift to you. This divine gift can never be exhausted. He is in you, He is abiding in you, He is dwelling in you to be your life, your life supply, and your everything.

First, the Father comes with the Son, and then He abides in you with the Son by the Spirit. When He abides in you, the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—abide in you to be your life, your life supply, and your everything. You don’t need to adjust yourself. You don’t need to improve yourself. You need the Father abiding in you with the Son by the Spirit. Hallelujah! We have the Father, and we have the Son and the Spirit. We have the Triune God abiding in us! May we all see such a vision. This is the Father’s dispensing.

All the points covered in this message—the source, the sending, the coming with the Son, the living and working in the Son, the giving of all that the Father has to the Son, the giving the Son to us, and the dwelling in us with the Son by the Spirit—are for the dispensing of the Father Himself into our being. Hallelujah! We have such a dispensing within us. The Father abides in us with the Son by the Spirit. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, ch. 11)