The Need for a Spirit of Grace

By T. Austin-Sparks

      "And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt" (1 Sam. 24:5).

      "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends" (Job 42:10).

      "And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water; but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily, unto God" (Jonah 3:5-8).

In the above three fragments of Scripture, we have examples of how much value the Lord puts upon a spirit of grace. Very great spiritual issues are shown to have hung upon the spirit which actuated each of the three men concerned. Let us look at them, each in turn.

      Grace, the Way of Ascendancy

      It is impressive how the Spirit of God so governs the narrating of David's life and activities as to disclose what was in his heart. Concerning him God had said that "the Lord looketh on the heart," and so it must needs be that his heart is uncovered.

      This incident is very revealing. It was during that painful period when David was being hunted by Saul, as he said, 'like a flea, or a partridge.' Saul was making life as much of a burden for David as possible. David knew that he had been anointed for the throne. He knew that Saul would one day be at his mercy. But he was sorely harassed by this demon-driven man, and was constantly in deadly peril because of him. And now, the hour of opportunity had come. He had come upon Saul asleep and unguarded. One blow and his troubles would be over. One thrust of his sword and he could be free of his worries. Moreover, the man who stood in the way of his destiny would be removed, and the throne could be his. Although urged by his men to believe that it was the Lord Who had delivered Saul into his hands in order to put an end to him, David put back the suggestion, quenched the dart of temptation, and, in order to show just what he could have done if he had liked, he cut off the hem of Saul's robe and withdrew to exhibit it as evidence of - what?

      
It was then that "David's heart smote him." Was it just that David had a conscience, or was it the Spirit of God that smote David's heart before his heart smote him? Conscience could easily have been squared with the argument that the Lord had delivered his enemy into his hand, especially as the Lord had told him that such a day would come. No, the Spirit of God sees more and goes further. He goes right on to "the grace of the Lord Jesus." For one thing, grace takes away all merit, and if David was in danger of saying with his evidence 'What a good boy am I; see what I could have done if I had chosen, but I didn't,' then it is not grace, and he, for that much and that moment, was under condemnation and judgment. David was in the way of the throne, that is, the way of authority and government, and so he must learn that in this age it is a "throne of grace." Spiritual ascendancy is the principle wrapped up with David's life and destiny, and spiritual ascendancy in the life of one in vital relationship with Christ is through "Father, forgive them." So Christ came to the Throne. Do we want power, spiritual authority, and the support of the Lord? Then meekness, suffering wrong, "being defamed, we bless," "bless them that curse you," is the way. There must not be even a small bit in our hand which we use to prove our own goodness. What a thing it is to be sensitive to the Lord, so that the Spirit in us can tell us when we are infringing Divine principles, even when we think that we are being very generous! Pride is a very subtle and deceptive thing, and it may be behind even our good works. Kingship is not something official with God; it is a regal, noble, and transparent spirit.

The Need for a Spirit of Grace

   

By T. Austin-Sparks

"And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt" (1 Sam. 24:5).


      "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends" (Job 42:10).


      "And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water; but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily, unto God" (Jonah 3:5-8).


      In the above three fragments of Scripture, we have examples of how much value the Lord puts upon a spirit of grace. Very great spiritual issues are shown to have hung upon the spirit which actuated each of the three men concerned. Let us look at them, each in turn.


      Grace, the Way of Ascendancy


      It is impressive how the Spirit of God so governs the narrating of David's life and activities as to disclose what was in his heart. Concerning him God had said that "the Lord looketh on the heart," and so it must needs be that his heart is uncovered.


      This incident is very revealing. It was during that painful period when David was being hunted by Saul, as he said, 'like a flea, or a partridge.' Saul was making life as much of a burden for David as possible. David knew that he had been anointed for the throne. He knew that Saul would one day be at his mercy. But he was sorely harassed by this demon-driven man, and was constantly in deadly peril because of him. And now, the hour of opportunity had come. He had come upon Saul asleep and unguarded. One blow and his troubles would be over. One thrust of his sword and he could be free of his worries. Moreover, the man who stood in the way of his destiny would be removed, and the throne could be his. Although urged by his men to believe that it was the Lord Who had delivered Saul into his hands in order to put an end to him, David put back the suggestion, quenched the dart of temptation, and, in order to show just what he could have done if he had liked, he cut off the hem of Saul's robe and withdrew to exhibit it as evidence of - what?

The Need for a Spirit of Grace

by T. Austin-Sparks

"And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt" (1 Sam. 24:5).

"And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends" (Job 42:10).

"And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water; but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily, unto God" (Jonah 3:5-8).

In the above three fragments of Scripture, we have examples of how much value the Lord puts upon a spirit of grace. Very great spiritual issues are shown to have hung upon the spirit which actuated each of the three men concerned. Let us look at them, each in turn.

Grace, the Way of Ascendancy

It is impressive how the Spirit of God so governs the narrating of David's life and activities as to disclose what was in his heart. Concerning him God had said that "the Lord looketh on the heart," and so it must needs be that his heart is uncovered.

This incident is very revealing. It was during that painful period when David was being hunted by Saul, as he said, 'like a flea, or a partridge.' Saul was making life as much of a burden for David as possible. David knew that he had been anointed for the throne. He knew that Saul would one day be at his mercy. But he was sorely harassed by this demon-driven man, and was constantly in deadly peril because of him. And now, the hour of opportunity had come. He had come upon Saul asleep and unguarded. One blow and his troubles would be over. One thrust of his sword and he could be free of his worries. Moreover, the man who stood in the way of his destiny would be removed, and the throne could be his. Although urged by his men to believe that it was the Lord Who had delivered Saul into his hands in order to put an end to him, David put back the suggestion, quenched the dart of temptation, and, in order to show just what he could have done if he had liked, he cut off the hem of Saul's robe and withdrew to exhibit it as evidence of - what?

It was then that "David's heart smote him." Was it just that David had a conscience, or was it the Spirit of God that smote David's heart before his heart smote him? Conscience could easily have been squared with the argument that the Lord had delivered his enemy into his hand, especially as the Lord had told him that such a day would come.

 No, the Spirit of God sees more and goes further. He goes right on to "the grace of the Lord Jesus." For one thing, grace takes away all merit, and if David was in danger of saying with his evidence 'What a good boy am I; see what I could have done if I had chosen, but I didn't,' then it is not grace, and he, for that much and that moment, was under condemnation and judgment. David was in the way of the throne, that is, the way of authority and government, and so he must learn that in this age it is a "throne of grace." Spiritual ascendancy is the principle wrapped up with David's life and destiny, and spiritual ascendancy in the life of one in vital relationship with Christ is through "Father, forgive them." So Christ came to the Throne.

Do we want power, spiritual authority, and the support of the Lord? Then meekness, suffering wrong, "being defamed, we bless," "bless them that curse you," is the way. There must not be even a small bit in our hand which we use to prove our own goodness. What a thing it is to be sensitive to the Lord, so that the Spirit in us can tell us when we are infringing Divine principles, even when we think that we are being very generous! Pride is a very subtle and deceptive thing, and it may be behind even our good works. Kingship is not something official with God; it is a regal, noble, and transparent spirit.

Saul may represent anything in the permissive will of God that seems to stand in the way of our Divinely-appointed destiny or vocation. The principle is that we may not do anything out of personal interest. We may not be governed by ambition or self-realisation. In personal heat we may not take matters out of the Lord's hands into our own. The Lord had seemed to put Saul into David's hands, but it was only to test David's heart, his faith, his humility, his selflessness. This was necessary training to govern.

We pass to Job, and here we see