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Collected
Writings of J.N.
Darby
Expository 6
By John Nelson Darby
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Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
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Contents
I Will Come Again: 1essalonians; Acts 1:11 ..............7
Comparison of the Epistles to the Romans and the
Ephesians..............................................................14
Galatians .......................................................................20
Substance of a Reading on Ephesians ...........................28
What God Is to Us in Christ: Ephesians 1 ...................85
Not of the World: Ephesians 1 ...................................... 93
Notes on the Epistle to the Ephesians...........................98
Elect of God, Holy and Beloved: Ephesians 1:4-14 ....171
Ephesians 1:9 ..............................................................181
e Prayers in Ephesians 1:15-23 and 3:14-21 ...........189
e Power at Works in Us: Ephesians 3:16-21 .......197
Grace and Government: Ephesians 4 ..........................201
oughts on Ephesians 4 ............................................210
e Christian Walk: Ephesians 4-5 .............................217
Growing up in Christ: Ephesians 4:1-16.....................222
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Christ Loved the Church: Ephesians 5:22-30 .............228
Conict in Heavenly Places: Ephesians 6:10-18 .........235
e Book of Experience: Philippians 1........................240
oughts on Philippians 2 ...........................................289
e Eect of Christ Down Here: Philippians 2 .......... 297
e Eect of Christ in Glory: Philippians 3 ...............310
oughts on Philipians 4 .............................................324
e Superiority of Christ Over Circumstances:
Philippians 4:8 ....................................................328
Notes on the Epistle to the Colossians ........................ 335
Reconciliation: Colossians 1 ........................................352
Notes on the Beginning of Colossians ........................367
All in Christ and Christ All: Colossians 2 ...................376
Dead With Christ, Risen With Christ: Colossians 2:20;
Colossians 3:1 ..................................................... 392
Notes on the Epistles to the essalonians ..................396
Notes on 1 and 2Timothy ..........................................413
Notes of a Discourse on 1Timothy 1 ..........................418
Propitiation and Substitution: 1Timothy 2:6 .............423
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On Rule: 1Timothy 5:17 ............................................427
Fragmentary Remarks: 2Timothy 2 ...........................429
Brief Notes on the Epistle to the Philippians ..............437
Notes of Lecture on Titus 2:11-14 .............................. 448
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews ...............................457
Comparison of Epistles: Peter, Colossians and Ephesians .
564
I Will Come Again: 1essalonians; Acts 1:11
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63005
I Will Come Again:
1essalonians; Acts 1:11
NOTHING is more prominently brought forward in
the New Testament than the second coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. is was the rst comfort of the angels to the
sorrowing disciples: “ is same Jesus, which is taken up
from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye
have seen him go into heaven,” Acts 1:11
And if you turn to 1 essalonians you will nd
it presented in the end of every chapter as a common
doctrine. It was not at all a strange thing-immediately
after conversion to the living God-” to wait for his Son
from heaven, even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath
to come.”
Again, in Heb. 9 we read that “ He appeared once in
the end of the world, to put away sin by the sacrice of
himself … and unto them that look for him shall he appear
the second time without sin unto salvation.”
In 1essalonians it is presented in the way of warning
as well as the object of the blessed hope of the saints: “
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say,
Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon
them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall
not escape.”
From this we see the amazing dierence between the
coming of Christ for this world, and for those who trust in
Him. To the world He comes as a judge of both quick and
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dead (see Malachi); but in this John 14 we nd a wonderful
dierence in the whole principle and spirit of a believer’s
expectation of Christ.
Behold, he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see
him, and they who also pierced him; and all kindreds of
the earth shall wail because of him,” Rev. 1 “ But who may
abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he
appeareth? “ Mal. 3.
Dear reader, let me ask you, Can you stand before Him
at that day? Do you think that you would have condence
before Him at His coming? Could you say, “ Lo, this is our
God, we have waited for him? “ is is He whom I have
loved and longed for? Men always judge according to what
is suited to themselves. In 1ess. 4 it is said, “ So shall we
be ever with the Lord.” Now, are you suited to be ever with
the Lord? Have you this condence? If it is founded on
anything good in yourself, it is a vain ground of condence.
Peter, as soon as he found himself in the presence of the
Lord, felt that he was not suited for the Lord. I am too
corrupt, he said. is was a true judgment of Peter; and
love for the dignity of the Lord and for holiness. If you are
content that holiness should be lowered that you may get
o, you do not care for holiness, though you do for getting
o. e moment I have seen the holiness of the Lord, and
that happiness is in holiness, there is the immediate feeling
of my untness for that holiness; though there may be
the longing for it, which the Lord will doubtless in mercy
answer.
Two things are needed thus to meet the Lord. First, the
conscience must be right: I may have the kindest father,
yet if my conscience is not right, I cannot be glad to meet
him; and, secondly, aections must be there-the Lord must
I Will Come Again: 1essalonians; Acts 1:11
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be my portion. If my heart is on literature, or on anything
else here, I shall not like to be where Jesus is. I shall rather
be here for a time. If you like the world, you are t for the
world. Heaven is just the contrary, and you know it; and
therefore you do not want to go there, because it would
take you from being here in the world. ere is the comfort
of the gospel. It did bring down to men’s consciences all
that would attract God. But alas! men no more desired the
Lord’s company here, than they do there. e coming and
rejection of Christ here is the plain proof that the world is
not t for Him, and He is not t for them.
But now to turn to John 14. We nd persons here the
opposite of all that is in the world. “ Let not your heart be
troubled.” About what? His leaving them. eir happiness,
comfort, and joy was in having Christ with them. But
now, he says, I am going, but I am not going to be happy
without you. ere is plenty of room for you. e thing
with which He at once comforts their hearts is this, “ I
will come again.” I cannot stay down here in this vile place,
I am going to prepare a place for you, but I will come
again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am there
ye may be also. e Lord reckons on this satisfying their
hearts; and their consciences did not hinder. “ e Father’s
house! “ Oh! they could go there. “ I will receive you unto
myself.” He knew the chord that rung in their hearts: to
be with Himself, the source of all blessing. us we get
the character of these disciples: they were persons whom
the absence of Jesus distressed, and whom the presence of
Jesus would comfort, not here, but with Himself.
ere we nd what begot this character. It was all
founded on His own word. We do not care for what does
not concern us. But as soon as we see a thing that concerns
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us, it becomes important; and then we want certainty. Now
it is very blessed to have God’s own word for the basis of
our certainty.
For instance, I am a sinner-how then can I get into
the Father’s house? Because God has said “ eir sins and
iniquities I will remember no more.” Well, God is true, and
He will not remember them. Do you say I am presumptuous
to say so? I do not say so; God says so; and again in John
5:24, “ He that heareth my word and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation “; and John 3:33, “ He that hath received
his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.” us
when the power of the Spirit brings home the word, I have
certainty. Faith is in the word, but it is about something.
Christ is presented, and man is brought to the test. People
always judge by their inclination, and not by their reasoning.
Now the eect of the testimony of the Spirit of God when
Christ is revealed is that men are not t for Him, and their
hearts do not like to be with Him.
ese disciples had loved the Lord. Christ had
attraction for their hearts. ere at once we see the object
of their hearts’ aections. Christ had xed their hearts.
Take Mary Magdalene, for instance. She was all wrong in
her intelligence, yet Christ had attraction for her heart. So
with the rest of the disciples. ey all ran away for fear;
but it was love to Christ that brought them into the place
of fear. us we see that Christ Himself was the object
of their hearts. ey were the companions of Christ-all
fear being gone- according to His love and grace. “ Ye
are they,” He said, “ who have continued with me in my
temptations.” Why? He had continued with them; but
He speaks as if indebted to them for this fellowship. And
I Will Come Again: 1essalonians; Acts 1:11
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being in companionship with Christ in heart, He brings
them into all joy into which He is going-nothing less than
the Father’s house. What attracts me is found in Christ,
and then I get from Him the certain assurance that He
is coming-and coming for me. Now when the heart is on
Christ, what a thing it is to know that He is coming! Am I
afraid? No, I am looking for Him.
And it is to His Father’s house He is to bring me. All
that makes heaven a home to Christ will make it a home to
me. O come, Lord Jesus. If I have learned to love Christ, I
have learned to love holiness, to love God. God, in Christ,
has brought down to my soul all that God is. What shall
I get in heaven? Another Christ? Another God? No. It is
the one we have seen and known. “ Whither I go ye know.”
I am going to the Father, and you have seen the Father in
me.
Ah! but He has not given up His holiness, perhaps
you reply. No, indeed, He has not. But Jesus knew all that
is needed for me to be with Him. And if He will make
the heart to love, He will put the conscience perfectly at
rest, that I may love Him. Will He do that by dulling it?
No. He will do something that will enable me to stand
in the presence of God in whose presence I am to nd
my joy. He reveals fully God in His holiness, and takes
away the sin that would hinder my being in the presence of
that holiness. And not only does He put sin away, but He
purges the conscience here, so that I am enabled to enjoy
God, in full and free aection.
Nothing is more attractive than the death of Christ; but,
besides that, it puts away the sin of which I was guilty: an
act in which I had no part, an act the proof of perfect love,
while it meets perfect righteousness. I had done the sins,
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and I could not undo them. Jesus said to Peter, “ If I wash
thee not, thou hast no part with me.” is touched Peter’s
heart. If you are not cleansed according to My cleansing,
according to what suits God’s presence, you have no part
with Me. O what a comfort! Instead of saying, Depart
from me, Jesus said, “ Now you are clean.” And in Peter
we see the proof of a good conscience. He said to the Jews,
Ye denied the Holy One and the Just, the very thing he
himself had done fty days before. Now a man will talk
of every sin but what he is guilty of; he will shirk that. But
here Peter was in perfect peace about the very sin he was
guilty of; his conscience was perfectly purged.
e happiness of the heart that is touched is to be with
Christ; and conscience is purged for being in His presence.
Between the Lord’s saying this, and coming for them
He had put away sin from God’s sight, and from their
conscience. “ I will come again, and take you unto myself,
etc., and whither I go ye know.” ere is no uncertainty. We
know where we are going to. e soul has found fully the
object that has set it at rest, and that will satisfy it up there
without fear.
Could the Lord thus address you? Could you say, O
that is what I am wanting? Or, are you saying I’ve got here
what I would like to enjoy? Is that being a Christian? A
Christian may vary in strength of aection, never in object.
I am sure I do not love the Lord enough, but I am sure it is
the Lord I love. I have no condence in my own heart, but
all condence in Him. He has died for me; that is what I
count on: He has put away my sins; that is what I need: He
is coming again; that is what I am longing for.
Dear reader, let me ask you, was it ever a trouble to
you that you had not Christ? Do you know where you
I Will Come Again: 1essalonians; Acts 1:11
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are going? It may be you have hope; but have you present
certainty? Now we, Christians, have; for Christ is known,
and when He is known, there is perfect rest in His word. “
I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where
I am, there ye may be also.” “ Amen, Even so, come, Lord
Jesus.”
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62978
Comparison of the Epistles
to the Romans and the
Ephesians
AN attentive consideration of the Epistle to the Romans
and that to the Ephesians, will aord us some interesting
light on the question of the position of the believer in
Christ. e whole question of our place in Christ is
viewed under a dierent aspect in the two epistles. I would
briey consider this. e doctrine of redeeming grace may
be viewed in two ways. God’s own purposes as to His
children in glory may be developed on the one hand; or
the condition of man portrayed, and met by grace visiting
them in mercy to deliver them on the other. e Epistle
to the Ephesians follows the rst of these methods; the
Epistle to the Romans, the second.
In Ephesians we have at once the saints blessed with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ-placed in
the blessed image of God before Him, and adopted to be
His children. Redemption itself comes as a means in the
second place. e knowledge of the mystery-the gathering
together in one all things in Christ, and our sealing as heirs
till the redemption of the purchased possession follow. e
Romans, after some introductory verses, commences by the
description of the dreadful state in which fallen man was,
unfolding the depravity of the Gentiles, the hypocrisy of
those who pretended to moralize and yet were personally
no better, and nally the sad condition of the Jews, who, if
they had the law, broke it. In chapter 3, at the close, grace
Comparison of the Epistles to the Romans and the Ephesians
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meets this state. But this leads to the consideration of the
work of grace, in each epistle, in a dierent way.
To speak rst of the Ephesians, the sinner is seen dead in
trespasses and sins-walking, doubtless, in them, but, before
God, wholly dead. But even here this is not the rst object
presented. As chapter t presents the position in which the
saint is placed, so the second the work which brings him
into it. With this view, what is rst brought before us is
God’s power towards us manifested in what was wrought
in Christ. God had raised Him from the dead, and set Him
at His right hand, far above all principality and power,
above and beyond all created glory, not only in this age,
but in that to come, where all hierarchies will be in their
true glory and unclouded elevation, but He above and out
of them all. Divine power in its exceeding greatness had
brought Him from death up there.
As the origin of our life is before all worlds (John I;
1John 1), so our ‘place before God is out of and above
all worlds and creature powers. It is to be remarked here,
however, that Christ Himself is looked at as already dead.
e whole work is thus of God; for Christ being dead, is
looked at, of course, as Man, and this wondrous power
is exerted, and He, as Man, is at God’s right hand. en
the saints are brought before us, Gentiles or Jews, as alike
children of wrath by nature, and are seen once utterly dead
in trespasses and sins, quickened together with Him, and
raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly
places in Christ. e whole is entirely God’s work. We are
created again. It is not living men who have to be dealt with,
who are without law and under law, must die with Christ,
and are set free by death. ey are found dead in sins, and
we get the perfect full blessing of the work, because it is
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
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entirely God’s. Man is for nothing therein, for what has
he to do with creation? He is created; all that man (that is,
the believer) is is God’s work. Hence, also, remark, we have
peace, making nigh, reconciling, exalting to sit in heavenly
places in Christ, but not justifying; because it is a living,
responsible, existing man who has to be justied before
God. But we have Christ exalted, and ourselves exalted in
Him. It is God’s work in Christ and in us, not our being
justied before God.
If I turn now to the Romans, it is otherwise. I get Christ
alive on the earth, come of the seed of David according
to the esh, and declared Son of God with power by
resurrection. Still esh could not live unto God, nor they
that are in it please Him. Hence we nd Christ as come
in grace for them, not dead but dying, and then alive to
God. I get the condition and quality of man, not simply
the work of God as to one dead. So as to men; I get the
means of standing in righteousness before God, and not an
absolute work. Nor is this all. In the Romans the exaltation
of Christ to the right hand of God is not contemplated,
nor the union of the church with Him. Hence we are not
said to be quickened together with Him, nor made to sit in
heavenly places in Him. His exaltation is just mentioned
in chapter 8, with “ who even is at the right hand of God,
who also maketh intercession for us “-which last thought
does not, of course, contemplate union. In chapter 12 the
practical eect of union among ourselves is spoken of; but,
in general, these topics form no part of the instruction of
the epistle. Men are living, guilty beings, the whole world
guilty before God; and to learn that, in the remediless
state of their nature, death is the only remedy; in itself
fatal, doubtless, but perfectly saving when in Christ. It is
Comparison of the Epistles to the Romans and the Ephesians
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atonement for all sin, and deliverance from the position
in which we were: for death is evidently the end of that,
and our life thus wholly new, Christ being risen from the
dead, and we are to walk as alive to God through Him. We
are justied by His blood; and the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and
death.
But the Romans, as teaching the justication of a sinner,
necessarily rst views him as a sinner to be justied. Hence
it goes through the whole question of law; and we have
the experiences of the man not justied, though convinced
of sin, and then justied from the sin-alive in conscience
without law, dying under law, and alive in Christ, where
there is no condemnation. e practical process is gone
through. e eect is this, that he is brought up to the
point where the Epistle to the Ephesians begins with him.
He nds that there is no escape from the condition he is
in, as a child of Adam, or a Jew, but by death. Yet, were it
his own, it would of course, lead him to judgment, not to
justication, but where all guilt is proved. It is Christ who
dies, and is set forth as a propitiation through faith in His
blood; so that God is just, and the justier of him that
believes in Jesus. at meets the case of guilt, but is not life;
for so Christ would be dead, and we brought in Him into
death. is could not in any way be. For not only would
there be no life, but it would even prove, as the apostle
shows in 1Cor. 15, that there was no remedy. Our faith
would be vain; we should be yet in our sins. But we believe
that God has raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the
dead, who was delivered for our oenses, and raised again
for our justication.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
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e consequence of this dierent view of things is seen
in the practical result in man under the operation of God’s
Spirit.
In the Romans we have experiences owing from the
conict of the newly introduced principle of life with esh,
or the eect of deliverance from it, by the knowledge of
the power of deliverance in Christ. e former we nd in
chapter 7, where the conict of the new nature with the
lusts and will of the old under law are depicted; and the
second in chapter 8, where the spiritual blessings of one
who is made free from the law of sin and death, by the law
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, are drawn out before us
in a way to produce the profoundest interest in the soul
that enters into it.
In the Ephesians the man is dead in sins, and transported
into heavenly places by the operation of God; being created
anew in Christ Jesus, unto good works, which God has afore
prepared, that we might walk in them. e works belong to
the new place and condition in which alone we are known
in the Ephesians. God has afore prepared works for His
new created ones. Hence, we have no experience of passing
through conict, and deliverance, and its results; but there
is a demand to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we
are called, and a desire that the saints, being rooted and
grounded in love, may realize in their hearts, by Christ’s
dwelling in them by faith, the full eect, even to lling to
all the fullness of God, the greatness of the innite scene
of glory into which they are brought, and know that love of
Christ which passeth knowledge.
In result the general principle of the dierence is this.
In the Romans, the man is found alive in sin, is convicted
of it, and has (Christ having died for him to put it away)
Comparison of the Epistles to the Romans and the Ephesians
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to come, in the conviction of the hopeless badness of
his nature, to death, and then rising again, alive through
Jesus Christ, be thus justied before God, and by God, on
the one hand, and alive in a new life on the other; then
nothing shall separate him from the love of Christ. In the
Ephesians the man is found dead in sins; but then he is
raised up, and set in heavenly places in Christ (according to
the power in which Christ, when dead, was raised of God,
and set in the heavenly places, far above principalities and
powers, and every name that is named), and brought as
a new creation, children withal, and heirs into immediate
nearness to God. e additional truth is brought out, that
we are united to Christ in this place, as members of His
body, and His heavenly bride.
I cannot here-time does not allow it-do more than draw
out the great general principles of the dierent aspects of
truth presented by the two epistles. He who searches as a
devout learner into the truth of God, will, I am sure, nd
(in what I here notice in these epistles) elements of deep
and protable instruction, as to his own relationship with
God, the Christianity of his soul and of the word, and of
his soul according to the word. Perhaps some one, for his
own and our edication, may furnish us with further results
which ow from it.
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62977
Galatians
It may interest your readers
1
to have brought before
them the great principles which constitute the bases of the
doctrine of the Epistle to the Galatians. It is upon the face
of it elementary, the churches of Galatia being in imminent
danger of adding Judaism to Christianity in such a way as
to destroy the nature of Christianity itself. Nor was theirs
the only age in which liability to do so had existed, and has
had to be watched against.
e law is a testing of human nature, to see whether
it can produce righteousness for God, and a perfect rule
of righteousness for that nature in all it owes to God and
to a man’s neighbor. So that it claims subjection, and that
man should fulll its requirements under penalty moreover
of judgment. e authority of God, the subjection of man
to His commandments, and a perfect rule of conduct
for man in his present state as a child of Adam are all
involved in this system. But man, conscious he ought to
fulll it, his own conscience telling him it is right, and not
suspecting his own weakness and the depth of his ruin,
and seeing that keeping it would be righteousness for him
before God, readily takes it up as the way of having that
righteousness, and enjoying divine favor, of being right
when judgment comes. When unawakened, observance
of its outward claims satises the natural conscience; if
understood spiritually, it leads to the discovery of that law
in our members which hinders all success in the attempt.
But God having established the law, it was a very dicult
1 Originally sent to “ e Present Testimony.”
Galatians
21
and delicate thing to show that, as a system, it was passed
away, not because it was not in its right place, and useful
too for its own real purpose, but to make way for a system
of grace purposed and promised long before the law was
established; and that by the discovery that it was death
and condemnation to be under it, that the mind of the
esh (the nature the law dealt with) was not subject to it,
and could not be, and that we escape its curse as under it,
not by the destruction of its authority, but by dying as so
under it, and that by the body of Christ in whom we then
found ourselves in a new life beyond its condemnation. e
cross makes all things clear. But the credit of the esh (that
is, of himself) is dear to the natural man, and till he had
discovered that in him (that is, in his esh) there was no
good thing, he was loth to give up a rule he knew to be
right, in the humbling confession that he was such a sinner
that it could be only his condemnation, the law of sin so
strong in his members, himself so disposed to evil, that
the law, weak through the esh, could only condemn him.
Judaizing teachers, proud in their own conceits, zealous of
the law as the credit of their nation, could not bear to have
it set aside as necessary for the way of righteousness and
life with God; and the ministry which judged the esh in
Jew and Gentile, and freed the latter from all subjection to
the Jewish system, was intolerable to them. Man always
clings to the law, speciously alleging God’s claims and
holiness, till he experimentally nds (in the discovery of
the true character of the esh) his true state, that as many
as are of the works of the law are under the curse.
Hence Paul, both as to his own ministry and the place
the law held, was in perpetual conict with these Judaizing
teachers. e more intimate we are with his writings, the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
22
more we shall nd how he was harassed by it, and how
his writings continually bear on the point that you cannot
mix the two systems, law and grace. is lay at the root
of all his doctrine, and in all its highest developments, as
well as in its rst elements. e counsels of God, in the
second Man, were formed before the world was, or man
was responsible at all, and revealed only after that second
Man was come, and had accomplished the work on which
the bringing all these counsels into eect was founded. e
apostle’s doctrine, fully unfolded, brought out the ground
and scope of these counsels in their full development in
Christ, and, as to us, in a new and heavenly position of
man in and with Him; while the true state of the rst man,
responsible for his walk, of which the law was the perfect
rule, gave occasion for insisting on the rst elements of
the truth, and the necessity of setting aside the rst man,
and thus for the application of the law, which could reach
him only as long as he lived, in order to substitute grace
and divine righteousness, not because the law was wrong,
but because being right it was death and condemnation to
man under it. Christ met this responsibility for us on the
cross, magnifying the law by bearing its curse, but bringing
us, dead to sin and alive in Him, into connection withal
with another-Himself raised from the dead. In His death
God had condemned sin in the esh, and brought in what
was divine in righteousness and life in place of man, when
Christ was for sin a sacrice for sin on the cross. ese
elements the Epistle to the Galatians fully instructs us in,
without going into the counsels whose accomplishment is
based on the cross. ese are found elsewhere, most fully
in the Ephesians.
Galatians
23
e rst part of the Epistle to the Galatians is occupied
with the independence of Paul’s ministry. It was neither of
nor by man. From the apostles he received nothing. e
revelations he received, and his apostolic authority were
immediately from the Lord. But on this part it is not my
object now to dwell. At the end of chapter 2 the apostle
gives, in earnest and burning words, the whole bearing of
the law on the gospel, and how they were related one to
another; but of this at the close. I will now show how he
sets the law and the gospel over against one another.
Up to the ood, save the testimony of godly men and
prophets, God did not interfere after the history of man’s
perverseness was complete in Adam and Cain. at issued
in the judgment of the ood. After that, God began anew
to deal with man, to unfold His ways to him in the state in
which he was. And they were carried on till the full proof
of man’s irreclaimable state was given in the rejection of
Christ. e rst of these dealings, after scattering men
into nations and tongues and languages, was His taking
Abraham out of them all for Himself, and making him the
stock and root of a new family on the earth, God’s family
eshy or spiritual: the former Israel; the latter the one
seed, Christ. Leaving aside for the moment Israel, the seed
according to the esh, to whom the promises will surely
be accomplished in grace, we nd the promise made to
Abram in chapter 12, and conrmed to the seed in chapter
22. is referred to all nations who were to be blessed in
the Seed, the one Seed, typied by Isaac, oered up and
raised in gure. On this the apostle insists. e blessing
came by promise. is, conrmed as it was to Isaac, could
not be disannulled, and (what is more directly to the point)
could not be added to. e law could not be annexed to
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24
it as a condition. To that there were two parties; but God
was only one. e accomplishment of this conditional
promise depended on the delity of both, and hence had
no stability. God’s promise depended on Himself alone.
His faithfulness was its security, and it could not fail. But
the law, coming four hundred and thirty years after, could
not invalidate or be added to the conrmed promise. e
law is not against the promises of God, but merely came in
by the bye till the Seed should come to whom the promise
was made, bringing in transgression but not righteousness.
e law was not of faith; its blessing was by those who
were under it themselves doing it. Promise, and faith in
the promise and promised One, went together. e law
brought a curse; Christ, the promised Seed, was made a
curse for those under it, and when Christianity or faith
came they were no longer under it at all. e law was an
intermediate added thing whose place ceased when the
promised Seed came. e law and grace are contrasted,
as the law and promise, faith and the Seed are, rst for
justication. A man under the law was a debtor himself to
do the whole of it; and a Christian taking this ground was
fallen from grace: Christ had become of none eect to him.
A man who looked to the law frustrated the grace of God:
if righteousness came by it, Christ was dead in vain.
But the contrast is applied to godly walk. e Spirit is
opposed to the esh. ey are contrary one to the other
in their nature. We are to walk after the Spirit, having the
things of the Spirit before us, to do its works, to produce
its fruits; but if we are led of the Spirit, we are not under
law. Life and power and a heavenly object characterize the
Spirit, in contrast with the law which deals with esh, and
in vain, instead of taking us out of it. us, as to godly
Galatians
25
walk as well as for righteousness, the law is contrasted with
grace. On one side are grace, promise, faith, Christ, and the
Spirit, and, I may add, a righteous standing before God; on
the other, the law claiming obedience from the esh, which
does not render it, and out of which the law cannot deliver
us. It gives no life. If there had been a law which could have
given life, then, indeed, righteousness should have been by
the law. It is this full contrast which makes the Galatians
so striking.
e result is this. Being led of the Spirit we are not
under law. What, then, is our state? We through the Spirit
wait for the hope that belongs to it, that is, glory. How so?
Being righteous in Christ, we have received the Spirit, and
in the power of that we wait for what it so richly reveals.
e contrast of the esh and Spirit, and the power of the
latter leaves the law functionless as to walk, whether in
power or character. Law was a rule for esh, a perfect one,
but not for Spirit. is reveals heavenly things, Christ in
glory, and changes us into His image. is was in no way
the law’s object.
How, then, is its real use and power stated in the
epistle? Peter, when certain came from James, would no
longer eat with the Gentiles. Paul withstood him to the
face, the weakness of one yielding to the presence of Jews,
the energetic faith of the other holding fast the truth of
the gospel. Peter had left the law as the way of obtaining
righteousness, and he was going back to it, building again
what he had destroyed; he was then a transgressor in
destroying it. Now Christ had led him to it. Christ then
was the minister of sin. What was the eect of the law?
Ah! we have, through grace, in the earnestness of a holy
conscience, its true work. It wrought death. e law had
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26
killed Paul (that is, in his conscience before God). He had
been alive without it once. But thereby he was dead to it;
and this, that in another way, in another life, he might
live to God, which the esh could not do. Had it been
simply given eect to in himself, it had been curse and
condemnation as well as death, but it was in Christ, who
had died under its curse for him, and he was crucied with
Christ, being thus dead, dead to law, and to sin at the same
time, having done with the old Adam, to which the law
applied; he was, nevertheless, now alive. Yet not he (which
would have been the esh) but Christ lived in him.
e law, and condemnation, and the esh, were gone
(so to speak) together as to Paul’s position before God,
and replaced by Christ and the Spirit, on which last he
largely insists in what follows-chapter 3. But there is more;
there is the object before the soul. “ e life which I live in
the esh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me.” is is the great point. at
divine Person, who has so loved us and given Himself for
us, whom we thus know in perfect grace, in love even unto
death, is the sanctifying object of the whole life. We live
by it. e law gave no object, any more than it gave life
and strength. Here we have the most blessed one, where
the heart is lled with love, and led out into condence
with an object that conforms it to itself. e principle of
dealing, grace, life, power, object, are all contrasted with
law, which aorded none of these, and could therefore no
more produce godliness than it could righteousness before
God.
e Epistle thus contrasts grace, promise, faith, Christ,
the Spirit for righteousness and walk alike, with law and
esh. e law was useful as bringing death on us, that is,
Galatians
27
on the old man, condemnation being borne by Christ, in
whom we have died to it and esh. A new place, and life,
and righteousness, beyond the cross, is that into which
we have entered, with Christ in heaven before us. I have
written at intervals, and interrupted, as well as weary, and
not given in this paper, I fear, what was suggested to my
mind. But I trust the great principles of the Epistle, on
this point, will be suciently clear to be helpful to some in
studying the Epistle itself.
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28
63013
Substance of a Reading on
Ephesians
THE nature of the Epistle to the Ephesians is quite
distinct from that of Romans. In Ephesians we have
nothing to do with the responsibility of man; we have with
Christ, and man is looked at as dead in sins, and there is
a new creation. Consequently the question of justication
is not raised in Ephesians, but acceptance is. We have seen
before that these are the two great subjects in connection
with the gospel: namely, the meeting of the responsibility
of man; and the counsels of God before ever there was a
responsible man at all. ese counsels are in the second
Man, not in the rst. e rst man was the responsible
one; the Lord Jesus is the Man of God’s counsels, the last
Adam or second Man. In Ephesians these counsels of God
are taken up; in Romans the responsible man (in grace,
but still responsible), sinners, every mouth stopped, and
a propitiation through faith in Christ’s blood, the whole
question of God’s meeting us in grace in our responsibility
and failure, is fully brought out. In the Ephesians there is
nothing of this. It begins with the counsels and intentions
of God, and puts us in Christ.
Now the structure of the epistle is this. In chapter 1
we have these counsels of God as to glory, as to Christ,
and as to our inheritance. Only at the end the apostle
begins to unfold how far the foundation is laid for their
accomplishment in what He has already done. So that,
after stating the counsels, he enters on what God has done.
Substance of a Reading on Ephesians
29
at is, He has taken Christ from the dead and set Him up
far above all heavens, principalities, and powers, and every
name named. He commences, observe, with the raising of
Christ from the dead. ere you get not merely counsels,
but the accomplishment, so far as exalting the second Man
into glory above all heavens.
Chapter 2 shows how far God has accomplished that
mighty work in us. We have been raised from being dead in
sins and put into Christ, sitting in Him (not with Him, we
are not there yet) in heavenly places. It is the operation of
God putting us into His place. It is in Christ I am sitting,
not with Him. is makes us God’s workmanship; and
then He brings us forth a step farther in making both Jews
and Gentiles one. It is still what He has accomplished or is
doing so far. He has put down the middle wall of partition,
and reconciled us in one body by the cross, that is, down
here; and He is not only building a holy temple to the Lord
(it is not built yet), but we are builded together, Jews and
Gentiles, for the habitation of God by the Spirit down
here. is is what God has accomplished. He has raised
Christ from the dead, and set Him in glory; He has raised
us up spiritually from the dead and put us into Christ;
He has abolished all dierences of Jew and Gentiles, and
He has not only made peace between Jew and Gentile,
reconciling them, but He has reconciled them both in one
body by the cross. ey are reconciled to one another and
reconciled to God, and they are going to be a temple, and
they are builded together for a habitation of God through
the Spirit, that is, down here. is is what is accomplished
of His purposes, the foundation being laid for them all.
In chapter 3 follows another thing. It is neither God’s
counsels nor God’s operation, but Paul’s administration of
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30
all these, the dispensation committed to him. As to the
substance of it, it is Paul’s administration of the mystery, not
God’s counsels about it, but the apostle’s administration of
it; and at the end, as it refers to earth, there is the second
prayer which is addressed to the Father of our Lord Jesus,
where Christ is looked at as Son. e rst prayer, which is
found in chapter 1, is addressed to the God of our Lord
Jesus as the gloried Man; but this is addressed to the
Father, and Christ is looked at as Son, a divine Person.
erefore it is here not the object, or the thing objectively,
but rather that Christ may dwell in our hearts, that is,
power brought in down here according to His counsels. So
that there is to be glory to God in the church in all ages.
is is a power that works in us, as the other was toward us.
Having the counsels, and the operation, and Paul’s
administration, the eect is looked for in chapter 4 as
regards there being a habitation of God through the Spirit
down here; and then, secondly, here too the individual
gifts. is goes down to the end of verse 16. Verse 17
begins the ordinary exhortations as to how to walk. ey
were to walk together. All distinctions of Jew and Gentile
have disappeared. He has brought them together as one
habitation of God through the Spirit, and now they are to
walk together and keep the unity of the Spirit. en we go
on to individual gifts, and in verse 17 we begin the practical
exhortation for all saints, which is continued in chapter 5.
At the end of chapter 5 occasion is taken from the case of
the husband and wife to bring in the relationship of Christ
and the church. After going into the dierent relationships
in which saints are to be faithful, the conict in heavenly
places is taken up.
Substance of a Reading on Ephesians
31
Now another thing may be remarked as to the epistle,
that is, that everything refers to heavenly places; not
that we are not upon earth, for we are, but that now to
principalities and powers in heavenly places may be known
through the church the wisdom of God. We are blessed
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, and we are
sitting in heavenly places in Christ, we are a testimony
to principalities and powers in heavenly places, and we
are ghting with wicked spirits in heavenly places. Our
blessing, our place, our testimony, and our conict are all in
these heavenly places. Now you will nd that ministry here
is connected with all these.
Farther, what God is working in chapter 2 is that the
whole building eectually framed together groweth into a
holy temple. It is only growing up to this end. But moreover
“ ye are builded together for a habitation of God.” is
is taking place. e holy temple will be in glory. ey are
to be a building for a temple even as Christ said, “ I will
build my church.” e temple that is to be is that spoken
of by the Lord in Matt. 16 “ Upon the rock I will build
my church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against
it.” You get it also in Peter, “ Ye also as living stones are
built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood.” ere they are
built up stone after stone. So in Ephesians, “ and are built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief corner stone, in whom all
the building, tly framed together, groweth unto an holy
temple in the Lord.” It is growing unto an holy temple,
but it is not yet nished. e house that Christ builds
is a perfect thing, it is not nished yet, but what people
commonly call the invisible church. But then there is an
actually manifested thing by the Holy Ghost being here:
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32
“ Ye are builded together for a habitation of God through
the Spirit.”
In short there are two characters of the assembly, the
body of Christ, and the habitation of God now by the Holy
Ghost. When we speak of the body of Christ, the members
are looked at as united to the Head in heaven, and, spoken
of as the house, will be a holy temple; when we speak of
the habitation, it is by the Holy Ghost down here. It is the
same thing as far as they went, but they soon ceased to be
identical.
In verse 21 it is a temple not yet completed; when it
is completed, it will be in glory. We are builded together
for a habitation of God through the Spirit (v. 22); this is
the present thing. It is just the confounding of these two
things that has made popery and ritualism. at is, they
have attributed all the privileges which belong to what
Christ is building and has not yet nished to the thing
that is built on earth. Now when you get a thing built
upon earth, God sets it up all right; but like everything
else, like man himself when he was created, it is put into
man’s responsibility. God carries on His own purpose, and
against what Christ builds the gates of hades shall never
prevail. But always in the rst instance, whatever God
sets up, He puts into man’s responsibility; and then it is
all ruined. Nevertheless God’s purpose is all accomplished
in Christ. is is true of everything. It is true of Israel. It
is true of individual saints, and of the whole church. What
Christ is carrying on, the gates of hades shall not prevail
against. e administration of it is on earth. In 1Cor.
3 Paul says, “ As a wise master builder, I have laid the
foundation and another buildeth thereon. Let every man
take heed how he buildeth thereupon.” is is not Christ’s
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33
building. It is not Christ carrying out, “ I will build my
church “; nor the living stones coming and growing into a
holy temple. In the latter case there is no agent but Christ.
It is He that is building; and therefore, of course, Satan’s
power cannot prevail against it. In 1Cor. 3 it is not Christ
building; it is man’s responsibility, as it is said, “ Let every
man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.” Wood and hay
and stubble can be built in; and if you attribute to wood
and hay and stubble the security of what Christ is doing,
you will be making a grave mistake. Papists and Puseyites
are taking what has been built by man, and confounding it
with Christ’s work, saying the gates of hades cannot prevail
against it. ey confound two dierent works.
God set up right even what is upon earth: “ the Lord
added to the church
2
daily such as should be saved.” God’s
work was right; but soon false brethren came in unawares,
Simon Maguses and I know not what, because man was
put under responsibility, and the rst thing he does is to
sin. Noah had the sword put into his hands for governing,
and the rst thing he does is to get drunk. e law was
given, and the rst thing the Jews did was to make a golden
calf. Priesthood was set up, and the rst day they oered
strange re, and Aaron never went into the holy place with
the garments of glory and beauty. When royalty was set
up, the son of David loved many strange women, and his
heart went after their gods. e church was set up, and it
failed. Christ will be the perfect Man; Christ will govern
the world in righteousness; Christ is the perfect priest;
Christ is perfect as the Son of David; He will arise to
reign over the Gentiles. He will be gloried in His saints,
2 [e true reading would run thus, “ was adding together daily,”
etc.-ED.]
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34
and admired in all them that believe. Every one of the
things put under the responsibility of man will be perfectly
carried out. If I confound this accomplishment of purpose
in Christ with what is placed under the responsibility of
man, and attribute what belongs to the one to the other, I
am justifying all the evil and corruption about us. at is
the question now in the church of God.
e body is never looked at as incomplete in itself, it
would spoil the whole idea. When the purpose of God is
brought out, it is looked at as in that purpose. In chapter
I He gave Him to be Head over all things to the church,
which is His body. ere it is looked at as complete when
all things are put under Him. All things are not yet put
under Him: it is not accomplished yet; it is in counsels. e
moment I get it down here, I get both the house and the
body.
Chapter 2: 21 contains the same thought as Matt. 16:18,
and also the same as 1Peter 2.
Verse 22 is the house as set up now upon earth: only
when God set it up, He set it up all right. “ Ye are builded
together for a habitation of God.” It is a present thing.
e dwelling of God with men down here is a distinct
denite fact, and the fruit of redemption. God never dwelt
with man apart from redemption. He did not dwell with
Adam; He never dwelt with Abraham, He never dwelt
with anybody down here until Israel was redeemed out
of Egypt. No doubt this was an outward redemption, still
it was in a certain sense redemption. God redeemed His
people out of the bondage of Egypt, and in the end of Ex.
29 He says, “ And they shall know that I am Jehovah their
God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt,
that I may dwell among them.” e moment redemption
Substance of a Reading on Ephesians
35
comes in, He makes the redeemed people His dwelling-
place, and He comes down and dwells among them in the
tabernacle. is was given up at the captivity when the
times of the Gentiles began.
Since Christ’s rejection and the accomplishment of the
better redemption, the church is established on earth for
God to dwell in. is habitation of God through the Spirit
was set up, consequent upon redemption, but down here it
is trusted to man’s responsibility. What it has become now
is Christendom.
e increase of the body is spoken of in chapter 4. It is
merely the fact that here it grows. You afterward see the
dierent gifts and all of them exercised, and you nd the
body grows up, just as a child grows up. ere are persons
brought in; but they come into it all as a complete thing.
e individual persons come in and are a part of that
growth. You get evangelists as well as pastors and teachers.
Still when individuals come in, they are only part of the
same body. So when I eat my body grows. Of course, they
are mere gures after all.
But in speaking of these things, you get the individual
before anything of the body or the house. You will always
nd the individual has the rst place. e individual
relationship is with the Father; the corporate relationship
is with Christ as a man: and the house relationship is with
the Holy Ghost come down. ere are the three. e rst
is that we have the adoption of children (sons) to Himself;
and then that He has given Christ to be head over all things
to the church, which is His body. Here is our relationship
with Christ as raised and gloried, but before that comes
all about the individual. en in the third place there is
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36
the Holy Spirit come down to dwell. It makes a wonderful
scheme and plan to put all these things together.
If you look further to the application of all this to
ministry, you see, when he is beginning, he says, “ Unto
every one of us is given grace according to the measure of
the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith [it is the ground and
basis that is given for ministry], When he ascended upon
high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now
that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended rst
into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the
same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he
might ll all things. And he gave some apostles, and some
prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and
teachers.” We rst get the basis of all these gifts, Christ,
but not Christ on earth as the Jew had Messias. All this
has disappeared from the apostle’s mind; and he sees Him
going down into the dust of earth, and then ascending
far above all heavens, whereof he takes up the eects. He
went down into the lower parts of the earth, the grave, but
hades for his soul. He went into the under world, the lower
parts of the earth, and then He is far above all heavens.
He has been below creation, for death and hades are in a
certain sense below it, and then He is above it and in this
way He lls all things. We see Christ in His redemption
power lling everything. All service and ministry have
their place in that, and they ow from it. He has come
down where Satan had his power, death and hades (called
hell). He goes down where Satan’s power was, and breaks
it; He leads captivity captive; and He puts man in the glory
of God in His own Person far above all heavens; so that
He has met on the one hand the power of evil, and on the
other set man in the glory of God. As Man He gets these
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37
gifts, as we were reading in the Acts, “ Being by the right
hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the
promise of the Holy Spirit “ (the Holy Spirit is the promise
of the Father), “ he hath shed forth this which ye now see
and hear.” He has done that as Man, not merely as God,
observe; but Christ, in virtue of this redemption by which
He lls all things, receives the Spirit and sends Him to
men whom He has rescued out of Satan’s hands and builds
up His church here. It gives a wonderful place to ministry.
Here in Ephesians we nd the individual saints the rst
object, as it is said, “ for (pros) the perfecting of the saints,”
and then it is added “ for (eis) the work of the ministry, for
the edifying of the body of Christ.” e rst thing is that
each saint should grow up to Him who is the head, that
is, Christ. ere are three objects. One object is rst of all
distinct. ere is a dierent preposition in Greek. He does
all things “ for the perfecting of the saints “ (there He is the
rst-born of many brethren); and it has these additional
characters, it is for work of ministry down here, and for
edifying the body as a whole. You must not lose sight of
the individual when you get into the body. He carries on
the perfecting of the saints to the end of verse 15, and in
verse 16 He comes to ministry and building up of the body.
“ Till we all arrive at the unity of the faith” (that is, each
individual, of course) “ and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature
of the fullness of the Christ “ (nothing short of that); “
that we be no longer babes, tossed and carried about by
every wind of that teaching which is in the sleight of
men, in unprincipled cunning with a view to systematized
error; but holding the truth in love, we may grow up to
him in all things, who is the head, the Christ.” ere
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38
we see individuals, and they grow up to Christ. en he
goes on-” From whom the whole body [now we have the
corporate thing] tted together and connected by every
joint of supply, according to the working in its measure of
each one part, worketh for itself the increase of the body
to itself-building up in love.” at is the second thing, or
additional aim. First, the individual saints grow up to the
Head in everything, and, secondly, the building up of the
body. It is the body building itself up; but still it is service
and ministry. It is wonderful grace that He who went into
the lower parts of the earth has gone to glory and has done
this immense thing-put the saints in personal connection
with Him.
e prayer in chapter 3 is wonderful, “ that he might give
you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened
with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” He asks that
the power of the Holy Spirit might work in the heart of
the individual, and that Christ might be in the aections, “
that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith,” that is, that
Christ may be realized by faith. I have now got Christ-
who is the center of the whole universe of blessedness-
dwelling in my heart. us I have the center in me, and
this is perfect love sure enough, for we are dwelling in
God and God in us; and thus rooted and grounded in
love. Being there my heart takes in all the saints, “ rooted
and grounded in love that ye may be able to comprehend
with all saints.” You cannot leave them out, for they form
part of this plan of God, the nearest circle to Christ. en,
getting the whole scene of God’s glory and purpose, we
apprehend the breadth and length and depth and height,
that is, the whole scene of God’s glory. All the glory that
God surrounds Himself with we have by having Christ in
Substance of a Reading on Ephesians
39
the heart, by faith realized in the power of the Spirit. But
as we might be lost in this glory, we get back to Christ with
whom we are familiar, and he prays that we may “ know
the love of Christ which surpasseth knowledge.” We nd
in this galaxy of glory ourselves perfectly intimate with the
Person that is the center of it all. He dwells in the heart,
and we know the love of Christ. Accordingly this does
not narrow, but really quite the contrary, because it passes
knowledge. erefore He says, “ to know the love of Christ
which passes knowledge, that ye may be lled with all the
fullness of God.” We have what surrounds God in the
glory, and now having known the personal love of Christ
we have got to God Himself. “ Now unto him that is able
to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us.” is passage
is generally quoted as referring to what God can do for
us. People in their prayers say (piously no doubt; I do not
attribute any harm) that God can do more than they ask or
think. at is quite true, but it is not what is here. He says,
“ to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh
in us.” us it is a very dierent thing. “ To him be glory
in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages.” We are
carried out into all this of which we have been speaking;
it is a power that works in us so that He is gloried in the
church in all ages and of course now. at is where He sets
us before He takes up the question of ministry.
e prayer is not that we might know the hope of His
calling and the glory of His inheritance, but that the Father
of our Lord Jesus according to the riches of His glory may
strengthen us with might. It is according to all this thing
in which He is gloried that He strengthens us. In the rst
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40
prayer he prays that the eyes of our hearts may be opened
and we may know the things that are ours. e glory is ours
and the inheritance is ours. Here he comes not to what
is objective, but to what works in us. e prayer is to the
Father, not to God; and He looks for Christ dwelling in
our hearts. He is looking for power in us, not objects before
us, “ that we may be strengthened with might by his Spirit
in the inner man.” He prays that this power may work in
us, but it may not be working. He is not looking that we
may know certain things that are ours, but that the things
may exist. I may not be strengthened with might in the
inner man, though I may have the Spirit. It is a positive
state he is praying for.
e rst prayer is not a prayer for anything to work in
us, but that we may see the things, and He puts the things
before us as objects. e things are ours. We have got the
calling: we are partakers of the heavenly calling, as it is
said in Hebrews, and if we have not got the inheritance
actually, we are joint heirs with Christ. He prays that the
eyes of our hearts may be opened so that we may look at
these things, but they are ours. It is wonderful that the
Holy Ghost cannot show us anything of glory that is not
ours. e power spoken of at the end of the chapter which
does the work in us, is a power that has taken us when
dead sinners and put us in the Christ where He is. But this
is all settled. “ And what is the exceeding greatness of his
power to usward who believe, according to the working
of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ, when
he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this world, but also in that which is
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41
to come.” ere we nd that you who were dead in sins
He has quickened. at is the power that has wrought and
made a Christian of me. Here is chapter 3 he is praying
that the power may work in us now. Practically it is the
realization of it.
In chapter 4 is one of the three “ worthys “ in the walk.
We are called to walk worthy of God who has called us to
His kingdom and glory; we are called to walk worthy of
the Lord unto all pleasing; and here we are called to walk
worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, that is,
the habitation of God through the Spirit-the whole thing,
but specially the last part. ey are all brought into unity,
reconciled to God, brought together as the habitation of
God through the Spirit. Here he tells them to walk worthy
of that calling. It is striking how he goes on directly to
lowliness and meekness. is is the walk that is worthy of
the vocation. We would feel our own nothingness if we
thought of this place. It is very simple if we could take it
practically. He has made us all one by the Spirit; we are
all builded together like stones in a house; and He looks
to us walking in that unity and the spirit of peace. We are
to walk in the sense of these great things and of our own
nothingness.
ere is threefold unity, one body, one Spirit, and
ourselves called in one hope of our calling. We then get the
outward profession, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; and
afterward a still greater circle-one God and Father of all,
above all, and through all, and in you all. In other words,
we get unity of the Spirit, the unity of the lordship, and
the unity in connection with one God and Father. It is the
Spirit, the Lord, and God, as you nd it in 1Corinthians,
where he speaks of gifts, diversities of gifts, but the same
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42
Spirit; diversities of administrations, but the same Lord; and
diversities of operations, but the same God that worketh
all in all. It is not Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; this is not
the thought, though it is connected with it, but the Spirit
and Lord and God. You have the Spirit, the active agent
down here, the Lord under whose authority the work is
carried on, and after all, it is a divine thing-the same God
that works all in all. So it is in the Corinthians, but just
the same principle as here. ere is a dierence between
the gifts there and here, and a very important dierence,
though here as there the Spirit and the Lord and God. We
have the Holy Ghost down here; then Christ as Man in
glory (He is more than that, but still He is Man; God has
made Him Lord and Christ; He has got an ocial place. It
is not that He has not a human nature, and a divine nature:
that is all true; but He has an ocial place): one Lord, one
faith, one baptism. en follows a wider larger circle, one
God, who is above all, through all, and (bringing it back to
the internal power) He is in us all. Scripture is remarkably
correct. Pantheism puts God into everything, and makes it
all God; but Paul gives us the truth.
Next we come to “ everyone of us.” Each of us has his
own special niche; we all ll some little service, whatever it
is. “ Unto every one of us is given grace “: it is individualized.
It is to every member of the body.
“ Everyone “ is contrasted with that unity. He takes them
rst all as one thing, and then He takes them separately. It
is according to the measure of the gift of Christ. We have
Christ the giver now. You do not get this in 1Cor. 12; and
the dierence is an important one practically. ere it is
the Holy Ghost come down and distributing divinely. e
Holy Ghost distributes to every man severally as He will,
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43
and therefore in the Corinthians they are merely looked
at as powers. Must a man necessarily speak with a tongue
because he is able to speak with it? No, says Paul, you
must think of the building up of the church; everything
must be done to edication. If the gift you have does not
edify, you must be quiet. If there is no interpreter, you are
not to speak. at is, we have power, but power subject to
the ordering authority of the Lord in the church of God.
ey were speaking two or three at a time. ey said they
were all speaking by the Holy Ghost, and they thought
they must utter what they had got to say. “ No,” says the
apostle, “ the spirits of the prophets are subject to the
prophets.” ere must be order. ere was power, but this
power was restrained and authorized by the God of order.
e possession of power was no proof that the person
possessing it was to exercise his power; he was only to
exercise it when it would edify the church. In consequence
we nd in the Epistle to the Corinthians what are called
sign-gifts. ere are no miraculous gifts in Ephesians,
whereas in I Corinthians appear healings, miracles,
tongues and various signs of power, which you do not get
here. ere it is the Holy Ghost down here. Here we have
Christ on high caring for His own body, and looking for
its edication, and hence we have only those gifts which
are permanent for its good. e apostles and prophets were
the foundation. e foundation is not being laid now; but
the other gifts are given till we all come to the unity of the
faith, to a full-grown man. at is, it is not a mere question
of power, but of the faithfulness of Christ to His own body,
the assembly, which He nourishes and cherishes as a man
does his own esh.
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44
e word “ gift “ has a double sense. If you do not
see this, you might be apt to take it in verse 7 as if it was
Christ that is given. It denotes the giving as well as the
thing given. Grace is merely a favor given, as a special grace
conferred in giving a man such a qualication from Christ
for service. To every one of us is given grace according to
the measure of Christ’s gift. at is, I have got this grace,
this thing that is conferred upon me, in the measure Christ
has given it. You cannot say grace is given me to use a gift
when the grace is given according to the measure of the
gift of Christ.
e grace is the gift. It is according to the measure of
the giving of Christ that He gave this. If grace was given
according to the measure of the gift of Christ, everyone
would have perfect grace according to the gift He had
given.
It is character, it is God’s grace given; but it is a gift,
whatever it may be. “ To me is this grace given that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of
Christ.”
It is tantamount to every member of the body having a
gift. Also He makes a distinction between permanent gifts
and what every joint supplies. He does not give pastorship,
He gives pastors. is is not unimportant, because Paul
a prophet was not always prophesying, though always
a prophet, and he was an apostle, though not always
exercising his apostleship. erefore Christ does not give
apostleship but apostles. Taking it as such given to him, it
is a certain position and place of service given to him, and
he is that. Christ ascends up on high and gives him. In
Psa. 68 it is said that, when He ascended up on high, He
received gifts in man. e point is, that Christ as a man
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45
has gone up and is a giver. It is the measure of the gift of
Christ, not of the Holy Ghost, though it operates by the
Holy Ghost.
Supposing I say I give to you an act of pastorship to-
day, and that is all about it. is is not the case here. He
gives the man as a pastor, and he is always a pastor, though
God might deprive him of it if He liked. e man has that
place and function. Paul was always an apostle. It was not
a certain thing that came upon him and was gone, but he
was an apostle always. When we get to the power of the
Holy Ghost in I Corinthians, we read that God “ set in the
church rst apostles, then prophets “; but it is much more
an action of the Holy Ghost present down here as power.
Here then we nd what we have referred to already-
we come to the immense truth, Christ going down to the
place of death, His soul to hades, and His body to the
grave; and then going far above all heavens and lling
everything. Having led captivity captive, He now comes
in power, and makes other men the instruments of His
power. en, being so exalted, He gave some, apostles; and
some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors
and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, etc.
ere are rst the apostles and prophets. ey are passed
away, but we have their writings, and these are precious. I
mean we have not their personal presence, but are built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets; and
of course there is no foundation to be laid now. en he
takes that which must come rst to have the church, for
you cannot have pastors and teachers till you have had an
evangelist to bring people there to be nourished. You see
the foundation must be laid rst, whence you have apostles
and prophets rst. en how are you to get souls to be
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46
taught if there are no evangelists? “ How shall they hear
without a preacher? “ Hence evangelists come next. It is a
most blessed gift. I think more of evangelists than of pastors
and teachers. ey face the world more for Christ. Still I
believe a pastor is a rare gift. e work of the evangelist is
simpler. He stands in the face of the world for Christ. A
pastor must be like a doctor; he must know the right food,
and the right medicine, and the right diagnosis, and all the
pharmacopoeia, and must know how to apply it too. In one
sense it is a rare gift, and very precious.
Pastor and teacher are distinct things, but they are in
Greek (and indeed in English) joined. ey are connected,
but not absolutely one, because a pastor includes in a certain
sense the other; whereas a teacher has nothing to do with
the oce of pastor, so as to care for souls. I might expound
the scripture, and yet not really have wisdom to deal with
individual souls as a pastor has to do. at of pastor is a
wider gift. Still they are closely connected, because you
could hardly prot an individual without teaching him in
a measure. A person may teach without being a pastor, but
you can hardly be a pastor without teaching in a certain
sense. e two gifts are closely connected, but you could
not say they are the same thing. e pastor does not merely
give food as the teacher; the pastor shepherds the sheep,
leads them here and there, and takes care of them. I think
it is a thing greatly wanted, but I believe it is a rare gift
and always was. Pastors must have a heart for the sheep.
ere are degrees of completeness in it, but that is what
the pastor has to do. e testimony is in the evangelist,
but his work is simpler. He carries the gospel to the poor
sinner, whereas the pastor has saints on his heart and cares
for them.
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47
One has taken some comfort out of the thought that
the evangelist was not so important, for God would be sure
to do the work. But it is not the way the apostle put it, for
he says, “ How shall they hear without a preacher? and how
shall they preach except they be sent? “ ere is nothing
like going to the word of God. God can do anything He
pleases in that way, I have no doubt; still His ordinary way
is by preaching.
e extent of an evangelist’s work is to announce
the glad tidings. It extends till they receive Christ and
remission of sins. e evangelist throws the net into the
sea, and it gathers of every kind, and then the shermen
put the good sh into vessels. It is the same gure in that
parable. No distinction is made there. e net is drawn to
shore at the close of the dispensation. eir business was
good sh. ey got a lot of bad ones into the net, and they
put the good ones into vessels. Hence it is now a question
of sorting. en an evangelist distinguishes between
those truly converted and those not. at parable speaks
in general of all. ose that were pulling at the nets were
putting in the vessels too.
But the evangelist has nothing to do inside the church
as an evangelist. A man may not be a public speaker very
much, but there will be evangelizing going on, if there is
much life. Saints always rejoice in the truth. ere is a great
deal of the teaching gospel now. Saints want the gospel very
often as much as sinners (I mean the clear plain gospel);
and therefore what I call a teaching gospel really has its
place. It is another kind of thing from what awakens the
sinner.
It is a mixture of a teacher’s and evangelist’s work. You
will hear one man praying and beseeching God to bring in
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48
poor sinners, and you will hear another praying that Christ
may be gloried in His sheep; the one in principle has a
pastor’s heart, and the other an evangelist’s. You thus see
where a man’s heart is. e one is for people outside, and
the other’s desire is that Christ’s sheep may glorify Him.
Owing to the perverse teaching which is abroad, you
have to get converted people to the gospel. It is not the
same thing as going out to the highways and hedges, and
compelling them to come in. To such one would preach not
only about their sins, but the grace of Christ for them in
their sins. Rom. 3 comes before chapter 7; but I was in the
seventh before I got to the third, because I had nobody to
preach to me. e rst thing a person wants to know is that
he is guilty, and when he knows his guilt in his conscience
and his responsibility, the blood of Christ meets it, and
there is forgiveness and cleansing.
Recollect we are talking about preaching the gospel
when all the world professes to believe in Christ. When
Peter preached the gospel to the Jews, he says, You have
crucied and slain Him, and God has raised Him from the
dead. You go and tell a sinner in the street that God has
raised Him from the dead, and he will say, “ I know that
as well as you.” ey preached facts then. I believe that the
gospel is really a great deal more powerful when we preach
or bring forward the great facts of the gospel. ere is
immense power in these facts; but at the same time in the
ordinary sense they are admitted, and hence you have to
press their power and value upon people. When they went
to heathens rst, they told them that God had sent His Son
into the world, that the world had crucied Him, and that
God had raised Him. If you tell that to people now, they
do not deny it. We have now to take the other part, “ Be it
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49
known unto you, that through this man is preached unto
you the forgiveness of sins.” is is the eect of it. I believe
the more facts are brought forward by the evangelist, the
more power will be in his testimony.
It is not always knowledge. If a man has just got his soul
saved, he is sometimes more in earnest than one who is a
long time saved. You nd persons just converted in that
aspect better evangelists than others. But then you must
bear in mind that we are evangelizing in Christendom, we
are not going to Hindus or Chinese. If you do not take
account of that, you will have a very supercial gospel.
Evangelizing in Christendom is not evangelizing in
heathendom; it is in worse case if you please.
But take a fact, when a man’s sins are brought forward
and you press it upon him-you show him Christ. It is not
the teaching that does the thing; it is a certain character
of gospel that deals with the condition of soul, and after it
they cannot go on with what they have got.
e parable in Matt. 13 is descriptive of the kingdom of
heaven, how it goes on. You do not get directions how to
do it, nor will directions ever do. If you want an evangelist,
you must get a man who has love for souls; and counsel as
to the manner of it would never do anything. Of course I
may suggest to another; that is very well in its place. But
the thing to be desired is a fervent spirit and love to souls.
e gospel is the glory of His grace. I get a much clearer
gospel in its rst elements if I know the glory. It is a more
teaching gospel. I may say, How can you stand before God
in glory? and Christ is in glory; and if you look to Christ,
and He has borne your sins, they must be gone; for He has
not got them in glory. is is the thing that gives peace
to the conscience. I might take the coming of the Lord
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50
and present it as terror, and it might be used to awaken
the conscience, and there is nothing done till conscience
is awakened. It is a bad sign to receive the word at once
with joy, unless there has been a previous work. You must
have one consciously brought into God’s presence, or you
will never have anything real. ere is no bringing the soul
to God except by the conscience; because a man cannot be
in God’s presence without his conscience being awakened.
What a preacher has to do is to bring the light to bear on
a man’s conscience, and make him thus nd himself out in
the light.
ere may be a preliminary work-what the old Puritans
call the common operations of the Spirit. ere may be
appeals to the conscience, which may have reached it,
and the soul going on as before. e conscience may be
reached, and a man may be quickened, or he may not; and
the conscience may be reached and bring out the bitterest
enmity against God. e consciences of the people whom
Stephen addressed were reached, and made them gnash
with their teeth. When God quickens, the conscience is
reached, and the man is made to feel he is a sinner. e
conscience may be reached, however, without that inward
work as well as with it.
Whenever the Holy Ghost works, it produces a want.
In Nicodemus’s case, it went on to quickening. You have
the words, “ Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.” It is not
His work in the sense of saving or quickening, but the
conscience is reached. at is the reason why the Puritans
call such the common operations Of the Spirit.
ere is a conscience in every man. e fall of a tree may
alarm a conscience. If God accompanies it in grace as He
did in the case of Luther, whose friend was killed by a ash
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51
of lightning, the work is eectual. You see men alarmed
and plunge into greater wickedness to get rid of it. ey are
distinct things, though they may go together.
In the last of the seven parables the gospel is the net
that takes the sh. But then they caught bad sh as well
as good. It is all God’s work, but He employs workmen.
Not only God works, but He works alone as to everything
good. e net is cast into the sea. “ How shall they hear
without a preacher? “ is what God says. I quite admit
God will have His own. Scripture is plain upon it, but He
has His way of doing things. His ordinary way is by the
foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe. “
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
is is the ordinary rule of God. I see two ways of God’s
love manifested. One is His own essential blessedness
in Himself; He gives us to enjoy this in communion by
the Spirit. ere is another thing in God, and that is, the
activity of love towards those that have no communion
with Him; and He gives us a part in it too. And the fact
that He acts by instrumentality, as He speaks here, is an
enormous blessing. He leaves poor creatures like us a part
in this activity of saving souls. If it is man’s work, it is good
for nothing.
Servants are addressed in Luke 14, “ Go and compel
them to come in.” And the point insisted on there is that,
when the Jews would not come in, He would have the
Gentiles. He rst went and took the poor Jews, the poor of
the ock, and brought them into His house, but they did
not ll it, and then He sends to the Gentiles. He does not
speak of whom He sends out.
But I do not think you will ever teach anybody to be a
good evangelist; he must have it from God. He must have
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52
the love of souls in his heart. If he lean on the Lord, he will
win souls.
You cannot have the church without the evangelist.
Looked at as an evangelist, you see his point of departure
is the church because he is a member. When things were
right, the power went from the center and gathered into
that center. “ e Lord added to the church daily such as
should be saved.” All gifts are independent of the church;
they are all dependent on Christ. All service is simply to
Christ. I quite admit discipline. If a man teaches wrong,
he must be disciplined; but the service is to Christ. ey
are all for the Lord, and I believe the Lord would add
them to the church if things were in order. e church is
what is formed upon earth in which He is to be gloried.
It is where He glories Himself now in the world, and
therefore the evangelist gathers people in. is is all true;
but when you take the person of an evangelist or pastor, he
is Christ’s servant. He is a great deal happier if he goes in
fellowship with the assembly, but the fact of evangelizing
is not the assembly’s act. e assembly will not go on well,
unless there is a spirit of evangelizing in it, to which the
love of Christ will constrain them. I quite admit that which
has taken place in connection with revivals: the action
which converted, and that which gathered, have been in a
measure disconnected. I see clearly in the operations at the
beginning that they went together. e Lord then added
to the church daily such as should be saved. is was the
regular order of things.
At the beginning there was the church which God had
set up and power was there. ey commend Paul to God,
and he comes back and tells what God has done by his
means. ere is action and reaction, but now this has all got
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53
dislocated. You are in an immense thing called the church,
which is far indeed from Christ. erefore there is this
diculty for a man who feels pressed to go and speak to
souls, when he does not know there is such a thing as the
body of Christ. If a man was a heathen or Jew and became
a Christian, he was added to the church, but that is not the
case now; and therefore it requires more real power and
wisdom to do the work rightly now, and not simple power
merely which evangelizes the sinner.
We had most happy exercise of heart about it in -. When
they rst went out, they did not know anything about the
body of Christ. ey went and devoted themselves to people
that were gathered, some going to the world and some
to sects, as they knew no better. e work goes on more
slowly, but a great deal more solidly. ey did not cease to
evangelize, but it was more connected with Christ outside
the world. It told more healthfully. After all there is as much
real work done and a better kind of work. A diculty arises
that we are not preaching to heathens. If you go to China
or India, the persons converted to Christ come amongst
those Christians that are there. If you go and convert a man
now, and he belongs to the Independents or Presbyterians
or Methodists, he goes on with them. e man belongs to
Christ, but the whole thing is lost in a morass. By a clear
gospel the person will get hold of things that will make it
impossible to go on as he had been doing; he will be led to
consider that to continue as he had been doing will not do.
It is one of the reasons that hindered me from preaching
in dissenting places, that the gospel I preached tends to
break the whole system to pieces. How can a man who
believes me preaching that by one oering he is perfected
forever, go and listen to a man that is dinning about the law
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54
every day? If he does, the condition of his soul is lowered. I
might not have been talking of any particular doctrines or
separation from the body to which he belonged-and never
would so speak; yet the preaching of a really full gospel
would (if received) bring a man necessarily to that center.
If you preach a full gospel, it will tell in the way
described. It will gather to Christ without eort or
persuasion. Indeed I never could and never did make one
Christian leave the systems. I believe that there are people
among the poor Roman Catholics that will go to heaven.
But there is one thing wrong, and that is all those divisions;
for I defy anybody to show me such a thing in the word of
God as what is now called the church. One must come out
of confusion. But, further, we are told to keep the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace.
e gift of a pastor is a rare one. Could anyone exercise
the oce of a pastor without having a gift, that is, do a
pastor’s work without being specially gifted? He will do it
very badly if he has not got the gift. If he does it really, he
has got the gift-he cannot do it really without that. It is
possible that I did not quite convey what I meant. In the
present state of things is the work of a pastor done in any
way by any one who has not the gift of a pastor, or can it
be? Much depends on the spirit of the thing. You may have
him in the place and oce, but he cannot do the work of a
pastor because he has not got the gift. Supposing a person
says, I do not profess to have the gift of a pastor, and yet I
must look after souls as well as I can? One has no objection
to that, for it is brotherly love. If you get a person in brotherly
love doing what he can, it is very well: we all ought to care
one for another. A very young Christian cannot do as much
as an older one, but in a certain sense everybody ought to
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55
care for his brother. In verse 16 after the chief positive gifts,
evangelists, pastors and teachers, which go on to the end,
you get “ from whom,” that is, Christ, “ the whole body
tly joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supplieth.” at is what you refer to. One has not a
specic gift and oce, but he does whatever he can do. “
Fitly joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supplieth, according to the eectual working in the
measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto
the edifying itself in love.” Here then all the members have
something or other. ey have each their place and service:
one may exhort, one may have a little word of wisdom and
never appear in public at all. ere is that which “ every
joint supplieth.” It is real and approved of Christ.
It is connected with verse 7 of course: only there he
spreads that out into these gifts of apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors and teachers; and then he goes on to
what “ every joint supplieth.” You rst get the positive
gifts. A person may evangelize, though he be not actually
an evangelist; he may take an opportunity of speaking for
Christ. Compare Acts 8:4.
I leave every person to his own conscience as to places
where he may be free to evangelize. At rst I preached in
every church or chapel where I was permitted; but I found
it was not a good plan. If I saw a man preaching the gospel
honestly or fully in the streets and there was opposition,
I could identify myself with him without asking who he
was or where he came from; but this is a dierent thing
from planning to go out with him. I could not; but I leave
every person free. You cannot control any man’s conscience;
you may advise him. I do not conceal that I am outside
the camp. It makes people angry sometimes; but I am
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56
deliberately outside the camp, altogether and totally, and
I think I know what I am about from Scripture. If I go
there, I mix myself up with what is in the camp, and I give
an uncertain sound. My deliberate judgment is that in the
present state of the church of God one should be outside
these connections. I think it is all going on to judgment
as fast as it can, and it is not charity to go on with it so
as to enfeeble the testimony. I have seen it going on these
forty or fty years nearly, with persons attempting to go
on with it; and I have never seen such persons either grow
up into the truth or make others clear in their walk. After
an experience of many years I am perfectly clear in my
judgment about it.
As to how far one could wish God speed to or have
fellowship with any work going on outside, if I knew of
a person preaching Christ even of contention, I would
rejoice as the apostle says. I could not go and join with a
man that was doing it in contention, yet I am glad he is
preaching Christ.
With certain preachers I would not have fellowship
for special reasons. It is a matter of discipline. I separate
between having fellowship with Christ preached and co-
operating with the men that preach. Do you think I should
join with a man that preaches from contention? I am glad
he is doing it in one sense, because Christ is made known
by it.
In this way I can own all ministry where it is true, apart
from recognizing a man in the sense of co-operating. It is
the thing that gives a character to the evangelizing itself.
My experience is that it is not the way to get souls on.
I have seen both done. I have seen brethren doing it; of
course they stand or fall to their own Master. I would go
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with them in preaching the gospel, but not with the camp.
I think it is a great thing for our souls to get hold of-you
cannot expect the newly converted soul to get hold of it at
once-that there is this immense system, “ the camp,” which
is not of God, though there are many people of God in
it. erefore you must leave individuals to judge in each
case. But that which associates me with it I cannot do. It
would be building again the things I destroyed. If I am to
associate myself with it, why did I leave it? I never should
attack anybody nor ask anybody to come. I never would
and never did; but I am not going to be driven out of what
is plain in Scripture.
ere is no true Christian that has not something or
other given him for service in the body, merely perhaps a
little bit of wisdom. Everybody has got something for service
to the body, as a hand or foot or eye; but not everybody a
prominent gift as a pastor or evangelist. Everybody has got
something according to the measure of what Christ has
given him; and if he go beyond that measure, it will be
mere human action or no good at all.
We now come to the ordinary exhortation as to walk.
He shows the state they were in-ignorance and sin. “ As
the truth is in Jesus “; it is not doctrine, though doctrine is
contained in it. e truth as it is in Jesus is the having put
o the old man and put on the new-this having been done
by faith. en he adds, “ and being renewed in the spirit
of your mind “ e putting o and the putting on are not
in the present tense, whereas being renewed in the spirit
of your mind is. e truth is, that you have put o the old
man, but you do want renewing. In Colossians (chap. 3)
this is distinct: “ Lie not one to another, seeing ye have put
o the old man with his deeds and have put on the new.”
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In the Epistle to the Ephesians he is not saying directly to
them what they have done, but saying what the truth is in
Jesus. So it is more abstract. e truth in Jesus is having
put o and having put on. Being renewed is present; the
renewing of the spirit of your mind is a thing that is always
going on.
After this we get another immensely important principle
in the new man, which according to God is created in “
righteousness and holiness of truth.” is is the character
of God Himself. e rst man was innocent; he was not
righteous but innocent. ere was no evil in him. To be
righteous and holy you must have the knowledge of good
and evil. God is perfectly righteous and perfectly holy. He
judges with authority what is evil and good; but innocence
does not know good and evil. e new man is after God.
Another expression is found in the Colossians, which is
of great importance” renewed in knowledge according to
the image of him that created him.” ere is a positive
knowledge of God. It is not merely that there is an absence
of sin, but I have a positive knowledge of God Himself,
and it is what God is that is the character and essence of
the new man.
So Peter speaks of being “ made partakers of the
divine nature.” It is not merely that a man is born again.
It is the truth as it is in Jesus. Of course a man is born
again. Abraham had to be born again; but he did not know
anything about putting o the old man and putting on the
new. You never nd this in the Old Testament. You nd
there the knowledge of sin working, but the Old Testament
saints did not make a dierence between the old man and
the new. e moment that death came in, the believer and
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man took his place with God in Christ, I get the old man
and the new.
We get here the putting on the new man, created after
God in righteousness and true holiness. I have put on this
new man, but then I have put o the old. It is a totally new
thing. It is Christ who has died, so that the old thing is done
with. For faith I have done with the esh. I am not a debtor
to the esh; I am crucied with Christ: the old man is done
with. We are quickened together with Christ. is is more
than being born of God. Christ quickening as the Son of
God, which He does-He quickeneth whom He will-is a
dierent thing from being quickened with Christ as risen;
because, when I am quickened with Christ as risen, I have
left all that is the old thing behind me and have gone into
a resurrection-state. e old man is crucied with Christ.
is is of all importance as being one of the two great
elements of Christian walk. ese are, rst, the putting o
the old man and the putting on the new; secondly, that
the Holy Ghost dwell in us and we are not to grieve Him.
ese are the two grounds of Christian walk in Ephesians.
To be made partakers of the divine nature is the moral
character of it. It is after God; it is the pattern of what
God is. God is righteous and God is holy; and now it is
not merely setting us up as innocent, but we, being actually
partakers of the divine nature, have a character according
to what He is. It is after God, created in righteousness and
holiness.
It is morally like God’s nature, but still, that might be
rather a bold way of saying it. Morally it is the same; else
you could not delight in Him. He chose us in Christ that
we should be “ holy and without blame before him in love,”
which is God’s nature. He is holy, He is blameless, He is
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love. And so it is with Christ. If you look at Him down
here, He was holy and blameless, and He was here in love.
So in Hebrews “ he that sanctieth,” that is Christ, “ and
they that are sanctied are all of one; for which cause he is
not ashamed to call them brethren.”
But the putting o the old man we had better not pass
over. e Christian, in virtue of Christ’s death and having
Christ as his life, as a Christian does not own the esh at
all. e mind of the esh is enmity against God, but he
does not own it. He has not to die to sin but to reckon
himself dead, Christ having died and all being available
for him. What Christ has done he reckons himself to have
done in this respect. How can you be alive? I say I am
not, but Christ lives in me. “ I am crucied with Christ;
nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” We
have put o the old man (not, are to put it o), that is, if
we have heard Him and have been taught of Him. Besides,
this new man is after God.
Observe the two in Rom. 8 “ e law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus “ (that is, the new man) “ hath made
me free from the law of sin and death; for what the law
could not do in that it was weak through the esh, God,
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful esh and
for sin, condemned sin in the esh.” When Christ was on
the cross, He not only bore our sins and put them away,
but God condemned sin in the esh there, so that I see it
is all put o. Faith reckons it. Christ died to sin; He is the
only Person that died to sin; so God reckons us alive unto
God, not in Adam, but in Jesus Christ our Lord. My life
in which I live is not esh: “ ye are not in the esh,” but in
Christ. When you come to realize it, you take the putting
o rst; you say I have put o the old man-I am not a
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child of Adam-and put on the new man, that is, Christ. In
short I believe in the testimony of John 5 where it is said,
“ this is the record [or, testimony] that God hath given to
us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the
Son hath life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not
life.” It is entirely a new thing in Christ; and as a proof
that eternal life is not in Adam but in Christ, he shows the
Spirit, and the water, and the blood-what has living power
and what cleanses, what expiates-all coming consequent
upon Christ’s death. e water came out of His dead side,
as did also the blood, while the Spirit came after He was
gloried. ese are all witnesses that eternal life is not in
the rst man but in the Second. I reckon myself dead, I am
crucied with Christ. us it is a nature that is after God
Himself. en we get another element-the Holy Ghost
dwells in me, and I am not to grieve Him.
e putting o of the old and the putting on of the
new occur at the same time really; but practically, when you
come to details, you nd you have the one rst, and then
you realize the other. In real truth you put on the new man
rst. When you come to practice, you have to treat the old
thing as dead, and the other comes free. In point of fact
we must get the new man in order to treat the old man as
dead. If the old man was treated as dead rst, I would have
no man at all. When I have got Christ as my life, I come to
look at myself, and it is all over with the old man. ere are
many who own that they must be born again, but they do
not recognize that they put o the old man. e moment
I have got the death and resurrection of Christ, I say I am
not a debtor to the old man. is is not merely the fact of
being born again; it is not merely saying I am born again,
but the other thing I have put o, that is, to faith.
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Of course the old man is part of the old creation. “ If
any man be in Christ, there is a new creation.” We are the
rstfruits of His creatures. “ He has begotten us that we
might be a kind of rstfruits of his creatures.” When he
speaks of dealing with the condition I am in, which you
do not get here but in Colossians, which is a little lower,
he does not say, Mortify the old man, but your members
which are upon earth.
He does not allow any life but Christ-” Your life is hid
with Christ in God.” “ Ye are dead “; now mortify (that is,
put to death) your members. is implies power. It is never
dying to sin, but that I am dead to sin and alive to God in
Christ, and therefore I can mortify.
Rom. 8:13 (“ Ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds
of the body “),and Col. 3:5 (“ mortify your members “)
are but a dierent way of expressing the same thing. In
Romans we are not viewed as risen with Christ, whereas
in Colossians and Ephesians we are. In Romans we are
presented as dead with Christ, because the object of
Romans never is to take us out of our place in this world.
It shows us that we are in Christ, but at the same time still
here; whereas in Colossians the apostle will not let them be
alive in the world. “ Why,” he says, “ as alive in the world,
are ye subject to ordinances? “ All ritualism ows from not
knowing we are dead.
en we get another immensely important element,
namely, that God dwells in us-the Holy Ghost; for we are
told, “ Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.” e Christian
is to do nothing that displeases God who dwells in him.
You have no mortifying the members here in Ephesians.
It is a new creation and nothing else. e epistle to the
Colossians does not go as far as that to the Ephesians. In
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the former you get us risen, but not sitting in heavenly
places as in the latter.
If Romans puts us into Jordan, it does not go on to the
coming out of Jordan. Colossians puts us up on the bank;
but Ephesians takes us and sets us down in Canaan to eat
the old corn of the land where there is no manna any more.
You cannot say they are a gure of that, it is going into
details, which the gure does not. You get a gure of the
whole thing that I have passed through Jordan. I am not
in the wilderness, but am in heavenly places, and seated
there in Christ; and not till then do I get circumcised. You
get this in Colossians. ere are two things in the Romans:
man is dealt with, looked at as alive in sin; and death is
brought in-Christ’s death. By Christ’s death their guilt is
gone, and by it also they died. ey are in Christ, but they
are looked at as persons that have died, though not risen
with Him. In the Ephesians, although the fact is looked at,
as to the doctrinal statement, they are not looked at as alive
in sin; they are dead in sins, which is another aspect of it,
but the same state.
When I am alive in sins I am dead towards God; there
is not a single movement of thought, heart, or feeling in
that state towards God. God can create me over again
spiritually. Ephesians looks at a man as dead in sins, and
says we are created in Christ Jesus. It is not justifying
sinners there.
e man is justied in Romans; he is a new creation
entirely in Ephesians; while in Colossians you get both.
In the latter there is death and the new creation, but not
yet seated in heaven. ey are looked at as on the earth,
and there is a hope laid up for them in heaven-” ye are
dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” In chapter
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2: 11, 12, we read, “ In whom also ye are circumcised with
the circumcision made without hands, in putting o the
body of the sins of the esh by the circumcision of Christ;
buried with him in baptism [there I get the doctrine of
Romans], wherein also ye are risen with him through the
faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from
the dead [I have now got beyond the Romans]. And you
being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your
esh hath he quickened together with him.” ere we get
Colossian doctrine, but it does not take us up to heaven.
When he speaks of that in Ephesians he says, “ He hath
quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up
together and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus.” Colossians is, as it were, between Romans
and Ephesians. erefore in Colossians you get, instead of
sitting in heavenly places, “ set your aections on things
above,” “ the hope that is laid up for you in heaven,” and
such expressions. He does not talk of the Holy Ghost in
Colossians. What we nd in Colossians is life, and this is
as important in its place as the Holy Ghost dwelling in
us. In Ephesians you get the Holy Ghost dwelling in us,
and therefore the body; whereas in Colossians you never
get the Holy Ghost mentioned except in the expression
“ your love in the Spirit.” For example, in Ephesians we
read, “ Putting away lying, speak every man truth with his
neighbor, for we are members one of another,” whereas in
Colossians he says, “ Lie not one to another, seeing that ye
have put o the old man with his deeds.” Instead of the
Holy Ghost dwelling in us, it is God’s nature the measure
of how we are to behave ourselves.
e Holy Ghost works in the new nature, but is not
said to dwell in it. It is said, that “ Christ may dwell in
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your hearts by faith.” e Holy Ghost operates in the new
nature. Still the dwelling is never spoken of as in it, but in
the body; we need Christ to dwell in our hearts by faith.
I have got a new nature, and of course have not to pray to
get one. e eect of this is most striking. In the Ephesians
we are brought to sit in heavenly places, we have put o the
old man and put on the new, and we have the Holy Spirit of
God dwelling in us. In Ephesians it is, “ As God in Christ
hath forgiven you.” We have got the nature, the state that
I am in, to be able to walk: we have put o the old and put
on the new; and the Holy Ghost dwelling in us, and then
we are told to be imitators of God as dear children. If it be
said, How can we talk of imitating God (of course it is not
Almighty power, but refers to moral things), how can poor
worms such as we talk of imitating God? I answer, is not
Christ your pattern? You are to follow that. is shows the
absurdity of making it merely the law as our rule of life. If
a dear child of God, I am to have a sense of it in my soul
and exhibit it in my walk; I am “ to walk in love as Christ
hath loved us, and hath given himself for us as an oering
and a sacrice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.” “ Hereby
know we love, because he laid down his life for us; and we
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren “; we are to go
and walk as He walked.
We have had the two subjective elements (that is, the
state I am in) consisting of the new man, and the old man
put o, and the Holy Ghost dwelling in us. en follow as
a measure the two essential names of God-love and light.
is is what Christ was in this world. “ While I am in the
world,” He says, “ I am the light of the world,” and He was
the expression of divine love. You are to be an imitator of
God, and if you ask, How can that be carried out in man?
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you get Christ, that is, God manifested in a man How
clearly the thing is entirely above law! If law was carried
out in the world, we should have the world all happy, and
righteous, and peaceful; but this supposes the world to be
all right. I am to care for another as much as for myself, but
that will not do in this world, and therefore I get this, “ He
gave himself.” It is not taking love to self as the measure of
love to my neighbor, but going beyond the law, and giving
oneself up for others. If all went on rightly, the law would
be your rule now, but it is otherwise. As Christians, when
you come to a world of wickedness, you have to follow God.
Let us look at the double character of this love, which
is entirely practical. ere are two kinds-what I may call
love up and love down; and they are entirely dierent
in kind. e care of a father and his child will illustrate
the dierence. e father loves down, and the child loves
up; the one is to something above it, whereas the other is
in condescending goodness. If you take a case of loving
up, the more excellent the object the more excellent the
aection. If one love a base thing, it is a base aection. If
one love a man of noble character, it is a noble aection.
If one love God, of course, it is the highest of all. en on
the other hand, if you take love down, the baser the object
the greater the love. Such is the character of God’s love to
us. We get both in Christ. He loved His Father perfectly
as Man (which was loving up), and He loved us when vile
sinners (which was loving down); and we are to go and do
likewise. erefore I read here “ as Christ hath loved us and
given himself for us, an oering and sacrice to God for a
sweet-smelling savor.” He gave Himself for us and to God.
is is perfection. He had an innitely high object, and
an innitely low one, and He was perfect both ways. We
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have to seek to walk as He walked. ere is fellowship also
one with another. Of course when we can see, the thing to
imitate is Christ walking in love-” as Christ loved us and
gave himself for us, an oering and sacrice to God.”
is is the side of love wherein you are imitators of
God. en you get the other essential name of God, and
that is, light; which he says we are too. We are partakers of
the divine nature-” ye were sometimes darkness, but now
are ye light in the Lord.” God is love, and God is light,
and in Him there is no darkness at all. We were darkness,
but now in Christ we are light in the Lord. “ Awake, thou
that sleepest, and Christ shall give thee light.” I get the full
light in Christ, also the full love. us are the two essential
names of God brought out. I am a partaker of the divine
nature, and the Spirit of God dwells in me, and I am to act
as God acted, and that acting was in Christ. “Awake, thou
that sleepest,” that is, looking at Christians, not committing
sins, but gone to sleep in the world. In the world the people
are all dead: but if a man goes to sleep, he is just as much
alive as when awake, but he is as much as dead; he does not
hear, nor speak, nor think; he is like a dead man. Look at
the Christian that is going on with the world-he is with
the dead. What am I to do, then? Christ is the light of the
world, and “ ye are the light of the world,” He says to His
disciples. It is a wonderful exhibition.
In 1John it is said, “ If we walk in the light,” that
is, absolutely; but, realizing position, we walk in it. It is
position; we are actually there. It is not like standing in
righteousness. Here he is looking at practice. Walking is a
real thing. It is not as if I say, Christ is my righteousness. It
is a real living place we are walking in. Of course he judges
in detail all sins. All the Gentiles are walking in darkness-I
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refer to the passage in Ephesians. “ See then that ye walk
circumspectly, not as fools but wise.” Uprightness is not
sucient. If I have to go through a bog, I may be perfectly
sincere in seeking a house on the other side; but if I do not
look about me, I may sink in the bog. I must look about
me. It requires wisdom to go through this world, I mean
as a Christian.
e expression “ redeeming the time “ is apt to be
always misapplied. It means seizing opportunities. You get
it in Dan. 2, where the king speaks to the Magi: “ I know ye
would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from
me.” ey wanted to redeem the time. Here I am to walk
in such a way, so full of Christ, that, when an opportunity
oers, I can bring Him out. e days are evil. You cannot
always have an opportunity; you might be casting pearls
before swine; but you must be in a condition to embrace
every opportunity. In Daniel it is “ gain the time,” or as
in the margin “ buy “ the t moment. A thousand more
opportunities would present themselves of bringing Christ
before people if we were living in the power of the Spirit
of God. e days are evil, we are told. e power of evil is
there. You must not complain because the days are evil. e
Lord can guide us through one day as well as another.
“ Instant in season “ is to the saint. e time will come
when they will not receive sound doctrine. is applies to
the dealing with the saints. It is often applied to the gospel;
but the mischief is, that people take passages without
reading the context. I am sure we could nd a great many
more seasons if we were faithful to Christ. “ Preach the
word, be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all long-suering and doctrine, for the time
will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
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after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears
from the truth, and shall be turned into fables.” He is
evidently looking to Christians. Timothy was to go on
earnestly pressing, because soon they would not listen to
him. Whether it were seasonable or not, he was to go on
with it, because very soon there would be no season at all.
I do not think the apostle here means the gospel. e
previous chapter speaks of the departure. He is speaking
of the evil days. It is not that we are not to be preaching
everywhere we can to sinners, but the special thing he
has in his mind is that the church would get into such a
state that they would not listen to truth. When we preach
the gospel now, we preach to people that call themselves
Christians. You may meet indels, it is true. It is of the
last days he is speaking. In John’s time they were come in.
It was the last time then, though morally developed since.
Peter says, “ e time is come that judgment will begin at
the house of God,” and Jude says, that these men “ have
crept in unawares,” and also that these are they that the
Lord comes to judge.
e latter times bring it up to the last days, being the
more general term: “ In the latter days some shall depart
from the faith,” and in the last days they shall have a form of
godliness. It is rather more distinctly characteristic; because
in John you get the last days marked by antichrists being
there. He does not use them to say they are the last of the
latter. In the latter days you get celibacy and asceticism, as
it is called; so the apostle shows in Colossians. He speaks
of that system which was already dawning. God allowed
it all to begin before the apostle went, that we might have
scripture upon it. It ripened afterward. erefore he speaks
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of the latter days as those coming in after he was gone.
ey are used in the Old Testament pretty much in the
same sense. Still the last days are more denite. “ As ye
have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there
many antichrists.”
We had before the oppositions of science, falsely so
called, and the forbidding to marry and commanding to
abstain from meats, and we all know it is going on since.
In England you can hardly go into a cathedral without
nding the monument of a bishop who lived forty days
without eating anything: I have seen them when I used
to go into such places. Now one may fast very protably
if one has occasion to do it. As such I recognize it: but
to set about making a virtue of it in the way usually done
is wrong because it went upon the principle that matter
was an evil thing, and denied the atonement entirely, for
they said that Christ could not have a body. is is the
reason the apostle John insists He is come in esh, and
that His disciples had handled Him. It was denied that
He was really a man in that way, because they thought all
matter was a bad thing; and therefore the great thing to be
done was to get the Spirit, which was good in everybody
away from matter. erefore they fasted to keep the matter
down. is was a torment to the church. ough some of
them were very strict, a great many were grossly immoral.
It spread everywhere and aected even the orthodox. e
Gnostics died out, but they left their taint in the church, and
the whole system of celibacy and monasticism continued.
I used once to fast in that way myself. On Wednesdays,
and Fridays, and Saturdays I did not eat anything at all,
but on the other days I did eat a little bread. I said, If I fast
three days I can fast four, and if four, ve, and if ve, better
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six, and if six, better seven; and what then? I had better
die. us there was something that made it impossible
to go through with the thing. I went on with it, but God
delivered me.
e Spirit of God had them in view. ey were dawning
then, because it says, “ e Spirit speaketh expressly that in
the latter days some shall depart,” etc. You see that evil men
and seducers wax worse and worse, and that, when once
the evil was introduced, it could not be put out.
It had been among the heathen before. e system
of monasteries, and celibacy, and begging friars, was all
in existence ve hundred and forty years before Christ,
and many think it was actually borrowed from the East.
Certainly it is the same thing morally, but, as I said, many
think it was actually borrowed from the East; as a great
many of their doctrines were, I have no doubt. A Roman
Catholic priest, when visiting the East, was perfectly
astounded, and did not know what to think when he found
among the Buddhists exactly the same things as Roman
Catholics had at home. He told them he was a Lama from
the west, and he was received in all their monasteries and
elsewhere.
Returning to our epistle, we see that another element
comes in. When we have them all in order, he says, “ Be not
drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be lled with the
Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart
to the Lord.” Such is the joy they were to have, “ Giving
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ere are two things-
my own will gone, and the perfect certainty of God’s love. “
Giving thanks always for all things “: take away my fortune
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and I say, “ ank God.” It is not easy, and of course the
will must be broken; but on the other hand, God makes
everything to work together for good to those that love
Him. en you get a spirit of grace, “ submitting yourselves
one to another in the fear of Christ.” It is not submitting
to do evil if you want me to do it, but that in faith there is
no will. If you want me to do wrong, I cannot do it because
it is not God’s will, but in everything in which my will
is concerned I give way to you. We are to submit to one
another in the fear of Christ. It is what sitting in heavenly
places produces upon earth. Christ, when here, could say
He was in heaven, and He is given as our pattern, though
to us it is purely by grace.
Next, there are two other main subjects that follow-
the love of Christ to His church, and the conict of the
saints with spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. We
have passed away from what we are with God, and now we
come to the special relationship of Christ with the church.
e main thing in His mind is the church. “ e husband
is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the
church; and he is the Savior of the body.” is I believe to
be our body.
I get two things He does in consequence of His love
to the church. He gave Himself for it out and out. is
is the rst thing He does in consequence of His love to
it. en, having taken it to be His own, He sets about to
make it what He likes. He does not make what He likes
to be His own, but takes it to be His own to make it what
He likes. Next, I get present sanctifying and washing by
the word; and afterward His presenting it to Himself as a
glorious church. is is special. It is not God loving poor
sinners, but the special love of Christ to the church. e
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purication that we get here is that which we have in
heaven; as far as it goes, it is the same nature, and quality,
and standard, and measure, and everything else as will be in
heaven. He washes it here that it may have no spot there. “
Beholding with unveiled face the glory of the Lord, we are
being changed into the same image from glory, to glory.”
Looking at Christ in glory our hearts get lled with the
motives that are there, and this eect is produced upon
earth. e eect is produced here, but the motives are all
above. He “ loved the church and gave himself for it.” is
is the starting-point-” that he might sanctify it, having
cleansed it by the washing of water by the word, that he
might present the church to himself glorious, not having
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing: but that it should be
holy and without blemish.” It is a great thing for us to see
that the condition we are to be presented in to Christ is the
power and measure of our sanctication here.
It is manifest that we nd the same thing all through
the epistles. For instance, “ Beloved, now are we the sons of
God: and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we
know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is; and every man that hath this hope in
him purieth himself, even as he is pure.” I know I shall be
perfectly like Christ in glory, and I purify myself according
to that standard. It is not that I am pure according to it. I
take that measure and apply it now. Every step I take I see
it clearer, and I may apply it to something else; but this is
the only thing I am looking at to judge by.
In 1ess. 3 the same truth comes out in a striking way.
“ e Lord make you to increase and abound in love one
toward another and toward all men, even as we do toward
you; to the end he may establish your hearts unblameable
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in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” is is a. passage
that looks perfectly unintelligible until you get hold of
what I have been saying. Instead of saying unblameable
in holiness before God at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, we should have said, “unblameable in your walk
down here.” He looks at their realizing their Christian
position-” to the end he may establish your hearts,” and
draws the veil and there they are unblameable when Christ
comes. is is where it is all measured.
But it is evidently a very important principle for this
day and every other. All the perfection which is spoken
of, Wesleyan or whatever it may be called, is clean gone.
It does not come into the question, good or bad, because
what I am shown is the perfection of Christ in glory. I do
not get it till I am in glory, and there is no other object
presented to a Christian as the standard but Christ in glory.
We are to be “ conformed to the image of his Son that he
might be the rstborn among many brethren.” Again, “ As
is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly; and
as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also
bear the image of the heavenly.” erefore the apostle said
that he had not yet attained, but there was no other thing
before him. He was always running on to it. We retain in
heaven the impress got here; but this is Christ. ere may
be degrees of realization. We shall be perfectly like Christ
when we get there; all of us will be perfectly like Him. We
are predestinated to be conformed to the image of God’s
Son; and as we have borne the image of the earthy, we
shall bear the image of the heavenly. I am like a person in a
straight passage with a light at the end; I have more of the
light every step I take, but I do not get the light till I come
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to the end. When He shall appear, we shall be like Him. I
get a sight of this, and say, is is what I am going to be. It
sounds strange to ‘say that we cannot be as Christ was here,
because He was absolutely sinless, and if I say I have no sin
I deceive myself. But I shall be like Him there, and this is
brought to bear upon me now that I should have no motive
working in my soul but Him there. is is what the apostle
means when he says, “ not looking at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not seen.”
It has been said, indeed, that God would not give a
measure that we could not attain to; but I take the bull by
the horns and assert that He never gave one that a man
could attain to. He made man innocent, and there was no
demand necessary; but the moment man becomes a sinner,
God put something beyond him, which he is to run after.
God gives him a law when he is in the esh, and he is not
subject to the law of God. It is an unattainable measure.
Again, “ Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” is
is our measure. Are you as perfect as this? When things
are fully developed, I get Christ in glory. is is perfectly
unattainable here, because God wants me to be always
running on and having the one thing always before me.
“ is one thing I do, forgetting those things which are
behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are
before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
e meaning of John 17:19 (“ For their sakes I sanctify
myself, that they also might be sanctied through the
truth “) is, that for their sakes Christ sets Himself apart as
a model man (though I do not like the expression), that we
might be made into His likeness.
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e passage in Heb. 12 (“ Let us lay aside every weight
and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run
with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus “) is more the diculties we have to encounter that
he is looking at there. He says, Christ has got there; you
take courage and run on. It is just the same race exactly. It
is wonderful that we shall really be conformed to the image
of God’s Son, when we think of what we are. But it has
nothing to do with our responsibility as to salvation. You are
not set in this path until you are saved. Our responsibility
as men, God’s creatures, is not aected: as responsible
men we are lost. It is over in that sense. Take, by way of
illustration, a man in business who has contracted debts;
suppose I go to him and tell him how he is to manage
not to get into debt, he would only tell me I was mocking
his misery, for he had nothing to manage. Responsibility is
over in that sense; not that a man is not responsible for all
he has done, but that he is ruined already, and of this the
cross is the proof, because the highest act of grace is that
Christ came to seek and save the lost. As to the history in
Scripture, the whole system of probation concluded at the
cross. “ Now,” said Christ, “ is the judgment of this world
“; as it is also said in Hebrews, “ now once in the end of
the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrice
of himself.” When it is all over with man, sovereign grace
steps in, and saves people out of their ruined condition.
A person may get all his debts paid, but be left without
a penny to begin the work again. God has not dealt with
us in that way. He has paid our debts, and has given us
the same glory as His own Son. is was a matter of His
counsels before the foundation of the world; and it belongs
to all Christians. ere is labor which God rewards, for
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every man shall receive his own reward according to his
own labor; but in the likeness of Christ every saint will
then be.
We shall all be conformed to the image of God’s Son
in glory. It was God’s counsel before the foundation of
the world, but never brought out till the cross. He “ hath
saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works [which is responsibility], but according to his
own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began, but now is made manifest by the
appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ.” It was before the
world in God’s purpose about His people, but it was never
brought out till Christ had laid the foundation for it in the
cross. In Titus 1 there is a similar statement, “ In hope of
eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the
world began; but hath in due times manifested his word
through preaching.” All this glorious purpose, glorious
for us and for God, never was brought out-never hinted
at-until Christ laid a righteous ground for it in the cross.
en God brought it out and said, “ at is what I am
going to do.” is with much more is what we nd here in
Ephesians.
But we have to notice another thing also: “ No man ever
yet hated his own esh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it,
even as Christ the church, for we are members of his body,
of his esh, and of his bones.” ere I get not simply this
purpose of presenting us to Himself, but how He loves and
cherishes us as a man does his own esh. It is His present
care of the church. “ We are members of his body, of his
esh, and of his bones.” is shows that the church could
not have existed at all till Christ was gloried, because it
is with Christ as a man it is connected. It is not that the
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Son quickened us (though this is true), but that we are
members of Christ’s body, of His esh, and of His bones.
After exhortations to children and parents, slaves and
masters, there is another great subject in this Epistle, the
conicts of the saint. We do not nd the conict except in
Ephesians. It is not a conict of esh and spirit, nor is it a
conict of conscience when a man is quickened. e Jews
were slaves in Egypt as an unconverted man is in his sins.
When God brought them into Canaan, were they at once
to have rest? ere was conict; and the proper sense of
conict with Satan is for us in heavenly places.
In the Authorized Bible “ high places “ is inserted in
place of “ heavenly places,” which shows that the translators
were afraid of the truth, and so altered the word. A similar
alteration occurs in Rev. 4 ere we get One seated on
a throne, and the four and twenty elders also seated on
thrones; but though the word in the original is quite the
same, the translators altered the thrones of the elders into “
seats.” In our epistle they were afraid to translate “ heavenly
places,” and they made it “ high places “; but the word they
have translated “ high “ here is the same as the one they
have translated “ heavenly “ elsewhere, as chapter 1: 3.
People speak of Jordan as death, and quite rightly too,
for it is a gure of death; but then is it not strange that,
when they crossed over Jordan and got into Canaan, Joshua
met a man with a sword drawn in his hand, and they had to
ght? Is it not strange that, as soon as heavenly places are
entered, conict has to be entered on? Now what is Jordan?
After passing through death into these heavenly places we
begin to ght. us it does not mean actual rest in heaven
as supposed. If I say I have put o the old man, this is the
same as that I am dead with Christ. I have passed through
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death, and been circumcised with the circumcision of
Christ, and now I can ght the battles of God with Satan.
is is what we get here.
Redemption brought us into the wilderness. e
wilderness is our passing through this world where our
esh is tested. Canaan is the other part of the Christian’s
life, where he reckons himself dead. Christ in spirit is there
as the Captain of the Lord’s host, and He has to ght the
battles of the Lord Himself. at is what we get in Canaan.
I sometimes wonder that it does not strike people what an
odd thing it is, that if Jordan means death, and Canaan
heaven (which they do), ghting should characterize the
place in Joshua, for the rst thing he meets there is a man
with a sword drawn in his hand. e whole book of Joshua
is about the battles of the Lord. ere we get death brought
in, as we have been saying, reckoning ourselves dead-I am
crucied with Christ. is is what Jordan is: “ If ye be dead
with Christ.” By-and-by it will be our place of rest. Yes,
heaven will be ours. I am not quarreling with the use of the
image in that way. Jordan is a type of death, and Canaan of
heavenly places. In the account we get in Numbers they are
going through the wilderness and tested by God; and in
Canaan they fought with esh and blood, which is a gure
of spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. We do not get
there till we have passed through Jordan, that is, till we are
dead and risen with Christ. is is every Christian’s place;
but I speak of realizing it.
e Christian is in both at the same time, but not in
experience, though his condition down here aects his
power of ghting. He must have the armor on. I have to
go through the world with the cares of family or business,
or meeting the contradiction of sinners. But this is not a
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moment in which I am ghting God’s battles: I am then
ghting my own, so to speak. We are with God down here,
or God is with us; and we ght with the devil in heavenly
places. Until Rev. 12 he is in heaven. It is not where God
dwells in unapproachable light; he is not there; but how
could he be the accuser of the brethren if he be not in
heaven? He went with the sons of God about Job, for we
nd Satan was amongst them. You could not have him
accuser of the brethren, if he were not there. He tempts
them down here, but accuses them there.
Suppose a Christian was preaching the gospel: in
that would he be in wilderness circumstances? No, he is
rather ghting the battle there. He might be in wilderness
circumstances as to various things, but he is ghting the
battles there, and he must use the wisdom of God against
a subtle spiritual adversary. Suppose a man is attacked in
the street and abused? You never get the question of the
esh away. When they did not consult Jehovah, they made
mistakes, as in the case of Ai and Gibeon. Our contending
with Satan would be against heresy, superstition, and other
things. Satan may raise up opposition and violence in the
streets, and hence the Christian would need wisdom; but
you cannot separate the idea from having the esh, because
you will be making blunders. us there are doubts, and
things of that kind, which Satan brings into the mind-
indelity, for instance. Satan in them acts directly; they are
not mere temptations of an ordinary kind.
In this connection he adds, “ Be strong in the Lord
and in the power of his might.” We have no strength of
our own. We have nothing to do with any carnal or eshly
weapons. “ God hath chosen the foolish things of the world
to confound the wise.” As long as the saints lean upon esh
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and inuence, they are not leaning on God, but esh. e
world has all the upper hand there.
Take an example in our Lord in His conict in the
wilderness. ere was no sin in being hungry. is is hardly
the kind of conict; still the Lord overcomes. ere was
more wilderness work; still it was Satan. He too hindered
the apostle from going to the essalonians. If one were
endeavoring to make void all this truth, brought out up to
this point, and say it was not true, it would be Satan’s work.
Indelity, and heresies, and things of that kind, are referred
to in this warfare. In a case of discipline Paul says, “ we
are not ignorant of his devices.” Satan was trying to divide
Paul and the Corinthians, and he says, “ If you forgive it,
I also forgive it. I see what Satan is at: he wants to make a
split between us.” Error as to any doctrine is Satan’s power.
I merely took the other as an example. In Canaan it is not
so much as a roaring lion, but he might be. “ In nothing
terried by your adversaries.” In the case of Paul being
prevented by Satan from going to the essalonians, God
allowed it in His providence, as He allows everything in
that dealing. In the case of Job, it was God commenced the
matter. He overrules all that. “ We would have gone once
and again, but Satan hindered us.” Opposition was raised
up that he could not go. All that is conict. We do not
believe enough that there is such a thing.
e rulers of the darkness of this world are Satan and
his angels. e darkness of the world is ignorance of God,
who is light. Conict of Satan is not characteristic of
the wilderness. If there is anything of the kind, it is an
attempt to go up and get beaten. ey might have gone in
at Kadeshbarnea, but they did not; and when they found
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how foolish they were, they attempted and were beaten
altogether.
It is not what characterizes the wilderness. God might
give them a specimen of what they were to meet. He
destroyed them unto Hormah. All our war is with the
people that possess the land, that is, the devil and his angels.
e wilderness is the patience of going through this world
according to God. At Sinai is not the wilderness, it is totally
apart. e general character of the wilderness is going
through that where they had only manna and the cloud-
Christ and the word and Spirit. ey were to go through
this world dependent on God. It is this characterizes the
wilderness, and not ghting. In Canaan they had not any
manna. It meant characteristically the heavenly places,
and the Lord set them to ght. In the type we get what
characterizes it. e rst thing is the wiles of the devil; it is
not his power here. “ Resist the devil and he will ee from
you.” He has no power if you resist him, so far as we are
concerned. His wiles are dangerous enough. “ We wrestle
not against esh and blood “ as Joshua did; we wrestle
against wicked spirits in heavenly places. “ And having
done all to stand “ (that is, to make good your ground), “
stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth “:
you must have the mind and aections tucked up with the
word of God.
“ Having on the breastplate of righteousness,” that is,
practical righteousness. It is not before God, but with Satan
here. If I have not practical righteousness, Satan has got
something against me: I am afraid. It is a good conscience
I must have; my loins thoroughly tucked up and in order. I
must have a good conscience and be walking in the spirit
of peace.
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We have not got the sword yet; the defensive armor
comes before the oensive. In that state (having a good
conscience, and the spirit of grace and peace) I now come
to the shield from Satan. I am to look up to God with
entire condence; this is the shield of faith. en comes
the helmet of salvation. I can hold my head up; and, having
got all the oensive armor complete, I take the sword. e
sword of the Spirit is God’s word.
And then, mark further, when I have got the armor and
weapon, I am thrown back in entire dependence on the
Lord- praying always. e word is rst of all applied to
myself- I am girded with truth, and, having got the rest of
the armor, the word comes into activity which is the sword
of the Spirit. Lastly I am cast entirely upon God.
When I begin to take the sword, it may be service
among saints or in the gospel. People have sometimes
fancied that the armor of righteousness here described is
Christ as our righteousness; but this is with God. He is my
righteousness with God; but I do not want armor against
God; it is armor against wicked spirits I need. ere is only
one oensive weapon-the word. It is wonderful how the
Lord has provided everything for us in Scripture. ere is
the love of Christ, who loves us like His own esh; and the
ghting with Satan follows. After we are put in our place,
we get the love of Christ, and then follows the conict
with Satan.
Watching is another element in it. He says in this
place, watching with prayer. If I am watching in my path
in everything with God, it turns to prayer.. If my heart
is engaged about the blessing of the saints, I cannot get
on without it. Watching in it is perseverance in it. e
object of Satan is to keep us from realizing these heavenly
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things. ere is conict for the benet of all, as well as
for ourselves. We have to put the armor on ourselves, but
when we have got it on, we must ght Satan. e rst part
of verse 18, namely, “ Praying always with all prayer and
supplication,” refers to the individual, then to all saints. It
is for themselves, and then it widens out. It is a general
principle rst. You get this constantly in the Ephesians; as
for instance, “ at ye may be able to comprehend with all
saints.” e moment he gets to the thoughts and purposes
of God, he cannot leave out the saints.
Condence is in God known in Himself. I am not likely
to go and ask you for something if I have not condence in
you. “ e mystery of the gospel,” in verse 19, includes not
only the church but the whole testimony. Glad tidings take
in really everything with Paul. He was a minister of the
gospel in the whole creation under heaven, and a minister
of the word to complete the word of God.
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62980
What God Is to Us in Christ:
Ephesians 1
THERE are two ways in which we may look at our
relationship to God, and rightly: rst, our coming to Him;
and secondly, our souls looking at the dealings of God
towards us.
Of Abel, it is said, by the Holy Spirit, God had respect
unto his gifts-he came with his needed oering. We are
looked at in the Epistle to the Hebrews as drawing near to
God. Who could draw near unless he could bring Christ as
an oering? We must have that sacrice in order to bring
us near, consequently in that case our relationship to God
is measured by our need. We come near because we nd we
cannot do without it, and we accept that oering as needed
to accomplish it.
In another way, the measure of God’s blessing we never
know until we look on our relationship as measured by
God’s thoughts of us-by all that which He loves to display
when He satises His own heart of grace with His ways of
showing it out. We never enjoy our true blessing unless we
see how He thus feels and acts. My mind must rise above
what I am, to what God is; then it is my mind is formed by
the revelation of what God is. To this we are called.
We must come in by our need, as the prodigal did. Man
cannot by searching nd out God. ere cannot be any
knowledge of God in grace by man’s competency to know
Him. ere would be no need of grace if he could know
God without it. If I can claim this grace, I do not need
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grace at all. e way a sinner must come in must be by his
need; in that way he learns grace, learns love. But when I
have got to God, it is another thing. en He would form
our minds and hearts by what He is Himself. I come as
a sinner, because I need it-just as a hungry man needs
food; but when brought, I have fellowship with the God
who has brought me to Himself. e measure is given in
this epistle-” growing up into Christ, in all things.” It is
a wonderful thing that God has called us into fellowship
with Himself-to have the same thoughts, the same feelings
as God, and to have them together. All ows down from
Him and we are brought into it by grace, and we enjoy it
just so far as we are emptied of self.
First, He makes us partakers of the divine nature-the
same nature as Himself. is gives the capacity-I do not
say power. e new nature is capacity; the Holy Ghost is
power. e new nature is entirely dependent and obedient.
e Holy Ghost being there gives me power. In the rst
Epistle of John this capacity is brought out in a remarkable
manner (chap. 4). Every one that loveth is born of God-
has this nature; and he that loveth is born of God and
knoweth God. en being partakers of His nature, we, by
virtue of the blood being sprinkled on us, have received the
Holy Ghost which gives power. In order to communion
there must be perfect peace as regards the conscience.
ere is no communion in conscience. I am alone as to my
conscience, and so are you. In order to communion, I must
have nothing to settle with conscience: a perfectly purged
conscience is the basis of communion. We must know that
God has settled the whole question of sin. e moment
a child of God fails, communion ceases. e Spirit then
becomes a reprover to bring him back; but there is no
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communion. Communion is the full enjoyment of God
and of divine things; when there is nothing to think of as
regards oneself. God can now let ow into his heart who
has a conscience purged, all that He delights in. He loves to
communicate what He Himself has joy in. All that Christ
is is for us to enjoy. You are called into this place of Christ
Himself-He, the Head of the body; and that the delight
God has in Christ should ow down into your heart. How
rich then the saint must be! but he is entirely dependent
on the Spirit of God for power. ere is no power to enjoy
anything without Him. ere must be an emptying from
self to enjoy what He gives. e Spirit of God has no
place to act where self and imagination are in exercise. It
is not the glory at the end that is so much the object of
the believer’s thoughts, as the source of it-God Himself.
ere is more happiness in the fact of being in communion
with Him than in the things He communicates: and I say
again, because of its importance, a soul cannot have the
enjoyment of the things of God without having peace,
which is connected with the conscience.
e beginning of this chapter shows how we are
presented to God. It is a test, whether the judgment-
seat brings any terror to your minds. Does it give you any
uneasiness? How does the saint get there? Christ comes
to fetch him. He said, “ I will come again, and receive you
unto myself.” Do you ever think of your coming before
the judgment-seat being the eect of His having come to
fetch you? Not sending for you, but coming Himself for
you, because of His desire to have you with Him where
He is, to be fashioned into the same image. You are to bear
the image of the heavenly, as you have borne the image of
the earthy. When you are there before the judgment-seat,
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you will be with Him, and like Him: every trace of God’s
unwearied hand, all His patience, here brought out. We
shall be like the One who is the Judge. You will never (I
speak, of course, to saints now) be before the judgment-
seat of Christ without His coming to fetch you into the
same glory in which you are to be. It is the knowledge of
grace, or redemption, that leaves me at perfect liberty; and
all my life should be a witness to the enjoyment of this
blessedness into which we are being brought. e whole
of this is through looking at Christ. He is the Firstborn
among many brethren in the Father’s house. We shall be
with Christ and like Christ before God the Father. ere
will be the blessedness of being with Christ, in the presence
of the Father, loved as He is loved. is is what we have in
this chapter-set in the presence of God.
“ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” We are blessed in Christ, and God is the God and
Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is “ my God and your
God,” Christ said. ere is no measure of any relationship
out of Christ-nothing but condemnation out of Christ. If
I have known what it is to be condemned, if I have known
what sin is, and how God hates sin, I know there can be no
hope for me out of Christ. But God has put away sin. God
does not look at my sin, but on Christ. Just as I know my
condition in Adam as ruined and condemned, so I know
my place in Christ-accepted. How it throws us out of self-
importance, self-dependence, self-glorying! We enter into
the presence of God in Him who has perfectly gloried
God. He is the God as well as the Father of the Lord Jesus
Christ. ere is that wrought in Christ which was hidden
from ages and from generations, and He has gone back in
virtue of what He has done to vindicate the character of
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God. We enter into the blessing in Him who has done all.
We shall know God in virtue of what the Father bestows
upon us. e Father brings many sons unto glory, and
brings them back perfect through the work of Christ -”
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ “: none can
be wanting; not an aection of God’s delight is wanting.
He brings us into His presence without one reserve of the
aection that Christ has. We are brought back in Christ.
erefore all that Christ has we have.
How he goes on to unfold it! “ at we should be holy
and without blame before him in love.” He is not content
with a mere general account, but brings it out in detail that
we may know it. Suppose I saw a person with an excellent
character, and I felt I could never be like that person, I
should not be happy. e fact of the excellency of the person,
without the possibility of being like him, would make me
miserable; and to have him always before me would be all
the worse. But in heaven I shall be with Christ, and see
Him, without the possibility of being unlike Him. What
divine inventiveness of love to make us happy, innitely
happy! What God does, and is, is innite; and it is so much
the better that He will be always above us.
We shall have perfect freedom of intercourse with Him.
Moses and Elias were speaking with Him of His death (it
may not be then so much of His death), but there will be
communion with Him of all that He has.
“ Without blame.” Released from all that which would
hinder my loving Him; therefore I am made “ holy and
without blame.” ere is the proper joy of the heart-”
before him in love,” but no thought of equality; “ wherein
he hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence.”
en there is another fact-” Chosen in him before the
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foundation of the world.” us we have His heart set upon
us in eternity. e soul knows there is a personal love from
God towards himself, and the heart delights in that. So
with Christ. In Rev. 2 there is the white stone He will give-
proof of personal delight. ere is the individual rejoicing
in the love of Christ.
How the Spirit seeks to draw out our aections by all
this! He tells it all, and would have us know and enjoy
it. He would have us know that we are going to heaven,
and why. He would form our hearts by what He is doing,
while bringing us in, “ having predestinated us unto the
adoption of children “ -still in Christ and with Christ-”
by Jesus Christ unto himself.” It is through Him, and in
Him, and with Him I nd it. It is having my heart xed
on God and the Father, that my aections may be drawn
out to Him, and all is because “ accepted in the beloved.”
God has not blessed angels like this. We are not servants
only (we should be servants, to be sure), but we are brought
into the condence of children. Ought not a child to have
condence? We have received the Spirit of -adoption
whereby we cry “ Abba Father.” Our heart should answer
to God’s outgoings of heart in grace, and reect this grace,
“ to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath
made us accepted in the Beloved.” He has done it all.
Remark here, that there is not as yet a word about the
inheritance. I dwell on that, as showing how the aections
of the saint are formed. If I speak of the inheritance, it
is something below me. All prophecy concerns the
inheritance. But I am looking at what is above me, and my
own blessedness is in what is above me. Subjects connected
with the church, blessed as they are, as prophecy, etc., are
below. He will exercise us about these things, but let me
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rst get my relationship with my Father known. Do not
talk of me, what I have, but of what Christ is, and what He
has. My soul must enjoy the love that has given it all. e
love that has saved is more than the things given. It is of
importance to the saints to feel this in the presence of God.
It is not mental power, but the heart right-a single eye-
that is the great thing. Unless a soul gets its intelligence
and direction from God, it never understands the ways and
aections of God. His own aections must be known and
valued. If I have not known my place in the aections of
my Father, I am not in a position to have the communion
of His thoughts and purposes. When we were dead in sins,
His heart was exercised for us. e sinner is here looked
at as dead, not “ living “ in sins (as in Colossians) and
chastening, etc., for that, but in Ephesians “ dead,” not a
movement of life, when God comes and creates and blesses
according to His own will. When our souls have known
the value of Christ’s sacrice bringing us to God, we are
seen not in ourselves at all, but only in Christ. en there
is perfect rest.
But afterward he can tell us of the inheritance; and then
the prayer is that we may know the hope of His calling
(which calling is not the inheritance). He has called us
to be “ before him in love “ (v. 3-6); then verse 11 begins
about the inheritance. Now I will show you what Christ’s
inheritance is, and you are to have it too. I must know I am
a child and have the thoughts and aections of the child
before I can have to do with the inheritance. e end of the
matter is that we are brought in to share the inheritance.
How far are your hearts conding in God’s rest only
for your wants, etc.? Rather how far is your condence and
delight in Him for Himself? e heart of the child will
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delight in the aections of the father. Do your thoughts
about God ow from what God has revealed to you of
Himself? or are you reasoning about God-will He, or will
He not, do it? When it is a settled thing with me that I
am a sinner, what have I to reason about? We want to be
brought to this simple conviction: I am a sinner; and if
I am a sinner, what am I to do? Can I look for anything
from God on the ground of righteousness? No. When
brought to God I am brought to grace. What He is is the
spring and source of the whole matter. We are in Christ. It
could not be otherwise. We stand there now, by virtue of
the atonement, in that position which makes the sin the
very occasion for God to bless. Christ died for my sins, and
God is “ faithful and just to forgive us our sins.”
God is going to take us to heaven, to be happy with
Christ there; but He makes us happy out of heaven too.
It is a dicult thing, but He does; and He would have
the saints living up there where God is, and where we are
going, and free from this present evil world.
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Not of the World: Ephesians 1
Eph. 1
WE get here the whole scope of God’s thoughts and
purposes. e Epistle to the Ephesians takes in two things:
the presence and power of the Holy Ghost on earth, and
the condition that we are in as the result of it; and what
this is founded on, the exaltation of Christ at God’s right
hand. Ephesians does not speak of the coming of the Lord,
because the way our glory is brought about is not its subject,
but the present blessing of the saints. ere is a distinct part
at the end where our conict with Satan comes in, but the
general scope is what I have said: the basis, the exaltation
of Christ; then purpose, what is in God’s mind; and then
the knowledge of it, by the Holy Ghost come down. “ He
raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
hand “; this was needed for us to know our place and the
most important consequences owing from it down here.
e presence of the Holy Ghost who has come down from
heaven, the seal of our being heirs, and the earnest of the
inheritance, is our present condition, based upon Christ
raised to the right hand of God. A Man is sitting at the
right hand of God: a wonderful truth for us. His “ delights
are with the sons of men.” Being a Man, and having died
and therein perfectly gloried God, God has raised Him
from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand; and
thereupon the Holy Ghost is come down here, so that we
are associated with Him and the things that are on high, in
heart and mind, though not yet there as to our bodies. is
is where the heart has to be; our conversation is in heaven,
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for the Lord is there, not here; He is coming to make our
bodies like unto His glorious body, but at present we have
the Holy Ghost associating us with the place where He is.
God has “ blessed us with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ.” at is God’s mind. We are not
yet there in fact, but it is the thought of God about us, and
we ought to have it always before us. Blessings of the Jews
in earthly places under Christ will be fullled in time, but
for us it is “ spiritual blessings,” and “ in heavenly places,”
and “ in Christ “ Himself; and our present connection with
it all comes through the Holy Ghost.
We next get, in verses 4 and 5, two aspects of these
spiritual blessings: they are brought before us in connection
with the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. at is, Christ is looked at as Son
and looked at as Man. e Father owned Him in manhood
as the Son in Matt. 3, “ is is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased.” God is called the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ as Man; He is called His Father as Son.
is is the great basis of the wonderful place in which
we are. It is man that God has in His mind put in this
place of glory in His own Son. And this is not without its
consequences, and those of the very highest nature.
God’s choosing us before the foundation of the world
is not what arms in the time of choosing the sovereignty
of grace, for, supposing for a moment that God were to
choose us now, it would be just as sovereign an act as doing
it then. e practical truth brought out in His choosing us
before the foundation of the world is, that it proves that
we have nothing whatever to do with the world; before its
very foundation we were chosen; we have nothing to do
with it but to get through it. God would bring us into this
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blessedness with Himself which has nothing to do with
the world. We have just to go through it “ unspotted “; that
is all we have to do with it. Our living place was settled
with God before ever it existed. God had this thought to
have a people in Christ, “ holy and without blame before
him in love.” is is what God Himself is. He thus brings
us to be according to His own nature-” holy and without
blame “ before Himself. We have an innite object before
whom we are, and having the divine nature we can enjoy
that object. We are not taken out of the world yet, nor are
meant to be; but we are to pass through it as Christ did. If
one look at it in another point of view, it is just what Christ
was Himself, and that before God. is is the thought of
God.
en (v. 5) I get the Father. He might have had
servants like the angels, but this was not His thought: “
He predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself.” He insists on that, it is the blessed part
of it-that it is before God, and to Himself as Father. If it be
a relationship, it is to Himself.
us we have the nature, “ holy and without blame.” It
does not say there “ according to the good pleasure of his
will,” for God could not have beings in His presence in
a sinful state. But when it is relationship, it is “according
to the good pleasure of his will “: He chooses to have us
as sons. I get love, the nature of God-” in love “-and love
of predilection too. e place we get into is one that is
according to the good pleasure of His will, and He brings
us according to His own nature before Himself; there is not
a cloud because He has “ made us accepted in the beloved
“-Christ assuredly; but He gives that name to Him to
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mark the full character of the blessedness, and thus brings
us into His own presence.
is is the purpose; it does not say here how much of it
is accomplished: it will not be fully until we are in the glory.
Only in the end of the chapter we get what is accomplished
in fact, as the groundwork of all our present enjoyment of
it in spirit. God takes Christ out of death and sets Him
at His own right hand in the heavenly places. is is an
accomplished thing; it is “ wrought in Christ “: Christ as
Man is in the glory of God.
And then we get the third thing: the Holy Ghost has
come down meanwhile. Before the purpose is accomplished,
but when the work in Christ is accomplished, the Holy
Ghost comes down, the seal with which God has sealed
those here who have part in His purpose, and the earnest
of their inheritance. We are then competent to see God’s
plans about Christ Himself, His purpose “ to gather
together in one all things in him, both which are In heaven
and which are on earth.” en it is glory.
e rst verses were our calling; now it is our inheritance.
And this inheritance is “ after the counsel of his own will.”
It is sovereign grace to poor sinners that brings us into this
place. It will not be accomplished until He come; it is in
Him we have obtained it, being “ predestinated according
to his purpose.” at which is believed in order to our being
sealed is “ the gospel of our salvation.” John the Baptist was
the forerunner of Him who was to accomplish it; but now
we have the glad tidings of it consequent on the actual
exaltation of Christ, and the seal of the Holy Ghost as the
earnest of what is to come.
is is where we are whilst still in the world which is no
part of the purpose of God, but in which, passing through
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discipline, we learn the dierence between esh and spirit;
it is His ways, but not part of His purpose. e Holy Ghost
comes down from heaven, gives us to know Christ, reveals
to us our inheritance, bears witness to us that we are “ heirs
of God and joint-heirs with Christ.” He makes us know
where we are; that we belong to heaven and not to this
earth at all. As we read in Proverbs: “ In the beginning of
his way, before his works of old, from the beginning or ever
the earth was, then I was by him, as one brought up with
him, and my delights were with the sons of men,” so Christ
became Man, and is gone into glory as our forerunner.
I desire that our hearts may feel that in God’s thoughts
and purposes He has given us a place that is not of the
world at all, and that all our business in this world is to
keep ourselves unspotted from it. I do not belong to this
world; before the foundation of it I was chosen. It is not
thus simply the sovereignty that does what it pleases, but
that we, as Christians, do not belong to earth at all. Epistle
of Christ is what we are; we may not live up to it, but it is
what we are called to: to manifest the second Man in the
midst of the world that has rejected Him.
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63014
Notes on the Epistle to the
Ephesians
CHAPTER 1.
THE apostle seems here to dwell on the purposes of
God with regard to us. He does not so much speak of the
means which God has made use of in order to reconcile
us with Himself (the satisfaction that has been made to
His justice, though the Spirit dwells thereon likewise); but
the subject is specially the blessedness in which God has
placed us in His counsels of grace.
It is certainly a blessed thing for us fully to understand
the means which God has made use of, in order to bring us
to Himself; but God has made known to us these things,
in order that we may be occupied with, the things to which
we are called. It is in the enjoyment of these things that
we put on the character of the Christian, and that the soul
grows. ey enter into our very existence; and when the
heart has laid hold of them, there is much more of the
Christian and of testimony in us, so that, by the power of
the Holy Spirit working in us, there results a much clearer
and stronger point of attraction for the world.
ose who dwell in Spirit in heaven partake of its spirit,
and go on increasing in the things which they nd there.
ey are in relationship with God; they enjoy what God
has given, and that is certainly most precious; but above all,
they enjoy God Himself: and here is the exceeding grace
of Him who desires that we should always dwell near Him,
and that we should know His thoughts and His counsels.
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is is what we should desire and seek after, and thus we
shall understand better what is well pleasing to the Lord,
and what is worthy of Him. Such are the subjects of which
the apostle speaks to us in the chapter which is before us.
Verses 1-3. In Jesus Christ, the Head of the body, we are
blessed with all spiritual blessings. It is there God sets us;
and we know it, beloved, we know it, but more in theory
than in practice.
Verse 4. As I have already said, the apostle here not only
speaks to us of the means, but of the source of our blessing
in the unspeakable counsels of God, and of the end which
God proposes to Himself; for it is said, “ at ye may be
holy and without blame before him in love.” is is the
thought of God about us: He wishes to have us before
Him, and to have us there happy and for Himself.
ere is only one thing in which God does not suce
for Himself, and that is, in His love. His love has need
of other beings beside Himself, in order to make them
happy. He desires to have before Him beings in harmony
with what He is, and He sets us before Him “ holy and
without blame.”
3
is is what He is Himself, He who is
the Holy One, He who certainly is without blame; for it is
impossible to nd any fault in Him. He calls Himself the
Holy One; He is love! Well; He sets us holy and without
blame before Him in love. Precious and most important
thought for us! He has resolved that the church should be
such that He could take delight in her, and behold in her
before Him the reproduction of Himself, the most perfect
happiness possible. He sets before Him beings like to
Himself, in order to make them as happy as it is possible;
3 e rst of these words speaks of the character, the other
rather of the conduct.
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He communicates to us His nature, and takes His delight
in us. In order for that, He makes us “ holy and without
blame in love “; and these things are accomplished here
below by the Spirit, though the eects are not fully shown
till above in the place of perfectness. So, where is our place
even now below? Before Him; and this place is not a joy
only, but the most precious thing that can be imagined, to
be before Him!
We do not like to be before Him when we are not holy;
but when the conscience is cleansed by the blood of Christ,
we are truly happy before Him. In order that we may be
happy before Him we must be holy, we must understand
the tastes of the divine nature-our nature. We ourselves
must nd our happiness in being “ holy and without blame
in love.” e apostle John shows in his rst epistle (chap. 4:
13), that the divine nature is produced in the Christian: the
Christian has received God’s own Spirit; it is a man who
loves, and God is in him and he in God. What is granted is
nothing less than the communication of the divine nature,
by which we dwell in God, and God in us, “ that we might
be holy and without blame before him in love.”
What we shall be above ought to be our aim here
below, not as a task imposed, but as being made partakers
of the divine nature to the glory of God. Now if we would
realize these things, our thoughts must be above, according
to the nature of the grace which we have received. It is
most strengthening for us to think of the things which are
above-of their source, of Jesus, of the fulllment of this
purpose of God in glory.
Verses 5-7. e apostle has ever this adoption in view;
God wills to have us for Himself before Him through Jesus,
according to the good pleasure of His will, as His children.
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Now this is the glory of this grace which has placed us
there. In these verses Paul speaks to us of the basis, of the
means which God has employed, and on the certainty of
which we can count. He speaks of it as a settled thing, as
of a thing which we possess, and the possession of which,
indeed, is necessary to us, in order that we may partake of
all that of which he is about to speak to us.
is is the door by which we have come in; and having
passed through the door, in Jesus, I have the certainty of
being in the house. But it would be sorrowful to have Jesus
only as the door, though it is precious to understand that.
If we are not sure of a hearty welcome, and of the love of
the Father, we depreciate the riches of His grace, for “ we
have redemption by his blood, even the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace,” v. 7. If in uncertainty
we do not enjoy this grace, we do not really acknowledge
it; and in order to do so we must give ourselves up entirely
to God, to the power of the love of Him who tells us to
come inside. Here we may remark, that the Spirit, whilst
declaring to us very plainly what is the means of our
salvation, does not reason upon it as elsewhere, making
known to us its character and its suciency; but He speaks
of it as of a privilege that we possess; He tells us what we
have in Christ, before showing what belongs to those who
enjoy the eect of this redemption. We have redemption;
and instructed in all things, we wait for the redemption of
the body, in order to enjoy it. e only thing that we have
to do is to contemplate the riches of the grace of God; this
will be a means of drawing us close to Him.
We have seen in the preceding verses the purposes of
God with regard to us, and the means which He employs to
render us partakers of them, namely, redemption through
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Christ’s blood, according to the riches of His grace. Now
what we have before us is the portion we have now here
below, the understanding of the mystery of God.
Verses 8, 9. God has given us of His grace in all wisdom
and prudence. He is not content with only giving us this
portion, by bringing us into it hereafter; but He wishes to
give us now, here below, the knowledge of it in all wisdom
and prudence, according to His good pleasure. We have not
to do with a God who sets us before His justice, but with
a God of grace who acts according to His own thoughts.
God wills that the church should not be only such before
Him, but that it should be also, here below, the depository
of all His counsels; that it should have the understanding
of the mystery of His will.
Verse 10 gives us the explanation of this mystery.
God gathers together in one all things in Christ in the
dispensation of the fullness of times. All that which
preceded was preparatory; as the law, the prophets, etc.
is verse speaks of the fullness of times, when God will
arrange all things according to His mind, by setting Christ
at the head of all things; and it is by being united to Him
that we are made partakers of the inheritance. God acts
of His own will to bring about what He wills. All shall be
gathered together in one in Christ. It is by Him that all has
been created, and by Him all is to be reconciled; and this is
set forth here as the result of the counsels of God.
Verses 11, 12. ere are two, parts in this mystery: 1,
all things shall be put under the headship of Christ; 2, the
church, which is His body, will have part in the inheritance.
We shall be before God according to the perfection of
His nature. Christ having been put to death, God and the
sinner have met together. But here it is rather a question
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103
of the accomplishment of the mystery of the will of God
for the glory of Christ. e church will have part in the
inheritance. “ in whom,” it is said, “ we have obtained an
inheritance “; but the whole of the mystery is not the church
only, and this is very simple if we receive the thoughts of
the Bible; not, indeed, that we shall understand the whole
extent of the glory, but we shall see that all things created
are to be gathered together in one in Christ.
In the Epistle to the Colossians Christ is presented as
Creator; the Person of Christ is in the prominent place
rather than the counsels of God as to the church. Christ
is the rst-born of every creature, and the rst-born from
the dead; Head of His body, which is the church. But here,
in the Epistle to the Ephesians, it is the privileges of the
church in Him which we are given to know. In verse 6 it
is said that what we possess already is to the praise of the
glory of His grace; and in verse 12, where he is speaking
of the glory to come that is before us, it is said-” that we
should be to the praise of his glory” e church has a
portion quite apart and most glorious. All things are to
be gathered together in one in Christ. e church, being
united to Him, is made partaker of the inheritance, that we
should be to the praise of His glory. e glory of God is
understood by its being seen in us; and the world will then
see that we have been loved as Christ is loved.
Verse 12 might seem a diculty, where it is said, “ We
who rst hoped in Christ “; but he is here speaking of the
Jews, who have believed before the revelation of Christ to
the nation, at His second coming, and before the national
call to the Jews at the end: such of the Jews as have believed,
as have hoped beforehand, they are gloried with Him.
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Verses 13, 14. Verse 13 is spoken to us; it is not only both
Jews and Gentiles who will partake of this inheritance; but
the church is given to know the will of God, by the gift of
the Holy Spirit. is it is which distinguishes Christians
who, having believed, are sealed with the Holy Spirit of
promise. e Holy Spirit becomes a seal. We cannot receive
the inheritance before Christ; the Spirit is given to us as
earnest, whilst waiting for it. God sets His seal upon us,
and this is a proof that a Gentile has part in the promises
made to Abraham (for instance, Cornelius).
ere is a dierence between regeneration by the Spirit
and the presence of the Spirit as a seal. A person must have
believed, for God to be able to put His seal on him; the
Spirit may act before this, as for instance, in breaking up
the heart; but it is not as a seal. Sometimes the power of
the Spirit produces fruits in us; at other times it humbles
us, making us sensible of good and evil; but this is not joy.
e fact is, that this work is even more precious than the
joy itself, because there are sometimes things in us which
are not judged before God on account of the very joy.
When God has given us the enjoyment of the true object
which we ought to enjoy, He begins to break up the heart
in order that the work may be deeper. e Spirit makes us
sensible of the things which are not according to God, and
this knowledge of one’s self is necessary, in order that we
may know God. I do not say that, if we were to walk exactly
as God would have us, this work could not be carried on
without the loss of the joy; but it is not generally so with the
Christian. It becomes needful for God to turn us toward
Himself, and to work inwardly, that we may discover what
our carelessness has prevented us from seeing. Often this
exhilarating joy of a Christian is found in one who has
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not judged things that ought to be judged in the presence
of God. e wants and the desires which the Holy Spirit
produces by regeneration are not the seal of the Spirit, any
more than the joy which ows from the aections being
occupied with a new and divine object, nor even the fruits
which the Holy Spirit may produce when He dwells in
us. e seal is the Holy Spirit Himself, given to that faith
which is in Him who is our righteousness, and is the answer
to all our wants; and then we have peace and joy. It is the
Spirit in us who is the seal.
We ought not to be surprised, if we nd it is the
intention of God to show us ourselves; at such times we do
not see God, because He is making us see ourselves. Many
persons think that the full and unwavering assurance of
our salvation tends to make us careless as to the state of
our souls; but this is a mistake. e Holy Spirit has set His
throne in our hearts, and if we will judge ourselves, we shall
not be judged. It is He who makes us fully enjoy God, and
who makes us judge what is not of God in us; who alone
sets us in the truth, and gives us the assurance of what is
accomplished for us. God in us, by His Spirit, judges the
conduct and the heart; but this does not prevent this Spirit
being the seal which God has set upon us, the witness of
His perfect and unchangeable love towards us, the strength
of a life of liberty, the Spirit of adoption. We partake of it
with Jesus; God put His seal upon Jesus Himself when He
was in this world, after His baptism by John.
e Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance. And here,
let is be observed, that the Word, in the New Testament,
always employs the word us, when it speaks of Christians
and of the things which concern them. e prophets saw
that the things which were revealed to them were not for
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them, but for us (see 1Peter 1:11); the Holy Spirit always
says us. e possession is not yet granted: the Spirit is the
earnest of it.
e possession of the inheritance depends on the
redemption of our body. As to our souls, we are united to
the Heir even now; this is why we groan, all the while that
we have the promises, because of this body, the redemption
of which is not yet accomplished; and this redemption
will take place at the resurrection. is is the enigma of
the Christian; the Spirit gives him the certainty of his
personal redemption, and this Spirit is the earnest of the
inheritance. We shall be to the praise of His glory. Whilst
waiting, the Spirit makes us sympathize with the groans
of the creation; He helps our inrmities; working in us,
He takes knowledge of the misery with which we are
outwardly bound up, and He intercedes for us. e Spirit
becomes the fountain of thoughts, the subjects of which are
in heaven; and on the earth, the love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts; Rom. 5:5. e Spirit searches our hearts and
presents our wants before God; Rom. 8:26, 27. In verse 5
of this chapter God gives us a picture of the portion of a
Christian. at which is important for us is the description
of the person to whom these things belong.
Verse 15. ere are two things to observe: 1, Christ was
the object of the faith; 2, the saints were the object of the
love. Christ being the object of faith, all those who are in
Christ become also the objects of our love. e Holy Spirit
dwells in the body (the church) as well as in the body of
each Christian (1Cor. 3:16; chap. 6: 19); and He knows all
the members of the body: when we can mount up to the
privileges of the Christian, we embrace all the body. e
esh does not understand these privileges; but the Holy
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Spirit understands them; and the consequence of this
knowledge will be love towards all the saints.
Verse 16. It is a happy thing when our prayers are
givings of thanks: we realize, then, the certainty of our
privileges. If we think of the wretchedness of the saints,
we are overwhelmed by it; but if we think of what Christ is
for the saints, we give thanks; we realize what God will do
and does, for them and in them. God cannot be unfaithful
to the love we have for all the saints; 1Cor. 1:4. Paul could
handle the sword of the Spirit; he would not have known
how to deal with the Corinthians, if he had not begun
by taking notice of the good which grace had wrought
in them. How dierent is the Christian’s way of acting,
thinking, and judging, from the way of the world! ere is
not an expression more remarkable than that which Paul
in this verse makes use of in speaking to the Corinthians.
Paul was determined to act according to the Spirit of God.
It is not that God can make light of sin, and not judge it:
no, He will judge it severely in the saints, if there be evil
among them; but it is important for the church to handle
it as God handles it.
Verse 17. We nd here two names attached to God:
1, He is called the God of our Lord Jesus Christ; 2, the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. e prayer of chapter 3
is in relationship with the second of these titles, that of
Father; that of the seventeenth and the following verses of
this chapter, with that of God.
e apostle also presents before us God as the Father of
glory, that is to say, as the source, morally and in power, of
all true glory. At the same time he sets before us the Lord
Jesus entering as man into relationship with God, a bond
which causes all the aection of God to rest upon Him,
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as the object in whom all the divine thoughts center: this
is why Paul says, “ e God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory.”
I can consider Christ as a gloried Man, whose right
has been established by God over all things; this is what
Peter does in his epistles; he looks at Christ as a Man
whom God had regarded in this manner, having raised
Him from the dead. John, on the contrary, sees Christ in
the glory of His divine Person, one with the Father, and
as the sent One. In our Epistle Christ is presented to us
as the object of the counsels of God, in whom the power
of God is displayed. It is precious for us to see what is our
position in Christ, to see that we are placed, as being His
body, in the same position as Himself. e counsels of God
concerning Christ and His body, are what is contained in
this Epistle.
e prayer which begins at this verse expresses the desire
that we should enjoy the understanding which is given to
us of the counsels of God, of the hope of His calling, of the
riches of the glory of His inheritance in His saints, and the
power which has placed us in this enjoyment.
Verses 18-23. e union of Christ with the church is a
union so real, that the body must be there, in order for Christ
to be complete. It is man in resurrection who occupies this
place: and this doctrine is essentially practical; as it gives
the whole power of God in a life of resurrection here below,
which sets us above the esh. If we do not realize this life,
we walk as men; and the lively understanding of this life of
resurrection brings death upon all that is not heavenly. e
power of faith makes us walk according to heavenly places;
and it is nothing less than the power of God (the same
power which raised Christ from the dead, and set Him
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at the right hand of God) which works in us both to will
and to do. In these days the church has not miracles for its
portion, but the power of the Spirit in the invisible world.
Herein is the understanding of the mystery of Christ.
All things will be gathered together in one in Him; and,
being united to Him, we likewise enjoy this inheritance.
God redeems and inherits all things in Christ, and God
establishes Christ the heir over all things as Man; but
the church is the body of Christ, united to Him in the
enjoyment of this inheritance; therefore it is said, “ the
inheritance of God in the saints.”
In Christ all is manifested-in Christ the Son, Heir of
all things; it is on Him that all hangs. But in the counsels
of God, it is in us also that these things are manifested-in
us, the saints; with whom God surrounds Himself in order
to enjoy the fullness of His glory; as it is written, “ to the
glory of God by us.”
But there still remains one thing essentially necessary
to our enjoyment of this glorious destiny which belongs to
us in the counsels of God; it was not only needful to reveal
to us the counsels of God, but also to raise us to the height
of that which is given to us by placing us in a position, in
a state whereby we are made capable of this enjoyment.
Christ is the Heir of all things, and we are His co-heirs. In
what way are we associated with Him so as to share in the
inheritance of the glory? How did He Himself (the One
who in grace partook of the consequences of sin on the
cross) become raised to enjoy the glory? God raised Him
from the dead, and set Him according to His merits, and
according to the dignity of His Person, at His own right
hand, in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is
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named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to
come. He has taken the Man who was dead, and has set
Him at His right hand in the glory. Man, in the Person of
Christ, raised above all except the throne, by which He has
been raised. And is He alone?-No. e same power which
raised Christ, and set Him at the right hand of God; the
excellent greatness of that power which raised the Man
who was dead to the right hand of God, works with the
same might in him who believes.
is is what raises us to the capacity and to the position
where we can enjoy, and where we do enjoy, the glory of
God in Christ. For if God has set Christ over all, by taking
Him from among the dead, He has given Him also as Head
to His body, which is the church. We partake in this glory
as being the body, the members of Him who inherits it; we
partake of it according to the same energy which has set
Christ there; Christ thus exalted is Head over all things,
and Head of His body, which is the church. e members
have their part in the inheritance, by virtue of the working
of the same power in them, which wrought in Christ when
He was taken from among the dead and set at the right
hand of God. e body is complement to the Head; it is in
this sense its fullness. Christ lls all in all: this is His glory.
It is He who divinely lls the whole universe-the church is
the body of Him who does it.
is great and wonderful truth is unfolded practically
and morally in chapter 2. But before going farther, let
us here remark, that there are two things in which the
operation of the Holy Spirit is manifested in the church-
these are wisdom and power; but the one is manifested
at the present time more than the other. It is said, that
Christ is the wisdom and the power of God. If you take the
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most advanced Christians, you will nd in them more of
wisdom and knowledge of the ways and counsels of God
than of power. In the beginning of the church, the great
mass of believers were less enlightened than at present; but
the power was greater, for the demons trembled. ough
this power is precious, inasmuch as it is a testimony that
Jesus, as Man, has conquered Satan; yet the most precious
thing is wisdom and so much the more, as what we have
now to do is to discern the evil and separate from it, and
not to establish a new dispensation. However, God always
gives that which suits the need of His church.
And it is the same thing that we see in Joseph; rst,
when persecuted by his brethren; afterward, when in
Egypt. at which characterized him was his wisdom, his
knowledge of the thoughts of God. is is what is now
given to us, even the thoughts of God. e position of the
church is known by spiritual understanding; by wisdom
I know what is my portion in Christ; my aections are
drawn towards what God has presented to me for eternity.
e church, in a special way, has need to understand this;
she will then avoid the wiles of Satan. In Israel, when the
enemies had the upper hand, it was knowing the thoughts
of God which sustained those who were faithful. We see
that the prophets of Judah, to whom God had entrusted His
thoughts, did not perform a single miracle. Understanding
of the thoughts of God will make us humble. It is a lowly
position to know that we have nothing but what is in God.
e eect spiritually will be to turn our hearts towards
Him who is our portion; and this will draw the church
away from all that is of the world; because God is about to
take her up out of the world, this will force her to nd her
sources of joy and strength only in Him. Here, however,
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there is a character of power attached to such knowledge. It
is the power of the resurrection which places us in the same
position as Christ in heaven. at is our position, if we have
spiritual intelligence: how power and wisdom are united! It
is a work of power in us, and not our own wisdom.
CHAPTER 2.
Verses 1-3. e Gentiles were by sin morally there where
Christ actually and outwardly placed Himself for sin; they
were dead in their trespasses and in their sins. ere they
were walking according to the course of this world, oating
with the stream according to the powerful and universal
inuence of Satan, who penetrates everywhere and reigns
over everything, like the air, which is his seat; they were
walking according to this spirit which is now working in
the children of disobedience, in those who still continue far
o from the deliverance wrought by the Lord.
But was it only for the Gentiles? Far from it; the apostle
tells us, “ we also,” Jews, we were walking in the same lusts;
and by consequence, according to the moral truth of our
nature, we were, says he, children of wrath-heirs by nature
of the wrath of that God who could not mix Himself up
with sin. All were children of wrath. It was their desert,
according to their nature, which was opposed to God.
Verses 4-7. e apostle has shown where all men were;
he has done away with all distinction, by showing what
the nature was which was common to them all; and has
reduced all men to the same ground, by bringing down the
Jews through the lusts of the esh to the same level morally
as the Gentile, whom the Jew despised. Such was man in
himself, Jew or Gentile. But God who is rich in mercy,
when we (for all, Jew or Gentile, are now taken together)
were dead in our trespasses and in our sins, has quickened
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us together with Christ. If the sin of their common nature
united them all in the same position before God, His grace
has set them with Christ, quickened together with Him,
and thus together also as to one another. e resurrection
unites in one for blessing those whom sin had really put far
o from God. us God had raised up together, and made
sit together in the heavenly places in Christ, believers from
among either the Jews or the Gentiles. us the church
enjoyed the fullness of blessedness in Christ, according to
the power of the resurrection and the ascension by which
God had set Christ at His right hand in heaven. Sin united
sinners down here in one common misery; grace has raised
them to one peculiar and common glory, according to the
power which had raised up Christ to this glory from the
grave.
But if children of wrath, if thieves and Mary Magdalenes
are found in the same glory as that conferred on the Son
of God as the reward of His service here below; if even we
ourselves are found participating in it, it is in order that
God may show in the ages to come the exceeding riches
of His grace in His kindness towards us by Christ Jesus.
When angels and principalities see a poor sinner and
the whole church in the same glory as the Son of God,
they will understand, as much as it is possible for them to
understand of, the exceeding riches of the grace which has
set us there.
Verses 8, 9. All is the gift of God. It was not even through
works that we had part in this glorious salvation, but by
faith, and this again the gift of God, that no man might
boast. e glory of such a grace must all turn back again
to God. He will make us understand that we are, indeed,
blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places.
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What could we have more than to partake in the glory and
the inheritance of Christ Himself, according to the power
which has set Him there? So we see that the portion and
position of the church are heavenly. It is inasmuch as dead
and risen with Christ from the dead, that she enjoys all
His privileges. It is there above that she enjoys them. She
is heavenly by the very fact of her existence.
Verses 10, 11. e Spirit presents to us another aspect
of this work in contrast with the thought of any labor on
our part, in order to obtain this glory. We are, inasmuch as
we partake of that, His work, created by God. e works of
man are excluded from it; ourselves are His workmanship.
Is it then that works are left, and by the Christian? No:
they have their place; we are created for good works which
God has before prepared (for all is of Him), that we
should walk in them. ey are not the works of the law,
that the man which does them should live by them; but
God, having created in us this new and heavenly nature,
had before prepared works- a walk suitable to them. e
consequence of this work of Christ is, not only that we are
created anew for this heavenly position: but, moreover, it
sets us here below in order to make manifest His power.
ese two great blessings ow from our being considered
by God, as being really the body of Christ; that is to say,
that we are possessors of the same glory there above, and
that we are the dwelling of God here below. e church
will be the fullness of Christ in glory, when all things will
be subjected to Him; while waiting for it she ought to
manifest the power of Christ in this world.
Such is then the order, the ensemble, and the eect of
this work of power wrought out by grace, according to the
rich mercy of God, which has set us in the heavenly places
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in Christ, as the body of Christ; the fullness of Him that
lleth all in all; for it is no longer question of Jew or Gentile,
but of spiritual blessings for those who are quickened and
raised up together with Christ, according to the exceeding
riches of that grace which has set the sinner in the same
glory as the Son of God. What ought we not to be, since
we have been made partakers of such privileges; and that
according to this great love with which God has loved us?
Verse 12. e Israelites were as far o from God morally;
but as to their position they were not without God in the
world; God was there, the covenant was there, as also the
promises; whilst the Gentiles had nothing. e Gentiles
were far o from God: outside the pale of the Jews, there
was no way for them to draw near to God in a way that
would be pleasing to Him; they were altogether separated
from Him. We see, however, through the history of the
Jews, that in after times God intended to act otherwise;
several signs, obscure certainly, showed that God had
another thought, as Rahab and others serve for examples.
Verses 13-16. e blood of Christ does away all
dierence between those who were far o and those who
were nigh. It is evident that the Jews, having put to death
the Messiah, had destroyed every link between themselves
and God: the middle wall of partition was broken down.
ey were like the nations, and more guilty than they. All
that had belonged to them was entirely destroyed, and
set aside by the death of Christ. at which had made
the distinction of the Jew consisted in the ordinances by
excluding the Gentiles who had no part in them. Now
there is no longer need to know whether one is a Jew or
a Gentile, for we see in verse 15 that the end of God is
to take Jews and Gentiles in order to make one body of
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both. He has broken down the middle wall of partition,
and wishes to form not the commonwealth of Israel again,
but a new body in His presence, taken from either by the
cross. It is evident that he who approaches to God by the
cross has done with the Jewish ground. e apostle insists
upon this point, that God, having laid this foundation in
Christ, means to have but one body before Him; and then
he shows how this is accomplished here below. If I draw
near to God through the blood of Christ, I am a member
of His body.
Verse 17. God had made peace, through the blood of
Christ, between Jews and Gentiles, by reconciling them
both to Himself by the cross; it is a new thing, a new man
in Christ, in Jesus Himself. e apostle says it is the cross
which has done it, by breaking down the middle wall of
partition; and this oneness was established in principle, the
moment Christ died. It is the cross which has done it; all
dierence is destroyed. e uppermost thought with God
was to gather together in one, one glorious body in His
presence; but in order to do so He must make peace and
break down the middle wall of partition; this is what was
done by the cross of Christ. It is remarkable that it should
be said that it is Christ who came to bring us peace, for
it is not His spirit but Himself who brings us peace, this
peace which is before God, which is accomplished. It is by
Him that we have the enjoyment of it. Christ does not only
produce good results in us; but He brings to us the good
news of the peace which is made, and He brings it with
Himself. “ He came and preached peace to them which
were afar o, and peace to them which were nigh.”
Verse 18. In this verse we see what is the way in which
we draw nigh to God, the order of the Spirit in the heart
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being the inverse of that of grace. e Father acts by the
Son, the Son in us by the Spirit, and as we now have
the Spirit, it is by the Son that we address the Father. I
cannot pray to God without the truth of the Trinity being
manifested; it is not an abstract doctrine, but enters into
the practical relationships of every day. Now it is the Spirit
which makes the unity, there where He works, being the
bond of the oneness of the body. “ Now therefore ye are no
more strangers.”
Verses 19, 20. It is necessary to observe that the prophets
here spoken of are not the prophets of the Old Testament,
but those of the New. Paul speaks of the apostles and
prophets as forming the foundation. e question here
is as to building upon it, not as to laying the foundation.
e church is not built upon the prophets of the Old
Testament; it is built since the death of the Lord Jesus,
and the foundation on which it is built is Christ who was
crucied. All the Jewish ordinances barred the way against
those who were not of Israel; the Jews had cast themselves
away by putting Christ to death. e veil was rent: till then,
God’s foundation had not been laid, the rst stone of the
church was not placed. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saw the
promises afar o; they had believed and embraced them,
and they will be in the heavenly glory; but the church had
not then begun upon earth. It is upon earth that all has
taken place: sin entered there, temptation also; the law
too was given upon earth; Christ came into this world,
the Holy Spirit also. By the Holy Spirit we can enter in
within the veil; now that the foundation is laid (that is to
say, since the death of Christ), the Holy Spirit, who makes
us able to enter, has been given to us. If we leave that, all
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is confusion, the church has no distinctive feature, nothing
which distinguishes it.
e word “ prophets “ of verse 20 has led many into a
mistake. Here it is quite a new revelation that is spoken of,
one which could not be spoken of before. It was a hidden
mystery. God could not reveal the church during the Jewish
dispensation; for the existence of the church then would
have denied the special position of this people Israel. God
could reveal that the Jews would be rejected and punished,
and from the moment He brings out that, He turns back
to the mercy which will cause the Jewish nation to return
into blessing. is is what will take place when the Jewish
people will be the royal people upon earth, when Israel will
be restored by a new covenant. But this new man, this new
revelation, is that those who now believe and belong to
Christ become members of His body; and they are in the
blessedness which belongs to it. Verse 19 expresses that we
are in the house of God; and from verse 20 it is evident
that, in order to begin to build, the corner stone must be
laid. is is what we have seen before, and now we come
to the results of it. Verse 21. We are not yet the temple of
God; the church will be that holy temple in glory.
Verse 22 describes what we are now; we are the habitation,
the tabernacle, where God dwells by His Spirit, as of old,
in the midst of the camp of Israel; hereafter we shall be a
glorious temple. Whilst waiting, we are the habitation, the
dwelling of God. e blessedness of the church ows out
of that nearness. If we have the consciousness that we are
the habitation of God, how can we dele the tabernacle?
ere is not a blessing more important than this; it is even
higher than those which relate to our inheritance in the
glory.
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119
When the apostle has spoken of God dwelling in us
by the Spirit, he prays that we may be lled with all the
fullness of God; and there are here two things to remark: I,
the glory to come, and the church having part in this glory;
2, the habitation of God in us being united to Christ, we
are the habitation of God by the Spirit. It is our present
position: we have what is most blessed in this position.
If we grieve the Spirit, we dishonor God who dwells in
us: God then cannot act. When Satan by means of error
has got entrance into any part, the church is troubled on
every side. It is this power of Satan which has invaded the
church of Rome. How precious it is that we should be the
habitation of God, and how solemn a thing it is to have
such a God in the midst of us! From the moment that there
was an Achan in the camp, God could not act, He could
not go forward; Israel was beaten because God was there.
It is the same with the church of God; and if we forget it,
God does not forget it. It is a precious thing to remember
that, though we are in wretchedness, God is with us; as it
is said in Hag. 2:4, when the Jews began to build, “ Be of
good courage, for I am with you “: whatever be your state of
ruin, I am with you; My Spirit is with you as in the day that
I caused you to come up out of Egypt. ere is nothing but
faith which can reconcile these two things-wretchedness
and the love of God.
CHAPTER 3.
Verses 1-6. e apostle had set forth in the preceding
chapters the hope of glory and the oneness of the body of
Christ; he had presented the Spirit given as the seal and
earnest of the glory, the Spirit as the center of the oneness;
and while we wait for this glory, he has presented the
church, not only as the co-heir of this glory in hope, but
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as being the habitation of God by the Spirit during the
present time. Paul, in these two chapters, shows us rst the
glory with Christ; and afterward the church, the bride of
Christ and habitation of God by the Spirit.
Now, introducing the Gentiles into the oneness of the
body, the apostle says, “ I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ
for you Gentiles.” All that follows from verse I to the end
of the chapter is in parenthesis, as is seen by chapter 4: I,
“ I, therefore, the prisoner.” What is said at the beginning
of chapter 4 is connected with the end of chapter 2, where
it is seen that we are the habitation of God, the dwelling
of God; this is the calling of which it is said, “ I beseech
you … to walk worthy of the calling with which ye are
called.” In such a position we are always humble; and this it
is which enables us to walk worthy of the calling revealed.
At the beginning of the chapter there are two things
to observe: personal humility which leads us to walk in
oneness; and the individual gifts. ere is one body, one
Spirit, and the gifts alone are dierent in the members of
the body. Chapter 3 is an unfolding of this truth, that the
Holy Spirit dwells in His habitation, which is the church.
Paul says, “ I, Paul, prisoner for you Gentiles,” etc.; and the
consequence was, that since, as to the church, Paul would
not place the Jews above the Gentiles, by reason of the
malice of this people he became prisoner for the love of the
Gentiles; here is the testimony which Paul gives about it. “
at the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same
body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel.”
It is wonderful how slow Christians are to understand the
largeness of the counsels of God; for Paul was obliged to
say even to the Ephesians, who were certainly a blessed
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church, if they had the understanding of the ways of God
as to him, Paul; “ If so be ye have heard.”
In general we are obliged to be much more occupied
with the details of the Christian life than with the great
principles of this life. God is patient; but it is sorrowful that
the state of the church should be such. Because of the want
of spirituality, the Spirit cannot go on to unfold the riches
of the thoughts of Jesus; He is then forced to be occupied
with the walk, that the gospel may not be dishonored. e
understanding of the counsels of God depends on the
faithfulness of the walk, and what will be the consequence
of this faithful walk? It will be a state of struggle with all,
especially with all that Judaises. It is impossible but that,
in the actual state in which the world is, opposition should
not be shown against the one who is faithful; and the fact of
having more light excites opposition even with Christians.
Paul is a striking example of it.
e apostle often repeats this; that the church has not
been revealed in the Old Testament. Certainly, the prophets
of the Old Testament conrm the blessed position of the
church, inasmuch as this truth is based upon the blessing
of God being extended even to the nations blessing which
they (the prophets) had testied of. (Psa. 18:49; Deut.
32:43 Psa. 117) ere it is the Gentiles who are to rejoice
with His people; but what the church is, is never spoken
of. In the Colossians it is said of Christ, “ Christ the hope
of glory “; whilst that Christ whom the Jews expected was
to be a Christ personally present-a Christ who was to
bring in the glory (this will take place at the end)-so that
a Christ who was only a hope when He was there was a
thing which could not be understood. It was a mystery,
of which the prophets had never said a word: they had
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spoken of a Christ who was to accomplish such or such
things, but never of a Christ in us the hope of glory for the
church. Christ as in us is the practical and actual point of
this mystery.
In Rom. 16:26
4
the apostle teaches the same truth, that
the church was a mystery, unknown before the death of
Christ. God had always had the thought of the church; but
it was hidden. Paul, in his communications to the Gentiles,
rests upon what the prophets had said of the grace of God
towards the Gentiles, and he quotes these prophets; Rom.
15:9-12. It is certain that a Christ promised, and who was to
be rejected, is clearly revealed in the prophets; but we know
that this was an enigma for the Jews-” We have heard out
of the law that Christ abideth forever “-and the thought
of a Christ who had other members, and those too among
the Gentiles, would have been still more incomprehensible.
e church is united to Christ; and if we wish to nd it
in the Old Testament, we must seek Christ Himself, and
see it in Him. See, for example, Isa. 50: 8: “ He is near
that justieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand
together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.
Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall
condemn Me? “ and Rom. 8:32, 33.
is challenge to all the world (because it is God who
justies us), which in Isaiah is spoken by Christ Himself,
is in the Romans applied to the church. God only sees
Christ; and these things are applied to us as being united
to Christ. We are accepted in the Beloved. e thought
of a people united to Christ by a spiritual life, or rather of
4 I do not doubt but that in this passage the “ prophetic writings
“ are those of the New Testament; but the apostle constantly
makes use of the writings of the Old Testament, to show grace
extending to the Gentiles.
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123
a people united to Christ by one Spirit who was in Him
and them, was never touched upon in the Old Testament.
Christ Himself had not this position as Head of the body;
and consequently the Spirit was not yet thus given.
e apostles and prophets, the foundation upon which
the church is built, are not the prophets of old; for we see
here it is things now revealed to these prophets that are
spoken of, in contrast with the times past; they are then
the prophets of the New Testament. In I Peter 1: 12 it is
written, that the ancient prophets knew it was not for them
that these things were written; and verse 6 of this chapter
explains to us this mystery, namely, that the Gentiles are
fellow-heirs. It declares to us the good news, that the
middle wall of partition was broken down by the death
of Christ; that all that which had made the dierence
between Jews and Gentiles had disappeared, and that
Jews and Gentiles were made one in Christ. We see the
diculty the apostle Peter had in admitting this truth (for
example, with Cornelius); Paul was obliged to resist him at
Antioch to the face. e ancient Jews had great diculty
in acknowledging this glorious truth, and the oneness of
the church.
Verses 7, 8. e apostle, seeing the excellency of that
which had been given to him, sees himself less than the least
of all saints; and it ought to be the same with us. e sight
of these excellent things lessens us in our own eyes; and this
humility will be the consequence of the realization of our
privileges. What a glorious testimony that all distinction
should be done away! Jew and Gentile-all that belongs to
man falls when in the presence of the counsels of God in
Christ. Paul, while contemplating these counsels, saw that
he was nothing. e name Gentiles expresses that all was
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grace. e promise made when the rst Adam had sinned
is a promise made to the second Man: the last Adam will
bruise the serpent’s head.
e unsearchable riches of Christ are those riches of
which we cannot fathom the depth, so immense are they;
and the glory which God will give to Christ, according
to what He is, and according to the worth of His work,
this is the measure of these unsearchable riches. All has
been done by Christ and for Christ; all has been created
by Him and for Him: and the fact of having presented
Christ to the Gentiles outside the limited revelation of
the ancient prophets, brought out the riches of Christ as
unsearchable; God can stand in presence of the power of
sin, and in Christ, as Man, display the power of His grace
for the manifestation of His glory.
Verses 9-11. ese are the counsels of God in Christ,
and the position of the church; never before had such
wisdom been seen. Man might have been struck with
wisdom in the creation; with the interposition of God in
the deluge; Noah kept; Abraham called; the law given;
other wonders accomplished; the government of God over
His Jewish people. In all these, the wisdom of God was
manifested; but here is a wisdom altogether dierent. A
heavenly church was not even known to angels.
e Jewish people having rejected the Messiah, God’s
plan as to the earth was suspended; a new thought is
brought in; a people whose position is after such sort that
they have no place whatsoever save in heaven. Now God
does not punish according to a rule distinctly revealed to
man; there is no immediate government of God upon
earth, though He still acts in providence; but there is a
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people, in suering it may be, but heavenly, in the midst of
the world. God’s ways are of a new kind.
It is striking to see what is now the position of the
church set in sight of heaven; it is in the heavenly places
she bears witness; her conicts (Eph. 6) are in the heavens;
her blessings are there also (Eph. 1); and it is there again
that she is seated (Eph. 2); the witness borne by the church
in the heavenly places, gives importance to the present
testimony of the church down here. I do not here speak
in thought of the glory to come; but in thought of God’s
dwelling in the church by the Spirit.
Christ came-He was rejected; quite another wisdom was
then manifested. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be heirs in
the glory; but they have not been gathered together in one
body in Christ like the Gentiles, according to the purpose
of God before the world began. e fact of our election
before the world was, adds nothing to the sovereignty of
God; if God had elected us in time, His sovereignty would
have been the same; but election before time-before the
world was, shows that the church is NOT of the world,
since she was before the foundation of the world in the
counsels of God. Neither the position of the church, nor
her life, hang upon anything in this world; the world is but
the sphere through which she moves.
Verse 12. is verse is the practical consequence of what
has preceded. is position being based upon the love and
upon the work of Christ, we are before God with a good
conscience; with a conscience perfected forever. I am in
Jesus, in the presence of God, by the faith that I have in
Him-that is Jesus. Certainly, if I grieve the Spirit, the Spirit
will be in me a Spirit of reproof; but Christ has nished
all. e work which He has done, is perfectly nished
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according to the thoughts of God, and He is in God’s
presence according to the eciency of these thoughts and
of this work.
Verse 13. e apostle begins his address to the Gentiles
by saying, “ I desire that ye faint not … ” In how high a
position were the Gentiles placed! Instead of being
troubled in seeing the aictions of Paul, they were to be
strengthened by these means; for it was for their sake that
Paul suered as a witness of the privileges which God
vouchsafed to them; because he thought of them. e
eect of ignominy in the world is to discourage those who
are following it more or less; but he who is faithful, like
Moses, esteems that the reproach of Christ is better than
all the treasures of Egypt, for it is our glory. God might
have been pleased to be satised with Jews; but He wished
also for Gentiles.
Verse 14. is prayer is addressed to the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ; it hangs on that intimate relationship
between the Father and the Son into which we are brought.
At the beginning of the epistle there is a prayer of quite a
dierent character; and which is addressed to the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 15. is verse includes the whole of intelligent
creation, blessed before God; it embraces all the dierent
races, Jews and Gentiles; not only God gathers the Jews
in one as He did under the name of God, but, under the
name of Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, He gathers in
one all the nations dispersed at Babel, and all the hosts of
heaven. e Lord Jesus has received, as Man, power over
all men; the angels even will be subjected to Him as Son of
the Father; therefore it is said, “ Let all the angels of God
worship him! “
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Verses 16, 17. It is more than glory that is spoken of here;
it is the fullness of the riches of His glory. is is what the
apostle desires for them, in contrast with a Messiah in the
midst of the people: “ at Christ may dwell in your hearts
by faith.” Christ, set in glory, brings the Gentiles into it,
and this is how we have part in these riches; but in order to
enjoy them, He must dwell in our hearts. e moment that
God exalted Christ, the link with every family in heaven
and on the earth was manifested and even formed, for it
was new. e portion of the Gentiles, as well as the whole
church, is to be united to Christ Himself, of whom every
family is named (v. 15); He is the Head of the church, the
manifest center of the glory of God. e apostle desires
that the ecacy of this power should be in us; not only
that grace which comforts and which is most precious, but
likewise that we should realize Christ exalted.
As Son of God, Christ is the rst name in this family
which the Spirit reveals to us, that Spirit by whom we
are strengthened in the inner man; for our feeble hearts,
though they are converted to God, would be incapable
without His help of entering into this glory and the extent
of these counsels; the trials of the esh are not an obstacle
to our realizing these things; the more the apostle suered
as prisoner, the more he entered into this mystery of the
glory of Christ. His imprisonment was the cause of this
epistle, as well as those to the Colossians, Philippians, and
others: it is thus that God provides for the needs of His
church. We ought so to lay hold of Christ gloried, as
that He should be there with us; His presence ought to be
realized and acted on constantly in the heart.
Verse 18. e thought from the beginning of the epistle
is not of Christ as making satisfaction to the justice of God;
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but that power, that ow of love for the accomplishing
certain counsels of grace, of which He is the fullness
for us. en Paul desires that having understood the
accomplishment of this thought in the Person of Christ,
we should understand the power of this mighty love which
has gloried Christ by linking His glory with the blessing
of poor sinners. When we apprehend these things, we
understand that all is love, and that we ought to live upon
the love which has done all.
It is by entering into the love which is the source of
it, that we understand the immeasurable expanse which is
spoken of in verse 18; that love of God whose thought is
to put all things in subjection to Christ, and to glorify the
church with Him. When we have understood this love, we
can, in a certain sense, measure the ways of God which
have brought us in there where God displays Himself, for
it is not told us of what he is describing the length, the
breadth, the depth and height, but it is love which has
introduced us and orders all things. e Spirit includes the
whole church, which is very nigh to God in this glory; it
is impossible that any of its members should be set aside.
Verse 19. What is said here is specially for us. e apostle
desires that we should realize the love of Christ, which
passes knowledge; and that we should be strengthened to
understand this love and to be rooted in Him, in order that
we may be lled with all the fullness of God. If I am placed
in the midst of innity, I am not at the end of this innity;
I am in innity which I do not comprehend, which I do
not measure, and I have no smaller measure than that: it
is nothing less than the fullness of God. God lls all in all,
and I am full of Him, and all this by the Spirit; whatever
be my littleness, I am in this blessed position. e Jews
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had no idea of this relationship which is named in heaven
and on earth; but as for us, we cannot go outside this wall
of enclosure with which God has surrounded us, and
which is God Himself; and this depends on the presence
of the Spirit, making the church the habitation of God.
God cannot be less than Himself; He does not cease to be
Himself. e Spirit dwells in the church; she becomes the
vessel of that which nothing can contain.
Verse 20. Sometimes when we ask that God would
grant us more than we can ask or think, they are blessings
outside us which we desire; but here it is blessings in us,
it is the power of the Spirit in the church. is it is which
sets the church in the height of her position, and makes us
feel our littleness.
Verse 21. What is said here does not relate to the fullness
of the glory to come. e hope hangs on it; nevertheless, it
is not the hope here which is in question, but the realization
of the inner man, the habitation of God as a present, real
thing. e essential thing exists already; and it is that which
is most intimate and most exalted, namely, to be lled with
the fullness of God; Christ who has nished all is there,
the Spirit of Christ dwells in us. Paul sees in this verse all
the extent of the counsels of God.
It is comforting for us, that this realization of the inner
man should be wrought out by a power which works in us
in the midst of the weakness of the vessel, because it is the
will of God. What we have to desire is to be strengthened
in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in our hearts by
faith, that we may seek the glory of Christ in the church,
and that all glory should be attributed to Him, if so be we
have understood that it belongs to Him. If it be asked, “
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Isaiah the glory of Christ in the church? “ we hardly know
how to answer. God grant us to desire this glory!
CHAPTER 4.
We have here the present and practical application of
the principles which form the subject of this epistle. e
beginning of this chapter joins on to the end of chapter 2,
where is shown to us what the calling of the Christian is.
e apostle beseeches the Ephesians to walk worthy of this
vocation. at which is its special mark is, the habitation
of God on earth by the Spirit. e whole conduct of the
Christian ows from the church being the habitation of the
Spirit. When the Spirit is presented as the seal, this is more
for the individual: it is not the church which is sealed, but
she becomes the habitation of God, as does the individual
also. e conduct of the Christian ought to ow out of
the presence of God. ere is a conduct which becomes
this presence: not only ought I to obey God, but there is
a manner of acting which ows out of this presence, and
which is the expression of this dwelling of God in us. When
God was in the temple there was something in particular
which was suitable for that presence. We are His temple.
e presence of the Spirit in us becomes power as much as
motive. ere are things which become the temple of God.
e estimation that we form of one another depends on
the same thing.
Verses 1-3. e apostle does not speak of obedience,
but of the Spirit which leads to it; the practical eect of
the presence of God by the Spirit, is humility. Love always
makes itself nothing. To have bad thoughts about oneself
is humiliation, but not humility. Humility is produced by
the presence of God; we are occupied with God and not
with ourselves; God is there to comfort us and to bless us;
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the pride of man being broken down there is gentleness.
is making nothing of oneself produces patience and
love. When we know ourselves to be nothing, we have the
consciousness of the strength of God; and more than that,
there is the activity of love.
Consciousness of the preciousness of the presence of
God, gives us the energy of the Spirit of God, which makes
us careful to keep the oneness of the Spirit, that is to say,
the union of all the members of Christ as one temple in
which God dwells in this world by His Spirit. e moment
that I forsake this, the unity is broken. In the esh we are
two, in the Spirit we are one; and when, by the Spirit, we
enjoy love, there is this desire to keep the oneness of the
Spirit. e esh is never peaceful, whereas in God all is
peace and quietness.
It is remarkable how often God is called the God of
peace. See Phil. 4:9; 1ess. 5: 23; Heb. 13:20: e bond
of peace is indeed the result of being thus in the presence
of God; it is on this account that the apostle adds, “ ere is
one body and there is one Spirit.” Oneness is a thing which
is actually realized on earth, the outward unity of the body
in one expresses what there is within. If this bond of peace
is wanting, the oneness of the Spirit is not kept.
Verse 4. Paul turns back to the thought put forth in
chapter I, “ e hope of glory.” is same Spirit which has
given the same hope, has given the oneness of the body;
this outward unity which manifests the Spirit as well as
oneness in the glory. ere is but one body here below.
Verse 5. is verse describes the circumstances belonging
to this oneness-all its interior and exterior relationships. It
speaks of baptism as being the expression of the common
faith.
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Verse 6. e apostle adds, “ in you all.” One God and
Father in us all; that is, His abode in us. “ rough all,”
expresses the thought that He is everywhere in us all; He
dwells there; He is there in His power, identifying Himself
with His own. Spiritually He is in us, and as Ruler He
is everywhere. ey who are partakers of this oneness, are
united to Christ as Christ is to the Father; thus the Father
is in us all. (See John 14:20.) What a bond in this new
creation! God Himself dwelling in us, in a body of weakness
and of death! is is why we groan, being of the present
creation, while at the same time we have the rstfruits of
the Spirit; we groan according to God, not only because
of the misery which we feel as men, but according to God
who will very soon deliver this world.
Verse 7. e apostle now comes to the members of this
wonderful body; Christ is the power which unites this body
to Himself, and He is also the energy in each one of its
members. If I speak of the church as a body, there is more
glory; the unity of the body connects itself with nearness to
God rather than with our individuality. We ought to look
upon the members of the body as in action for the good of
this body; evangelization produces also this same end by
bringing souls to the Lord.
Verse 8. It is the same expression as is employed (Judg.
5:12) when Barak returned from delivering the captives of
Israel, leading captive those who had led them captive. e
people of God were captives of Satan; Christ has triumphed
over Satan, and has led him captive, and has brought along
with Him the church delivered from his chains. Satan was
the master, and Christ gains the victory over the strong
man and delivers the church. Having delivered it from
the power of Satan, He can communicate to us this same
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power which gains the victory over Satan. God has set
this power of victory in man, in order that it may energize.
Christ had the title, and when He shall return, even those
who are not converted will be delivered, because Satan will
be bound; but now he is not so. e church is the place
of the manifestation of the Spirit for the destruction of
the power of Satan; and this shows the importance of the
presence of the Spirit in the body, presence which delivers
us from the power of Satan, and makes us grow up into all
that which is of the Head, even Christ. In Psa. 68 these
gifts are also spoken of in connection with the Jews, when
Israel will be re-established in glory; but Paul here makes
no mention of the second part of the verse, omitting, “
Yea, for the rebellious also,” because in the Ephesians all
distinction is at an end, and has come to an end in the
church. Now it is the whole connection in heaven and on
earth; now it is gifts for men; the Jews were “ the rebellious
“ (technical expression for the Jews); but hereafter they will
be so no longer, and the Lord God will dwell among them.
Verse 9. is verse sets before us the glory of the Person
of Christ, who has gone up on high in order that to faith
there should be between God Himself and the power of
death nothing which is not lled to faith with the power of
redemption. e believer on earth is placed in this power
of redemption, nding Christ everywhere. Christ having
descended into hades, God has set Him at His right hand
in order that He should ll all things. We see by this what
will be the perfection of this work when all things will be
reconciled by Christ. What an innitely important position
is that of the church, as the body and depository of the
power of Christ! How little does she correspond to it!
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Verse to. We have seen how Christ has come, then
ascended up again, and who will hereafter reconcile all
things. In the meanwhile, inasmuch as He is head of the
body, He gives these gifts for the accomplishment of this
special part of the mystery, namely, the edifying of His body;
and it is of this part especially that mention is here made.
God has desired to make us know what is the nal end, the
union of all things in Christ, and that of the body with Him.
is great end is the position of the church as the center of
the glory; and Christ now employs the power with which
He is lled for the edifying of this body. e consequence
of this is, that He speaks of its members which serve for
the edifying of this body, and of its members, which make
it move and act. It is not then miracles, testimony of power
borne to the world, which are here spoken of, but the joints
of the body, in order that it may grow up into Him.
Verse 11. Paul is not speaking of gifts, but of those who
were themselves these gifts; he speaks of the gifts which
edify the body, and not here of the Spirit distributing
these gifts according to His will: Christ lling all things
we are His members, partakers of this blessing. is is the
dierence between what is taught in I Corinthians 14 and
in this chapter.
Verses 12, 13. ere is a diculty which connects itself
with this, namely, the duration of these gifts; we might
have thought they should have been continued till the
perfecting of the body of Christ. In order to be able to
apprehend the part of this passage in which this diculty
is, we must enter into the state of the church. e Lord
did not return immediately; in the epistles He is always
represented as about to return immediately; this is why
Paul looked at all the saints in the presence of His coming.
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135
He looked at the perfecting of the body for the return of
Christ as a thing to be accomplished in the present time.
We know that this has not taken place; John 21:22. But in
truth the Lord cannot be untrue to the edication of His
body; and here the question is not about the manifestation
of the Spirit in power, but the communication of blessings
on the part of the head by means of its members.
e apostles and the prophets served as foundation, we
can perceive this; and the others remained for building up
even after these had departed. e ministrations which
have lasted are those of evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
What is said in the rst place in verse 12 is the general and
proper end of the gifts. en follows the manner in which
this grace, which ows from the Head, for the perfecting of
the saints, ought to act: it is by producing a ministry which
is to work in building up the body: an evident proof that
ministry is to last until we are all brought into the presence
of Christ, and that this is brought about by the principle of
the oneness of the body and by its edication as such. It is
then important to see the end of this ministry.
Verse 13 speaks of the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God-in the which we have
fellowship. Dierence of views there may be; but as it was
said to the Philippians, “ God shall reveal even this unto
you.” ere is, therefore, the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God. Ministry is the means to
it, and this ministry always exists. If attention be paid to
what is said about ministry, it will be seen that when the
apostle speaks of the perfect man, he does not allude to the
perfection which follows resurrection, but to the perfection
of this knowledge. We have seen that this is connected
with the basis which the Spirit has laid for all these truths;
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that is Christ fullling all things and dwelling in us here
below. e Holy Spirit, who dwells in the church, makes
each member to grow according to that which is in Christ
and according to the measure of Christ. As there is unity
in the body, there is also the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son. Here, the Spirit’s thought is to make
all the members grow according to the revelation of the
glory of Christ; and this shows us what our desires ought
to be, and what we ought to desire for our brethren. Christ
has grace enough in Himself for this. We should desire
that all Christians near us should be full of knowledge,
even to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
and this knowledge of the revelation of the glory of Christ
here below, naturally produces fruits. Such is the meaning
of the word “ perfection.” e question is as to knowing
Christ. Christ is altogether perfect as risen from the dead:
the Christian is so when he has risen up to that position
of Christ. Paul said, “ Not that I have already attained.”
But he had attained to that spiritual joy, that knowledge
which revealed to him the object set before him. When
it is thus with the Christian, he is at peace, and he can
grow as to practical conduct; he has the consciousness of
being in that which is innite, of being in the enjoyment of
Christ before the Father, according to the accomplishment
of all the counsels of God. As to his soul before God, he no
longer travails, so to speak, as when he drew nigh to God,
conscious in himself of his need of expiation. As to his
soul, he has nothing to search after; all being accomplished,
he nds himself set before God, in that fullness itself, even
in reference to all the circumstances which may befall him;
he knows that Christ has all power in heaven and in earth.
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Verse 14. If I have nothing to seek, I rest in quietness;
the place I am in is the fullness of the knowledge of God,
sheltered from the deceivableness of men. e Christian,
who possesses Christ, no longer seeks Him as one whom
he has yet to nd, though he seeks to grow in those things
into which he has been brought; but in the church we see
souls in a state very dierent from this, which is indeed
sorrowful: generally, Christians need to be brought back to
the position which has been purchased for them. A Christian
is perhaps blessed with salvation, but he is occupied with
the things of the earth; he has cares, and ministry must
then be occupied with the sorrows which result thence. But
where there are believers whose aections are full of Jesus,
they can go onwards, and there is progress; because where
souls are living they seek after fresh graces. If we walk in
individual faithfulness, we are able to be occupied with the
things which are before us; when this is not the case, we
must be occupied with our own misery, and it is sorrowful
to be occupied with things which are a loss in comparison
of the knowledge of Christ. If we walk according to the
knowledge that we have, we are lively, and the things which
are before us attract us onward; we can, forgetting present
things, be occupied with the grace that is in Christ.
Verses 15, 16. Each member acts in its place; each part
has its place. is place may be a hidden one, but it is not
the less important; the thought presented is that of the
growth of the body. A soul which is lively builds up others;
the Spirit acts in souls which turn not back; the gospel
working produces inward blessing. We see as we have said,
in the place where all fullness dwells all becomes grace,
even trials; because they make us enjoy with intelligence
the counsels of God. If an evil occurs, it becomes only the
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opportunity for manifesting the love of Jesus, and this
serves to strengthen faith. But all consists in our growing
up in the Head; this is the only true growth which is in
the knowledge of Jesus; because this knowledge is that
of grace. e Spirit acts by the word (through faith and
understanding of the things of God), all the while it is my
life which grows and communicates to me a developed
manifestation of life.
But let us go back to what we have a right to expect
from the children of God; I am here speaking of the
oneness of faith and of the knowledge of Christ. If love
dwells in us, and we think of the members of Christ, that
will lead us to ask that they may grow according to the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. But, alas!
many are often more occupied with this present life than
seeking the growth of souls. Love is of God, and it is always
powerful. If we were in a healthy state, we should grow in
God. Faithfulness in the walk is necessary, if we would not
grieve the Spirit; there must be the hidden life, that is to
say, the heart must abide in Jesus; in a word, Christ should
be the end of all our life. ere is enough love in Jesus to
make His members grow.
If we had sucient love, we should draw out of Jesus
what would produce this growth in others; and we need
it in the present time when there are so many things that
dim the testimony of the saints. Our part really is to be
separate from evil; we must see Christ so clearly as to be
able to say, is or that is not of Christ; and if persons are
overwhelmed by cares, it is impossible that Christ should
be discerned by them so as to deliver them from things
which are like Christ, but which still are not Himself.
What we have to seek after is to be suciently spiritual as
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to be able to realize what Christ is; the eect of this will be
subjects of intercession, which will doubtless cause sorrow
of heart, because the faults and failures of the members of
the body are borne there; but nevertheless, where love is in
action, there will be always joy.
Verse 17. ere is a principle here, which it is of
importance to have a rm hold of: it is, that the whole
conduct of the Christian ows from salvation, and is not
in order that he may be saved: it is not that we do not gain
something, or that Paul does not exhort us to run towards
the mark (1Cor. 9:24); but the whole walk of the Christian
ought to be the manifestation of a new life. e moment
that we hear an exhortation as to conduct, and that we do
not hear it as addressed to a saved person, the gospel is
displaced. All must be addressed to me as a child of God;
this is why the apostle says, “ I beseech you,” etc. It is because
of this grace that I beseech you. e moment that I mix up
an exhortation with the freeness of salvation, man is not in
the position in which Christ has set him; it may have the
appearance of piety, but the fact remains, that if I exhort,
and at the same time admit a question about salvation, I
deny, and I have not a right consciousness of, the state of
ruin in which man is, any more than of salvation.
Verses 18, 19. is is the commentary and the center of
all that we have just said. Man is alienated from the life of
God. In the times in which we live men would be ashamed
to do what was then done openly; but this changes nothing
as to the fact: whether a man is alienated from the life of
God, or a heathen, it is the same thing.
Verses 20-23. is is the truth which is in Jesus ‘ if we
are saved, we are created anew. And the verse which follows
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explains to us this truth, namely Jesus, who is Himself the
new Man.
Verse 24. Here is the truth of the new man in us. e
question is not of changing what we were, but God has
given us a new life, eternal life. We have seen the manner
in which the church is united to Jesus; the truth which is in
Jesus is the presence of this life in the Christian. We ought
to put o the old man in us, and to put on the new man.
is hidden life must manifest itself in all that the man
puts on. e old man is in itself a captive, a slave of sin, and
a prey to the lusts which lead him away. Moral discernment
is wanting. But where the new man is, there is also spiritual
intelligence. We are renewed; and this intelligence judges
of things according to God. Man is free in the things of
God; God is found there. We are capable of seeing things
which are suitable for God. “ Where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty.” We then have the consciousness of the
beauty of the things of God, and it is man who discerns
them. e man who does not act by the power of the Spirit
acts according to the esh.
We are created according to God. God is formed in us.
Christ was the image of the invisible God: He manifested
in His ways the character of God. Also the Christian is a
new creation. e apostle speaks, in this verse, of the power
of God, which has produced that life in which we enjoy
God. God has set His seal upon us; it is quite a new thing;
the lusts of the old man are no longer in question, but the
energy of the new man-that understanding which speaks
according to truth.
Verse 25. In this verse is seen how everything hangs on
our union with Christ. ere is evidently no bond either
of love or of the Spirit with one to whom I lie; but if I
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lie to my brother, it is as if I deceived myself. e power
of the life of Christ is also power in all the details of the
Christian’s life. We are members one of another.
Verse 26. We see here in the acting of the new man that
there may be such a thing as being angry (for example,
Christ in the case of the man who had the withered hand,
Mark 3:5) it is then indignation against evil. (See 2Cor.
7:11.) If it is the anger of the new man on account of evil,
then, as soon as the evil is removed, the soul returns to its
rest; but if anger lasts, then there is bitterness, and the soul
not being able to return into its rest, evil is shown to be
there; for this reason it is said, “ Let not the sun go down
upon your wrath.”
Verse 27. is verse shows us that we ought not to open
the door to Satan. If it is the esh that is acting, then the
wicked one can touch us; but he cannot touch the new man,
he cannot entice it; 1John 5:18. If I give way to a thought
which is not of God, then I give place to Satan; if I give
way to anger, the enemy is there: we are then hindered in
service, troubled in prayer; and that is not to be wondered
at. When our thoughts have been lled with present
things, when we have been occupied with them not in their
connection with God, we have given place to Satan; but
if we have been occupied with our work with God before
us, then this work in no way takes possession of our hearts
as an object; our faculties are free; our aections are fresh;
and, when we return to God, we are entirely God’s, having
only acted in order to fulll His will. How much time we
lose! is is why it is said, “ Watch unto prayer.” We should
do whatever we do, for God.
Verse 28. It is interesting to see how God takes the
most dicult materials in order to form something out of
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them. He takes the heart of man such as it is, in order to
make of it a new thing by the life of the new Man, which
He introduces there; it is the Spirit which worketh these
things, because it is the Spirit of love which is there.
Verse 29. Here is seen the contrast between the old
man and the new. It is one or the other which speaks; it
is murmuring or giving of thanks. e matured Christian
would only speak for edication; the new man, acting
under the inuence of the Spirit, will only take part in
things which are for edication.
Verses 30, 31. It is precious for us to know that the
Christian has been sealed for the day of redemption, for
the day when his body will be raised. When Christ shall
have accomplished all that for which He died, our body
(for Christ has redeemed it) will be raised, which has not
yet taken place. It is said that Christ has been made to
us wisdom, righteousness, sanctication, and redemption;
redemption is put the last. It is not here the price paid
for the purchase that is spoken of, but the result of this
purchase. ere are two things to be remarked in what
follows: the new man and the Holy Spirit.
e Holy Spirit is not created, He is an independent
Being in us; we must not grieve Him. All that which accords
not with the Holy Spirit is not suitable for the Christian.
On the other hand, we see that we have full assurance: God
has set His seal upon us; and this strengthens faith. We
enter into the thoughts of God; we nd there not only the
motives of holiness, but also the power of holiness. at
which assures me of redemption puts me on my guard not
to grieve the Holy Spirit. If we are in the presence of our
Father, His love prevents us from falling. It is thus that the
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Holy Spirit seals us for the day of redemption, and guards
us from evil.
Verse 32. My foundation being what God has done for
me, I have the consciousness of the goodness of God.. If
I am blessed myself (see I Pet. 3: 9), I can show love to
others; feeling that God has pardoned me takes away all
bitterness from my life, from my manner of acting. Our
Father, having forgiven us, desires that our hearts should
be in freedom towards all, and that we should act in peace
and love. It is sweet to be thus set with God, representing
in ourselves the character of God.
CHAPTER 5.
Verses 1, 2. e rst verse hangs on the preceding
chapter; as God has forgiven you, forgive one another. “ Be
ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.” e general
principle is-Be ye followers of God, follow Him, walk in
His steps, act on the same principles as He does. Inasmuch
as we are the family of God, we ought to be like God our
Father. ere is something very sweet in this principle, and
very dierent from that of the law; it produces in the heart
quite other feelings; it is aection, it is the goodness of God
which constrains us to walk. e apostle here introduces a
principle which ows out of the last verse of the preceding
chapter; that is to say, to walk in love, to imitate God, to
follow Christ. If God is love, Christ is also the expression
of this love toward us; we ought also to leave all for our
brethren; 1John 3:16. e motives of this conduct are
expressed in the rst and second verses, which we have just
read. We ought to imitate God according to the heart of
a child; and the eect of this love of God in the heart of
a Christian is, that he gives up himself to the needs of his
brethren. is is what was seen in Christ. Having the life
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of Christ, the divine nature and the power of Christ, we
ought to oer ourselves up to God; Rom. 12: I. It should
also be remarked, that that which descends from God in
love re-ascends always to God in love and devotedness to
Him. What a blessed thought; and why do we not thus
live? for this is what we ought to be in our service for God.
Verse 3. Paul supposes the Christian in that atmosphere
of God, in which there are no thoughts but those becoming
saints. And we see here the place which money holds: the
heart of man thinks that it is pleasanter to be rich than
poor; but here it is said that covetousness should not be
so much as named among us. We see also to what extent,
when in the presence of God, the standard of morality is
dierent from what it would be if we only had regard to
men. e apostle considers these things according to the
Spirit of God, according to the thoughts of God, according
to Christ working in him, Paul. e consequence of this is,
that it is according to what becomes saints that we ought
to act; we are to be followers of God.
Verse 4. In the presence of Christ we shall nd jesting
unsuitable. It is not that he who walks in the light of God’s
countenance is not happy. ere is not a cloud on the joy
of him who is in the presence of God; but such a Christian
feels what the things are which do not become him who
is called to imitate God. at the world should nd such
things suitable is natural enough: but “ as the crackling of
thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool; this also is
vanity,” Eccl. 7:6.
Verses 5-7. A covetous person shall not inherit the
kingdom of God. e covetous person in 1Corinthians 5, is
placed, as to discipline, in the same position as fornicators,
idolaters, etc.; but it is more dicult to act towards a
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covetous person, because with him the sin is more hidden
than seen outside. All these things are the esh; but for
him who walks after the Spirit they are judged. e natural
man would rather have two crown-pieces than one; but the
new nature is delivered from such lust, it nds not in such
things its enjoyment. e apostle says here “ e kingdom
of God and of Christ.” He follows the thoughts which are
according to God and to Christ. If I think of God, it is
divine light; if of Christ, it is this power manifested in a
man. How precious for us to be able to say, It is there where
I am, associated with them; I am in the same atmosphere
as God and Christ. It is, then, in this position that we judge
all things. We ought not to associate with that which is not
of God, because God is not there, and because we should
no longer be in the atmosphere in which we are able to
judge of things.
Verse 8. It is thence that you have come out, says the
apostle. It is not said “ in darkness,” but that those who
are now partakers of the divine nature had been darkness;
but now ye are light. It is the nature of God, of which we
have been made partakers, which makes us see all; and it is
thus that we are light in the Lord. Just in so far as we are in
Jesus, it is thus that we walk. He that followeth Me, Jesus
says, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of
life; but he that walketh in the night stumbleth, because
there is no light in him. e natural man has no light.
Verse 9. e nature of God and of Christ, when it
is manifested in man here below, has for its character
gentleness, meekness, practical righteousness, and truth. In
the truth, each thought has its place before God: Christ
was the truth. Each one of His acts answered to what He
Himself was, and to what God Himself was; either He was
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manifesting God or He was, as man, truth before Him. Each
of my actions ought to answer to what I am before God:
it is the subjection of the inner man. I ought to consider
others in all my relationships with them, according to this
righteousness and this truth (that is, according to what one
is before God), and there there is neither unrighteousness
nor untruthfulness.
Verse 10. is verse is connected with what is said
about light in verse 8; verse 9 is in parentheses. is is what
we have to learn in our conduct. It is often said, that it is
dicult to discover the will of God; but this is because we
are not ready to meet with diculties, and then we cannot
nd out His will. In this verse we have that moral state of
soul which loves to please, which realizes the spirit of the
walk, and which realizes the wishes of God in order to be
acceptable to Him; it is thus that, as children, we show real
thoughtfulness about Him whom we desire to please. In
verse 9 it is the fruits which are the natural productions of
the life of God in us that are enumerated; but in verse 10
it is the manner in which God works in us, our eyes being
turned upon another than ourselves. is work of God in
us is thus carried on. A child, while observing his father,
learns what is pleasing to him; he learns what are his ways;
he knows what he would like in the circumstances which
transpire. us we prove what is acceptable to the Lord.
Verse 11. e experience of righteousness in us produces
an entire separation from evil; it produces fruits of light.
Paul insists upon the necessity of having no fellowship
with the works of darkness. A Christian cannot join
himself with these things, but rather even convict them.
Verse 12. By this verse is shown to us to what an extent our
evil nature will go.
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Verse 13. is is the eect of light in Christ and in
the Christian. We see nothing in the dark; but the light
manifests all. e natural man would be ashamed to do
in the light what he does in the dark-things which would
be done openly among the heathen. Christianity has
necessarily destroyed, up to a certain point, the grossness
of sin even with those who are not yet converted. e
Christian is in the light which manifests all. e light
applies itself to every connection which he could form with
this world.
Verse 14. e men of this world are dead, and the
Christian who walks according to the spirit of this world is
as if he were dead, slumbering amidst the dead, dreaming,
it is true, sometimes about his wretched position; but as to
action, he is there amongst the dead; he does not know what
to do, and how should he know? e same may be said of
all that, in the Christian, which morally can be called sleep.
It is a most sorrowful state in contrast with that which is
described to us above. Christ cannot enlighten a soul thus
placing itself among the dead; He can work in order to
awaken such, but He does not give light to them that are
asleep, to those who do not awake from among the dead.
Since the light makes all manifest, there is a needs-be that
the Christian should awake, and Christ will give him light.
It is Christ Himself who is the source, the expression, and
the measure of light for the soul that is awake. What use is
light to him who will walk in darkness?
Verse 15. In heaven there will be no “ Take heed “; there
we may give free way to perfect joy: there all is holy; but
down here in this life, in the midst of evil, we must take
need, we must use wisdom. e man of the world, in order
to avoid evil, must be skilled in the knowledge of the evil.
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e Christian has no need to think about evil; he must
be wise without the knowledge of evil, as it is written, “
Simple concerning evil, wise as to that which is good “
(Rom. 16:19), because full and divine knowledge of good
in the midst of evil is what Christ gives. What He Himself
was here contains no familiar acquaintance with evil; the
child of God ought to possess that wisdom which is simple
as a dove-spiritual wisdom.
Verse 16. is is likewise wisdom; it is to gain time in
order to do good. e same expression is used in speaking
of the magicians, the Chaldeans, in Dan. 2:8; they gained
time in order to conceal their inability, they had the
prudence of this world. We need wisdom in order to be
able to do good in spite of Satan, whose power makes the
present time one of diculty. If we have this wisdom for
good, we shall escape the wiles of Satan; we shall leave his
nets on one side and pass on; we shall do the good that
God may give us to do; we shall have time for God. If we
are in God’s light, we shall walk in the simplicity of that
which is good, and God will be with us. Let us think of
God as Father and on what Christ did, in order to do like
unto Him. If sleep overtake us, we must awake, and Christ
will give us light.
Verses 17, 18. Verse 16 had shown us that we must
redeem the time. e days are evil when God allows Satan
to exercise his power, and they are so in general until Jesus
return; but there are times when God permits the enemy to
govern more directly, and others when He puts a check on
him. e evil days are a chastisement, a humiliation for the
church; but he who is faithful has his way pointed out; he
ought to redeem the time, to seize the opportunity of doing
good; Neh. 6:3. is is why it is said (v. 17), “ Be not unwise
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“; but there is also an energy, a force in the Spirit which
is given to us, which is contrasted with the excitement by
which the world thinks to produce faith-excitement which
is evil-an evil course of life, the true character of which
verse 18 shows us. When the Spirit descended upon the
one hundred and twenty at Jerusalem, the world said, “
ey are full of new wine.” e power of the Spirit in truth
does put a man beyond the power of what is natural to
himself; the words rise to his lips as a fruit of the Spirit’s
action, and he is the subject of a joy which ows over. In
him who is full of the Holy Ghost there is what is not
natural to man-something altogether extraordinary.
Verses 19, 20. It is quite another life, it is a joy outside
of the world’s range; it is a company apart, in which the
world would have no pleasure, nor enjoyment. e Spirit is.
there in power. When Christians have life amongst them,
occupying themselves with the things which are properly
theirs, instead of hesitating in spiritual things, then the life
grows; the consequence is, that we see things according to
God, we are able to give thanks for all things; we live and
we dwell there.
Verse 21. It is this spirit of gentleness which recognizes
Christ in a brother, and that spirit of submission which
does not exalt itself; it is when Christians are united and
mingle one with another that they realize these things, for
individuality is often pride.
Verses 22-24. What is said in these verses is strong: for,
as is often the case, the wife may have more wisdom than
her husband, but the eect of this wisdom will be for the
wife to leave to her husband the place that God has given
to him; for if the grace of God acts in the heart, the order
which God has established reigns always, and if the wife
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governs, God is not there. But if this particular wisdom of
God is recognized, the order of God is maintained, and
blessing is the consequence.
Verses 25, 26. ere are always in the word positive
directions, and it is never well for us not to follow them.
We may remark here three things as to Christ and as to the
church, which ow out of the love of Christ for the church:
1, He has loved the church and given Himself for it; 2, that
He might sanctify it by the word; 3, that He might present
it to Himself a glorious church, etc.
Verses 27, 28. Christ will present the church to Himself
in glory. e order in which these things are placed gives
such assurance. Christ does not sanctify the church before
having redeemed it. No, it is when she belongs to Him
that He devotes Himself to make her such as He would
have her to be. We may remark here, it is not said that
God loves the church; nor is mention made of that loving-
kindness of God which seeks to save souls, though His
goodness is acting towards all men in sending Christ to
them. “ God so loved the world, that he gave his only-
begotten San, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but should have everlasting life.” But there is
another thing which is not properly the goodness of God,
either in the sense of providence, or in that of the love
in His nature. God in His counsels desires to enter into
a certain relationship with His own people; God desires
to have children, and Christ a spouse. ey are aections
based upon a relationship which exists. If God has made
us His children He cannot do less than love us as such;
once this relationship established, He cannot fail in it. It is
never said that Christ has loved the world, while we have
seen that God has loved the world; John 3:16. See also the
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character of the providential goodness of God; Jonah 4:11.
e goodness of God, which watches over all His works,
is precious; we ought to act in the same way as following
Him, we ought to love everybody; Matt. 5:44-48.
But there is another thought besides that of this
goodness of God; there is a love, the consequence of
an established relationship. God having set us in this
relationship, the aections of God and of Christ ow forth
naturally towards us who are the objects of it. God loves His
children with a love which will never deny itself. Christ has
made Himself responsible for all the debts of His spouse;
and more, the church being the spouse of Christ, she has
lost her earthly citizenship and acquired a heavenly one.
Christ has become the one responsible for all that His
church has done and will do; the church, as the spouse
of Christ, has lost her individuality, in order that she may
pertain to Christ, her heavenly Bridegroom. Christ, as the
anointed Man, felt a distaste for the world; He would none
of this world; He would not have His aections there. e
Christian, in like manner, ought not to be able to bear the
world as to its objects of desire and its walk. Christ has
given Himself in order to satisfy the justice of God and to
conquer, for the church’s sake, the power of Satan; having
set her free, He is occupied with her, and, as she is not what
He desires, He sancties her. e Spirit of God makes
allusion here to a practice among the Jews, who puried
themselves by washing in pure water. It is by the word that
Christ cleanses and sancties the church; all the revelation
of what God is is thus applied to the heart. is is why
Jesus says, “ I sanctify myself for their sakes “; I set Myself
apart, as being the expression of all the thoughts of God,
and I communicate them to Mine, that they also may be
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sanctied through the truth. Christ is not untrue to the
thoughts of God. e word is the means of communicating
them, it judges all in us and manifests what is in God. is
is what Christ did here below.
e nal object of the work of Christ for the church is
to present it to Himself “ glorious, having neither spot nor
wrinkle, nor any such thing.”
ere is reference here to the last Adam and the church;
of which Adam and Eve were the types. Whilst Adam
slept, God built for him a wife (this is the literal force
of the Hebrew word) and presented her to him when he
awoke. It is the same here; whilst Christ is hidden, so to
speak, in God, God builds the church; and when it shall
be perfected, it will be presented to Christ, or rather He
will present it to Himself, being God and last Adam at the
same time.
It is a precious thing to see that Christ so well knows
how to take His measures that there will not be the least
thing in His spouse which will not satisfy His heart; she will
not have a wrinkle when He presents her to Himself; and
all is based upon this, that He has given Himself for her;
not only He has given His body unto death, His life, but
also Himself. ere is nothing in Christ-not an aection,
not an element of wisdom, nor energy of devotedness, not
a thought, nor perfection-not one thing in all the self-
devotedness of Christ for the church-upon which the
Christian may not count.
Verses 29-31. ere is in verse 29 something more than
that which precedes. Not only Christ puries the church by
the word, but He nourishes and cherishes it; He considers
its weakness; He shows tenderness and love towards it to
nourish it as being His own body.
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Verses 32, 33. It is said in verse 32, “ is is a great
mystery.” What the apostle had at heart was the relationship
between Christ and the church. We see in the verses which
we have just read, four things: 1, Christ gave Himself for
the church; 2, He sancties it by the word; 3, He presents it
to Himself without wrinkle; 4, He nourishes and cherishes
it, by giving all that He has for it, in order to show how
dear it is to Him. He loves it as Himself. It is precious to
have the inward consciousness of the aection of Christ
for the church. is is an important truth, and it is essential
to distinguish the dierence of this love, which belongs to
relationships which God has established, and the goodness
of His nature towards all. e consequence of it is that
Christ undertakes the whole work; we are only His, entirely
His. It is not a law, but a tie -which binds us to another,
that is, Christ. e moment that the power of man works,
it is no longer Christ who has taken all upon Him for us.
CHAPTER 6.
Verse I. We cannot enter into the force of this expression,
obedience in the Lord or according to the Lord, unless we
take our place before the Lord with spiritual understanding.
Christ, when He was with His mother and Joseph, had the
power of the relationship in Himself; this power of judging
good and evil led Him to obey. It is in like manner with us:
we ought to obey as to that which regards our relationships
in this world. We must understand our position in Christ,
in order to be able to obey. God formed these relationships
from the beginning; natural relationships are of God, but
sin has corrupted all. Now this is what the Lord does: He
does not bring in a remedy for this state of ruin; but He
introduces a new man, having given Himself without sin
in order to take away sin; and this new man is Christ. It
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is evident then that this new Man recognizes what God
has done in establishing these natural relationships; but
in a manner superior to these very relationships. So when
Christ began His ministry, He recognized nothing in this
world; but He submitted to all as an individual, perfect
in the midst of this evil. When He came into this world,
He said, “ Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s
business? “
Nevertheless, He submitted to those who stood to Him
in the relationship of parents, until God called Him to His
own proper service. He acted as from God, as superior to the
obligation. e Christian, in like manner, by his union with
Christ is superior to his obligations, inasmuch as he has with
God a new relationship beyond nature; but he recognizes
this obligation according to the intelligence which this
new relationship gives to him, and the consequence is that
He is innitely more obedient, because he obeys as from
God. But it is impossible that I do evil as from God, or
that I prefer anything before the authority of Christ. I am
made more subject according to the perfection of God in
Christ; and likewise by the introduction of the new man,
the strength of the obligation is maintained, but according
to God. In order to act as Christ did in the world, we need
spiritual discernment. God cannot deny the obligations
which He has created; but if I act in these relationships,
as being from above and not from below, I shall obey with
all my heart, but in a superior position, which does not
allow of the evil into which I might be drawn by those with
whom I am in this relationship, because I could not do evil
“ in the Lord “: it is a most simple principle.
Verses 2, 3. Paul refers to this promise, which has often
been a diculty to some, as though temporal promises
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155
now belonged to a certain line of conduct. e citation
only chews us how much God estimated obedience under
the law. However, I believe there is a blessing belonging to
obedience to parents. But in the order of the government of
God, in the ways of God with us personally in this world,
there are important things which modify this. e Jewish
system was the expression of the government of God in
this world, and the blessing belonged to him who honored
his father and mother.
Verse 4. is is an important truth for parents, and
which ows from the church being a company apart. It is
evident that God desires that the children of Christians
should be brought up as Christians. I must act as a
Christian with regard to my child, and not otherwise; I
must exercise towards him the discipline of God, and bring
him up as a disciple-we do very wrong if we act otherwise.
If it so happen that parents are converted at the moment
their children are growing up, it will then be more dicult
for these parents to bring them up in the manner we have
just said. But God is faithful to direct these parents, and to
guide them according to their need; it will be a subject of
prayer for them. In the verse before us the apostle supposes
children whom parents are beginning to bring up.
If a Christian mother introduce or allow her child to go
into the world, she must expect a strong reaction when her
child is in the midst of the world; but God is faithful to the
mother who acts faithfully according to the instructions of
the Lord. e moment there is a duty, God is there; and
God is faithful to make us succeed, though we may have to
pass through many a painful hour. But, alas! we like what
is most easy; neither is it right for us to use the word as a
law to make a child obey. We frequently hear parents say to
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their children that, if not good, God will punish them, thus
putting them under a law; this ought not to be. I ought to
be a Christian with my child. God cannot bless parents
who make a severe law of the Christian religion with their
children; and much less when they allow themselves to
go back to worldliness and worldly motives. ey ought
to be Christian as to their children, and to act towards
them according to the truth into which God has brought
themselves.
Verses 5, 6. e expression, “ as unto Christ,” is striking.
What is not done according to God ought not to be done;
but as to our own will, we must have submission and
spiritual discernment to know when submission ought to
be absolute. When there is no evil, by submitting myself I
act as from God, without asking whether the authority is
wise or not; I am wise in obeying: and so, every time that
the question is as to obeying my master, I do it without
troubling myself about what he tells me; I do what he
wishes, no matter what; I do it as in the sight of God and
for God.
Verse 7. It little matters where God has placed me in
this world, provided I serve Christ; and this principle can
be applied to the most ordinary things of life; even if I light
a re, I can do it as for the Lord; and how honorable this
makes it! What I do is for Him, and because He wishes
me to do it; and I do it with good will for the Lord Jesus,
serving Him with love.
Verse 8. e Christian religion has found its way into
the midst of evil, and given liberty where there was none; it
has given it even to the poor slaves, and that without taking
them out of their state of bondage. e gospel does not
touch that position. Paul acknowledges slavery as a right,
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when he sends back Onesimus to his master, telling him
that in grace he would treat this slave as a brother. Christ
comes in where sin reigns. It is a power superior to all here
below, and which subsists in the midst of what is found
here.
Verse 9. Ye are slaves of Christ, and servants of Christ,
and with Him there is no acceptance of persons; if servants,
ye can serve Him, however low your condition be as to this
world; and if masters, ye ought to serve Him whatever are
your advantages here below.
Verse 10. Here is strength! What joy to be able to say,
If I am weak, Christ is my strength! We do not enjoy this
strength when we are at a distance from the Lord, and
when we parley with circumstances, instead of retiring into
Jesus by prayer. If we gave ourselves to prayer, all would
soon be overcome.
Verse 11. We must put on the whole armor of God;
for if we have only truth and not righteousness, or only
righteousness and not truth, the devil may reach us. e
rst counsel which the Spirit gives us here is to be strong
in the Lord; and second, to have the whole armor of God;
because the arms of man are useless against spiritual
wickedness. e man of the world does not know that he is
the object of the attacks of Satan, and in truth he is rather
his slave, never having been delivered; but the Christian is
the object of his attack, and if he is not clothed with the
whole armor of God, the darts of the enemy reach him.
None can resist him but the one who is thus clothed, for
Satan is always there using wiles and artices; he is often as
a lion, but more habitually as a serpent, and he tries to reach
us and introduce the point of his weapon; he seeks to deal
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his blows wherever he nds a part of the body unprotected,
not clothed with this armor of God.
Verse 12. We wrestle not against esh and blood,
that is to say, not against man, as the Israelites who had
to ght against the Canaanites. No! but against spiritual
wickedness, against the powers of this world. When the
esh acts in the Christian, Satan can attack him; the esh
has no power whatsoever against Satan. “ He that is born
of God keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him
not,” 1John 5:18. We have a perfect example in Jesus. e
new man in us is never tempted. ese evil powers are in
the heavens, whence they are not yet driven out; and in
their wickedness they act not in a gross but in a spiritual
manner. Christ is still sitting down, and His enemies are
not yet put under His feet; but we have the promise, that
the God of peace will bruise Satan under our feet shortly. It
is of all importance not to be terried by him, for in Christ
we gain the victory over the enemy of our souls: but it is
needful for us to be aware of these ambushes, and to know
what is acting against us.
at which guards us is the power of the Spirit in the
path of obedience. e presence of the enemy in the heavens
has spoiled and continues to spoil all the good that God
ever committed to man; this is true, even in Christianity
here below, because the heavens are not yet changed: the
atmosphere is evil. But it is said, “ Resist the devil, and he
shall ee from you.” If Satan meets Christ in us, he ies, for
Christ has conquered him; but the esh does not resist him.
If I am in the esh, the enemy overthrows me, as we have
an example in Peter. Peter, after his fall, could strengthen
his brethren; because he had learned to know himself and
his weakness, as well as the power of the grace of Christ.
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It is well to remember that, when walking in the Spirit, we
are sheltered from the darts of the enemy.
Verse 13. In the preceding verses it is the general
position of the child of God, in evil days, that is looked at.
Here it is the armor more in detail that is spoken of. We
have seen two things: 1, that we must be armed with the
whole armor; 2, that we must be armed with the whole
armor of God. is armor alone can resist the attacks of the
enemy. ere are times when we are attacked by the enemy,
and when God permits that we should be more or less
tried. e whole of this present dispensation is the evil day,
during which Satan is allowed to exercise his power; Christ
is absent from the earth, and Satan is allowed to exercise
his power in it. ere are moments when we enjoy in peace
communion with the Lord, without being disturbed by the
enemy: then all is peace; but there are times also when we
are made to feel the power of Satan-the power of Christ
also, without doubt, but it is in order to ght. is is the
reason it is said, “ Take the whole armor of God.” It is the
resisting the manifest attacks of Satan that is here spoken
of; not only, as in the case of the Israelites, of gaining
certain victories, of conquering certain territories, and of
making progress in the country; this is not the immediate
thought of the apostle. Inasmuch as we are lled with the
Spirit, we already possess all things; while at the same
time we have to carry on a warfare in the heavenly places.
Satan tries to destroy our condence, to withdraw us from
enjoying Christ, and to take from us the consciousness that
we possess all things in Him. What we have to do then in
this position, is to stand rm; all is ours, and if we stand
fast, we have all. Satan tries to prevent our standing; this is
why we are told to put on our armor and to stand fast.
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Verse 14. In this verse the means of resistance are set
before me; we must have our loins girded about with truth,
or else we shall be like a ship with its sails spread, but no
ballast-it would founder; the ballast which produces the
equilibrium is necessary. It is written, “ Sanctify them by thy
truth; thy word is truth … ” and further on, “ For their sakes
I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctied through
the truth.” Christ set Himself apart as the expression of
all the truth of God in man; not that He had only the
knowledge of the truth: Christ was Himself the truth. We
ought not only to know the truth, but to have our aections
lled and governed by it. If our hearts are full of Jesus, we
are sanctied by the truth, as it is in Jesus, which sets us
free and which sancties us.
e word “ reins “ expresses all that is within. e inner
aections, the inmost thoughts, are turned towards God,
the heart is with God; all that is not of Him being judged, I
am in communion with Him, I am in His presence, taught
by Him. e apostle urges that our thoughts, our aections,
should be governed by the truth; that that which the Spirit
teaches us should reign over our hearts. is is what we
must begin with; the heart must be at large, set free from
the power of every lust and of every spiritual error; at
liberty in the truth. We cannot be happy if we allow our
hearts to go after all that presents itself to us; for then, in
our service, we are not able to resist Satan. Perhaps we are
not aware of the evil; the eect of it is not at rst felt, but
in an evil day it will discover itself. (See Job.) Satan roams
around us, and seeks to overthrow us; this is why we must
not allow our hearts to go abroad after everything, without
paying attention, or without being on our guard; because
Satan will have thereby power over us in the evil day. e
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established Christian discerns good and evil; his thoughts
no longer wander about here below. If our thoughts are in
heaven with Jesus, we are in safety. It is impossible for us to
be happy here below, if we do not walk in holiness. ere,
in heaven, we shall be able to let loose our hearts, because
nothing will be there but holiness and the glory of God;
but here, in the presence of the enemy with such deceitful
hearts, we must have truth to govern them: “ Having your
loins girt about with truth.” It is the application of what is
in Christ to the aections, in order that the heart may have
the understanding of spiritual things, and we may walk
according to Christ.
Be it observed, that all we have just said is true of each and
every Christian; for he is in the truth, he has righteousness
by faith, he possesses the gospel of peace. But the apostle
desires that we should use these graces in our practical
walk. If our hearts are guided by the Spirit of Jesus, we have
the consciousness of walking in practical righteousness
in all that concerns us; Satan will have nothing to say
against us in the evil day, nothing which will weaken us
in our conicts with him. If the conscience is not good, if
righteousness is not realized, we have no strength; we must
hide ourselves in the day of battle. When Satan attacks the
children of God, he does it according to the holiness of
God, and they would be overthrown by having things on
their conscience about which a worldly person would feel
no uneasiness. e Spirit acting on the conscience cannot
but give to holiness all its strength; and for him there is
but the holiness of God. Also, the nearer we are to God,
the more will Satan seek to surprise us. It is impossible
for anyone to have a just estimate of the holiness of God
unless standing fast in grace, and unless rm against the
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attacks of Satan. If we do not walk before God according
to the light, which we profess to have, God’s strength is
not with us; and frequently even God withdraws the light
in which we did not choose to walk. If we have failed in
anything, we must have recourse to grace. If habitually we
walk in the Spirit, as soon as we have stumbled we shall
judge ourselves before God, before Satan attacks us; for
God is good and faithful in His grace, and we shall be
calm. Christ was ever with His Father, and when the evil
day came, He was calm. (See for him who has failed, the
example of David, Psa. 32:5: “ ou forgavest the iniquity
of my sin,” etc.) at which the Spirit commands is to be
clothed with the breastplate of righteousness; because with
this armor we have nothing on the conscience. A man
cannot handle his sword if he is ill: God begins then, as
we have said, by strengthening the man himself; then He
speaks of the testimony which he ought to bear. God will
have the soldier prepared for the battle.
Verse 15. He who is holy and righteous in his practical
walk is the one who is in communion with God, who is
at peace and restful in all his connections with God, and
vigilant as to that which is good, knowing that Satan
goeth about; but he is without fear, knowing that he walks
together with God; and having nothing which disquiets
him in his walk, the consequence is that he is at peace. is
title of peace is one given to God more than any other;
1ess. 5:23; Heb. 13:20; Rom. 16:20, etc. If there is one
thought which is predominant in the character of God, it
is peace. e soul which is thus in God is full of peace; he
enjoys fully the gospel of God; he enjoys His grace; his soul
is in peace, and coming forth from immediate communion
with God to walk through this poor world, in this spirit
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of peace all his ways are marked with peace; this character
sets its impress on all his walk in this world. God having
given to the soul this place before Him, He begins to
teach it to walk; and the walk of such a one here below
partakes of this gospel of peace, of the peace which we rst
enjoy with God through the gospel, in virtue of the work
of Christ, and which, setting us in communion with God,
makes us happy in that which is good, and enables us, by
this communion, to overcome the sin and rebellion of the
heart. All that we meet with makes manifest in our walk by
the Spirit the peace which we enjoy. It is beautiful to see a
soul which brings the power of such peace into the world.
In this faithful walk the Christian meets with the ery
darts of the wicked one; the more faithful he is, the more
also will Satan seek to trouble him; if he can cause a wicked
thought to cross the heart, that is a dart; but the soul of
the faithful is at peace; nothing can trouble him, though
Satan tries to disturb this peace. If secret self-complacency
glides unto the heart, it is the enemy who seeks to take
away our condence. We see Christ in this calm and
perfect condence in the midst of His suering (John
18:11), peace keeping His soul; not that He could feel joy
in drinking the cup, but He felt it in receiving the cup from
the hand of Him who gave it to Him: nothing could shake
His condence; all the darts of Satan were quenched on
the shield of faith. At the moment when He was broken-
hearted, crushed by the iniquity of men, He said, “ I thank
thee, O Father,” Matt. 11:25. When we meet with a trial,
instead of complaining of others and reproaching them,
we ought to take refuge in God; but frequently we do the
very opposite, we distrust God; if we meet with diculties,
we reect on God, and reproach Him with the iniquity
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of man. Satan seeks to produce mistrust; this is why the
apostle says we must take the shield of faith.
Verse 16. Entire condence in God is needed. From the
position we see all the storms below us, we are at peace;
but if we have not this condence, there are things which
trouble us. is is our position: we are on the earth, the esh
still in us; Satan is in the heavens, but Christ is still higher,
at the right hand of God. Christ (in order that faith may be
put to the test) has not yet driven out Satan; but if by faith
we lay hold of the truth that Christ has done everything,
that He has gained the victory over Satan, and that He is
gone up far above all heavens to the right hand of God, we
are then above all circumstances. I know Christ; I am near
to God; I see things according to God and not according to
circumstances. We see in Numbers, when the water failed,
Israel threw the blame on God, and Moses thought about
himself and his own personal importance. We frequently
behave ourselves in the same way in aiction; but it is a
want of condence in God. Satan would like to break the
links between us and God; but God has given us evident
proofs of His. love by giving us His Son, who has all power
in heaven and on earth. Satan cannot take from us His
grace; but if our loins are not girded about, our communion
is interrupted.
Verse 17. e salvation of a soul once brought nigh to
God is a settled thing; it is a helmet, a defense which guards
him from the attacks of the enemy. ere is a dierence
between this blessed position and that of working for
salvation. In my battles with the enemy, I have on my head
the assurance of salvation. He cannot touch me, I have
eternal life; Satan cannot break in upon that. is gives
boldness in the conict; having the consciousness that God
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has saved us, we go on, the head lifted up (not proudly as
to the fear of God), but trusting in Him, fearing nothing.
Such is the case when we have the aections on Christ;
we are so set as to be enabled to go on with boldness, by
power being given to us to use the armor of God. is is
what God desires for us. It is a blessed position to stand
fast in the conict. Truth applies to the judgment in the
inner man. Practical righteousness guards the conscience
from the assaults of the enemy; the power of peace gives
a character to our walk; condence in the love of God
quenches the poisoned arrows of doubt; the assurance of
salvation gives us boldness to go onwards.
We have seen in what precedes, that the apostle begins by
setting before us that which gives inward strength, namely,
the armor defensive against the attacks of the enemy. Now
he speaks of the oensive weapons, and begins with the
sword of the Spirit, as the means of resisting the power of
Satan in the evil day; he speaks of the sword as a means of
standing; the helmet is placed before the sword, because if
there is not this condence, this assurance, we cannot even
handle the sword of the Spirit. All the threats, the warnings
and precepts as to sanctication, become so many means,
in the hands of Satan, to lay hold of us by, if we have not the
condence that God is for us; without this condence Satan
can use even the word of God to overthrow us. is word
is called the sword of the Spirit, not of the understanding,
but of the Spirit in us. It is the Spirit of God who alone can
handle the sword of the word. It is the Spirit who recalls
the suitable passage at the moment of temptation (we
have a striking example of it in Christ in the hour of His
temptation). We may reason about the things of God, but
this does nothing for us against the enemy; the Spirit must
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act in us and apply the word. It is evident that if we have
grieved the Spirit, if our loins are not girded, the Spirit
cannot be there to handle the word; on the contrary, in that
case, Satan employs it against us. If the Christian has not
this happy consciousness of being for God, he has nothing
to say when Satan presents a temptation before him: the
smallest warning of the word troubles and overthrows him,
because the word is not through the Spirit a weapon in his
hand against the enemy; but it is in the hand of the enemy
against him. It is true that God uses the word as a means
of convincing of sin, and thus awakes the soul by acting on
the conscience; but every time that this word is not made
use of on the principle of grace, it is not the work of the
Spirit of God. If this conviction of sin leads us to mistrust
God, it does not proceed from Him, but from the enemy;
the Spirit convinces of sin through the word, but it shows
the refuge in Christ; it does not drive to despair.
e word is represented to us as a weapon for us to
handle, for it works in two ways: rst, the Spirit, in using
the word, can act in us by presenting to us the object which
lls our hearts with joy and hope; but besides, He can
use it when He would convince us of sin. e Spirit will
indeed show us what are the consequences of sin, but He
will never tell us that Christ is not sucient for our soul.
e Spirit cannot deny the testimony which He bears to
the glory and to the work of Jesus in grace; He can use the
holiness of God to produce in us the deepest feeling of sin;
but He will never tell us that God is not the God of grace
towards us. To the Christian who has peace, and to whom
the love of the Father has been revealed, it is perfectly clear,
that if he has any other feeling about sin, it is not the Spirit
of God which produces it. If we have failed, the Spirit
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167
will make us sorrowful, but He will never tell us that the
Master of the house is not our Lord; this thought would
be the fruit of unbelief. But here the apostle goes a little
farther; he supposes faith to be in exercise, and he places
the word in the hand. Satan will tell us that we are not able
to use the sword of the Spirit. en this same Spirit, who
recalls the passage, silences Satan. Again, look at Christ
in His temptation, Christ who never lost His condence.
e Spirit was there in power. Christ had His loins girded,
and He had on the breastplate of righteousness; He was
calm and knew how to use the very passage which was
suitable for the circumstance. Paul supposes a Christian
who is standing fast in this power of the Spirit, and who
completely stops the mouth of Satan, when he tries in a
thousand ways to make him fall. Such a Christian, having
all the defensive weapons, is able to handle the sword of
the Spirit; and when the Spirit in him is not grieved, He
bears witness to the favor of God. e word of God is the
most powerful of the weapons of the Christian’s strength.
Verses 18-20. e second weapon which is given to us is
prayer in the Spirit; it is that prayer which springs from the
energy of the spiritual life when the Spirit is not grieved
in us; the same Spirit, which acting in us, uses the word,
becomes a Spirit of intercession and seeks the interposition
of God in favor of the saints, and of the work of God in
the world. It is a soul at ease in the presence of God-a soul
watching, instead of allowing itself to be surprised; and its
prayers, instead of being complaints, will be according to
the power of the Spirit; we can then use prayer as men who
have watched, and who have found in watching subjects for
the intervention of God. We may be aicted, cast down,
without being under the power of the enemy.
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If I hear bad news, whether relating to the church of
God or to a brother, it will make me sorrowful and cast me
down, as it did Paul, who had ghtings without and fears
within. But though thus sorrowful, if Satan has nothing in
us, the consequence of this depression will be communion
with God, instead of having allowed our aections to
wander; we are in the presence of God, we watch with
Him in order to speak to Him; but if this is not the case,
Satan will take us unawares in moments of carelessness.
If we walk with God, this will cause prayers according to
the mind of God. e broken heart nds in Jesus the full
certainty of God’s favor. e Philippians, in their suering
state, had met with God instead of being frightened by
it (Phil. 1:28); and though aicted, if I am in the power
of the Spirit, it will only cause more lively intercession.
It is precious to see what is produced by aiction, even
by chastening; if our walk is spiritual, it will only be an
opportunity for gaining the victory, and for driving away
Satan. All the members are united to the Head, and by
His Spirit interested in all that concerns Him. ey cannot
always act themselves in such or such a case, but they can,
like the centurion, say to Christ, “ Speak the word only, and
my servant shall be healed.”
As we have seen that the word of God is the sword of
the Spirit, so also what importance does the Lord attach
to prayer! ere are two kinds of prayer: that which is the
expression of our wants; and that which being made in
the energy of the Spirit, is therefore infallibly answered.
Whether for handling the sword of the Spirit, or for
prayer, the Christian life must already exist; in order to be
able to pray for others, our own life must be with God.
ere. is amongst Christians too little intercession; because
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they come to a meeting for prayer, after leading a life of
languishing, absorbed by present things. e consequence
is, their prayers discover the weakness of the individual,
and not the work of the Spirit for the good of the church.
Too often alas! it is a settling as to our own failures. If we
were watchful therein in our daily walk, our prayers would
be intercessions, instead of supplications each day for our
own faults. What we should desire is, that our individual
prayers should be such as to enable us to pray for all saints;
without this they will never have this powerful energy of
the Spirit. Satan will nd some means for overthrowing
Christians. How desirable this makes it that there should
be some able to bring in the aid of God! e more, whether
it be an individual or a body of persons, we are faithful as
to our position in this world, the more shall we be exposed
to the ambushes of the enemy; and if we do not thus keep
close to God, the enemy will nd some way of making
havoc.
We see here, that the most faithful and advanced
Christians feel their dependence upon God, and on all
saints. e apostolic gift of Paul depended in one sense on
the prayers of the saints: God intended it to be so, in order
that the church might be united in its aections; 2Cor.
1:11e apostle was in a prominent position, and perhaps
he received power through the prayers of a poor bed-
ridden woman; but all hidden fruits will be seen in the last
day. It is an encouraging thing to see that God honors the
hidden members which are the least honorable to the eyes
of the esh. is thought encourages us to walk humbly in
our place. Frequently there are persons hidden out of sight,
who are the means of blessing for those who are in a very
prominent place. We ought to think of the praise which
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God gives, and not of that of men. e only thing in our
service is to glorify God. If my heart, which no one sees,
does not beat, I cannot run. ere are individuals who are
truly the heart of the church; it is not often the things that
are seen which are the most precious in the sight of God.
Verses 21-24. In these last verses, we have the expression
of the tenderness of Paul in sending Tychicus to the
Ephesians. We see how he counted upon the aection of
the saints.
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171
62983
Elect of God, Holy and
Beloved: Ephesians 1:4-
14
GOD has purposed in Himself to have before Himself
that which shall reect His own blessedness-He taking
pleasure in us, and we taking pleasure in Him; as it is said
here, “ that we should be holy, and without blame before
Him in love.” He will have His people of the same nature
as Himself, gathered around Himself, happy here, and for
Himself. His thought is not merely that we should have an
inheritance; as we read of “ the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints.” He “ hath chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before him in love; having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of
the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the Beloved.”
And this is just the character of this Epistle; the apostle,
in speaking of redemption, does so, not so much as of
something needed by us, in order to appear before God, as
of these purposes of God concerning us. We may look at
God as a Judge; but, more than this, God is working for the
display of the riches of the glory of His grace.
is lifts up the soul. God has thoughts and intentions
about us. As in the case of a young man, whom, a person has
(in ordinary language) “ taken up,” and is about to provide
for, it is not a question of what the one was, but of the
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thoughts and intentions of the other-of what, in a word,
he is, and will do, for the young man; so, though in a much
more blessed sense, has God “ taken up “ poor sinners,
that He might act towards them worthily of Himself,
to the praise of the glory of His grace. e other thing
remains true: God is a Judge, and “ we have redemption,
forgiveness of sins, through his blood “ (Christ’s); and we
must understand this before we can enjoy our privileges in
Christ.
God has “ taken us up.” Our very existence in the new
creation, is the fruit of His purpose and thoughts about us.
is has a double bearing. It shows how we are to measure
what God is doing for us, as a question of God’s purpose;
and, besides being this measure, it makes us understand the
source of it all. And this has a most happy eect: instead of
looking at ourselves, and judging from ourselves, we look
at God. Nothing but life-giving power could ever have
wrought this. Our thoughts about God are, that He is the
source of all our blessing. As the young man, before alluded
to, would have pleasure in thinking about the friend who
had “ taken him up,” so this thought about God is a happy
thought, and, moreover, one of great sanctifying power.
God has “ predestinated us unto the adoption of
children.” It is not here, simply, a question of purpose (of
God’s counsel, and, therefore, sure): that to which He has
predestinated us, is the present adoption of children. A poor
sinner, a sinner of the Gentiles, having no title whatever to
blessing, I trace all my title to God’s purpose, which He has
purposed in Himself. is is true also of the Jews, though,
in a certain sense, they stood on dierent ground; Christ
was “ a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God,
to conrm the promises made unto the fathers “; but of the
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173
Gentiles it is said, “ and that the Gentiles might glorify
God for his mercy.” It is of grace, of God’s free thought
about us. He has taken pleasure in us, as Joshua said to
Israel: “ If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into
this land, and give it unto us, a land which oweth with
milk and honey.” We cannot boast in anything; for we have
not anything whatever wherein to boast, except in this, that
God has taken delight in us to give us the adoption. e
eect is most blessed; we know Himself-” after ye have
known God, or rather are known of God.” What He has
predestinated us unto, is not a distant thing, nor yet merely
salvation (in the sense of escape from the wrath of God);
it is the nearest place He could have put us into, not as
with the Jews, “ I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my
rstborn “: we are adopted with the “ adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, to the praise of the glory of his
grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved.”
Here we get not only the source but the manner-the source,
God’s love; the manner, in Christ.
“ e Word was made esh and dwelt among us “-the
Word that was in the beginning with God, and was
God. But the light shone in darkness and the darkness
comprehended it not. It is not said that there was want of
power, but that men’s deeds were evil, and that, therefore,
they would not come unto the light. A Christian who is
walking carelessly does not like a godly Christian to come
into contact with him, he feels condemned; whenever
the heart is not with God, light makes it uneasy. But
besides being light, “ In him was life,” and that is what
we needed; while He shows us our evil, He is the good
we need. Predestinated unto the adoption of children, it is
in Him. Called according to God’s purpose, we are to be
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conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
rstborn among many brethren. Of His fullness, have all
we received, and grace for grace. We are brought into the
presence of God in Jesus Christ. erefore, when Jesus goes
away, He says, “ I ascend unto my Father, and your Father,
unto my God and your God.” He has Himself met all our
responsibility, otherwise the light would have been terrible.
ere are two things, substitution, and communication of
life. In substitution, He stood alone. But guilt being taken
away, we quickened together with Him, He presents us in
the Father’s presence, as He is.
“ In this was manifested the love of God toward us,
because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the
world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son
to be the propitiation for our sins.” But not merely has
the Son of God visited us when we were in our sins, nor
merely, either, been delivered for our oenses. “ Herein is
our love [love with us] made perfect, that we may have
boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we
in this world.” We have no life except in Christ; we have no
acceptance apart from Christ. He has made us accepted in
the Beloved-the measure is just that. It is God’s delight to
bring us, in Christ, and by Christ, into His own presence.
We can go no farther; “ truly our fellowship is with the
Father and with his Son Jesus Christ,” writes John. We may
enjoy it more and more, we may delight in it in deepened
measure, but we cannot have anything beyond. When God
speaks of glorifying Himself, or of our glorifying Him, it
means through the display of what He is; it is God’s glory
to display Himself; therefore, in this, which is to the glory
of His grace, we have the display of Himself.
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And do not let us suppose that this goes beyond what
we may think about (a very natural thought): the apostle
says further on, “ For this cause I bow my knees unto the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he would grant you,
according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with
might by his Spirit in the inner man: that Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith: being rooted and grounded in love,
that ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is
the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know
the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might
be lled with all the fullness of God,” chap. 3: 14-19. It is
not a matter of human wisdom, learning, or attainment; in
proportion as we become simple as little children, we shall
understand these things, through the Holy Ghost. “ God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
the wise.” It has nothing to do with human learning, except
to set it aside; lowliness of mind is what is needed.
“ e good pleasure of his will “ is not, simply, sovereignty-
it is the good pleasure of His will. God is acting in His
love, displaying the will of His grace, “ taking up “ poor,
wretched, vile sinners, and unfolding on these objects of
His mercy, all the riches of His own goodness. e “ good
pleasure of his will,” that which God takes delight in, is the
ministering of the fullness of His blessing to us. Here the
soul gets established. It is quite evident, that the measure
of His goodness cannot be, in any sense, the measure of
what we are, as deserving at His hands; while it is His good
pleasure, it is the good pleasure of His grace. And further,
whilst I have need, for the establishment of my soul, to
learn what He is, to be delighting in the goodness of God,
it is this too which sancties. If I could be always thinking
of what He is, I should be perfectly happy, and there would
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be the reection in me of that with which my soul was
occupied.
We begin, often, at the wrong end. On what are we
resting our acceptance? It is not anything in ourselves that
will do. Or, it is a question of sanctication? “ beholding as
in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the
same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord
“ (that is, I look at the Lord, and, as a consequence of my
looking at the Lord, I reveal to men what He is). Moses, on
coming down from the mount, was not inquiring whether
his face shone, in order to know if he had been with God;
others saw this.
It is such a comfort, to get to God and feel, that it is in
Him, and from Him.
Where, naturally, would our souls rest? It is quite a
natural feeling, if we have been convinced of sin, that we
should want to get at peace to know there is nothing against
us, but the apostle here, is looking at those whom God has
“ taken up,” and He has “ made us accepted in the Beloved.”
at is God’s thought about us; He has shown us this grace
in a particular way, and in a particular person-Christ. It is
not merely a negative thing; He takes as positive delight
in us, as He does in Jesus. He is no double-measure God.
“ Put on as the elect of God,” Paul writes to the
Colossians, “ holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness,”
etc., saints, and beloved ones of God, objects of God’s love,
God’s delight (the measure of which is Christ), thus He
addresses them. If I am beloved of a person, this draws
out love. So the consciousness of God’s love, God’s delight
produces links in aection, that exist not without it. My
thought of being accepted is not merely, that my sins are
put away, so that I could stand before Him-I am the object
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of His delight; holy aections are drawn out, and I pass
through the world as a beloved one of God. We cannot
suppose, in Christ’s going through this world (and this
shows us our deciency as Christians), one single thing
of it, that acts on our hearts, acting on His; He was the
beloved One of God-” is is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased,” and He was going through the world
as such. us, too, should the Christian walk through the
world with the consciousness of being beloved of God;
with this, we do not want the world- without it, we are
obliged to turn to something that makes self the center.
Young or old, that is what we are-beloved of God.
Perhaps, you will say, “ Ah, but I am very proud, very
worldly, I do not give up the things of the world.” Very
likely not, and that is a reason for your being reminded of
this, that you may.
“ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”
is is the leading thought in the apostle’s mind. And
remark, he speaks of that which is positively possessed, not
of something we are hoping for, or expecting; He “ hath
made us accepted in the Beloved,” we “ have redemption
through his blood,” etc. is grace of God, this “ good
pleasure of his will” has planted and set us in it all. We
may be practically destitute of the joy of these things, but
that is where we are. And He has given to those whom
He has set in this place, the knowledge of His purpose
as to the glory of Christ, as it goes on to say, “ wherein he
hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence “;
the apostle explains it, “ having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which
he hath purposed in himself “; here again it comes from the
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good pleasure of His will, “ that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one, all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on
earth.” Having placed the saints in all this fellowship and
blessing, He imparts (as with Abraham-” Shall I hide from
Abraham the thing that I am about to do? “) unto them His
thoughts. Not only has He accepted us in Christ, but He
will have everything brought under Christ’s dominion and
power. He is to gather together in one, all things in Christ-”
even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that
we should be to the praise of his glory, who rst trusted
in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also
after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit
of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of
his glory.” We are joint-heirs with Christ. Hence the prayer
at the end of the chapter.
We cannot deny, we do not deny (whatever man’s
eorts to make the best of the world), that sin is in the
world; there is not a single thing (take dress for instance)
that does not tell us that. ere is not a single thing we are
buying or selling, a single thing we are looking upon, that
is not, in some sort, a proof of sin. All that man does for
pleasure, is necessitated by sin; Adam in Paradise had no
need of it. What makes the world get on without God?
e principle of sin; this is running through everything,
it has got, so to speak, into the vital blood, and (though it
be God’s creation through which it runs) it runs through
everything. Man builds his city, invents his instruments
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of music (Gen. 4), and strives to make the world happy
without God. Introduce God, and His amazing work,
where men are occupied with gain or with pleasure, it is all
wrong and out of place. Whether for pleasure, or for gain,
God must be excluded. at is the character of the whole
world, and to tack on the name of Christ does not mend
it; an avaricious Christian (nominally such) is in nothing
better than an avaricious heathen. God is lingering over it,
but the existence of the gospel in the world is proof that
the world is lost. “ We know,” says John, “ that the whole
world lieth in the wicked one “; and again, “ All that is in
the world, the lust of the esh, the lust of the eye, and the
pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” As it
is, as a plain matter of fact, it is not God’s inheritance. Who
is called its god? Satan. God’s title cast away, through the
lust of men, and the pride and power of Satan, whom they
follow, God has designated Satan “ the god of this world,”
and made known to us (those who are of faith) the mystery
of His will. e apostle speaks here of hope (v. 18). We have
obtained an inheritance in Christ, and all things are going
to be put under Christ; meanwhile (like Abraham, who had
not so much as whereon to set his foot) “ having nothing
and yet possessing all things,” the Christian walks through
the world, as one beloved of God, in the consciousness that
he is the object of God’s purposes, and of God’s delight.
But what do we see in the Lord Jesus? Not merely that
He has been designated the heir of all things; “ the Father
loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.” So
too our proper delight is in knowing that we are beloved
of God, and that God will have us before Himself, and for
Himself-His delight in us, and our delight in Him. It is
as a consequence of this love, that we shall have the glory
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of the inheritance. Where are our hearts? what is our joy?
are we journeying, aye journeying, through the world in
the blessed, joyful condence of this secret of God? en
will the world be to us a “ dry and thirsty land “; instead
of nding delight in things around, we shall have to guard
against them as against that which would bring us down to
Satan’s ground. Are we taking the world, with its pleasures
and its gain? If so, we are entering into Cain’s portion, and
not into that of Abel or Abraham: we are “ enemies of the
cross of Christ.” rough these things Satan is deceiving
the world. Are we taking the position (not of Adam before
he sinned, not of Christ when He was in the world, neither
of Christ in the glory, but) of the “ men of the earth? “
e Lord give us to see, and so to estimate that which
is God’s object, that we may have done with this present
evil world.
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Ephesians 1:9
WHAT has all failed in the rst Adam will all be
accomplished in the last Adam, and much more, gloriously
fullled. In Eph. 1 there are two things as the portion of the
church: one is not entirely fullled, and the other we have
nothing of yet, the calling of God, and God’s inheritance.
e calling we get in Eph. 1:4, 5. e rst part of the calling
is what is before God (v. 4), to be holy and without blame,
etc. e second part of the calling is in connection with the
Father (v. 5) as children. He has not only put us in a certain
place, but has made known to us the mystery of His will,
that is all His plan for Christ’s glory, which is to gather
together in one all things in Him. And the moment that
comes I get the inheritance-not the calling only, but the
inheritance. Of this we have nothing now but the earnest
of the Spirit. We have the calling. Colossians presents the
same general truth, but more developed as to Christ.
In Col. 1:15-18 I get the two headships of Christ- Head
over all things, and Head of the body. He takes as Man
what He created as God; and, besides, He takes other men
as fellow-heirs with Him. us we see in verse 21, that
us who not only were in confusion and disorder, but were
positively enemies, He reconciles. is consciousness has
been lost by the professing church-that we are reconciled.
e state of things is not reconciled; but we are reconciled.
e inheritance we cannot have, till the true Heir take it.
Christ is not sitting on His own throne now, but on His
Father’s throne. When He sits down on His own throne,
He will have us there with Him. He sits on His Father’s
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throne by His title of Son. “ To him that overcometh will
I give to sit down with me on my throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne.”
Our present condition is to know that Christ is exalted, and
we reconciled. But He has not taken the inheritance, nor,
of course, have we. Our place before God is His calling-
everything that is created will be our inheritance.
In Psa. 2 you have the counsels of God about Christ,
to set Him on Zion as king. Adonai shall have them in
derision -not Jehovah as such. ese two points, Christ set
as king on the holy hill of Zion, and owned to be the Son
of God, you nd in Psa. 2 In Psa. 8, you do not get Him as
Son of God, but as Son of man, put over everything that
God has created-that He has created, for He is God. In
John 1:49 you hear the Lord applying these two things.
ere Nathaniel owns Him as King of Israel, according to
Psa. 2 and He says as it were, “ at is over: I am not going
to be King of Israel now.” But you shall see greater things,
the Son of man according to Psa. 8, with every creature
subject. e place the church gets is to be joint-heirs. We
take the place of suering now. We only see half of Psa. 8
fullled yet. We see Him at the right hand of God, but not
with all things put under Him. He is gathering now the
joint-heirs. Nothing is yet fullled. For the redemption of
the purchased possession He must come again.
Yet in Him we have redemption. ere is no such thing
recognized in Scripture, as a Christian doubting he is
saved. And it is all a totally false pretension of humility.
If my Father forgives me, and I doubt His forgiveness, I
am not trusting Him. It is doubting God’s word, or not
receiving the truths He gives us: we have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear. Let a man fear temptation-
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doubt his own heart, that is another thing; but not doubt
God, or dread God. ere is no such thing in scripture
as a Christian without the Spirit of adoption, crying “
Abba, Father.” ere is no such thing after Christ’s death
recognized in Scripture as a Christian not knowing he is
saved. e thief on the cross was as t to go to heaven as
Paul, and he went there; and none went not t. I know
that there is growth, of course; but there is no meetness
or tness for heaven, except the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is not Christianity to doubt, though many a real
honest Christian does doubt. It is Christianity to know we
are reconciled. If you have not peace, you have not got what
Christ left for you. He says,
Come unto me, and I will give you rest.” If you have not
rest, am I to say either you have not come? or Christ does
not speak truth? It may be bad teaching. Many a one will
cry “ Abba, Father,” most heartily in his prayers, who would
not own, if you asked him, that he was a child of God.
Of course, he has the Spirit of adoption, though he does
not know it. It is just selshness that makes him doubt. In
Rom. 7, what is it he is talking about? Just self-not Christ
at all. Is that humility? not a word about Christ and the
Spirit! and I am told that is a Christian. ere is nearly
forty times “ I “ and “ me,” and not once Christ and the
Spirit, just the law and me; and poor things those are to
bring together! Very useful for plowing up, bringing down
to self-knowledge. en he sees there is no good in himself,
and he gets set free, and it is all at an end. Rom. 7 is just
a quickened man, without the knowledge of redemption.
In 2Cor. 5:18 we are reconciled, but the state of things
is not reconciled. After that we have the Spirit of God
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taking up our inrmities, and sympathizing with us, as we
are-taking up our groans.
When the Lord Jesus comes, the rst thing He does is
to take us up to Himself. He cannot take His inheritance
till He get His joint-heirs. e object of Christ’s love is to
take us into the enjoyment of all that He enjoys Himself.
Is He a son? I am a son. Is it life? He is my life. Is it
peace? He says, My peace I leave with you. Is it love? As
ou hast loved Me I have loved them. ere is nothing
He has not taken us into. Of course, I do not mean His
incommunicable Godhead. But He takes us into the same
place with Himself, and over everything. When He comes
again, then, and then only, we get the full fruit, when “ he
shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satised.”
Psa. 22 As soon as He is heard from the horns of
the unicorns, He says, “ I will declare thy name unto my
brethren.” So in John 20. “ I ascend to my Father and your
Father, to my God and your God.” He is alone in the work
of atonement, but as soon as that is accomplished, He says,
Now I am going to have others with Me. “ In the midst of
the church I will sing praise to thee.” When all the joint-
heirs are gathered, then He comes and takes them all; and
after that He begins to take the inheritance. e wilderness
is the the place in which we are tested and tried, not for
ghting. When we get into heavenly places to possess
spiritual privileges, then we must ght Satan. Supposing I
can say I am of the Lord’s host, I am dead, I have crossed
Jordan-not merely redeemed or simply crossed the Red
Sea; but if I am dead, crossed Jordan, and become one of
the Lord’s host, then I need all His armor to ght His
enemies; and if I get a wedge of gold, or a Babylonish
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garment, it will be detected by my want of power, by my
being conquered in the ght.
When Christ takes us up there to be with Him, He puts
Satan out. We shall be taken up to God and His throne
(not the Father’s throne, that is the prerogative of Christ),
then Satan is cast down. He will be in this world, then,
in great rage, knowing his time is short; but we shall be
above it all. Satan will never get up there again. When,
those years being over, the Lord comes with us (when He
appears, we appear with Him), then Satan is put in the
bottomless pit, and the kingdom is fullled. Satan then
is not merely turned out of heaven, but out of earth too.
Before judgment begins to be executed, we are in glory in
Christ. He that believeth shall not come into judgment,
John 5:24. ere are two things in the chapter showing
Christ’s power: rst, He quickeneth whom He will, this is,
life-giving power; then judicial power, by which the wicked
are obliged to own His power in spite of themselves. Christ
will not have to make good His power in judgment where
He has made it good in life. We are passed from death
unto life. ere is the resurrection of judgment in John 5.
We are raised in glory when He changes our vile bodies,
and fashions them like His glorious body. We shall ALL
be conformed to the image of God’s Son.
But there is another privilege we have now by grace,
that of being workers together with Him. So when that
time comes, as regards the blessing of Christ I shall have
that as much as Paul, but as regards the activity of love
and its results, Paul will have fty thousand times more
than I. For instance, Paul will have the essalonians for
his crown, and I shall not. ere comes in every man’s
little bit of service-in that you will have yours, and I mine.
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When He appears with us, then He sets up His kingdom.
For Christ has a three-fold title. He created everything-
that gives Him a title. He is the Son, and consequently the
Heir; and He is the Man to whom God has determined to
give everything- the title of redemption.
If I look for the worst power of Satan now, I must look
for it in the so-called church. e responsible church has
totally failed. In 1Cor. 3 you get three cases: rst, a wise
master builder, who did his work well; then you get persons
who build badly, but who are saved themselves, building
with rubbish, as wood, hay, stubble; and lastly, if a man
corrupt the church of God, him will God destroy. ink
of men bringing in Gnosticism. I will not refer to modern
times. is is not merely building badly (all do so) but it is
antagonism to the church of God and even to Christ.
Not one of the fathers, so-called, saving Irenaeus, held
the full deity of Christ, or held redemption as Irenaeus
did, who was a saint. ey were aected with Platonic
philosophy, which brought out Arianism after. Justin
Martyr positively declares that the supreme God could
not become a man-that it was a certain inferior Logos who
did. People say we must have what was at the beginning.
Knowing of nothing more primitive than Peter and Paul,
I will therefore have what was at the beginning; but I will
not have what was one hundred and forty years after the
beginning. Justin Martyr was about so long after.
In the four rst of the seven churches we see the history
of what is called the Apostolic succession; in the three
last, the history of Protestantism. ere are three things in
the Revelation: “ ings thou hast seen,” that is, the glory
of Christ; “ things that are,” that is, the seven churches;
“ things which shall be hereafter,” when we are caught
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up into heaven, and the nal judgment of God sets in.
In the rst four churches, is given the complete history
of the church to the end, closing in popery. ere are two
ways God uses to judge the existing thing by. He contrasts
our condition with what He set up at rst, and with the
readiness to meet the Lord when He comes. e previous
churches were referred back to what had been. yatira is
referred on to His coming; and hence His coming is here
rst mentioned.
In the last three churches the Lord’s coming is already
named, and is kept before them till Laodicea, which is
spued out. First, we have the Protestant warning, “ a name
to live and are dead.” To Sardis He threatens what in
essalonians is spoken of as only belonging to the world,
His coming as a thief, that is, I will treat you just like
the world. Philadelphia is a solemn word to us. It is the
character of Christ which we are to suit ourselves to-” He
that is holy, he that is true.” After yatira we never get a
reference to what he had seen walking among the golden
candlesticks. ere is no ecclesiastical position after that.
What marks the thing the Lord owns now is, the absence
of indelity, or of ecclesiastical pretension: Christ’s word
against all such pretensions, and Christ’s name against all
indelity. “ Kept my word, and not denied my name “: the
promise to these is complete identication with Himself-”
a pillar in the temple of my God-the name of my God-the
city of my God-my new name.” To those who keep the
word of His patience He says not now, “ I will come to you
as a thief, and ye shall not know when I come,” but, “ Ye
have had patience: have a little more, I will soon be with
you.” ose who had a little strength are made pillars in the
temple of His God.
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We never get the direct work of God in the seven
churches, because God cannot judge His own work. He
walks through and sees how this thing has turned out
and how that has; but you never get a direct intervention
of God all through. Isaiah’s prophecy, “ the heart of this
people is waxed fat,” etc., was spoken nearly eight hundred
years before the judgment was executed in nearly the last
piece of New Testament history. Paul says in Acts 28, “
Well did Isaiah say, the heart of this people is waxed fat “;
“ be it known unto you that the salvation of God is sent to
the Gentiles,” etc. It is more than eighteen hundred years
since it was said of the church, judgment must begin at the
house of God; and for all this time God has borne with it,
but assuredly the judgment of the church will come.
e Prayers in Ephesians 1:15-23 and 3:14-21
189
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e Prayers in Ephesians
1:15-23 and 3:14-21
ONE prayer is attached to the name of the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, because He is looked at as Man; the
other to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because He
is looked at as Son. e beginning of chapter 1 gave us
God’s calling, that we should be “ holy and without blame
before him in love,” that we might receive “ the adoption
of sons.” After stating His purpose concerning Christ
Himself, that all things are to be gathered together in one
in Him, the apostle goes on to the inheritance of which
the Holy Ghost is the earnest, and then to the prayer for
them on this ground. At the very close of the chapter
he adds our relationship to Christ Himself, “ the church
which is his body.” It is always well for us to remember
that Christ has puried to Himself a peculiar people, a
people of possession, and we cannot rise up to the counsels
of God and mind of Christ unless we be brought into these
intentions of God. e most immediate and closest object
of His thoughts is His saints. I necessarily take in all saints
if I am in His thoughts • I cannot have the mind of Christ
without taking in all of them; it is the very spirit of Christ
Himself.
ere are two parts in this prayer of the apostle. e
rst is, that they might know the place itself; the second,
that they should know the power that brought them there.
e very fullness of the blessing we have got is that we
are blessed with Him. As we were associated with the rst
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Adam in ruin, so we are associated with the second Man
in glory. ere is nothing He has that He does not bring
us into. is is the character of perfect love. Christ gives “
not as the world giveth.” e world may give generously
sometimes, but it has done with what it gives; Christ
gives by introducing His own into what He is enjoying
Himself. Take glory: “ the glory which thou gavest me I
have given them.” Take joy: “ that my joy might remain in
you.” Take peace: “ peace I leave with you, my peace I give
unto you. ‘ Take love: “ that thou hast loved them as thou
hast loved me.” Having become man and accomplished
perfect redemption, He would not take the inheritance
without His joint-heirs. He is the source and head of all
the glory that is given. “ What is the hope of His calling?
“ Not of your calling-this would not do at all. Here it has
the fullest and highest character. He takes the heart up to
these thoughts and counsels of God. We are called to be
before God holy and without blame; we are called to be
in Christ’s place before God, before the Father, perfectly
answering to His love. He does not pray that they may
have it, but that they may know it.
As to His inheritance in the saints, if our minds took
in the Jewish place compared with our own, this would be
extremely simple. Whose land was Israel’s? It was God’s
inheritance; and those in whom He inherited it were Israel.
We are not an inheritance, but we are heirs of God. We
have nothing below what God would have in His mind
here.
Observe the prayer is, “ that the eyes of your understanding
may be enlightened.” We must not think that we ought not
to know these things. e New Testament carefully tells
us that we have them laid open to us expressly. “ But God
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hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.” “ Eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man, the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him “such was the state of the Jews; but it is not our
state. ese things are not only given to us, but we are given
to understand them; we are not in the condition of the
Old Testament at all. In 1Cor. 2 we have the three steps;
revelation by the Holy Ghost; communication of the word
given by the Holy Ghost; and the reception of the word by
the Holy Ghost.
Take the account of the heavenly city in the Apocalypse-
it means something. All those images are characteristic
in Scripture; I quite admit they are only gures, but they
convey thoughts. e more we live in the mind of God,
the more intelligent we are. e same things I see through
a glass darkly, I shall see more clearly, but not dierently.
us the “ white stone “ is a symbol full of power. We have
common joys, but there is the immediate approbation of
Christ to the individual. “ Gold “ is always the sign of
divine righteousness in itself. In the laver the priests were
to wash and be clean; but with the sea of glass like crystal
I walk upon purity. So “ re “ is judgment, as “ a sea of
glass mingled with re “; it is perfect purity as the result of
judgment. “ e street of the city was pure gold, as it were
transparent glass.” Instead of walking through the dirt
of this world, I am to walk in holiness and righteousness
according to God. In the Apocalypse we do not go beyond
the idea of God in government.
Now we come to the power that brings us into these
things. “ According to the working of his mighty power
which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the
dead.” What an immense truth there is in connection with
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this! e Messiah was not merely the promised Son of
David, but the One in whom all God’s counsels would be
accomplished. He went down below all things, and then
goes far above all heavens. is dead Man is raised above
all principality and power. He had gone down into the
place of death, and men are consequently looked at as dead
in sins, not as living in them.
It is well to note here that to look at the sinner as
alive in sins, or as dead in them, is just the same state, but
a dierent aspect of it. In Romans man is seen alive in
sins, and Christ meeting that state. ere is nothing of
justication in Ephesians, not a single stir of life there; we
were dead in the sins, and Christ died for the sins. God
comes in and takes us all up together, looked at as in the
mind and counsels of God. God quickens us together with
Him. Christ comes down to this place of death, having
cleansed our sins on the road, and God raises Him. Man
is looked at consequently as united to Christ. is you do
not nd in the other epistles. e same power has wrought
in every individual who believes in Christ that wrought
in Him. Christ had gone into death for us, entering into
the whole thing in grace and nding us where we were,
and, He having wrought the work that entitles Him to take
us out of it, we are raised with Him, seated together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus. is is your place; He does
not ask you what you think about it! ere is no person
who has the Spirit of Christ without this as his place. We
are waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body,
but one must be either in Christ or out of Christ. ere are
never two places for the Christian.
All things are to be put under Christ’s feet as Man, for
God “ gave him to be head over all things to the church,
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which is his body “-a short sentence, but the whole mystery
is in it. It is a quotation of Psa. 8, “ all things are put under
his feet.” In Psa. 2 He is seen as Son of David, King of
Zion, Son of God. Nathanael refers to this psalm; and
Jesus says to him, “ Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and
the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of
man.” He is rejected, and then comes out Psa. 8 Now He is
crowned with glory and honor, but we do not see all things
put under His feet yet. He is now sitting on the Father’s
throne. “ To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me
in my throne.” “ Sit thou on my right hand,” says Jehovah,
“ till I make thine enemies thy footstool.” e day of grace
is before that “ till.” ere is our comfort and blessing, that
He has nished the work for His friends. “ By one oering
he hath perfected forever them which are sanctied.” We
stand therefore between the work which He perfected
at His rst coming, and His second coming. We are not,
like the Jews, waiting to see that His oering is accepted,
because the Holy Ghost is come out meanwhile and seals
those who believe in Christ. I know the acceptance; I
know that He is our forerunner. en He deals with His
enemies. When thus set over all things, the Son Himself
will be subject to Him who put all things under Him-a
most blessed truth for us. He will reign while He brings
all into absolute order for God; when this has been done,
He will take His place as Man and never give it up. He is
the rst-born among many brethren. Over everything He
created, He is set as Man: but a head without a body would
not be complete. e supplement is wanting; the church is
His body.
No one ever mentions the church but Paul. Others may
speak of a local church; and Christ said, “ On this rock I
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will build my church “; but I am not speaking of this either.
If the church had been revealed before the cross, you must
make every Jew who was in it break the law. e essence of
the church is that all are one, Jew and Gentile.
e prayer in chapter 3 is addressed to the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. ere the apostle does not ask that
they may know all these thoughts and counsels of God,
but that Christ may dwell in their hearts. He is not now
looking at them objectively, but at Christ in them. He
desires that they should have Christ actually, consciously,
by faith dwelling in their hearts, settled in the perfectness
of divine love, that they may be able to comprehend the
breadth and length and depth and height-he does not say
of what-while putting Christ in the center of all that glory.
If I look at the breadth and length and depth and height,
it is dazzling. If I found my closest friend the center of the
Queen’s court, I should be at home there at once. Is it that
I have lost anything by this, that it is the humble lowly One
who is dwelling in my heart? Not a bit.
us, if in chapter I we have exterior power bringing
up Christ, or ourselves by grace, into a position of glory at
God’s right hand, in chapter 3 we nd divine power in us as
in the position, and we sought to be strengthened and lled
accordingly, in order to realize what it and God Himself is
in the fullness of it. It is not God dealing with man, but
Christ’s relation as Son and dwelling in us by faith-He, the
center and divinely entitled light of the fullness and display,
dwelling in us to give competency to enter into all the scene.
Rooted and grounded in love we are at the center thus in
its moral or rather divine springs, and so embrace all that
partake of the divine nature, because it is the action of that
nature. us we look out into the wide extended scene of
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glory, whose limit none can tell; yet still this is a display, not
a source, a scene, not Himself. In love we are at the source
of all. We know the love of Christ that passes knowledge.
What I know it in has made it wholly and peculiarly mine,
yes, mine as being nothing in it. Christ is divine, innite in
nature. It is so proved in the way it adapts itself to all my
wants and weakness, known in adapting itself to them, yet
known in itself. As Christ’s love it is for man, is manifested
in man, and adapts itself to man; yet therein as divine it
passes knowledge and brings man, as spiritual (he can feel,
think, and apprehend as man), into the enjoyment of the
scene, in which God is displayed, and to God Himself
according to His own fullness, and this lled with love as
in the center of it consciously. It is we, not brought into a
scene by power, but lled up to the measure of the fullness
of God, Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith. us love is
the spring of power in us, so that we estimate the scene of
that fullness according to the title, character, and nature of
God in it, He Himself being the ultimate blessedness of
which we are conscious. What makes us familiar there is,
that that which is in us, and which is the central light of all,
is One we know, who dwells in us by faith, the nearest and
most conded in of all, yet the fullness of Deity is in Him.
Compare Rev. 21:23.
God “ is able to do exceeding abundantly according to
the power that worketh in us.” is is what we are to look
for now: has your heart got hold of this? ere is a power
that works in us, and He can do exceeding abundantly
above all we ask and think according to it. How little faith
there is in the power of God!
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I believe everything is in ruin or confusion; but there
is no ruin or confusion in the power of Christ. I never can
think of a power of evil that is not below His power.
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e Power at Works in Us:
Ephesians 3:16-21
THE subject of prayer here is that there might be an
inward power put forth by the Holy Ghost. Paul’s heart
was desiring to see these saints in a deepening enjoyment
of Christ, and this by an operation of the Spirit unlimited
in its measure.
ey had the inner man. the divine nature communicated
to them. God had looked upon them in His great love, not
only quickened them, but given them out of His fullness.
ey were in a family every member of which is purged
from sin. “ I write unto you, children, because your sins
are forgiven you.” e incorruptible seed is not the word
of God, but that which is communicated by the word of
God. e Christian is thus put into a position in which the
creature does not stand. e rst Adam was innocent but
corruptible. e Second man was pure and incorruptible.
e believer now (in spite of that which is corruptible in
him) has received this incorruptible seed, and that by the
word of God. is they had: yet the heart of the apostle
was not satised, but must go forth with energy that God
the Holy Ghost might act in them according to their
individual need, and that “ according to the riches of his
glory,” not only eventually to be enjoyed, but a spring of
power now to be given, and that without measure. It is the
same Spirit to quicken and to strengthen now as will ll
the whole bride. Paul put no limit short of this.
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“ at Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith “ (v. 17).
is is not having happy feelings, or suavity of character,
etc. It is one thing to be safe in the ark on the Ararat of
God, and another thing for Christ to dwell in the heart by
faith. Oh what a quantity of care goes out when Christ is
there! If Christ is the master of the house, and dwelling in
it, He does not let the dust and cobwebs accumulate, but
He lls it altogether: and should a sudden start come to the
heart, there will be found not fear, but Christ.
Some people make love among believers into a
commandment. is is not the secret. If Christ is master
of heart and conscience, He will teach brotherly love, and
then will be comprehended “ with all saints what is the
breadth, and length, and depth, and height,” v. 18. See the
connection of understanding with being rooted, etc., here
and in Col. 2:2. I shall not understand, save as divine (not
human) aections are in exercise. Breadth, etc., of what?
Soon after Christianity was launched, philosophy came in
with progression. Paul knew no length, breadth, etc., save
what was in Christ; Satan knows many, but they are only
his depths and can be detected.
Next, we are set in the fullness of God. us we have
had rst the inward strengthening by the Spirit; next, this
is shown by Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith, rooted
and grounded in love, that they might comprehend with
all saints what is the length, and breadth, and depth, and
height; thirdly, by this they might be lled with all the
fullness of God; and fourthly, this is described as the power
that works “ in us.” is fullness of God calls for something
back. All that God gives Christ is yours: then I must praise
Him. Can I be silent? Why not lift your voice to Him who
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is able to do exceeding abundantly above all you ask or
think? We cannot expect too much.
Observe the distinct superscriptions of the prayers. e
rst is to God the Father of glory, the second is to the
Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. e glory of Christ as the
servant of God and the glory of the only begotten of the
Father are quite separate. It is very dierent for Christ to
say, “ My Father and your Father,” and “ My God and your
God.” When Christ took the servant’s place, God was the
Father of glory to Him.
Christ’s sympathy ows out according to need down
here. We have His sympathies. If we knew more of Christ’s
sympathies, the children of God might have more for one
another. If full of sorrow yourself, go and sympathize with
another, and your own will be gone.
Many a saint, if he knew what Christ’s sympathy was,
would wish to be left alone. Christ does not sympathize
with my eshly thoughts, but what He does is for the glory
of God. He may have to break my will, and bring it to His.
He will take up all the good, and He can make the face to
shine; but it is of no use for us to ask for sympathy, if not
set on the glory of God.
Our sympathy with Him is another thing: but He cares
for us; John 16.
Let me ask (as exhortation) whether you pray for the
acting of the Spirit as prayed for here. One of the reasons
why the light and knowledge given connected with God
and His Christ is so little entered into is connected with
lack of prayer for the operation of the Spirit in this way.
Christ is in heaven now. He was the center of the thoughts
of the little company who followed Him in Galilee. Why
should not you and I have Him practically as the center of
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our minds and hearts? All with them was simply done in
the light and at the word of their Master. Had they boats
to launch, nets to let down, all was at His word. is is
a challenge to our hearts as to every-day circumstances.
His presence in our hearts changes everything. It is very
hard to be discontented when He is in the heart. How the
thoughts of one’s mind change with the company one is
in! God has put us into a place where we may be sounding
the unsoundable depths of the motives that have acted on
Christ.
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Grace and Government:
Ephesians 4
As soon as our hearts have personally found Christ
connected with the glory of God, there are two things
which we are called to enter into and distinguish. e rst
is the place of grace in which we stand as the children of
God; in other words, the church’s or Christian’s position.
e second is the government of God. is last unfolds
itself in various ways. ere is the millennial time, when a “
Prince shall reign in righteousness “: and it shall be said of
the Lord, “ ou hast taken to thee thy great power.” en
shall “ the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord.” All
this blessing will be the eect of the government of God.
In another sense God is always governing in providence
now. “ e hairs of your head are all numbered.” But do
we not see a righteous person often put into the greatest
trouble? is is not the normal eect of God’s government.
In the millennial time there will be the proper natural
results of the Lord reigning. In another sense, for us now,
“ the Father judgeth every man’s work.” He has, no doubt,
committed all judgment to the Son; but yet He chastens
His children; Heb. 12. Christ says, “ If any man will serve
me, him will my Father honor.” “ He that loveth me shall
be loved of my Father,” etc. is refers to the consequences
of the child’s conduct. It is the Father’s government of His
children; it is the Father’s care watching over His children
for their good, and is not like the government of the world
in providence. God is dealing with the wicked now in grace.
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I have said this of the children’s position with the
Father, that we may more undistractedly look to the
Christian’s position. e position of the church shows the
fullness of God’s grace. If I am one with Christ, there is
no question of being accepted. If I am one with the Judge,
I cannot look forward to the judgment with the thought
of being condemned. Now it is certain that the church is
the body of Christ, “ the fullness of him that lleth all in
all.” “ We are members of his body,” etc. You must see the
amazing bearing and import of this truth-one with Christ,
to realize the privileges it brings us into. It carries us into a
place unlike any other, as to acceptance, righteousness, etc.
When once we have this divine teaching in our souls, all
is simple. It becomes a matter of faith, and this produces a
consciousness of relationship. If it is merely objective truth,
it is of no value to me. I must be in it to know it and use it:
and so with all these truths, you must be in them. You nd
the very prayers of a man betray where he is. A man cannot
say “ Father “ in his soul, if he has not the consciousness
of relationship. We cannot and ought not to have the
enjoyment and feelings and aections belonging to it, if
we have not it. e moment that through the teaching of
God I have got into it, all is mine; not merely knowledge,
but all peaceful and holy aections ow.
So with the church of God. We shall never enter into it,
if not on the ground of grace. I cannot suppose too much
and too great blessings when I see them owing from God
Himself. If from ourselves, what could you or I expect? I
should be ashamed to think of anything I can have if I
bring myself in; but if I bring Christ in, then I see nothing
too much for Him.
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In every possible way God had put man to the test; and
now all is done with, as to myself (not as to the Father’s
government), and God is dealing in the way of grace.
In Scripture we have the fullest, and most detailed
history of all that our hearts are, the history of Israel, etc. All
was the proving of sin, but now it is the putting away of sin.
Righteousness was not yet declared when God was proving
man. It was not accomplished. Where was righteousness to
be found before? Never, till Christ sat down on the throne
of God. Innocency there had been-grace there had been,
for He was spit upon, etc., but righteousness there was
not. It was prophesied of, promised, but not one righteous
could be found. All that the trial of man resulted in was,
that weighed in the balance, he was found wanting.
See Jacob’s sons, law given, and the calf made before
Moses came down from the mount. See priest, prophet,
king. All esh was grass. At last God’s Son came, and then
they said, “ Here is the heir, come let us kill him.” e end
of that was, “ now is the judgment of this world.” It is not
executed yet, of course, but the consequence of this is that
the righteous One has sat down above. It is all over with
the world. ey see Him no more, except when He comes
in the glory of His power. Christ the new Man is accepted,
according to His prayer “ glorify thou me “-” I have gloried
thee on the earth,” and He was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father. ere is our righteousness: all God’s
ways having found man a sinner, even to the putting Christ
to death, the righteousness of God is now declared-it is “
unto all, and upon all them that believe.”
Man has come short; man is set aside, root and branch,
irreclaimable: but there is another Man. us it is all grace
from beginning to end. He is the Source of the life and
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Accomplisher of the righteousness, and He has taken His
place on the throne of God, and that is the foundation
of the church of God. So that now it is not merely the
fact that a person who believes is saved, but he is one with
the Head in heaven. is is the immense privilege of our
position, and now is sent down that “ other Comforter “ to
dwell in us and to abide with us forever. We are one spirit
with the Lord. e Spirit unites us to Him, the Head, and
we are one with another also-one body.
Here we discover the leading truth of what the church
really is-” raised up together and made to sit together in
heavenly places in Christ.” In this epistle there is nothing
said of men living in sins, as in other places; but it speaks of
being “ dead in trespasses and sins “ before this movement
in the soul by God, who comes and nds the soul dead
in sins, but He quickens it together with Christ. It is the
whole power and working of the grace of God. We must
get at the source, the perfect grace of God, before we can
see where the church is set. We must be brought to that.
Flesh can have no part. “ ey that are in the esh cannot
please God.” “ We are not in the esh, but in the Spirit.”
We have conict with it indeed, but we are not in it; and
now “ henceforth know we no man after the esh,” etc. e
place of Christ at God’s right hand is our place. Workings
within to the humbling of the soul must go on till we
come to this; no good thing is in us” dead in trespasses
and sins.” en, as of Israel, it can be said, “ What hath
God wrought? “ Where and how am I to learn it? When
I was dead, without any movement, Christ comes down.
Not only is He come, but “ made sin for us that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him.” He has come
down; and now what are we to expect? According to what
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God is: let us not reason from what we are of ourselves. “
If God is for us, who can be against us? “ If God “ spared
not his own Son,” etc. We may reason from what He has
done to what He will do; and if I say, How can He save me
from my sins? May I not say He must, when He has done
that-given His Son, and raised Him from the dead? Set
down at God’s right hand is the key, as well as the ground,
of the church’s place. What has God done all this for? For
my sins. Christ was dead; He died for my sins; but why
does He go up again? He is righteous, and has taken His
place in heaven. e one righteous One was rejected on
earth, and the one righteous One is taken to heaven. God
was not ruling in righteousness on earth, and it would have
been no adequate testimony to Him, the only righteous
Man, for Him to have taken the righteous rule on earth
then; but He would give Him a place in heaven, far above
“ principalities and powers,” etc.
It is an accomplished righteousness, and therefore a
preached righteousness. Because He was accepted, He
could send down the Holy Ghost, which we received after
He went up. He had been sealed Himself as the righteous
One down here; but now the Holy Ghost comes down and
seals us, because we “ are made the righteousness of God
in him.”
Two things we have in consequence of this-the Spirit
of adoption in our hearts, and union with Christ. We are
not only blessed by Christ, but we are raised up together
with, and made to sit together in, Him in heavenly places.
All this is to show we have it with Christ. us we are more
than children of the Father, we are members of Christ. e
Spirit was sent down to unite all the members in one body
to the Head. If I am in the Spirit and not in the esh (and
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you are in the Spirit and not in the esh), how many Spirits
are there? One. It is one Spirit in you and in me. One Holy
Ghost has been sent down, uniting the members to the
Head in heaven. ere is not only life (that was given to
Christ), but the Holy Ghost is sent down to gather together
in one body. e other form of our relationship to Christ
is the bride, united thus with Him in all He is and has. Is
He righteous? so am I. Has He life? so have I. I cannot
think of having any life, any righteousness, any glory, but
what Christ has. What a place this gives us! We were dead,
but now are put into the same place with Christ. “ As he
is, so are we in this world.” is gives boldness in the day
of judgment. In the earthen vessel surely we are, but “ as he
is, so are we “-” bone of my bone.” ere is an allusion in
Eph. 5 to Gen. 2 -We have entire association with Christ;
not only as a man cherishes his own esh does Christ care
for us.
Eve was not lord in the garden of Eden, but Adam
was. She was not the inheritance. What was she then? A
helpmeet, dependent on him, taken out of him, enjoying
what her husband had as her portion. So is the church with
Christ. e title is in Him, but it is His delight to confer it
on her. He has more delight in her having it than Himself.
Not only then is the church safe-of course that-but who
will be the Judge? Christ. How does He judge? According
to the righteousness He has given me. I get before the
judgment-seat by being gloried. What does the apostle
say? “ Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord “-does
he speak of himself? No! “ We persuade men.” If I see the
terror of the Lord, I shall persuade others to take care and
not despise the gospel. e glory of that day is the means
of our present manifestation before God.
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How entirely dierent our thoughts when we see this as
our portion! ere, in Him, is in principle what the church
is-righteousness accepted, and not that we have accepted it,
but God has accepted it, and then the Holy Ghost has been
sent down. e bride is not yet complete. ere are souls
yet to be gathered in, while His long-suering continues.
When complete we shall be no longer here. ere is another
aspect of the church; “ Builded together for an habitation
of God through the Spirit.” is is the earthly character
(Eph. 2): and however man may have spoiled it all, it does
not alter the fact on God’s part. God has a dwelling in His
church. In paradise on earth God did not dwell. God was
in heaven and man upon earth. Adam could not say, “ How
amiable are thy tabernacles,” etc.; but directly God works
in grace, He brings man into His house.
Man is to dwell with God, God will dwell with man;
Ex. 15:17; chap. 29: 45. God has given us a “ promise of
entering into his rest.” God has a rest in grace. e fruit
of grace is that He is going to bring us into this. If I can
fathom God’s heart, I can fathom grace. ere is something
in the blessed God we can never measure. Jesus is the
measure. He has come down here, and He is gone into
that blessed dwelling-place of God; and therefore He says,
“ Let not your heart be troubled. I will come again and
receive you unto myself, that where I am,” etc. ere is a
man gone before into the place where He will have us with
Him. God cannot rest here, for He cannot rest where all
is not according to His mind and heart; but there all will
be according to Himself; (Ex. 29, and afterward Solomon’s
temple, but see Acts 7:48). God had a house till they sinned
it away; but now God would have a house-the church, the
habitation of God through the Spirit.
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Man having been placed in responsibility and in all
failed, God now brings in all the blessedness of what He
has done by His own power. Is He gloried in His saints?
He will be admired in all them that believe. Is the church
now what it was at rst, when “ great grace was upon
them all? “ If you get half-a-dozen people together really
in the Spirit, it is a triumph of grace-great occasion for
thankfulness. It may indeed be said, Where is the beautiful
ock? But God will have it. Down here, in its earthly
character there is failure, but in the body there is no failure;
it is not yet complete, for when the church is gathered, the
long-suering will be over. erefore we know it is not all
gathered; but the church at Jerusalem at the beginning was
as much the habitation of God as when complete. ere
was no Achan in the camp then. Now “ false brethren
have crept in unawares “ (Jude), and these are specially the
objects of the judgment of God. But all this does not alter
the character of the habitation of God.
Eph. 4 gives administration of grace, in the gifts
bestowed for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all
come to the unity of the faith, the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ. e apostles and prophets are the
foundation, and then all that is needed is given. We may
see weakness now, but there is nourishment in Christ the
Head, and that cannot fail.
In 1Cor. 12:13, is one body, not merely having life: but
“ we are all baptized into one body,” Jew and Gentile. en
he puts the whole train of gifts for the display of power.
e apostles and prophets are carefully shown in Eph. 2,
3 and 4, to be the foundation; evangelists, pastors, teachers
are to continue till the body is perfect. Whatever may be
withheld in a time of ruin, the Lord gives, not what would
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take His people out of it, but fully and perfectly what they
want in it.
Now, having seen the privileges of our position, we must
remember the obligation never ceases to be what Christ
has set us to be-to walk in holiness. e presence of the
Holy Ghost never ceases to be the Comforter who abideth
forever.
e power is never absent. How is it then there is such
weakness? “ Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,” etc. “ If
thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” If
my eye is not single, I cannot tell what to do or how to do
it. e power is according to the will and holiness of God.
e comfort is when God’s thoughts supplant ours.
ere is something strange in the want of condence in
divine love amongst saints-no consciousness of relationship.
In the midst of failure, which one must and ought to feel,
there is the Father’s love. Has not God said He would go
with the people, because they are a sti-necked people?
I am in a place of relationship with God, and this
nothing touches. e superstitions, etc., of men all around
cannot touch us, if one has a sense of God’s love. But what
of the forgiveness of sins, etc.? Why, I know I had it ever
so many years ago. e atonement? Why, this is the ground
of it. “ He that is born of God keepeth himself, and that
wicked one toucheth him not.”
Everyone now who has faith in Christ is a member of
the body of Christ. Love, then, naturally ows to all.
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oughts on Ephesians 4
THE rst part of this chapter gives ecclesiastical, the
second, individual godliness. In the previous chapter this
connects itself with it, that we have not the counsels of
God simply, but the realization and verication of these
counsels in Christ dwelling in the heart by faith.
First of all we see the thought in God before the
foundation of the world, but now it has been brought
out. God has brought these eternal counsels into actual
realization, and this leads, of course, to actual walk. God
has brought out now (as soon as ever Christ had laid the
foundation for it by the cross) “ one body and one Spirit.”
ough the vocation looks back at the counsels of God,
it is brought into actuality in this world. It is a sorrow to
the heart, and it ought to be a much deeper sorrow to us,
comparing these thoughts of God and their realization.
is is the revelation of God’s thought in full blessedness,
but we see how little in any sense saints have acted up to
the mind of God.
is epistle rst gives us the thought of God without
reference to how far it has been accomplished or not, the
mind of God as it is; though in chapter 3 we have the actual
realization of this in the power of the Spirit of God. en
comes the question of how far this is acted out. While
Paul was there in the world, a continual struggle was going
on; they were Judaizing-dragging down, but the standard
was never lowered. You will never nd that God lowers
the standard, whatever the failure. He never can lower
the standard; He may have and has long patience, but He
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cannot take a lower standard. ere are two standards of
judgment: one is what God set up at the rst; the other is,
are they prepared for Christ’s coming? ere must be the
going back to what He gave at the rst. Malachi takes the
Israelites back to Horeb: “ Remember ye the law of Moses
my servant which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all
Israel.” Surely He will accomplish His promises, but He
never lowers the standard. ere may be a degree of light
possessed or not possessed; He deals with this in grace:
where there is light, more is given; but the standard is not
lowered.
Paul unfolds the vocation, and then calls on us to walk
worthy of it, in the rst part of chapter 4. e necessary
eect of being brought so close to God as we are is lowliness
and meekness; how can it be otherwise? e greatness of
the grace makes nothing of self. is is not easy. In Christ’s
life you see it plainly enough, in Philippians also. en the
eect of lowliness and meekness is to manifest the unity of
the Spirit. “ With lowliness and meekness,” that is what we
ought to be: then the eect to others will be longsuering;
others may not be lowly and meek. Practically this brings
God in and self is gone. e power of love walking with
God brings in longsuering to others. “ Endeavoring to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” As
servants of Christ, and self being gone, we are looking at
others. “ Yea, and if I be oered [poured as a libation] upon
the sacrice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with
you all.”
e mere fact of their being Jews and Gentiles in the
church, and the constant tendency among the Jews to think
little of the Gentiles, made this needed, “ endeavoring to
keep the unity of the Spirit,” not the unity of the body-
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God keeps that. en it comes to be jealousy for Christ’s
glory. What comes from the Spirit is always one; why are
we not all agreed? Because our own minds work; if we had
only what we have learned from the Scripture, we should
be all the same. e body is one that cannot be kept by our
endeavors. All this is the practical realization of what is in
the purpose of God. If a man has the Spirit of Christ, he is
a member of Christ. Jesus was the Christ on earth, but He
was a Christ rejected: “ Messiah shall be cut o, and shall
have nothing.” en a much larger scheme and purpose of
God comes out. He that was the Messiah goes down to the
lower parts of the earth; the Creator goes below creation,
and now He is above all creatures. Having done that, He
delivers persons from Satan and makes them vessels of His
power for building up those that are delivered. When “
he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave
gifts unto men.” You do not nd miracles, tongues, signs
of power here, but that which, as immutable and faithful
Head, He gives for accomplishing His purpose.
If you take the state of things here, through the
unfaithfulness of those to whom service was committed,
“ the wolf catcheth the sheep and scattereth them,” but
he cannot touch the power of the Head. You may have
everything upset, but everything works together for good;
you never can touch that. But for this, if one was to think
of the saints, he would break his heart.
“ I stand in doubt of you.” “ I have condence in you
through the Lord.” You cannot touch the power and
faithfulness of the Head, nor condence in the Head,
though there is disorder all around.
“ For the perfecting of the saints “-that is the object.
e specic object of ministry is the perfecting of the
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saints. is never fails: and it is done in various ways. e
Corinthians had all sorts of gifts, but they failed in walk.
We nd various dierences among the saints. Individual
perfecting is the direct object of Christ-that each individual
should grow up to the standard of Christ. en comes the
increase of the body. e rst object is, that my heart or
your heart is to be up to the measure of Christ; consequent
on that comes the increase of the body. It is wonderful if
you take the sphere and scope there is here. Christ goes to
the lower parts of the earth, then above all heavens; from
thence comes ministry.
We now get what the truth is in Jesus. If we have learned
Him ourselves, we get this putting o the old man, and
putting on the new. is is stated as a fact in Colossians: “
Seeing that you have put o the old man with his deeds,
and have put on the new man.” e truth as it is in Jesus is
the having put o the old man, and having put on the new.
ere are two great elements of the Christian life: one
is this putting o the old man and putting on the new; the
other, that the Holy Ghost dwells in us. “ Be ye therefore
imitators of God as dear children.” Supposing this done,
God’s conduct is the rule and measure of mine. “ Be ye
perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.” We are in
the new creation, we have Christ. What is Christ? e
manifestation of God. e truth of my state and condition,
the truth in Christ is that I have put o the old man, and
put on the new. Christ is our life: it is a new creation-
created after God “ in righteousness and true holiness,”
not as innocent Adam. In Col. 3 it is expressed in another
way, “ the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after
the image of him that created him “-that was not Adam’s
case at all. God is known. I have got now the divine nature
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fully revealed in Christ, in a Man. We are created now after
God; we have the knowledge of what God is, not of what
man ought to be.
If as a poor sinner, I am brought to God, I know His
love the very rst instant; I know the righteousness and
love of God. ere is growth, of course. I have Christ
instead of Adam. I have put o the old man as nothing
worth, and put on the new. We have to contend with the
old as an enemy. I own nothing but Christ for my life. e
knowledge of good and evil has come in, and I cannot take
any standard of it (now Christ has revealed Him) but God
Himself.
God has made Himself known as Almighty, as Jehovah,
and as Father. As Almighty, He said, “ Walk before me and
be thou perfect “; as Jehovah, “ ou shalt be perfect with
Jehovah thy God “; as Father, “ Be ye perfect, even as your
Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
e second great principle is, “ Grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
e precious blood of Christ having been sprinkled upon
us, the Holy Ghost dwells in us: this is of immense value to
us. e new nature cannot reveal anything, the new nature
has no power. What we see in Christ (there was power
in Him, of course) is dependence and obedience; these
are the great leading traits of the new man. e Spirit of
God reveals the things of Christ, encourages me, shows me
His faithfulness and His love, and is power in me. God is
dwelling in me in power, giving me liberty, power, sonship,
but at the same time the sense of God’s presence. “ Know
ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? “
If He is grieved, the eect is that power is gone, and the
conscience is bad; the Spirit then becomes a rebuker. If
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the queen were in the house, every right-minded man and
everything would bow to her.
How our hearts cultivate things that are not of Christ!
Whatever is not t for His presence is not t for my heart.
How often things are allowed in the heart which make the
heart unwilling (not at the bottom, of course) to let Christ
back! It is to me a most striking expression of what the
Christian is that he has put o the old man, and put on the
new, and that, having the Holy Ghost dwelling in him, he
is not to grieve the Holy Spirit. “ Be ye imitators of God as
dear children.” Grace has put us in the place distinctly; and
this is the way we are to walk. He takes the two essential
names of God (He has many attributes), love and light;
both are that in which we have to say to God. However
could I imitate God? you may say. But what do you think
of Christ?
Is He not God? and God just where we want Him? “
Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and
Christ shall give thee light.” Do you look at Christ and
see what that light is? Christ is the pattern and model.
If you wake up from the sleeping state of soul (sleep is
for the time as bad as death), Christ will give you light. “
Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given
himself for us, an oering and a sacrice to God, for a
sweet-smelling savor.” Christ gave Himself up entirely:
the law never asked that; the law only said, “ love your
neighbor as yourself.” In a world of sin and sorrow there
is another principle, the giving up of self for others; and I
get another principle of Christ’s love, it was “ to God.” If as
a creature I love an unworthy object, my love is unworthy.
Divine love does not want a worthy object. “For us,” and
“to God!”-if we reached that, we should get the right thing
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for Christians, the giving up of self and for a worthy object.
What a picture of the Christian-the old man gone, the new
man put on, the Holy Ghost in us, and Christ the pattern!
Surely it is a blessed privilege and a truth. Christ’s love
went on as a divine source when everybody was against
Him. Oh! what a calling, beloved brethren. If we are only
babes in Christ, we may be consistent with what we have
got. Where a person does walk in that way with God, the
soul is satised as with marrow and fatness in a dry and
thirsty land.
If we let Christ practically out of our hearts, it costs a
deal to bring Him back again.
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e Christian Walk:
Ephesians 4-5
WE nd in Eph. 4 and 5, a very seasonable unfolding
of the principles of the Christian walk, of the height of
the principles which ought to govern it, and of its moral
elevation, to which I desire to draw the attention of your
readers. In chapter 4 the apostle, after having developed
Christian doctrine as to our relations with the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (relations founded on
these two names, and afterward the relations of the church
with Christ), begins his exhortations to Christians with
respect to their walk. ey ought not to walk as the rest
of the nations in the corruption which was bound up with
the state of darkness in which they were found; they had
not so learned the Christ, if they really knew what the
truth is in Jesus, namely, to have put o the old man and
put on the new man, which is created according to God in
righteousness and holiness of truth.
For there is the truth such as it is in Jesus; not that we
should strip o, but, inasmuch as we are risen with Him,
that we have put o the old man and put on the new man.
ere then is the rst principle of the Christian walk: we
have put on the new man; and here is its character, created
according to God; not only the absence of sin, which was
realized in the rst Adam, but according to God fully
revealed to one who has already the knowledge of good
and evil, and created according to the thoughts of God
Himself as to good and evil, according to the estimate
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which God by His very nature has of good and evil. What
an immense privilege! e new man, born of God, is, in
his nature, the reection, and the intelligent reection, of
the nature of God Himself. Wherefore the apostle John
says he cannot sin because he is born of God. Also we nd
in the Epistle to the Colossians, which is parallel to this, “
renewed into knowledge
5
according to the image of Him
who has created him.” Such is the rst principle of the
Christian walk, a nature which comes from God, created as
an expression and reection of what He is in righteousness
and holiness of truth. Here it is a life, a nature, that which
we are.
e second principle is the presence of the Holy Spirit.
“ Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God by whom you have
been sealed for the day of redemption.” It is God Himself
who dwells in us by His Spirit. Nothing unworthy of
such a guest, unworthy of God Himself, ought to go
on in us. Also, our walk should be characterized by that
which characterizes God Himself, for His love is active
in us. Consequently we nd here love also, and not only
righteousness and holiness. We forgive one another, even
as God in Christ has forgiven us. Christ being ascended on
high, and thus the righteousness of God being established,
ourselves perfectly puried by the blood of Jesus, the Holy
Spirit is come down, and the bodies of the believers are
become the temple of God. It is the seal of God put upon
their persons, the earnest of their entire redemption and of
their part in the inheritance of glory.
e walk of the Christian ought then to be the
manifestation of the divine nature, and of the ways of God
5 e Greek word translated “ knowledge “ means full knowledge,
personal knowledge, so as to recognize anyone.
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219
in grace towards us. Such is the instruction which chapter
4 gives us; but chapter 5 furnishes still more light. Who is
it that has been the expression of this nature in man down
here below? Evidently it is the Savior, the image of the
invisible God. us, God Himself becomes the expression
of this divine life in man, the model of our conduct. Let us
examine our chapter 5 in this point of view, that we may
draw from it the instruction it contains.
“ Be ye therefore imitators of God.” Have I not been
right in speaking of the moral elevation of the Christian
walk? Be imitators of God! Partakers of His nature and of
the indwelling of His Spirit, we are called to imitate Him
in the principles of His conduct. But then, as we have said,
Christ is the perfect example of it; as the Holy Spirit goes
on to say, “ And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave
himself up for us, an oering and a sacrice to God for a
sweet-smelling savor.” is adds a very precious element to
the principles of the Christian walk. Here love has not the
character of the divine love which pardons, being above
evil, when a wrong is done to us, as God pardons (in virtue
of Christ) sin against Him. Here it is devotedness, an
oering made of oneself to God. It is no more a law which
would have one love his neighbor as himself, which would
be blessedness without any remains of evil in the world. It
is not loving God with all the heart, which supposes that
evil is not there. It is a devotedness, which supposes evil, a
necessity which is the occasion for the exercise of love. One
is given up for others, one is devoted. But for love in man,
there must be a motive, an object. For this love to be perfect,
the object, the motive of the love, must be perfect. If one is
given up to a man, there may be a noble devotedness in it,
but the motive is imperfect: love does not and cannot rise
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above its object. Just so, that there should be devotedness,
there must be needy objects. ese two elements are found
in Christ. He gave Himself for us, for needy beings, objects
of compassion on His part; but He gave Himself to God,
innite and perfect object, which could not have been, had
He only given Himself to us and for us.
It is thus we ought to walk, ready to sacrice ourselves
for our brethren, always in self-abnegation to serve them,
whilst oering ourselves to God Himself, to Christ whose
we are. us the measure of our conduct is that of God
Himself, Christ being our example in His life here below,
in order that we should add love, the bond of perfect action,
to brotherly kindness. It is not said that we are love, which
is God’s prerogative. He is love, and He loves, as to us,
without any other motive than what He is • which could
not be the case with a creature. We imitate Him in the
matter of the wrongs that have been done to us. But the
love which acts from itself towards others is of God alone.
Again, light is a quality in itself, a purity which also
manifests everything. It is the second name that God gives
Himself to express what He is. God is light. So Christ,
when He was in this world, was the light of the world.
We were in’ darkness, we are light in the Lord. us in the
Epistle to the Philippians we nd, respecting Christians,
that which might be said in every point of Christ Himself,
“ blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke,
in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom
ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of
life.” In this pure nature we share, inasmuch as we have
Christ for our life-purity in motives, in thoughts according
to the divine nature; that which, manifested in this world,
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221
manifested the true character of all that is around us. We
are light in the Lord.
us the two names, the only ones God gives Himself
to express what He is, love and light, become the expression
of what the Christian ought to be in his walk. He is even
light in the Lord.
ere exists another sort of motive and of rule, the
relationships in which we are found, as father and children,
husband and wife, master and slaves. We are in these
relationships also with God and with His Christ. But it is
another ground on which I do not enter at present. at of
which I speak is the Christian character, as having divine
life in Christ and the Holy Spirit: so that one has to imitate
the conduct of God, and to take Christ for model on the
earth.
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Growing up in Christ:
Ephesians 4:1-16
ONE cannot help seeing in such a passage as this
the profound interest the Lord takes in blessing. ere
is profound love in it, as well as that it is a fact that He
delights in blessing. His purpose is to bring us into the
enjoyment of His own blessedness. His thoughts are
blessings; and there is none anywhere else but in Him. If
I speak of blessing, it must be what is in the heart of God.
A father’s thoughts of giving to his children are measured
by his love for them. When we see what is in God’s heart
for us, and that all His thoughts have the form and power
of blessing, what must they be for us! He is bringing us to
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ-this is
to be the result; but it is the principle and spring of blessing
that was in my mind to speak upon. He is conforming us
as to His own thoughts in blessing at the end. e objects
of this love, we, abject sinners taken up by Him, show the
greatness of His love.
Christ is the great Workman of it all. It is by Christ
that He does it. When God sets about to bless, it is by the
Son of His love. It is an immense foundation for us to rest
upon- not only strong, but wide and large and deep. “ He
that descended is the same also that ascended up far above
all heavens, that he might ll all things.” “ He descended
rst into the lower parts of the earth.” What, then, is to
escape the power of Him, who has been borne up to the
throne of God, after going down to the very lowest place of
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death under sin? He has been in the lowest place of misery
and death, and is taken up to the highest place in glory-the
throne of God-and all between is lled up by Christ. is
nothing can escape. He went down to the place of death
and sin, “ made sin for us,” and went up to the throne of
God! ere is strength for me a poor sinner, something
to rest on. Yet it is not distant from us, but we have the
consciousness of its being in and around us. It is said in
Revelation of the “ city,” “the glory of God did lighten it,
and the Lamb is the light thereof.”
e Lamb is nearer to my heart than any. He has known
me better than any, better than I know myself; and this
Christ who dwells in our hearts by faith is the One we shall
meet there. I shall nd One in heaven nearer and dearer
to my heart, than any one I know on earth. Nothing is so
near to us as the Christ that is in us, and nothing is so near
to God as Christ. Yet the world is in a man’s heart. All
that is agreeable and outwardly good in this world nds
its echo in a man’s heart, and all the evil that has come in
nds its place there too. Christ was here amidst it all. He
met it all without having the evil in Him, yet He knows
it all. Everything we feel, all that passes through the heart
of man, Christ has gone through, not by grasping at the
thing, but by resisting the evil. With all the sensibilities of
the heart to good or evil (and this makes the heart of man
such a wonderful thing) Christ can meet all. e center
key to all this is Christ: He has power to put away the evil.
If there was one thing where my heart could not rest on
Christ, it would be dreadful. All have the knowledge of
good and evil, even the unconverted man. Without Christ
he sets about racking his heart to nd any good thing that
is under the sun. All the best aections of a man are the
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‘occasion of his greatest distress, because sin has come in:
the heart gets pulled and torn every way, but it must go
through it. See a wife losing her husband, a mother her
children. e instant I see Christ in all this trial, I nd the
perfect good God delights in. Divine sympathy is found in
God Himself. I may have trial and conict, I must have it
in passing through the wilderness; but I become weaned
from the thing that was a snare to me by looking to Christ
in it. Present condence in Christ is needed in trial (losing
a near relative, etc.) but the practical eect is that every
trial a man goes through gives him (if the heart is thus
trusting) to know more and more of what Christ is to meet
the need, and more of Christ as possessing Him.
“ I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto
myself “; and there we nd all the unfoldings of what God
is in Christ. I cannot do without Christ. I want manna
in the wilderness: God gives it to me; and not only do I
get all this, water, manna, etc., but I have Christ Himself
in it all. No matter what it is that exercises my heart in
the knowledge of good and evil, and the need of the heart
in consequence, it makes Christ more known and more
enjoyed. Our natural portion as Christians is to enjoy
God. Where has God planted us? In the enjoyment of an
accomplished redemption; and the result is that love has
not only been manifested towards us, but poured out in us.
e love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost which He has given unto us. We dwell in God-for
His love is innite, but I am in it; I dwell in it, and He
dwells in me: I, a poor thing, a nothing, dwell in Him. I
must learn it, as a sinner, in Christ. A proud sinner will
try to prescribe to God this and that, etc., but God will
have His way; and blessed it is that it should be so. We
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225
are “ builded together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit “-this is the “ vocation.” What a thought! What
a bringing down, not of heaven, but something more, by
special blessing bringing Him down to dwell in us. God
would not dwell in angels; there is not the same want in
them, but He will make Himself better known to angels,
through His kindness towards us by Christ Jesus. ere is
a great deal more for us than the bringing down heaven.
“ Whosoever shall confess Jesus the Son of God, God
dwelleth in him and he in God.”
What is the rst practical eect of this calling to be
“ the habitation of God through the Spirit? “ “ With all
lowliness and meekness,” etc. (chap. 4: 2). A vessel of God!
All the passions of the esh there, but having the presence
of God makes us unspeakably happy; that is our portion!
“ In all lowliness,” etc. A man who is humble needs not
to be humbled. ere is no safety but in being low. en
what is the consequence if self is not working, and there
is lowliness? Why love works. I cannot be happy with
you all, if self is working; but if self is not working, love
is, and I am full of love towards you all. What a spring of
blessedness in communion there is; so far as self is down,
broken to pieces, there is an outgoing of perfect love to the
brethren. “ Love is of God.” His nature is at work when
we love one another. e spring of the fellowship we nd
just now is God being here. God is our joy, and love (God’s
own nature) working, and God our common object. ere
are trials and diculties for us all; but there is blessed joy
in knowing one another thus, and seeing Christ in one
another. “ Receive ye one another to the glory of God.”
If we meet a Christian, though he may be a stranger, we
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can be more intimate with him than with one’s own family
who are not. Why? Because God is there.
Another thing observe, there is the consciousness of
what this unity is. “ ere is one body, and one Spirit, one
Lord, one faith,” etc. We are brought together, not only
through being united, but by what we possess together, one
Lord, one faith, etc., rich or poor. Another has his particular
trials, and I mine; but both have God.
“ One God and Father of all, who is above all, and
through all, and in you all.” God is above the world; you
cannot tell me of one thing God is not above, and therefore
there is not one thing that can separate me from His love.
He is “through all.” You cannot nd yourself in trouble and
God not there; you cannot nd yourself in any diculty,
perplexity, and not nd God through it all. And He is “
in you all.” He has come to be the spring of all happiness
in us. If I know what water is, it is by drinking; if I know
what sweetness is, it is by tasting it; if I know God, it is by
His being in me. We can look upon one another and see
God in us all. en these light aictions, what are they?
God is come to take possession of us, and He is the spring
in our hearts also. He comes to make us love, because He
loves. We shall nd it is fully so in heaven. If anything is
a safeguard against evil, it is that such an one dwells in
us; but it is more-it is the spring in the new nature, God’s
nature.
e perfecting of the saints is before God, and should be
before us. Christ is the object of His thoughts. I must have
these loved ones like Christ; therefore what God does is to
make them grow up unto Christ. In the unity of the body,
and in all the communion, and through all the exercise of
heart, we have the end of all. In ministering to you or you
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to me, it is to grow up into Christ, that there may be more
of Christ in us. All the ow of Christian aection, all the
enjoyment we have here, is for this end. I can look at my
brother and know he is going to be in heaven with me.
e enjoyment of all this shuts out the world: you are not
thinking of your cares and troubles now. Fellowship with
the brethren is perfect deliverance from all that is of the
esh; esh cannot enter into it, all that is of the world is
gone. I am dead to it. Every bit of fellowship I have with
a brother is a proof that outside things are gone and done
with. e more we are individually full of divine things,
the more this communion with each other is realized. Two
together, if both are spiritual, open the sluices that all the
wells in the world cannot dry up. e power of the Holy
Ghost, that makes me overcome now, will make me enjoy
heaven, where there is nothing else: “ they that dwell in
thine house will be still praising thee.” e power of evil,
of the world, of Satan, is all gone. Our common joy now is
in Christ, in the communion of His love; and when we are
with Him, it will be completely without alloy.
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62990
Christ Loved the Church:
Ephesians 5:22-30
Remark, beloved brethren, how the grace of God has
associated us with Himself and with Christ, though, of
course, remaining Himself meanwhile in the supremacy of
innite Godhead, in which none can be associated with
Him; but He has made us partakers of the divine nature,
and given us His Spirit to dwell in us, so that we realize
what He is, and become one with Christ through being
united to Him.
We nd, in the early part of Eph. 5, that we are called to
be “ imitators of God, as dear children, and to walk in love.”
Love is His nature; and we see this exemplied in a man, if
we take Christ as the pattern of it. “ Walk in love, as Christ
also hath loved us.”
Besides this we get another word brought before us,
which also expresses God’s nature: that is light; and it is
said: “ Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in
the Lord: walk as children of light.” And, here too, Christ
is given as the perfect expression of what is put before us.
“ Awake, thou that sleepest, and rise from the dead, and
Christ shall give thee light.” As a man in the world, He was
the expression and pattern of light.
But after this he adds, “ Be lled with the Spirit “; for,
though we are made partakers of this divine nature, which
is light, and we are called to love after the pattern of God
in Christ, yet after all we are but poor human creatures,
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powerless in ourselves; and the Spirit is the only power we
have for everything.
In God’s mind it is everything for us to have fellowship
with Himself. He has put us before Himself in love; He has
made us His sons and daughters-the objects of His delight;
and He should be the object of our delight. So much for
the rst relationship that we nd here. It is with the Father
as sons, and in this Christ is the Firstborn among many
brethren.
e second is union with Christ now gloried: “ We are
members of his body, of his esh, and of his bones.” We
are livingly united to Him, as members to a head. I cannot
get closer to him than being a member of His body, and in
the same glory with Himself. is relationship gives us the
indissoluble union of Christ and the church. “ Husbands
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and
gave himself for it … and let the wife see that she reverence
her husband.” ough quite true as regards husband and
wife, it is a gure of Christ and the church.
But, though we are united to Him, He is ever pre-
eminent, and what even gives its value to this relationship
is the necessary pre-eminence in it, as in everything, of
Christ. When Moses and Elias were on the mount with the
Lord, they were in the same glory as He was, and talking
with Him of what was nearest His heart, and nearest His
Father’s heart too; they were in familiar intercourse with
Him. But, even then, the moment Peter talks about making
three tabernacles, one for each, thus putting them on an
equality, the Father’s voice comes in and owns His Son,
and Moses and Elias at once disappear. I only use this to
illustrate what I mean; and so it must always be. ere must
always be the eternal blessedness and pre-eminence of His
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Person, and the nearer we get to Him the more conscious
we shall be of this. If I know a man indeed intimately, I
shall surely get to know his foibles. In Christ, the more
I know Him, the more I shall only get to know deeper,
and divine, excellence. ere is no fear of near acquaintance
diminishing respect towards Him: the more I feel His love,
the more I shall feel that He is supreme in it. Intimacy with
His love only shows out its excellence, and produces more
adoration and love in me.
God is supreme in love. It is not said in chapter 5 that
we are to be love; we cannot be free and supreme in it; we
are said to be light, because the new man partakes in the
purity of His nature. And in the love of Christ we nd the
working of this supreme goodness, and in a man, so that
following Him we can walk in it, though we cannot say we
are love, as we say we are light.
But, in the case of the church, at the close of chapter
5, we have a love of special relationship, not simply the
goodness and sovereign love of God; yet the spring and
source of all is in the unsought love of Christ, in which
He acts in the thought of His own grace, when there was
nothing to draw it out. He has to purchase what He loves,
and form it for Himself. He “ gave himself for it “: and
when He gets it, He cleanses it for Himself.
But there is yet another point of view. He presents it “ to
himself.” When God had made Eve, He presented her to
Adam; but here we get the glory of Christ’s Person. Being
a divine Person He presents the church to Himself, having
formed it and perfected it, so as to be suited to. Himself He
does all for the church. Let us now see a little of the way in
which He does it.
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231
e rst thing of all is His own unmotived love. “ He
loved the church,” perfectly, divinely, innitely; we here
nd the utterness of His love. “ He gave himself.” He did
not only do something for it: “ He gave himself! “ And this
is constantly repeated in the word; it is even said that “ He
gave himself for our sins,” our sins being that which was
in the way between us and God. As I look at Christ’s love,
I see that it had no motive but in itself, and it gives itself:
nothing is held back. He is wholly and altogether mine;
He has given Himself, and all is lumped up in that. e
self-sacrice of Christ was absolute: it was Himself, all He
is, and all He was in His perfection. e whole motive of
His nature was engaged in it: “ He gave himself.” And this
is a wonderful thought, if our hearts could only get hold
of it. It is not that He gave His blood, and gave His life,
though that is true, and we may speak of it distinctively,
for Scripture does; but the point here is the character of
His love; so it says, “ He gave himself.” e motive was
self-giving.
Mark here how, as regards the process of tting the
church for Christ, loving it and giving Himself for it goes
rst. It does not say, He cleansed and washed it so that He
might have it, and then loved it because it was cleansed and
t to be loved. No. He gives Himself for it, and possesses
it with a perfect title; Himself given for it, in the absolute
completeness of His whole heart, according to which He
has taken it to Himself. He gives Himself for it because He
loved it; and now, He says, it must be cleansed and made t
for me. Not, it must be happy-happy it is, no doubt-but not
only so; it must be made t for Himself. I cannot be satised
if a person I love is not what I like him to be-my children
or wife, for example. It is not a feeling of discontent -I do
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not mean that-but a want of full satisfaction. So Christ sets
about making the church what He would like it to be. He
cleanses it by “ the washing of water by the word.” As He
said before: “ Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is
truth.”
As the word comes from God, it judges all that is
contrary to God, by the revelation of what is in God, so
that it may make me like what it reveals. “ For their sakes,”
He says, “ I sanctify myself.” As Man, He set Himself apart
as the perfect expression of what is divine in a man, or man
according to God. So it is not that I am what I ought to be,
but that I am connected with Christ, who is the expression
of what I ought to be, and forms me into His likeness. “
We all, with open face beholding the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even
as by the Spirit of the Lord.” at is the way it cleanses:
it puries our motives, thoughts, and apprehensions, thus
changing us into the same image from glory to glory. But
He is the doer; He redeems us, cleanses us, sancties us,
and presents us.
ere is also a thought here which is full of the deepest
interest; and that is, that we cannot separate the cleansing
from the glory. e cleansing is according to the glory,
and, when the body is changed, the state of holiness is
according to the glory revealed; see 1ess. 3:13, where we
should have said “ unblameable in holiness “ in our walk;
but we read, in the presence “ of God, even our Father, at
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We cannot really get
on without looking at Christ in glory. It is said that “ He
might present it to himself a glorious church, not having
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing: but that it should be
holy and without blemish.” at is the cleansing. Practical
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233
cleansing is by the power of the revelation of the glory of
Christ. But let us always remember that this cleansing is
not in order that we may belong to Him, but that it is “
Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he
might cleanse it.”
Another thing that we nd as regards the church, and
this ought to comfort us in these dark days, and in the
darker ones which we see coming. He goes on to say: “
No man ever yet hated his own esh; but nourisheth and
cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church.” It is not only
that He ts it for Himself-makes it according to His own
mind; but the same love that ts it, watches over it in the
circumstances of weakness in which it is found, as it passes
through the world. Why, he says, a man’s esh is himself;
Christ takes care of Himself in taking care of the church.
As he said to Saul: “ Why persecutest thou me? “ You are
touching Me in persecuting them. Christ does not separate
the saints down here from Himself. He is interested in
them, cares for them, nourishes and cherishes them as a
man does the esh of his own body. And in this He can
never fail. e darkness may be great, and the power of evil
strong, and growing stronger (not that God is not working,
for He is; and when the enemy comes in like a ood, the
Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him, and
is doing so, and preparing the coming of the Lord), but no
more than a man can hate himself, can Christ fail in doing
this-nourishing and cherishing the church.
e Lord has long patience with all this growing evil
(we may pray that things may go quicker, that He would
bring the end on more rapidly, calling in His own; but, if so,
it will bring evil out more rapidly too, and the judgments
that are coming on the earth, but yet we may desire it); but
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all through the faith of the saint can reckon on the care and
love of Christ. You cannot put me in any circumstances
where the love of Christ cannot suit me.
Nor even does the working of unbelief hinder. For,
when those who are believers cannot use the power that has
been brought in against evil, what is to be done? We read,
that when they brought one possessed of a demon to the
disciples, and they could not cast him out, the Lord says: “
How long shall I be with you? how long shall I suer you?
“ If you cannot use the power I have brought in, what is the
use of staying with you? But He adds, “ Bring him hither
to me.” Even if the faith of the church fail, and one were
alone in the trial, individual faith will always nd grace in
the Lord Jesus Christ for its want. Just as the father of the
child cried out with tears: “ Lord, I believe; help thou mine
unbelief.” Christ cannot fail; and we on our side must not
be like Elijah, saying, “ Lord, they have thrown down thine
altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I
only, am left; and they seek my life to take it away “ (and
mark at the moment he had thrown down their altars and
slain their prophets), and then run away. What we want to
say is: Well, Christ never fails, and there cannot be a want
in Christ’s church without there being an answer to it in
Christ’s heart.
All we want, beloved friends, is to have the eye xed
on Christ, from whom all grace and love ow, and to be
sanctied in heart and spirit thereby, while waiting for
Him, who has given Himself for us, so that we might be
like Him even now, while walking through this world.
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62991
Conict in Heavenly Places:
Ephesians 6:10-18
THE very blessings of the church (as in Eph. 1:3) set
us into a sort of conict, which, without such blessings, we
should not have. So the church is subject to more failure
than either Jews or Gentiles were, because they were not
called to the same blessing. A Jew might do many things
that would be monstrous in a Christian, and yet nd no
delement in his conscience. e veil that was over the
knowledge of God being rent, the light shines out; and
the consequence is that this light which has come out of
the holy place cannot tolerate evil. Christians are in a more
dangerous position, if not walking in the light, than Jews.
Satan may draw and entice me with many things, which
would have no power against me if I were not so favored.
“ Be strong in the Lord “; here is the place of strength.
ere is no strength but in Christ-I have none at any time,
except as my soul is in secret communion with Him, and
through Him with God the Father. e direct power of
Satan is toward this point, to keep our souls from living
on Christ. Put on the whole armor of God; there is no
standing against Satan without this. Strength is always the
eect of having to do with God in the spirit of dependence.
We see in 1Sam. 14 the contrast between Saul and
Jonathan; between condence in God overcoming all
obstacles, and self failing with all the resources of royalty.
Jonathan clambered up on his hands and feet, condent in
God, and the enemies were overcome. Saul, when he saw
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the work going on, not knowing the Lord’s mind, calls for
the priest. He had a right intention, but not a simplicity
of dependence on God, when inquiring what he should
do, and spoils all by his foolish oath. It is said of Jonathan
that “ he wrought with God.” God was with him, and he
had strength and liberty, not a humiliation we have often
felt, because he wrought with God. When we are walking
in dependence on God, there will always be liberty before
God. Jonathan knew what he should do, and took some
honey, because he went on in liberty, for God was with
him, whilst Saul in legality had put himself and the people
into bondage.
e word then, after grace in Christ has been fully
shown throughout the epistle, is, “ Be strong in the Lord,”
v. 10. We have the privilege here of individual dependence
on God. Everything may be dark, but the Lord tells us
to be strong. is is always accompanied with lowliness of
heart; come what will, when the Lord is rested on, we are
strong.
We are called to put on the panoply of God, to take
it to us (v. 1-13). And no wonder: the conict is not with
men but with evil spirits (v. 12). Who but an unbeliever
can overlook or despise them? ey are principalities and
authorities; they are the universal lords of this darkness;
they are spiritual wickednesses in the heavenly places. Truly
to withstand such we need the whole armor of God; which,
remember, is not a question of standing but of practical
power, and this is in entire dependence.
If we pray, be it observed, without searching the word, or
read the word without prayer, we may get no guidance, for
Jesus said, “ If my words abide in you, ask what ye will,” etc.;
without this I may be asking some foolish thing that would
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237
not be given. We are to stand against the wiles of the devil,
not his power. It is not knowing Satan that enables us to
discover his wiles, but the keeping in God’s presence. It was
always so with Christ, because He was always dependent
on God. Stand, having your loins girt about with truth.
Truth is never really ours but as the aections are ordered
by it. If the soul of the hearer be not in communion with
God in the truth he hears, his loins are not girt with it. e
breastplate of righteousness supposes not merely this, but
that we have nothing on the conscience (v. 14). Christ’s
blood made it good; and walking in the Spirit keeps it so.
Verse 15. e gospel of peace is ours in Christ; but I
must have the spirit of peace in my heart, and be sanctied
by the God of peace, the soul in communion with God,
with Him in the spirit of peace; and without this how can
the saint walk as always having peace? He is thus prepared
to walk by the gospel.
Verse 16. Whether I look at the sin that made grace
necessary, or at the power which caused me to enjoy it, I
may walk in perfect peace against every source of sorrow.
Every ery dart is quenched by condence in God-the
shield of faith. It is as essential for the conict as for saving
the soul. We need to cherish condence in the grace of
God all through.
Verse 17. I hold up my head because I know I am safe;
salvation is mine. I must rst get that which is internal:
that which is wrought in me is power. Before I use the
sword of the Spirit, I must rst have the loins girded about
with truth, the heart covered with righteousness, the feet
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and then
(the shield of faith being up and the helmet of salvation
on) I can take the sword of the Spirit. Nothing is more
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dangerous than to use the word if it has not touched my
conscience. I put myself in Satan’s hands if I go beyond
what I have from God, or what is in possession of my soul.
To talk with saints on the things of God, beyond what I
hold in communion, is most pernicious; to ght without it
is fatal.
Verse 18. e word always must deal with ourselves
before others, but prayer is the expression and exercise of
dependence. If a person asks me a question, and I answer
without speaking to God about it-going direct, it will be
more likely to lead him from God than to God. When a
question or diculty comes, do we turn to God? We may
have turned to God before, and the thing is answered, and
we ought to have such power of prayer, that there would be
no diculty when any circumstance arises. If supplication
be thus continual, there would be no occasion to ask Him
about particular things when they come before us.
“ Supplication in the Spirit.” All acceptable prayer is not,
I think, prayer in the Spirit. A wish or desire expressed to
God, in all the condence of a child to his father is heard,
but this is not necessarily “ prayer in the Spirit.” It is the
power of the Spirit in us looking for blessing as walking in
the Spirit of God-that is such prayer; not even a diculty
here when living really in the power of communion. We
have that energy of supplication which looks for answers-
for all answers, and for myself too-watching thereunto
with all perseverance. Suppose you begin the day with a
sweet spirit of prayer and condence in God: in the course
of the day, in this wretched world you nd a thousand
cares and agitations; but if you are spiritually exercised,
alive to see the things of God, everything will be a matter
of prayer and intercession, according to the mind of God.
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239
us humbleness and dependence should mark all a saint’s
actions.
Instead of being full of regret at what we may meet with,
if we are walking with Christ we shall see His interests
in a brother-in the church. What a blessed thing to carry
everything to God! e word in verse 18 refers to a man
walking in the whole armor.
e apostle took the love of the saints for granted. We
also, if walking in the Spirit, can always count on others
being interested in our aairs.
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62993
e Book of Experience:
Philippians 1
IN the Epistle to the Ephesians, and even in that
to the Colossians, we see our place with Christ; but in
Philippians the believer is seen passing through the world-
as a Christian walking in it. ere is no doctrine in the
epistle; the believer is seen pressing toward the mark. And
another thing: he looks at this course as run in the power of
the Spirit of God: this is what characterizes the Christian,
that he is entirely running the race in that power. So there
is no sin in this epistle-not the word sin even-and no
conict, in the proper sense of the word. Not that he has
attained, but he is never doing anything but one thing-
running in the power of the Spirit of God towards the
goal. He had not attained, but he was doing nothing but
running to attain. He was raised above all in himself, and
in the world-entirely above all circumstances.
It is the epistle of experience, but according to the power
of the Spirit of God. We learn this lesson, that though we
fail, yet there is the possibility of running on in the power of
the Spirit of God. Not that esh is changed, or the thought
of having attained admissible (there is no perfection down
here); but the possibility of always acting consistently with
the calling to get to Christ in glory. ere is no looking
for points of progress in the world; it sets him above every
kind of circumstance, or contradiction, or diculty, for he
sees the path of the Christian entirely above them all.
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241
To have a path shows that man had got out of God’s
place where He had set him. e moment we have a way it
shows that we are not at home. It is blessed to have a way in
the wilderness (of course, Christ is the way). Adam wanted
no way; he would have stayed in the garden in quietness if
he had obeyed God. But we have set out from Egypt, and
we are not in Canaan; we go towards the goal. Numbers of
things come out on the way, but all we have got to do is to
run. We get a great deal more of Christ at every step; like
a lamp at the end of a passage, we get more and more of it
as we go on; we have not got the lamp yet, though we get
more of the light of it every step we take. But there is entire
deliverance from self as governing us, and a motive above
circumstances, so that, though not insensible to them, they
exert no inuence over us.
“ I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine for you all, making request
with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel, from the rst
day until now.” e Philippians had taken a zealous part
in the gospel, and had shown a loving spirit. How constant
the intercession of the apostle was for them! Every time
he prayed he was making mention of them. Mark how he
carries the church of God on his heart; and it was the same
way with individuals. He was thinking of all the good in
them, and thanking God for it. See the kind of interest he
had for the saints; he was always thinking of them. Even to
the Corinthians he says, “ I thank my God always on your
behalf.”
What Christ thinks of we should think of. If Christ is
my life, and by the Spirit the spring of my thoughts, I shall
have His thoughts in everything, for there is that which
is right according to Christ. I have to be in the midst of
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circumstances as Christ would be, and that is Christian life.
It is never necessary we should do anything wrong-never
necessary we should act in the esh; though it is there, why
am I to think by it? I shall not, if I am full of Christ, for it
is He who suggests the thoughts to me.
If I get into Christ’s mind and thoughts, I shall not bear
to see evil in saints; I want them like Christ. He is doing
the work now in the heart of the saints-” that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the
word “-and I must be going along with Him in the same
Spirit; and I must be all right myself, or I cannot do that.
Christ gives Himself rst for His people, and then He sets
about to cleanse them, and make them what He would
have them; and that should be our heart’s desire to do in
intercession.
ere is plenty of power for this, though we are dreadfully
low. He can suit His grace now just as in the brightest days
of the apostle. ere was much more to delight in when
David was hunted as a partridge on the mountains, than in
all the glory of Solomon for then there was the power of
faith. It is with all saints that we are to “ apprehend “; Eph.
3:18. We shorten our own blessing if we do not take them
[the saints] all in. ere is competency with Christ; and if I
go on with Him, I must have peace about them.
Praying for saints gives a person the power of seeing
all the good in them. We see this in the epistles, with one
exception, that to the Galatians, where the apostle does not
speak of what he could commend, but goes straight into all
the evil, for they were turning away from the foundation.
If we prayed more for the saints we should have more joy
in them, and more courage about them. It is always wrong
to lose courage about the saints, though it is possible it
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243
might come to be like Jeremiah: “ Pray no more for this
people.” e Lord is always there, and love cannot fail; so
we can reckon on it with joy, and comfort, and courage.
Even when Paul had said to the Galatians, “ I am afraid of
you,” he adds, soon looking to Christ, “ I have condence
in you through the Lord.” He had the saints under Christ’s
eye for a blessing. How much are we looking with Christ’s
heart at all the saints, with comfort and courage that there
is grace enough for them? “ Being condent of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ “; and, as he says
further on, “ that ye may be blameless and harmless, the
sons of God without rebuke.”
“ Both in my bonds, and in the defense and conrmation
of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.” We are little
aware how real the unity of the Spirit is: we have greatly
lost the reality of it, though it is owned as a truth. It is a
unity by a living power which is in every saint, so that the
thing must be: “ if one member suer,” not all ought to, but
all do, “ suer with it.” e body may be in such a mortied
state as to have little feeling left; but, supposing there were
a work of the Spirit in India, do you think it would not
revive the saints here? So those people who were praying
for Paul, when God strengthened him, praise returned to
God from them all. e working of the Spirit of God tells
in blessing on all who hear. But when he had to say, “ All
have forsaken me “ (they had not forsaken Christ, but they
had no courage to go into danger), Paul went on alone. It is
plain if I have a pain in my body all my nerves are hurt by
it; I cannot read or work so well. ere may be a deadening
of the spiritual nerves so that there is very little feeling, but
it cannot be destroyed.
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At verse 8 we get into the tone of the epistle. e apostle
was no forgetful person; he remembers every little trait of
kindness done to him, and he prays that they might have
all kinds of knowledge and spiritual judgment, so that they
might do things just t to be done-that they might know
in what one thing diers from another-that they might be
connoisseurs in the Christian path; not only not fall into
sin, but have the knowledge of just the right thing to do
in the circumstances; for the standard is the satisfying the
heart of Christ, not “ Where is the harm? “ e apostle
desires that they might discern things now as they will be
when brought into the light in that day of Christ. It is as
if he said, I want you to think of the Lord Jesus, and know
what will please the heart of Christ. ere is the delight of
pleasing Christ, and the delighting in the thing that pleases
Him as well, by the active energy of the Spirit of God.
en see how he rises above all the trials of his four
years of imprisonment, two at Caesarea and two at Rome.
“ I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things
which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the
furtherance of the gospel.” He might have reasoned: If I
had not gone up to Jerusalem, and there listened to these
Jews persuading me to things, I might still be at liberty
preaching the gospel. He does not do thus; and let me say,
beloved friends, there is nothing more foolish than to be
looking at second causes. Perhaps we may not have been
wise, but the man who lives above things here knows that
every one of them works together for good. All would turn
to his salvation, he says, “ through your prayer, and the
supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” And we see here that
there is the increased activity and energy of the Spirit of
God-” the supply,” as the apostle speaks; so that, though we
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cannot look to Him to come (as He has come), we can and
ought to be looking for the “ supply,” and His ministering
grace through the word.
“ Christ shall be magnied in my body, whether it be by
life or by death.” We see here that perfection in the esh is
all nonsense, for Paul was looking to be like Christ in glory.
e heart is always upright when it says, “ For me to live is
Christ.” He had no object but Christ, and he walked day
by day by that-Christ as source, Christ as object, Christ
as character; all the way through, Christ was his life, by
the power of the Spirit of God; so that the rage of man
and Satan had no power over him. Self was practically
gone. When he looked at himself he did not know what to
choose- whether to go and rest with Christ, or to remain
and serve Him. To be with Him was better, but then he
could no longer labor for Him. us self was gone as a
motive, and he counts on Christ for the church, and the
moment he sees “ it is necessary for you that I remain,” he
says, “ I know that I shall abide and continue with you all
for your furtherance and joy of faith.” He decides his own
trial before Nero. When thinking of himself he did not
know which to choose, but when he thinks of those dear to
Christ needing his presence he says, “ I know I shall abide.”
e Lord grant, beloved brethren, that He should be
our only object, and that we should not let ourselves be
distracted from it, so that we may say, “ is one thing I
do.” e Lord give us grace to be the true epistles of Christ
till He come. What a bright and blessed witness the church
of God would then be!
If we have less ghting and fears than Paul, it is because
we have less energy.
Philippians 2
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I desire rst to say a little word on the closing verses
of chapter 1: “ In nothing terried by your adversaries,
which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you
of salvation, and that of God. For unto you it is given in
the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to
suer for his sake.” It is not merely that he wants to guard
them against this, but he assures them that conict is the
natural state of the Christian-” Having the same conict
which ye saw in me.” Here it was positive trial that they
were in; but the whole of the Christian life is one of conict
with Satan; not that we need to be always thinking of it, if
we have on the whole armor of God; but if we are not in
the consciousness of Christ’s victory, we are in danger of
being terried; and though we know little of this conict,
yet in a small degree we do. When Satan is resisted, Christ
is then in the conict, and we know that Christ has bound
him, and he has been completely overcome; so it is “ resist
the devil, and he will ee from you.” If we are walking with
Christ, the apparent power is much greater with Satan
and the world than with us; but it is all nothing; it is all
a mistake to be terried by it. What does it matter if the
cities are walled up to heaven, if they tumble down, and
you walk in over them?
You see, beloved friends, it is not a question of the
diculties, as we see in the case of Peter walking on the
sea. He walked on the water to go to Jesus; but when he
saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. But if the water had
been calm as a mill-pond, he could not have walked on it;
you never heard of a man able to walk on water of any kind.
It was all a mistake in what he was looking at. What we
want to remember is that Christ has bound Satan; so now
He can spoil his goods. He allows Satan to cast some into
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prison to be tried, but Satan gains nothing by that; when
he meets a person walking with Christ, he has no power
against him at all. We may have suering, but this is what
God has “ given “; as we see in Moses, “ esteeming-”-he
does not say reproach, but-” the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures in Egypt.” So that rough seas or
smooth seas are all the same; we sink if Christ is not with
us there, and we walk on them if He is.
To turn to chapter 2. It is astonishing the grace which
associates us with Christ; we are called to have the same
mind as Christ. Here we get the lowliness of the Christian
life, as in the next chapter we have the energy of the
Christian life. Here it is in following the pattern of Christ,
a lowliness shown in esteem of others, and in perfect
consideration for others, and in gracious gentleness of
demeanor in connection with the things of every-day life.
us he tells them he would keep Timotheus, and send him
to them as soon as he should know how it would go with
him-reckoning on their true interest in all that regarded
him; but he would not keep Epaphroditus, but send him,
for he had been ill, and the Philippians had heard it, and
were full of anxiety about him; as a child might say, My
mother will be in a terrible way when she hears I am so ill.
So Paul would send him that they might see him. In little
things this considerateness is seen in Paul, this thorough
thoughtfulness for others. Even the world can see it is
lovely; their very selshness delights in it.
e Philippians had shown these things he speaks of in
their thoughtfulness for Paul, yet they were not quite united
in Christ. But he does not like to come with a rebuke in the
midst of all their love for him. He says, I see how you care
for me, but if you want to make me thoroughly happy, be
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of one mind, “ fulll ye my joy.” It is in the most delicate
way that he rebukes them-a gentle hint; but they needed
the exhortation.
en he goes on to show the principles on which it is
founded. “ In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better
than themselves.” It is a kind of impossibility if you look
at it in one way; for if you are better than I, it is evident I
cannot be better than you. But when the heart is thoroughly
lowly, walking with Christ, and delighting in Christ, he
thinks himself a poor creature with nothing but the grace
of Christ to think of, and never sees anything but defects
in himself; all the grace he sees in Christ; and, seeing this
grace, even if he is using it, he feels what a poor instrument
he is, the esh hindering and spoiling the vessel, and not
letting the light shine out.
But when he looks at his brother, he sees all the grace
Christ has poured into him. What the Christian sees is
Christ in his brother, and all the good qualities in him.
Paul could say even to the Corinthians, who were going
on shockingly, “ I thank my God always on your behalf,
for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ.”
He begins by recognizing all the good. Love took hold of
all the good it could, and thus he got their hearts to listen
to the rebukes. I detect the grace in my brother, and I do
not see the evil at work in his heart ‘ • but I do see it in
my own. When Moses came down from the mount, he
wist not that his face shone. What made it shine was not
looking at his own face-of course we know he could not do
that-but looking at the glory; and it shines forth from us
in the measure in which we look simply and purely at it. I
see in my brother all the gentleness, graciousness, courage,
faithfulness; and in myself all the defects. As I said, of
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course, if you are better than I, I cannot be better than
you; but it is a question of the spirit in which the Christian
walks; vain-glory is gone; and it cannot be otherwise if the
heart is on Christ. It is not giving me a false estimate of
myself; but when I look at the grace, it is Christ. Of course
I must look at myself sometimes, and judge myself; but the
best thing is not to have to look at myself at all. “ Look not
every man on his own things.”
en he turns to the principle on which this is founded:
“ Let this mind be in you which Was also in Christ
Jesus.” Here we get the path of Christ from the glory of
the Godhead to the cross; He never did anything but go
down-the exact opposite of the rst Adam. “ Being in the
form of God, he thought it not robbery to be equal with
God “; not only He bore everything patiently; that is true;
but another side of the truth-” He made himself of no
reputation.” He laid aside the form of Godhead, and was
found as a man; and, being a man, He took upon Him the
form of a servant. True, even coming in the form of a man,
there was soon seen, in word and work and spirit and way,
all moral glory shining out; but He, having laid glory aside,
was always going down in lowliness till there was no lower
place. “ Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that
ye through his poverty might be rich.”
ere is the double step in His descent. e rst was
laying aside the form of God; the second, that, being found
in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became
obedient. ere is nothing so humble as obedience, for
then we have no will at all. He was not only obedient, but
obedient unto death (self given up altogether, not only the
will); and not only to death, but the death of the cross-
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the gibbet, as it would be in our day; then for slaves and
malefactors only. From the form of God right down to
death, obedience and humiliation all the way, the opposite
in everything of the rst Adam, who was not in the form
of God, but set up to be as gods, and was disobedient
unto death; the exact opposite to Christ in the spirit and
character of his ways.
And as God says, “ He that exalteth himself shall be
abased,” Adam was humbled because he exalted himself.
Christ waited till God exalted Him; He humbled Himself,
wherefore God also bath highly exalted Him. God sets
Him as Man over all the works of His hands. Hence we
read, “ ere is one God, the Father, and one Lord Jesus
Christ.” is is not a question of His nature, but of the
place in which He is set. God has put all things under His
feet as Man. All things were created by Him, and for Him,
but He will have it all as Man, and thus it is He takes joint-
heirs. He is heir of all things as Man, and has all believers as
joint-heirs with Him. In Col. 1 we get Him as Creator, as
Son of God, as Son of Man, and as Redeemer (the fourth
telling us His title - Redeemer - that which has given Him
a right over everything). All things are to be reconciled
by Him; I do not say justied, because the things had not
sinned; but they were all deled; and, having reconciled all
things, He takes us as joint-heirs. Just as Eve was not one
of the dierent animals that Adam gave names to, neither
was she lord as Adam, nor was she that over which he was
lord; but she was a help-meet or companion with him
over the things. And it is under the fourth title, though all
remain united in His Person, that He brings in creation
unto undeled blessedness. It never can fail, and we know
the redemption already: “ you hath he reconciled “; the
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redemption is accomplished, though the results are not yet
produced, as it is said, “ that we might be a kind of rst-
fruits of his creatures.”
en he tells us that the same mind is to be in us as was
in Christ. He had “ a body prepared,” or “ ears dug,” as it
is in Psa. 40:6. He had taken the place of a servant as man.
He comes, the fullness of the Godhead, in this body, and
exhibits perfect obedience in it; and God has exalted Him
to His right hand. He has gone before. We are not there
yet; we are left to walk like Him here. It is a blessed thing
to see the place He has taken: His path coming always
down, and that to be the mind in us. So God says, “ that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth “
too; that is, infernal things will have to own His title in
glory. In that character, that He is exalted, they will have
to bow to Him.
e rst Adam did not become head of a race till he
had sinned; and Christ did not become Head of a new race
till He had accomplished redemption, and was Head of
righteousness. As man entered Paradise, so He entered the
world; each began a race. Sin complete, and the race ended
on the one hand; and righteousness complete, and the race
begun on the other.
When we talk of coming down, we mean the getting rid
of pride in us. It is just the thing the Christian learns, and
just the thing the esh dislikes. Moses killed the Egyptian
through the remains of court pride. Satan says, I cannot
allow this; you must take the place out and out, or you
cannot have it. e world’s weapons will not do to ght
God’s battles with; Moses runs away, and is forty years
keeping sheep instead of ghting. en when God sends
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him, he cannot go; the extreme of one side and the extreme
of the other. Our part in detail is always to wait till God
puts us up higher, like the man who took the low place, to
whom it was said, “ Go up higher.” If we are content with
the low place, we shall miss ten thousand rebus we should
otherwise have.
Now there comes a passage which often troubles
people, but needlessly, as we shall see. “ Work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
e mistake people make is putting God’s working and our
working in contrast. It is not so. e contrast is between
Paul and themselves. In losing Paul they had not lost God,
who was working. He says, Do it, now that I am absent,
for yourselves. Paul had been doing it for them. He had
met the wiles of Satan for them in apostolic blessing; his
spirit of wisdom had told them what to do. Now he says,
My absence does not alter the present power of grace; God
works in you Himself. “ Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have
always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling.” ey were now to meet the enemy without
Paul in the front to lead them on. Never mind, he says: “
work out your own salvation.” I go always down, Himself
working in me.
Chapter 2 is the pattern of Christ’s lowly walk, the
Lord coming down, and always so to the end; chapter
3 is the power and energy of life with Christ, and glory
its object. e eect is to produce exactly the character
of Christ: “ at ye may be blameless and harmless, the
sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked
and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in
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the world; holding forth the word of life.” at is exactly
the description of Christ Himself. Take every member of
that sentence, and you will see it is Christ. He was all that,
and that is just what you are to be. How completely self is
put down, God graciously working in us; and the eect is
exactly what Christ was-constant self humiliation-and so
blameless and harmless, the Son of God without rebuke,
the expression of divine grace when there was no will or
human exaltation, but the contrary. We see the perfect
beauty and blessedness of it. It is not the energy, as in the
next chapter; it is the character of the obedience. Wherever
the path of obedience led He went. Having taken the form
of a servant, His perfection was to obey.
Look what the eect was produced on a creature doing
his own will as Adam. What an awful spectacle for angels-
the ruin and destruction of God’s glory in the world! But,
when we had destroyed God’s glory, Christ comes, and
God is a debtor to man for His glory-not to us, I need not
say-just as He had been a debtor to man for His dishonor;
for by the cross God was gloried in His very nature.
Christ comes, and we see what sin was-deliberate enmity
against God’s goodness, but all that God is was gloried;
His majesty maintained, and all His truth comes out; His
righteousness against sin; His perfect love. But the putting
away of our sins was a small part of the glory of the cross;
it is the foundation of eternal glory and blessedness.
Not only does Christ take the form of a servant, but
He will never give it up. As never the place of man will be
given up, so He will never give up its true place before God.
He took upon Him the form of a man, and served His time
on earth, as we have in the gure of the Hebrew servant
in Ex. 21, and could have gone out free as man-could have
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had twelve legions of angels to deliver Him. But He did
not. e ear of the servant was bored with an awl to the
door when he would not go out free, because he loved his
master, his wife, and his children, and he became a servant
forever. And that is what Christ is. In John 13, when the
blessed Lord was going to glory, we should have said, there
is an end of service. It is not so. He gets up from where He
was sitting among them as a companion, He gets up and
washes their feet; and that is what He is doing now. He
says, I cannot stay with you here, but I will not give you
up; you must now have part with Me where I am going.
If I do not make you clean enough for heaven, you cannot
have part with Me there. So this He does by keeping our
feet clean. In Luke 12 we learn that He still continues the
service in glory-” He shall gird himself, and make them
to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.”
ere we get His service in glory. It is His glory in love,
though in the form of service. Not only heaven’s table for
us, but Christ Himself ministering it to us. He never gives
up the service. Selshness likes to be served, but love likes
to serve; so Christ never gives up the service, for He never
gives up the love. It is His love expressed in ministering
that makes everything doubly blessed to us.
When I am brought to God in the spirit of my mind, I
can go down like Christ.
Working out your own salvation with fear and trembling
is not justication, and our place with God. Salvation in
Philippians is always the nal result in glory. What was
the eect of redemption on Israel? Not to put them in
Canaan, but to make them enter on a road through the
wilderness. And where were they to get food? and were
there not enemies in the way, too? I am to make good
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my way, maintaining God’s name and character, and the
devil is trying to hinder me; this is why there is fear and
trembling. An Israelite in the wilderness never doubted as
to whether he were in Egypt or not. If I nd a doubting
Christian, he does not yet know that he is redeemed. An
Israelite might not gather manna, and would have nothing
to eat that day; but he had no thought of being in Egypt. It
was only eleven days’ journey from Egypt to Canaan, as we
get in Deut. 1; but they were forty years journeying before
they got to the plains of Moab, except the year they were at
Sinai, for they had no courage or faith to take hold.
And so Satan seeks to hinder now. You will not get to
your homes to-night without the devil trying to take away
the blessing you may have got here. e devil will try to
get up pride in you, and thus not let you show out the
character of Christ. If you knew that you were charged
to carry this character of Christ through the world, and
that Satan was trying to hinder you, you would count it a
very serious thing. So Peter says, “ If ye call on the Father,
who without respect of persons judgeth according to every
man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.”
Satan is trying to dirty your feet, or to get you to dishonor
Christ in the most awful way. I am in conict with Satan,
the world, and self, but I am in perfect peace with God. It
is totally false to confound the working out our salvation
with our relationship with God. is is all settled, and my
condence in God enables me to go on working.
Beloved brethren, how far are we doing this?
Redemption is complete. How far are our souls making
nothing of ourselves, and looking to manifest what Christ
was here? It ows out naturally if I am full of Christ. I
am not saying I must do this or that like Christ, though
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that sometimes too; but “ he that hath this hope in him
purieth himself, even as he is pure.”
You will nd the spirit of this graciousness and
considerateness running all through the chapter in its
details; it all comes out most beautifully.
I would make one remark more: that it is exceedingly
blessed to see all this going on when the church was already
sinking away into ruin. “ All seek their own,” he says in this
very epistle, and that already. How little we realize its real
state when we speak of the primitive church! ere it is,
all seeking their own; and it was a great deal worse after.
I refer to it as a matter of comfort, for he exhorts them to
this path in spite of the condition around; as it was when
Elijah went up to heaven without dying, at the very time
when he could nd none but himself who had not bowed
the knee to Baal, though God knew where to nd them.
ere were brighter things, too, in David than there ever
were in Solomon, who goes to Gibeon (where the ark was
not), to sacrice (2Chronicles not to teach to sing before
the ark on Sion “ His mercy endureth forever,” 1Chron. 16.
Solomon had never a heart which God could string to play
such tunes about Christ as He did in David.
We are told never to be discouraged; to rejoice in all
good. If we nd that all seek their own, we must only be the
more like Christ ourselves. It is a comfort that the Head
cannot fail though the members do; you cannot put me in
a place in which Christ is not sucient in full power and
grace. All we want is to nd ourselves lowly at His feet, He
the counselor of our hearts. If we are with God in light we
know our own nothingness; and if all seek their own, His
grace and blessedness come out the more.
e Lord give us to look to Him as our life and strength.
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Phil. 3:1-14.
We saw the apostle in the last chapter bringing our
hearts in contact with the Lord Jesus, giving up His divine
glory on high, taking the form of a servant, and going
down; and then as Man highly exalted. at is exactly what
we are to do; we are to have the same mind.
He had closed then, in the last chapter, the state and
condition of soul we are to be in, and he now looks before-
onward to the glory. e things before will keep the soul
from being hindered-Christ set before the soul so as to
take complete possession of it. It is not the character of
graciousness in the life here, and considerateness for others,
as in the last chapter, which looked at Christ emptying
Himself of glory and humbling Himself; but the energy of
divine life which presses forward to the goal. Sometimes we
see a want of energy where there is loveliness of character;
or a great deal of energy, on the other hand, when there is a
want of softness and considerateness for others. But in the
things of God you must get the whole that any part may
be right. Satan imitates part, but you never get the whole
in what he imitates. When you get both-when Christ is
everything, it delivers from selshness, and shows itself in
seeking the good of others; but it will not give way when
giving up Christ is in question (I do not mean giving Him
up as to the soul’s salvation, but in our path here). So the
apostle Peter says, “ add to brotherly kindness charity,”
for if God is not brought in, we have no power to walk
according to Him in graciousness. Christ has gone up and
is everything to us; He is before us as an object, and we
cannot give Him up to please the esh; but we can look for
power to press on.
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He then gives the starting-point in rejoicing in the
Lord. “ Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice.”
e eect of the ending of self is that I rejoice. Nothing
separates from the love, we know; but there is danger
when we are in the enjoyment of present blessing; we are
apt to rest in the blessing, and not feel dependent on the
Blesser. David said, “ I shall never be moved. Lord, by
thy favor thou hast made my mountain to stand strong:
ou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.” When his
mountain was gone, he found he had been trusting in his
mountain, and not in the Lord. When he says, “ e Lord
is my Shepherd,” there was no being moved, for he was
resting in the Lord Himself. If the heart is emptied of self,
it does rest in the Lord; but the heart is so treacherous that
a person experiencing great joy as a Christian often gets
a fall after it, because of having got away from the place
of dependence. He is restored again, we know, as in that
Psalm: “ He restoreth my soul.”
Here Paul was just going to be tried for his life. He
had been in prison four years (two of them chained to
heathen soldiers), and he says he knew how to be full and
to be hungry, how to abound and to suer need. Pains and
sorrows, and joys and comforts-he had gone through all;
and he was not discouraged as a man might be who was
obliged to be with brutal uncultivated men, and in constant
suering chained to a soldier, and four years in prison. And
that was not all; he might have said, I am in prison and
cannot do the Lord’s work. No, he is with the Lord, and he
says, all will “ turn to my salvation.” Even when Christ was
preached of contention, he could say, “ I herein do rejoice,
yea, and will rejoice.”
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When we are weaned from everything, we are cast on
the Lord, and able to rejoice in the Lord, and that is when
He leads us.
But what an object, what an energy-producing object,
there was in the Lord before him! He looks at everything
beyond the wilderness-he a traveler across it, and on the way,
always rejoicing in the Lord. Whether he was preaching
in public, or quietly in his lodging receiving those who
came in, he was rejoicing. It is a great setting aside of self
to be always rejoicing in the Lord. He had hoped to go
on into Spain after being somewhat lled with the saints’
company; but there was now no more about Spain, or being
lled with their company either, yet he was still rejoicing.
You can never get inside the defenses of the one whose
joy is in the Lord. “ Nay, in all these things,” he says, “ we
are more than conquerors.” All these things are creatures-”
angels, principalities, and powers “; but He dwells in us; He
is near the heart, and that is the great secret. We get Christ
between us and the troubles, we understand how unbelief
hinders, but this is the secret that makes everything work
for good. e love of God is reckoned upon; His love is
shed abroad in the heart. e great starting-point is, “
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.”
We see, too, the simplicity of looking to Christ. e
religion of descent, of ordinances, and of works-the
moment I get these three, morally speaking, I get a Jew. It
was all works, ordinances, and descent. I could boast of all
this just the same if Christ had not come. But where does it
all end? “ Beware of dogs.” “ Dogs “ is a name for a perfectly
shameless thing.
I must get the conscience with God, and Christ from
God, or I have got nothing. A Jew could bow his head
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like a bulrush and do all that without his soul being with
God, and therefore God puts perfect contempt upon it all.
He says, “ My son, give me thy heart.” “ e cattle upon a
thousand hills “ are Mine. “ If I were hungry, I would not
tell thee.” It is no use your bringing oerings: I want you,
not your oerings. Cain had much more trouble in tilling
the ground than Abel had about the lamb; but Cain’s
conscience had never been with God, nor seen the ruin
that had come in; we see the hardness of his heart as to
sin, and his ignorance as to the holiness of God. He brings
what was the sign of the curse- what he had got by the
sweat of his face. Abel brought a lamb, and was accepted. If
we have got the real knowledge of the work of atonement
and acceptance in Him, we are like Abel. e testimony as
to righteousness refers to the person of Abel. What it was
founded on was his oering, which was a type of Christ.
God cannot refuse me when I present Christ to Him; He
accepts me according to the pass I bring. I cannot think of
going through a process to make my soul up in some way.
In coming to God I must come in God’s way, which is
Christ and nothing else; and with my own conscience, not
with ordinances, which are all outward things.
It is remarkable the way in which he treats the subject
in this chapter. It is not the conscience with sin on it, but
the worthlessness of all ordinances; so he calls it the “
concision.” Have your hearts circumcised-that is the true
ordinance. “ We are the circumcision, which worship God
in the Spirit “; even as Jeremiah says, “ Circumcise your
hearts.” It must be the esh totally put down. e esh
has a religion as well as lusts; but the esh must have a
religion that will not kill the esh. Satisfying the esh in
mortifying the body-a voluntary humility, not sparing the
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body-that is easy work; but it is not easy work to be done
with the esh.
Suppose I could say, “ A Hebrew of the Hebrews,” “
touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless,”
perfectly religious-who would be accredited by that?
Paul; not God or Christ. It is not worth a farthing, this
righteousness. It is giving me a good place. It is “ I “ all the
while, not Christ. And it is in this that it is detected-the
moment it accredits the esh. It may be costly and painful,
it may be things by which I punish myself, but it is utterly
worthless. I have seen a person irritated to the last degree
when told it was not worth anything.
It is striking, the way in which Paul takes it up. It is
not as sin, but as something perfectly worthless-legal
righteousness, and the true religion as man can see it. “
What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for
Christ.” He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and after the
strictest sect he lived a Pharisee; that was gain to him. en
he says, “ I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have
suered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung,
that I may win Christ.” ere was no question of sin; when
he speaks of righteousness, it is not as meeting sins, but
as contrasted with righteousness according to the law. We
can always detect it; all it does is to accredit self-that is the
mischief and the evil; for who would have lthy rags (that
is what our righteousnesses are called) when he could have
Christ for his righteousness? He had such a perception
of the excellency of what Christ is in God’s sight-what
God delights in-that he says, I am not going to keep this
wretched righteousness, or add it to that which is of God.
e deceitful lusts are bad enough, but this religious esh
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is worse. It was not real righteousness; it was self pued up,
not self judged; it was self eked out, and painted over. Now
he wants to get rid of self, and have Christ instead of it.
at is the place, and now he unfolds it. Remark, it is
not when I was converted I counted all things loss. We
nd, when a person is converted, Christ is everything; the
world is a vain show-vanity, nothing. It has passed from
the mind, and things unseen ll the heart. But afterward as
the man goes on with his duties and intercourse with his
friends, though Christ is still precious, he does not continue
to count all things loss; often it is only that he counted. But
Paul says, “ I do count,” not did. It is a great thing to be able
to say it. Christ should hold always such a place as He did
when salvation was rst revealed to our hearts.
Allow me to add a thing which comes into my mind.
Of course if a man has not Christ at the bottom, he is
no Christian at all; but I mean even where Christ is in a
man, and you may nd him walking blamelessly, yet, if you
speak to him of Christ, there is not an echo in his heart,
though his life goes on smoothly. Christ at the bottom,
and a fair Christian walk at the top, and, between these
two, a hundred and fty things that Christ has nothing to
do with at all. His life is practically passed without Christ.
is will not do. It is the terrible levity of the heart that
goes on without Christ, until it becomes the highway of
whatever the world pours into it.
He now tells us what is the power for this. He wants to
win Christ, and it looks like a terrible sacrice to give up
everything for this. But it is just like a baby with a plaything.
Try to take the plaything from it, it will hold it the faster;
put a prettier before it, and it will let the other drop. He
counted everything loss and dung; the things were gone.
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I shall have temptations, I know; but nine-tenths of the
temptations that beset and hinder would not exist if Christ
had His place. ings would not tempt and beset us, as
gold, and silver, and pretty things, if “ the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus “ had its place in the heart; that
kind of conict would be gone. We should then know the
snares of Satan, and suer for others; it would not be the
struggle to keep my own head above water, but to keep
others from being drowned.
Christ having got this place, other things have lost their
value. e eye is single, and the whole body is full of light.
He had suered the loss of all things; but he says, “ I do
count them but dung.” He was looking at Christ as such a
blessed object that everything was given up for Him. And
he kept this place for Him, so that he goes on to win Christ.
He had not got Christ yet, but Christ had got hold of him;
and he was running the race to get there, and looking at the
end of the journey. No matter what the road is; it may be
rough, but I am looking to the end.
ere are these two things here; rst, that I may
win Christ; and second, that I may not have my own
righteousness. A man with a threadbare coat, if he gets a
right good one, is ashamed of the old one. Paul would not
thank you for the kind of righteousness he had before. I
cannot have my own and God’s; I would not have my own
if I could. is is blessedly brought out in 1Cor. 1 “ Of him
are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctication, and redemption.”
What we are in life as of God, Christ is of God towards
me.
He then goes to the next thing, “ at I may know him,
and the power of his resurrection.”
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e rst thing was winning Christ; the second, knowing
Christ. ere is the victory over the whole power of evil-
death, and everything else. I want to know Him-His
perfect love and life; to have Him as the object before the
soul- occupying the soul, and mind, and heart, and so grow
up into Him • and to know the power of His resurrection,
for then the whole power of Satan was set aside. He had
spoken of the righteousness as that which he sought in
Christ, not in himself and the law; and now he wanted to
know the power of the life expressed in the resurrection
of Christ. When he has known Christ as a Person, and
victory over death, he can take up the service of love as
Christ did, and can know “ the fellowship of his suerings.”
How dierent from fearing, and dreading, and creeping on
as the apostles did when told of His death, in Mark 10! “
ey were amazed, and as they followed, they were afraid,”
instead of rejoicing because death was before them. But, if
I know the power of resurrection, death is behind me, all its
power is broken. So, when He rose, He said, “ All power is
given unto me in heaven and in earth “; “ Preach the gospel
to every creature “; “ Be not afraid of them that kill the
body,” He had said before: they killed His body.
When I have got the power of resurrection I can serve in
love. Paul was looking death in the face, and not speaking
lightly. Satan says, You want to follow Christ? Yes. ere
is death in your way. Very well; I shall be all the more like
Christ for going through it.
“ e fellowship of his suerings, being made
conformable to his death, if by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead.” It should be rather “ the
resurrection from among the dead.” Paul so came into this,
that he uses words Christ Himself might use: “ I endure all
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things for the elect’s sake.” It was all of grace-a totally new
place-all pretension to righteousness gone, and what I am
as man too, and Christ substituted as righteousness for me.
And then Himself-to know Him. at is where progress
goes on to; the aections are now engaged. When I see
suering before me, I get the power of His resurrection,
and then the privilege of the fellowship of His suerings.
Paul had a large share of this; we have a little. He says, “
If by any means I might attain “; that is, Cost what it will,
if death is on the road, all right: I shall arrive at what He
did-resurrection from among the dead. Resurrection here in
Phil. 3:11, is a special word in the Greek, and never even
found but here in the New Testament. When we look at
the resurrection from the dead, we nd it to be a matter of
all possible importance. Christ was the rst-fruits, not of
the wicked dead, of course. What was Christ’s resurrection?
God raised him from the dead, because His delight was in
Him, because of His perfect righteousness and glorifying
Him. And it is the same with us. Resurrection is the
expression of God’s satisfaction in those raised; it is His
seal on Christ’s work. Christ was the Son He delighted in,
and now it is the same with us because of Christ. In Him
it was His own perfectness; with us it is because of Him.
In power He comes in to take His own out, while the rest
are left behind.
“ From among,” etc.-in that lies the whole force of the
expression. So at the transguration He charged them not
to speak of it “ till the Son of man were risen from the dead
“; they questioned among themselves “ what the rising from
the dead should mean.” What astonished them? It was “
the rising from among the dead.” It was this very thing.
God intervened in power, and raised Him up, and set Him
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at His own right hand; and when the time is come, He
will raise His saints too. It is an immense act of divine
power, for divine righteousness is there. In 1Corinthians
Is there is no reference but to saints; it is not a general
resurrection, for the wicked are not raised in glory. I do
not know anything that has done more harm to the church
than the notion of a general resurrection. If all are raised
together, the question of righteousness is not settled; but it
is, “ if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall
also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelled’
in you.” e whole character, and nature, and meaning,
and purpose of this resurrection is entirely distinct. “ From
among “ is the expression of divine delight in the person
raised, and we are all raised because of it; else there would
be no sense in the expression “ attained.”
He says, “ if by any means “-if it cost me my life-it is all
nothing. “ at I may win Christ “ is the rst thing. But, in
winning Him at the close of the race, it is also as a present
thing “ that I may know him.” It has been asked whether
this refers to the present eect, or to the future glory? I say
it is present eect by future glory.
“ I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling.” e high calling is the calling above. We see the
immediate connection of the object with the present eect.
He wanted to be like Christ now, not only when he should
be dead in his grave and his spirit in paradise. If he were
to die, he would be then like Him; but that was not what
he was looking for, namely, to be conformed to the image
of the Son of God in glory. is he would be of course, but
this I never shall be till Christ come and raise the dead;
this I wait for. I am conscious of never attaining, but I wait
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for it, and every day I am more like Him, suering in the
power of the love in which He served the Father; and there
is a continual growing likeness to Christ inwardly from
looking at Him in the glory. e only thing I care for is to
be like Him in glory, and with Him.
e whole of Paul’s life was founded on that, and
completely formed by that. e Son of God was forming
his soul day by day, and he was always running towards
Him, and never doing anything else. It was not merely as an
apostle that he entered into the fellowship of His suerings,
and conformity to His death, but every Christian ought to
be doing the same. A person may say he has forgiveness
of sins, but I say, What is governing your heart now? Is
your eye resting on Christ in glory? Is the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus so before your soul as to govern
everything else, and make you count everything loss that
is in the way? Is that where you are? Has this excellent
knowledge put out all other things? not only an outwardly
blameless walk, and able to say you love Christ; but has the
thought of Christ in glory put out all other things? If it
were so, you would not be governed by everyday nothings.
If a laboring man has a family, he. does not forget the
aections of his children because of his work. On the
contrary, when his labor is done, his tools are thrown down,
and he returns home with all the more joy because he has
been absent from it. His labor did not hinder or enfeeble
the aections of his heart.
To be in our daily occupations as to Christ, we have
also to watch against another danger; when there are
not other objects, there are distractions. We must watch
the distractions as well as the objects, and have habits of
jealousness of heart for Christ, else there is immediate
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weakness. And then when we go into God’s presence,
instead of rejoicing in the Lord, conscience has to be talked
to. It is sad indeed when the walk in the world has been
such, that, on going back to Christ, we nd He had not
been thought of in it.
Could you say, as Paul to Agrippa, Would to God you
were (not almost, but) altogether such as I am? Are you
happy enough to say that? Can you say, I am so rejoicing
in Christ, and see such excellency in the knowledge of
Him, that I would to God you were like me? What we
have to look for in hearts is, not I have counted, but “ I do
count.” Do your hearts count, as a present thing, all things
loss? Two things we have to watch against, having another
object, and, what is even more subtle, distractions.
e Lord give us to have our eyes so anointed with
eyesalve, so to see Him, as to detach our hearts from other
things; to have no other object than Himself before them.
Perhaps we shall have the cross to take up; but mark, then
it is not merely suering, nor always exactly for Him either,
but it is always with Him. e Lord give us (for we have
to pass through a place where people do not care about
Christ) to have the eye thus xed on Him, having Him
as a sanctuary, as the power and energy which carries us
through. e Lord give us-and it is in His heart to give
us-to say, “ is one thing I do.” e Lord give us truth of
heart, and diligence of heart too.
Phil. 3:15-21; CH. 4:1-7
We were seeing, beloved brethren, the way in which
Christ being before the eye gives earnestness of purpose
in running towards the glory. Christ had laid hold on Paul
for it, and he wanted to lay hold on Christ in glory. We
were seeing too that this epistle looks at the Christian as
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traveling across the wilderness with everything at the end,
but remember this, that, all through, the power of Christ’s
resurrection being in him, he had already the power in life,
and wanted it in glory; and the practical eect was to make
him run as a person who had only the glory in view. One
single object-winning Him- and being raised up himself
into the glory.
at is what we are predestinated to-” to be conformed
to the image of his Son “; not looking forward to being like
Him when our bodies are in the grave and we in Paradise.
True, “ when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is “; “ but our conversation “ is now “ in
heaven “; our citizenship, though I do not much like the
word. It means all our living relationships; as we say, He
is an Englishman; that is what distinguishes him. What
distinguishes us is, we are of heaven. So he says, “ this one
thing I do,” running towards the place; it has determined
my whole life; “ I press toward the mark for the prize of the
high calling.” e high calling means the calling above. We
can have no notion of perfection but as in that glory.
e moment I have seen Christ come down, obedient
to death for me, there is nothing too great to expect as the
answer to it, for all is the fruit of the travail of His soul.
e “ earnest of his love “ is nowhere in Scripture; it has
been taken, I think, out of a hymn. e earnest of the glory
we have; “ the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.”
Paul felt the power of the glory on his spirit; and that is
how we are to run, but all Christians do not know it. If a
man is a Christian at all he must know the cross as that
through which he is redeemed; but he may not know that
he is going to be with Christ in glory. e “ little children
“ know that their sins are forgiven. is is the common
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knowledge of all. And the children know the Father-have
the Spirit of adoption. But the perfect in Christ, as they
are here called, know the evil of their own hearts far better,
and at the same time see the perfect love of God in giving
Christ on the cross-love come down to the sinner in his
sins. ey see not only that they are forgiven, but that we
are all done with as children of Adam. e little children
have not that. ey do not know that they are entirely set
aside as to their Adam nature. e old nature is dead to
faith, and “ when Christ who is our life shall appear, then
shall we also appear with him in glory “; and faith has got
the place now, “ Herein is love with us made perfect,” “
because as he is, so are we in this world.” ere is the man
perfect.
He says, “ Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be
thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded,
God shall reveal even this unto you.” He may be at the
beginning, and you farther on; if so, you ought only to
show him the more grace; however, Christ has laid hold
on him, and forgiven him his sins, and he will yet know
another thing, even that he has died with Christ-that not
only sins are forgiven, but that sin is put away by faith-
that he himself is put away- that self which troubled him
a great deal more than his sins. ey are to be likeminded,
as those who know that they are associated with the last
Adam. Even if this is not seen by all, they are yet to go
thoroughly together; God will reveal it to the others.
He then turns to the contrast, and, in doing so, puts
himself forward in a remarkable way as their example.
ere are those whose “ conversation is in heaven,” and
there are those who “ mind earthly things “; the end of the
latter is destruction; they are contrary to Christianity. It is
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now not a question of not seeing clearly, but of having the
mind on earthly things. at is not Christ in glory; I cannot
mind earthly things and Christ too. “ e friendship of the
world is enmity with God.” “ All that is in the world is not
of the Father.” e children are of the Father. When I was
rst awakened, I was astonished to nd so much about the
world in God’s word; but I soon saw, when I had to do with
Christians, how it dragged them back, always soliciting
their hearts.
He says those who mind earthly things are the enemies
of the cross of Christ. What was the cross? It had judged
all this. I nd the Son of God-the spring, and root, and
plant, for all glory to grow on. e cross was all He got in
this world. And what is the world? e world would not
have Christ on any terms; so I have done with it. “ e
world seeth me no more “; the Holy Ghost is not come
to be seen; “ whom the world cannot receive, because it
seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for
he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” at is how we
know the Holy Ghost.
Evil and good came to an issue at the cross. It was the
turning-point; it was where the two met. And now the
whole question is, Am I with the world that turned Christ
out, or with Christ whom the world turned out? ere is
nothing like the cross. It is both the righteousness of God
against sin, and the righteousness of God in pardoning sin.
It is the end of the world of judgment, and the beginning
of the world of life. It is the work that put away sin, and
yet it is the greatest sin that ever was committed. e more
we think of it, the more we see it is the turning-point of
everything. So, if a person follows the world, he is an enemy
of the cross of Christ. As Christians we have to look into it,
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how far this vain show puts a spider lm over our hearts, so
as to hinder us from seeing. If I take the glory of the world
that crucied Christ, I am glorying in my shame. Where
is a man at home? In his Father’s house, not in the dreary
desert he has to cross in going there.
e meekness of the path we saw in chapter 2; here we
have the power and energy that delivers from the world
that would hinder our being like Him.
“ Who shall change our vile body “-the body of our
humiliation, not vile morally. I have Adam’s body now,
I shall have Christ’s then. All our living associations are
where He is. As Savior He will come and accomplish all in
changing our body, and conforming it to His glorious body.
e price has been paid, but the nal deliverance of what
has been paid for is not yet come. “ He that hath wrought
us for the selfsame thing is God,” but we have not yet got
it. We are waiting till He come, to get it.
Ah! beloved brethren, if our hearts really felt that God
is going to make us like Christ, if we practically believed
that He is going to bring us as brethren to be with and like
Christ- well, we should have altogether another thought
about the world, we should be “ perfect “ then, pressing
towards the mark.
If I die meanwhile, I am always condent. I do not want
to die; I want mortality to be swallowed up of life; but if
death come, it does not touch my condence; “ absent from
the body, present with the Lord.”
He rst speaks of the hope; that is what I want.
en he looks at the two things that are man’s portion:
“ It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment.” As to death, it is gain to me, for to be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord. But what
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about the judgment? It is a solemn thing. It is “ the terror
of the Lord.” I think of the poor things not converted, and
I “ persuade men.” It makes him think not of himself but
of other people, though he says, “ we must all appear “-that
is, be manifested” before the judgment-seat of Christ.” We
persuade men, and are made manifest to God. e day of
judgment had its eect on him; it made him feel now the
eect of the presence of God, as he will do in the day of
judgment. It keeps my conscience awake and alive; it is
a sanctifying power, not a terrifying one. Divine power
will take us; as Adam had Eve presented to him, Christ,
being God, presents His Eve-His church-to Himself, as
last Adam.
Persons have asked if this is present or future-” that I
may know him, and the power of his resurrection.” It is the
present power of looking at it objectively. “ He that hath
this hope in him purieth himself, even as he is pure.” It
is the present eect of having the eye xed on Him and
waiting for Him. Final redemption will come, and make
good, as to the body, what is true now of the soul. He will
make us like Him in the Father’s house; and, what I feel is
so blessed, He will have us there without even the need of
a conscience.
Here I must always have my conscience on the qui vive;
if not, I am at once caught in a snare of Satan. ere I shall
not want it, where all around will be blessedness. We shall
have the Holy Ghost then too, and His whole power spent
in enabling us to enjoy the glory. Now “ the love of God
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is
given unto us,” but much of the power is spent in making
the ship go.
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As a matter of fact, a number of us have cares, and trials,
and temptations. God has thought of all these; He has
counted the very hairs of our heads, and given us something
that takes us out of them all. He thinks of the weather for
us even: “ Pray ye that your ight be not in the winter.”
Nay, even a sparrow falls not to the ground without your
Father. God thinks of everything, and gives us complete
superiority over everything.
It is blessed to see that the apostle goes from the
most exalted thoughts of the revelation of God to the
commonest things a saint has to pass through. From things
so exalted he turns to two women who were not getting
on well together. So it is to-day. ere is no forgetfulness
in grace. It takes up to the third heaven, but goes down
to the smallest things. Even when a runaway slave is in
question, the delicacy with which Paul deals with it has
been admired in all ages.
What was Christ’s comfort on the cross? He could not
tell the poor thief that he was going to paradise without
telling him that He was going there too: “ To-day shalt
thou be with me in paradise.” So Paul, when thinking of
the women who labored with him, says, “ whose names
are in the book of life.” God being there, there were divine
aections; we are put in the place of divine aections.
ere is nothing I feel more in going out to visit, than
the desire that Christ should be so there, that the thing
should come out that would come out of Christ-not my
own thoughts. We do not know half how blessed it is to
have the mind of Christ; but the mind of Christ was to go
down to the cross.
“ Rejoice in the Lord alway.” Who was a t person to
say that? e man who had been in the third heaven? No.
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e man a prisoner at Rome. at was rejoicing always; as
we have in the Psalms, “ I will bless the Lord at all times.”
When I get the Lord as the object of my heart, there is
more of heaven in the prison than out of it. It is not the
green pastures and waters of quietness that make him
glad, “ e Lord is my Shepherd,” not the green pastures,
though green pastures are very nice. And even if I wander
from them, it is “ He restoreth my soul.” And if death is
in the way, I am not afraid, for “ ou art with me.” And
though there are dreadful enemies, there is a table spread
in their presence. Now he says, “ My cup runneth over.” He
carries him through all the diculties and trials of his own
feebleness. Ah! he says, “ surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever.”
e man who trusted in the Lord, the more trouble he
was in, the more he proved that all was right. Paul says,
I know Him free, and I know Him in prison. He was
sucient when he was in want, and sucient when he
abounded. So he says, “ Rejoice in the Lord alway.”
What could they do with such a man? If they kill him,
they only send him to heaven; if they let him live, he is all
devoted to lead people to the Christ they would destroy.
It is more dicult to rejoice in the Lord in prosperity
than in trials, for trials cast us on the Lord. ere is more
danger for us when there are no trials. But delight in the
Lord delivers us altogether from the power of present
things. We are not aware, until they are taken away, how
much the most spiritual of us lean on props. I mean we
lean on things around us. But if we are rejoicing in the
Lord alway, that strength can never be taken away, nor can
we lose the joy of it.
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“ Let your moderation be known unto all men.” Do you
think people will think your conversation is in heaven if
you are eager about things of earth? ey will only think so
if there is the testimony that the heart does not stick up for
itself. “ e Lord is at hand.” All will be set right soon. If you
pass on in meekness, and subduedness, and unresistingness,
how it acts in keeping the heart and aections right; and
the world can see when the mind and spirit is not set on it.
So he says, let it be “ known unto all men.”
“ Be careful for nothing.” I have found that word so
often a thorough comfort. Even if it be a great trial, still
“ be careful for nothing.” Oh! you say, it is not my petty
circumstances-it is a question of saints going wrong. Well,
“ be careful for nothing.” It is not that you are careless, but
you are trying to carry the burden, and so you are racking
your heart with it. How often a burden possesses a person’s
mind, and when he tries in vain to cast it o, it comes
back and worries him! But “ be careful for nothing “ is a
command, and it is blessed to have such a command.
What shall I do then? Go to God. “ In everything by
prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God.” en in the midst of all the
care you can give thanks. And we see the exceeding grace
of God in this. It is not that you are to wait till you nd out
if what you want is the will of God. No. “ Let your requests
be made known.” Have you a burden on your heart? Now
go with your request to God. He does not say that you will
get it. Paul, when he prayed, had for answer, “ My grace
is sucient for thee.” But peace will keep your heart and
mind- not you will keep this peace. Is He ever troubled by
the little things that trouble us? Do they shake His throne?
He thinks of us, we know, but He is not troubled; and the
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peace that is in God’s heart is to keep ours. I go and carry
it all to Him, and I nd Him all quiet about it. It is all
settled. He knows quite well what He is going to do. I have
laid the burden on the throne that never shakes, with the
perfect certainty that God takes an interest in me, and the
peace He is in keeps my heart, and I can thank Him even
before the trouble has passed. I can say, ank God, He
takes an interest in me. It is a blessed thing that I can have
this peace, and thus go and make my request-perhaps a
very foolish one-and, instead of brooding over trials, that I
can be with God about them.
It is sweet to me to see that, while He carries us up
to heaven, He comes down and occupies Himself with
everything of ours here. While our aections are occupied
with heavenly things, we can trust God for earthly things.
He comes down to everything. As Paul says, “ without
were ghtings, within were fears. Nevertheless God, that
comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us.” It
was worth being cast down to get that kind of comfort.
Is He a God afar o, and not a God nigh at hand? He
does not give us to see before us, for then the heart would
not be exercised; but, though we see not Him, He sees us,
and comes down to give us all that kind of comfort in the
trouble.
Phil. 4:8-23.
e rst two verses I have read are the last of the
exhortation in this epistle.
We have already seen the way in which, in entire
superiority to all circumstances, the Christian is to go on.
All through the epistle that character of the power of the
Spirit of God is brought out. In verse 8 we get the eect
of what we were speaking of last time: “ Rejoice in the
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Lord alway “; “ let your moderation be known unto all
men “; “ be careful for nothing; let your requests be made
known unto God, and the peace of God which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.” e heart is set free, for the peace of God,
which is immutable, keeps the heart and mind. ere is
nothing new or strange to God. He is always in peace,
working all things after the counsel of His own will. It is
thus that the heart is to be at rest, and then it is free to be
occupied with what is lovely and blessed.
It is a great thing for the Christian to have the habit of
living in what is good in this world, where we necessarily
have to do with what is evil. We were evil ourselves once,
and nothing else was in heart, thoughts, and mind; and
there is still evil not only in the world but in our hearts,
and we have to judge it where it is allowed. But it will not
do to be always occupied with it. It deles even when we
judge it; just as when the man had to do with the ashes of
the red heifer in Num. 19; he was really doing a service in
gathering them up, and laying them up without the camp,
yet he was unclean until even, and the same as to him who
applied them. It is soiling to our minds, even to be judging
evil. ere is in some hearts a tendency to be busy about
evil, but it will not do to live in. Of course I am not now
speaking of living in it actually, but of even in thought
judging it.
It is a great thing to have the heart toned and tuned
to take delight in the things God delights in. Even in the
sense of judging evil as evil, it is not happy. I am to be living
now as with God in heaven, and has God to be judging
evil in heaven? We know He has not; and it is a great thing
for our souls to be above with the Lord, not only doing
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the things that please Him, but being also in the state of
mind in which He can delight. Take one day only and ask
yourself, has your mind been living in the things that are
lovely and of good report? It is that the apostle speaks of
here. Is it the habit of your mind to be dwelling on what is
good? Evil forces itself on us in these days, but it will not do
to be dwelling on it. It weakens the mind; the mind gets no
strength from thinking of it. It may awaken disgust where
the mind is in a spiritual state, but even judging it, we are
not doing it rightly unless the heart is dwelling on what is
good. We might be bringing down re from heaven, when
Christ would merely go to another village.
He walked in the full power of communion in what was
good in the midst of evil, though He had to do with it; He
had to say, “ Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees “; and
we may have to do with it too, but it is never done rightly
unless we are living in what is good. ere would never
be softness, and by this I do not mean softness towards
evil-we have to judge that peremptorily-but there would
be no gracious softness. Paul had to say, “ I would they were
even cut o which trouble you.” ere is no softness here:
but still even this comes out in love. Supposing we have
to judge evil, we have to do it in the power of the good
that is in us. Here is the path in which our souls have to
walk: “ Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are
honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are
of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any
praise, think on these things.” e Lord give us, beloved
brethren, to remember them. God may have to judge, but
He dwells in what is good.
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We then get-and what a blessed thing it is for a man to
be able to say it-” ose things which ye have both learned,
and received, and heard, and seen in me, do.” Mark here,
that is the way of having the God of peace with us. When
our cares are cast on God, he says, “ e peace of God,
which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus “; but this is more. Paul
stood in a special or peculiar place, lled by the Spirit of
God, though the chief of sinners, as he says, yet “ always
bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus “: “
death worketh in us-life in you.” It was a great deal to say.
He had to have a thorn in the esh to enable him to carry
it out; it was not that his esh was naturally any better
than yours. He did not only say, I am dead, but he carried
about the death in the esh, so that it did not stir. He was
a chosen vessel, we know, and it was through the grace and
power of Christ that he did it. But he was doing it, and so,
as we remarked in beginning, there is never sin mentioned
in this epistle, because it is the proper experience of
Christian life; doctrine is scarcely alluded to either. Paul
speaks throughout in the consciousness of his experience.
If I look to walk after Christ, I must reckon myself dead.
I never say I must die, because this would be to suppose
the esh there working; of course it is there, but I say it is
dead. I quite understand a person passing through a state
by which he learns what esh is, and such processes are
more or less long. But when brought thoroughly down to
say, “ In me (that is, in my esh) dwelleth no good thing,”
then God can say, Reckon yourself dead; do not let sin
have dominion over you. e spring from which all power
comes is that you have died. at is the fundamental truth
as to deliverance. Deliverance comes when by the power of
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the Spirit of God we reckon ourselves dead. It is not so but
to faith. Christ is there in power, and I reckon myself dead,
and then I can deal in power.
“ is is the record that God hath given to us eternal
life, and this life is in his Son.” But is that all? No. For
supposing life is there, and that the old nature is still alive,
there is nothing but conict between the two, and, unless
I have the power of the Spirit of God, no settled freedom
from sin; and supposing I have, still there is conict. Only
if I am dead really, my deliverance from the working of the
esh is fully realized. e apostle says, in the power and
being of this life, I am dead; and when he comes to carry
it out, it is “ always bearing about in the body the dying of
the Lord Jesus.” I have received Christ as righteousness
before God, and as life in me; and I treat the old thing as
dead. It is not only that I have life, but I have died, so it is
not an even chance between the two, which shall have the
upper hand. It is the way till I am brought to the discovery
that there is no good in the esh, and that I have died with
Christ. en I learn that not only I have done bad things,
but that the tree itself is bad, and that Christ, who is our
life, has died to sin, as well as for sins; and, when I reckon
the old thing dead, I nd liberty.
I do not say forgiveness, but deliverance. “ e law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free.” Of
course I may fail, and may be brought under the power of
sin for a moment, but I am not a debtor to it any more.
How has He condemned the esh? In death. en I am
free- in the fact of life treating the old thing as dead. We
are always to manifest this life of Jesus. Keeping in faith
this dying of Christ, I have got the cross for the esh. e
apostle says, e death of Christ works in me, old Paul, and
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so nothing but the life of Christ ows out for you; and he
says, Go you and do like me; “ those things which ye have
both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do:
and the God of peace shall be with you.” He Himself will
be then present with you.
What a wonderful thing it is, beloved brethren! e life
of Christ given-the esh reckoned dead-and we walking
accordingly. Is God then going to keep Himself separate
from you? No. “ e God of peace shall be with you.”
It is wonderful how often He is called “ the God of
peace,” while He is never called the God of joy. Joy is an
uneven thing. Joy gives us the thought of hearing good
news, and sorrow may be there too. ere is joy indeed
in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, for that is good
news there; but it is not God’s nature like peace. It is an
emotion of the heart. Man is a poor and weak creature. He
hears good news, and he has joy; he hears sad news, and he
has sorrow. It is the ups and downs of a creature-nature.
But He is “ the God of peace.” It is a deeper thing. Look
at the world and the human heart; do you ever see peace
there? Joy we do see in the animal nature even; as in a beast
let loose. And we may see a kind of joy in the world, but
there is no peace; the heart of man is “ like the troubled sea,
when it cannot rest “-incessant harassment for amusement,
and they call that joy. e world is a restless world, and
if it cannot be restless in activity to get what it wants, it
is restless because it cannot. We never nd peace in this
world except when God gives it.
If we are walking in the power of the life of Christ,
the God of peace is with us. We have the consciousness of
His presence. e heart is at rest; there is no craving after
something we have not got. Even among Christians we see
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persons who have no peace because they are craving after
what they have not got. at is not peace. But enjoying
what is in Him, though surely craving to know Him better,
is blessed rest of heart;-it is peace. It is a blessed thing to
have such a sanctuary in this world-” the God of peace “
with us.
We then see how Paul is superior to all circumstances.
He had been in want, though in a kind of free prison, and
his heart felt it. “ I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now
at the last your care of me hath ourished again.” He says,
“ now at the last,” as if they had been a little bit careless.
But there is a gracious delicacy towards them; he at once
withdraws what he had said, by adding, “ but ye lacked
opportunity.” ere is never insensibility in the Christian’s
superiority, else it is no superiority. In all circumstances the
heart is free to act according to the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and He was never insensible. We steel ourselves
against circumstances; our poor selsh hearts like to get
away from suering. But He was always Himself in the
circumstances. So, as has been said, there was no character
in Christ. He was always Himself. Perfectly sensitive to all
things, but never governed by them, always in them in the
strength of His own grace. We never nd Him unmoved.
When He saw the crowd, He was “ moved with compassion
towards them “; and when He saw the bier which carried
out the only son of the widow, He had pity on her; and at
the grave of Lazarus “ He groaned in the spirit, and was
troubled “-a strong expression, it is, He troubled Himself
inwardly. e power of death in the people around Him
pressed on His spirit. No matter where He was, He was
never insensible, but was Himself in grace for that He was
sensible of. On the cross, He had the right word for the
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thief. Even when He had to say, “ How long shall I be with
you, and suer you? “ He immediately adds, “ Bring thy
son hither.” He was perfectly sensitive, as we are not, with
His grace always ready to be called out. What shows itself
in Christ is what we should seek to be; that is, perfectly
sensitive to all circumstances, but that they should meet
Christ in us, so as to draw Him out.
We have seen how Paul corrects what he had said, “ at
the last your care of me hath ourished again,” by adding,
“ ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.” We never
nd the Lord correcting Himself. Paul was a man of like
passions as we are. At Troas he could not stop, though a
great door was opened to him for preaching the gospel; he
had no rest in his spirit because he did not nd Titus. In
Macedonia, too, his esh had no rest. And he says of that
epistle which gives us inspired directions for the assembly
(we could not do without it), that he was not sorry he had
written it, though he had been sorry; and yet he had been
inspired to write it. His heart had sunk below the place he
was in, when he thought all the Corinthians had turned
against him. It is blessed in one sense to see that, though
he was an apostle, he was so like us: but we would not see
it in the blessed Lord. Perfect sensitiveness, but perfection
in it, is what we see in Him; while we see the apostle was a
man, though it is interesting to see him feeling in that way.
He then goes on to show, that he was superior to all
these circumstances. “ Not that I speak in respect of want,
for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to
be content.” “ I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me.” Power has come in for us, beloved
friends. People say, Oh! we can do all things through Christ,
as a kind of absolute truth. I say, Can you? You cannot.
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Oh! you say, a person can; and this is perfectly true as an
absolute statement, but it is not what the apostle meant.
He meant that he could do all things; he had learned it.
It was a real state for him, not an abstract proposition. “
I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry.” If full,
He keeps me from being careless, and indierent, and self-
satised; if hungry, He keeps me from being cast down
and dissatised. With him it was not a man can, but I have
found Christ so sucient in every circumstance that I am
under the power of none. He had been beaten of rods: ve
times he had received of the Jews forty stripes, save one;
he had been stoned, and he had gone through all sorts of
things; but he had found Christ sucient in them all.
And do not say, Ah! that was when he was a mature
Christian; it was very well to say it at the end of his life. If
he had not found Christ thus sucient from the beginning
right through to the end, he could not have said what he
did at the end. It is that faith reckons on Christ from
the starting point of Christian life. It is the principle I
was referring to in Psa. 23 When the Psalmist had gone
through everything, he says, “ Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever.” Full or hungry I shall
always nd that He is enough. But to be able to experience
this at the end it must be experienced by the way.
Do not say, Oh! he was an apostle! he was a wonderfully
blessed man, far above the evil that is torturing me. No
such thing! He had a thorn in the esh while he was
writing; and though that was not power, it put him into
nothingness where the power could come in. e Lord
would not take it away when Paul besought Him. “ My
grace is sucient for thee,” was His answer. It seemed a
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hindrance; but, when he preached, Christ’s power was
seen, not Paul’s. I refer to it so that you should not say that
he was free from the diculties and snares of the esh.
God had put him in danger of being exalted above measure
by taking him up to the third heaven, and He sent him
a thorn to make nothing of him, and then His strength
was made perfect in weakness. Divine strength cannot be
where human strength is. If it had been human strength,
Paul’s converts would have been worth nothing; but God’s
converts were worth eternal life. It is a great thing that
we should be made nothing of. If we do not know how to
be nothing, God must make us nothing. A humble person
does not need to be humbled.
Paul was dependent upon Christ-absolutely dependent
on Christ-and we nd the infallible faithfulness of Christ
to him. But, I repeat, he could not have said it at the end,
if he had not experienced it by the way. It is a blessed
testimony. He is sucient for us where we are; but He
must bring us to the point of uprightness. e soul must be
in the truth of its state before God. Till the conscience get
into the place where I really am-till it get the consciousness
of distance from God, and unfaithfulness to Him-it is not
upright. But when it gets there, Now, says God, I have got
you right; I can help you. Job said, “ When the ear heard
me, then it blessed me, and when the eye saw me, it gave
witness to me; because I delivered the poor that cried, and
the fatherless, and him that had none to help.” I did this,
I did that. at will not do, says God; that is all I, I, I. So
He lets the devil loose upon him till Job curses the day in
which he was born, but at last he says, “ Now mine eye
seeth thee; wherefore I abhor myself.” at will do, says
God; now I can bless you. And He did bless him.
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God would have us not merely holding our heads above
water, but going on in the strength of His grace.
“ Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning
of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church
communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving,
but ye only. For even in essalonica ye sent once and again
unto my necessity.” Love is never forgetful; it treasures up
acts of service. And the apostle treasured up in memory
the things, wherein he had been cared for. God delights in
service done to His saints; even what is done to the world
He delights in too.
“ But my God shall supply all your need according to
his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Mark the intimacy
there is in “ my God.” It is emphatic. It is saying, I know
Him; I can answer for Him; I have come through all kinds
of things, and I can answer for it that He never failed me. I
know the way He acts even in the small things of everyday
life.
It is a great thing to trust God daily and hourly; not
thinking we can provide for ourselves, and secure ourselves
against the power of evil, but to trust God thoroughly. And
what is the measure of the supply? Nothing short of “ his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” He must glorify Himself-
even in the falling of a sparrow-for there is nothing great
and nothing small with God. He thinks of what His love
must glorify itself in.
“ My God shall supply all your need.” How could Paul
tell that? He knew Him. Not that he had not been in a
condition of want, but he had felt the preciousness of being
met in it by God. ings may look very dark, but we have
always found that, if He led us by the wilderness where
there was no water, He brought water out of the stony rock
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for us there. He always exercises faith, but He always meets
it. eir coats even did not grow old for forty years. is is
a blessed result.
“ My God shall supply all your need.” He was counting
on blessing for others. What a comfort! Instead of walking
by sight, to be passing through this world in the blessed
consciousness of what God is for oneself, and so able to
count on Him for others. We nd ourselves sometimes
almost dreading to press a person into the path of faith; but
we should not dread, but count on grace for them. Faith is
always triumphant.
e Lord give us to count on Him always, and we
shall then say, “ I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me.”
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62994
oughts on Philippians 2
Phil. 3 presents the energy of life and of the Spirit of
God in the Christian running toward the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus, that he might win Christ.
In chapter 2 we nd the display of the gracious aections.
But in order to this, the Spirit of God xes our minds upon
Christ looked at in this humble condition, or rather when
He humbled Himself. It is beautiful, the way in which,
toward the end of the chapter, without an eort, we nd
the apostle’s feelings were all drawn out-the spirit elevated
really above the circumstances, but free to unfold itself in
gracious aections in the midst of them all. And that is
just what the Christian ought to be, having Christ as his
one object, the power of the Holy Ghost raising him above
all around him, that there should be the display of Christ
towards all around him. e Christian’s life here ought to
be the manifestation of Christ in the midst of the world.
For this we must be in constant communion with the
source of it. e Christian’s life as such down here is the
display of Christ’s life. It is the life of Jesus manifested in
his mortal body.
e Philippians had sent to the apostle to help him,
when in prison, with a supply of what he needed. His heart
had been touched, and he felt the kindness and love. But
while owning it, his heart turns to think of them. e Spirit
of life in Christ is at work in him, and he immediately
thinks of their things. He is comforted of them and can say,
“ I know how to abound and to suer need.” I am rejoicing
that I can get the blessing from you: but the consequence
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is that it turns back towards them. He says, “ If there be,
therefore, any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love,
if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
fulll ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same
love, being of one accord, of one mind.”
If the love of Christ is in our hearts, the consequence
is that things acquire a character entirely dierent. ey
had sent to the apostle what he wanted, and he says there
is consolation in Christ. It is not merely the things he got,
but the comfort of Christ and fellowship of the Spirit. It
was the working of the spirit of grace in Jesus, showing
itself in this fellowship. He says, If you want me to be
perfectly happy, go on well among yourselves. ere were
some little jealousies at work, such things as do spring
up amongst Christians; but he takes occasion, by owning
all the grace that was in them, to say, “ Fulll ye my joy,
that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one
accord, of one mind.” And one just sees how these gracious
aections are drawn out and in exercise, where the heart, in
the power of the Spirit of God, is carried beyond the things
which act on the esh. His heart turns to Christ as the
expression of this. He says, “ Let nothing be done through
strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem
other better than themselves.” Now if we are not very near
Christ, that is often very dicult. We may see great vanity
or pride in another, and one may be going on really better
than this or that person. I do not mean that the other may
be positively sinning; but I may feel that he is not walking
spiritually. Yet, if I am practically close to Christ myself, I
see my brother in Christ, and then it is not hard to estimate
others better than myself. Where I am walking in nearness
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to Christ, if there is anything consciously wrong in myself,
this is what I feel about and not my goodness.
e best thing is not to be thinking about myself at
all, but to have the sense of my own nothingness, which
we always have when we are near the Lord. I feel my
nothingness in the presence of Christ. But if I look at
my brother, I see Christ in him-not his faults. If we are
thus close to the Lord, it is natural to esteem others better
than ourselves. We judge ourselves in His presence; but
we see the workings of Christ in our brother. e thing
that is before us in our brother is Christ. See the amazing
privilege of the Christian. “ Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus.” e state here is the fruit of the
energy which is brought before us in chapter 3. ere he
was counting all as dross and dung, and pressing on toward
the mark. at is supposed here, and he says, “ Let the
same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” In
this passage we get the complete and absolute contrast of
all that was in the rst Adam and in the esh now. You are
to have the same mind as there was in Christ, looked at
from the time that He was in the glory till He came down
to the cross. at is what governed all His path from the
divine glory down to this nothingness of death, “ the dust
of death,” as it is called. You are to have the same mind as
He had all that pathway. And you will see what it is here.
It is a wonderful thing to see that we are called upon
to have the same mind which was in Christ Jesus. It is
from having His nature, “ who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made
himself of no reputation.” If we look at the rst Adam, it
was exactly the opposite. He was in the form of man, in
the condition of man, and he did set about, as a robbery,
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to be equal with God. He took it in order to get into this
place, to exalt himself; and he was abased. Whereas Christ
abased Himself, and He is exalted. It is not only that He
appears, but He abases Himself. “ He made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men.” en there was a second
step in this humiliation. “ And being found in fashion as a
man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross.” ere is nothing so humble as
obedience, because we have then no will of our own at all.
Adam, besides setting up to be God, was disobedient unto
death; whereas Christ, on the contrary, was obedient unto
death, as a matter of sorrow and pain. He was “ obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross.”
e thing that I nd in Christ exactly opposed to the
rst Adam and to our esh is that He humbled Himself-
emptied Himself. First, He made Himself of no reputation,
and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself
and became obedient unto death. You see it is not merely
bearing wrongs- this He did most really. But there is
another thing here- perfect love. It was this that brought
Him down. He came into the place of obedience, and it
was through perfect love to others who wanted it. For love
likes to serve; selshness likes to be served, and thinks itself
exalted when other people are waiting upon it. Love likes
to serve; and that is what Christ always will do. He will
never give it up. He served when He was down here upon
the earth. “ I am among you as he that serveth.” Wretched
hearts they had to enter into it! Knowing that He was
come from God and went to God, He girds Himself, pours
water into a basin and begins to wash the disciples’ feet.
is is what He is doing now; He is washing our feet; He
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is servant in that sense still. It is His glory really-the glory
of His love towards us.
And when the time comes, it is the same thing. He tells
them to be as men that wait for their Lord. “ Blessed are
those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall nd
watching; verily I say unto you that he shall gird himself,
and make them sit down to meat, and will come forth
and serve them.” e Lord thus presented Himself in this
wonderful way as taking the form of a servant-His ear
bored. It was not there His becoming a man; but when He
had served the seven years perfectly, He says, I will not go
out free. He remains a servant forever. He might have had
twelve legions of angels and gone out free; but that is not
what He came for. He said, I will be a servant forever.
at is the very thing which Christ all through His
path has done. Leaving God in the glory, leaving the form
of Godhead in abeyance, He became a servant for the
blessing of others. We have got the blessing now and the
glory; and the way you show that, is by serving now in
that spirit of love that thinks everyone better than oneself;
and serves everybody. In the presence of Christ selshness
disappears, and blessed holy aections ow forth without
diculty. I am not thinking of myself. I see what is blessed
and good in another, and this is the energy that overcomes
all diculties. Christ humbled Himself: God, therefore,
has highly exalted Him, and “ given him a name which is
above every name,” etc.
In verse 13, it is God working in us to will and to do of
His good pleasure. We have by grace, God as the worker
in us of this willing and doing. at is what is displayed in
our life. It showed itself in Christ by His coming down and
humbling Himself; and now He says God is working in
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you the same mind, to will and to do of His good pleasure.
You are to be blameless and harmless; that is what Christ
was. You are actually manifested down here as Christ was.
Did He not shine as the light? at is what you are. He was
the word of life, and He was holding it forth; and He says,
that is what you are to do too-” holding forth the word of
life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not
run in vain, neither labored in vain.” Just see how all these
aections come out. “ Yea, and if I be oered upon the
sacrice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you
all.” It was really manifesting Christ to them.
He was there a prisoner, perhaps going to be put to
death; but “ I joy and rejoice with you all.” Your faith is
what I look at as a precious sacrice; you are going to be in
glory with Christ: and if I am oered up, it is for that very
reason; I am oered on your faith. e oering was their
faith. He says, as it were, I throw myself in, that we may
rejoice together. We are all going to heaven in company. He
is looking at Christ having these saints, and he is helping
them. “ For the same cause [he adds] also do ye joy and
rejoice with me.” What! rejoice when he was going to be
put to death! Looking at the blessedness in Christ, he rises
above it all.
But we see the same aections coming out still. Even
in common things, he cannot be happy till he knows their
state. “ But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus
shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when
I know your state.” I cannot rest perfectly happy till I know
that all is well with you all. “ For I have no man likeminded,
who will naturally care for your state.” It is not that he
could trust others for the same love, but it was in him. “ For
all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.”
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But still he rests in Timothy. “ But ye know the proof of
him, that, as a son with the father, he has served with me
in the gospel.” It is still the same blessed happy feeling.
Timothy’s aection, too, is brought out. Paul knew that
the Philippians would care about him, so he says Timothy
shall come and tell you.
“ Yet I supposed it necessary to send unto you
Epaphrodims, my brother and companion in labor, and
fellow-soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered
to my wants.” us he links them all in one. “ For he longed
after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had
heard that he had been sick.” e Philippians had heard
that he had been sick, and Epaphroditus felt they would
be all miserable because of this. How he reckons upon
their love! He was full of heaviness, not because of his own
sickness, but because they had heard of it. It is the present
owing out of aection. “ For indeed he was sick nigh unto
death; but God had mercy on him: and not on him only, but
on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.” What
a sorrow it would have been to me, if you had lost this
blessed servant of Christ through serving me! “ I sent him
therefore the more carefully that, when ye see him again,
ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.” How
all these gracious, blessed aections are drawn out where
this mind of Christ is! Look at Christ Himself. “ With
desire,” He says, “ I have desired to eat this passover with
you before I suer.” He was about to suer; He was going
to work the work of redemption. Still His soul was always
bright instead of being oppressed. Even when He wanted
for the last time to have the paschal supper with them. “
With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you.”
It was not to be again. ink of the amount of lowliness,
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as well as love, that comes out in this aection. “ Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” It cannot
be unless we are near to Christ, because the wretched esh
rises and is anxious about itself. But where the soul has, as
the single thing before it, the desire to honor Christ, the
life of Christ is set free in displaying Christ in the world;
and then all these blessed aections are in full play. What
do we learn in Christ? He was always going down. We are
elevated because we are in Christ. But we are to have the
same “ mind “; and the way that this shows itself is in self
humbling and in obedience. is sets free all the Christian
aections, because Christ has set me free from self.
May we so feed upon Him, and have Him for our object,
and enter into His spirit, that we may have the mind of
Christ, and show Him forth in the world!
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Here: Philippians 2
THE whole of this epistle contains very little doctrine
(doctrine being just alluded to in chapter 3); but it gives us,
in a remarkable manner, the experience of a Christian life
in the power of the Holy Ghost. It is full of blessing in that
character -the life above seen down here in a man through
the power of the Spirit of God. So much is this the case
that the very word “ sin “ is not found in it. When he speaks
of justication and righteousness, it is not in contrast with
sin, but rather with human and legal righteousness. e
esh was there. At the very time Paul wrote the epistle he
had got the thorn in the esh to prevent it from acting; but
we see in him one rising above the esh and all hindrances,
that Christ might be magnied in him. Whether to live or
die, he did not know; he would have like to be gone, but in
love to the church he says, Better for you to remain; and so,
counting upon Christ and knowing it is better, he knows
he will remain. He knows how to abound and how to suer
need; he is pressing towards the mark for the prize-it is the
only thing he has to do.
e graciousness of a Christian is in chapter 2, the
energy in chapter 3, the absence of care in chapter 4; but
it is all by the power of the Spirit of God. It is well for us
to lay it to heart. We are the epistle of Christ known and
read of all men-an epistle written not in stone, but in the
eshy tables of the heart. We are set as Christians to be a
letter of recommendation of Christ before the world. Yet it
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gives us the fullest and blessedest condence towards God
if we take that ground; for, if we are in the presence of the
world for God, Christ is in the presence of God for us. His
work has perfectly settled that question, and He is every
moment appearing in the presence of God for us.
We are loved as He is loved. In every shape in which
we can look at it, all is a xed settled thing according to
the counsels of God in grace; it is in a poor earthen vessel,
but our relationship is settled, all that belonged to the old
man cleared away, and all that belongs to Christ, the new
Man, our positive portion. Not only are our debts paid,
but we are to be conformed to the image of His Son, and
He has obtained for us the glory which is His own. “ e
glory which thou halt given me I have given them.” He
has given Himself on the cross to meet what we were, and
He has obtained for us all that He has. is is the way
Christ gives-not as the world. If the world gives, they have
it not any longer; but Christ never gives in that way-never
gives away, but brings us into all He has. If I light up one
candle by another, I lose nothing of the rst; and such is
the way He gives. I speak of blessed principles. “My peace
I give unto you” and “that they may have my joy fullled in
themselves.” “ e words thou hast given me I have given
them” and “that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may
be in them.” He became a Man on purpose to bring us as
men into the same glory as Himself. at relationship we
are brought into already. “ I ascend to my Father and your
Father, to my God and your God.” If I look at righteousness
and holiness, I am as He is; if at the Son, I am before the
Father as a son; and, as we have borne the image of the
earthy, we shall bear the image of the heavenly.
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e work that entitles us to this is absolutely and totally
nished. e Spirit makes us rst feel our need in order
to our possessing it, but the work is nished. In order to
get our path clear, we must see where He has brought us.
I cannot expect anyone to behave as my child, if he is not
my child: you must be in the place before you have the
conduct suited to that place, or be under the obligations
which belong to it; and it is this last part I desire to look
at a little here to-night. “ You hath he reconciled,” not
brought half-way: as to relationship, brought into Christ.
at is all. rough the work of the cross He put away our
sins, and when He had done it, He sat down at the right
hand of the majesty in heaven. He nished the work which
His Father gave Him to do; and in Hebrews the Spirit
contrasts Christ’s work with that work of the priests which
was never nished, so that they never sat down.
We are perfect as pertaining to the conscience. A
blunder often made is confounding perfection as to our
state with perfection as to our conscience. When once
we have understood the work of Christ, we are perfect as
regards the conscience. If I look up to God, I can have
no thought of His ever imputing sin to me again, or I
could not have peace with God; and this is so true that
it is said, if this work was not perfectly done, Christ must
suer again. But He cannot drink that dreadful cup again,
the very thought of which made Him sweat great drops of
blood. If there is any sin still to be put away (I speak now of
believers), Christ must suer again, and this can never be.
God has set Him at His right hand as having nished the
work: “ I have nished the work which thou gavest me to
do; now, O Father, glorify thou me.” He will deal with His
enemies, no doubt, when He rises up in judgment; but, as
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to believers, He is sitting down because He has no more to
do. I am not speaking now, of course, of the daily grace He
ministers to them. It is settled, and settled with this double
aspect that, the purpose of God being to bring us into the
same glory as His Son, the work of Christ not only cleared
away our guilt but obtained that glory for us. We have not
got it yet; but the work which is our title to it is nished,
though we have not yet the glory to which it is our title.
We are anointed and sealed with the Spirit, and He is the
earnest of our inheritance. We are to the praise of the glory
of His grace, but not yet to the praise of His glory, which
will be when He comes the second time to bring us into
the glory which His work obtained for us when He came
the rst time. And our life stands between the two-the
cross and the glory.
We are here in this world, beloved friends, in the midst
of temptations, snares, and diculties, everything around
us tending to draw us away; but the power of God is in
us. We know that we are sons of God, though the world
knows us not. “ It doth not yet appear what we shall be,
but we know that, when he shall appear we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is; and every one that hath
this hope in him purieth himself, even as he is pure.” e
practical eect of beholding the glory of God is to change
us into the same image.
When Moses came down from the mountain, they were
afraid to look in his face, because the law required what they
had not to give; but now I see the glory which excels-the
glory in Christ, which is innitely brighter. But the glory
in the face of Jesus Christ is the witness that all my sins are
put away. at which shone in the face of Moses required
what man ought to have been as a child of Adam, but it
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came to man who was a sinner. It required righteousness,
and pronounced a curse if it were not there. Now I see it in
the face of Him who bore my sins in His own body on the
tree. e Christian sees the Man who died for his sins now
in the glory as Man, a witness that the work is done, and a
testimony to the place unto which He is bringing us; and,
meanwhile, we have the testimony of the Holy Ghost that
our souls may be perfectly clear as to this.
at is where the believer is set, resting in entire
condence upon the ecacy of the work of Christ, and
on the other hand, waiting for God’s Son from heaven,
converted for this: “ Ye yourselves as men who wait for
their Lord.” Standing here is perfect liberty, for where the
Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.
And here we have the proper experience of a Christian
as led by the Spirit of God. We have in chapter 3 a Christian
as to his walk, Christ having laid hold of him for that; as
in 2Cor. 5, “ He that hath wrought us for the self-same
thing,” etc. He has wrought us for that, not only cleared our
sins. He sees Christ in glory before him (Paul had really
seen Him there), and that was what he was going to get. “
is one thing I do … I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” What he was
doing was to win Christ. He had not yet obtained Him, or
got into glory; but it was the only thing he was doing in the
world: his whole life was that.
In chapter 2, on the other hand, Christ is looked at, not
as going up to glory, but as coming down to the cross; and
here we see the graciousness of His character. By this our
hearts and aections are won, and we are formed into the
likeness of this graciousness. And thus we have the two
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great things that govern the Christian: the glory that is
before him, and the grace that has been shown him.
One word as to verses 12, 13: “ Not as in my presence
only,” etc. Often this “ fear and trembling “ is used to cast
a doubt upon our relations with God. Yet it is not this we
have to fear about. But we are in the midst of temptations,
everything around us, the power of Satan distracting and
turning the heart from Christ; and he presses upon them
that, now he is absent, they must take care. He had worked
for them when he was with them, he had met the craft of
the enemy in wisdom and apostolic power; but he was in
prison when he wrote this. He says, “ erefore, now, you
must ght for yourselves “; but this is in contrast with his
ghting for them; and they were to do it, for it was Goo
that worked in them. e contrast is between (not God
and man working, but) Paul and the Philippians. God it
was who did work in them, if Paul were there; and, if they
had lost Paul, God who wrought in them was still there.
But, then, what a solemn thing for us, beloved friends,
if we have the sense of this, that we are left down here
to make good our path to glory against Satan and all the
diculties of the way! It is enough to make us grave. A
false step will throw me into the snares of Satan. I have to
be serious; I have the promise of being kept, but I need to
be serious.
I have spoken of the nished work, but there is another
thing that exercises us: how far can we look at the esh and
say we have done with it? And this is where the practical
diculty comes, if you are in earnest and desiring to walk
in fellowship with the Father and the Son: I ought never
to walk after the esh. e existence of the esh does not
give me a bad conscience, but if I allow it to act, it does.
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Whenever I let even an evil thought in, communion is
interrupted.’ It is not that the esh is gone as a matter of
fact; not that there is nothing in us which Satan can tempt,
but there is power in us not to let it act. e esh is not
changed. e word is as plain as ever it can be as to what
the esh is. If left to itself, it becomes so bad that God had
to destroy the world. Noah, saved out of the old world,
gets drunk. e law is given, and the esh is not subject to
it. Christ comes in grace, and the esh crucies Him. e
Holy Ghost is given, and the esh lusts against it; and we
get the case of one in the third heaven, and the esh ready
to pu him up. e esh could not be mended, but he gets
a thorn in it. But that is no reason why I should ever let it
act; it never ought.
Scripture does not speak of our being conformed to
Christ here; it says we are to walk as He walked. But the
place of conformity to Christ is the glory, and “ he that
hath this hope in him purieth himself “; that is to say, he
is not pure, he has not attained. e place where I shall be
like Christ is in glory. He has obtained it for me; and then,
my eye looking upon Him by faith, I am changed into the
same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the
Spirit.
I nd this the great truth which Scripture does give me:
not only that Christ died for my sins, but that I died with
Christ. In the Epistle to the Romans, in the rst part, you
get all the sins dealt with, the great truth of Christ being
substituted for us on the cross-bearing our sins in His own
body on the tree, He is delivered for our oenses; and, in
the subsequent part taken up, the question is, not of sins,
but of sin-not the fruit but the tree, and we are shown not
to be in the esh if the Spirit of Christ is in us.
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I do not live by the life of Adam, but by the life of Christ;
and this is where the total dierence is for the Christian.
But it is not only that I have a new life as quickened by
Christ, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, nor that
He has been crucied for me so that my guilt is removed,
but I am crucied with Christ.
In Colossians we read, “ Ye are dead, and your life is hid
with Christ in God “-therefore dead in this world. is is
God’s declaration of our state as Christians. In Romans, “
Knowing this, that our old man is crucied with Christ,
that the body of sin might be destroyed.” “ In that he died,
he died unto sin … wherefore reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God (not in
Adam, but) through (or in) Jesus Christ our Lord.” is
is faith’s estimate of it, and this is where you nd real
deliverance and freedom from the bondage of sin. It is “ no
condemnation,” not to them whose sins Christ bore, but
“ to them that are in Christ Jesus.” God condemned sin
in the esh; He did not forgive it, He condemned it. If I
get the law, it condemns me; but Christ-does He condemn
me? No; for He has taken the condemnation for me, and
in Him God has condemned sin in the esh, and I reckon
myself dead because it was in death He did so. Christ’s
death is, as all that He has wrought, available to me; and
therefore I reckon myself dead. In 2Corinthians we get the
carrying this out in practice; “ Always bearing about in the
body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be
made manifest in your mortal bodies.” And then he speaks
of the exercises which God sends for our good, to test this
realization in us and make it eectual: “ Alway delivered
unto death,” etc. We all fail for want of watchfulness, but
that is what our life ought to be.
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Suppose I have got a man in my house who is always at
mischief. I cannot turn him out, but if I lock him up, he can
do no harm; he is not changed, but I am free in the house.
If I leave the door open, he is at mischief again: but we are
to keep him locked up, this is what we are called to do-
what God calls us to do. e world will not have this; it will
mend and improve man, cultivate the old man, as if it could
produce good fruit, because it does not see how bad it is.
e world would dig about it and dung it. at has been
tried. God cuts it down and grafts us with Christ. is
condemning and cutting down was in the cross of Christ;
not, of course, that He had any sin, but as made sin for
us; and I know, not only my sins cleared away, but myself
crucied with Christ, and my life hid with Him in God.
And this is available for power, if I carry it about in
my heart. Supposing we honestly held ourselves dead; can
Satan tempt a dead man? But in order for this, it must not
be putting one’s armor on when the danger is there; hut,
living with Christ, my heart is full of Him.
Would a woman who had heard that her child was
killed or hurt at the other end of the town be thinking of
what she saw in the shop-windows as she ran toward him?
No; she would have just enough sense to nd her way. If
your hearts were xed like that on Christ, nine-tenths of
the temptations that come upon you would be gone: you
would be thinking of something else, and outward things
would only bring out sweetness, as they did with Christ;
for we are never tempted above that which we are able.
Saints, if in earnest, have got to realize not only the
putting away of their sins, but also the having died with
Christ; and this delivers from the power of sin.
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We see in chapter 3 a Christian with one object:
knowing Christ has laid hold of him for glory, and his
heart is running after Christ. I am to have no other object,
though I may have many things to do. He is “ in all “ as the
power of life, and He is “ all “ as the object of that life. He
is all and in all. (See Col. 3:12.) is is again summed up in
the latter part of Gal. 2 “ Not I, but Christ liveth in me “;
and then the object: “ I live by the faith of the Son of God.”
en there is the sense of His perfect love: “ Who loved me
and gave himself for me.” e heart is xed on Him, and
follows hard after Him.
ere is another thing-the spirit and character in which
we walk down here; and this we see in Christ coming down.
When I have got this blessed place, Christ my life, holy
boldness, yea, to know we are sitting in Him in heavenly
places, the place a Christian is called to (a wonderful thing,
I grant) is to go out from God and be an epistle of Christ. I
joy in God, have got the blessedness of what He is, and go
on in communion with Him to show out His character in
the world. is is in chapter 2.
Ought I to walk as Christ walked? Every Christian will
own that: “ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus.” Suppose my soul has tasted this perfect love, and it
is well we should recollect it, God’s love shed abroad in our
hearts, and know, be conscious down here, that we are loved
as Jesus was loved; for if I really know God as thus revealed
in Christ, what do I believe about Him? What put it into
God’s heart to send Christ down here? He knew how He
would be treated. Did the world? It would not have Him
when He came. It was all in His own heart! Perfect love in
His heart; the unsuggested origin of every blessing. What
character did it take in Christ? Was it staying up in heaven
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and saying, “ You behave well and come up here? “ No! we
all know that. But He who, in the form of God, in the very
same glory, thought it no robbery to be equal with God
(mark the contrast with the rst Adam), made Himself of
no reputation; and what brought this about? Purest love,
love coming to serve.
For Christ took the form of a servant, and was made in
the likeness of man. He emptied Himself of all the glory-
the very opposite of the rst Adam. Divine love came to
serve; a new thing for God-the only new thing. And this
is what I learn. I know this love, I know that I am made
the righteousness of God in Him; so that I stand before
Him, and then I come out from Him towards the world
to bring out this blessed character. I have learned the love,
and now I must come out and show it. “ Be ye followers of
God as dear children.” You are children: that is all settled.
Now you go and give yourself as Christ did, in whom this
love is known-a sacrice to God, and for us. e spirit of
love is always lowliness, because it makes itself a servant. I
get the grace that brought Christ down. It is very dicult
for us to bow: I know that, beloved friends. He “ went to
another village.” ere was perfect meekness; but it tries
men- some more than others; but the moment perfect love
is seen, it comes and takes the lowest place to serve others.
Paul endured all things for the elect’s sake, that they might
obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal
glory.
And here I nd what is entirely beyond law. Law tells
me to love others as myself; grace tells me to give myself
up entirely for my neighbor or for anybody. Did not God
forgive you? You go and forgive your enemies. Is He kind
to the unthankful and the evil? You go and be the same. It
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tests all the bers of our hearts, all the pride and vanity and
selshness that are in us. You like doing your own will.
“ He humbled himself and became obedient to death
“; He goes so low down that He could go no lower; “ even
to the death of the cross.” But, then, “ God hath highly
exalted him.” He was the rst grand example of “ he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
Blessed be His name! He will never give up His service;
it is the very thing He shows us, and in which He would
that our hearts should see the perfection of His grace. It
is what He is doing in John 13. He had been their servant
down here, but now they might think that there was an
end of His service. No. He says, I cannot stop with you,
but I must have you with Me: “ If I wash thee not, thou
hast no part with me.” He does a slave’s work; and this
is what He does now. We pick up dirt as we go-there is
no excuse for it, but then Christ is up there, the Advocate
with the Father. And even in the time of glory, “ He will
gird himself and come forth and serve them “; He will be
there to minister the blessing Himself. Our hearts want to
learn the perfections of that love in which He came always
down, down, till He could come no lower.
Are we willing to walk in that path? No one would deny
we ought; but are we disposed to do it? Would our hearts
be glad of the power of that grace which, holding the esh
as dead, can say, Here I am in the power of that love to
walk as everybody’s servant? We are to esteem others better
than ourselves. If my heart is full of Christ, I judge myself
for everything not like Christ, I judge the evil in myself
because I see the blessedness in Christ. But what do I see
in my brother? I see Christ in him. e eect of being full
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of Christ is to make me think little of self and much of my
brother: there is no real diculty about it if one is.
“ Do all things without murmuring,” etc. If you take
every single part of this passage, you will nd it a statement
of what Christ was here. He was blameless and harmless,
the Son of God, without rebuke in the midst of this evil
world; He was the light of the world, and He was the word
of life.
If I reckon the esh dead, only the life of Christ comes
out; if only this came out, we should be a very wonderfully
blessed kind of people! To him that hath shall more be
given. If I yield myself to God as one alive from the dead,
I have got fruit here unto holiness, as well as fullness of
blessing hereafter.
I would ask you, beloved friends, do you purpose to be
Christians? Are you willing to yield yourselves to God as
not having one bit of will of your own? ere is power in
Christ, not to say “ I am pure,” but, always having my eye
on Him, to purify myself.
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e Eect of Christ in Glory:
Philippians 3
ere are two ways in which we may look at the
Christian: one, according to the counsels and thoughts of
God, and the ecacy of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ;
“ by one oering perfected forever “-accepted in Christ
Himself before God, everything that stood against us put
away, and the believer cleared completely and forever from
his old condition in Adam, taken out of that old condition,
and put into the acceptance of Christ Himself; this is the
grace wherein we stand. But evidently there is also another
condition in which the Christian is seen, and that is as
walking in this world.
is walk of the Christian we get in two ways-in the
Epistle to the Philippians and in Hebrews. In Hebrews
it is looked at in respect to the grace Christ obtains for
us as priest on high; not the operation of the Spirit in us,
but the work of Christ for us, and grace to help in time of
need. But if in Hebrews you get the Christian down here
in weakness, needing help and getting it, in Philippians
you get him down here, and the energy and power of the
Spirit of God working in him. We have to pass through the
world, and there are diculties in our path, temptations to
draw us aside; but one walking in the power of God’s Spirit
rises ‘above all the diculties in the midst of which he is.
In Philippians is brought out the power of God’s Spirit
acting in our walking in the right path, and the result is
a person entirely above it all, one who can “ rejoice in the
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Lord alway.” We may remember, too, that Paul had been
four years in prison at the time, two of them with a soldier
chained to him; and, what was still more trying, his work as
an apostle put a stop to, his activity all come to an end. He
might have reproached himself as to going up to Jerusalem,
and so on, but he does not; he rises above it all. It is a
remarkable fact that in this epistle sin is never spoken of;
nor is the esh, except as having no condence in it, in a
warning to avoid its religiousness; it is simply a walk in the
power of the Spirit. In the previous chapter you get the
graciousness, but in this the energy, of the course-the full
energy of the Christian going through this world. He does
not here speak of the cross as that which puts away sin;
it has another character here, being looked at practically;
it is being “ crucied to the world.” us it is the book
of experience, according to the spirit of the Christian on
earth.
Imprisoned, so that he cannot be active, yet Paul says,
It will all turn to my salvation; it will all turn to good, and
I can rejoice in the Lord always. is comes with power
when we remember where he was when he could write
thus. He looks back and contrasts his own course with that
of those who had made profession, but were still going on
with the world.
Let us rst look at the character of the energy with which
the apostle ran this race. He says he has not yet attained, is
not yet perfect; this is because he is looking at his state. We
must just see what he means by this. In the rst place, he has
not a thought of his own righteousness at all. ere was a
righteousness which he had had; there was a righteousness
which he had boasted in; he had had it, all that which
depended on himself: “ touching the righteousness which
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was in the law, blameless.” But the moment the spiritual
character of the law was seen, it was all over; all that esh
could trust in was gone for him. We all know how when
he was in the full ush of his career, the Lord met him,
and he discovered that all that had been gain to him, all of
which he had boasted, had only served to bring him into
open enmity with God. All this knowledge, all this energy
of character, he had only made use of to try to destroy the
name of Christ. It was not a question of his sins; it was that
all he had valued as good was gone, his conscience proved
to be misdirected, his legal righteousness nothing worth.
ere, on his way to Damascus, with authority from the
high priest, he found himself in the presence of Christ, and
in open enmity with Him; and in that presence all that he
was as a religious man, “ blameless “-in the outward sense,
of course, for he found himself to be the chief of sinners-all
that Saul could clothe himself with outwardly was smashed,
and he himself left to dwell in darkness three days, to go
through in his own soul what this terrible revelation had
discovered to him. e practical eect of thus seeing the
Christ in glory was to put down in the most powerful way
all that was of man. e rst thing we need as sinners, and
get through the cross of the Lord Jesus, is “ redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins “; but here it
was not sins-it was righteousness put away. What he had
stood in before God Was all gone; it was brought out in
the strongest way in his own experience what man was in
his best estate: the upright, honest, law-keeping Pharisee
was only enmity against God. And it was not only that
he had failed-this was not the thing-but that the whole
structure, the moral structure of man, was brought out in
the sight of God and done with. It was the end of the rst
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man; and this not as a doctrine, but practically, for we must
learn everything in our own consciences if it is to be a real
thing. It was total, entire condemnation of man in the esh
in his best form; the best man in the world was the chief
of sinners-best as man goes. is, evidently, is a truth that
we can learn in dierent ways, either as seeing ourselves
open sinners in rebellion against God, or by discovering
that what we esteem best is utterly valueless before Him.
Innocence is gone; man fell from paradise, and that is all
over. ere is no going back to the tree of life; and from
that time forward man must be either an alien from God,
an enemy in his mind by wicked works, or else he must
have a heavenly place with God. On the road to Damascus,
Saul meets the Man in the glory, and then he is judged in
his own conscience, and is found to be an open ceaseless
enemy of God. It is easy for us to see that our sins must be
judged by God, but we do not see at rst that the mind and
aections of the esh are enmity against Him. But here
you see there is an end of Saul, and of everything that the
esh was in this world-this world which was not paradise,
and certainly was not heaven-this world in which the good
things were worthless in the sight of God, and certainly
the sins were not any use.
Outwardly, Saul was the best man possible-as man
goes- conscientious, religious, righteous; and there he
was an open enemy against God. ere was nothing to be
found here: consequently he looked out of this world and
saw Christ in glory; he saw Him there where he stood;
and the eect was that the old man was perfectly judged,
and there was another Man in heaven. All that Saul was
was gone. It is not a question of sins, but of righteousness.
In another place he says, “ I had not known sin but by the
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law.” But supposing there were a righteousness according
to the law, no man ever reached it except the blessed Lord
Himself; but even if Paul could have reached it, he would
not have it now, for he says, I have got another; there was “
the righteousness of God “ for him now. e law required
righteousness from man to God, but that was now all given
up; besides, none had attained it. It is, “ not having mine
own righteousness “; he does not say, not having my own
sins. It goes a great deal farther than that, and I press it
on you-theoretically, a man blameless; yet he says, I will
not have it at all. e whole standing, place, and condition
of the rst man is a judged thing in his soul, and another
Man, Christ in glory, shall be for him, not that which he
was. e condition of the rst man has been shown out
by the revelation of the second Man, and Paul follows
Him. us we see the whole ground and standing of legal
righteousness swept away. Nobody had it, of course: still
that was altogether the ground he was on; but now, he says,
I will not have my own at all, for I have got Another.
You cannot have the two before God. Seeing this sets
aside a thousand things that are oating in the world. A
man will have perfection nowadays; he says, I will not go
on sinning. And he is quite right: he has no right to go on
sinning. But God would not thank me for my righteousness,
not when I clothe myself in an Adamic robe, for I have got
another thing altogether in Christ. Paul does not speak here
of his position in Christ; it is not here: “ ere is, therefore,
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus
“; it is the condition of soul of those who possess this “ no
condemnation.” And the condition of Paul’s was that the
revelation of Jesus Christ had set aside in him all that was
of himself; it was the righteousness of God that he had,
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and that does not go from man to God, but from God
to man. When did the prodigal get the best robe? When
the Father put it on him. “ I know that in me [that is, in
my esh] dwelleth no good thing.” e whole nature, the
character, and the quality of it is a judged thing. But mark,
when this Christ was revealed, his mind, and heart, and
desire never stop short of reaching Him, and then what
happens? Away goes all your perfection here. He says, e
glory I saw in Damascus; that is what I want. It was no
longer the judgment of the old man-it was the hopes of
the new.
He says to him, “ I am Jesus of Nazareth.” ere was
no longer any question about it; that Man was there in the
glory-the carpenter’s son-the One whom they had rejected.
ey all fell down at the glory of that light, though they
knew not what it meant. And in that light Paul was totally
and entirely condemned and done with; Christ took the
place of everything. All that he had counted gain was gone.
Supposing he were a learned man-well, to whom was that
gain? To Paul, not to Christ; it is only building up, and
furnishing, and giving credit to, and adorning, that old
thing which has been judged as enmity against God.
And it is not only “ I counted,” but he has gone on with
Christ; he adds, “ I do count,” as a present thing. All that I
esteemed best-righteousness, learning, birth, everything” I
do count them but dung,” for I have seen Christ and I want
Him, and the things of this world I count nothing. He has
revealed Himself to me in grace; He has proved His love
to be above all my enmity, and now I must have Him. Paul
was a man whose whole course and career were marked
by an object that was before him; and it is the object that
is before us that marks our course, and gives it its moral
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character. Paul followed after Christ. Let us ask ourselves,
Are we following Christ in this way? Is this what governs
us? I do not say we may not be distracted, but is He the
object after which we are running? We cannot have two at
the same time. Has there been such a revelation of Christ
to our hearts that we have Him as the only object before
us?
And I will ask here-for it is very current in some places,
called “ higher life,” and truly alas! for so many Christians
follow the world-what is true Christian life? It is “ higher
life,” and no mistake, for our calling is a “ calling above
“that and no other; I have no calling to anything down in
this world. ere is no calling for the Christian according
to the word of God but the calling to a risen and gloried
Christ. What is put before us is a gloried Christ; we are
going to be like Him; and you cannot have a right object
except as that object is a gloried Christ, because that is
the only Christ. Christ down here is a pattern for our walk,
but there is no such Christ now to attain to. I cannot win
Christ down in this world, because there is no Christ to
win. Attempting it only lowers the standard of holiness,
and, instead of being “ higher Christian life,” it is lower. It
is the hope of being like Him in glory that makes a man
now “ purify himself even as he is pure.” e object, that
I get before my soul in this race that he speaks of, is a
gloried Christ, and that only; that is what I am going to
attain to; I am going to be like the Christ that I have seen.
Whatever progress Paul made, he was so much the nearer
to Him, but he had not got Him; he would only get Him
when in his gloried body. ere is no other Christ to run
after or win; not that our aections do not cling to Him
in humiliation, but it is a gloried Christ only who is the
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object of our hearts. I may get to heaven now in spirit,
and be happy there with Him, but I never attain to Him, I
never win Him, until I am with Him in the glory; it is then
I shall have won Christ.
When all that was Paul was judged, it brought him into
all kinds of diculties; for instance, now he was going to
be tried for his life; but he had done with Paul-he had
the sentence of death in himself. Many may not-none
perhaps- so realize it as he did; but the consequence was,
he was always “ bearing about in the body the dying of the
Lord Jesus,” so that the life of Jesus was made manifest
in his body. He had the sentence of death in himself, that
he should not trust in himself, but in God, who raises the
dead; that is, he says, e God I know has raised Christ
from the dead, and therefore I am not afraid of death, of
trial, of anything that may come on the road: I can glory
in it all.
It is not only patience and hope as in Romans; here it
is “ the fellowship of his suerings.” We are always called
on to suer with Him here. We hardly know what it is to
suer for His sake-a little trial perhaps now and then; but
to suer with Him we do know, for we cannot go through
this world of sin and sorrow without suering in principle
what the heart of Christ suered. We can rejoice in the
saints when they are going on well, but there is nothing
else in it to rejoice anyone; it is only the world that crucied
Christ, except, of course, poor sinners, and he must speak
to them; that is all he saw in the world.
“ If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead.” at does not imply doubt; but he says, Even
if death be on the road, I will go through it, and I shall
only be made like Him if I die. Here I get the apostle xed
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on an object-Christ in glory, and nothing short of it; and
here he will have suering with Christ, let it cost him life
and everything, if but only he may get this place-part in
the rst resurrection; for he is looking at it here not as our
position, but as attainment. It may be a bad road that I
tread, but I get refreshment by the way, and it is the road
Jesus traveled.
“ Not as though I had already attained, either were
already perfect; but I follow after.” ere is the activity
of the life. In these days, when people are giving up
Christianity on all sides, it is well to know what Christianity
is. Christianity is perfect peace, and reconciliation with
God: we are perfected forever before Him; and as regards
the path in this world, it is the eye on Christ Himself in
glory, and one undivided energy to get after Him. Every
step we take we get more of Christ, and are more capable
of knowing Him, and thus the eect is practically to form
one into His likeness. is bringing in of the life of Christ
to my soul enables me to see Him in the glory, so that even
now I get more like this resurrection I am aiming after.
e resurrection from among the dead identies itself with
winning Christ; raising from the dead speaks to us God’s
perfect delight in us as in Christ.
en he speaks of perfection: “As many as be perfect.”
A perfect Christian is a full-grown man, in one sense;
it is the same word as the “ perfect man, the measure of
the stature of the fullness of Christ.” And what is that? It
certainly is not being like what Christ was when He was
down here, for there was no sin in Him, so the thought of
being like Him is a mere delusion. He that gazes on Him
up there walks like Him down here, but to be like Him
as He was down here is not possible. To walk like Him, I
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repeat, is said; but to be like Him would be to be absolutely
sinless. To be conformed to Him in glory, that we shall be,
and therefore the heart desires and runs after it now; and
that is what he calls a perfect Christian. It is not one who
knows what it is to have got the sins of the old creation
cleared away-it is not knowing the work of Christ which
puts away sin, hardly measured either by the sin, for it is
the whole state of the nature; all is settled, and I know that
“ by one oering he has perfected forever them that are
sanctied,” that there is no more a question of anything to
be settled between me and God, and I have liberty before
Him in the sense of His favor; but then I say, Is that all?
All my debts paid, but am I to have nothing to go and
buy anything with? Am I henceforth to starve, without
possessing a farthing? en it is that the soul comes to see
that, having part in this forgiveness, it has also part with
the last Adam: he has got hold by grace of this Man in the
glory, and knowing this, I say, my whole soul is in that; I
have seen the excellency of Christ Jesus, my Lord, and it
has set aside everything here.
I have done with it all; I belong to another place, and no
longer own this old man.
It is then the Christian has got to be what he calls a
perfect man; he has this object before him, he has got
Christ’s place before God, and he grows up into the stature
of Christ; not that he has not still much to learn, but he
has got into his place; he is of full age, he discerns good and
evil, he has got hold of his place in Christ, and he knows it.
is sets aside the esh altogether, and also that which is a
deceptive thing to many, perfection in the esh, for Christ
in glory is my only perfection. In the world I am running
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a race, I have not attained yet, but Christ has laid hold of
me for it.
He then puts in the strongest contrast those who are not
thus perfect: “ If in anything ye be otherwise minded, God
shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereunto we
have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us
mind the same thing.” I can walk with one who only knows
his redemption in Christ with just the same love, but I look
for him to get hold of this also.
en he talks of another thing, of those who have the
profession of Christianity, but who are “ enemies of the
cross of Christ “; they are not exactly enemies of Christ,
though in the end it comes to the same thing. In paradise
God got rid of man as a sinner; at the cross, as far as his
will was concerned, man got rid of God in grace. e very
disciples ran away: they could not stand it; as He said
to Peter, “ ou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt
follow me afterward.” Amiable or unamiable, all either ran
away or banded themselves together against Him. Satan
was proved to be the prince of this world. People fancy he
is not the prince of it, because the gospel is preached in
it; but the gospel never would be preached in it if he were
not the prince of it. He brought all the world up against
Christ, so the world is judged, and all that is in it. “ e
world is crucied to me.” e cross-really a gibbet-put an
end to all human glory. He came down to that to put an
end to everything of man. ere is no such infamy as the
cross; nothing but a slave or a bad criminal was ever put
upon it. us Satan was proved by his inuence over the
world to be its prince; such is what the world is, and this
is the very reason that the Lord says, “ O righteous Father,
the world hath not known thee “; and therefore the world
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is convinced of judgment, and righteousness is proved,
how? “ Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies
thy footstool,” is God’s answer. And He sits there till the
judgment of the world is to be executed; it sees Him no
more as the Savior. And now, because He gloried God in
that place of sin, we carry out the testimony of the grace
that seeks sinners.
ese were enemies to the cross of Christ. ey carry
the name of Christian and go on with the world. Of course,
the true Christian may get into the world and be ensnared;
it is not that. e enemy of the cross of Christ put Christ
there, and now if I look for righteousness, it is not to be
found in the world that did that; I must look for it in
Christ up there, for righteousness has done with the world.
en see the place that he puts the Christian in: “ for
our conversation is in heaven “; our whole relationships in
life- all that my life is involved in, and develops itself in-
are in heaven; I am to run here having all my relationships
up there, because Christ who is my life is up there. What a
denite thing the Christian life is-not here at all!
“ From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ.” Now what is He called “ Savior “ for here?
Christians are all saved in a certain sense-we have eternal
life: but in this epistle salvation is the result of redemption,
not merely redemption. Practically, Israel was saved out of
Egypt as soon as the Red Sea was crossed, but they had
not got the place till they had got through the Jordan too.
We get in the Red Sea Christ’s death and resurrection.
e blood upon the lintel gave them safety while God was
passing through, destroying the rst-born: the question
between God and the people as to their sin was settled,
still God was in the character of judge there, and He passes
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them by. Yet it was not deliverance. But when they come to
the Red Sea He says, “ Stand still, and see the salvation of
God.” God had now come in as a Savior and taken them
out of the place they were in, and now they are delivered.
When I get to Jordan, it is yet another thing; the waters
open not to bring them out, but to bring them in; not that
Christ was dead and risen for them, but that they were dead
and risen with Christ. So you get the Red Sea smitten, so
to say, whilst in Jordan the ark stays in the water and we
go through with it. e reproach of Egypt was never rolled
away till they got into Canaan; and so with us: I do not get
deliverance and full power in heavenly places until I see
that I have died and risen with Christ; I do not get into my
place until then.
Now have you got there, beloved friends? If so, all your
desire will be there, and you will be longing to be there too.
Christ is there, and the Christian’s heart is with Christ, his
aection is in heaven, and he looks for the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He gives character to the Christian as one
who has seen Christ in the glory, and who says, at is my
hope; my citizenship is in heaven, and here in this world
all I am to do is to run after Him as fast as ever I can to get
there. “ And my hope is not to die, blessed though this be,
but to look for the Savior, “ who shall change this vile body
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” We
are running the race towards the place where our standing
is. We are in Christ, but this is not the thing here. Got it
we have; but how far does the cross really tell us the tale of
what we are? Not only that our sins, but that we ourselves
are put away. Can you say with the apostle, “ e life which
I now live in esh, I live by the faith of the Son of God? “
Is there nothing in the circumstances down here by which
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we live? We must go through them, but are we living by
them? Are we living to Him in that sense? ere are many
Christians who have no distinct idea that they are to take
up their cross and follow Him. May we learn that the times
press! May our hearts so really look at Christ that we may
be in conscious relationship with Him, our aections there
with Him, and because they are there, looking for Him to
come from heaven to change this vile body because it will
not suit that place! Where are our hearts? Have we the
deep blessed sense that He has associated us with Himself?
“ Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be
with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.”
e Lord give us so to have our eye on Him, that we
may have all the blessedness of the consciousness that
He has taken us to be with Himself in His unutterable
love, and that we may thus know real deliverance from the
power of sin and the world. e Lord x our eye on Him
with steadiness and earnestness of heart, so that we may
say with David, “ My soul followeth hard after thee.”
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62997
oughts on Philipians 4
IT is a great thing to rejoice always. It is important
to consider the apostle’s own history in connection with
these epistles. When he was writing this, he was in prison
at Rome. He had been cut short in his ministry, and as he
looked on, he had to say, “ All they which are in Asia, be
turned away from me,” and “ All seek their own,” etc.; and
yet he had something which lifted his heart above it all;
not that he was insensible to it, but he knew a superior
power. It was as looking at Christ he could rejoice, not in
these circumstances. In one chapter in Galatians he says,
“ I stand in doubt of you “; in the next, he says, “ I have
condence in you through the Lord.”
e Lord’s own path was the same, meeting with
disappointments and distresses, on every hand, and yet
He prays that the disciples may have His joy fullled in
themselves. It is living in a power superior to evil; and if I
am not living in that power, I should be depressed and cast
down by the stream of evil within and around me, instead
of rejoicing always. To do this, it requires that the heart
should be with Him who has already overcome and sat
down.
e rst mark of power is patience. Nothing troubled
the peace of the apostle’s soul, so that he is free enough to
think of individuals-Euodias, etc. (v. 2)-or to write about a
runaway slave. He was passing through the valley of Baca,
making it a well. It is a more blessed thing to make trials
causes for thanksgiving than our own mercies. “ I will bless
the Lord at all times; his praise shall be continually in
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my mouth.” In all his many trying circumstances, he was
nding that the Lord was sucient. He possessed that
eternal happiness which enabled him to say, when before
Festus, “ I would to God “ that you were “ altogether such
as I am.”
Are you so happy in your soul that you can say that? e
young Christian rejoices in what he has got-his salvation,
joy, peace, and so on. e old Christian rejoices more in
Christ. e young Christian says, I have got this, I have got
that; but the old Christian says, Christ is this, and Christ
is that. Not that this is wrong in a young Christian: in that
sense a young Christian cannot be an old one; but if they
walk with God, they will soon ripen. So in 1John 2:12-14,
“ I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that
is from the beginning “; and while he goes into detail about
the young men and babes, he repeats this of the old men.
ere is the continual conict with Amalek, but in the
condence that he has already been overcome. Read John
16:33: “ In the world ye shall have tribulation; be of good
cheer: I have overcome the world.” Run the race “ looking
unto Jesus the author and nisher of faith; who … is set
down,” etc. Do not let any evil or any circumstances prevent
your rejoicing in the Lord always; but for this you must be
with Him.
“ Let your moderation,” etc. Naturally I like to assert
my rights in the world, and if I see injustice done, I like
to resent it. Moderation is putting a check upon our own
will, for the present content to be put upon this-” e Lord
is at hand.” When the Lord set His face like a int to go
to Jerusalem, the Samaritans would not receive Him, and
the disciples wanted to draw down re upon them. If you
set your face like a int to go to Jerusalem, you will not be
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received by those who are half-hearted. “ e Lord is at
hand.”
Do you believe that? e character of my whole life
will be governed by this, if I believe it. You may say, I have
troubles in my family; the saints are going wrong, etc. Well,
“ Be careful for nothing; but in everything,” etc. What do
you want? Go and ask God about it. Instead of harassing
your own mind about it, carry it to Him: and it is not said
He will give you just what you ask, because this might not
be for your good; but He gives you His peace. You put
your cares into His heart, and He will put His peace into
yours. Do all the things that trouble you disturb the peace
of God? “ With thanksgiving,” etc. When I put my aairs
in persons’ hands, and ask them to see to it for me, they
undertake it, and I say, ank you, although as yet they
have done nothing in it. In this state of soul the heart is
free to enjoy what I see in others. ere is such a tendency
in us to get living in the things of the world, where we
could not have the heart of Christ with us.
Verse 9. You walk in the path you have learned of me,
and the God of peace Himself shall be with you. Joy is an
up and down thing, but peace is something constant and
undisturbed. God is never called the God of joy, but the
God of peace.
While Christ was with His disciples, during His
ministry He never said to them, “ Peace be unto you “: it
was rather, 2” Fear not.” But when He arose, He said, “
Peace be unto you.” Christ has made peace by the blood
of His cross in such a way, that if God rises up in every
attribute He possesses, He sees nothing to disturb His
peace. I am in the light as He is in the light; and if I have
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conict with the world, the esh, and Satan, I have peace
with God.
e test of the true condition of a person’s soul is seen
in his everyday life. “ I have learned,” etc. Paul had learned
it; it is not merely saying it. It is a much greater snare to
abound than to be abased; but Christ was enough. I get
not only peace in the circumstances, but also moral power
over them.
“ My God,” etc. at is as much as to say, I know Him
well, and I will answer for it that He will supply all your
need according to the riches of His glory. What a reality
there is in the life of faith! He may put us through trials,
because this is good for us, but He will be with us in them
all.
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e Superiority of Christ
Over Circumstances:
Philippians 4:8
IT is a great thing to have the spirit so free from
everything else, as to be able to be thus occupied with “
these things.” It is not a healthy thing to be occupied with
evil, though of course we must be sometimes.
In Num. 19, if anyone touched the unclean person,
whoever had anything to do with it was unclean till even.
You cannot have to say to evil, without getting, in a certain
sense, away from God. It may not be like the man who
had to be cleansed, and wait seven days; but the mind
cannot touch sin without a certain removal from direct
communion with God.
It may be necessary to go to a brother or sister who
is in evil. I do not mean now temptation: there you get
positive evil ‘ • but the man who touches is “ unclean till
even “-a kind of warning against having to say to it. One
sees persons who like to pry into evil; but, if in the power
of the Spirit, I am occupied with “ these things,” which are
pure, lovely, etc. I may have to come down, and be occupied
for a time, as a duty, with that which God hates.
e principle of Num. 19 remains the same. It was
grace, and to restore communion. ere a man was actually
deled. Sin is sin in God’s sight, whatever way I have to do
with it; and sin is hateful to God. Even if a man did not
know, still he had to bring an oering. It was not a question
of imputation here; the ashes of the red heifer were there,
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the testimony that the sin had all been consumed when
the heifer was burned; but something had come in to
destroy communion. e ashes put into the water gave the
consciousness there was no imputation: that question was
not raised; but the man could not go in to God for worship
till he were clean. e very putting the ashes in gave the
character that sin was judged for the saint, all done away;
but then he may have been doing a thing that Christ had
to die for. It is a question of holiness and my state, just
because there is no imputation.
What he looks for here (Phil. 4) is, that their souls
should be in the peaceful enjoyment of these things,
what God likes and loves; and the God of peace should
be with them. Now, when we meet in intercourse, are
these the kind of things that occupy the mind? It may be
mischievous talking-that will not do you any good; or it
may be idleness, vanity-that is no good either; or it may
be talking about people; but how far can God say, I can go
there, for they are talking about things I like? “ My heart
is inditing a good matter, I will speak of the things I have
made touching the king.” If the heart is inditing a good
matter, we get fellowship and communion; the heart is full,
and it comes out.
It is a lovely picture in Luke 1; 2 a despised remnant
nobody knew or cared about; yet there they were speaking
of Christ.
Verse to. e apostle let slip something here-” now at the
last.” He thought it rather a long time coming, and then, to
correct it, immediately adds, “ but ye lacked opportunity.”
He let out that he had really been in need, and it had come
at the last. It is beautiful to see the delicacy of intercourse
in that way: we get it amongst ourselves. Like everything
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else, he just took it up for Christ. At Corinth, where they
were rich, and fond of money, he would take nothing; but
here he is very glad to have it.
But, going back to what was said about our intercourse
when we come together, we nd “ these things “ are not
uppermost. ere are two things: in the rst place, if we are
full of the Lord, it will come out; but if there is watchfulness,
it will come in. It is just our ordinary intercourse I mean. I
may have to go and speak about special things, but that is
not the point here.
Paul was the expression of the power of divine grace
in that which was committed to him. Here were Gentiles
who had to learn everything, and he was sent in their way,
the expression of divine life, that they might learn what it
was: he could say, “ Walk as ye have us for an example.”
Truth came only “ by Jesus Christ “: that which is “
true “ characterizes the whole thing. “ He has given us
an understanding, that we may know him that is true.” “
Whom I love in the truth.” But it is remarkable what the
apostle says in verse 12. It characterizes all the epistle. He
is above circumstances, and experimentally he had found
Christ sucient in all things. He had been in hunger,
cold, and nakedness, and found Him a wonderful source
of content. It was not a general principle, but what he had
actually learned; “ I am instructed.” It is more dicult to
abound than to be abased. You are cast on God when you
are abased; but when all is comfortable around, then is the
tendency to be independent of Him. “ I can do all things
“: not I go on well, but the presence of positive power; not
that I get into a better state, not that the circumstance is
changed, or the state of my mind; but power has come in,
and put, those things away which were pressing upon me.
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331
It is “ all things “ -you cannot get anything for which Christ
is not sucient as a present thing. If we have to die, He is
sucient for us; if we have to live, He is sucient for us.
ese are things to be learned, not known in a moment;
but if he had not known what Christ was, he could not
have said this. He says, I have learned that all through. It is
true Christian experience.
We get the power of the Spirit in all the epistle. Here
you have it shown in entire superiority over circumstances.
It is not merely known, but “ I have learned.” en it is
Christ strengthening us, strength made perfect in weakness.
at is its nature, the character and kind of strength. “ My
strength” is not made perfect in people who think they
are strong. We must be brought down to nothing as to
strength, in order to know where real strength is; that is
what people are rather slow to learn.
You have this in 2Cor. 12 Paul wanted to get rid of the
thorn, But the Lord says, No, I must have you incapacitated:
and then evidently it is My work and power, not yours. You
get the two sides of Christian life in that chapter. One was,
“ I know a man in Christ “; the other, that Christ’s power
was known in him. When I come down here, I nd myself
made nothing of, and then it is Christ in me. You must
have weakness: “ When I am weak, then am I strong.” We
may know we can do nothing without Him; but it is a
dierent thing when one comes to say, I can do nothing
without Him.
In Col. 1 we get strengthened with all might … unto all
patience, etc. Here he is speaking of his circumstances. But
it is a very great thing, and one we are slow to learn, that
without Him we can do nothing. We all know it as a truth-
all Christians do. It is connected with abiding in Christ.
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It is not actual service, though true of it; but you get
that more in 2Cor. 12 I do not feel the want of Him so
much in joy; we do, but we do not so feel it.
Hence, often a Christian, after a great deal of joy-even
spiritual joy, will get a trip. I must have all the armor on
before I can take the sword.
“ My God shall supply all.” A very strong expression,
which means a great deal. As I know Him, who has been
through all these things, and know what He is to a person
in every case. It is not “ God,” but “ my God,” the God
I know, who taught me to abound, and to be hungry. It
could not come down lower than that. I see my need, and
He is rich. No matter what need I get into, He is sucient
for me. Paul was in a most trying position, not only kept a
prisoner, but all his activity totally stopped-a terrible trial
to Paul.
“ His riches in glory “ meet the need. As in Ephesians,
when he speaks of all the thought and purposes of God,
he speaks of the glory of His grace; when He speaks of my
sins, it is the riches of His grace. All the dealings of God
are according to what He is in glory, having taken us up
in grace. It is all through Christ Jesus, whatever it is; it all
comes down, and all goes up, through Christ.
It is a simple thing, but not simple for us-at least we
are not simple enough for it. (See Psa. 23) Jehovah is my
shepherd. In Psalm 30 he says, “ I shall never be moved.
ou, Jehovah, by thy favor hast made my mountain to
stand strong. ou didst hide thy face “-and where was this
ne mountain then? But in Psa. 23 he cannot say, Jehovah
is my shepherd, till he has been through all the power of
evil. Not Jehovah has given me abundance of green pastures
(though He does give them), but He is my shepherd, and
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333
then come the green pastures and still waters, but he is not
looking at that only. “ He restoreth my soul,” if he had got
into trouble. en he goes on to death: “ I will fear no evil
“; Jehovah is the shepherd. If he meets enemies, Jehovah
spreads a table for him in their presence, as Joshua did
when they went into Canaan. en he says, “ He anointeth
my head with oil.” He reckoned on Jehovah, and learned
to reckon through all the diculties of the way. For His
name’s sake He leads in the paths of righteousness, and
goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life; but
he did not say that till he had been through all the power
of evil. e point is, Jehovah is my shepherd, not, having
good things.
When Christ says, “ sucient for thee,” it is clear
there was something He had to be sucient for. We need
strength made perfect in weakness. God hath chosen the
weak things of the world, “ that no esh should glory in
His presence.” He pulls down all human competency. He
makes vessels, it is true, but they are mere vessels. It is
weakness here; not failure, but inrmity. What a blessed
thing to have Him to go with us, to take care of us, to lift
us up, and keep us up!
Restoring the soul is not necessarily after failure, but
takes it in. “ For his name’s sake “ He makes good what
He is in all His dealings. If I set up to have any strength,
that is not according to what He is; and He has to pull me
down. He must make the vessel nothing, so that the work
shall be His.
It is a great deal to keep self nothing in the heart; we
know it is so; but still … Even a heathen writer said, “ You
may drive nature out with a pitch-fork, but it will ever slip
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in.” e thorn was not strength, but it made nothing of
Paul, and Christ could act, because Paul was put down.
A person gets on, and the esh takes subtler forms; but
I ask the question, Am I just as happy if others are blessed
in their service as if I am? All these things are so dreadfully
subtle. ere might be room for self-judgment if there was
no blessing, and quite rightly; but am I content if I know
I am doing His will, and there are no results? ere is no
standard but what becomes Christ and His revelation.
Self can come in everywhere. In 1Cor. 14 it was the
shutting out self to covet the best gifts. ey were fond of
tongues which made a show, and they were told to covet
prophecy.
Anything can pu up the esh; a man would rather be
the best thief in the country than nobody at all! Self is so
very subtle, that, unless in God’s presence, we do not detect
it.
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335
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Notes on the Epistle to the
Colossians
Two Epistles of the New Testament are occupied with
the mystery of the church united to Christ in one body, the
Epistle to the Ephesians, and that to the Colossians. ere
is consequently identity in a measure between the two
epistles; but they show the subject each under a particular
aspect, presenting as to the details a sensible dierence. In
the rst Paul sees the church in Christ, the saints occupying
in Him their place in heaven; in the second he sees Christ
in the saints (not them in Him) on the earth.
Chapter 1: 1-3. Paul addresses himself to the Colossians
from our God and Father [and the Lord Jesus Christ),
6
that is to say, on the footing of our relationship with God.
He blesses the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the rst source of all our blessings. is is the manner in
which he enters upon his subject. is opening is the same
as that of the Epistle to the Ephesians.
Verses 4-12. But here is a dierence. In the Epistle to
the Ephesians, Paul, before coming to that which concerns
the faith of the saints, and their spiritual condition, causes
quite a stream of the riches of the grace of God to ow
(Ephesians 1:3-14); whilst in the Epistle to the Colossians
he is occupied immediately with their condition. is
would indicate that these latter were found in a lower
moral condition than the former. He could, from the very
outset, speak to the Ephesians of the riches of the counsels
of God; the Colossians required him to be occupied with
6 e critics omit “ and the Lord Jesus Christ “ here.
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them rstly. In verse 4 Paul records their faith, and in verses
5-12 he recalls the work of God in their favor, expressing
his desires and his prayers for their prosperity.
Verses 9-12. is introduction presents to us a ne
summary of all that one can ask of God for Christians.
If we had sucient condence in the interest which God
takes in His children, we should have greater boldness in
asking God, according to the intentions of His grace. We
do not live enough by this grace, and that is why our prayers
are so constantly stamped with the sense of want. We
are often the Abraham of Gen. 15, who asks for himself,
saying to God: “ What wilt thou give me? “ But Paul shows
himself here the Abraham of Gen. 18, sitting before God,
worshipping Him, and making requests for others.
Verse 10. To walk worthily, is not only not to fall, but
rather also to act in a manner so as to be pleasing to the
Lord; it is to show Him a walk in harmony with the
knowledge He has given us of Himself and of His will.
Verse 11. Strengthened with all might according to
the power of His glory; not merely “glorious.” e power
indicated by these words is that which the glory of God
possesses.
Verse 12. Giving thanks to the Father which hath made
us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints. We
inherit from God as children (Rom. 8:17); it is then from
our Father that we receive the inheritance. And the Father,
who gives us the right to the inheritance, prepares us also
to receive it, and to enjoy it.
“ In light.” He has made us such, that we are capable of
dwelling in the light. We can dwell there with joy, where is
found absolute holiness.
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337
Verses 13, 14. “ Translated us into the kingdom of the
Son of his love.” God does not wish to put His own in
absolute purity without giving them an object of aection.
is inheritance which He gives is also the kingdom of the
Son of His love into which we enter virtually through the
redemption accomplished by His Son.
Verses 15-29. Having thus named Christ, Paul goes on
now to present Him in the glory of His Person; he goes
on to tell what Christ is in Himself, the works He has
accomplished, what He is in His own.
As concerns this, we remark in Christ, as elements of
His glory; two headships, one in creation, the other in
resurrection (v. 15-18); two reconciliations, that of the
creation, and that of the saints forming the church (v. 19-
22); and two ministries proceeding from Him, the gospel
preached to all creation, and the ministry of the church (v.
23-29).
Verse 15. What glory there is in the Person of Christ! He
is on one side the image of the invisible God, manifesting
in His Person the God that cannot be seen, and on the
other He is the Head of all creation.
“ First-born.” is title indicates that He who bears it
is Head over all. One sees an example of this in Psa. 89:27,
where Solomon, tenth son of David (1Chron. 3), receives
with the title of “ rst-born “ the right to his father’s throne.
It is not dicult to conceive that if the Creator-God nds
it good to take a place in the creation, the rst belongs to
Him. e Son took this place in becoming Man.
Verses 14-17. e Son, who is before things, created all
things from the beginning, and by the same power which
He showed in the formation of the worlds, He holds up all
things to-day. Without Him, all in creation would dissolve.
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Verse 16. Visible and invisible things, whether they
be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers,
everything powerful depends upon the power of Christ
who created all. And not only is it by Him, but for Him,
that all things were created.
Verse 18. He is the Head in resurrection, as in creation.
Verse 19. Hitherto we have seen Christ the image of
God, and Head of all things. He presents Himself now to
us, uniting all fullness in His Person. ere dwelt all the
fullness. e Gnostics had imagined a fullness in which
Jesus occupied one place only. Now to preserve for the Lord
His true place, the apostle declares that, far from belonging
to a fullness, Jesus is the one in whom all the fullness was
pleased to dwell. What is this fullness? It is deity.
Verse 20. It pleased this fullness, which created
everything, to reconcile all things, when after the entrance
of sin they were found in disorder.
“ To reconcile all things,” that is, creation outside
Himself, and the church in Himself; the reconciliation of
the church is already an accomplished fact. “ You hath he
reconciled.”
e general condition of things is complete confusion:
all creation is in disorder; Satan is in the heavenly
places; and, being the god of this age, leads the course
of this world. But this disorder will not always last. God
will put His hand to it; the state of things will change.
Meanwhile the moral reconciliation is already wrought; we
are reconciled to God: as for our bodies which partake of
corruption, deliverance will come also, for that we wait, the
reconciliation of creation.
When speaking of reconciliation, Paul neither mentions
wicked men nor Satan: they are named when it is a question
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339
of the subjection of all things to Christ (Phil. 2). But when
it is a question of reconciliation, it is evident that they
could not be spoken of.
Verse 21. e reconciliation of the saints, composing
the church, presents a fact which is special to it. Paul, in
looking at it, nds the objects of this reconciliation in the
greatest distance from God. He sees the Colossians (their
condition is that of every man in the esh) as not only
sharing in the general disorder of creation, but as alienated
from God. Such are the beings that Christ has reconciled
to God. He has reconciled them in the body of His esh-in
Himself.
Verse 22. It is important to remark that the reconciliation
of the church, as well as the headship of Christ in
resurrection are in connection with His Person.
Verse 23. “ If ye continue in the faith.” One may gather
from these words that there was not much stability among
the Colossians. e words “ if ye continue in the faith,”
indicate a condition. As concerns this, we may remark,
that the presentation of our persons to God, to which this
condition would seem to be bound up, is very free for us,
since it is God who does all that this condition requires
(v. 22). But then (v. 23), if we abandoned Christianity we
should lose our advantage, seeing that we should thereby
have rejected the grace by which we were presented to God.
is does not at all touch the election and the perseverance
of the saints (one nds this language unceasingly in the
epistles); it only proves that God, whose faithfulness
guaranteed the accomplishment of His counsel, keeps
ourselves, and that He keeps us morally.
Verses 23-25. Observe these two ministries: the
preaching of the gospel in all the creation which is under
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heaven; and the service of Paul as minister of the church.
ese two ministries are distinct; but we see them combined
in the person of Paul. Ministries inferior to the apostleship
are in general given for one or other of these two branches
of service, though it may happen, too, that God sometimes
employs one and the same servant to meet the very varied
need of souls.
Verse 25. “ To fulll the word of God.” e doctrine
of the church completes the word of God-the Scriptures.
What was given afterward did not add new truths to the
revelation of God. e Apocalypse, for instance, gives
many new details on prophecy; it casts much light on the
prophets of the Old Testament, etc., but they are not at all
new truths.
Verses 26, 27. “ e mystery which hath been hid from
ages.” To declare the coming of Christ on the earth, His
suerings, His departure, His return in glory to establish
a kingdom-all this was not a mystery, it was revealed. One
may misunderstand these revelations, and in this case
there was ignorance or mistake. But a Christ glorious and
heavenly, who unites all in His Person-a Christ, Head of
His body, forming the same heavenly body of saved Jews
and Gentiles- was only revealed in the New Testament.
And not only was this mystery hidden, but it does not at all
agree with the hopes of the Jews: for a Christ present (by
His Spirit) among the Gentiles, who is as yet only the hope
of glory, is far from answering to the expectations of the
Jews, who looked for the Messiah to come then, bringing
them the glory and establishing the kingdom.
“ Christ in you,” or among you, Gentiles. Such is the
side of the mystery which attaches to the presence of
Christ come, where He has given the Holy Spirit (Acts
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341
2). “ Came and preached peace to you which were afar o,
and to them that were nigh,” Eph. 2:17. is expression
“ among you “ applies consequently in the dispensations
of God to this particular period during which Christ is
among the Gentiles by His Spirit.
Verses 28, 29. Paul labored to present “ every man
perfect in Christ Jesus.” It is not enough for the spiritual
life that one be in Christ without anything more. It is
needful, besides, that one should apprehend what Christ is,
and that our character should be formed by this knowledge.
A Jew or a Gentile who embraced the faith was saved; but
he had much to learn with respect to our Savior. He must
learn that Jesus is Lord of all, Head over all, as well as to
the church, that He is High Priest of good things to come,
etc. Paul did not weary in his eorts to make Jesus known.
His heart desired in a lively way that every man should
become a formed and full-grown Christian. Every man “
perfect “ means full-grown. e same word reappears in
Phil. 3:15, and in Heb. 5:14.
Chapter 2: 2. “ Being knit in love, and unto all riches of
the full assurance of understanding.” e New Testament
speaks of full assurance of faith in Hebrews to: 22; and “ of
full assurance of hope “ in chapter 6: 11 of the same epistle.
But in the passage that we are studying we read, “ full
assurance of understanding.” Paul asked in his prayer for
the Colossians that they might joy in this “ full assurance
of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery
of God.” is last is more vast and extending; it is all in
connection with the glory of Christ. e full assurance
of faith and hope is more towards ourselves, and our joy;
the full assurance of understanding brings us into the
acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and this gives us
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understanding in all His ways. It is astonishing to see how
quickly our thoughts turn to the earth, and bring down
heavenly things to our own lives. at explains why legality
is so often found among Christians, for the elements of the
world and law go together. If we live up to our heavenly
position, enjoying communion with God in that position,
we see things in God, and contemplate from on high His
great love.
It is love which gives us this assurance of understanding;
love precedes it. In this love we can understand divine
things; but if not there we nd ourselves led away by self,
and selshness understands nothing of the things of God.
Verses 2, 3. Omit in these verses the words, “ and of the
Father and of Christ,” and read “ the acknowledgment of
the mystery of God, in which are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge.” e church is part of the mystery
of God, but it embraces more than the church; it is the
purpose that God before all time had of uniting all under
one Head, Christ, in giving Him, as center of this whole,
the church composed of Jews and Gentiles to form one
body with Him. us, according to the purposes of God,
Christ takes His place as Head over all who belong to the
second creation having in glory the church as a body.
God’s government down here represents the elements
of Christ’s glory, but they do not form part of the mystery;
so the glory of the Messiah among the Jews, and the
lordship of the Son of man over the nations do not belong
to the mystery of God. ese things are revealed in the Old
Testament.
Verse 6. It appears the Colossians were inclined to
philosophy, legality, etc. To turn them from it the Holy
Ghost says, “ ere are no such elements in the things
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343
which ye have received, but hold fast that which ye have
received of God, and walk ye in it.”
Reasoning is a vain deception. If man does not accept
the testimony of the word of God, he understands nothing
amidst the confusion which surrounds him. Philosophers
say, “ All is God “ Well, evil being in the world, what is the
consequence? Is the evil of God? Admit the fall of man,
and these errors will vanish.
For “ after the tradition of men,” read, “ according to
the teaching,” the word signies, “ transfer to another.” e
Jews went a good deal into the elements of philosophy;
they adopted the form to which they submitted the Jewish
elements.
“ e rudiments of the world.” Philosophy goes no
farther: it could not give us anything, much more where the
truth of God is in question; anything we nd added only
tends to destroy. Gnostical inventions reject the divinity of
Jesus, and the mystery of the incarnation. Later inventions
make other truths disappear. us, the mass annuls the
perfect sacrice of the cross; and invoking the intercession
of saints does not acknowledge the priesthood of Christ.
So the Christian should seek for naught outside Christ.
We are in Him in whom all fullness dwells: what can we
want more? We are complete and perfected in Him.
Verse 9. “ For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily.” In this verse, as in chapter 1: 19, already
noticed, we see that all fullness dwells in Jesus. ere this
fullness is seen respecting the counsels of God, the goodwill
of God; here it represents, rather, the accomplished work
of redemption.
Verse 10. “ Ye are complete in him.” Notice: far from
having anyone between us and Christ, we are in Him
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who is the Head of all principality and power. We lose
our standing, if, for example, we allow an angel to come
between Christ and us, although as a creature an angel is
far superior to us. ere is no mediator between us and
Christ; there is between us and God, this very mediator
being Christ Himself.
Verse H. Paul shows that we have in Christ the reality
of things signied in the ordinances. Being in Christ we
have life, and this life produces death in the esh, the true
circumcision.
7
To seek life by death would be to wish for
death outside of Christ. We are never recommended to die
to sin; it is said, we are dead to sin. In practice, it is true,
one realizes life according to the measure that he is dead.
In Christ circumcision consists in putting o the body
(of the sins) of the esh. With one gleam of faith one is
entirely freed from sin looked at as a whole. is passage
does not refer to practical life. It chews a moral condition,
which is, in fact, when we receive Christ by faith. Note
here, it does not say, “ the sins of the body,” but “ the body
of the sins “-sin being looked at as a principal characteristic
of the body. e circumcision of Christ exists in the fact
that we are constituted dead to sin.
Verse 12. To unfold the subject more fully, Paul adds,
“ Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen
with him,” v. 12, 13. One can look at man in two ways-as
living in the world, and as being dead in his sins. Paul, in
Rom. 6, sees the Christian out of the rst of these two
conditions. “ Shall we continue in sin? “ and in Eph. 2 he
sees him out of the second-” Ye were dead.” And here we
7 is truth decides the question discussed with the monks and
the Irvingites. ey want to obtain life by death, instead of
knowing that we are dead by the fact that we have received life.
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345
nd the grace which corresponds with these two states-”
Ye walked according to the course of this world; now ye are
buried with Christ … Ye were dead in your sins; God hath
quickened you.
Verse 13. is verse represents a detail, which, I believe,
was not remarked in the Ephesians, namely, that God in
quickening us pardons our oenses; with one act He does
the two things. e knowledge of our sins does not prevent
Him from quickening us. In this case the quickening brings
of itself the pardon of our sins. If, for example, my child is
being punished, and I come and take him for a walk, it is
clear he is forgiven. One sees in the light of such grace how
man has liberty through Christ.
Verses 13-15. e death of Jesus corresponds in several
ways to the condition and wants of sinful man. ere are
trespasses-Jesus has forgiven them (v. 13); ordinances-He
has blotted them out (v. 14); principalities and powers-
He has triumphed over them. How valuable it makes the
cross! Respecting this deliverance, it all applies to saints
individually, not to the church as a body. is body has
its existence in Christ alone. e church has never been
under the power of death, nor under judgment; it has never
needed to be justied, which is all individual. Where the
church is named, there is no room for any such question.
But do we not see in Eph. 5:25, that Christ gave Himself
for the church? Yes; before Christ formed the church for
Himself, He bought it with a price. In this passage the idea
is not justication, but the love that Jesus had in giving
Himself for the church. Justication, that is to say, the grace
that enables a sinner to stand before God, is not brought
out in the Epistle to the Ephesians. is epistle speaks of
the church as being in the heavenlies, united to Christ,
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and heir to His glory, according to all the counsels of God;
it shows also the love and care of Jesus for His church.
Christ, according to this love, gave Himself for it, bought
it by His death; and now that it is His, He puries it by the
word before presenting it to Himself glorious. e church
in this last case is the object of care, similar to that received
by Esther before being presented to king Ahasuerus. But
all this is not justication.
Verse 14. e handwriting should be, “ the obligation
“the obligation that existed in ordinances. An ordinance
is all that is given to one in the esh to accomplish: Peter
calls it a yoke that neither we nor our fathers could bear.
e ten commandments are presented under the form of
an ordinance, but they point to something larger; they trace
the conduct of a creature that knows love, and are thus the
expression of a great moral principle that even angels obey.
e breaking of bread, is it an ordinance? Not in the sense
that we understand ordinance; it is not a commandment,
but a privilege granted to us to remember Jesus. e feast
of unleavened bread on the contrary was an ordinance
to which one must submit under pain of being cut o.
Neither is the breaking of bread a sacrament. Originally a
sacrament was a faithful oath that the Roman soldiers made
to their ag. Fathers of the church called many things by
this name; breaking of bread, baptism, and marriage were
all sacraments to them. In a time of persecution to break
bread was well, in one way, to profess the faithfulness of
Christ; but it happened also at a similar time to profess
faithfulness was no more than the breaking of bread. is
expression “ a sacrament “ has become so ecclesiastical that
it leads the mind away. Breaking of bread and baptism are
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347
no more sacraments than the viaticum and marriage. It is
well to get clear of these bits of superstition.
Christ has left us two signs: one of His death and
resurrection, baptism; the other, the memorial of His death,
the breaking of bread. It is sad that it is called an ordinance
if more is meant than the Lord’s institution. When Jesus
said “ Do this in remembrance of me,” surely He meant
that it should be done; but by these words He only gave a
motive, and did not establish an ordinance.
e breaking of bread, and baptism, were things
practiced by the Jews. ey broke bread with the aicted
(Jer. 16:7); they had pools for their baptisms. e Lord
adopted the rst of these two customs for the breaking of
bread; the second for the washing of regeneration. “ He
took bread, and blessed it “ (Luke 24:30) means He gave
thanks to God, no more.
Verse is. Having spoiled principalities and powers, He
made a show of them openly. Jesus has, as it were, drawn
the enemy into a public scene. Speaking historically it is
the enemy who has conducted the things in this manner.
Verse 16. ere are three results derived from verse
12: “ Let no man therefore judge you,” etc. (v. 16-19); “
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ,” etc. (v. 20-23); “ If ye
then be risen with Christ,” etc. (chap. 3: 1-4).
“ Of the sabbath,” all the days that they were compelled
to rest were called sabbaths.
Verse 18. “ Let no man beguile you of your reward.” e
idea that these words present is to be deprived of the crown
after having run. “ In a voluntary humility and worshipping
of angels intruding into those things which he hath not
seen.” But the adversary is satised; he succeeds in that way
to force you to make a diversion, and to turn your thoughts
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from the object of your faith. As soon as men take this
attitude of voluntary humility, they are not “ holding the
head.” How can he that has the right to own himself one
with Christ let such a privilege go to turn to other objects?
Verse 19. e Lord, far from having instituted an order
of things to come between us and Him, has given the
ministry which works to join, and sustain the members of
the body united to the Head. is verse shows the direct
union of each member with the Head.
Verse 20. Why are ye subject to ordinances? As though
living in the world. It is not the simple fact of being in
the world that these words infer, but to have lived in it
and of it, outside of Christ. It is to this kind of life that
ordinances apply themselves. It is remarkable to see how
the very things in which Christianity seems to give place to
man-baptism and the breaking of bread, of which the esh
would make ordinances, these very institutions declare
man to be dead.
Chapter 3: 1-4. Taking part in Christ’s resurrection the
Christian nds himself a heavenly person. Jesus his life and
joy is hidden in heaven; and such a Christian can but have
heavenly thoughts and aections.
Verse 4. “ When Christ who is our life shall appear, then
shall ye also appear with him in glory.” We have life, we are
already quickened, but there is more to expect from this
life; God wishes it to shine in glory. e promise is given;
and when Christ shall appear, then shall we also appear
with Him.
Verse 5. If there are things we should not seek after,
there are also others we should ght against.
Verse 6. Some people say unbelief is the only sin on
which will fall the judgment of God, but we see by this and
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349
the preceding verses that God’s judgment will come on the
rebellious for other things beside unbelief.
Verse to. e new man is renewed in knowledge, or in
other words made new for knowledge. It is the Christian
seen in his new nature through the new life. “ After the
image of him that created him.” e renewing that God
accomplishes in us is not after the pattern of the rst Adam,
but a renewing according to Christ. is verse presents two
privileges for the Christian, the divine nature in him, the
new man; and an object outside himself, Christ, the object
of his faith and thoughts.
Verse 11. While awaiting the glory when God will be
all in all, Christ dwells already in His saints, He has formed
in them the new man, in whom also He is all and in all. e
old man can have ordinances and philosophy, but to the
new man Christ is all.
Verse 14. Nothing is perfect in our behavior towards
others without love, divine love, brotherly love, etc. You
must bring God in, God is love. at is why love is the
bond of perfectness. Surely, when the rst thought of our
heart is formed in God, it is perfection.
Verse 15. Read “ Let the peace of Christ.”
Verse 16. “ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
“; that there should be in your hearts by the eect of the
word, an unfolding of the Christ you acknowledge, and
that it be perfect.
Chapter 4: 5. “ Walk in wisdom: redeeming the time.”
Verse 16. Read “ at from Laodicea,” the epistle which
will come to you from Laodicea.
REMARKS.
e comparison between the Epistles to the Ephesians
and Colossians gives rise to the remarks which follow. ey
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both treat of the church united to Christ, as being His body.
But the Epistle to the Colossians goes rather to unfold
the perfection of the Head, than to show the privileges
of the body; while the Epistle to the Ephesians does the
reverse. e Ephesians being well grounded in faith and
holding fast the truth of their union with Christ, the Holy
Ghost could unfold to them the great privileges derived
from that union. e Colossians, on the contrary, needed
to be established in the faith and to be shown Christ in
His fullness, Head of the church. us the two subjects are
complete, and present at once to us both the perfection of
the Head, and the privileges of the body.
In the Epistle to the Ephesians the church, being in a
good state, is seen on high in its position in Christ, and
from there looking down contemplates what God is doing
and going to do. In Colossians Paul shows rather what is
on high, directs the Christian’s gaze upward, showing him
the perfection of Christ, and the hope which is reserved
for him in heaven. is position of the Christian awaiting
the heavenly glory resembles a little that given him in the
course where we see him pressing toward the mark. In this
respect the subject of the Colossians approaches that of the
Philippians. ese two aspects of the Christian’s position
explain another dierence remarked between Ephesians
and Colossians. In one Paul says, Christ shall appear; in
the other he does not speak of His return. e Ephesians
are seen as being already on high. ere is another epistle-
to the Galatians, where Paul keeps silent as to the coming
of Jesus, without doubt for the opposite reason: the moral
state of the Galatians was too low.
Many things connected with the Holy Ghost in
Ephesians are connected with the new man in Colossians,
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351
on account of the dierence between the two on the
common subject. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, where
Paul looks principally at the body, he mentions necessarily
the Holy Spirit who is in the body, uniting it all in one.
In that to the Colossians, where individuality is more
forcibly marked, he sees the new man characterized by the
individual. Again two dierent eects: the Holy Spirit, the
power of God which works in us; and the new man, the
communicated divine nature, which renders us responsible.
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63001
Reconciliation: Colossians 1
IN a certain aspect, the Epistle to the Colossians does
not take us up so far as the Ephesians does. e latter takes
up very distinctly the purpose and counsels of God and the
new creation. Hence the contrast of it with man in the old
is presented in a very remarkable way.
In Ephesians we read that God has made us “ sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” and the Holy Ghost as
the seal of our state whilst in Colossians we are “ risen with
Christ,” and that life and its place are largely developed,
but yet we are upon earth ourselves, and are to “ seek those
things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God.” Hence in Ephesians man is not looked at
as a responsible person, to see what can be got out of him,
and his responsibility met in grace as in the Romans; it
begins with him as dead in sins. It is an entirely new thing.
We are created in Christ Jesus. Even as to Christ Himself,
it begins with Him as dead-as a man that is raised from
the dead-and with man as “ dead in trespasses and sins.” It
is not that man is a living sinner, as we have it in Romans,
where the whole question of responsibility is looked at; but
the man is dead in trespasses and sins, Christ has come
down into the death that he is in. Christ is quickened out
of it, and we are quickened together with Him, and raised
up together, and seated together in heavenly places. Now
Colossians does not go so far as this.
In the Epistle to the Romans man is always looked
upon as living in the world; he is alive in his sins; and it
takes him up in his responsibility, and brings fully home to
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353
Jew and Gentile their state. It does not speak of man being
dead in sins, but he is to die because of being alive in sins.
And when he is a Christian, he is still a living man in this
world, Christ his life, and justied, and in Christ, but alive
here though dead to sin, and exhorted to present his body
a living sacrice.
In Colossians you get man dead to sin through the
cross of Christ, and then, though in this world, risen with
Christ, as in Ephesians (which you do not get in Romans),
but not, as there, carried on to sit in heavenly places. Here
man is a risen man-not physically so, of course; his hope
is laid up for him in heaven; he is not sitting there, but
walking in this world as a risen man-risen in Christ; thus,
being alive, he is connected with Christ; he is “ quickened
together with him,” and therefore it is “ having forgiven
you all trespasses.” Christ has come down to where we were
lying dead in our sins, has borne and put them away by His
death, and then we were quickened and raised up along
with Him, all sins forgiven. us, when we were raised up
with Him, we came clean out of the whole thing in which
we were.
Still in Colossians we get far more of what Christ is
in us, than of what we are in Christ. It is “ Christ in you,”
not you in Christ; it is Christ in us down here. And this is
what makes the epistle exceedingly precious; you have in it
the fullest development of life here, in the Christian in his
tried condition on the earth. It is “ If ye then be risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your aection on
things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God.” And then it is, “
When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also
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appear with him in glory.” He rst puts the man as risen
with Christ, and then his heart and aections all go up
after Him to where He is at the right hand of God. ere
is no mention of the Holy Ghost in Colossians. It is the
fullest bringing out of the life of a person in Christ still
walking in this world.
In chapter 1 we see the condition and standing of
the Christian, and the bearing of this on his walk. How
blessedly he puts the Christian in his place through grace!
In the rst place I read verse 14: “ In whom we have
redemption [through his blood], even the forgiveness of
sins.” I take this as the very starting-point-the forgiveness
of sins. We get the blessed truth-this rst truth, if you
please-of grace, and joy, and peace; complete forgiveness
through Christ. He has come down to us and redeemed us
out of the condition we were in.
I am sure, the more we go on from day to day, the more
important we see it is to get hold of this, though it be an
elementary truth, now that there is so much seeking for
an unnished forgiveness. When I am brought into God’s
presence, that which I have upon my conscience is the sins
I have committed; of course I cannot have those I have not.
And therefore when persons are brought to the knowledge
of saving forgiveness, the sins of which they have a sense of
forgiveness are those that they have committed. But when
it comes to those they have not, then comes the question,
“ What about the future? “ And then arise in men’s minds
various ways of getting rid of them, from the gross form of
absolution to the more subtle form of the Eucharist.
If you take a person who is upon Calvin’s ground, he
tells you to look back to your baptism; while the ordinary
evangelical teaches you to look to a perpetual sprinkling
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355
again with the blood of Christ, a thing unknown to
Scripture, and you will nd he is never settled. But it is
settled, and so completely that, if all my sins are not now
set aside to all eternity, they never can be. Christ must
otherwise take the cross and have the sins laid upon Him
now, which is impossible, for He is in glory. “ By one
oering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctied.”
at word “ forever “ there means not only eternally, but
uninterruptedly; there is permanency in it before God, no
discontinuance. It is not the word that speaks of eternity,
though, of course, it is that too; but it is permanently
perfect before God. As Christ is always (“ forever “ here
is the same word) sitting at the right hand of God, our
conscience is forever perfect; it is used in Heb. 10:12, to
show He has nothing more to do.
In these days it is really important to get clear on the
point of our sins being put away-I mean as to justication
before God, and to see that I am before God always upon
that ground, because Christ has borne all my sins. at is
the rst thing given here-the rst elementary thing, though
not the rst thing named. It is an eternal redemption; it
is never discontinued or interrupted, for God can never
overlook that which has so perfectly gloried Himself.
en we see another point which the apostle here
speaks of. e whole state of things in heaven and in earth-
they will all be reconciled-all things made new. And then
he adds, “ And you, who were sometimes alienated, and
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he
reconciled.” e creation has got ruined, corrupted, deled
by sin, though, of course, it could not be guilty as active
in it; and it will all be reconciled. But he begins now with
those who were active in this ruin-who were “ enemies in
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their minds.” I am reconciled to God, brought back to Him
in a divine righteousness that has been worked out for
me; there is not a question between me and God. Here is
innite divine love. We are brought to God-reconciled to
God; and it is a great point to be consciously before God,
to enjoy His love, knowing that He has nothing against us,
and so our hearts in entire condence, able to think of Him
and His favor, not of ourselves.
I am made the righteousness of God in Him, if I look at
righteousness. ere is not a single thing left; nothing but
God to be enjoyed. ere cannot be any unpleasant feeling
between two people if they are thoroughly reconciled;
so I am at home with God. All His gracious feelings are
towards me, and I know it, and my heart is brought back to
Him, and when He looks at me, I can say He looks at His
own righteousness-at His Son, who is mine; I am loved as
He loves Him. My heart believes it, and I come back to
Him. I am reconciled to God.
is epistle especially insists on life-the divine nature
which is born of God, and is capable of delighting in Him,
and of understanding His righteousness. Having this life I
know, through the gift of Christ, and by the power of the
Holy Ghost, the divine favor resting upon me: and I can
rest there, and that is a great thing. It is not merely that I
am forgiven-that my sins are all blotted out, but that God
has wrought-even for His own glory-wrought a work in
which He Himself is perfectly gloried. By Him I believe
in God. And what do I believe? Why, that He has brought
me, associated with Christ, into His own presence; sin is
gone, and I am made the righteousness of God in Him. I
get to the very secret and spring of God’s nature; I get the
very source of what He is in Himself, and am able to enjoy
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357
it. I have not a word to say for myself; I was totally lost, and
now I am totally saved, not according to what man ought
to be, but according to what God is. If it were according to
what man ought to be, there would be no salvation needed;
but that is not it.
What put it into God’s heart to give His Son? Why,
nothing, of course! It was out of His own heart. And is
not God righteous in the way He has saved us? Yes, I am
“ made the righteousness of God in him.” He has “ made
peace through the blood of his cross,” and thus reconciled
us to Himself. is reconciliation is that in which God
has perfectly gloried Himself, and it is to Himself that
I am reconciled. e only part that we had in what has
saved us was our sins. Imperfect in every sense, how was
I reconciled? As redeemed, and quickened, and brought
back to God according to that work that He has wrought.
And I am not come halfway to God: “ ou in thy mercy
hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed; thou
hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.”
“ I bare you on eagles’ wings and brought you unto myself.”
He has brought me to Himself consistently with Himself.
us has the love of God to us been shown out in
this reconciliation, Christ giving Himself for it; and it
is a blessed thing for us that we are reconciled to God,
according to what He is; and God is gloried in it. “ If God
be gloried in him, God shall also glorify him in himself,
and shall straightway glorify him.” A wonderful thing it is!
e enmity of the human heart against God showed itself
to the uttermost at the cross where that work was wrought
out, in virtue of which God has put Christ into glory at
His own right hand, and God Himself is gloried. It is like
the prodigal, most blessedly true, that, when you get the
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young man back to his home, you do not hear a word about
him; it is all the joy of the Father; it is the Father who does
everything; it is the display of what God is; and my heart is
in consonance with Him.
us. I get reconciled to God. ings here are not
reconciled yet-our poor bodies are not, as we know. “ We
have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of
the power may be of God, and not of us.” It is the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ alone, and never any labor on our
part, because who did it? We? Not a bit of it, but God
Himself!
en I get another thing, which gives clearness and
distinctness to this. “ Giving thanks unto the Father, which
hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the
saints in light.” Here I get this blessed truth, that, though I
am here in this poor body, compassed about with inrmity,
and sin dwelling in me, so that if I am not walking in the
presence of God, the esh comes up, yet I get this-” Who
hath made us meet? “ It is not that there is no progress;
there ought to be, and there is, because the Lord will make
us make progress by chastening if we will not in any other
way. At any rate progress is insisted on continuously: “
He that hath this hope in him purieth himself even as
he is pure.” But you never nd it mixed up with being
meet. Progress is mixed up with experience, and divine
government: meetness with Christ’s work and our being
with Him. ere is the constant government of God with
respect to our walk. He looks for progress in it; but here,
where it is a question of reconciling us to Himself, there
is no progress. ere is no progress in the value of Christ’s
blood-shedding; there is no progress in the life that I have
got-that is not in its nature- though there ought to be
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in the development of it. ere must be daily progress in
our walk; but, as to our meetness, it is the work of God;
it is, “ What hath God wrought? “ e poor thief on the
cross goes straight to paradise, made in one moment a t
companion for Jesus throughout eternity.
e world will not have this; many Christians will not
have it, because they want their own righteousness. It is not
here holiness-which you cannot insist on too much-but it
is a question of righteousness. We are “ accepted in the
Beloved.” Of course no fault is there, and no progress; and
it injures holiness bringing it in here, because it confounds
righteousness with holiness. When you talk of holiness,
which is intimately connected with walk, there ought
to be progress; but that is not righteousness. Holiness is
abhorrence of evil. ere is no holiness really developed in
us, though a holy nature be there, till we understand we are
the righteousness of God, because till then I cannot help
mixing it up with my acceptance. Till then the question
with me is, what the eect of sin will be as regards my
acceptance before God. But when I am settled as to my
acceptance, and in the light as God is in the light, then it
comes to be a detestation of sin for its own sake; not the
evil act so much as sin-the root itself. And that is holiness.
I get then another truth, and this is, that I am delivered
from the power of darkness, and translated into the
kingdom of God’s dear Son. at may come in before the
other if you will. I have changed my whole place. Darkness
is the absence of the knowledge of God. e light shone in
the darkness, “ and the darkness comprehended it not.” “ If
we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship
one with another.” “ If we say that we have fellowship with
him and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.”
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People are in light or in darkness. It does not say according
to light, or according to darkness. God is light, and if I am
walking in darkness I do not know Him at all. Christ said,
“ is is your hour, and the power of darkness.” Dreadful
word for man! He is a slave of Satan. He does not say they
are reprobate criminals, but that they are without God,
and in darkness, though they may be amiable natures or
unamiable.
In Christ, of course, the light was perfect. He went
through this world with the consciousness that all the
people He met with, of course, excepting the converted
ones, were without God.
In all there is a consciousness-a sense-that man is a
responsible being. ough he may try every kind of eort
to get right with God, yet, if he has been committing sins,
he knows he has been committing sins. ere is conscience
in everybody, but people confound the rule for conscience
with the conscience itself. Man feels this is right, and that is
wrong. Now Satan totally hides God from the conscience.
I do not believe he can destroy the conscience, but he hides
Him from it. Christ says, “ I am the light of the world,” and
then He opens the man’s eyes and he sees. All the rest were
under the power of darkness. ere it was all openly so. e
world is utterly without God; there is not one common
thought between God and their souls.
Well, we are “ delivered from the power of darkness,”
but is that all? No; we are “ translated into the kingdom of
his dear Son.” at is where we are brought to. Truth could
not come by itself. As truth came in the Person of the Lord
Jesus Christ, there could not but love come too. He does
not say “ translated into the light,” though that is true; but
translated into the kingdom of his dear Son.” e power of
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361
darkness is the rule of Satan over this world; and by vanity,
money, knowledge even-by all that is going-he blinds the
eyes of men and maintains his power over them; he uses
all these various things to keep man without God. Just like
Cain, he embellishes his city, and sets it all up and makes
everything as pleasant as he can without God. And we are
delivered from all that, and brought into the kingdom of
God’s dear Son.
It is the kingdom-the place where Christ has the rule. It
is the eect of redemption. e power of love has come in
and has delivered us, and has brought us into the kingdom
that He has set up. In the cross the full power of Satan
was destroyed; there Satan brought everything to bear. e
apostles ran away, and Satan bad everybody against the Son
of God. For it was Satan’s hour and the power of darkness.
He carried the world with him against the Son of God.
So the Spirit “ will convince the world of sin, because they
believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my
Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the
prince of this world is judged.” Satan came against the
Son of God as the prince of this world, now he is cast out.
e cross was the full enmity of man against God, under
Satan’s power; but he has been met; his power has been
judged-it is all destroyed. If we go and listen to him in the
esh, he can ensnare us; but he has no power; if we only
resist the devil, he will ee from us; it is not said we shall
overcome. As to this, the cross was the very thing that God
allowed, so that in it his power might be destroyed. At the
cross Satan governed the whole world; there the exercise of
his power came to a crisis; he pushed men on to crucify the
Son of God; and then all his power was destroyed. So now
it is, “ Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations
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“-not sins, of course; we have only to resist the devil in
them, and he will ee from us. We are delivered from the
power of darkness, and passed over to the place where
Christ is, and spoken of as only here; not only into light
out of darkness, but associated in the kingdom with the
only-begotten object of His special love- the kingdom of
God’s dear Son-brought into that. We have got this place
into which grace has brought us; we are “ made meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.”
But then we have it all in these poor earthen vessels,
though “ risen with Christ.” And therefore we are to “ seek
those things which are above.” It is, “ Set your aection on
things above, not on things on the earth, for ye are dead
“-dead to the law, dead to sin, quickened together with
Christ, and, “ When Christ, who is our life shall appear,
then shall we also appear with him in glory.” e risen
Christ at God’s right hand is our life, and yet we are not
taken out of this world.
And then I get, “ Walk worthy of the Lord unto all
pleasing.” I get three “ worthies “ in the epistles. “ Worthy
of God who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory,”
in essalonians. “ Worthy of the vocation,” in Ephesians;
practically the same thing, the Holy Ghost having us for
His habitation, the habitation of God through the Spirit as
a present thing. And here, it is “ Worthy of the Lord.” My
path through this world is to be worthy of Him. My life
should be the expression of Christ; my life, ways, everything
that Christ expressed.
“ Fruitful unto every good work, and increasing in the
knowledge of God.” Here I get growth. I get no growth in
reconciliation: there is no growth in the value of Christ’s
blood; but the moment I get life, there is “ increasing “ or “
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growing by the knowledge of God.” I know God, and can
say, at is not t for God. I purify myself. It does not say
he is as pure as Christ, but that he is to “ purify himself as
he is pure.” As I get my eye puried, I see better; I get my
“ senses exercised to discern good and evil,” and the more I
get on, the more I see what I am getting on to.
Here I could say a word (as I nd it current in certain
circles that perfection is attainable here) that there is no
perfection for the Christian except Christ in glory. If I
am a risen man I take Him on earth as a pattern for my
steps, but not what I am to attain to. Christ down here
is unattainable, because Christ had no sin, and I have
sin. ere is no perfection down here-you never nd any
maintaining that there is, who do not lower it to Adam
condition. I seek to walk as Christ walked, not after the
esh at all, but the point I am aiming at and looking to is
Christ in glory. It is “ when he shall appear “ that I shall be
like Him, and not till then. I try to be as like Him here as
ever I can be. “ is one thing I do, forgetting those things
which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling “-the calling above-” of God in Christ
Jesus.” I have no calling down here; there is the calling
above-the whole thing that God has set before us.
People say, God cannot give you a rule you cannot attain
to. But I say, God never gives you a rule which you can
attain-never! First, there was the law. Could man attain
to that as in the esh where it was given to him? It was
not subject to the law of God, nor can be. And now there
is Christ in glory. Can I attain to that? Never here! But
I press on to it; it is before me, and I never attain it till I
get to Him. is object that I am aiming at governs me
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where I am; “ I live by the faith of the Son of God “; and, if
you are not living by Him gloried, you have not got Him
at all. If you look for perfection down here, you have lost
your object; it is a complete blunder in the very nature of
the thing. Christ in glory is the object to which our minds
ought to be always looking on. We are predestined “ to be
conformed to the image of his Son,” and, if you are looking
at anything else, you are not looking at that.
And now, mark, as regards the path down here, we are
“ strengthened with all might, according to his glorious
power.” Is not that a wonderful thing to say? And what is
the fruit of it? It sounds a poor thing-” patience! “ But I
say, you try and see if there be not a working of will in you
that does not like to be thwarted. at is not patience! “
Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect
and entire, wanting nothing.” See if you do not want divine
power for patience. “ If when ye do well, and suer for
it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.” is
is the rst thing: “ Strengthened with all might unto all
patience.” And what next? “ Long-suering.” As we see
it in Ephesians, “ I beseech you that ye walk worthy of
the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness
and meekness, with longsuering.” And then follows “
joyfulness.” e moment the will is broken-my will bowing
to God’s will-bearing with patience everything I come
across-then joy is unhindered.
us we have got the place in which we are set, and then
the behavior with which we are to walk. What the apostle
looks for is that we should be “ lled with the knowledge
of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” But
do we not often nd ignorance of His will? Where we
do, there is always our own will working. He looks for a
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365
spiritual conformity to Christ’s mind to so mark our mind,
and walk, and ways, that our life should bear the expression
of the life of Christ. It is not merely avoiding positive sins;
it is far more than that. e question is, What will please
Christ? I do not say a thing is wrong-not merely wrong;
but what will please Christ? e question, beloved friends,
really is, Is Christ in our hearts enough to make us seek
only one thing upon this earth until we get to Him where
He is? If our hearts are set on Christ our one desire will be
to “ walk worthy of the Lord,” and then the world will not
know us.
us we see, that, not only are our sins gone-put away
through the precious blood of Christ, but that we are
brought into this new place in Christ, “ delivered from the
power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of his
dear Son,” and that, being thus brought there, we have now
to walk in it “ worthy of the Lord.” Just as I would send a
child out into the world, and say to him, Now walk worthy
of your father and your family. But how could he do it if he
did not know his father?
God wants us to be “holy, and unblameable, and
unreproveable in his sight.” at is what He would have
us-what is pleasing to Himself. e earnest seeking to
walk worthy of the Lord to all pleasing; forgiven, justied,
reconciled to God, t for the inheritance of the saints in
light, t for the kingdom of God’s dear Son, and sent now
to walk down here in the consciousness of our place up
there.
e Lord only give His saints to have a deeper truer
sense in this way of the place into which He has brought
them in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they may know what
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it is to be brought to God according to the acceptance that
is in Christ Jesus.
Notes on the Beginning of Colossians
367
63000
Notes on the Beginning of
Colossians
I DESIRE to send you a few remarks from time to
time, as the Lord may enable me, on the Epistle to the
Colossians, chiey for the help of the young who have
recently been brought, in His great mercy, to know and
love the Lord Jesus Christ.
Two things in this epistle make it specially precious to
such. e rst is the way in which it so fully reveals the
glory of Christ’s Person, whether as Son of the Father’s
love, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells, or as
Creator, and Redeemer, and Head of His body, the church.
e second thing is the way in which it unfolds “ the
mystery “ for joy and consolation of the saints-even Christ
in them the hope of glory.
ese are the two great subjects set before our hearts
by the Holy Ghost in this precious epistle; and what can
be more strengthening or gladdening than to have the eye
and heart lled with the glory of Jesus, and to have the joy
and assurance of our intimate union with Him made good
in our souls by the Holy Ghost? To walk in the light of
His risen glory, and in the consciousness of our individual
interest in His love is tile great requirement in these evil
days. Nothing else will give courage to confess Him before
men; and this alone will deliver from all the snares of Satan,
whether of worldliness on the one hand, or of religion on
the other, which is not after Christ.
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ese things will come before us, if the Lord will, by-
and-by: meantime, let us follow the course of the epistle
from the beginning.
In the rst two verses we have the salutation of the
apostle, and in the next three his thanksgiving on their
behalf. He addresses them as Christ’s apostle, clothed with
the authority of His name, and charged them with the
communication of His grace. Moreover, God had set him
apart to this service. In the end of the chapter the apostle
tells of a double ministry entrusted to him as the vessel of
the grace of God: rst, a ministry for the proclamation of
the gospel to sinners; and second, a ministry for the church,
to make known to the saints the unsearchable riches of
Christ. It is in the exercise of this latter ministry that he
writes this epistle. It is to bring the hearts of the saints
into the assured knowledge and enjoyment of their place
and portion in Christ so as to walk in peaceful communion
with Him until He shall appear. is ministry he fullls
in the name, and as the apostle, of Jesus Christ. us the
whole epistle ows directly from Christ through His
chosen apostle.
It is to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ he
writes, and, as we have seen, on the part of Christ. ey
were “ in Christ,” the grand center of the new creation;
holy and faithful brethren in Him. en he ministers the
sweet stream of grace and peace from God the Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus was parted from His
disciples in the act of blessing them, so here the apostle of
Christ begins his epistle to the Colossians, before entering
on anything else, by saluting them with the grace or
unmingled favor of the Father and the Son, of which they
Notes on the Beginning of Colossians
369
were ever the objects, being in Christ, and with the peace
which is the fruit of this favor.
Next we get his thanksgiving. He thanked God, even
the Father of “ our Lord Jesus Christ,” praying always for
them, for the hope laid up for them in heaven. Here we see
how Paul identied himself with the interests of heaven.
He had heard of the faith and love of these Colossians,
and his heart at once turned to God in thanksgiving and
prayers; thanksgiving that He had linked with heaven this
fresh company of believers, and that He had done it. And
note well, that it was not what they were delivered from
that here occupies him, though he does not forget that, as
we see lower down; nor is it what was wrought in them,
blessed as that was; but it is what they were called to-that
bright and blessed portion in heaven-the hope laid up
for them there. us he would evidently ll their minds
with what they were going to; and in his own sense of its
exceeding excellency and glory he thanks God on their
behalf as heirs of such an inheritance.
is is a very important point. For there is a great
tendency, in the rst joy of faith and fervor of feeling, to
be occupied with the joy and with the feeling; and when
afterward trials and exercises of heart and conscience have
to be passed through, to be occupied with them, or with
what will give present deliverance and help, and to forget
the bright and blessed hope laid up for us in heaven-the
place of rest and glory with Himself, which Jesus is gone to
prepare. But how can I journey on to Canaan through the
trials and exercises of the wilderness if my heart has lost
the sense of the blessedness of the Canaan I am going to?
We are redeemed, not for the wilderness, but for Canaan;
we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And when the
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370
glory of God is indeed our joy, we can add, “ Not only so,
but we glory in tribulations also.” For then we know and
experience that these very tribulations are all made to work
for our good, and to further us on our way. For “ tribulation
worketh patience.” It free us from the restlessness of our
own will, which would turn aside, and delivers us, besides,
from the fear of what man can do to us. We learn to trust in
God. We learn, moreover, how little we can be the authors
of our own blessing, and we count more and more on
the constant watchfulness and love, and care of a Father
in heaven. His love is shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. We know that we are
in these tribulations because the objects of His love, the
ransomed ones of His grace from the re that shall never
be quenched. And then, besides, we are on our way to God.
us having the end in view enables us to confess that we
are strangers and pilgrims on the earth, and it brightens
with hope every step of the way. Otherwise we get weary,
becoming faint in our minds. But if living in the midst
of things that are unseen and eternal, the inward man is
renewed day by day, and that, too, at the very time that the
outward world is perishing and falling into decay.
But we now come to a third point, and that is-the
ground of this thanksgiving on behalf of these Colossians.
How could the apostle give thanks so assuredly on their
behalf, having never seen them? Verse 4 tells us. It was
because he had heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus,
and of their love to all the saints. ese were the grand
distinguishing features and characteristics of the divine life
in man. And these being of God, he well knew that all who
possessed them were bound up forever in the bundle of life
with the Lord Jesus Christ, and that where He was there
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371
should they be also. ese were the essentials. In Christ
Jesus nothing avails but “ faith which worketh by love.”
First, faith, which came to Jesus with all its load of sin
and unworthiness because it had nowhere else to go, and
because it saw a love and a holiness in Him which received
sinners and made Him their companion and their friend;
and then love which, having Him for its object, necessarily
had all who were His. Faith not only thus comes to Jesus at
the rst, but it binds the soul to Him as risen, and is ever
receiving of His fullness. And love, having seen the saints
as the precious ones of His heart, enfolds them forever in
its bosom with a most tender aection. ey are dear to
Him. is is the motive of love, and it never fails. It clothes
with divine comeliness all the objects of His grace. And
what it does to them. it does as unto Him; and great is its
reward.
In the previous verses we had three points brought
before us. First, is the apostle’s salutation, in which he
regards the saints as the objects of the present favor of the
Father, and of the peace which He gives. Happy position!
secured to us forever in Christ. And sweet it is thus to be
able to view the saints at all times, whatever their practical
condition may be, as dear to God, the excellent of the earth,
whose present peace and blessing He seeks, even as He has
secured it for us forever in Christ. In fellowship with these
thoughts of God, the apostle greets them with grace and
peace from God their Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
en, secondly, we had his thanksgiving for the hope
laid up for them in heaven. Heaven was near to his
thoughts. Jesus was there. He had entered in, and He was
preparing a place for them. He is to come again to take us
to Himself, that we may be forever with Him. And when
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He shall be manifested then shall we also be manifested
with Him in glory. is latter, perhaps, was more especially
the hope here before him; Christ in them “ the hope of
glory.” What rest of heart the apostle had in contemplating
this issue of Christ’s travail on their behalf, their being
with Him forever in heaven! Many an exercise he had on
their behalf even as to the very condition they were in at
the time he was writing to them; they had lost the sense of
their place with their risen Head; at any rate it had become
much enfeebled, and with the enfeebling of this all else
became enfeebled too. He had great agony for them; and
this was Christ’s Spirit yearning in him over them for their
deliverance, and for their entrance in living power into the
joy and comfort of the mystery. But when he turned to
heaven all was peace; he could give thanks to the Father
for the portion He had laid up for them there. Christ was
there. e Head was there, and with Him everyone of the
members should appear in glory.
en, thirdly, in verse 4 we had the ground of this
thanksgiving as far as they were concerned-even their
faith in the Lord Jesus and love to all the saints. Grace had
wrought in them already, and he at once connects it with
glory.
In the close of verse 5, and in the next, a new subject
comes before him-the gospel, “ the word of the truth of the
gospel.” In connection with this he makes three statements,
each of them weighty and important, as indeed every word
of God is.
First, he connects the hope laid up for them in heaven
with the word of the truth of the gospel. e gospel, the
good tidings of grace, had wrapped up in it also good
tidings of glory. It was in the word of the truth of the
Notes on the Beginning of Colossians
373
gospel that they had heard of the hope laid up for them in
heaven. Such was the range and scope of the gospel, at least
which they had heard; it was God’s good news not only of
the forgiveness of sins through the blood of His Son, but
of eternal blessedness with Him in heaven.
How could it be otherwise? Christ was in heaven, and
we are redeemed to be with Him. e cross put Him in
glory, and it puts all there who trust in Him too. Blessed
is it to know what we are delivered from-the wages of sin-
eternal separation from God, who is love, the fountain of
all goodness and joy; and this, too, as the expression of
His everlasting displeasure. But how much more blessed
to know that His perfect love did not spare His own Son,
not only that I might not perish, but that I might know
Him and be with Himself forever! Jesus was forsaken for
us, that we might be forever brought nigh. is gives the
heart an object as well as perfect peace to the conscience.
It delivers also from this present evil world; the brightness
and blessedness of that One discovering the true condition
of this world-far from God and in bondage of Satan, and
under wrath because of having rejected Jesus. e word of
the truth of the gospel reveals all this-the true condition
of man and his world; and the perfect grace of God which
has wrought in the cross for us, and which has wrought
in them by the gospel, giving them a place even now with
Him who bore it for them, and the hope of being with
Him forever in heaven. It was the word of the truth of the
gospel, and on it they might rely with condence. Man
and his glory was passing away, but the word of the Lord
should endure forever. And this was the word which by the
gospel was preached unto them.
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374
What rmness of step, and what buoyancy of spirit this
heavenly hope gives to him who has it in passing through
this world! en we realize that we are not of it, and that
we are on our way to God.
A second characteristic of the gospel was its universality.
It had reached them, and was among them, as indeed it
was in the world. It was no mere Jewish tidings; it was for
man. Oenses abounded among the Jews; but where “ sin
“ abounded, a far wider thing, there grace did much more
abound.
en, thirdly, it was bringing forth fruit in all the
world and amongst them too. It was gathering souls to
God through Christ wherever it went, but besides, it was
bringing forth fruit in those who were gathered. is last
point is plainly implied in the clause which follows: “ Since
the day ye heard it, and knew the grace of God in truth.”
Ever since it was the power of fruit-bearing, as at the rst
it was the seed of eternal life. is is a very important point,
and one we are apt often to forget. e seed that fell into
the good ground brought forth fruit; some thirty, some
sixty, and some an hundredfold. We have become dead to
the law by the body of Christ, that we should be married
to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that
we might bring forth fruit unto God. is is the simple
natural result of union with Jesus risen. And the grace of
God, when known in truth, sets us thus before God in
Christ, the fruits of which union we are to manifest down
here upon the earth. We are to walk in newness of life, that
is, of response Godward. In order to do this, we must abide
in Him. But when simply holding the Head, everything is
fruit, fruit unto God.
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375
What a place of honor and glory this is-of being here in
this world the living channels of the aections and virtues
of Christ hid in God. Oh! that we esteemed it more. us it
is we adorn the doctrine of God our Savior, by manifesting
in this world of sin and in the trying circumstances of daily
life, not what esh is, but what Christ is; our hearts feeding
upon His love, whilst we lean upon His arm and are guided
by His eye. What interest He takes in our being fruitful,
that His Father may be gloried! Will He fail us in the
hour of need? He lets us come into it just that we may
prove how abundant are His resources to make us victors
over all the power of the enemy.
May He keep us near to Himself that we may be happy
in His love, and so be strong to live for Him.
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63002
All in Christ and Christ All:
Colossians 2
e Lord can bring good to His people out of any evil.
ese Christians at Colosse were in danger of not
“ holding the head,” that is, of slipping away from the
consciousness of being in Christ, through getting beguiled
into subjection to ordinances. To meet this the apostle
urges them back, showing them how the believer has
everything in Christ, and not anything out of Christ. In
result we get much precious teaching as to the fullness of
the Head for the body, as well as solemn warning against
practical separation from our standing of union with the
Head, through the allowance of religiousness in the esh.
Everything is based on union with Christ risen and gloried.
But then, if here, as in the Epistle to the Ephesians, we
get this great truth as a basis, the Colossians are addressed
on somewhat lower ground than the Ephesians, who were
standing fast in the faith of it, and could prot by teaching
which unfolded to them the whole extent of the church’s
privileges, inasmuch as they have to be got up to the point
from which the Christian’s thoughts and feelings should
ever ow-his standing and privileges in Christ. e epistle
to each is perfect in its place.
8
e steadfastness of the
8 A great part of New Testament scripture had, as the occasion
for its being written, mischief done by Satan in the church.
e Epistles to the Corinthians and Galatians are examples of
this. Man gets humbled in it, but God overrules it for greater
blessing.
All in Christ and Christ All: Colossians 2
377
one and the failure of the other have both been made to
subserve the blessing of the church in all ages.
e moment we look to ordinances, as it regards
position before God, we are slipping away from Christ:
something is brought in between us and the Head. God’s
thought of completeness is Christ; if, therefore, I have the
thought of not having already all perfection, everything I
need, in Him, I am leaving Christ. “ Ye are [it is not said, ye
shall be] complete in him,” v. to. If there is anything for me
to obtain, there comes in at once some means of obtaining
it. If the body is united to the Head, or (which, in respect of
the individual, is the same thing) if I am one
9
with Christ,
I have in Him all I need. I may have to be taught about it
and to seek grace to manifest it, but the moment I think
I have to obtain what is in Christ, a subtle form of self-
righteousness is at work-I must do something. No matter
what shape this may assume, prayer, or works, or anything
else, I am not “ holding the head.” One in possession of an
estate may have to see about that estate, but were he to say,
I must get possession of it, he would be all wrong.
Christ is revealed to the humble soul. Intellectual
attainment is not in question here, it is no matter of great
learning or of philosophy. “ Where is the wise? Where is
the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Has not
God made foolish the wisdom of this world? “ e “ things
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we
have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit
which is of God; that we might know the things that are
freely given us of God.” e most transcendent mind could
9 is is not merely true of the church, in an abstract manner
(the religion of the esh can be orthodox): faith is an individual
thing, and places him who possesses it in the enjoyment-or
personally under the eects-of its object.
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never discover the ways of God; we get eort, but never
success in attaining to that which the simplest Christian
knows-things “ hidden from the wise and prudent “ but
“ revealed unto babes.” How painful the eorts of man in
arriving at darkness! “ What is truth? “ asked Pilate, and
crucied Christ. Christ is the truth, and the humble simple
soul of a poor sinner, taught of God, has it perfectly; he
may not have realized it, but he has it all there, “ all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge “ in the mystery. Christ
is the righteous One, and we are made “ the righteousness
of God in him “-life, “ in him is life,” and He is “ our life.”
As to all that is divine and eternal, there is not anything
out of Christ.
At the commencement of the chapter the apostle
speaks of the great conict he had had on behalf of these
saints, that their “ hearts might be comforted, being knit
together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of
understanding to the acknowledgment of the mystery of
God [and of the Father, and of Christ].” For as we know,
God is about to gather together all things in Christ (Eph.
1:8-10), and the church is associated with Him who is
this center. “ And this, I say,” he continues, “ lest any man
should beguile you with enticing words [pretending to
bring you a mass of wisdom and knowledge in all manner
of things that are not Christ]; for though I be absent in the
body, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding
your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ,”
v. 4, 5. It is all well to have Christ for Christianity, he may
come and say (alas! how often is this said), But is there
to be nothing else besides Christ? No, not anything. We
cannot deal with the plants of this earth, without dealing
with that which belongs to Christ; and if we deal with
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379
them without Christ, we sin. We are exiled from paradise
and have forfeited everything. Forgetfulness of all that had
taken place, thorough blinding of heart and hardening of
conscience marked the way of Cain, till at last, when driven
out from the presence of the Lord, he sought to make that
world, into which God had sent him forth a fugitive and a
vagabond (the very name of the place in which he dwelt”
the land of Nod “ means, “ the land of a vagabond “), as
agreeable an abode as practicable apart from God. And all
that man is now doing, to inherit the earth without Christ,
he is doing according to Cain, settling himself down as a
poor sinner in a world like this. e Christian acknowledges
that he has forfeited everything; he cannot talk about “ my
rights “; in using anything himself, he would be using it as
a poor guilty rebel. He trusts in the living God, who giveth
us richly all things to enjoy; he eats his meat with gladness
and singleness of heart, praising God; whatever he does, in
word or in deed, he does all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks unto God and the Father by Him. To him,
there is not anything outside Christ-all belongs to Christ,
and it is, as a Christian, that he enjoys it.
Let us not suppose that this “ mystery of God “ is some
great knowledge. Where the soul has so owned itself a
sinner and everything to be in Christ, it has owned Christ
as center of all; it has received Him for forgiveness, and
it has all in Him; “ as ye have therefore received Christ
Jesus the Lord,” he continues, “ so walk ye in him, rooted
and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have
been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving,” v. 6, 7.
Everything I have, I get from God’s love.
“ Beware lest any man spoil you “-despoil or cheat you
of your blessing-” through philosophy and vain deceit, after
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the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and
not after Christ.” e tradition of men is never faith-truth
or error, it is never faith-it is natural and belongs to man.
Faith is the reception of a divine testimony by the soul, so
that God Himself is believed; and, further, it is founded
on His testimony alone. Man may be the instrument of
leading me into truth-a sign-post shows me the way-but
I cannot believe man, that is, I cannot believe because
man says it; I believe God. We have believed Satan when
we were enjoying God’s blessings now, God calls upon
us to believe Himself. Herein is the real return of the
soul to God. If I believe because “ the church “ has put
its authority or its sanction on that which I believe, I am
just simply saying that I do not believe God. e Bible is
the word of God. God has given a testimony carrying His
authority with it, which testimony I am bound to believe:
otherwise I despise God’s testimony. To believe because
man says it, or because “ the church “ says it, is to make
God a liar; for, when I had only what God said, I did not
believe. It is well to look this distinctly and denitely in
the face. ere are two things: 1, that which I believe-the
fullness, riches, and perfection of Christ; and 2, the ground
on which I believe it. Now as to the latter, if a person were
to tell me something, in order really to believe that person’s
testimony, I must receive what he said, because he said it.
If I cannot believe God, why is it? My eyes are holden,
I cannot believe when God speaks. He has not failed in
giving the testimony. e only rightness in regard of this
is to believe what God says, because He says it; in other
words, to believe God. To tell a person, “ I will believe what
you say, when I get it sanctioned by another,” is not to trust
him. To require “ the church’s “ testimony to accredit God’s
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word is to disbelieve-to dishonor-God. In doing this, I am,
as it respects moral position, indel in regard of God.
But more: Christ is a heavenly Christ, He is not of
this world; He was from heaven and He has gone back
to heaven. Hence all that is “ after the rudiments of the
world,” beautifully suited, though it be, to human nature,
and calculated to make man pious,
10
is not “ after Christ.”
at which has not been in heaven can only tell about
heaven at second hand; all that is not simply Christ’s
revelation of Himself does not belong to heaven. He says,
“ No man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came
down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven
“-who else could? And, therefore, no matter what man tells
me, or what men have said about heaven-be it what the
ancients have said, or what “ the church “ has said, I cannot
believe it. at which is “ after the rudiments of the world
“ is exactly opposed to heaven. e moment we get what
is suited to the esh, or makes a fair show in the esh, it
belongs to the world, it is not “ after Christ.”
10 e religion of the esh is altogether as evil as its lusts; for
after all, it is but one of them, though covered up with the veil
of works and of holiness. It can be occupied much in good
works, be without reproach as to conduct, have much of self-
denial, much of piety, plenty of humility, be much occupied
with the love of God, but while pretending, perhaps, to found
it upon His love (which is innite), it will be that love which
is in the heart-our love to Him. One may ask, But, if all these
things can exist in a person and be nothing but the esh, how
can we discern the true circumcision? It rejoices in Christ
Jesus. Nothing is easier than to judge these things, if Christ is
our all. e fact that He is so makes us feel, without hesitancy,
that all this is esh, and yields its help to that which destroys
Christianity from its foundations. e esh is very pious when
it acts the pious, for it always rejoices in itself.
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“ For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily,” v. 9. ere is here something exceedingly blessed; it
is not a Pilate’s What is truth? Nor yet seeking after God,
if haply we might feel after Him and nd Him (Paul’s
expression in regard of the heathen), but, as John speaks, “
that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled,
of the word of life “ (1John 1:1), that which is brought
home to the senses of men. In place of working up the
feelings to seek after something, God has come down to us,
poor wretched creatures that we are. But God is there. He
has come down to us in our sins and miseries bodily: I do
not get a heap of stories, patched up nobody knows how, to
act on my senses, a … d work on my imagination; it is the
God who saves me. But He will be always God. ere is
not a trouble, there is not a distress, there is not a feeling
in the heart of man, that is not met in Christ (and, after
all, we do want something to ll the heart, we are men, and
we want what man wants), not as a doctrine merely, but
bodily. We nd in Him that which is to be found nowhere
else. Let it be the most loving person possible, he has not
loved me and died for me. But then I have not simply the
love of a gracious person: there is in Him “ all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily.” All ights of the imagination are
checked, for I meet it in the Holy One, though I meet it in
all my wants.
“ And ye are complete in him,” v. 10. Not only have I
all I want, but I am all I need to be in Him. I must appear
before God, and have to say to God, as a responsible being;
looked at as what I am in myself, I am lost; in Christ, I am
complete, as complete as Christ is, for I am complete in
Him. ere are these two sides: if God is manifested to us,
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we must also be manifested before God. Blessed be God! I
have not anything to seek out of Christ as to completeness.
And mark, it is not merely what there is,’ but what we have
in Christ. Our hearts are so deceitful and treacherous,
they do like to get in a little bit of their own. But let it be
humility, or what else it may, there is no room found here
for anything of self. In us, that is, in our esh, dwelleth
no good thing. ere is neither righteousness, nor holiness,
nor humility out of Christ.
e Jews were looking to a variety of forms; we have all
in Christ. A person talks to me about getting absolution
from a priest, I do not want it; I had it years ago in Christ.
Another says, You will receive the Holy Ghost in this or
in that particular way. I have received the Holy Ghost
already. So, in regard of what the apostle speaks of here:
“ In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands, in putting o the body of the sins of
the esh by the circumcision of Christ “ (v. I I); we have
done with sin, we are dead to it with Christ. He goes on
to show how: “ Buried with him in baptism wherein also
ye are risen with him, through the faith of the operation of
God, who hath raised him from the dead,” v. 12. We have
done with the esh; it is not an eort to have done with it,
we are dead. He does not say, “ Die to the esh “ (neither
does Scripture anywhere speak thus), nor yet, “ Die to sin.”
Such an expression is in itself a clear proof that he who
uses it does not know the gospel simply. But we do nd it
said, “ Mortify your members which are upon the earth,”
etc. (chap. 3: 1-5). is supposes us to be dead, and to have
our life hid with Christ in God. Elsewhere the apostle says,
“ I am crucied with Christ, nevertheless I live, and the life
which I now live in the esh, I live by the faith of the Son
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of God, who loved me and gave himself for me,” Gal. 2:19,
20. All that Christ is, and all that Christ has done,
11
is mine
in Him. Has He been put to death? so have I. Is He risen
again? so am I; therefore I am able to “ mortify,” etc. We
cannot mix these two things (in our minds we often do,
and hence confusion):
12
Christ’s having died unto sin for
me, is my power for being dead practically to sin. To make
this clearer, if need be, see the argument of Rom. 6 “ How
shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? … In
that he died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth,
he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to
be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal
body,” etc. e moment the eye rests on Him, faith says, I
am dead to sin.
And mark how this is brought in. e faith is not in
my being risen, but in Christ’s having been raised. is
distinction is far from unimportant. Many a sincere soul
is continually turning in upon itself to know if it be risen,
but this is not “ the faith of the operation of God.” Peter
says, “ You, who by him do believe in God, that raised him
up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and
hope might be in God,” 1Peter 1:21. So Paul, “ to whom it
shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus
11 It is all ascribed by God to me, as though it had happened to
myself.
12 e true mortication of the esh is accomplished through
grace, in the consciousness of grace. Without this, there is only
the eort of a soul under law, and in that case, a bad conscience
and no strength. is is what sincere monks attempted, but
their eorts were not made in the power of grace, of Christ,
and His strength. If there was sincerity, there was also the
deepest spiritual misery.
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385
our Lord from the dead,” etc. My soul, knowing that all
that is esh is condemned, that there is no good thing in it,
has given up seeking good from it; God has found plenty
of evil, and I have done so too-He may have allowed me to
struggle on in the hopeless endeavor to better it-but I look
out of myself, and I see that God has raised Christ from
the dead. “ What the law could not do, in that it was weak
through the esh, God sending his own Son in the likeness
of sinful esh, and for sin, condemned sin in the esh,”
Rom. 8:1-3. My condence is in this, that God has raised
Christ from the dead, when He was there for me. But then,
if this sets aside everything that I am in myself before God,
it sets all aside for acceptance also. Am I saying, ere is
no good at all in my esh, it must die, I cannot mend it?
It is dead, the whole old thing gone; I am in heaven in
Him, who has been raised from the dead, and now I have
to mortify my members which are on earth.
“ And you who were dead in your sins and the
uncircumcision of your esh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses,” v. 13. Here
comes in another blessed truth. Instead of its being
a question as to the esh getting better, not only is it
condemned already, but we have been quickened together
with Christ. is is no mere doctrine: Christ is our life. I
am in this new man before God. And what has become
of all my sins? ey are gone. He has quickened me out
of Christ’s grave, and they are left behind. Christ went
down with my sins into the grave (they were put away on
the cross-” He bore our sins in his own body on the tree
“-the grave is the expression of this), when He rose again
they were all gone. What can give me such a sense of the
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heinousness, the hatefulness, of my sins, as seeing Christ
bearing them! But they are gone.
“ Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the
way, nailing it to his cross,” v. 14. He is not setting men to
obtain righteousness through that which quickens sin and
works condemnation. Am I saying, I have not done this,
or, I have not done that, then where there is the obligation
of some act, and it is not fullled, there is condemnation.
In taking up the Lord’s supper-that sweet, and blessed,
and holy memorial
13
of Christ’s death, the joy of my heart,
so as to put it between myself and Christ, then I am not
“holding the head.” Christ has taken ordinances out of the
way, it is the esh that does them: let it be penance, it is the
esh that does it-but the esh is dead; the same thing that
put away sin put away ordinances; the man who had the sin
and was to do the ordinances is dead, because Christ has
died. I am alive in Christ, who is alive again from the dead:
He is my life. I do not need to obtain a standing before
God through any ordinance. Had I to perform the smallest
act, as that through which I needed to get completeness
before God, it would be a denial of the perfectness of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
But more. ose “ principalities and powers,” with
whom we have to contend (Eph. 6:12), have been “ spoiled
“; He has “ made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it,” v. 15. Does Satan come and accuse me? It is all
true, but my sins are gone. God has said He will remember
them no more. “ Resist the devil, and he will ee from
13 e passover was the memorial of the deliverance out of
Egypt for Israel. e Supper is the memorial not only of our
deliverance, but of the love of Him who has delivered us.
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387
you.” Why ee? Because of having already met Christ. Is
it temptation through the agreeable things of the world,
or the sorrows and trials of life, or the power of death? he
has been “ spoiled,” his power is gone for faith; Heb. 2:14.
Death, to the believer, is but a departing to be with Christ;
all that it could be from Satan, or from the wrath of God,
Christ has gone through for us; but He has gone through
it, and He is now with God. Dead and risen with Christ,
yet here in a dying body, if I put it o, “ absent from the
body,” I shall be “present with the Lord.”
And now, having shown us how we have everything in
Christ, and not anything out of Him-completeness in the
presence of God, and perfect deliverance from all that we
are in ourselves, as also from all that we are in ourselves,
as also from all that is, or could be used, against us, as in
ourselves, he goes on to say, “ Let no man therefore, judge
you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holiday, or of
the new moon, or of the sabbath-days, which are a shadow
of things to come: but the body is of Christ,” v. 16, 17.
What perfect liberty! We need to see that we use it holily,
but it is a perfect liberty.
A “ holy-day “ (it is well to call it so, as indicative of its
meaning) was one God had made to be esteemed above
another: this and other things, the meats, and drinks, and
divers washings, and carnal ordinances of Judaism, had their
time and use. “ e body is of Christ.” In Him we have that
which they were designed to typify. If I take them up now,
I take up the shadow and not the substance; it is a mere
shadow, but, in setting it up again, I make it substantive
and deny Christ. is may be done through ignorance, still
it ought to be treated as a thorough inrmity, the soul has
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not the knowledge of what it is in Christ; whilst ignorance
has to be borne with, the saint is beguiled of his reward.
“ Let no man beguile you of your reward, in a voluntary
humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those
things which he has not seen, vainly pued up in his eshly
mind, and not holding the head,” v. 18. I may talk much
about saints and angels in heaven, their glories, and the
like, and call this humility; but it is not so, it in reality is the
very opposite, a being vainly pued up in my eshly mind.
What do I know about them? Have I been in heaven?
Whilst thus intruding into things I have not seen, I am
losing knowledge needed by all saints. e weakest believer
is as much one with Christ as an apostle, and as complete
in Him. It might seem more humble to say, I am this, that,
or the other thing; but can we do without Christ? Do you
reply, I have not arrived at such a position? en you are
expecting to attain it-that is presumption. It is because we
are lost, poor, and blind, we are miserable, naked, and have
nothing in ourselves-we have this all in Christ.
e moment he has brought them there, left nothing
between them and Christ, “ Now,” he says (v. 19), there
is that which ows down from the Head-that which has
to be manifested in the members. We have not a single
grace, or thought of grace, until we are complete; we must
be united to the Head. People are looking to that to make
them complete, which they cannot have until they are in
that position. Whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we
do, we have to do all to the glory of God; let it be but the
purchasing of some article of dress, I should do it for Christ
to please Him. is is our one rule, to do all for Christ; and
both as to inward graces and outward manners, the more I
realize what Christ is for me, the better shall I know what
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389
is pleasing to Him. Here spirituality comes in. It is not
man increasing in order to get God, it is “ increasing with
the increase of God.” All ows down from Christ’s fullness.
In Christ I am not “ living in the world,” I am “ dead
with him to the rudiments of the world,” v. 20-23. If really
dead to the esh, I cannot be looking to ordinances to get
the esh bettered. But the tendency of our hearts is ever
to this. And God has met that tendency. If the esh must
be labored to see if any good could be got out of it, He
has taken it up and proved that, after all that had been
done for it that could be done, there was no good in it-
God could get no good from it. Still here is our danger;
religiousness in the esh is that against which there is this
special warning. And with all its specious appearance, what
does the apostle call it? “ Will-worship.” It may have a
great character for humility, but it is the most positive and
terrible pride before God; it does not look like this; it looks
like mortifying
14
the esh and putting it down.
e only thing that will deliver from it is, the knowledge
of our completeness, and a walking in the power of a dead
and risen Christ.
Here there is rest for the heart (there will be conict
still, we have not, in that sense, rest yet), my eye turned
from myself, I rest in Christ; there I can delight, and there
14 e tendency of bodily austerities, as shown by the apostle
here, instead of being really to subdue and mortify the esh,
is to satisfy and exalt it. We are thus taught a most important
truth-the dierence between “ the body “ and “ the esh.” e
very neglecting and aicting of the former, and not yielding
it any honor or respect, may contribute to the ination of the
latter. e body may be sanctied to God-may be nourished
and used for God-may glorify God; the esh never. e body
may be the servant of the Spirit; not so the esh, for it is
essentially opposed to God; Rom. 8:7, 8.
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God delights-I have a common feeling with God. All that
I see in Christ is mine, all that perfection that my soul
delights in, my perfection before God.
ere are these two truths: all the fullness of the
Godhead dwells bodily in Christ; and we are complete in
Him. My need is met.
God has come down to me in Christ. Am I troubled
about my sins? where shall I nd any as gracious to me
as Christ? I can tell to Him what I dare not to another.
Brethren may be kind and sympathizing; but I can tell out
my heart to Christ, so as to no one else. Well! it is to God,
and He does not reproach me. All the innitude of love is
brought down to display itself in kindness to a poor sinner;
I meet it by my wants, my sorrows, my failures, my sins. e
poor woman of the city had not a mouth to tell it out; she
was weeping at His feet about her sins, but she had found
One who could so meet her in them, as to give condence
to her heart, whilst conscience was awakened in the very
deepest way. I never add to that fullness; all the majesty of
God is there. On the other hand, conscience is awakened:
God is • a holy God, and how shall I appear before Him?
e same Christ who is God towards man, is man before
God for us. He has come down to meet me in my sins, and
He has gone up to be my righteousness before God.
If we desire to manifest Him-the life of Christ is daily
walk and conduct, it must ow out from Him; and for this,
the esh has to be mortied and Satan resisted. We are
not our own, we are bought with a price; let us, therefore,
glorify God in our bodies; 1Cor. 6:20. In doing anything
for myself, I am a dishonest person; He bought me when I
was the slave of Satan.
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391
Christian, is your soul honoring God by resting thus in
the completeness of Christ? or are you seeking to honor self
in eking out a righteousness, it matters not how-by doings
or by feelings? A child ought to have right feelings for its
parent: but, if that child is making a merit of its feelings,
it is destroying the whole thing. Looking for feelings to
make out righteousness through (while feelings are right)
is just as bad as looking to works.
e Lord give us to know that we are complete in
Christ, that we may have blessed and happy liberty, loving
and serving Him in love, because He has given us all we
need, loved us, and saved us, and made us complete.
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63003
Dead With Christ, Risen
With Christ: Colossians
2:20; Colossians 3:1
THE Christian’s risen life is exhibited in two things-
death unto that which is here, and heavenly-mindedness. “
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ,” writes the apostle, “
from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in
the world, are ye subject to ordinances? “ e expression “
rudiments of the world,” goes a vast way. I am to be dead,
not only to sin, but to all the religiousness of human nature.
A Jew has this religiousness, and it was cultivated of God;
but it brought not forth good fruit, it produced nothing
but “ wild grapes.”
Now, if we do not see that we are risen, we shall be
cultivating human nature, for God. He Himself has tried
this already; and He says, that not anything could have
been done more than He has done; Isa. 5. But man would
still, still be striving to cultivate the religiousness of human
nature, and introduce sinners into heaven, otherwise than
by death. We are dead and risen again, and it is simply
heavenly.
In this, is the real power of our living above sin. It
assumes death, it goes upon the principle that we are “
dead to sin,” Rom. 6. We get a blessed liberty in seeing
and accounting ourselves dead. We have a new life. Christ
has taken His place where death and resurrection have
put Him. And there I am, where Christ is. It is altogether
another life, and this life has its own world, and its own
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393
sphere of aections. “ ey that are after the esh, do mind
the things of the esh; but they that are after the Spirit, the
things of the Spirit,” Rom. 8:5.
Resurrection life is manifested in walking through
this world as abstracted, withdrawn from, unactuated by,
the motives of the world. A Christian has new motives.
If I see a man walking through the world without things
here aecting him; I say, “ He is either mad-or risen with
Christ.” Alas! we are not as consistent as madmen. All the
motives in the world never touch the new nature. Do you
think it could be thinking about friendship with the world?
could be seeking riches, or honor, or power? e motives
which actuate men have no inuence upon it. Perplexity
comes in by our having a motive which is not drawn from
heaven; whenever I see myself, or another, in diculty, I
may be quite sure some other motive is at work.
ere is always a tendency to decline from this singleness
of eye.
When we rst receive the knowledge of life in Christ,
we are absorbed, we readily admit all else to be “ dung
and dross,” Phil. 3. But when decline comes in, we get
old motives into action again. Little by little, we are not
absorbed, and then a hundred things begin to be motives-
things of which I took no notice, which did not act before.
People say, “ What harm is there in it? “ When I begin to
inquire, “ What harm is there in this, or in that? “ there is
the tendency to decline. ere may be no harm in the thing,
but the thought about it shows that I am not absorbed
with that which is heavenly. “ ou hast left thy rst love.”
It is not in great sins, but here, that decline in the saints is
manifested.
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394
When the sense of grace is diminished, we decline in
practice. Our motives must be in God. Sometimes, eort
is made to press conduct, works, and practice; because (it
is said) full grace was preached before; now, that there is
decline in practice, you must preach practice.
at which is the rather to be pressed, is grace-the rst
grace. It is grace, not legalism, will restore the soul. Where
the sense of grace is diminished, the conscience may be, at
the same time, uncommonly active, and then it condemns
the pressing of grace, and legalism is the result. When
conscience has been put in action through the claims of
grace, that is not legalism; and there will be holy practice
in detail.
We may fall into either of two faults-that of (because
fruits have not been produced) preaching fruits; or, that of
getting at ease, when certain things come to have inuence
over us again, through thinking that what we approved of
before, was legalism.
We shall not get back by dwelling on detail. Christ is
the great motive for everything; and we must get up into
the knowledge of resurrection in Christ, to remedy detail.
Here, there is a wonderful truth, and wonderful liberty.
Another very important point is, the tone and spirit
of our walk. Condence in God, and gentleness of spirit,
is that which becomes the saint. For this we must be at
home with God. e eect of thus walking in Christ,
setting the Lord ever before us, is always to make us walk
with reverence- lowliness, adoration, quietness, ease, and
happiness. If I go where I am unaccustomed to be-if I get,
for instance, into a great house, I may have much kindness
shown me there, but when I get out again, I feel at ease; I
am glad to be out. Had I been brought up in that house, I
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395
should feel otherwise. e soul is not only happy in God
for itself, but it will bring the tone of that house out with
it; because of its joy in God, anxieties disappear, and it will
move through the ten thousand things, that would trouble
and prove anxieties to another, without being a bit troubled.
No matter what it may be, we bring quietness of spirit into
all circumstances, whilst abiding in God.
If a man be risen with Christ, if he be dwelling there, it
will show itself thus. We shall not be afraid of the changes
around. We shall live, not in stupid apathy and listlessness,
but in the exercise of lively aections and energies towards
the Lord. One great evidence of my abiding in Christ,
is quietness. I have my portion elsewhere, and I go on.
Another sign is condence in obeying.
is connects itself with fellowship with the Father
and with His Son Jesus Christ-fellowship, not only in joy,
but in the thoughts of the Father and the Son. e Holy
Ghost, the third person of the blessed Trinity, is our power
of entering with the aections into the things of God. “
e Father loveth the Son “-what a place this puts me in,
to be thus cognizant of the Father’s feelings towards His
beloved Son.
In our proper place, we get our mind lled and associated
with things, that leave this world as a little thing-an atom,
in the vastness of the glory, which was before the world
was.
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63004
Notes on the Epistles to the
essalonians
THE FIRST EPISTLE
WHEN the essalonians received Paul’s rst epistle,
they had not long been converted to the Lord. ey then
were in all the freshness of Christian life, waiting for the
Son of God from heaven, and suering persecution for His
sake. But their faith was mixed with a measure of obscurity.
ey thought that those from among them who had died
would not see the Lord at His coming. To meet their need,
the Holy Spirit addresses this epistle to them, in order to
establish their faith, to give them light as to the coming of
Jesus, and to comfort them in the midst of the persecutions
they were going through.
Chapter 1:1. “ e church of the essalonians which
is in God the Father.” e Epistles to the essalonians
present the only instance where we nd the expression, “ in
God the Father,” used to indicate the position of a church.
In the other epistles, in general, Paul says, “ the church
of God which is at Corinth,” or “ the saints which are at
Ephesus,” etc. It is probably because the essalonians
were recently brought to the faith that Paul speaks of them
in this way. Taking, so to speak, this church at its birth,
he only sees it in its relationship to God. “ One God and
Father “-such is the rst notion that springs from faith.
“ Grace be unto you and peace “: that is to say, May all
the energy and riches of that grace in which you stand be
displayed in you.
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397
Verse 3. e great christian principles showed themselves
in all their force among the essalonians; hence it is that
we remark so much freshness in their spiritual condition.
“ Your work of faith.” See the acts which belong to
faith- acts like those which are presented in Heb. 11 and in
James 2; the act of Abraham delivering up his son, and that
of Rahab preferring Israel to her own country, etc.
Your “ labor of love “: that is, the pains one takes in
the Lord, the labor one pursues in love, though amidst
diculties.
“ Patience of hope “; that is, patient waiting for the
promised glory.
“ In our Lord Jesus Christ,” translate, “ of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” In Him is the source of all blessing for our souls;
from Him it is that we derive strength and in Him we nd
that which nourishes the spiritual life.
“ In the sight of God and our Father.” In the presence
of God we nd the exercise of conscience. ese two
blessings-the maintenance of life in Christ, and the
exercise of conscience before God-present the two sides of
the Christian life. When the soul is in a good state, there is
always an exercise of the conscience before God. One may,
it is true, after a period of blessing, walk for some time with
a certain measure of life, but without the conscience being
much in activity. But if conscience is not reawakened, the
time comes when one slips away and declines rapidly.
Verse 4. e great principles of Christianity-faith, hope,
and love, which were in activity among the essalonians,
gave evidence of their election. And this proof is the only
practical proof of the election of the saints.
Verse 6. “ Followers of us, and of the Lord.” e
essalonians had a share of the experience of Christ,
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when He was on earth. Like Him, they possessed the joy
of God through the word, and they suered persecution.
Verse 8. e faith of the essalonians had had an echo;
it was noised abroad.
Verse 10. Converted through the power of God, the
essalonians, far from remaining in the world and seeking
to reconcile the world and faith, were, on the contrary,
formed by that faith to wait for the Son of God from
heaven.
Chapter 2:1-12 gives a beautiful instance of the feelings
and ways of grace in the conduct and labors of a servant of
God.
Verse 7. “ As a nurse,” etc.; that is to say, like a mother
who nurses her own child. It was in this spirit of tenderness
and aection towards the essalonians that Paul had
labored amongst them.
Verse 13. After having called to remembrance his
labors, what care Paul takes to maintain the essalonians
on the foundation of the word which they had received
through his preaching. e apostle puts himself aside and
gives thanks that they had received that word, not as the
word of man, but as being the word of God. us their
faith was founded on the word of God, although it was by
the ministry of a man that it had been produced and placed
upon that foundation.
ere are two evidences, which show the divine
authority of the word of God-works of power, that is to
say, miracles; and the eective action which it exercises in
the heart. e word of God was accompanied by works of
power, when it came unto the essalonians through Paul’s
preaching; chap. 1: 5. And now, in his letter, the apostle, to
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399
the praise of these believers, proclaims that the same word
worked eectually in them.
Verse 14. In consequence of their obedience of faith,
the essalonians found themselves connected with the
churches of Judea, which had preceded them in the same
faith (there is one body); and, like those churches, the
essalonians were suering persecution from those of
their own nation.
Verse 16. “ Wrath is come upon them to the uttermost
“upon the Jews. Unbelieving Israel had been visited of God
several times by partial chastisements; but now that they
had rejected Christ and the gospel, God subjects them to
the full extent of His judgment, a judgment which still
continues, and will only be executed in the future trouble
of Jacob.
Verse 17-20. Had it not been for the hindrances which
had several times prevented him, Paul would have visited
the essalonians. He greatly wished to see again these
believers, the fruit of his labors-they who were the subject
of his present joy and his crown of boasting at the moment
of the coming of the Lord Jesus. Here then is a new element,
with regard to the coming of the Lord! in that glorious day
Paul and the essalonians would be found together.
ere is a dierence in the way in which the coming
of the Lord is presented in these two instances. Verse 10
of chapter I places more particularly before our eyes the
coming of the Son, and the joy of the saints, in experiencing
the deliverance which He will bring them. ere the
distinction of the rapture of the saints is not yet brought
out; the statement simply presents the coming of the Son
from heaven. Verse 19 of the chapter we are reading goes
farther; it shows the blessedness of the saints gathered
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together at the coming of Jesus. e testimony rendered
to the Son coming from heaven has enlarged the circle of
believers. ere are numerous saints; all will be gathered
together and happy in that blessed day.
Chapter 3. But there are in the hearts of the saints
aections which grace produces.
Verses 1-10. Paul, in the midst of the care he devotes
to the faith of the believers, is the rst to show us how
Christian aections can be connected with the cares of the
ministry.
Verse 3. “ We are appointed thereunto.” It reads better
thus; “ We are set for this “-this is our lot.
Verse 8. “ For now we live.” It is my life, if ye stand rm,
ye essalonians, says Paul.
Verse to. “ Night and day praying exceedingly that we
might see your face.” is desire was not so soon realized;
Paul before that had time to address a second epistle to the
essalonians; and indeed several years elapsed before he
was able to see them again.
Verses 11-13. In this passage Paul puts the coming of
the Lord in connection with every Christian aection. is
apostle, who abounded in love towards the saints, desired
also that they should themselves walk in love, in order to
abide in holiness, and to shine forth in that day. He does
not yet state the order of the facts by which this result will
be seen, but he mentions the moral truths and the practical
grace which prepare it.
“ e Lord make you to increase and abound in
love … to the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable
in holiness.” e love of God possessing the heart is what
enables the Christian to walk in holiness. Here we nd
again the doctrine of John: “ He that loveth his brother
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401
abideth in the light,” 1John 2:10. It is interesting to see
these fundamental elements of faith and of individual
blessing forming an integral part of the powerful testimony
through which Paul was forming the church.
“ To the end he may stablish your hearts,” etc. It is an
actual establishing of the heart, but which will be seen in
its results at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ: “ We
must all be manifested,” etc.
“ Before God, even our Father.” Paul always sees the
essalonians in their relationship to the Father. It does
not appear that these believers had as yet got beyond the
state of babes in the faith. “ I write unto you, little children,
because ye have known the Father,” 1John 2:13.
e sense of verse 13 is this: May God establish your
hearts in holiness (now, by the exercise of love), that ye may
be [seen] unblameable in holiness, before our God and
Father [at that moment] at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ with all His saints. In this passage the coming of
Jesus is not presented in the act of our gathering together
to Him, when we go to meet Him; but in the act of our
coming with Him from the Father’s house, after having
been in His presence. It is that moment which will show
whether we are unblameable.
When Paul, occupied with the coming of Jesus, considers
the privilege of faith, he sees the saints all gathered together
to the Lord, tasting before Him the common joy. When he
considers the responsibility of the Christian walk, he always
sees the appearing of Christ. ere can be nothing but joy
in our hearts at that blessed moment when we shall go
with Jesus into the Father’s presence, taking a place which
the love of God has given unto us, and which the work
of Christ has procured to us. It will be otherwise when
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we return with Jesus. Without losing our position and our
blessedness in Him, we shall nevertheless be in a dierent
scene; we shall have reached that solemn moment when
the consequences of our responsibility will be manifested.
Chapter 4: 1-12. Here Paul adds several developments
to the truths which he mentioned at the close of chapter 3;
and rst of all on the subject of holiness and love.
Verses 1-8. When Paul was with the essalonians, he
had shown them the conduct that is pleasing to God. We
must preserve or possess our own vessel in sanctication
and honor. If anyone disregards his brother in overstepping
his marriage rights, it is not man only but God whom he
disregards; for the Holy Spirit dwells in that brother who
has been wronged.
Verse 8. “ Despiseth.” It means, He therefore that [in
this] disregards [his brother], disregards not man but God.
“ God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit,” to
dwell in us-Christians. Some read you instead of us.
Verses 9-12. Love is of God. By Him we love the
children of God-the brethren. And this love, because it has
not its source in the sympathies of man, but in God, is a
love which is exercised likewise towards all; chap. 3: 12.
Nevertheless, the object which is here recommended to the
attention of the saints is brotherly love. e essalonians
were not wanting in it. ey were taught of God, and did
not need to be written to about it. Only it was well that
they should abound in it, even more and more, and seek
earnestly to manifest to those without a quiet and reputable
walk. When love is true, we do not merely conne ourselves
to the eusions of brotherly love; we watch also, lest as to
things without we should be in fault.
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403
Verses 13-18. Paul presents, at the end of the chapter,
fresh developments on the subject of the Lord’s coming.
He had already given the chief features of that truth;
he now returns to it, in order to supply details, and to
introduce elements which had not yet found their place in
the subject. What he adds as a fresh element is particularly
the doctrine of resurrection. Doubtless, the essalonians
would not have denied that there will be a resurrection
from among the dead, but they might not perhaps have
been able to apply it to the Lord’s coming.
Verse 14. “ em also which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him.” e departed saints will be found again
at the coming of the Lord Jesus. ey will reappear on the
scene at that blessed moment. You, essalonians, you will
nd again your lost ones! And these are the glorious acts
that will then be accomplished. “ e Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in
Christ shall rise rst. en we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air,” v. 16, 17.
Verse 15. “ We which are alive and remain.” As regards
the coming of the Lord, the saints form two classes. ere
will be one class composed of those who have fallen asleep
through Him, and the other of the saints who will be then
on the earth. It is these latter ones that Paul points to,
when he says, “ We which are alive and remain.” When he
was writing this epistle, he considered himself as included
in that class.
Verse 16. “ A shout “-an assembling shout. e word
here used in the Greek meant originally, the shout raised by
the chiefs, on the Greek galleys, to call the men at the time
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of resuming their work. In our day we mean something
similar when we speak of sounding a call to assemble.
It is interesting to see, in the course of this epistle, the
progressive order with which the apostle sets forth the
truths which concern the coming of the Lord. Instead of
immediately attacking the error which was mixed up with
the faith of the essalonians, he rst takes up the subject
at the point where it was known to those believers. He
begins by using this language to them: You are waiting for
the Son of God from heaven! is is indeed the privilege
of your faith; for it is to this end, in eect that you were
converted; chap. 1.
en, by developments which it is precious to know,
he brings them to those things which necessitate our
gathering together in that day; chap. 2.
He then lls their hearts with the truth, so that they
may be built up in God for that august moment; chap. 3.
It is after this that Paul develops the coming of Jesus
for the saints, rectifying errors of judgment in the minds of
these believers on certain points; chap. 4.
Lastly, after having expressed the whole portion of the
saints in this event, he mentions the portion of the world;
chap. 5.
Chapter 5. In the preceding chapters Paul had not
pointed out any period of time in connection with the
Lord’s coming. Here he takes up the question of “ times
and seasons.” But the moment he touches upon this point,
he ceases to say “ we.” He says, “ they,” “ them,” those that
are without, from whom he takes great care to distinguish
the saints, by pointing to them by these words, “ But ye
brethren,” when he again addresses himself to them. “ e
times,” when it is a question of the Lord’s coming, are
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405
connected with this world and judgment. e saints have
their portion above, outside of the ages. ey are taught by
the Holy Spirit to be constantly waiting for Jesus.
Verses 2, 3. But the world will know what the day
of the Lord is-that day which will bring with it sudden
destruction on the earth.
Verses 4, 5. e saints will not be overtaken by that day.
Why? Because they are not in darkness. Paul adds, “ Ye
are all the children of light, and the children of the day.”
Hence, for us, a privilege and a character; the privilege of
not being overtaken, as those will be who dwell in darkness,
and the character of children of light. ere are not in the
word mere naked doctrines. e truth always clothes with
a certain character those whom it places in the position of
privilege.
Verse to. “ at, whether we wake or sleep, we should
live together with him “; whether we belong to the class of
the living or to that of the sleepers (the departed saints),
when the Lord comes, we shall live together with Him.
Verse 22. “ Abstain from all appearance of evil.” It may
be translated equally well, “ Abstain from every form of
wickedness.”
Verse 23. “ And the very God of peace sanctify you
wholly.” God is often called, “the God of peace.” (See Phil.
4, Heb. 13.) ere is peace where all is perfect. If we live
in these relationships where peace exists, we shall walk in
holiness.
“ Sanctify you wholly.” at is, sanctify you in every
point, sanctify the converted man-the whole man. One
may, in certain respects, be faithful to God, and in others be
faulty. Remark, that Paul does not say, “ sanctify perfectly”;
but he says, “ sanctify wholly,” which expresses another
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idea.
15
“ Your whole spirit and soul and body.” e spirit
is that which is most excellent in our moral being, that
by which we are placed in relationship with God and
distinguished from the brutes. e soul is the seat of the
aections; it is a faculty of an inferior order which is to be
met with, in a certain measure, even among animals: “ all
in whose nostrils was the breath of life “-” both men and
cattle,” Gen. 7:22, 22.
Wishing to show how sanctication takes up a man in
his whole being, Paul says, “ spirit, soul, and body.” In other
passages we read simply “ the soul,” when the soul and the
spirit are meant: or else we read, “ the spirit,” when the
spirit and the soul are meant. ese two spiritual elements
are the instrument on which the life acts, which God
has given to the believer, and the body is in its turn the
instrument which obeys the spirit and the soul.
Verse 24. It is a consolation for us to know that God is
faithful; and that if we walk with Him, He will act in our
behalf.
THE SECOND EPISTLE
e summary of the second Epistle to the essalonians
is this. False teachers had come, taking advantage of the
little light which the essalonians (as yet young in the
faith) possessed on the Lord’s return; and seizing the
15 e doctrine of perfect sanctication, preached by Wesley, does
not admit of the communication of life which is made to the
believer; it only requires the action of the Spirit on man such as
he is. “ e Holy Spirit,” it says, “ sancties the body, the soul,
and the spirit.” At bottom, this is to set aside regeneration; and
it is perhaps for that very reason that the same doctrine will
see something good in man, and gives this denition of sin,
“ a willful transgression of the law.” If sin is merely a willful
transgression of the law, Paul was wrong to express such grief
about sin where it was not willful; Rom. 7.
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407
occasion of their tribulation, they had thrown them into
trouble of mind by telling them, “ e day is present.” In
opposition to this work of the enemy, Paul reassures them
by writing to them this epistle, the object of which is to
show them that the day of the Lord was not yet present.
ese data are the key to the book.
Chapter 1. In this epistle, as in the preceding one, Paul,
in saluting the church of the essalonians, sees it “ in God
our Father,” v. 1, 2.
en, before entering upon the special subject, the apostle
considers the circumstances of the essalonians; and, on
the occasion of their suerings for the gospel, he recognizes
their good estate in Christ, and nds in their tribulations
an evidence that they were really in the Christian position.
“ Your faith,” he says, “ increases exceedingly and your love
abounds, so that we ourselves make our boast in you in
the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your
persecutions … For these tribulations are the portion of
those who inherit the kingdom of God,” v. 3-5.
en he shows in what an end these tribulations would
issue and the change of position they were preparing
between the persecuted and the persecutors at the appearing
of the Lord Jesus. In that day we shall be at rest while the
wicked will nd themselves in tribulation. e Lord will
manifest against them His retributive justice. is change
of condition is not mentioned, as though it were only to
be accomplished at the Lord’s appearing; but the words
by which it is expressed show what will be the respective
condition of saints and unbelievers at that moment. It is
already a rst intimation, showing that the Lord will not
put the saints into sorrow and trouble when He comes; v.
5-10.
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Verse 5. “ A manifest token of the righteous judgment of
God.” e persecutions which the essalonians endured
proved they were “ counted worthy of the kingdom of God.”
e judgment of God would bring this into evidence, as
it would also manifest what had been the conduct of the
persecutors.
Verse 8. ere are two classes of persons on whom the
vengeance of the Lord will come at His appearing: those
who knew not God (that is, sinners in general), and those
who do not obey the gospel.
Chapter 2. While declaring, in the preceding verses that
the Lord, in His day, will manifest His retributive justice,
Paul lays down a general truth which governs the subject.
Now he enters upon the special point:-Is that day come?
Verses 1, 2. Read, “ Now we beseech you, brethren, by
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering
together to him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind … as
that the day of the Lord is present.” e coming of Jesus,
and the gathering together of the saints to Him at His
coming, is a motive, for the latter, not to be troubled as if
they were to be included in the judgments which the day
of the Lord would usher in. ey will be with Him before
that. When He shall be revealed from heaven, the saints
will have rest; chap. 1: 7. Evidently they will no longer be
on this world’s scene, for it is not then that there will be
rest on earth.
e seducers told the essalonians, “ e day is present
“; and not “ the day is at hand.”
16
e Greek word is the
same that is used in Rom. 8:38, and 1Cor. 3:22, to signify,
“ things present,” in contrast with “ things to come.” e
16 If we change the word “ present,” the whole epistle becomes
unintelligible.
Notes on the Epistles to the essalonians
409
language of the seducers signied that this day had been
already entered on.
Having the declaration that the Lord should come and
gather them together to Himself before that day, and being
themselves still on earth, the essalonians had, by this
very fact, a proof that the day was not yet present.
Verses 3, 4. Here is another proof. e one who will be
the object of the Lord’s judgment in that day was not yet
on the scene. As long as, on the one hand, those who are to
be on the seat of judgment are not gathered together (the
saints above), and while, on the other hand the criminal is
not brought to the bar, there can be no judgment.
Verse 6. “ What withholdeth.” It is not in order to
prevent the revelation of the lawless one that God has put
a restraint; it is to prevent his being revealed before his
time. e adversary is always ready for evil. In the day that
God takes away the bridle, Satan will immediately show
himself at work to drag men into apostasy.
“ at which restrains; “ the Greek means a thing. What
is it? God has not told us what it is, and this, doubtless,
because the thing which restrained then is not that which
restrains now. en it was, in one sense, the Roman empire,
as the fathers thought; who saw in the power of the Roman
empire a hindrance to the revelation of the man of sin, and
thus prayed for the prosperity of that empire. At present
the hindrance is still the existence of the governments
established by God in the world; and God will maintain
them as long as there is here below the gathering of His
church. Viewed in this light, the hindrance is, at the
bottom, the presence of the church and of the Holy Spirit
on the earth.
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e Antichrist will be the head of the ecclesiastical
apostasy. He “ denieth the Father and the Son.” He “
denieth that Jesus is the Christ.” He will be at the same
time a civil head, although the rst beast (Rev. 13:1-10)
will be the one to whom the authority and throne of the
dragon will be given. e Antichrist, whose seat appears to
be in Judea, will be a kind of lieutenant of the beast. Herod
might furnish us an example.
Verse 8. “ e Lord shall consume … with the brightness
of his coming.” Mark these last words. e lawless one
shall be consumed by the presence of the Lord, manifested
at His appearing. is leads us to distinguish between the
coming of Jesus and His appearing. e Lord will rst
come, and then He will manifest Himself-He will appear.
Verse 9. “ With all power and signs and lying wonders.”
It is very solemn to see the terms used by Peter, in his
preaching at Jerusalem (Acts 2:22), to denote the works of
power which accompanied the ministry of Jesus, now used
by Paul in this epistle to express what the man of sin will
do. What seduction there will be then!
Elijah’s miracles will also have their counterfeit. e
lawless one will cause re to come down from heaven.
And here are signs which, in the days of Elijah, were the
touchstone of truth-signs by which one recognized that
Jehovah was God, which now will be accomplished in
behalf of the beast! (Rev. 13).
Verses 9-12. ese verses furnish circumstantial but
most solemn details concerning the ecclesiastical action
which will take place then, and the power of seduction
which will be at work among men. e lawless one will
come “ with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them
that perish.” God will send “ strong delusion,” and men will
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411
believe what is false, that they all may be judged who have
not believed the truth.
Such will be the moral state of things during the great
tribulation which is to come on the earth. Two passages
in the prophets (Jer. 30:7, and Dan. 12:1), as well as two
passages in the gospel (Matt. 24:21 and Mark 13:19), tell
us of this great tribulation. ere we remark that it will fall
more especially on the Jews, although it may happen that
the Gentiles also shall suer from it. It is to the sorrows of
this crisis that the suerings of that remnant refer, which
we nd on the scene in the Psalm e tribulation will take
place during the latter half of the last week mentioned in
the book of Daniel (chap. 9), and will last until the Lord’s
appearing.
Besides, there are two passages in the Revelation which
speak of a general tribulation. e rst is Rev. 3:10, where
we read these words, “ e hour of temptation which shall
come upon all the world to try,” etc. en we have Rev. 7:9,
17, where we nd persons saved out of “ all nations, and
kindreds, and peoples, and tongue,” coming out of the great
tribulation. From the evidence given by these passages, we
nd that there will be a general tribulation on the whole
earth; then, at the last moment, a more special tribulation
for the Jews.
e church possesses the inestimable privilege of
exemption from going through these evil days. Not only
will it not be on the earth at the appearing of Jesus (and
this is what we have seen at the beginning of the chapter),
but, besides, it will not be there at the time of the great
tribulation. e Lord has said, “ I also will keep thee out
of the hour of temptation.” We shall not therefore pass
through that hour.
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Verses 13, 14. ere are persons who obey not the
gospel; but you, essalonians, you have obeyed it. But this
was before ordained of God, because He has chosen you
from the beginning (according to a counsel determined
before all ages), in sanctication of the Spirit and belief of
the truth, which are things accomplished in time.
“ Chosen you to salvation “-such is the object which
God has purposed in Himself. “ In sanctication of the
Spirit and belief of the truth “-such is the eect produced
in the elect, conformably to God’s purpose. “ Our gospel
“-such is the means used of God to produce that eect.
Chapter 3 contains various exhortations and wishes
of Paul in behalf of the essalonians. It mentions prayer,
obedience, love, and the patience of Christ; also how to
treat any walking disorderly: then salutations.
Verse 5. “ e Lord direct your hearts into the love of
God, and into the patience of the Christ.” e teachers
who told the essalonians, “ the day is present,” had not
that patience.
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413
63006
Notes on 1 and 2Timothy
THE fact of esh (that is, of the esh being in us) does
not make a bad conscience. It requires esh in action, so as
to produce outwardly what is bad, to do so.
“ Holding faith and a good conscience “-in this we have
the doctrine of the epistle. I may see what is beautiful in
creation, and delight in it; but the moment I rest in it, I
make it an object, and then sink down into it.
“ We know “ is a technical expression for Christian
knowledge. It is not merely knowing objectively, but rather
such and such is made a subject of revelation, and we have
got it and know it.
“ Using the law lawfully “ is convicting sinners by it.
e legalist takes the ground that the law proves he cannot
take. e law never goes beyond the brazen altar, that is,
man’s responsibility as man. e law condemns all that
esh produces, but not esh itself.
e sabbath-rest-is an integral part of man’s relationship
with God; God did rest in creation, but not now since man
has fallen. e sabbath is annexed to everything (or order)
that is set up (with responsible man as man); but in the
New Testament, it is always set aside as is man, the child
of Adam fallen.
Paul calls himself the chief of sinners; that is, he was a
rejecter of the Lord after He was crucied and gloried;
the Jew (properly speaking, is characterized as being) a
rejecter before He was crucied. Stephen’s martyrdom was
the closing scene of the dispensation for the Jew. e chief
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of sinners is an end of self, and we are in the same boat
with Paul when we take that place.
e gospel of the glory (of Christ) is the highest point
of grace as it reveals the glory to the person who is trying
to destroy it: in preaching, however, you must go back to
where the want is in the soul.
“ Make shipwreck of faith “ is running into heresy,
backsliding, giving up a good conscience.
Not only man has fallen-there are fallen angels, and
the heavens are deled; all things had and are to be
reconciled. ose that are reconciled do need a mediator
for intercession- a mediator came in with a broken
relationship, an advocate with a retained one.
In Ephesians we are called on to be imitators of God;
in Colossians, like Christ; in Philippians, to walk as a saint,
as personied in Paul.
An unmarried man might be a ruler, but he could not be
an elder. A ruler is a gift, an elder an oce; gifts are for the
body; oce is local. We have an example in Timothy of a
young man who ruled elders. A ruler is a person who gets
an ascendency over others morally, and keeps their wills
from working by the power of the word in the Spirit.
Christianity takes up creation as God made it and
sanctions it, and brings in another power, namely, spiritual
power.
e snare of the devil which is a bad conscience, brings
in the same condemnation; the person is charged with
the same thing Satan is charged with, namely, pride. (See
Ezek. 28)
e precious stones are on the king of Tire in creation
(worldly glory); on Aaron in grace (the high priest); in the
new Jerusalem, in glory.
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415
e Holy Ghost dwells in the individual believer, and in
the whole church, only.
“ Justied in the Spirit “-that is, the power of the Spirit
characterizes the justication. “ Seen of angels “; it is only
by Christ angels have seen God. “ Believed on in the world,”
that is, announced and received there by faith.
e Reformation reformed the existing body as it then
was: we go back to the beginning.
e everlasting covenant has a dierent character from
the new covenant. ere are many covenants in Scripture,
but the old and new are distinct, and with Israel only.
Every prophetic word comes from relationship broken
for us now, as Christians and in Christ, everything is
restored; 1Tim. 4:5. Hence the creature is sanctied by
the word to me, prayer goes up from me in response.
ere are two characters of forgiveness of sins-the one
as in Romans, justication, in which man has no power, the
other, the sins or failure of a justied person. e church
can forgive these. It is administrative forgiveness.
Dependence is kept up in Scripture without ever
questioning acceptance.
Salvation is by grace: reward is for labor.
God is the only one that has immortality in Himself.
When we speak of mortality, it only applies to the body.
“ e soul that sinneth, it shall die,” means that each one
shall die for his own sin; in other words, it is individual
responsibility.
2 TIMOTHY.
When the power of evil comes in, then it is just the time
to expect courage. ese are truths for the times. ere
are truths for eternity, which are more blessed. rough
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416
grace we now have Paul’s testimony, which had been lost,
brought out again.
In the early church they used to pray for the saints, not
to them. In the fourth century Christ was the only one
they did not pray for.
“ Purge from.” It is not exactly discipline here, but to
separate myself from. ere is the Lord’s certainty, and
man’s responsibility, acting on which I then get ecclesiastical
apprehension.
A thing may not be wrong for a person ecclesiastically, if
he has no conscience about it; at the same time the church
cannot be ruled by an individual person’s conscience.
e word “ receiving “ (into communion) should not be
admitted at all. Properly speaking, we are all in. One has
now to ascertain whether people are real-who calls on the
Lord out of a pure heart.
“ e last days “ are more denite and distinct than the
“ latter times “-” perilous,” because of the form of godliness.
It is said, You must believe in the church because it is
holy, and you must believe it is holy by faith!
We are always decient in strength in service if we do
not recognize that we have to do with Satanic power, as in
Jannes and Jambres.
If I do not believe the word till it be sanctioned by
someone else, I do not believe it at all; it is the sanction I
believe.
No one speaks of the church but Paul, nor of Christ’s
coming for the church but he.
When we meet together, we recognize the presence of
Christ, not the habitation of God.
External testimony proves the folly of other men, but
does nothing for faith. All arguments only remove the
Notes on 1 and 2Timothy
417
rubbish, they do not give faith. By removing rubbish from
a plant, you do not make it grow, but you give it liberty to
do so.
A gospel rejecter is under the responsibility of rejecting
love. ere is rather a want of will to come than a want of
power: “ Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.”
We nd that angels are the power of providence, Israel
the power of government, and the apostles the power of
grace in the Spirit.
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63007
Notes of a Discourse on
1Timothy 1
WHEREVER the Spirit of God reveals truth, it is the
revelation of Christ to the soul. It is essentially practical.
It lls the soul, the aections, with Christ. e Lord said,
“ For their sakes I sanctify myself.” e foundation once
laid, God forms and fashions the soul by the revelation of
Christ, at the same time delivering us from present things,
and associating us with Himself.
What characterizes the Christian is that which takes
him out of the world altogether (he has his relationships
to fulll in this life), makes him an epistle of Christ,
manifesting the life of Christ, and leading him to long for
the time when he shall nd himself in the Father’s home,
like Christ, with Christ forever, nothing more to jar.
God has associated him with Himself and with that
place; and our part is, as Christ’s was here, to manifest that
our place even now is there. Aye, our place is in the last
Adam, not in the rst.
is “ charge,” the “ end of the commandment,” was
Timothy’s commission. His mandate, as it were, was to
make manifest this place which saints had in association
with the life of Christ. He speaks of “ the glorious gospel
of the blessed God.” We are called to inherit blessing, to
inherit it from one who dwells in blessing. “ e glorious
gospel “ tells me how man is brought back to God, and
thus shows the triumph of God and blessing over evil.
Notes of a Discourse on 1Timothy 1
419
e rst beginning of the history of man gives us the
triumph of evil over natural blessing. Consequent on this
came judgment. Next comes the law, a requisition from
man who had pretensions to good. A rule was given of
righteousness (if man could make it out). ere was no
triumph of good here, but a requirement from man of what
man ought to be. e law was not given to Adam, the law
was given to sinners-to fallen man. e law would have
been of no use to Adam before the fall; he would not have
understood, “ ou shalt not steal,” etc. e law brings out
evil to our consciences. Who has loved God to-day as he
should have done? Who has loved his neighbor as himself?
It is not the blessed truth of the triumph of good over evil;
but it is most useful to bring to the conscience these two
things-rst, not only that we have sinned, but why you and
I have sinned. Shall I tell you why? Because we liked it. “ In
me, in my esh, there dwelleth no good thing “; and, what
is more, when I desire to do good, evil is present with me.
If we are to be with God, we must be t for Him. When
Isaiah saw His glory, he felt he was a man of unclean lips.
I cannot go back to paradise and natural blessing; I cannot
stay where I am; but I must be able to look into the light of
that glory, and say it is my joy, or I cannot walk with God
who is light. To this end I must learn what verse 5 speaks
of-” the end of the commandment,” love, faith, and a pure
conscience.
A good conscience is only conscious of what the pure
heart should be in the presence of God, having an entire
unclouded condence (faith unfeigned) in God-” at your
faith and hope might be IN God.” If I fail, I y back to
God; if I am weak, I y back to God with faith unfeigned
in Him, as the One who has delivered me; counting upon
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God, as the One that is for me, to bring me back to my
place.
Verses 8 and 9. e law never gives life; the law never
gives strength; the law never gives an object. If the law
could have given life, righteousness would have been by it.
e law gives no power against sin, but slays. e law gives
no object. But when we turn to Christ, in His Person we
nd the one good, all purity, all goodness, perfectly divine.
Oh!
if I could get such-as Paul says, “ win Christ “-One
above
all my wretchedness; One who comprehends me, but
in so doing brings such grace and peace; One who was
brought into the midst of all evil, but who was superior
to it. When He is once known, we do not want to excuse
sin, we want to get rid of it. Does He hide sin? Nay, He
would have truth in the inward parts (not the truth of
doctrine now). When once thus known, God is trusted in
all love. In the Gospels we have a full, perfect exhibition
of the triumph of good over evil. See the woman taken
in adultery; see the leper who was not only deled, but
whose touch deled another, but not Christ. What grace
(however imperfectly) to know God! I discharge my heart
into the bosom of Him whom I can trust. To whom could
I ever tell out all sin? Not to any friend out and out, but
to Him unreservedly. And mark how He carries me on.
Having opened my heart by the goodness He has shown
me in bringing me into His presence, I learn sin put away
by Him who needed not to be spared, but was able to bear
the full brunt of God’s wrath.
Oh! that one work by which He put away sin! God
being perfectly gloried by that which met sin! Not as the
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421
Jewish sacrices did-sin and sacrice-sin and sacrice-and
sin again; but done forever! I get then this truth, that in
virtue of what Christ has done, the Christ is set at His
right hand, God having stepped in, and in this blessed One
met sin and put it away. It is done! If it is not done, when
is it to be done? Can Christ die over again? It never can be
done. He cannot return from glory to do it. It is done, and
now we see why it is called “ the [not glorious gospel’ but]
gospel of glory.”
I am brought into light. No light is like the light which
shines at the cross. Your sins were as scarlet, they are made
white as snow. I am brought in conscience through a new
and living way into God’s presence, and spotless. By the
Comforter sent I get the power of it. e true conscience
is one that knows nothing in the heart but what the Holy
Ghost puts there.
e estimates of the conscience are always according
to the presence it is in. Duties ow from the place we are
already in. Some think the knowledge of grace releases
us from duties; but nay, it founds them. A child of God
forever, I have the duties of a child forever. A pure heart
will reject what is contrary to the Holy Ghost. In a good
conscience Christ is all. Whenever I have failed, I have left
Christ out.
Faith unfeigned trusts Him ever, and keeps a good
conscience; a perfect and pure heart condes in that love;
and whence did it come? It sprang from Himself. By
Him we believe in God, and what He expects from us is
that we should know not only we are blessed in Him, but
with Him. His perfect love is shown by bringing us into
blessing with Himself. Driven out of earthly paradise by
sin, we are brought into heavenly paradise by redemption;
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422
and He leads our thoughts, desires, and aections after it,
founded on His perfect work; a faith unfeigned giving us
the knowledge of His heart, a heart to enter into all our
sorrows and trials.
e smallest thing let in contrary to Him jars. We
belong not to ourselves; we are Christ’s, not our own. We
ought not to have good consciences if indulging in what is
contrary to Him.
I ask, if He came this night, would He nd you with
a whole heap of things to huddle out of your heart, or is
it ready? Is your heart waiting, full of aection for Him?
ere is no truth so powerful to empty the heart of all
that is contrary to Him. If waiting, how much freer and
looser should we sit from all on earth. e Lord apply the
question to your hearts, whether, if He came, you could
open to Him immediately, and so look with joy unclouded
to see Him.
Propitiation and Substitution: 1Timothy 2:6
423
63008
Propitiation and Substitution:
1Timothy 2:6
MY intercourse with saints, and especially with those
who preach, has led me to discover that a good deal of
obscurity in their manner of putting the gospel, and I may
add a good deal of Arminian and Calvinistic controversy,
arises from not distinguishing propitiation and substitution.
I am not anxious about the words but about the practical
distinction, which is very simple and I think of moment. I
say the words, because in propitiation, in a certain sense,
Christ stood in our stead. Still there is a very real dierence
in Scripture.
is dierence is clearly marked in the oerings of the
great day of atonement. Aaron slew the bullock, and the
goat which was called the Lord’s lot, and sprinkled the
blood on and before the mercy-seat and on the altar. e
blood was presented to God, whose holy presence had been
dishonored and oended by sin. So Christ has perfectly
gloried God in the place of sin, by His perfect obedience
and love to His Father in His being made sin who knew
no sin. God’s majesty, righteousness, love, truth, all that
He is, was gloried in the work wrought by Christ, and of
this the blood was witness in the holy place itself. Our sins
gave occasion to it, but God Himself was gloried in it.
Hence the testimony can go out to all the world that God
is more than satised, gloried, and whoever comes by that
blood is freely, fully received of God and to God. But there
was no confession of sins on the head of this goat; it was
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424
about sin by reason of Israel’s sinfulness, but it was simply
blood oered to God: sin had been dealt with in judgment
according to God’s glory, yea, to the full glorifying of
God, for never was His majesty, love, and hatred of sin so
seen. God could shine out in favor to the returning sinner
according to what He was; yea, in the inniteness of His
love beseech men to return.
But besides this there was personal guilt, positive
personal sins for which Israel was responsible, and men
are responsible, according to what is righteously required
from each. On the great day of atonement, the high priest
confessed the people’s sins on the scapegoat, laying both
his hands on its head: the personal sins were transferred to
the goat by one who represented all the people, and they
were gone forever, never found again.
Now this is another thing. Christ is both high priest
and victim, and has confessed all the sins of His people
as His own, borne our sins in His own body on the tree.
e two goats are but one Christ, but there is the double
aspect of His sacrice, Godward, and bearing our sins. e
blood is the witness of the accomplishment of all, and He
is entered in not without blood. He is the propitiation for
our sins. But in this aspect the world comes in too. He is
a propitiation for the whole world. All has been done that
is needed. His blood is available for the vilest whoever he
may be. Hence the gospel to the world says, “ Whosoever
will, let him come.” In this aspect we may say Christ died
for all, gave Himself a ransom for all, an adequate and
available sacrice for sin, for whoever would come-tasted
death for every man.
But when I come to bearing sins the language is
uniformly dierent. He bore our sins, He bore the sins
Propitiation and Substitution: 1Timothy 2:6
425
of many. “ All “ is carefully abstained from. I say carefully,
because in Rom. 5:18, 19, the dierence is carefully made.
e rst, our sins, is the language of faith, left open indeed
to anyone who can use it, but used and to be used only by
faith. e believing remnant of Israel may use it, including
the blessing of the nations, for He died for that nation;
Christians use it in faith, for all that have faith use it. e
second “ many “ restricts it from all, but generally has the
force of the many as contrasted with a head or leaders, the
mass in connection with them. Adam’s the many were in
result all, but all is in connection with him. Christ’s the
many those connected with Him. But it will never be
found in Scripture that Christ bore the sins of all. Had
He done so they never could be mentioned again, nor
men judged according to their works. at Christ died
for all is, as we have seen, clearly said. Hence I go to the
world with His death as their ground and only ground of
approach, with the love shown in it. When a man believes,
I can say, Now I have more to tell you, Christ has borne
every one of your sins, they never can be mentioned again.
If we look at the dierence of Arminian and Calvinistic
preaching we shall see the bearing of this at once; the
Arminian take up Christ’s dying for all, and generally they
connect the bearing of sins with it, and all is confusion
as to the ecacy and eectualness of Christ’s bearing our
sins, and they deny any special work for His people. ey
say if God loved all He cannot love some particularly; and
an uncertain salvation is the result, and man often exalted.
us the scapegoat is practically set aside.
e Calvinist holds Christ’s bearing the sins of His
people so that they are eectually saved, but he sees
nothing else. He will say, if Christ loved the church and
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426
gave Himself for it, there can be no real love for anything
else, and denies Christ’s dying for all, and the distinctive
character of propitiation, and the blood on the mercy-seat.
He sees nothing but substitution.
e truth is, Christ is said to love the church, never
the world, that is a love of special relationship. God is
never said to love the church, but the world. at is divine
goodness, what is in the nature of God (not His purpose),
and His glory is the real end of all. But I do not dwell
on this, I only point out the confusion of propitiation
and substitution as necessarily making confusion in the
gospel, enfeebling the address to the world or weakening
the security of the believer, and in every respect giving
uncertainty to the announcement of the truth. I believe
earnestness after souls, and preaching Christ with love to
Him will be blessed where there is little clearness, and is
more important that great exactitude of statement. Still it
is a comfort to the preacher to have it clear, even if not
thinking about it at the moment; and when building up
afterward, the solidness of the foundation is of the greatest
moment.
On Rule: 1Timothy 5:17
427
63009
On Rule: 1Timothy 5:17
I AGREE that, as a rule, gatherings get on where there
is one who cares for souls. I have long noticed it; and, while
in a small gathering, care one for another may be easy and
simple, I have always held it to be a had sign if time and
increase of numbers did not develop the care of souls in
persons whom love led to devote themselves more or less
to it.
It may be in one aspect mutual or general, as Heb.
12:12-15; or more direct and positive, as 1ess. 5:12-
14, where, indeed, we have both, Heb. 13:17 (v. 7, they are
deceased). In none of these cases are they viewed as ocial.
It is, moreover, the contrary to ocial in 1Cor. 16:15. ey
are those who “take the lead” (1ess. 5:12) and “leading
men” a word used of Judas and Silas in Acts 15:22.
In 1Cor. 16 they have “ addicted themselves,” as indeed
we have no trace of elders at Corinth; the Lord, doubtless,
allowing it that we might have the internal state, and care,
and duty, of an assembly in Scripture itself. ese care-takers
were not, as is truly said, the gift of teachers. is case is
distinguished in 1Tim. 5:17. But it was desirable, not that
they should be teachers as a gift (pastor and teacher are
united under one head in Eph. 4), but that they should be
“ apt to teach,” 1Tim. 3:2; able to carry the word with them
in their episcopal ministrations, and use it — shepherd and
feed, not merely superintend; though they might usefully
do the latter alone according to 1Tim. 5:17.
ese have been the passages which have guided
students of Scripture as to that by which God meets the
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428
need of saints when public order and ocial authority
are lost to the church, with general warnings in Old and
New Testament as to the care of the beloved sheep of
Christ. Still the promise remains, that where two or three
are gathered together to Christ’s name, He is there in the
midst of them.
But I would draw your attention to one of these
passages-and this is my object in these lines — a leading one
on the point. e household of Stephanas had “ addicted
themselves to the ministry of the saints.” In the heart of him
who so labors, when rightly done and ecient, it is done
in the spirit of service, not of rule. Love works: they addict
themselves; as Paul, free from all, became the servant of all
for Christ’s sake. ere is a gift of rule, but love delights to
serve. In this verse, which is a specially guiding one, service
(diakonia) is that to which they addict themselves. He who
thus addicts himself in love, will assuredly nd himself
blessed in it, though patience may he exercised, and must
have its perfect work.
Fragmentary Remarks: 2Timothy 2
429
63010
Fragmentary Remarks:
2Timothy 2
I BELIEVE that the churches have been merged in the
mass of ecclesiastical popular hierarchism, and lost; but I
believe also that the visible church, as it is called, has been
merged there too.
Still there is a dierence, because churches were the
administrative form, while the church, as a body, on the
earth, was the vital unity.
What I felt from the beginning, and began with, was
this: the Holy Ghost remains, and therefore the essential
principle of unity with His presence; for (the fact is all we
are now concerned in) wherever two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
When this is really sought, there will certainly be
blessing by His presence; we have found it so, most sweetly
and graciously, who have met separately.
When there is an attempt at displaying the position and
the unity, there will always be a mess and a failure: God
will not take such a place with us.
We must get into the place of His mind, to get His
strength. at is now the failure of the church. But there
He will be with us.
I have always said this. I know it has troubled some,
even those I specially love • but I am sure it is the Lord’s
mind. I have said, We are the witnesses of the weakness
and low estate of the church.
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430
We are not stronger nor better than others (Dissenters,
etc.), but we only own our bad and lost state, and therefore
can nd blessing. I do not limit what the blessed Spirit can
do for us in this low estate, but I take the place where He
can do it.
Hence, government of bodies, in an authorized way, I
believe there is none; where this is assumed, there will be
confusion. It was here [Plymouth], and it was constantly
and openly said, that this was to be a model, so that all in
distant places might refer to it. My thorough conviction is,
that conscience was utterly gone, save in those who were
utterly miserable.
I only, therefore, so far seek the original standing of
the church, as to believe that wherever two or three are
gathered in His name, Christ will be, and that the Spirit of
God is necessarily the only source of power, and that which
He does will be blessing through the lordship of Christ.
ese [the Spirit present and the lordship of Christ]
provide for all times. If more be attempted, now, it will be
only confusion.
e original condition is owned as a sinner, or as
mutilated man owns integrity and a whole body. But there
a most important point comes in. I cannot supply the lack
by human arrangement or wisdom. I must be dependent.
I should disown whatever was not of the Spirit, and in
this sense disown whatever was-not short of the original
standing; for that, in the complete sense, I am-but what
man has done to ll it up; because this does not own the
coming short, nor the Spirit of God. I would always own
what is of God’s Spirit in any. e rule seems to me here
very simple.
Fragmentary Remarks: 2Timothy 2
431
I do not doubt that dispensed power is disorganized;
but the Holy Ghost is always competent to act in the
circumstances God’s people are in. e secret is, not to
pretend to get beyond it. Life and divine power is always
there; and I use the members I have, with full confession
that I am in an imperfect state.
We must remember that the body must exist, though not
in a united state, and so even locally. I can then, therefore,
own their gifts and the like, and get my warrant in two or
three united for the blessing promised to that.
en, if gifts exist, they cannot be exercised but as
members of the body, because they are such, not by outward
union, but by the vital power of the Head, through the
Holy Ghost.
“ Visible body,” I suspect, misleads us a little. Clearly the
corporate operation is in the actual living body down here
on earth, but there it is the members must act, so that I do
not think it makes a diculty.
I believe, if we were to act on 1Cor. 12:14 further than
power exists to verify it, we should make a mess.
But then the existence of the body, whatever its scattered
condition, necessarily continues, because it depends on the
existence of the Head, and its union with it. In this the
Holy Ghost is necessarily supreme.
e body exists in virtue of there being one Holy Ghost.
ere is one body and one Spirit, even as we are called in
one hope of our calling; indeed this is the very point which
is denied here.
en Christ necessarily nourishes and cherishes us as
His own esh, as members of His body; and thus goes
on “ till we all come,” etc. (Eph. 4). Hence, I apprehend
we cannot deny the body and its unity (whatever its
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432
unfaithfulness and condition), and (so far as the Holy
Ghost is owned) His operation in it, without denying the
divine title of the Holy Ghost, and the care and headship
of Christ over the church.
Here I get, not a question of the church’s conduct, but of
Christ’s; and the truth of the Holy Ghost being on earth,
and His title when there; and yet the owning of Christ’s
lordship. And this is how far I own others.
If a minister has gifts in the Establishment, I own it,
as through the Spirit, Christ begetting the members of, or
nourishing, His body. But I cannot go along with what it
is mixed up with, because it is not of the body, nor of the
Spirit. I cannot touch the unclean, I am to separate the
precious from the vile.
But I cannot give up Eph. 4, while I own the faithfulness
of Christ. Now if we meet, yea, and when we do meet, all
I look for is that this principle should be owned, because
it is owning the Holy Ghost Himself, and that to me is
everything.
We meet and worship; and at this time we who have
separated meet in dierent rooms, that we may, in the truest
and simplest way, in our weakness, worship. en whatever
the Holy Ghost may give to anyone, He is supreme to feed
us with, perhaps nothing in the way of speaking; and it
must be in the unity of the body.
If you were here, you could be in the unity of the body,
as one of ourselves. is Satan cannot destroy, because it is
connected with Christ’s title and power.
If men set up to imitate the administration of the body,
it will be popery or dissent at once.
Fragmentary Remarks: 2Timothy 2
433
And this is what I see of the visibility of the body; it
connects itself with this innitely important principle, the
presence and action of the Holy Ghost on earth.
It is not merely a saved thing in the counsels of God,
but a living thing animated down here by its union with
the Head, and the presence of the Holy Ghost in it. It is a
real, actual thing, the Holy Ghost acting down here. If two
are faithful in this they will be blessed in it.
If they said, “ We are the body,” not owning all the
members, in whatever condition, they would morally cease
to be of it. I own them, but in nothing their condition. e
principle is all-important.
Christ has attached, therefore, its practical operation
to two or three, and owns them by His presence. He has
provided for its maintenance. us, in all states of ruin, it
cannot cease till He ceases to be Head, and the Holy Spirit
to be as the Guide and the Comforter sent down.
God sanctioned the setting up of Saul; He never did
the departure from the Holy Ghost. e “ two or three
“ take denitely the place of the temple, which was the
locality of God’s presence, as a principle of union. at is
what makes all the dierence. Hence, in the division of
Israel, the righteous sought the temple as a point of unity,
and David is to us here Christ by the Holy Ghost.
On the other hand, church government, save as the
Spirit is always power, cannot be acted on.
I suspect many brethren have had expectations, which
never led me out, and which perplexed their minds when
they were not met in practice. I never felt my testimony,
for example, to be the ability of the Holy Ghost to rule
a visible body. at I do not doubt; but I doubt its proper
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application now as a matter of testimony. It does not
become us.
My condence is in the certainty of -God’s blessing,
and maintaining us, if we take the place we are really in.
at place is one of the general ruin of the dispensation.
Still, I believe God has provided for the maintenance of its
general principle (save persecution), that is, the gathering
of a remnant into the comfort of united love by the power
and presence of the Holy Ghost, so that Christ could sing
praises there.
All the rest is a ministry to form, sustain, etc. Amongst
other things, government may have its place; but it is well
to remember that, in general, government regards evil, and
therefore is outside the positive blessing, and has the lowest
object in the church.
Moreover, though there be a gift of government, in
general government is of a dierent order from gift. Gift
serves ministry, hardly government. ese may be united as
in apostolic energy; elders were rather the government, but
they were not gifts.
It is especially the order of the governmental part which
I believe has failed, and that we are to get on without, at
least in a formal way. But I do not believe that God has
therefore not provided for such a state of things.
I do believe brethren a good deal got practically out of
their place, and the consciousness of it, and found their
weakness; and the Lord is now teaching them. For my part,
when I found all in ruin around me, my comfort was, that
where two or three are gathered together in Christ’s name,
there He would be. It was not government, or anything
else, I sought. Now I do believe that God is faithful, and
able to maintain the blessing.
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435
I believe the great buildings and great bodies have
been a mistake; indeed I always did. Further, I believe
now (although it were always true in practice), the needed
dealing with evil must be by the conscience in grace. So
Paul ever dealt, though he had the resource of a positive
commission. And I believe that two or three together, or
a larger number, with some having the gift of wisdom in
grace, can, in nding the mind of the Lord, act in discipline;
and this, with pastoral care, is the main-spring of holding
the saints together in Matt. 18 is agreeing together is
referred to as the sign of the Spirit’s power.
I do not doubt that some may be capable of informing
the consciences of others. But the conscience of the body is
that which is ever to be acted upon and set right. is is the
character of all healthful action of this kind, though there
may be a resource in present apostolic power, which, where
evil has entered, may be wanting; but it cannot annul “
where two or three agree it shall be done.”
So that I see not the smallest need of submission to
popery; that is, carnal unity by authority in the esh, nor of
standing alone, because God has provided for a gathering
of saints together, founded on grace, and held by the
operation of the Spirit, which no doubt may fail for want
of grace, but which in every remaining gift has its scope; in
which Christ’s presence and the operation of the Spirit is
manifested, but must be maintained on the ground of the
condition the church really is in, or it would issue in a sect
arranged by man, with a few new ideas.
Where God is trusted in the place, and for the place we
are in, and we are content to nd Him infallibly present
with us, there I am sure He is sucient and faithful to
meet our wants.
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If there be one needed wiser than any of the gathered
ones in a place, they will humbly feel their need, and God
will send someone as needed, if He sees it the t means.
ere is no remedy for want of grace, but the sovereign
goodness that leads to confession. If we set up our altar, it
will serve for walls; Ezra 3:3. e visibility God will take
care of, as He always did; the faith of the body will be
spoken of, and the unity in love manifest the power of the
Holy Ghost in the body.
I have no doubt of God’s raising up for need all that need
requires in the place where He has set us in understanding.
If we think to set up the church again, I would say, God
forbid. I had rather be near the end, to live and to die for
it in service, where it is as dear to God; that is my desire
and life.
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437
62992
Brief Notes on the Epistle to
the Philippians
THE Epistle to the Philippians presents the
development of two distinct subjects. On the one hand
it shows us the ties of aection which exist between the
Lord’s servant and those to whom he had been blessed;
and, on the other, Christian experience. It is perhaps the
only epistle which treats of the experience of the Christian.
We thus see the completeness of God’s word; in it every
subject has its own proper place.
Chapter 1: 5-7. “ I have you in my heart “ ought rather
to be translated, “ Ye have me in your hearts.” e meaning
of this verse is this: “ It is righteous for me to think thus
as to you (that is, that I should have condence in the
completion of the good work begun in you), since ye have
me in your hearts.”
“ Ye are all partakers of my grace.” is signies that
they were all participators in the grace that rested on him.
Everyone has not a gift of ministry; but by grace, whoever
loves the Lord participates in the gospel.
Verse 10. “ at ye may approve things that are excellent”
-that is, that dier and so are the best. ere may be a
regular walk, which does not perhaps show enough of that
delicacy and regard which the love of Christ teaches, and
by which God is gloried.
Verse 11. “ e fruit of righteousness “-that is, such fruit
as would have been found in the life of Christ Himself.
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Verse 12. “ e things which happened unto me … for
the furtherance of the gospel.” All the diculties resulting
from Paul’s absence only turned out for good; Christ was
more abundantly preached; the Philippians were taking
courage, the gospel was carried before Caesar, etc. And
Paul was rejoicing when he saw that the eorts of Satan
were contributing to the progress of the gospel.
Verse 16. Who are the preachers pointed out in this
verse? All that is said is, that they preached Christ in a bad
spirit. ey might be persons who had too little spiritually
to dare to act when Paul was present, but availed themselves
of his absence to come forward.
Verse 19. “ For I know that this shall turn to my
salvation “ -that is, shall contribute to my nal victory over
the enemy.
Does the apostle refer in these words to the hope he
had of being delivered from his bonds? I do not think that
he does. e word “ salvation “ is used for our complete
deliverance, and not merely for passing deliverances which
we may experience by the way. Salvation is an absolute
thing; it is the nal result of the race. It is well to maintain
the sense of this word; because we have here the key to the
whole epistle. If there be not a salvation at the end of the
race, of what avail is the priesthood of Christ?
Verses 20, 21 are the same subject. Whatever may be
Cesar’s decision about me-whatever may await me, be it
life or death, it works salvation to me, says the apostle;
my race is accomplished through such circumstances.
If life be left me, I will labor for the church; if death be
my portion, I will die for Christ, for His name; as to this,
Christ will decide. As regarded himself, Paul wished to die.
Having death before him, he had, so to speak, attained his
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439
Gethsemane; and thus he had condence that the Christ
who had been gloried in his life would be also gloried
in his death.
Verse 21. “ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Christ was all in Paul’s life. If Paul lived, it was by Christ
and for Christ. erefore to die would be better; he would
be most entirely with Him.
Verses 25, 26. Paul decides his own case; he decides it
in the sense of the good and prot of the church. Neither
Caesar nor his court would decide it, but Christ; and He
would do it in the interest of the church. Paul in this shows
the most elevated faith.
Verse 27. “ e faith of the gospel.” In this expression
Paul personies the gospel. He sees the gospel carrying on
warfare in the world, and the saints carrying on warfare
for Christ, associating it with that Person. e epistles of
Paul present several instances in which the gospel is thus
personied.
Verse 28. “ Of salvation.” Here again salvation is looked
at as the result of the race.
Verses 29, 30. Paul on one side, the Philippians on
the other, were in the warfare, and they had-all of them-
salvation before them.
Chapter 2. We see further on that the Philippians had
sent help to Paul. While expressing his satisfaction, he
insinuated, but with caution, that they might have done so
sooner; chap. 4:10. Here, with the same delicacy, he says, “
If it be true that there are any bowels and mercies, if it be
true (which he did not doubt) that ye have my joy at heart,
fulll ye that joy, by thinking the same thing,” etc.
Verses 3, 4. Above all else, the heart of Paul desired
that unity might be maintained among the saints; and, as
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440
a means of maintaining happy harmony, he recommends
humility, which teaches the Christian to esteem himself to
be least of all.
Verse 5. Paul, doubtless, will nd an echo in the hearts
of the Philippians, but he wished to give them higher
motives than those which related only to himself. To this
end he places before their eyes the humiliation of the Lord
Jesus, who, being God, yet became man and servant; and
was obedient even unto the death of the cross.
Verses 5-11. In these verses, although the thing is not
said in express terms, there is, it seems to me, a contrast
between Christ and Adam. Adam-man-in wishing to
exalt himself to be like God, was disobedient unto death;
Christ-who was God-emptied Himself, taking the form of
a bondman, and, even when He was in fashion as a man,
became obedient and obeyed even unto death. ere are
two degrees in Christ’s humiliation. He rst strips Himself
of His own glory, and becomes a man: then, being man, He
goes down even unto the death of the cross.
Verse 10. “ at at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow.” e name of Jesus is a personal name- jah-Oshua
17
(Jehoshua)-Jehovah-Savior. It is the name of His Person.
e name “ Christ “ expresses a title-that of a man who is
appointed. Independently of any title, Jesus possesses His
own proper personal claim to supremacy over all things. He
is God. e deity of Jesus occupies in the New Testament a
much greater place than is generally observed.
But as man Jesus has also a glory which He receives, the
glory which results from His humiliation-” God also hath
highly exalted him.”
17 See Num. 13:16.
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441
All things are subjected under the lordship of Christ-
things heavenly, and earthly, and infernal (which are under
the earth). is third class has no part in the reconciliation
of “ all things,” as they are mentioned in Col. 1:20.
Verses 12, 13. e emphasis in verse 12 is on these
words: “ not as in my presence only, but now much more in
my absence.” If, Paul being absent and retained in prison,
the Philippians were deprived of him, God would suce;
He is never absent.
“ Work out your own salvation “-not your acceptance,
but your salvation. Apply yourselves to the things which
become persons who look for salvation. Be watchful, lest
anything should lead you out of your way, for your path is
strewed with diculties. Here, as in the preceding instances,
salvation is looked at as the end of the race. We never nd
in the Epistle to the Philippians that the Christian is
viewed as possessing that which is a matter of faith-a very
remarkable thing; unless we discern it in the believer on his
way and striving for salvation, it is unintelligible.
Paul, when he was called, saw the Lord in glory. He
knew that he would one day be in that glory with his
Master, and like Him. Hence, until he reached this, he
felt that nothing could entirely satisfy him, and, moved
by heavenly aections, he pressed on towards that blessed
moment.
e Christian, through grace, is placed on the same
road. At the starting-point he is reconciled with God; and
that reconciliation has become in its turn the starting-
point for his other blessings. Now the Lord, in calling
that Christian with a heavenly calling, has put into his
heart spiritual aections; grace has formed a relationship
between the Christian who is on earth and Jesus who is on
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high. But if this blessed relationship is not sustained, the
heavenly aections in the heart of a child of God become
dormant and cold aections. e assurance of salvation
might remain perhaps, but isolated; all spiritual aections
are lost.
“ With fear and trembling.” We meet with diculties
on the road, though indeed we are sure to arrive. Although
the race be not the title of our acceptance, still that race
is none the less a serious and important thing. What a
privilege and what an honor to be God’s instruments in the
conict engaged with Satan! But what a responsibility also!
One cannot stand rm in this conict if one is careless, if
we act in a bad spirit, if we yield to the esh, etc.
Verse 14. Translate, “Without murmurings and
reasonings.” Verse 15. Translate, “ Ye appear as lights.”
Verse 17. It is, “ If also I am poured out as a libation.”
Verses 25-30. What a contrast between the feelings of
Paul, and those which he knew to exist in the Philippians
respecting Epaphroditus, with the mass of ice to which
Christianity has been reduced in these days! How quick
and coldly one says of a departed Christian, “ He is happy.”
Of course Epaphroditus, if he had died of his sickness,
would have departed happy to be in the bosom of Jesus.
And Paul would assuredly have been resigned in seeing the
departure of his brother; but his recovery lled Paul’s heart
with joy.
Chapter 3. is chapter forms a kind of parenthesis,
at least after the rst verses. Paul interrupts the subject of
brotherly intercourse to give us the beautiful developments
of the heavenly calling, which we notice in this portion
of the epistle. He then draws from those developments
some teaching for the Philippians; and by this he comes to
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443
chapter 4, the exhortations and spiritual communications
of which form a sequel to those of chapter 2.
Verse 2. “ Beware of dogs.” at is, of those who do evil
shamelessly.
Verse 3. We see in this verse three features which
characterize the service of the Christian. One worships
God in [by the] Spirit, not in carnal ceremonies; one boasts
in Christ Jesus, and not in man; one has the Lord, and
therefore has no condence in the esh.
Verses 4-6. e esh nds means, even in the things
instituted by God, to do many things in order to exalt
oneself.
Verse 7. Paul’s doctrine presents the abiding fact, that
the last Adam has all superiority over the rst, and the
Spirit over the esh. One cannot retain anything of the
rst Adam without detriment to the last.
Verses 7, 8. Always that which is before-” to gain Christ
“ -to reach unto Him. Had Paul reached Christ? Not
absolutely. As to his soul, he had; he is with the Lord; but
not as to the body. e resurrection has not yet taken place.
Verse 8. “ I have suered the loss of all things.” What
things? ose which the esh values-things like those
which the apostle tells us he had given up.
Verse 9. “ Found in him.” When? Rather at the end of
the race.
Having “ the righteousness which is of God.” To be
in Christ in order to have that righteousness, and not to
possess righteousness as a means to get Christ. Such is the
order in which things present themselves to Paul when it
is a question of the heavenly calling and of the race. Mark
well, he wished not for the righteousness of the law, not
because he cannot attain to it (which, however, would be
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444
true); but because in Christ he had something better than
that. e righteousness of the law, had he been able to
attain to it, would hinder his possessing Christ-so he will
not have it.
Verses 9, 10, present two things-to be in Him, and to
know Him.
Verse 10. Paul points out in this verse the means by
which he would arrive at the resurrection from among
the dead and attain Christ. When he had laid hold of the
power of the resurrection, he can pass through death and
not before.
Verse 12. A fact which precedes all others is that before
taking a single step in this path Paul had been taken
possession of by Christ. He had been taken possession of
by Christ- for Christ Jesus.
Verse 14. “ Toward the mark “-always this aim-the
glorious Christ towards whom the race tends.
Verses 15, 16. e degree to which one has attained in
the knowledge of Christ is not the rule of unity; the saints
must be able to walk together, whatever dierence there
may be between them as to the extent of that knowledge.
Let not the strong in receiving the weak require from him
a state to which he has himself attained: and let not the
weak lay down the limit unto which he has arrived, as the
rule for others. Let us walk together: and as to that which
goes beyond the measure to which we have attained, God
will teach us.
Could it be that a Christian might not nish his course?
In some respects it might so happen: or, at least, the course
would not be nished in the way that was intended.
Nevertheless such a case was foreseen in God’s counsels.
Ananias and Sapphira furnish perhaps a similar instance.
Brief Notes on the Epistle to the Philippians
445
ere are some who make shipwreck, who fail as to faith,
as to the doctrine that faith receives, without its being
said on that account that they had abandoned their faith.
Having in view this danger, Paul recommended Timothy
to maintain faith and a good conscience; to hold fast the
truth of God as well as that uprightness of heart in which
the soul judges itself, and abides in the presence of God,
ever open under His eye. If a good conscience fails, the
enemy nds an entrance, and faith is in danger.
ere is a crown of righteousness promised to those
who love the Lord’s appearing. Why is it called a crown of
righteousness? Because it will be given to those to whom it
is righteous to give it, “ which the Lord the righteous judge
shall give me,” 2Tim. 4:8. “ God is not unrighteous to
forget your work and labor of love which ye have showed
towards his name,” Heb. 6:10.
Verses 18, 19. “ Who are the many whose walk made
Paul weep? “ ey are rather professors than real Christians;
those perhaps in the beginning of the chapter. I should feel
a diculty in saying in an absolute way as applying it to
Christians-” whose end is destruction.”
ese two verses have this importance, that they may
indicate the period when Christendom will have gone
beyond Christianity. We see in the First Epistle to the
Corinthians, that the saints are warned of this danger;
chap. to. And in this epistle we nd that the very presence
of evil is already stated.
Verses 20, 21. Here again salvation is presented as a
future thing. “ We look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus.” He
is coming in glory to receive us into that glory. is is the
goal towards which we run.
Chapter 4. Paul now returns to exhortations.
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Verse 3. “ ee also, true yokefellow.” It was, doubtless,
the one who carried the letter, Epaphroditus. Literally, “
Help them [those] who have contended along with me.”
It is a recommendation to help the women who had
contended in the gospel. Euodia and Syntyche were of that
number.
Verse 7. “ e peace of God … shall keep your hearts.”
e peace of God is that peace in which God Himself is.
We read, not that our hearts keep that peace, but that it
keeps our hearts.
Verses 8, 9. In walking according to the exhortations of
the apostle, the Philippians would nd God with them-the
God of peace.
Verse to. “ Your care of me hath ourished again.” It is a
slight reproach, which Paul softens by adding, “ wherein ye
were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.”
Verses 12, 13. It is often in a very abstract way that one
says, “ I can do all things.” While Paul says, “ I can do all
things,” he adds, “ I have learned,” “ I am instructed.”
Verse 19. “ My God “-that faithful God, whose
faithfulness Paul had felt so often. It is with this feeling of
gratitude that Paul says, “ My God.”
REMARKS.
In the race which the Lord has opened to faith, the
Christian nds himself individually engaged, and his
responsibility nds its place. e Christian, it is true, is
no longer before God in the condition of a man with his
sins. But, in virtue of the new position which grace has
made unto him, he has entered upon a new and dierent
responsibility. He has practically to answer all the privileges
which are vouchsafed to him. He has to walk in the Spirit,
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447
to press towards the goal, to show himself worthy of his
calling, and as a child of God to walk in love, etc.
e day of Christ will show in what manner that child
of God has run. It is while he runs the race that he has to
watch, lest anything should stop him, or turn him aside
from his road. He meets with hindrances, and may perhaps
nd them even in the unfaithful state of God’s people. It is
for him to watch; the delay of others could not justify His
own; the race is an individual, things.
Nevertheless, in the Book of Numbers, which presents
the going through the wilderness, do we not see a people
on their march? is is true, but we must observe, that in
the heavenly calling, of which we are partakers, God has
formed a relationship with each of His saints; and that
relation-hip is innitely more developed than it could have
been with the Israelites in the wilderness.
e reward at the end of the race is never the motive
given to make us enter on the course; it is an encouragement
to persevere when one is already engaged therein. Jesus
Himself knew these encouragements-” Who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the
shame,” Heb. 12.
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63011
Notes of Lecture on Titus
2:11-14
IT is very striking to notice the connections in which
the summary of divine truth, contained in these verses, is
introduced. e chapter is occupied with teaching what sort
of conduct Christianity demands from those who profess
it, according to the relative position in life in which they
may be found. It teaches what is becoming in aged men and
in aged women. It tells us, also, how young women should
behave; and what should be characteristic of young men. It
then takes up the common every-day conduct which is due
from servants to their masters; and (while teaching them
to be obedient, and to seek to please them in everything-
guarding against insolence and dishonesty-” that they may
adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things “) it
adds, “ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath
appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness
and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior
Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works.”
Now there is a reason for the introduction of this passage
here; which is simply this: that while men are satised-
and must be satised, for they can go no farther-with
the expression of the mere outward behavior, the word of
God occupies itself with the correction of the motives and
Notes of Lecture on Titus 2:11-14
449
springs from whence all conduct ows. More than this-no
conduct can ever be acceptable in the sight of God that
does not ow from a heart subjected to His grace, which
brings salvation; and that is not swayed by its daily powers.
Rules of conduct are not given, cannot be given, to those
whose hearts have not been subjected to “ the obedience
of faith.”
But even here, amongst Christians, there is a very
frequent mistake. While the world values Christianity
merely for its collateral results, such as the reformation
of manners and its conservative eect on society, etc.,
Christians too often are occupied with the working
and eect of God’s grace, in the subjects of it-whether
themselves or others-to the exclusion of the contemplation
of that grace in its divine and absolute character, and in its
rst and grand eect. I mean this: ordinarily the Christian’s
mind is more occupied, as expressed in the passage before
us, with what the grace of God teaches, than with what it
brings. It teaches us to deny ungodliness, etc.; but before
it teaches, it brings salvation. How many may be found
most anxious to discover, what men now call the subjective
power of this grace, who at the same time are utterly at
sea as to what is meant, in corresponding phrase, by its
objective power! Surely it is well, and necessary, in its place,
to see to it that we yield ourselves to the teaching of God’s
grace, when its lesson is, “ that denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
in this present world.” But it is not well to overlook, or
underestimate, the absolute power of that grace in what it
brings. e grace of God brings salvation, or is salvation
bringing, to the lost and ruined, before it teaches in those
whom it saves.
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450
“ e grace of God that bringeth salvation hath
appeared,” is but the succinct description of God’s
intervention in innite love, by the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ, for the accomplishment of redemption.
Apart from all the eects and fruits of grace in those
who are the subjects of it, there is God’s intervention in
perfect absolute goodness, in the scene of ruin and death,
which sin has introduced, for the perfect and entire
deliverance out of it. e grace of God brings salvation into
this world, where sin and death and Satan’s power mark
the condition of man’s existence; and that apart from all
eects of that grace, in peace of conscience, or holiness and
happiness, on the part of those that believe. ere is the
grace itself, as well as the blessed fruits which it produces.
e salvation which it brings has its own proper character,
as the intervention of God in divine love and power, as
well as its own blessed results in the position Godward, to
which it brings its objects.
e two termini of a Christian’s course are here marked
as the results of this interposition of God in grace, namely,
salvation and glory. e Christian’s path, I repeat it, is
here shown to lie between the starting-point, which is
salvation, and the goal, which is glory. Grace and glory
are inseparable. Conduct, exercise of heart, trial, conict,
service, lie between these two points, and in God’s estimate
take their character from them; but the salvation was
accomplished alone by Christ’s appearing in grace-for “
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” And the glory will be
accomplished, alone, by Christ’s appearing in glory. is is
what the passage states. “ e grace of God which bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men.” It then adds, “ looking
for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
Notes of Lecture on Titus 2:11-14
451
great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” Intermediately it
tells us that the grace, which brings salvation, teaches us,
“ that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world
“; while in verse 14, we have the constraining motive to
holiness in the end for which Christ gave Himself for us. “
Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all
iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works.”
is is plainly practical as the end, in us in this world, of
Christ’s innite love.
Let us look, then, rst, at the character of the
deliverance, or salvation, which this wondrous intervention
of God in grace brings. is cannot be learned by going
over the points of systematic divinity [i.e. the creeds of
religious systems], but by a reference to the character of
man’s condition through sin, as unfolded in the word of
God, and manifested by the suering and death of Christ.
Whatever there is of moral distance from God, through
sin, this salvation, which “ the grace of God “ brings, meets,
and sets aside. “ For Christ hath once suered for sins, the
just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” Sin
in its very nature separates from God; for light cannot
have fellowship with darkness; but then it is said, “ Ye
who sometimes were far o are made nigh by the blood of
Christ.” Sin, and death, and Satan’s power, and the judgment
of God-all marked man’s condition of ruin, and all must be
met before salvation, full and adequate, can be proclaimed.
It is not enough to raise man from his degradation and
moral pollution, if such a thing could be, and set him on
his pathway to happiness. e conscience must be set at
rest on the ground of every claim of God in His righteous
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holiness having been met, and every possible consequence
of sin set aside. And this is the salvation which the grace
of God brings. It brings eternal life into this region of
death; for “ God hath given to us eternal life: and this life
is in his Son.” It brings in divine righteousness into the
midst of condemnation. For “ he who knew no sin was
made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him.” It brings deliverance from Satan’s power;
for “ through death [Christ] destroyed him who had the
power of death, that is, the devil.” Nay more, the salvation
which the grace of God brings puts us in the very place,
and position, and acceptance before God, and makes us
partakers of the very life and glory of Him by whom the
salvation has been wrought. It has no other measure, and
has no lower character. Was ever love like this!
ere is, indeed, the teaching of this grace, which is all-
important in its place; but what the heart must know rst
(as it is its rst action, on the part of a God of goodness)
is its salvation-bringing power; for without the knowledge
of the salvation, its teaching will be misapprehended and
in vain.
e grace of God, then, rst brings a perfect absolute
deliverance of the soul from the whole consequences of sin,
and brings into God’s presence in acceptance, according
to the acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the
salvation lies in His obedience and suerings for sin, in
the acceptableness of His sacrice, and in the power of His
resurrection; and “ as he is, so are we in this world.” is
is all absolute; it is God’s part in the grace which brings
salvation,
And as it is absolute in its character, so is it universal in
its aspect and bearing. “ e grace of God which bringeth
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453
salvation hath appeared to all men.” It is unrestricted in
its character; as the sun shines for all, though some hide
themselves even from its light. “ God so loved the world,
that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on him might not perish but have everlasting
life.” “ Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
But the grace received becomes teaching in those who
are the subjects of the salvation which it brings. It teaches
us “ that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”
And here, I observe, it is “ the grace “ that teaches, and not
something else. It is not man’s wisdom, or man’s morality,
mixing itself with that which is divine in his salvation, and,
I may add, divine in the nature which it imparts. It is the
grace which brought the salvation still acting-but acting
now in the subjects of it, and on the divine nature which
it imparts. ey are not human motives, which form and
fashion and produce the morality of a Christian, any more
than it is human power that accomplishes his salvation. It
is “ the grace of God “ that teaches him as well as saves him.
is is very remarkably shown in a passage in Timothy
(1 Tim. 3:16), the force of which is very frequently
overlooked. e apostle would teach Timothy how he
ought to behave himself “ in the house of God “; and he
then presents the formative power of all true godliness in
the words, “ Without controversy great is the mystery of
godliness: God was manifest in the esh, justied in the
Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed
on in the world, received up into glory.”
is is often quoted and interpreted as if it spoke of the
mystery of the Godhead, or the mystery of Christ’s Person.
But it is the mystery of godliness, or the secret by which
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454
all real godliness is produced-the divine spring of all that
can be called piety in man. “ God manifest in the esh,”
is the example and the power of godliness, its measure
and its spring. Godliness is not now produced, as under
the law, by divine enactments; nor is it the result in the
spirit of bondage in those (however godly) who only know
God as worshipped behind a veil. Godliness now springs
from the knowledge of the incarnation, death, resurrection,
and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. It takes its spring
and character from the knowledge of His Person as “ God
manifest in the esh “; the perfectness of His obedience, “ as
justied in the Spirit “; the object of angelic contemplation,
and the subject of testimony and faith in the world; and
His present position as “ received up into glory.”
is is how God is known; and from abiding in this
ows godliness. And as in the passage before us, between
the salvation, which is the result of the appearing of the
grace and the crowning of “ that blessed hope “ which
the believer looks for in the appearing of the glory, is the
teaching of the grace that has brought salvation. It teaches
the denial of ungodliness and worldly desires, as at war
with the ends of redemption, and contrary to the character
and position in which salvation places us as “ delivered from
this present evil world.” Certainly the cross and the glory
alike forbid the allowance of ungodliness and the pursuit
of worldly desires. It was the world that crucied Christ;
and in the appearing of the glory worldly desires can have
no place. “ For all that is in the world, the lust of the esh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the
Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away and
the lusts thereof.” It will be all withered by the appearing of
the glory. But sobriety, righteousness, and godliness are due
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455
from the believer towards the world as a witness; and due
towards God as a witness of the conforming power of His
most precious grace.
Already I have noticed that this passage presents the
believer’s path as lying between the salvation, which was
accomplished by Christ’s appearing in grace, and the
glory, which will be accomplished by Christ’s appearing in
glory. “ Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious
appearing [or epiphany of the glory; as there was the
epiphany of grace] of the great God, and our Savior Jesus
Christ.” e salvation which the grace of God brings settles
every question between God and the soul as to sin and
condemnation; and the appearing of the glory will bring
those who are Christ’s into the enjoyment of the presence
of God and Christ, into the perfected victory of Christ, and
into the possession of all that can t us for His presence
in glory. “ Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also
we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto
his glorious body, according to the working whereby he
is able even to subdue all things unto himself,” Phil. 3:20,
21. “ Christ was once oered to bear the sins of many; and
unto them that look for him shall he appear the second
time without sin unto salvation,” Heb. 9:28. “ We are saved
by hope “; and nothing so molds the aections for heaven
as “ waiting for God’s Son from heaven, … even Jesus, who
delivered us from the wrath to come.” In possession, and in
the enjoyment, as to the soul, of this divine and perfected
salvation, the believer has that which is far brighter in
hope. He who, in sorrow and suering and in innite
love, wrought the salvation, is coming to receive us unto
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Himself; that where He is, there we may be also. We shall
see Him as He is, and then we shall be made like Him.
All is divine and precious, innite in love and goodness,
in the way our God takes to act upon the soul. How
touching is the motive to holiness which is presented in
the closing verse of our passage! “ Who gave himself for
us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify
unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works,” v.
14. Here we have the end of redemption in the practical
walk of the believer in this world. But what can equal the
motive that is presented in the declaration, “ Who gave
himself for us “?
May our hearts more fully answer to its constraining
power!
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
457
63012
Notes From Lectures on
Hebrews
THE Spirit of God in this epistle distinguishes between
the way in which God spoke, or dealt, in time past and
now. So in Rom. 3 the apostle speaks of Christ, “ whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins
that are past.” ere he applies the death of Christ to the
sins committed before He came. e day of atonement in
Israel was for the putting away of past sins. He had been
bearing with them all the year, and then when the sacrice
came on that day, the sin was all put away and all bright
in the presence of God. ere is the day of atonement yet
to come for Israel as a nation, when in their land. en the
other part was “ to declare at this time his righteousness,
that he might be just, and the justier of him,” etc. is is
for the present time. By ascending before God on high, He
establishes a present righteousness-all sins forgiven and we
made the righteousness of God in Christ. Rom. 3:25 gives
it historically, for the sins of all who were saved in the Old
Testament times are put away by this sacrice; but we may
apply it immediately, and see that not only our past sins
are put away, but we stand in righteousness for the present.
Verse I. “ God who at sundry times,” etc. at was before
the time came for the revelation of Himself. Messages
were sent through others. ey had communications from
God, for He spake to them through the prophets: but now
we have the manifestation of Himself. e Son of God
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has now come. “ God hath in these last days spoken unto
us by his Son.” us the word is so exalted. “ ou hast
magnied thy word above all thy name.” His name up to
that time was exalted. He had made Himself known to
Abraham as the Lord Almighty, telling him to trust His
power, when he had to walk up and down as a stranger,
with none to take care of him. en again He was made
known to Nebuchadnezzar as the most High God, higher
than any of the gods of the nations; and to Abraham too
He was called thus, when he returned from the slaughter of
the kings. He will take it again when the kingdom comes.
en, again, He was known by the name Jehovah-” I am
“-the practical force of which is “ the same yesterday, to-
day, and forever.” All these names were glorious; but the
word He has magnied above all. e word is that which
tells all that God is- holiness, love, wisdom, etc. His word
expresses His thoughts and feelings; it is the revelation of
Himself. God speaks by Christ. Everything that Christ did
was the manifestation of God. Who could heal the leper
but God? “ I will, be thou clean,” are His words. Who could
raise the dead but God? “ Lazarus, come forth! “ “ I have
given unto them the words which thou gavest me,” John
17:8. He has committed His words to us, to be the vessels
of His testimony according to our measure. “ He that hath
received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.”
We are not only brought to God now, but to God
revealing Himself, God manifest in the esh. Christ
came declaring the Father. “ Believe me that I am in the
Father … or else believe me for the very works’ sake.” What
a blessed place we have in Christ, having Him as the
revelation of God to us! e mind of God is brought before
us in Christ. “ e word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth
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459
and in thy heart.” is is what makes Scripture so precious.
It is indeed the written word, but the revelation of God.
“ No prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation.”
You have got the mind of God in writing, and there it is
stable and imperishable-in contrast to traditions merely
handed down from one to another. ere cannot be the
church speaking, without Scripture. If the church can say
anything, itself, then Christ’s words go for nothing. I have
another master over me. I am speaking of authority now,
not of gift, which, of course, there is in the church for the
bringing out of truth. But authority in the church trenches
on the lordship of Christ over His house. It is a great thing
to treasure in our souls that we have this revelation of God
in Christ; and the beginning of the next chapter takes us
up on the ground of possessing it. “ erefore we ought to
give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” ese were
Jews to whom the apostle was writing, and they had heard
the Lord Himself speak, and afterward His apostles; and
that is the reason why Paul did not put his name to this as
to other epistles, when inditing them. You Jews hear what
God Himself has said to you. You have heard Him. us,
the apostle only conrmed what He had said. It is blessed
thus to see how Paul drops his own apostleship (he was
not, it is true, the apostle of the circumcision), and only
speaks of the twelve who conrmed Christ’s own words.
In this chapter we have rst the glory of Christ shown
in His being “ heir of all things.” He was the Son of the
Father, and the everlasting Father, by virtue of His own
power; and He will take everything. He will inherit all
things. If a Son, we may say, then an Heir; for it is even
said of us, “ If children, then heirs.” All that is the Father’s
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is His. “ He shall take of mine, and shall chew it unto you.”
Psa. 8 is alluded to in chapter 2, when in the counsels
of God it is appointed that as a Man He should take all
things; but in this chapter we have this same One as the
Son of God and “ heir of all things “; and for this glorious
reason, He “ made the worlds.” In Colossians we have it-
they “ were created by him and for him.” ere it is His title
over creation, but as “ the image of the invisible God, the
rst-born,” etc. So here it is “ heir of all things, by whom
also he made the worlds.” He is distinguished from God
the Father-the right hand of His power. By wisdom He
planned and by power He wrought. Christ is that wisdom
and that power.
Verse 3. “ e express image of his person.” Christ was
the outshining of God’s glory. is is more than testimony
made by the prophets in other ages. John 12:38-41, in
connection with Isa. 6, shows the shining out of His glory
very remarkably. See also Gen. 1:26, 27 in connection with
this word, “ the express image of his person.”
“ Upholding all things,” etc. Of course this is a divine
act. Who could keep the universe going? How could it
all go on without God, so that not a sparrow falls to the
ground without Him? How could it be without Him who
made it? ough He has established the order of all things,
it is He who is keeping it all going. e one actually acting
and possessing all is Christ. We see His glory in all this.
Another divine work there is spoken of in His having “
purged our sins “; and it is just as much a divine act to purge
our sins as to create a world, and in one sense far more
dicult, because sin is so hateful to God. It would be easy
enough for Him to create another world out of nothing.
He could look at His creation and say it was all “ very good
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461
“; but He is so holy, He cannot look upon sin. erefore
there is something He must take away, and He does come
to put sins away. We have sinned against God, and it is
impossible for any to forgive the sin but the person sinned
against. We have sinned against God, not man primarily,
and man cannot forgive sins. is is another reason why
God should be the only One who can forgive sins.
Mark another thing. He must purge before He can
forgive. In passing through this world, man has to pass
over a great deal, and get through as well as he can: but
God cannot do this. He “ is of purer eyes than to behold
iniquity.” en if God is to have anything to do with us,
He must purge sin. ere is this dreadful necessity, that
God should be occupied with our sins; and He had love
enough and power enough to do it. If He passed it over,
He would have to give up His holiness. erefore there was
this moral necessity of His holiness, that if He is to have
any such poor sinners in His presence, He must cleanse us.
So there must also be the feet-washing, if we are to have
part with Christ.
“ When he had by himself purged our sins “-it must
be by Himself. No one could help Him in it; angels could
have nothing to do in it, though they were sent to minister
to Him when engaged in the work. Man could not, for
man can do no more than his duty; if he did more, it would
be wrong. It must be a divine work to purge away sin.
ere is a divine necessity upon God to do it-and that by
Himself, because He could not allow sin. is is how I am
purged. Because He could not bear sin, He must take it
away Himself, and “ the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
from all sin.” It is a work that has been done: not anything
that He will do, and may do-not something yet to be done.
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It is done, and He has sat down. We then no longer have
a prophet coming to tell us He will do it, but there is the
testimony of the Holy Ghost that it has been done.
“ e brightness of God’s glory,” it is said, not the
Father’s. Sin is connected with God as its judge, not with
the Father. He “ sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high.” e whole work is accomplished and so perfectly
done that He can take His own place again, and with the
blessed dierence, that He goes back as a Man, which He
never was before. Stephen saw Him as the “ Son of man,”
standing on the right hand of God. Here He has “ sat down
on the right hand of the majesty on high.” He has taken our
sins, and yet is on the right hand of the throne of God. is
shows that the righteousness wrought out was so perfect
and divine, that though He has taken our sins, He could sit
down on the throne of God, and not soil it. He had a right,
of course, on the ground of His divine Person; but there is
more than that here. Divine righteousness is presented to
God, as an accomplished thing, just as the divine Son was
manifested to man when He came down amongst us. It is
all divine glory throughout.
Psa. 2, “ Kiss the Son,” etc. Blessed is the man who
trusteth in God: but cursed the man who trusteth in man;
Jer. 17. We nd in the prophets certain traits in mystery,
as it were, to display the divine Person of the One who
was coming in humiliation. See Isaiah 50: 3-5. e same
glorious Person who said, “ I clothe the heavens with
blackness,” etc., says, “ e Lord God hath opened mine
ear, and I was not rebellious,” etc. In Dan. 7 again, see
verse 13” the Son of man,” brought before “ the Ancient
of days,” and in verse 22, He is giving out Himself to be “
the Ancient of days,” Heb. 1:7. “ Who maketh his angels
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463
spirits,” etc., but He does not say make when speaking of
the Son. “ y throne, O God, is forever and ever.” See
Psa. 45:1-7 Heb. 1:9. He whose throne is forever and ever
has been put to the test; and He loved righteousness and
hated iniquity while amongst us, and has brought us up
as His fellows out of our iniquity. See the contrast in the
connection in which “ fellows “ is mentioned here, and in
Zech. 13:7, where Jehovah speaks of the man, His fellow,
who has been “ wounded in the house of his friends.”
us we see the glory of Christ shining through the
Old Testament continually, but in this chapter it is fully
brought out. He is owned as God, though a man, and
gloried above all others.
Verses 10, 11, etc. See Psa. 102:24. “ y years are
throughout,” etc., is in answer to verse 23, and rst clause
of verse 24. is is still more pointed and precise. Jesus, in
His humiliation, breathes out His broken heart to Jehovah.
e Psalm anticipates the rebuilding of Zion. If so, where
would this smitten Messiah be? If cut o in the midst of
His day, how could He be there? God’s answer is, that He,
the holy suerer, is Jehovah, the creator and disposer of all
things. What a testimony to His unchangeable deity!
is is the time of grace, when those who are to be
His companions in the glory are being gathered out (His
fellows, v. 9).
Verse 13. Angels have a very blessed place and oce,
but it is never said to them, “ Sit on my right hand,” etc.,
but Jehovah did say so to the man, Christ Jesus. He has His
own place there.
What a blessed Savior we have! e Lord Himself has
come and taken up our cause. e One whom we look to,
and lean upon as a Savior, is the Lord Jehovah.
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en, besides the glory of His Person, there is the other
blessed truth, essential to our peace, to see what a wonderful
salvation we have: our sins completely purged away! ere
is a wonderful and divine glory in this salvation, and divine
and ineable love-the love of One who is not like an angel
who could only do His work when told.
Our souls are thus called to worship Him who clothes
the heavens with blackness, who indeed made all things,
even Jesus, the Son of God.
CHAPTER 2.
e rst four verses of this chapter are an exhortation
founded on the preceding one. Observe, this epistle does
not begin with an apostolic address, as the others do; but
Paul puts himself entirely among these Jewish believers,
and speaks of Christ as their Apostle, not himself; and
throughout he is unfolding all the riches of Christ, to keep
them from sliding back into Judaism. ough the gospel of
the uncircumcision was committed to Paul, as that of the
circumcision was to Peter, yet is Paul the one used to these
Hebrew believers. In chapter 1: I, 2, God hath “ spoken
to us “; that is, Paul puts himself among them. In the
Hebrews the church is not addressed as such, but the saints
individually-not in their aspect of oneness with Christ.
Even in the Epistle to the Romans it is said, “ Whom he
justied, them he also gloried”; but here we get Him only
“ crowned with glory and honor.” Further, I would remark,
as it is not of union with Christ of which the apostle speaks
here, responsibility is pressed; continual “ ifs “ and warnings
ow from this. ese warnings do not one whit touch the
nal perseverance of the saints, as the doctrine is called;
though I would rather say, the perseverance of God, His
faithfulness, for He it is who keeps us to the end. “ If you
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continue “ does not throw a doubt on your continuance. e
quickening work of the Spirit of God is scarcely referred
to in this epistle, save in one or two cases. In chapter 2: 2, “
e word spoken by angels “ means the law given at Sinai.
In these verses the whole Jewish nation is addressed, while
those only who had faith would receive the warning. And
I would notice that the warnings of God are not merely
against sin, but not to let slip truth, etc. Christ came into
the world, not imputing their trespasses unto them, but
they added to their rebellion of heart by rejecting Him
who came to warn them. Neglecting salvation is despising
it. By the rejection of Christ the Jews bound their sins
upon them. To have broken the law was bad enough, but
to reject grace was worse; and these rst four verses press
this upon them.
God’s purpose for man (v. 5, and following) is to set
him over everything, but that purpose is still unfullled. “
e world to come “ is not heaven, for that does exist now;
but it is the habitable earth to come, not this earth in its
present state. e Jews expected a new order of things; they
looked for blessing and peace, and they were right, for so it
will be. e present world is in subjection to angels. God’s
hand is not seen directly, but His angels are ministering
spirits to the heirs of salvation. Everything in this world,
however mercifully ordered in providence, is a proof of sin-
the clothes we wear, the houses we live in, etc. All this was
not God’s purpose. He is not, as I said, now acting directly.
He permits and overrules, but He draws His own people
from the world (delivering us “ from this present evil world
“), and then teaches them to walk through it as not of it. He
protects us through His angels; they are His ministers in
His providential dealings; v. 6. But it is a Man who is to be
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set over the world to come. Once (in Adam) dominion was
committed to man, but he lost it; v. 8, etc. God’s purpose,
that is, His order of things, is not thereby touched. Now we
see Jesus crowned, and when we are, then all things will be
accomplished. e Head is now gloried, and the members
are down here in suering. Christ is sitting at God’s right
hand, waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
Take Psa. 2 and compare it with Psa. 8 God says, “ Yet
have I set my king upon the holy hill of Zion.” Christ is
come, and is not yet set there as king. Now Psa. 8 shows
that, though rejected as Messiah, Jesus took the place of
Son of man. So when Peter confesses Him as the Christ,
Jesus charges him straitly not to tell any, for the “ Son of
man [His title in Psa. 8] must suer many things,” etc. Sin
must be put away before God could set up His kingdom.
We are now passing through that order or state of things
which is not yet put under Jesus. Christ has gone through
this very world, and been tempted, before He took His place
as Priest, that He might succor them that are tempted. is
is not sin, for we do not want sympathy in sin, but help and
power to get out of and overcome it, and all this we have in
Him. He went perfectly through reproach and tribulation.
All that Satan could do to stop Him in His godly course,
Satan did; but all was in vain. e Lord “ resisted unto
blood.” We need to pray God for help to judge sin, each
in himself. Sympathy in distress and suering is another
thing, and this we have, as well as forgiveness.
I began by saying there were two things-the purpose
and the ways of God. Now, the latter it is our privilege
to trace, while the former remains still unaccomplished.
Instead of being merely Son of David, Christ is Son of
man. He takes possession in our nature-not, of course, in
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467
the state in which it is in us, but still in our very nature.
Now, as to the ways of God, we get these in verse 10: “ By
the grace of God he tasted death,” etc. Mark this well-our
sin brings us to the same place which, by the grace of God,
He took. Perfect grace and perfect obedience we nd in
Him. When Christ came, as in Psalm 40, to do the will of
God, God’s majesty needed to be vindicated; and I would
say unhesitatingly that God’s truth, His righteousness,
His love, His majesty, were all vindicated by the death of
Christ-aye, far more than they would have been had we
all died. In anticipation of this He said, “ I have a baptism
to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be
accomplished! “ His love could not fully ow forth till
then. In the words, “ It became him,” I nd the character
of God; while in the expression, “ many sons,” I nd the
objects of His love. He could not bring us to glory in our
sins. We get Christ taking up the cause of this remnant;
and where, historically, did He begin?
It was in John’s baptism that He outwardly identied
Himself with His people, that is, with the sanctied ones;
v. 11. See Psa. 16:2, 3. His association was with the saints;
and there cannot be a step in the divine life in which
Christ does not go along with us. Christ, in all that He
is, is with us in the smallest ber of divine life, from the
repentance which is at the beginning. Not, of course, that
He had aught to repent; yet His heart is with us in it. is
is as true now, as it will be when manifested in glory; v. 16.
ere was no union of Christ with the esh. e associates
of Christ are the excellent of the earth; while in grace one
of His sweetest titles was “ the friend of the publicans and
sinners.”
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Verse 12 is a quotation from Psa. 22:22, where Jesus in
resurrection takes the place of leader of the praise of His
brethren. Our songs should therefore ever accord with His.
He has passed through death for us; and if our worship
express uncertainty and doubt instead of joy and assurance
in the sense of accomplished redemption, there can be no
harmony, but discord, with the mind of heaven.
Verse 13 is quoted from Psa. 16, where, as also elsewhere,
Christ on earth takes the place of the dependent Man. He
is specially thus described in Luke’s Gospel, where it is so
frequently recorded that He prayed. Again, “ Behold, I and
the children,” etc. is passage from Isa. 8:18 is particularly
applicable to these Hebrew believers. While waiting for
Israel, He and His disciples are for signs.
In verse 14 we nd the consequence of His association
with us. In these latter verses we have these two things: He
took our nature that He might die; and also that He might
go through temptation. We were alive under death; then
Christ comes, and He takes upon Him all the power of
Satan and death, and destroys thus him that had the power
of death. By His death He made propitiation for sin. e
feelings of His soul, and the temptations of Satan, were
before His actual death, in the garden of Gethsemane,
where His language was, “ My soul is exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death.” is was because of Satan’s power; for
He said, “ is is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
But all this He went through, as part of His appointed
suerings. In the rst three Gospels we have His cry in
Gethsemane. In John we have His remembrance of His
mother, and His other cries (“ I thirst! “ and “ It is nished!
“) on the cross; and this is in character with that Gospel in
which His divine aspect is given. After the conict with
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469
Satan was over, Christ took up the cup from His Father’s
hand. ey who were sent to secure Him had no power
against Him, for they all fell back; but He gave Himself up.
Satan pressed the cup upon Him, but He took it from the
hand of His Father.
As regards temptation, I shall hope to speak more about
it another time. I would only now say that succoring is
not dying instead of me; but now that I am going through
this world I need succor. e ark in Jordan was like Christ
preceding us through the waters of death, which to Him
overowed its banks, while we follow dry-shod. For what
is dying to the Christian? It is passing away from all sorrow
into the presence of the Lord-the happiest moment in a
Christian’s existence.
CHAPTER 3.
e rst title of our Lord in this chapter is connected
with the rst part of the epistle; the second, namely, the
priesthood, refers to what follows afterward. In chapter I
also we have His qualication for being the Apostle; in
chapter 2, His qualication for the Priesthood. He was the
Divine Messenger for the testimony He was to bring to
earth; and He is gone up on high to exercise His Priesthood
on behalf of a needy people down here where He has been.
“ God manifest in esh justied in the Spirit … received
up in glory,” referring to His having come down here and
become man. He must be in the holy place in order to carry
on His work as Priest; but He must he a man. erefore
what He was on earth tted Him, as it were, for this work.
ere is a third character connected with Christ brought
out in this third chapter; Christ set “ over his own house.”
In this epistle we do not get the unity of the body at all;
we get a Mediator speaking to God for us and speaking
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from God to us: “ Let us hold fast the profession,” etc. If
He spoke of the unity of the body, that is inseparable; there
is one Holy Ghost uniting the members to the Head-” ye
in me, and I in you.• It is not so here. erefore profession
is spoken of, and the possibility of that being not true
profession; yet assuming it might be sincere, “ we are
persuaded better things of you,” etc. (chap. 6). ere might
be all these privileges, and no fruit, but falling away. ese
Hebrews had made a public profession of having embraced
Christ, and received a heavenly calling. In speaking of the
body of Christ, we know it is perfect-no possibility of a
false member getting in; but in a living congregation I
may address them as hoping they are all saints, but the
end proves. No man can tell the end, whether they will all
persevere; but if there is life, we know they will.
“ Apostle of our profession “-it could not be said Apostle
of life. We never can understand this epistle properly, unless
we get hold of this truth. In Ephesians, where the body is
more the subject, I do not get such an expression as this, “
that he might sanctify the people with his own blood.”
e character of this epistle not being understood is
the reason many souls are tried and exercised by passages
they nd in it. ey are addressed with the possibility of
their not having life, and so not continuing to the end. e
church supposes a body in heaven. “ Heavenly calling “
does not necessarily imply that, because they are called to
heaven, they are part of the body of Christ. e kingdom
and the body are dierent. “ Head over all things to the
church “ is wider, too, than the kingdom. Kingdom implies
a king; a body implies a head. e church is precious to
God. Everything that Christ has, I have; the same life, the
same righteousness, the same glory. If my hand is hurt, I say
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
471
it is I who am hurt. Paul was converted by this truth, “ Why
persecutest thou me? “ It shows what grace has done for us-
taken us out of ourselves. e body of Christ shows out the
fullness of redemption, and the purpose of God respecting
it. But another aspect of the people of God is that they are
down here in inrmity, but having this heavenly calling. In
this condition I need One in heaven; and there is not an
inrmity, a need, a sorrow, an ache, an anxiety, but it draws
out sympathy and help from Christ. is draws out my
aections to Him. But before the priesthood is taken up,
Moses is spoken of as a type: “ Christ Jesus, faithful to him
that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his
house.” e house is the place where God dwells; and there
is another thing here-the Head of the house administering
it.
God has met His people according to the need in which
they were. In Egypt they need redemption, and He comes
to redeem. In the wilderness they were dwelling in tents,
and He would have a tent too. In getting into the land they
wanted One to bring them in, and there is the captain of
the Lord’s host. en, when they are in the land, He builds
His palace, His temple. ere is rest. We are not come to
the temple yet-we have not rest: we get the tabernacle now,
and “ there remaineth a rest.” ere was a temple existing
when these Hebrews were addressed, but that was not for
us.
e temple is a dwelling for God. ere never was
a dwelling-place for God until redemption came in.
Scripture never speaks of man getting back to innocency, or
the image of God. God did not dwell with Adam; though
in the cool of the day He came to walk with him. Neither
did He dwell with Abraham. “ e earth hath he given to
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472
the children of men “-” the heavens are the Lord’s.” But
when redemption comes in, God is forming something for
Himself. us, in Ex. 15:13, “ habitation “ refers to what
they had in the wilderness (Ex. 29:44-46), but verse 17 to
the rest at the end.
ere were visits to Abraham (Abraham will dwell in
heaven), but God could not have a habitation among men
until He had made known redemption to them. e nature
and character of God require it. Love is God’s character:
to enjoy God I must be with Him. Holiness is His nature.
We are made sons of God (“ the servant abideth not in the
house forever,” etc.). In the divine nature communicated to
us, we are capable of being at home in that house of God,
and redemption gives the title.
e individual Christian is a temple now; but the
temporary provisional thing is God dwelling with us. e
full blessed thing is our dwelling with God; John 14. I go
not away to be alone there, but to have you there. “ I go to
prepare a place for you.” In verse 23 the Father and the Son
make their abode with us till we are taken to abide with
them. God’s having a house, as a general thought, is the
consequence of redemption. Here in Hebrews it is rather
alluded to as to administration than dwelling. “ Habitation
of God,” is the present thing; “ temple “ is future in Eph. 2
It is spoken of in a larger and more vague way in Hebrews,
because here it takes in profession. He that built all things is
God. In one sense creation is His house; in another, Christ
has passed through the heavens, as High Priest, into the
heaven of heavens (through the two veils, as is represented
in the type), into the holiest. In a third sense the body
professing Christianity is His house, “ whose house are we,”
etc.-the saints. ere may be hypocrites amongst them; but
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
473
they “ are builded together for an habitation of God,” etc.
Christ administers in it, as Son over His own house. Moses
was but servant in the building. ere is immense comfort
for us in this; rst, because it is perfectly governed; second,
when we look at the house, we may see all sorts of failures
coming in; but though all may be failure, the One who
administers in the house cannot fail. erefore, though all
seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s, Paul
could say, “ Rejoice in the Lord alway,” etc. ere is One
whom nothing escapes. Anyone who has a real care for the
church of God, need never distrust. Paul, in looking at the
Galatians, sees so much wrong that he does not know what
to think of them: he changes his voice towards them. Ye that
are under the law, hear the law. But in the next chapter he
says, “ I have condence in you through the Lord.” Christ
is over His own house. Two things follow then. He will
turn everything to blessing-Paul in prison, etc.; and there
is present good too. When all the joints and bands do not
act as they ought, the immediate ministry of Christ is more
experienced. Christ connects everything with His glory;
and faith connects the glory of the Lord with the people of
the Lord. Moses did so. Faith does not only say, the Lord is
glorious, and He will provide the means for His own glory;
but it sees the means for it. Moses said, “ Spare the people,”
when with God; and when he came down amongst them,
he “ cut o the people,” because he was alive to God’s glory
(in the matter of the calf in the camp).
We have to count upon Christ for the church, not upon
itself. us Paul, when tried by Nero, passes sentence as it
were upon himself (Phil. 1:23-25); he settles it that he shall
be acquitted. Why? Because he sees it is more needful for
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474
them-one single church. It was divine teaching and faith in
exercise which made him to judge thus.
ere is failure on the part of the church down here as
to responsibility, but Christ has perfect authority in His
church, and He has interest in it. We have not to make
rules for the church; it is the Master must govern the house,
not the servants. ere is one Master, and that is Christ.
He is over the church, and not the church over Him. “
Whose house are we, if we hold fast the condence,” etc.
Ah! people say, don’t you be too condent, because there is
an “ if.” But, I ask, what have you got? What he presses is,
that you should not let it go. Is that to be used to hinder
my having the condence? What did they believe? at
Christ was come-a heavenly Savior to them, and this far
better than an earthly one. Do not give up that. ere is
a fear of giving up that condence, not of their being too
condent. What am I to distrust? Myself? Oh! I cannot
distrust myself too much. But is it Christ you distrust?
Will His eye ever grow dim, or His heart grow cold? Will
He leave o interceding? A proof that I am a real stone
in the house is that I hold fast the condence, etc. ose
high priests under the old dispensation were continually
standing; but He has sat down, because the work is all done.
ey needed for every sin a new sacrice: sin was never
put away. ey needed a fresh absolution from the priest
every time sin came up. Now, He says, “ their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more.” If you are under law,
it is another thing; you have not got the condence. If you
talk of distrust, what do you distrust? If you trust in man at
all, it is a proof you do not see that you are lost. If you give
up condence in yourself, and say, I am lost already, it is
another thing. No one that has really come to redemption,
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
475
has in the substance of his soul condence in himself; and
no Christian will say, you ought to distrust Christ. Our
privilege is to have condence in Christ as a rock under
our feet, and to rejoice in hope of the glory of God. His
righteousness has brought Christ into the glory as a man,
and the same righteousness will bring me in.
Does another person say, I do not know whether I have
a portion in it? You are under the law: God may be plowing
up your soul-exercising it for good; but you have not been
brought to accept the righteousness of God. e soul in
this state has not accepted the righteousness of God for it,
instead of ours for Him. You are still depending on your
own heart for comfort and assurance. It is a very serious
thing to get the soul so empty of everything that it has
only to accept what God can give. It is an awful thing to
nd oneself in God’s presence, with nothing to say or to
present. You never get love to Christ until you are saved;
and it is the work of God’s Spirit. e prodigal found what
he was by what his father was. Did the prodigal doubt his
interest when the father was on his neck?
e remainder of this chapter takes up the people of
Israel- the professing people in the wilderness. ey did not
get into the land, but their carcasses fell in the wilderness.
It is speaking of them on the road. e “ to-day “ quoted
from Psa. 115 never closes for Israel, till God has taken up
the remnant at the end of His dealings with them, after the
church is gone up to heaven.
Verse 14. “ Partakers “ is the same word as that translated
“ fellows “ in chapter 1. You are fellows of Christ if you are
of this company. is place with the fellows is yours if you
go on to the end. is kind of statement does not touch
the security of the saints. Both Calvinists and Arminians
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476
might say, He will reach heaven, if he holds fast to the
end. e certainty of salvation is the certainty of faith, and
not that which excludes dependence upon God for every
moment. I have no doubt that God will keep every one of
His saints to the end; but we have to run the race to obtain
eternal glory. Holding fast the faithfulness of God, it is
important, along with this, to keep up the plain sense of
passages such as the present, which act on the conscience
as warning by the way. ere is no uncertainty, but there
is the working out our own salvation with fear and
trembling. In x Corinthians 9: 27, personal Christianity is
distinguished from preaching to others. It is not a question
of the work, but of the person being a castaway, and this
means disapproved or reprobate, that is, not a Christian.
Compare 2Cor. 13. In Rom. 2 eternal life is spoken of as
the result of a course which pleases God. No doubt, His
grace gives the power; but it is the result of a fruit-bearing
course. In a word, it is equally true that I have eternal life,
and that I am going on to eternal life. God sees it as one
existence, but we have to separate it in time. Walk that
road, and you will have what is at the end of it. is does
not interfere with the other truth, that God will keep His
own, and that none shall pluck them out of His hand. Our
Father says as it were, at is my child, and I watch him all
the way, and take care to keep him in it.
CHAPTER 4.
e word of God is connected with the apostleship;
chap. 3: 1. In the last verses the priesthood of Christ is
the subject. ese are the two means of our being carried
through the wilderness-the word of God, and priesthood
of Christ. Israel were treated as a people brought out of
Egypt, but liable to fall by the way. So the warning to
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
477
these Hebrews (chap. 4: 1), “ as to seeming to come short;
“ the word is softened. In chapter 3 we have seen them
addressed as a body brought out under the name of Christ,
but admitting the possibility of hypocrites among them.
ere are two distinct things connected with the
people- redemption, and being carried on when brought
out into the wilderness.
e Epistles to the Hebrews and to the Philippians
both address saints as in the wilderness. In Philippians it
is more personal experience that is spoken of, for example,
“ I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your
prayer.” In both it is as passing through the wilderness, and
not yet in the rest.
Verse I. We have “ His rest.” Not merely rest, but God’s
rest: and this makes all the dierence. It is not merely as
tired ones, and glad to rest: we are going into the rest of
God. ere is an allusion to creation when God saw all that
He had made very good. He delighted in it, and rested.
Spiritual labor now is not rest, nor the worry and plague
of sin. God will rest in His love; Zeph. 3:17. How could
He rest here? Not till He sees all those He loves perfectly
happy. How can He rest where sin is? Holiness cannot rest
where sin is. Love cannot rest where sorrow is. He rested
from His works in the rst creation, because it was all very
good; but when sin came in, His rest was broken. He must
work again. God nds rest where everything is according
to His own heart. He is completely satised in the exercise
of His love.
When conict and labor are over, we shall get into
the rest in which He is. at is the promise. “ A promise
being left us of entering into his rest “-God’s own rest. If
aections have not their object, they are not at rest. ey
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478
will have this then, and we shall be like Him. ere will be
also comparative rest, even for this poor creation, by-and-
by.
ese Hebrews who are addressed, are compared to the
Jews who came out of Egypt, some of whom fell; but he
says, “ We are persuaded better things of you,” ye “ are not
of them that draw back into perdition.” What had they got?
eir Messiah on earth? No. He was gone, and they were
left strangers as to what was here below, and not having
reached heaven either. at is what every Christian is: the
state of his heart is another thing.
Verse 2. “ Gospel preached.” We have glad tidings
preached to us as well as they. e apostle is speaking of
the character of those who go in (heaven, God’s rest, the
promise for us, as Canaan was for Israel). Unbelievers do
not go into rest-believers do. at is the door they go in by.
As to God’s creation, there is not rest for them in it-it
is not come for them. “ If they shall enter,” etc. is means
they shall not, but God did not make the rest for no one to
enter. He begins again; v. 7. David came ve or six hundred
years after Moses, and in Psa. 95 he says, “ To-day after
so long a time,” etc. If they did not get into the rest by
Joshua, there “ remaineth a rest to the people of God.” at
is not come at all yet. It is to be under the new covenant,
when Christ comes, the Messiah according to their own
scriptures.
“ He that is entered into his rest hath also ceased from
his own works,” not only from sin. When God ceased, it
was not from sin, but from labor. Godly works are not
rest. God rests in Christ. I have ceased from my works, as
regards my conscience, because I have ceased from works
for justication. I have not ceased from godly works-that
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
479
rest is not come yet. Laboring to enter in here does not
mean as to justication. “ ere remaineth a rest.” We have
the former, but there is more we wait for.
e two means of carrying us through, spoken of before,
are the word applied by the Spirit, and the Priesthood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We never get union with Christ spoken
of here; there is no discerning, judging, etc., connected
with that; but as Christians in the wilderness there is, and
the intercession of Christ is needed; as distinct, separate
Christians going through the world, beset with snares on
every hand, we are addressed.
It is remarkable how the word of God is made to be the
revelation of God Himself. “ e word of God is quick and
powerful, manifest in his sight.” Whose sight? e word
of God, the revelation of Christ. He is called the word of
God-” God manifest in the esh.” He was the divine life-
the perfection of all divine motives in a man in this world.
e word of God brings the application of God’s nature.
All that He is, is applied to us in going through this world.
at begins by our being begotten by the word-born
again, of incorruptible seed-the divine nature imparted,
which cannot sin because born of God. en all the
motives and intentions of the heart have to be displayed
by this word. e written word is the expression of God’s
mind down here. Divine perfectness, as expressed in the
life of Christ in the written word, is applied to us. What
selshness was there in Christ? I do not now refer to His
going about doing good, but as to the feelings and motives
of His heart. How much has self been our motive? Not
like Christ. It is not gross sins that are spoken of here, but “
thoughts and intents of the heart.” How much self through
the day!
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480
In John 17 our Lord says, “ I sanctify myself.” Christ
set apart as the perfection of man-Christ, a model man, if
I may so speak-all that God approves in a man was seen
in Christ. e same should be seen in us. “ Sanctify them
through thy truth.” e word applied to us in all this path,
in motives, thoughts, and feelings, is for this purpose.
Christ was not only doing good; He walked in love, and
He says to us, “ Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us,
and given himself,” “ forgiving one another, even as God,
for Christ’s sake, hath forgiven you.” What comes down
from God goes up to Him. Self may enter in our doing
good; but only what is of a sweet savor goes up to God-”
an oering to God.” What is not done exclusively in the
power of divine love, in the sense of an oering, is spoiled-
self has come in.
“ Dividing asunder of soul and spirit.” God has created
natural aections, but how much self and idolatry come in!
Self-will, too, and self-gratication, how awfully it comes
in! at is soul, and not spirit. e word of God comes in,
and knows how to divide between soul and spirit, what
looks like the same thing, the very same aections, as far
as man sees. What a mass of corruption! Can we have
communion with God when self comes in? How powerless
Christians are now-you, and I, and everyone. ere is grace,
blessed be God! but, in a certain sense, how low we are! “ I
will give myself unto prayer,” said one. All blessing comes
from the immediateness of a man’s life with God. ere
are rivers of living water. How are you to get them? “ If
any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink,” and “
out of his belly shall ow rivers of living water.” A man
must drink for himself rst, before there can be rivers, etc.
In the time of the prophets they had a message, “ us
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
481
saith the Lord,” and then had to inquire the meaning of
the prophecy, but with us, we drink rst ourselves. We are
so connected with Christ, that we have it ourselves from
Him before communicating it to others.
What would make us fall in the wilderness? e esh.
It has no communion with God; esh in saints, as well
as in others, is bad. What would make us fall is esh-the
unjudged “ thoughts and intents of the heart.” e word of
God comes and judges all that is of nature in us, after He
has brought us out of Egypt. According to the new nature,
everything is judged. Everything in Christ is applied to
the motives and intents of our hearts-everything is judged
according to God Himself. e word is a sword-not
healing, but most unrelenting in its character. It detects
poor esh, shows it up, and marks its thoughts, intents,
will, or lust. All is sifted. But are there no inrmities? Yes.
But whenever the will and intent is at work, the word of
God comes as a lancet to cut it all away. For inrmities,
weaknesses, not will, we have a high priest, who was in all
points tempted like as we are, without sin.
is is beautifully expressed in a gure in the Old
Testament. ere was water wanted: the rock was smitten,
and the water owed. (ere are resources in Christ
Himself, the smitten rock, for us; but besides, for us there
is the water, a well in us.) ey were also tried all through
the wilderness. e two-edged sword was wanted. ere
were murmurings. ey must be turned back. God turns
back with them. How did they get through? What was on
Moses’ part (for he was like the apostle here), set forth?
How was he to get rid of their murmurings? e rock has
not to be smitten again. e rods must be put in. ere are
leaves, buds, blossoms on Aaron’s-life out of death-living
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482
priesthood. en go and speak to the rock. Suppose God
had only executed judgment! How would they have got
through the wilderness? ere was the living priesthood
come in; grace in the shape of priesthood. at carries us
through; and all the inrmities, and even failures, when
they are committed, are met by Him who has passed
through the heavens, etc.
ere is not the least mercy on the esh. is is judged by
the word. Moses, the meekest man, failed in that. Abraham,
who had been taught God’s almightiness, goes down to
Egypt, and fails through fear. God gloried Himself. He
gloried Himself at the rock in the wilderness, but Moses
did not glorify Him, and he was shut out of the land.
Verse 14. ere are things mentioned, very important,
about the priesthood. 1st, e priesthood is exercised in
heaven, where we need it; it is the place where God is. When
it was an earthly calling, the priesthood was on earth. Ours
is a heavenly calling, and Christ, our high priest, has passed
through the heavens. Another important part is, Christ in
no sense has any of these inrmities while He is exercising
the priesthood for us. He has passed through all the course
in holiness, obedience, and sanctity. When He putteth
forth His own sheep, He goeth before them. He walks the
sheep’s path, and they follow Him. Christ went through
all these exercises of a godly man (for example, wanting
bread, and being tempted to make it, but not yielding to
it). Everything that a saint can want as a saint, Christ
went through before in perfection. ere is the example
of perfectness in Him, in the sheep’s path; but that was
not the time of His priestly work. He has passed through
the road, and now can be “ touched with the feeling of our
inrmities.”
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
483
In Hebrews we have, as another brother has remarked,
more of contrast than comparison. e veil in the tabernacle,
and the priesthood of Israel all in a contrasted state to that
in which we have them. Our high priest is not compassed
with inrmity. Mark the consequence of that: His being in
heaven, He brings all the perfectness of the thought and
feeling of the place He is in to bear on us. I have these
inrmities and diculties, and He helps me up into all the
perfectness of the heavenly places where He is. is is just
what we want. He can show a path, and feel what a path
is of passing through this world, and bear the hearts down
here clean up into heaven.
People often think of priesthood as a means of getting
justied; but then God has the character of a judge in their
eyes. ey are afraid to go straight to God, and not knowing
grace and redemption, they think of enlisting Christ on
their behalf. is is all wrong. Many a soul has done it in
ignorance and inrmity, and God meets it there, but it is
to mistake our place as Christians. Does our getting the
intercession of Christ depend upon our going to get it?
It is when I have got away from God-when not going to
Him-I have an advocate with the Father. Again, Christ
prayed for Peter before He committed the sin. It is the
living grace of Christ in all our need-His thought for us,
or we should never be brought back. It was when Peter
had committed the sin that He looked on him. Even when
we have, committed faults His grace thus comes in. It is
in heaven He is doing it: then how can we have to say to
Him if we have not righteousness? e reason I can go is
because my justication is settled. He has given me the
title of going into heaven in virtue of what He is, “ Jesus
Christ the righteous,” and what He has done. Our place
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484
is in the light as \God is in the light- sitting in heavenly
places in Christ. Our walk on earth is not always up to this.
Our title is always the same, but our walk not. en what
is to be done? I am within the veil, and not in a condition
to go there at all. e priesthood of Christ is there to
reconcile this discrepancy between our position in heaven,
and our walk down here. Jesus Christ is the righteous one:
and the righteousness I have in Him is the title I have to
the place. e priestly work restores me to the communion
of the place where I am in righteousness. It is immediately
connected with the perfectness of His own walk down here
and the place where He now is.
Satan came to Him, when here, and found nothing. He
ought to nd nothing in us, but he does. I do not want to
spare the esh; then there is the word of God for that. But
in all the feelings down here, as He said, “ reproach hath
broken my heart.” In Gethsemane He was in an agony and
prayed the more earnestly. He had the heart of a man; and
all that the heart of man can go through, He went through
but in communion with His Father, no failure possible. “
Apart from sin,” is better than “ yet without sin,” because
there was no sin in Him inwardly any more than outwardly.
In all these feelings He is now touched for us.
Verse 16. “ Come boldly to the throne of grace.” is
is going straight to God, not to the priest. It is to the “
throne of grace.” We want mercy; we are poor weak things,
and need mercy; in failure we need mercy; as pilgrims we
are always needing mercy. What mercy was shown to the
Israelites in the wilderness! their garments not getting old;
God even caring for the clothes on their backs! ink of the
mercy that would not let their feet swell! en, when they
wanted a way, Oh! says God, I will go before with the ark
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485
to nd out a way. at was not the place for the ark at all.
It was appointed to be in the midst of the camp, but God
would meet them in their need. ey want spies to go and
see the land for them; fools that we are to want to know
what is before us. ey had to encounter the Amorites,
high walls, giants. A land that devours the inhabitant, is
their account of it, even with the grapes on their shoulders.
Just like us on the way to heaven. ey cannot stand these
diculties. We are as grass-hoppers, say they; but the real
question is what God is.
As saints we are weaker than the world, and ought to
be: but when waiting on God, what is that? When they
have not condence in God, they nd fault with the land
itself. What a wonderful God He is! He says, If you will
not go into Canaan you must stay in the wilderness; and
He turns them, and turns back with them. It is grace, but
the throne of grace. God governs: it is a throne. He will not
let a single thing pass. See the people at Kibrothhattaavah!
In case of accusation from the enemy, as Balaam, there is
not chastening, but He says, “ I have not seen iniquity in
Jacob.” e moment it is a question between God’s people
and the enemy’s accusation, He will not allow a word
against them; but when there is an Achan in the camp, He
judges. Why? Because He is there. It is a throne. If you are
not victorious, there is sin.
We may come boldly to the throne, etc. Still it is a throne
(not a mediator), but all grace. If I go to the throne, instead
of the throne coming to me, so to speak, it is all grace: I get
help. I never can go to the throne of grace without nding
mercy. He may send chastening, but it is a throne of grace
and all mercy-” grace to help in every time of need.” If you
have a will, He will break it; if a need, He will help you. Do
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you feel that you can always go boldly, even when you have
failed? humbled, of course, and at all times humble, but
humbled when you have failed.
CHAPTER 5.
Perfection here means the state of a full-grown man.
ere is much, and, in a certain sense, more, contrast than
similarity in the allusion in Hebrews to the Old Testament
types. We are now in a dierent position; those things
which went before were only a shadow, instead of their
giving us a distinct perception of our position. While they
were gures, they did not disclose what we have at the
present time. We have boldness to enter into the holiest;
with them, the veil was there to separate them from it. In
this passage it is important to see the contrast. Christ is the
High Priest. “ Every high priest taken from among men
[though He was not taken from men, I need not say] … can
have compassion on the ignorant … for that he himself also
is compassed with inrmity.” Here is contrast, though the
general image is taken up. ey had inrmity, and had to
oer for themselves as well as for the people. If we do not
see this, we may make great blunders in drawing these
analogies. Absolute analogy in them would draw us away
from the truth. ere are certain landmarks of truth that
guard the soul, for example, the atonement. e priesthood
of Christ is in heaven. It has to be exercised as a continual
thing in the place where we worship. We worship in spirit
in heaven, and there we want our priest. ose sacrices
were the memorial of sin; we have no more conscience of
sins. e priest is there, once for all, in virtue of the sacrice
made once and forever. While in point of fact we. fail, our
place is always Christ in heaven. When communion is
interrupted, priesthood removes the hindrance.
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487
Observe the dignity of the person called to this oce:
“ ou art my Son.” e glory of His Person is owned in
order to His priesthood. “ is day have I begotten thee,”
v. 5. He was as really a man as any of us, without the sinful
part of it. He was like neither Adam nor us exactly. Adam
had no “ knowledge of good and evil “; Christ had-God
has. But now men have the knowledge of good and evil,
and, with it, sin. Christ was born of a woman, but in a
miraculous way. e spring was sinless, and yet He had the
knowledge of good and evil.
We cannot fathom who He was. Our hearts should not
go and scrutinize the Person of Christ, as though we could
know it all. No human being can understand the union
of God and Man in His Person-” No man knoweth the
Son but the Father.” All that is revealed we may know; we
may learn a great deal about Him. e Father we know:
“ No man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to
whomsoever the Son shall reveal him.” We know Him to
be holy; we know Him to be love, etc. But when I attempt
to fathom the union of God and man-no man can. We
know Christ is God, and we know He is man-perfect man,
apart from sin; and if He is not God, what is He to me?
What dierence between Him and another man? Christ
came in esh. Every feeling that I have (save sin) He had.
e quotation here from Psa. 2, “ is day have I begotten
thee,” does not refer to His eternal Sonship, but to His
being born into the world in humiliation. He is called to be
high priest. He has this calling as a man, not as being taken
from men. e glory of His Person comes rst. Looked at
in the esh He was begotten of God; with us, “ that which
is born of the esh is esh.” But He in His very nature is
associated with God, and associated with man. He is the
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“ daysman that can lay his hand upon us both,” Job 9. I
may fancy myself clean when away from God; but when
I come before God, I know He will “ plunge me in the
ditch,” etc. “ Let not his fear terrify me.” God takes away
the fear through Christ. Christ was perfect holiness, and
He was ready for everything. His lowliness was perfect;
fear is taken away by Him; He is even as a man, the holy
One-on that side He lays hold on God, and on the other
He lays His hand on us; thus on both He is the daysman
to lay His hand upon us both.
e priest in Israel had to take oerings to cleanse
himself. Christ is tted in Himself without that. Aaron
alone was anointed without blood; his sons after the
sacrice.
As to oce, there is in Christ perfect competency. He is
the Son, and therefore t for God. He is Man, and so tted
for me. I am not speaking of His sacrice, but of His Person.
“ is day have I begotten thee “; there is His Person. en
comes the oce, “ galled of God an high priest, after the
order of Melchisedec,” without beginning of days, etc., not
like man with descent from one to another, “ but after the
power of an endless life,” without genealogies. ese great
principles are thus laid down concerning His Person and
oce-the Son and a priest after the order of Melchisedec.
Before He takes the oce, there is another qualication
necessary. Here would be a diculty (not in the earthly
priesthood, for it was connected with the earthly tabernacle,
and earthly worship, but) now it is in a heavenly. place, and
the worship is in heaven. en the priesthood must be in
heaven. He could not have experience of inrmity there.
What must He do? He goes through all rst.
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489
Priesthood supposes a people reconciled to God. ere
was the day of atonement, and daily priestly oces went on
with the reconciliation for the year. e day of atonement
laid the foundation for the priesthood for the year. en on
that day the high priest represented the whole people-laid
his hand on the scapegoat in order to their reconciliation
(this was not the continued oce); which Christ did on the
cross, as the victim and the representative. He gave His own
blood. He suered as well as represented the people, and
then He went within the veil, in virtue of the reconciliation
He has made. One of these goats was Jehovah’s lot (the
other was the people’s), and the blood was put on the mercy
seat. ere was no confession of sins in that. Christ’s blood
being on the mercy-seat is the ground on which mercy is
proclaimed to all the world, even to the vilest sinner in the
world. But suppose a person comes and says, “ I nd sin is
working in me: how can I come to God? “ I say, Christ has
borne your sins; He has represented you there, confessing
your sins on His own head; and God has condemned sin in
the esh, in Christ. A person is often more troubled at the
present working of sin in him than at all the sins past; but
I say to that person, God has condemned the sin in Christ.
God’s character has been gloried, majesty, righteousness,
love-all vindicated on the cross. God’s truth is vindicated.
He said, “ In the day thou eatest thou shalt surely die,”
and Christ dies instead. en when I get my conscience
exercised, it is not enough to see God has been gloried in
the death of Christ; I feel my own sins before God. en
I see that He has confessed my sins; and now, as Priest on
high, He maintains me in the power of the reconciliation
made.
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Before He made the sacrice, He had gone the path
the sheep trod. It was before He began to represent His
people” who in the days of his esh “-a past thing, before
He exercised His priesthood. “ When he putteth forth
his own sheep, he goeth before them “ in the paths of
temptation, sorrow, diculty. erefore it is said of Him,
“ the author and nisher of faith,” not our faith there. We
go through our small portion of exercise of faith; He went
through everything. Moses refused the treasures in Egypt;
Christ refused the whole world. Abraham “ sojourned in
the land of promise as in a strange country “; Christ was
a stranger in the whole world. In all His path we see Him
not screening Himself by His divine power, but bearing
everything that a human heart could bear. ere is not a
trial but He felt it. If I speak of a convicted conscience,
this is another thing. He did bear what caused that; but it
was in our stead on the cross. In a still deeper way He took
it all upon Himself. What entire dependence! “ Prayers
and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him
that was able to save him from death,” etc. Especially in
Gethsemane did He realize the full power of what He
came to meet. In His walk we are to follow Him, to “walk
as he walked.” But in Gethsemane it is another thing- He
was alone there.
ere are three parts in Christ’s life. In the beginning
He was tempted, rst, to satisfy His own hunger, and then
with all the vanities of this world, but He would not have
them, He did not come for that. e next thing was more
subtle; the answer He gave, “ ou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God “-thou shalt not try the Lord. Tempting
is not trusting. When the people tempted the Lord, they
went up to the mountain to see if God would help them.
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491
Christ would not take these things from Satan’s hands. He
bound the strong man, and he departs for a season; then
Christ goes on spoiling his goods-healing the sick, raising
the dead, etc. A power had come in grace, perfectly able to
deliver this world from the power of Satan, to deliver us as
to the consequences of sin-all the misery and wretchedness
here.
But there was something deeper; man had hatred to
God- they would not have Him. “ e carnal mind is
enmity against God.” ey entreated Him to depart out of
their coasts in one place. For His love He received enmity.
is world would have been a delivered place, if they would
have had Him, but they would not; and man prots by the
occasion of God’s humbling Himself so as to be within
man’s reach, by seeking to get rid of Him! at brings out
another point. Having taken up the people, He must take
consequences. Satan says, if you do not give me my rights
over them, you must suer. Satan comes and uses all the
power he has over man to deter Christ from going through.
In the garden of Gethsemane, He calls it “ the power of
darkness,” and says, “ my soul is exceeding sorrowful unto
death; tarry ye and watch,” etc., but they could not watch
with Him, they went fast asleep. As Satan has power in
death, He brings it over Christ. Does Christ go back? No;
but being in an agony, He prayed the more earnestly; He
does not defend Himself. He might have driven away Satan,
but He would not have delivered us if He had. No other
cup did He ever ask to be taken away; but He could not
be under the wrath of God, and not feel it. He was heard
because of His fear. He went down into the depth where
Satan had full power over His soul. He was in an agony, in
conict, but there was perfect obedience and dependence,
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“ Not my will, but thine be done “; only He was crying the
more earnestly to God, and then let His soul go into the
depth under Satan’s power. If He had not given Himself
up, they would have gone away who came to take Him;
they went backward and fell to the ground. Again He
presents Himself to them, “ I am Jesus of Nazareth. If ye
seek me, let these go their way.” He puts Himself forward
into the gap. He goes to the cross; and there, before He
gives up His soul to His Father, He has drunk that cup;
then His soul re-enters the presence of His Father. Having
gone through Satan’s power in death (“ this is your hour
and the power of darkness “), He goes forward; God raises
Him from the dead, and gives Him a place in glory. He
is the gloried Man, as the second Man-perfect. Stephen
saw Him as “ the Son of man “ on the right hand of God.
Now we might suppose that He had come to the end
of His service, after humbling Himself and becoming
obedient unto death as the servant. What more? See John
13. He is going to be just as much the servant as ever!
ree things we have seen connected with His
priesthood, besides His Person. He has walked the same
path we have to tread, only unfailingly, through it all, and
even unto death. at is one thing. He understands the
path. When there is sin, He dies. In His living, holiness
is seen. e second thing is in making propitiation for
the sins of the people- blood is presented. irdly, He is
a perfect Man in the presence of God. I have thus the
path trodden, sin atoned for, and a living Man in the
presence of God-an Advocate, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
e foundation is not altered, righteousness remains. He
has made propitiation for our sins. He has gone through
all the trials of the way, and is proclaimed or saluted (“
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493
declared “) of God an High Priest forever after the order
of Melchisedec. e trial is gone through, and the work
is wrought out before He enters in, and He is in perfect
righteousness in the presence of God. Aaron’s order was
not Christ’s order at all. Christ’s is Melchisedec’s order; but
the analogy is according to Aaron.
Verse 10. What was Melchisedec’s order? Blessing. He
blessed Abraham from God, and God from Abraham.
When the full time of blessing is come for heaven and earth,
He will have it as Melchisedec had it. It will be praise and
power. We have the taste of it now; 1Pet. 2: 9. When we
are with Christ in glory, we shall show forth His praises.
While He is within the veil, not yet come out, He does not
publicly take this title; outward blessing is not come. Why?
Is He indierent? slack concerning His promise? No; but
if He put all this evil down by judgment, men must perish:
but He is long-suering, not willing that any should perish.
While Christ is within the veil, the operation of the Spirit
is going on, gathering in poor sinners. He has the title now,
but not display. It is, therefore, after the analogy of Aaron.
We enter with Him in spirit, there to oer up spiritual
sacrices. e display of power is not come, but we are
within the veil: therefore the apostle presses them to go on
unto perfection, full stature growth. What is my measure
of a perfect man? In one sense, Adam was a very imperfect
man, and what he had in innocence, he soon lost at any rate
(imperfect, therefore, in the sense of being able to lose it);
and certainly man is not perfect now in the Adam state.
Where, then, is perfection? In the Man in heaven. I have
it in the knowledge of my position now in Christ, not in
fact there myself yet, but in Him; and we are to “ bear the
image of the heavenly “; in that sense perfect. e Father
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has set Him at His right hand. en, suppose I have the
knowledge of that, I am called to walk as such. en why
perfect? Because I have fellowship with Him, association
with Him where He is.
Does any Christian say, “ I am at the foot of the cross? “
Christ is not at the foot of the cross. e cross puts a man in
heaven. Christ is in heaven. You have not come to Him yet.
You are laboring about in the thoughts of your own heart,
and have not followed Him in faith to where He is, if you
are at the foot of the cross. How do I see the eect of the
cross now? By being in heaven. I have come in through this
rent veil. (e person is not to be despised who is there; but
you have not come in by the cross through the veil, if you
are at the foot of the cross.) If you were inside the veil, you
would know yourself worse-not one good thing in esh. It
is precious to see a soul exercised even in that way, as the
prodigal son in the far country; but he had not come to his
father then, he had not found out where he was. ere was
a mixture of self, not knowing his father, and talking about
being a hired servant. It is not humility, as people think,
to be away from God, saying, Depart from me, for I am
a sinful man, as Peter. Is insensibility to God’s goodness
humility? e prodigal could not dictate and prescribe
when his father was on his neck; he had no business to be
in the house at all as a hired servant. It is not humility. It
is a mixture of self with the knowledge of having got away
from God. Where will you put yourself? You must take
Christ’s place or none. at is what is meant by perfect
here. ere is but one way of coming in; it is by Christ who
is in the glory. We have no title to any other place. How
is Christ there? Not in virtue of His high priesthood, but
He is there in virtue of the oering for sin for us. “ I have
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495
gloried thee on the earth.” “ Father, glorify thy Son.” at
is the reason the apostle speaks of the gospel of the glory.
Christ is in heaven, the witness of the perfectness of the
work that He has done; v. 13, 14. Milk is t for a babe, and
strong meat for a full-grown man; that is all that is meant.
Do not let us look for a place the godly Jew had, but the
place Christ has. en he goes on warning them, if they are
only on this Jewish ground.
On the cross Christ was drinking the cup; in Gethsemane
He was anticipating it. Death and judgment are gone now;
Christ cannot die again. e victory is complete. Sins are
put away, and He is gone into heaven in consequence; and
that victory is ours.
Nothing seemed to be a greater burden on the heart of
Paul than to keep the saints up to their privileges. ey saw
Christ had died for them (and this had not the power over
them it ought to have had), but they were risen with Him
also; they were in Christ in heavenly places, within the veil;
and how were they realizing that?-” Are become such as
have need of milk.” ere is a great deal of love in the heart
when rst converted. And there is another thing. When
rst converted, all these things are easier to understand than
when more used to hearing them, and the world comes in.
When there is freshness in the heart, the understanding
goes with it. Great force is in that word “ become “ (chap.
5: 12) here. See the state they were in (Heb. 10) when they
took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing that they
had “ a better and an enduring substance.” Because they
knew they had substance in heaven, they were willing to
sacrice what was here. When Christ had not that place in
the heart, they were not willing to give up those things, and
the understanding of the heavenly things would be dulled
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too.’ Freshness of aection and intelligence go together.
When it is bright sunshine, things at a distance are easily
seen. If it is dark, there is more diculty. In the day one
may walk through the streets without thinking about the
way- one knows it; but at night one has to look and think
which way. Just so with spiritual things; there is less spring,
less apprehension, less clearness when our hearts are not
happy. My judgment is clear when my aections are warm.
Motives that acted before cease to be motives when my
heart is right. I can count all dross and dung, when force is
given to my aections. “ Where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also.”
“ Strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age “;
not to persons who have made a great progress, but persons
of full age. ere were things hard to be uttered, because
they were dull of hearing. e freshness of aection being
lost was the secret of all this. It is serious to think that
freshness of aection and intelligence we may lose; but “ to
him that hath shall more be given.” ere are good and evil
to be discerned; therefore I spoke of nding the way.
CHAPTER 6.
Take this in connection with the beginning of the next
chapter, “ erefore, leaving the word of the beginning of
Christ,” etc., instead of wasting your time with what has
passed away, go on to the full revelation of Christ; be at
home there, and understanding what the will of the Lord
is. We cannot separate the knowledge of good and evil
from the knowledge of Christ. When I come to separate
between them of myself, how can I? How can I walk as He
walked, without Him? I cannot do it. “ In him.” What is
that? “ Ye in me.” Where is Christ? In heaven; then I am
there too. My aections should be there too; my hope is to
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497
be thoroughly identied with Him. e portion I have is
what He has- life, righteousness, glory: all my associations
are with Himself. ere is the dierence between the word
of the beginning of Christ and the full perfection-” being
made perfect “ (chap. 5: 9) or gloried. He went through
the experience down here, and then went into heaven to
be Priest, because our blessings, associations, etc., are all
above, perfect up there, not down here. He had not reached
that point of the counsels of God in glory when down here.
Now He is there, and He has associated me with Himself
in that place. I can see Christ has been through this
world so as to sympathize with us in all our sorrows and
diculties. He has borne my sins; and where is He now? In
heaven; and I am there too in spirit, and He will bring me
there in fact. Where He is is His “ being made perfect.” e
work is done, and now He is showing me the eect of that-
showing me the walk belonging to the righteousness He
has wrought out. He has taken my heart, and associated me
with Himself; and He says that is the “ perfection “ for me
to go on to. Where did Paul see Christ? In glory. If he had
known Christ after the esh before, he did not know Him
so now (that was the beginning when on earth); but now
he knew Him in heaven: and this great truth was revealed
to him, that all the saints on earth were as Christ.
Paul had been a hater of Christ, having sought to root
out His name from the earth; he had gone on in sin-if not
a breaker of the law, a rejecter of Christ when on earth,
and, more than that, he had resisted the Holy Ghost,
refused the testimony by the Holy Ghost given in mercy
to those people for whom Christ interceded on the cross.
ey stoned Stephen who bore witness, and Saul was
helping in it. He was “ chief of sinners,” because wasting
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the church of God. He discovered the carnal mind to be
enmity against God, not subject to God; he proved it in his
own experience, and now he found there were saints not
in that state-those quickened with Christ, and associated
with Christ in glory. “ I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.”
ey were not associated with the rst Adam, but with
the second Man, in Christ; this was their position. ese
people whom he had been persecuting were Christ. What
broke him down was seeing Christ in glory, and all these
associated with Him. Now he learns that he is dead to law,
dead to esh. e Christ I want to win is a gloried Christ.
To win Christ may cost me my life. Never mind. at is
my object. As to the rst Adam, he was “ weighed in the
balance, and found wanting “: I am out of it; not in the esh,
but in Christ. e old thing is entirely past; the Christian
is crucied to the world, etc.; dead and risen again, having
another object. He is alive from the dead, because Christ is;
he is “ accepted in the beloved “; he has the consciousness
that this work of Christ put him into a new place (not
gloried yet in the body): this was the perfection.” What
was the state of his aections then? “ at I may win Christ
“ was his desire. “ As we have borne the image of the earthy,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” is was his
object. His mind was full of it.
e Holy Ghost has come down to bring all these
things to our remembrance. Believers are united to Christ
(it is never said Christ was united to man) in glory. en
the apostle was living by the power of the Holy Ghost.
What a trial for him to see these people going back to
their “ rst principles,” “ repentance from dead works,
faith toward God … eternal judgments “-all true! but if
you stop there, you stop short of a gloried Christ. “ Who
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499
hath bewitched you? “ he says to the Galatians. He says of
himself, “ I know a man in Christ,” and his spirit is broken
to nd the saints resting with things on earth about Christ.
e Holy Ghost was come out to make them partakers of a
heavenly calling; to associate them in heart and mind with
Christ, and to show them things to separate them from
the world; not only to keep them from evil, though that is
true too. ey had a temple standing then, where Christ
Himself had been. Why should they have left it if Christ
had not judged the esh? e middle wall had been put up;
how should they dare break it down, if God had not done
it? If God had not said, “ I will not have to say to esh any
more,” how could they dare leave the camp, and go outside?
Christ gloried is the end of all the “ rst principles,” and
we have to go through the world strangers and pilgrims.
e only thing God ever owned in religion was Jewish.
It had to do with the esh. at is gone by the cross; all
is crucied: your life, your home, your associations, are all
in Christ. e doctrine of the beginning of Christ was
not that. What do I nd when Christ is on earth? He is
speaking then of judgment to come, which they believe.
e Pharisees believed in a resurrection of the dead;
baptisms, which mean washings, etc. All these they had
then, they formed a worldly religion, and were sanctioned
by God until the cross. e Messiah coming on earth was
the beginning; but now I leave that; I do not deny these
things-they are all true- but I have other things. Saul might
have been the brightest saint going under the old things,
but not knowing Christ. But suppose persons got into the
heavenly thing, being made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
having “ tasted the good word of God,” and then gave it
up, what could they do then? Suppose they had received it
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all in their minds, and then gave it up: what else was there
for them? ere might have been a going on from faith in
a humbled Christ to a gloried Christ, but there is nothing
beyond.
ere is nothing of life signied here in their being
partakers of the Holy Ghost. It brings very strongly before
us the actual presence of the Holy Ghost, and power
through Him; a very dierent thing from life; and what,
notwithstanding, we are in want of knowing. We must
have that besides life. Being born of the Spirit, there is
power for us through the presence of a person, who may
act in another without his having life. ere may be light
in the soul, without the smallest trace of life. In the case
of Balaam, we read the Spirit of God came upon him: he
had to see the blessedness of God’s people, and speak of it.
He had light, but there was sleep on his soul, and he has to
say, “ I shall see him, but not now.” at was the opposite
to having life. You see a man close to life, seeing all the
blessing of it, but not having it. Now, if all the heavenly
blessing is seen and rejected, what else could there be?
“ Tasted the good word of God “-Simon Magus is an
example of this.
“ Powers of the world to come,” or miracles, putting
down Satan’s power. In the future day this power will gain
the victory over all Satan’s power. Simon Magus wanted
this power when he saw it.
“ Impossible, if they shall fall away … seeing they have
crucied to themselves the Son of God afresh,” etc. e
nation of Israel had crucied Him-they did not know what
they were doing. Now these knew what they were doing.
e Holy Ghost had poured forth the light, and now they
did it for themselves. It was not ignorance, it was will. ere
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501
are some who anon with joy receive the word-the very
thing that proves there is nothing in it. ey would have
it in joy, and give it away in tribulation. e word of God
does not always give joy. When it comes in and reaches the
conscience, and breaks up the fallow ground, and judges the
thoughts and intents of the heart, that is not joy. It racks
the heart when it is to prot, but it is for life and health.
Here is not merely the joy of hearing about it, but having
tasted of the good word about a gloried heavenly Christ.
It is not quickening that is spoken of here. Moses was
quickened, but he was not baptized with the Holy Ghost.
e Holy Ghost did not come till Pentecost. He made
the house shake where they were assembled, but that was
not for giving life. Power is a dierent thing from giving
life. ose already quickened were to be the habitation of
God through the Spirit. ere were manifestations of God
through these things, tongues, etc., anticipative of setting
up of the kingdom.
It is after salvation is given, after the soul is born of God,
the Holy Ghost comes to the believer as a seal, an earnest,
an unction. I might get a taste of the power without being
sealed; but as a believer I have the seal, am broken down in
myself, not only “ with joy “ receiving it. I am a sinner-no
good in me. It is a direct question between my soul and
God; not like Simon Magus, believing the miracles that
he did. Before I was converted, I believed there was Christ
as much as I do now. When Christ was on earth, there
were those who saw the miracles, and went home again.
But when the Spirit of God works in the heart, He shows
what we are, and makes us submit to God’s righteousness.
It plows up the whole soul and being of a man-makes him
submit to the righteousness of God-shows him his place in
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the risen Christ-shows him that all is his. at is a dierent
thing from merely seeing it. If you have rejected these
glorious things, there is nothing else for you. If you will
not have Christ, there is nothing else. Here this warning
is in connection with the Holy Spirit in chapter 10. It is
connected with the sacrice. en what follows shows no
change supposed in the man. “ e earth which drinketh
in the rain … receiveth blessing from God; but that which
beareth thorns and briers is rejected,” etc. e ground is
just the same-the rain comes upon it, but it brings forth
briers. So in men, there may be nothing in them to produce
fruit. e result of life is seen in fruit, not power. e dumb
ass might speak; but this was power, not spiritual life.
“ But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you,
and things that accompany salvation,” v. 9. ere is the
work of love here; then there is life. Perhaps there is only
a little bit of fruit; but the tree is not dead if there is any
fruit” things that accompany salvation,” not power merely-
not joy merely; that might be without a divine nature. But
“ though I give all my goods to feed the poor, and though
I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing.” Judas could cast out demons as well as the rest,
but Christ says to His disciples, Rejoice not because the
demons are subject to you, but rather rejoice that “ your
names are written in heaven.”
e connection of your heart with Christ, the
consciousness of God having written your name in heaven,
is the blessed thing. Here was fruit; love of the brethren was
there-the divine nature was there, and the “ full assurance
of hope to the end “ is the thing desired. We may look for
that.
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
503
When the seed fell into stony places, it sprang up
rapidly; there was no root. When the word does not reach
the conscience, there is no root, no life, and therefore no
fruit. You might weep over Christ, and have no life, like
the women going out of Jerusalem. Flesh could go all
that length without divine life. ere might be working
of miracles, without knowing or being known of Him.
One atom of brokenness of spirit is better than lling all
London with miracles.
Verse 6. e nominal church of God is just in this state.
ere is to be falling away, and they are to be broken o;
prophesied of in Rom. 11, to be cut o, if they do not
continue in His goodness. e apostasy will come, and no
renewing them again unto repentance.
Now a little word for ourselves-what we have got in
Christ. We have heavenly things, we are associated with
Christ in heaven; “ because I live, ye shall dive also.” I have
all in Christ. He is my life, my righteousness, before God.
en God rests with delight in me, because in Christ. What
place have I in Christ? In heaven, and He has given me the
Holy Spirit to know it and enjoy it, so that my soul rests on
it as the testimony of God. God cannot lie. Abraham got
a promise, and he believed in it; an oath, and he believed
it. I have more than that. I believe He has performed it. I
have a righteousness now in the presence of God; and we
have more in hope, namely, the glory that belongs to His
righteousness. I have life, righteousness, the Holy Ghost
as the seal, and more, the Forerunner is gone in, and the
Holy Ghost gives me the consciousness of my union with
Him; not merely the fact that sin is put away. We have the
Spirit in virtue of the righteousness. e Holy Ghost has
come to tell me I am in that Christ. What is the practical
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504
consequence? If the glory He has is mine, I am going after
Him. en all in the world is dross and dung.
“ ey might have had opportunity to have returned “:
that is, where faith is exercised and put to the test. You who
have known the Lord some time have had opportunity to
have returned, how has it been with you? A stone left on the
ground gradually sinks in. ere is constantly a tendency in
present things to press down the aections-not open sin,
but duties, and nothing is a greater snare than duties. We
have one duty, that is to serve Christ. On the side of God,
it is all bright.
CHAPTER 7.
e apostle, being now on the ground of priesthood,
shows the excellency of the Melchisedec priesthood of
Christ, and uses it to bring back these Hebrews from that
which was after the “ carnal commandment “ to that which
was “ after the power of an endless life.”
e order of the priesthood is according to Melchisedec,
but after the analogy of Aaron-not yet come out from the
holiest. Arguments are drawn from Scripture to show that
this priesthood is far more excellent than that of Aaron.
One point of importance is its being another-” after the
similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest “:
that implied the setting aside of the other. Directly the
Aaronic priesthood is gone, the whole system connected
with it is gone: for that was the keystone. According to
their own scriptures, there was to be another, and now
that is come. And wherever Christ is concerned, the Spirit
immediately bursts into all the beauty and excellency of it.
Gen. 14 and Psalm Ito. ese scriptures bring us greatly
into the history of Melchisedec. ey are all we have about
him, showing us the mystery of his person and glory. e
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505
people, when Christ was on earth, could not understand
His being David’s Son and David’s Lord. In Psalm Ito: 4, it
is Jehovah, and not in verse 7. “ He shall drink of the brook
in the way “; in humbling Himself He shall have His head
lifted up.
e history of Abraham is remarkably interesting in
Gen. 13 and 14-his having entirely done with the world,
while Lot, in a selsh way, liked the world, and chose the
world when he was a believer. Abraham does not this; he
gives up the world in the power of faith. Lot was under
the world: Abraham had complete power over the world
because he had given it up. He would not take from a thread
to a shoe-latchet. And then God says, “ I am thy shield,”
etc. He had God. Giving up the world, he had victory over
it, and has God for his shield.
It is after victory that Melchisedec comes out to meet
him. In the future day this will be seen in Christ coming
out to His people; it applies to ourselves in a heavenly way
now. “ Priest of the most high God.” In that word, all the
peculiar character of Melchisedec comes out. Abraham
had overcome by faith. He knew God by faith. Now He
is made known to him as “ possessor of heaven and earth.”
e Gentile powers broken, God rules and does what
He pleases; and Nebuchadnezzar gives Him the title of
“ Most High God.” He takes to Himself His great power
and reigns as Most High. is is not the name known to
Abraham’s faith; which was Shaddai. “ I am the Almighty
God; walk before me,” etc. Abraham was called to walk
before God, and He suered no man to do him wrong
in passing through the world. Jehovah, the one true God,
brought His people into relationship with Himself- all the
rest were false gods. We have the relationship of Father in
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506
contrast with these; but all these names are for faith to own.
Most High is another thing; Possessor, etc.; “ to reconcile
all things to himself “ (Col. 1), and “ to gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and
which are on earth,” Eph. 1 He will be the possessor of
heaven and earth. Melchisedec-priest, in this character of
priest of the Most High, He has gained the full victory
over the power of the world. e Heir of promise is the
great victor; Psa. 91 He who has got the secret of who this
Most High is (never the Father’s name in Hebrews; it is
the “ throne of grace “ spoken of) shall have the blessings
of Abraham’s God. So Hezekiah, taunted by the enemy,
with “ hath any of the gods of the nations delivered out of
my hand? “ 2Kings 18:33. I will have Jehovah the God of
Israel, now despised, but He will overcome amidst the gods
of the nations; Psa. 91:2. No secret now in His name; v. 9.
And He says, “ ou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God,”
Luke 4:11, 12. Tempting God is trying whether He is as
good as His word- to see whether it is true. ou shalt not
put God to the test. e knowledge of the Most High as
Jehovah is Israel’s God; v. 9. When Christ has taken His
real power, He will be Melchisedec-priest: at least He will
be Priest on His throne. e counsel of peace, as regards
this earth, is between Jehovah and this Priest on His
throne-” righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
Aaron was never a king.
Melchisedec brought bread and wine after the victory.
ere is no thought of a sacrice to secure blessing while
living a life of faith; but he brings forth refreshment for
the victor, bread and wine, eucharistic, accompanied with
thanksgiving: bread, the symbol of that which strengthens;
and wine, of that which refreshes the heart of man. e
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
507
people on earth are fully brought into blessing. Melchisedec
blessed the Most High God on the part of Abraham, and
blessed Abraham on the part of God.
e earthly priesthood takes the character of joy and
gladness on the victory being obtained. Melchisedec was
king of Salem, and king of righteousness. is says nothing
about divine righteousness; it is righteousness established.
He rules according to it-righteousness looking down from
heaven-righteousness in His person, and mercy shown
to those who do not deserve it. “ A king shall reign in
righteousness.” “ A man shall be as an hiding-place, and a
covert from the tempest,” “ righteousness and peace have
kissed each other “; righteousness is the character of the
rule, and the eect of it is peace. We have it now in a higher
way, a divine way. We have it in our souls; but it is to be
on earth, in Melchisedec, king of righteousness and king
of peace. In Psa. 110 Christ is sitting at God’s right hand,
and we connected with Him during the time He is sitting
there-” until “ His enemies are made His footstool. His
people will be willing in the day of His power; we, through
grace, are made willing now; v. 3. “ ou hast the dew of thy
youth “; all the new generations of Israel when the fresh
blessing comes in on the earth (a gure, of course). He will
come in power, and rule over His enemies-He will judge
the heathen. “ He shall drink of the brook in the way,” that
is, willing to get the refreshment by the way, being perfectly
dependent. “ I have given unto them the words which thou
gavest me “; and this is rewarded with exaltation. Looked
at as His title, it is after the power of an endless life; but not
exercised according to that yet. When “ righteousness and
peace have kissed each other,” it will be. It was necessary
that the atonement should have been made. e Jews had
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rejected promise just the same as law, and now they must
come freely, through His grace, like any poor sinner.
But there is more as to dispensation; there is the question
of the new covenant. We have to see what our part is in
this; the new makes the other old. at old covenant was
made at Sinai; it was addressed to man in the esh, making
a claim upon him. e new covenant is on the ground of
the law being put into the heart, and forgiveness given. e
new covenant was made with Israel and Judah. Have we
nothing to do with it? I do not say that. His blood has been
shed. “ is is my blood of the new covenant shed for many.”
All that God had to do to bring the Jews in was done: their
bringing in is suspended because of unbelief. en what
do we get? He was minister of the new covenant, not of
the letter, but of the spirit. We have the law in our hearts,
and forgiveness. We have all the blessings of the new
covenant- God’s part all thoroughly laid. We have Christ
in whose heart the law was hid; not the letter, that was
made with Israel and Judah, though they are now outside.
en another thing: I am one with the Mediator of the
new covenant. I am, as part of the church, a member of His
body (that is not brought out here, but while He is gone
in-not seen in the Aaron character), I am associated with
Him. He has shed the blood on which it is all founded.
He is gone to make good that part which is in heaven, and
meanwhile I am connected with Him. I have the eect of
the blood. He is there on the throne, a proof of its being
accepted. He is the forerunner in the glory I am going into.
He is a priest forever, while I am here in inrmity. He is
a priest, dierent from those priests who died, “ after the
power of an endless life.” While He sits waiting till His
enemies are made His footstool, He has done everything
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
509
for His friends, and He has sent down the Holy Ghost
to associate us with Him in heaven, and maintain us in
communion till He comes out. ere is no gure of the
temple used here: it is all the tabernacle in the wilderness.
He who is High Priest after the order of Melchisedec is
gone in. ere was provided some better thing for us, and
we get this heavenly association with Him.
In Heb. 7 the superiority of His priesthood is shown;
v. 3. “ Continually “ is surely one great thing for us, which
is insisted on much. e constancy of our position comes
out in chapters 9 and to. e meaning of it is without any
interruption, not only forever. Aaron’s priesthood could be
broken up-pass from one man to another, but this is an
untransmissible priesthood. It has the stamp of eternity on
it in its very nature; so the value of His blood is forever:
continuous or perpetually is the force. What do we nd in
the state of souls generally now? Is their peace continuous? or
are they, when conscious of failure, wanting to be sprinkled
again? e Jew wanted a sacrice for every sin; but with
us there is one sacrice uninterrupted in its ecacy-not
broken in upon. e priesthood goes on continually. We
fail, and there is the Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous.
It is after the power of an endless life-not like Aaron’s, nor
in the temple-but in the “ true tabernacle which the Lord
pitched, and not man.” Always there, untransmissibly, “
to the uttermost,” right through. “ He ever liveth to make
intercession.”
Melchisedec was a man, no doubt, like any other-a
mysterious personage appearing on the scene without an
origin known. Whose son was he? All kinds of suppositions
without any conclusion. Why? Because Scripture leaves us
in the dark. As a Priest, Christ was without genealogy-not
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as a man. His mother is known. Again, He was not to be
cast o at a certain age, as those priests were. He continueth
ever. “ Made like unto the Son of God “-only as a Priest.
Royalty is connected with the priesthood. Abraham paying
tithes to Melchisedec is another important point. God had
given them Aaronic priesthood, promises, etc.; but there
was something greater, something behind, which was
above and beyond all this. Levi paid tithes in Abraham,
chewing the superiority of Melchisedec to Levi; v. 9, 10.
ey must give it all up as applying to Aaron.
Verses 18-20 give the secret of the whole thing. ere
was the disannulling of what went before, because not
perfect, and the bringing in of a better hope. “ Did “ is
better left out. What is the result of that? We draw nigh to
God; v. 19. Did the Jews do this? No. “ Now we see not yet
all things put under him “; but we have a better thing; “ we
draw nigh to God.” Perfect atonement has been made- the
veil is rent-the High Priest in heaven: and when He comes
forth, we shall come with Him.
ere is a time for the true Melchisedec when He shall
come in glory. To be sitting on God’s own throne is the
highest thing. Now He is sitting on God’s right hand in
all the fullness and brightness of His glory; and while
there, we get all our associations with Him-dead with
Him, etc. And when He appears, we shall appear with
Him. We may take it as to our union and our association
with Him in priesthood: He is the High Priest, and we
are priests. e Holy Ghost, being sent down, associates us
with Him, while He is in heaven. We could not receive the
Holy Ghost until Jesus was gloried. en, having perfect
righteousness, we are seated in Him.
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511
Verse 25. “ He is able to save to the uttermost all that
come unto God by him.” We do not come to Him (the
Priest), but He goes to God for us, and we go to God by
Him. As Lord, we came to Him; but as Priest, not. He
intercedes, and brings us back when we have failed. He is
watching always-thinking of us when we are not thinking
of Him.
Verse 26. “ For such an High Priest became us,” etc. Why
this? It became us! e Jews had worship on earth; we go
higher than the heavens. Our priest is there, on the right
hand of God. at stamps the character of our worship. “
Higher than the heavens “ is the place of our worship. In
the fullest sense He sanctied Himself (John 17) when He
went up on high. Instead of a priest joined with us in the
place of sin or its consequences (which could not be-He
was holy, harmless, undeled, and separate from sinners,
but bore the sin on the cross) He is taking our hearts out
of the present world to the scene where He is. e thing
that ts Christ for the exercise of His priesthood is, that
He can take me where sin is not. He has borne my sins. Sin
was not put away under the Jewish service; but such is not
the character of our relationship with God. We are dead-
dead to sin; you cannot connect it with your place on earth.
He is gone “ higher than the heavens.” We have no other
connection with God than that in Christ, out of the esh
(not physically, of course, for we have the treasure in earthen
vessels). Christ made “ higher than the heavens “ “ became
us.” ere is a great deal in the world that is undermining
this. Men say we are not dead to sin, arid are associating
themselves, not dead, with Christ. is is all false. If not
dead, I have no associations with Christ at all. e veil is
rent, sin is put away-sin in the esh is condemned-we are
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512
dead. I see more and more daily of the danger and conict
there is in connection with this, and the eort to bring
our association with Christ down to esh. He is risen. We
have association with Christ in heaven. Our citizenship is
there. Most blessed comfort for us it is, that all I have to go
through here, Christ has gone through. He passed through
all, “ tempted like as we are, without sin.” “ He ever liveth
to make intercession for us,” while our hearts are associated
with Him through the power of the Holy Ghost.
ere are two great foundation principles connected
with our coming unto God by Christ: 1st. e place, as
giving the character of His priesthood; and 2ndly, the non-
repetition of the sacrice. “ Such an high priest became us,”
etc. Our place of meeting with God is above the heavens,
and the questions of-can I come? how can I come?-are met
by His priestly work being carried on there, where we meet
with God. He rst came down to us in the place where
we are as sinners; but in our going to God it must be in
the place where He is. e place of the priest was the holy
place, under the Jewish order; but with us there is no veil
between us and the holiest. God is light. We walk in the
light. We must therefore be able to draw near according
to the light in which He is. e presence of God is purity
itself, and the power of purity.
God has rst visited us as enemies. He did not wait
for us to go up to heaven; but when we go to Him as
worshippers, being partakers of the heavenly calling, we are
higher than the heavens. Our intercourse with God is in
the sanctuary, in the light where He is; and a high priest is
needed for this, who is “ holy, harmless, undeled, separate
from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.”
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
513
e Jews had priests who had inrmity; but in going
into the holiest, we could not go in by these. ere must
be One able to maintain, us in the place where divine
righteousness has set us. e priest must be holy, harmless,
and separate from sinners; that is, the work is carried on
out of the region where sin is going on, the work of Christ
on the cross having brought us there. He is separate from
sinners (as to His own state, morally, He was always a
Nazarite, but) He has set Himself apart as a Nazarite in
connection with us. He is there where the worship goes on.
Failures are measured by the place where we are. Of
Israel it was said to the priests, “ ye shall bear the iniquity
of the holy things.” We are all priests-there is no separate
caste of priests-and all our faults and failings are measured
by the place we are in. e place to which we belong, and
where our worship is carried on, and where our Priest is, is
out of the reach of sin. When we are there in fact, we shall
be able to let our thoughts and feelings free; we shall not
want our consciences then. Now we must watch everything
down here; but there is full liberty with God, there may be
the freest, fullest letting forth of every thought and feeling
with Him.
e other thing dierent in our High Priest from those
high priests, is that He oered up Himself once, not for His
own sins, but for His people’s-for the church and Israel’s.
He has done it fully, nally, and once for all; it cannot be
repeated. Once forever constitutes the full character of
the sacrice of Christ. is gives us a very distinct place.
Brought into the light as God is in the light, where sacrice
never can be made again, a Priest is there, by virtue of an
unalterable condition, in the presence of God. If Christ has
not borne away our sins, they never will be. His blood was
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514
shed, not sprinkled only. If once you have been sprinkled
by the blood of Christ, has anything taken it o? Has the
blood ever lost its value? I cannot talk of being sprinkled
again, if the blood has not lost its value. I may have my
feet washed with water for renewal of communion; but as
to the person, it is never even washed with water again,
though the feet may often need cleansing.
ere were three cases of blood-sprinkling in Israel:
the covenant, the leper, and the priest. e covenant was
sprinkled once for all: it was never renewed, but is set aside
by a better. e leper was sprinkled once, not again, and the
priest. ere was no replacing of the power of that blood. “
If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, … the blood
of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” is does
not change at all: it is heavenly in its character, cleansing
and tting for God in light; and it is everlasting in its
ecacy. It is a new place where we are set, and set forever.
Let me stop a moment to ask you, How far have you
forgotten this? how far are you on Jewish ground? It is
connected with “ the full assurance of faith.” We must be
clean before we are there, as God is in the light. It is a
dierent place altogether from that in which the question
would arise as to what my state is. How do I get there?
By the cross. But if I come by the cross, am I deled or
undeled? I am brought into God’s presence, and cannot
be there without having been cleansed. Christ came to us
in our sins, or else there would be no hope; but it is by
virtue of His blood we go to God. How do you go-cleansed
or uncleansed? Do we not know whether we are cleansed
or not? We may be ignorant of ourselves, but we know
whether we are cleansed or not. e way we get into His
presence is by being cleansed. is is quite dierent from
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
515
the standing of those whose walk was on earth-nding
a sin and getting it cleansed, nding a sin and getting it
cleansed. e fruits of the light are such and such things.
If we are made children of light, it is not to diminish the
light, but to judge everything by it. Such is the eect of our
being there.
CHAPTER 8.
“ Set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in
the heavens.” Why so? Because if we have nothing more
to be done, Christ has nothing more to do. (I speak not
of the priestly work, but of bearing away sins.) He has set
down- He is resting, having nothing more to do; chap.
10. e oering has been made, and cannot be repeated;
chap. 8: 3. e whole of the priesthood is carried on in
heaven itself. e oering was another thing. e oerer
brought the victim, the priest received the blood and
carried it in. On the day of atonement there was another
thing: the priest had to go through the whole thing by
himself-not carrying on the work of intercession, but that
of representing the people. Christ took this place. He could
say, “ mine iniquities,” etc.; for He bore our sins. We can
never speak of bearing our sins; He, the sinless One, bore
them for us. He was the victim, and at the same time, the
confessor, owning all the sins. en, as priestly work, He
carries in the blood, having oered Himself without spot
to God (the burnt oering in that sense). He was “ made
sin.” He oered Himself freely up, and the sins were laid
on Him; rst He takes that dreadful cup, then goes and
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516
sprinkles that place. His priesthood is entirely in heaven.
18
e tabernacle was upon earth; there was the court of the
tabernacle, and inside the court was out of the world, and
not inside heaven. He was lifted up (John 12) to draw all
men unto Him.
Rejected by the Jews, He was held up by God-the dead
Christ, to be the attractive center for the whole world.
As coming in His service and mission on earth, He was
coming among the lost sheep of the house of Israel; but
when I see the crucied Christ, this is for the sinner, and
then I get perfect love for the sinner and atonement for
the sin-perfect grace. en He goes by virtue of that blood
through the rent veil into the holy place; and I come there
in spirit into the very presence of God-not on earth. ose
things were the example and shadow of heavenly things,
and our place now is in the holiest of all.
No place is found for the rst covenant. Be it remarked,
that there is often great confusion about the covenant of
grace and law. e law was given at Sinai. All the promises
were given without condition-unqualied. When the people
came out of Egypt, it was dierent. e accomplishment of
18 ere was then on earth, while the Spirit was unfolding the
heavenly priesthood to the Hebrews, another priesthood, no
longer recognized of God, but going on. Its movement was
one of transition; the object was not only to skew the actual
heavenly privileges of the saints, but to invite them to go forth
without the camp. Afterward came the fall of Jerusalem, when
the events themselves spoke to the same eect. Only we can
see that the Hebrew believers are treated with great address in
this epistle; for the sole conclusion which yet appears is that
the promise of a new covenant declares the rst antiquated
and ready to be done away. We know, from elsewhere, that the
cross had, in principle, abolished the old covenant, and that the
blood of Jesus laid the basis of the new covenant.
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517
the promise then depended on their obedience; and there
was an end of the whole thing, because they could not keep
it. Why did God bring in such a principle as this? With
the promise, no question was raised of righteousness; but
when law was given, there was something required of man:
and the eect of this question being raised was to bring
out sin directly. Why did the law come in? Because we are
excessively proud creatures, we think we can do a great deal.
e law was not a transcript of God, but of what man
ought to be; and when applied as a test to man, it brought
out the evil there. Given to a sinner to tell him what he
ought to be, it was too late-he had failed already: the
golden calf was made before they received the words of the
law. Christ, instead of requiring righteousness from man,
bears the sins and works out the righteousness. It is much
more than what the law requires that we have in Christ.
e law never required a man to lay down his life-much
less the Son of God to lay down His life. He gloried God
in the place where He had been dishonored, not only in a
righteous walk upon earth, but God was gloried in Him.
Suppose God had swept away man for sin, in
righteousness, where would have been the love? If He had
only passed over the sins, without judging them, where
would have been righteousness? ere was innite and
unspeakable love to poor sinners, and innite righteousness
towards God. e whole ground of the Sinai covenant
is gone-we are dead under it: it can go no farther. Law
puts man under responsibility. Are you standing on your
responsibility? You are lost if you are.
It is the whole question of the two trees in the garden
of Eden-life and responsibility. Christ, as a man, takes that
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of good and evil, and dies under it. He puts Himself under
the one and gives us the other, for He is life.
us, in chapter 8, there is an entirely new covenant,
and the new makes the rst old. In the letter, it is made
with the house of Israel. But, besides, there is grace: not,
I do not remember them, “ but their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more.” I will never remember them
any more. at is our place. A covenant made with man, as
man, is certain ruin, because his righteousness is required,
his keeping it is called in question. But here God says, “
I will put my laws into their mind,” etc. If man is under
the old covenant, he is under an “ if.” If under the new,
there is no “ if.” is covenant of the letter is made with
Israel, not with us; but we get the benet of it. “ is is
my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many.”
is was putting away the breach of all obligation by
death. Israel not accepting the blessing, God brought out
the church, and the Mediator of the covenant went on
high. We are associated with the Mediator. It will be made
good to Israel by-and-by. Paul was the minister of it in the
spirit; but he could not be as to the letter. ey will need
no minister of it, because every one will know it, when God
writes it on their hearts; the thing is done-4-God will be
their minister (reverently), when writing it on their hearts.
We have it not in the letter, but in the spirit of it, and so
have all the value of it, because the way we get it is that the
Mediator of it becomes our life-we are forgiven our sins-
we are associated with the Mediator. He is our life, and we
have all the blessings of the new covenant within the veil.
We have all the blessings, for the very reason that it is not
executed with the people for whom it was made.
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519
Now the question arises, How far are we standing on
this ground? has your faith got hold of this fact that Christ
has settled every question against us, and gone in because
our sins are borne away? e true light now shines: this
could not be said while there was a veil and an earthly
priesthood.
Can you stand in God’s presence without a veil, and
knowing that the more the light shines upon you, the more
evident that you are without a spot upon you?
CHAPTER 9.
In the preceding chapter, the apostle has touched on a
very important point, which, as regarded the Hebrews (and,
indeed, any of us) was a most absorbing one: I allude to the
two covenants. e rst covenant made at Sinai had a very
distinct character, namely, requiring man’s righteousness,
and therefore it gendered “ to bondage.”
What distinguished the law as a covenant was,
that, instead of promise, it was blessing held out on the
ground of obedience. e distinctive character of the ten
commandments was, that they required obedience. is
must be or must not be; there is no question of a new
nature. Now, we are told, “ without holiness no man shall
see the Lord.” It is not a question of how he gets holiness:
the holy nature will desire to obey, but it is a dierent thing
from the righteousness of obedience. God’s nature is holy.
I do not speak of God’s obedience-it is His nature, and
we must have the new nature to be holy. e law showed
God holy, but the condition of the law was, “ If ye shall
obey my voice.” e promises of God are connected under
the law with the obedience of man. at covenant is now
altogether put away. We are called to obedience, and we
are sanctied unto obedience, but this is dierent from
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being under conditions. e new covenant has made the
former old. God brings in a new one, not according to the
covenant He made with them when He brought them out
of Egypt.
In chapter 9 it may be said that the apostle is pressing
what the conditions of the new covenant are. If the old
had been perfect, God would not have brought in a new
one. God will not let man have blessing on that ground,
and why? e reason is that He has tried man and found
him unable to bring forth anything good. If it is to be on
the ground of my righteousness, I cannot have the blessing
at all. Man must be convinced there is no good in himself.
Man could never place himself on that ground but as
maintaining the pride of the human heart that pretends
to be able to gain it. e principle of requiring something
from man is entirely set aside, and those who know God’s
principle, know that it is only in the pride of the natural
heart that man could take blessing in that way.
Unless grace, and simply grace, lays new ground, there
is no hope whatever. God has brought in a new thing. He
had marked out in the provision of bulls and goats, etc.,
another way of getting blessing. ere must be coming to
God by cleansing from sin, instead of on the ground of
being clean. It was impossible for any such things to take
away sins. ere was no relieving the conscience by these
ceremonial observances, which were but shadows, and not
the very image of the things to come. Besides the day of
atonement, there were continual sacrices needed to keep
them clean; but there was no coming to God (saving in the
sense in which He says, “ I bare you on eagle’s wings and
brought you unto myself “). Christ died, the Just for the
unjust, to “ bring us to God.” In the tabernacle service there
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
521
was no coming near by the people or even by the priests.
Nadab and Abihu took strange re and oered that not
taken from the burnt oering.
en God said, Ye shall not come at all times, etc.; but
there was the great day of atonement, and the high priest
even could only go in on that day with the clouds of incense.
ere was no revelation of God whatever at that time:
there was revelation from God, but not of God. He said, “
I dwell in the thick darkness.” Moses could go into God’s
presence without a veil. When he came out, he put a veil on
his face; but when he went in, he took the veil o. Moses,
as mediator — type of Christ-represented the nation before
God, but then the gure dropped; and we nd Aaron could
only go in once a year. His work was done behind the veil.
God could give revelations of Himself to them, but never
were their consciences in the presence of God. ere was
an unrent veil between God and the people and the priests
also.
is is very important to notice, because of the principle
brought out in the contrast of our portion and the Jews’. We
are in the presence of God, and we are always there (that is
the Christian ground): they never were. Daily cleansing is
needed with us, too; but still, we are always in the presence
of God. is is very little realized by the people of God
now. “ If we walk in the light as he is in the light,” etc.
e work is done once for all, and we are brought nigh
by virtue of that work; and if we are not there through
that work, we never can get there. I am speaking of God
looking for atonement, and our standing in the presence of
God, not the children with the Father. Our feelings may
be varying from day to day, but our standing before God
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never changes in Christ. And if we reject this one sacrice
for sin, there is no other.
Verse 3, etc. Within the second veil none could enter.
God’s reason for it is, “ e Holy Ghost this signifying, that
the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest.”
e object of the veil was to show that the people could
not come to God. He could give them laws, punish them
if they broke them, enable them to look to Him; but they
could not come near. If it is a question of being in His
presence, I must come where He is. In His presence sin is
not measured by transgression, but by what God is-” in the
light as he is in the light.” “ Ye were darkness, but now are
ye light in the Lord.” God’s people are now brought into
His presence in the light, and always there; it is where God
has placed them by faith-not a question of their feeling. As
long as the rst tabernacle was yet standing, this was not
made manifest at all: God was hiding Himself. Directly
the veil was gone, He must have let in the Gentiles as well
as the Jews; but the very nature of the sacrices shut out
the thought of one eternal redemption. e repetition of
them showed that On was there, or they would not have
been repeated. e one sacrice for sins having been made
shows the sins to be entirely borne away. e nature of
those sacrices was never to reveal God, and never to have
the conscience perfect.
ere is another practical thing to be noticed here. He
does not merely say sin is put away, but the conscience is
perfect; no more conscience of sins (not sinning); that is
the same as a perfect conscience. We all have a conscience
of sinning; but if I have a conscience of sin, I cannot come
to God, but am like Adam hiding from Him. What we
have here is not only sin put away in the presence of God,
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
523
but put away from the conscience too. Many own the
former, but think they need repeated forgiveness, repeated
cleansing with blood. How could sin be put away? It could
not be but by the suering of Christ. Must Christ, then,
suer again?
ere was piety in the Old Testament, and piety is a
blessed thing, but there was never a purged conscience. We
never nd in the most pious persons under the law the
sense of being in the presence of God. e high priest must
go once a year within the veil with clouds of incense; but
now the holiest is made manifest, the veil being rent from
top to bottom, and the conscience as perfect as the light in
which we stand.
Verse 7. Under the old covenant, it was only “ the errors
of the people “ that were forgiven. Now God takes up the
spring of a man altogether. e old covenant dealt with
man on the ground of obedience; now God is bringing the
sinner himself into a new condition before Him. e old
covenant was a partial remedy with the declaration that
they could not come into God’s presence. While this kept
up a testimony for God, now a new thing is brought out,
not to patch up the old thing-that was the old even in its
remedial character; but now it is the bringing in a new
thing entirely-giving a new nature in Christ. e Jewish
system provided no remedy for great sins (“ keep back
thy servant from presumptuous sins “); it was a provision
for the old man without seeing God, instead of bringing
man perfect, in a new nature, into the presence of God.
Verse 10. Certain things were imposed on them until the
time of reformation. Christ came “ an High Priest of good
things to come.”. What does that refer to? Some may nd
a diculty as to whether “ to come “ refers to what was
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524
future for the Jews, while that tabernacle was standing, or
to what is now future. I believe both. All was new in Christ.
It was to come on a new foundation. e basis is laid for
the entire and perfect reconciliation of man with God.
Rom. 3 God declares His righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, etc. Righteousness was never
revealed under the law-God bore with things, but there
was no declaration of righteousness. Now it is “ to declare
his righteousness.” Righteousness was revealed when the
atonement was made. Directly it is other ground than
promise given to those walking by faith, as Abraham, there
is no coming into the presence of God. e old covenant
goes on the old ground; the new covenant goes on new
ground. e work of Christ and the blood of Christ are not
provision for the sins of the old man, but for the perfecting
of the conscience of the new man to set him in the presence
of God. We could not be in the presence of God with one
spot upon us; we are brought into heaven itself. He is gone
in once into the holy place (v. 12), not gone in to come
out again and go in; but by virtue of His own blood He
is gone in once. God looking upon the blood cannot see
sin. It is not a question of my value of that blood, but the
conscience rests on the value God nds in it. “ When I see
the blood I will pass over.” My heart wants to value it more,
but the question is, how could I be in the presence of God
with a spot upon me? God looks on that blood, and if He
looks on the blood, He cannot look on the sin; if He did, it
would not value the blood. Where is the blood? It has been
presented to God, not to man, and God has accepted it.
Impossible that God can impute sin to a believer; it would
be slighting the blood of Christ.
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
525
Another thing is, it is forever and ever done. What is
faith? It is thinking as God thinks. If I say Christ is gone in
once with His own blood, does He ever cease to be there?
en I cannot cease to be perfect; Christ has either done
the work forever or not at all. Another word gives it such
power too, “ having obtained eternal redemption,” and it
is “ once for all.” How long is it to last? Forever. ere is
not only cleansing, but redemption. He has taken me up
out of where I was, into the presence of God-appropriated
me in the presence of God forever. Has He taken me up
in an unclean state? While the veil was there, I could not
be taken into God’s presence; but now it is a question of
the work of Christ bringing me there. Has He brought
me there in an unt state? Impossible! He has “ obtained
eternal redemption for us,” “ who, through the eternal
Spirit, oered himself without spot to God.” We get here,
rst, His own perfect will in it. He oered Himself; not
only says, “ Lo I come “ but, here lled with the Spirit,
He oers Himself up. Christ having become a man, He
was obedient in all things; but another thing was, He came
to oer sacrice. As a victim, He was man, spotless man,
and the giving Himself up as a sacrice was His own act;
through the eternal Spirit He did it. It is not here the point
of sins being laid upon Him, but the giving Himself up for
the whole question of good and evil to be settled on Him
in God’s presence. He gave Himself up for God to do what
He would with Him, to make Him a curse if He would;
and He was made a curse; yet it was His own will to come
into that place.
It was redemption man needed (v. 12), not only a little
cleansing. Redemption was being taken out of the condition
in which we were. God’s glory needed to be vindicated where
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526
God had been dishonored. Here was man in rebellion, and
in ruin as well as rebellion, under Satan, and He (Christ)
must suer, for God to be gloried-He oered Himself
up. Here it was by the power of the Eternal Spirit. ere
was divine energy in the Man, not mere feeling, etc., and
it was “ without spot,” when He was tried even unto death.
He became a burnt oering, and this was a sweet savor
to God. Every movement of His will was pure, purity in
all His thoughts, and acts, and there was the unhesitating
giving up of Himself to be made even that hateful thing,
sin. He would be made sin, made a curse, even unto death;
He oered Himself up without reserve. “ He was made sin
for us “; but He gave Himself up for it: therefore it was a
sweet savor. None of the sin oerings were a sweet savor to
God: the word used for consuming them is not the same as
in the burnt oering. For the sin oering, it was merely a
word used signifying burning; in the other it means a sweet
savor. It not being imposed upon Him, but His oering
Himself up, made it this. All through His life He knew
no sin, but on the cross the sin was laid upon Him, and
He went through death for it. It led to death-its wages.
erefore we read of the blood, “ How much more shall
the blood of Christ,” etc. Two things there are, the person
oering Himself, and the proof of His death for sin; blood
being the proof of death. ere is a cleansing, a purging,
daily; but this is with water, and not for forgiveness before
God: the Father forgiving is another thing. “ Without
shedding of blood is no remission.” How clearly this shows
that if it is not done by this, it never can be; the blood never
can be shed again. “Purge your conscience from dead works
to serve the living God.” Here, again, we come back to the
conscience. “ How much more shall the blood of Christ,”
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
527
etc. So we hear of “ eternal inheritance “ (v. 14, 15); there is
perpetuity spoken of again, too.
In verse 13 two things have been alluded to, and not
indiscriminately: the great day of atonement, when bulls
and goats were oered; and the red heifer, which was for
daily cleansing for communion. is was one thing; the
other was done once a year, for then it was repeated year by
year continually. e blood of the victim was taken into the
holy place, and the body burnt outside. is was signicant
of Judaism done with. Israel was the camp. ey had a
eshly religion-esh in connection with God; and it could
never answer. It was appointed to prove man. Here the
blood was carried in, as the scape-goat took away the sins
confessed over it into the wilderness. us the sins were
gone. Now our position is having a place inside the veil by
the blood, and sin gone. at is our place shown thus in
the type. e “ heifer “ was for sprinkling the unclean- not
with blood, but with water and something connected with
it, namely, the ashes of the heifer. A heifer was to be taken
that had never borne the yoke; and a clean man was to slay
the heifer, and sprinkle the blood seven times, always in the
presence of God. Its value always is in the presence of God.
But a deled person, even through touching death, could
not go there. e ashes were to be taken with the running
water, showing the sin all consumed in the sacrice oered
long ago. e things we have failed about are the very things
Christ died for; and the Spirit brings to the conscience
the sense of that delement for which Christ died, and
which He put away. is makes me feel the sin much more,
while it makes me see it has all been put away. It is not
so much the question of guilt, but of the terrible nature
of sin that occupies me. It is the re-sprinkling with water,
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528
not blood; because the re-sprinkling with the blood would
call in question its permanent value. e Spirit brings to
my conscience and heart the value of Christ’s death, and
so communion is restored, which is hindered by a sinful
thought, etc.
Two instances we have of sprinkling with blood once
for all-in the priest and the leper; the whole walk and
thoughts consecrated to God according to the value of
Christ’s blood. But that never loses its value. If I do not
walk according to the value of it, the Spirit of God brings
to my remembrance that my sin brought Christ to ashes.
is gives a much deeper sense of the sin. We nd out that
we have allowed ourselves to be carried away by that which
brought God’s wrath out, and for which Christ agonized.
“ To serve the living God.” Under the old covenant,
obedience was required from man in his Adam-nature; a
veil was before God, and man outside-and he must stay
outside. e sacrices made a temporary provision for
intercourse with God, but there was no coming to God.
Christ, as High Priest of good things to come, brings the
new man into the presence of God forever. e veil is
rent, and there is a risen Person with cleansing power in
the presence of God. Such is the perfectness of the place
in which we are set, and every inconsistency is judged
according to it.
Verses 16, 17. e word testament “ is rightly used in
these two verses. It facilitates the understanding of the
passage to see this. Excepting these two verses, read always
covenant.”
us we nd a common event brought in as an
illustration of Christ’s death. He left us all the blessing in
dying-it came into complete force directly. We are freed
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
529
once for all through His death. ere is no alteration of
it. e blessings of the new covenant became available or
valid, after His death.
e rst must become old if there is to be a new one: the
bringing in of the new one involves dying. In this Epistle
we get very little of the humiliation part of Christ’s work.
In the rst chapter it is introduced in connection with His
divine Person, who “ when he had by himself purged our
sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.”
e purging of our sins is spoken of by the way, and then
we hear of His glory on high. e blessedness of Christ’s
sacrice, Christ exalted, and having honor put upon Him,
are more the subjects in Hebrews. ere are three aspects in
which the value of Christ’s blood is here seen. First, it was
the seal of the covenant, connected with its dedication to
God. at was also done in connection with the covenant
with Abraham; Gen. 15. A person, binding himself to
death in the most solemn way, passes through the pieces of
the sacrice. It was the seal of the covenant. Second, it is
purifying. ird, the blood is for remission.
First, the enjoining or sanction to it given by the blood.
Another thing closely connected with that was consecration
by blood. Blood was sprinkled on the leper for cleansing,
and on the priest for consecration. e covenant sealed, and
the people bound to it by blood, and the leper and the priest,
are the three cases in which persons are sprinkled. ere
must be blood, the power of death brought in, or there was
entire separation from God. e wonderful ecacy of the
blood of Christ is that it brought in death; those separated
from God are brought back by His death. “ You who were
far o are brought nigh by the blood of Christ.” e blood
was the gure of the life taken. When blood was taken, the
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530
whole being of man was given up, and the agony of Christ’s
soul on the cross was the separation from God. “ My God,
my God! why hast thou forsaken me? “ e consequences
of it are most important to us. Man with all his perverse
will, all his sin, where is it all, if he is dead? It is all gone, if
he is dead. “ He that is dead, is freed from sin.” ere is an
absolute cessation of the whole will and being in which he
was, as a sinner. Christ has taken that place for me. Cain
and Abel, as far as appearance went, were equally likely to
get the blessing, but in the one was no faith. He did not
own that death had come in between man and God. As
long as man is seeking good from himself, he does not see
himself dead. Are you seeking a dead man or a living man?
You are seeking fruit from a living man, and not owning
you are dead, if you are seeking fruit from yourself. I cannot
search to see whether dead or not, if dead. Abel came by
slain beasts to God. He had faith. We do not know how
he learned it, but death came in, and man was clothed in
skins of animals. at is, in gure, what makes our peace. “
He that is dead is freed from sin.” ere was nothing done
for man while Christ was alive, as to the putting away of
sin. “ Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone.” All that was proved by it was, that man in
his natural state could not be reconciled to God.
e rst covenant was not made without the sprinkling
of blood, but it threw back the man behind death. If you
do not obey, all is lost; Jer. 34:16-20. If they did not obey,
they must die; because they promised obedience and sealed
the promise by being sprinkled with the blood. In the case
of Abraham, God made a promise to him, and sealed it
by passing between the pieces, by death. e question was
raised by the law of righteousness among living men. ere
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
531
were various gures which intimated the necessity of death
coming in, but obedience was the rule, and consequently
all was failure. Yet the principle was brought out all
through- there must be blood. Now, under grace we see
the whole putting away of sin. If we had died, judgment
must have come on us. Christ coming into it, and bearing
the judgment for us, we are free from the whole thing.
When God gave the covenant, He gave it this sanction-
the sprinkling of blood. Aaron himself alone, was not
sprinkled with blood, typical of Christ, who needed not to
be consecrated with blood Himself, but brought blood in
for others.
en you get the sprinkling of vessels-not for forgiveness,
but for cleansing. “ Almost all things under the law are
purged with blood “ (not all things are puried with blood),
because there is a purifying with water not connected with
blood-shedding. Out of His side came blood and water,
representing the eectual grace of expiation and purifying.
You could not have man morally puried without death;
you must have death. Out of a dead Christ the water ows.
Water signies cleansing by the Spirit with the word. But
there must be death-not the cleansing of the living old
man; the old man is put to death-I do not own him alive,
but there is something belonging to you (your members on
the earth) to be mortied and kept in death. e ground
is laid for purifying by the blood of the heifer, which was
sprinkled seven times before the door of the tabernacle; but
water is the gure used for cleansing, namely, “ washing of
water by the word.” “ Ye are clean through the word which
I have spoken unto you.” Reckon yourselves to be dead and
to have the power of life in Christ. I have neither life nor
righteousness outside of Christ. I have nothing without
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532
Him. If I look for water to purify, or anything, it must be by
death I get it; then there must be faith. If I look at myself as
a living man in the world, I nd my will working; then I am
not really dead. If I set myself to inquire, I am not walking
in faith. I am told to reckon myself dead-that is faith. You
cannot mortify your members till you can say, I am dead. If
the old man is not dead, it is sin. ere was no putting away
of sin but by death itself-taking life. “ Without shedding of
blood is no remission “-not sprinkling here: you must have
the applying the punishment to the One who takes the
sin. In the remission of sins is involved the whole of God’s
character, majesty, glory. If God does not deal with sin as
sin, there is no righteousness-it is indierence. ere must
be suering for the sin; then as to death, I am clear of it.
Remission is not connected with sprinkling. is is
important in a twofold way. First, there was actual suering
under the consequences of sin; and, second, this could be
but once. It was done once for all, and if the forgiveness of
my sins is not perfect thereby, it never can be accomplished.
It will never be done again. We learn more and more the
value of the blood; but the work of Christ on the cross has
a perfect value, into which the angels desire to look. e
thing by which I have remission never can be done again.
When I speak of water, it has its importance only so far as
it washes (there is washing and sprinkling spoken of); but
not so with the blood; this had to be presented to God,
the oended Judge. e ecacy of the blood is outside
ourselves. As regards the man, he is cleansed once for all,
but still that is connected with the man. at is not all; the
blood has an ecacy in itself, as being the judgment for sin,
and tells the tale to God that the judgment is passed over,
the sin gone. God says, “ When I see the blood, I will pass
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
533
over.” at makes the entire full distinction from personal
application in cleansing. ere is a special value in it for
man, because a man when cleansed does not like to get
dirty, while one not cleansed does not mind it. True, that
as to the water when once regenerated by the word, it is
done forever-once for all; but there is besides the constant
cleansing of the feet needed. ere is no presenting of
blood afresh to God-no fresh “ shedding of blood.” ere
is increase of spiritual search needed by us to know more
of the value of the blood, but there is no fresh searching
needed by God for Him to know its value.
Verse 21, etc. ree things were done on the day of
atonement. Blood was put on the mercy-seat, representing
Christ gone into heaven, the ground on which we can
preach to all the world. at was connected with Jehovah’s
lot. His death gloried God, whether one or a thousand
are saved.
All was in utter confusion by sin. What kind of world
is this? Where is righteousness? Where is love? What folly
there is in indelity! How can men solve the riddle of all
the misery we see around without God? Where is the
goodness of God to be seen? How can it be attempted to
be explained without Christ? Indierence to sin is not love.
Men try to persuade themselves God will be indierent to
sin. When I see God’s judgment for sin on Christ, I get at
the center of God’s heart-righteousness is satised, and,
what is more, God can rest in His love. And if you come
as a sinner to God, and rest in Christ, it is a matter of the
glory of God to see you there because of the blood.
“ e heavenly things themselves with better sacrices.”
Satan and his angels are there and cleansing is needed.
is purging is not remission. God must have His house
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534
cleansed as well as His people made righteous. Compare
Col. 1
On the people’s lot, the scapegoat, the particular sins of
the people were confessed. is was substitution, v. 26. And
there is perpetual value in the sacrice. He once suered.
is suering was not the mere fact of death. e agony
of His soul when He cried, “My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me,” was far deeper than the suering of
the separation of soul and body. Death was looked at as
the wages of sin; God’s wrath was poured out on Him
against the sin. (Death to Christ was not merely going out
of the body into paradise.) is never can be done again.
He has gone in once into the holy place. If He went in
often, He must have suered often. “ But this man, after
he had oered one sacrice for sins, forever sat down.” is
does not mean forever and ever, but unremittingly He is
sitting at the right hand of God. I never can stand in the
presence of God, but through the sacrice of Christ, and
that is never remitted. He has put sin away; why should
He suer again? He has put it away according to the glory
of God. “ Once in the end of the world hath he appeared.”
is may appear strange, seeing that so much of the world’s
history has gone on since Christ’s coming: but it does not
mean chronologically, but the closing in of the ages.
Up to that time God had been trying men as living
men in the world. at is ended-man is not alive now (I
speak of man morally, as judged by God); therefore it is
said to the Colossians, “ Why as though alive in the world?
“ Man has been tried as to life, and now the g-tree is cut
down. Did it bear fruit? No! and it was cut down. e g-
tree represented the Jewish nation, in whom God made
trial of men under the best circumstances. “ What have
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535
I not done to my vineyard? “ Christ came looking for
fruit from the g-tree, and nding none, He said, Cut it
down; let no fruit grow on thee forever. e “ time for gs
was not yet “; the fruit-bearing time not come. God, as it
were, said, “ they will reverence my Son.” No! then there
is no fruit from man forever. Man, looked at as in esh, is
under the sentence of death. “ When we were yet without
strength … Christ died for the ungodly.” Man is not only
ungodly, but without power to get out of that state. Christ
must close the history of the old man, by bearing the sin,
and must bring in a new thing. en God makes a feast
and invites to the Supper; when they not only refuse the
Son, but they refuse the Supper.
Man has been fully tried; and now, if there is to be
blessing, it must not be on the ground of responsibility, but
wholly of grace, by the second Adam, Rom. 5. If I believe
this, I nd out the truth about the old man by little and
little. At rst we only see gross sins perhaps. “ But what is
to be done when I nd I can do nothing,” you say. Own
you are undone. “ In me (that is, in my esh) dwelleth no
good thing.”
“ And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after
this the judgment.” Death is like the policeman to bring us
up to the judgment. en (v. 28) we have the counterpart
of this in grace. “ So Christ was once oered to bear the
sins of many,” “and to them that look for him,” all believers,
“ will he appear … without sin.” What does that mean? As
to His own Person, He was without sin the rst time; but
now the same One comes back-what for? To deal about
the sins? No! at He has done the rst time: and now,
apart from that entirely, He comes to receive them to
Himself. For those who trust in His rst coming, and look
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536
for His second, there is nothing but blessing. ere is a
work done in us to make us sharers in that which has been
done outside us; but this is the question of the work done
for us, outside of ourselves altogether. What had I to do
with the cross of Christ? e hatred that killed Him, and
the sins that He bore, are all that sinners had to do in it.
erefore there can never come a shade upon the love of
God in the cross of Christ. It is perfect.
CHAPTER 10.
e practical conclusion is drawn in this chapter of
what is brought out in chapter 9-the unity of the sacrice;
one oering by which the foundation is laid for the new
covenant.
Instead of nding a man turned out of paradise on
earth because of sin, it is now the second Man gone into
the paradise of God in divine righteousness-gone in by
virtue of a new title, which man never had before. e
consequence is, when He comes again in glory, He has
nothing to do with sin. He came once for sin; but when He
comes the second time, it will be without any question of
sin, to complete the salvation wrought out already. When
He returns, it is to bring man into the full blessedness He
is in Himself. “ To them that look for him, shall he appear,”
etc.; not only for the church, but it is open for the remnant
when He appears to the earth.
19
e eect on the conscience of His oering for sin is
shown in chapter 10. It is not only a statement of facts
there. My sin might be put away and I not know it; but
Christianity shows us how the conscience is purged, not
19 e words do not express the fullness of the church’s hope,
which is, the being with Him. is alludes more to the
appearing; but it expresses the hope of both, as pilgrims down
here.
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
537
only the sins put away. If the conscience is purged, there is
nothing between me and God. I have the full deliverance
from all consequences of sin, and a title to glory, by virtue
of the new thing. But what is my present state? My
conscience perfectly purged. at the law could not tell us.
It could never make the comers thereunto perfect. at was
reserved as a witness for the gospel when the work was
done. When a man is in the presence of God, the full eect
on the conscience is known. ere must be a repetition of
sacrice while the sin was outstanding. ere was always a
question of sin between God and His people under the law.
Israel in the last day will get salvation by virtue of the
sacrice; they will be blessed by Him from heaven; their
thoughts will rest on Christ coming on earth to them. He
will bring them blessing where they are, but not take them
to heaven. at is not our case at all. We are with Him
while He is in heaven. e Holy Ghost has come out in
consequence of His being gone in. ere was no blood
taken within the veil, and the sacrice not taken without
the camp, until after the sin of Nadab and Abihu. After that
Aaron was not to go at all times into the holiest, but once a
year, to sprinkle the blood on the mercy-seat. e veil was
not rent then; but sin being brought out, the blood must be
taken in. e witness of acceptance for Israel is when He
comes out. ey cannot have it while He is within. We are
associated with Him in heaven by the Holy Ghost coming
out and making us know the value of His sacrice. He will
come and receive us unto Himself, that where He is we
may be. We are to be associated with Him there.
Up to His death it could not be: God would have put
aside the law if the fullness of blessing had been brought
in; and the law was given to His own people, not to the
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538
Gentiles. e result of Christ’s work is, that my constant
state in the presence of God is the conscience purged.
ere is not a revelation, a prophet needed for that. e
worshippers, once purged, have “ no more conscience of
sins.” How many Christians there are who do not know
they have no more conscience of sins! If you do not, you
do not know the virtue of Christ’s sacrice. Are you going
to be in heaven with sin upon you? You cannot be there in
sins. e old state was that of men living on earth-falling,
getting cleansed, and falling again. at is your condition,
unless you are in heaven by virtue of that one sacrice,
without sin. e believer is introduced there in Christ-
into these heavenly places, cleansed from sin (I am not
speaking of what he is as a man on earth, but in Christ).
Are you there? at is the question. Are you in the holiest
as to your conscience, heart, and spirit, with “ no more
conscience of sins “; “ in the light as he is in the light “; with
no remembrance of sin before God? ere is remembrance
of sins under the law; but here “ no more conscience of
sins.” Christ has not only entered within the veil, because
there is no veil now, but I am in heaven by the veil being
rent. What is the rending of the veil? e death of Christ.
I must get there by His death because of my sins. I go in
through that which takes them away. I am there without
them. Remark how God takes up all this as His matter.
e whole is done, without us, by God. e thing is done
by Him, and the revelation of what is done is by Him too!
It is God’s work, and it is according to the truth of God.
ere were three things needed. If I was full of sin,
someone was needed to think about me; someone was
needed to do the thing required; and then one to tell me
the eect. “ By the which will we are sanctied.” e work
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
539
of the Spirit in applying the work of Christ, is not spoken
of here. But there is, 1st, e will of God-” By which will,”
etc. 2nd, e work whereby it is done-” By the oering
of the blood of Jesus Christ, once for all.” Before I was
born, it was once for all done. Did I do it? No! “ By the
obedience of one, many were made righteous.” It was by the
oering of the body of Christ once for all. 3rd, ere is the
knowledge of it given to me. Without this my conscience is
not purged. I must be justied by faith: this is my knowing
it, not God’s knowing it. Here he says, “ e Holy Ghost
is a witness to us.” is is the ground of the conscience
being purged; it is not the quickening here: we have pardon
after we are quickened. Peter speaks of being “ sanctied
unto obedience,” etc.; we are renewed to obedience. It is
His (God’s) work to quicken my conscience, but, besides
that, there is the testimony by the Holy Ghost. e thing
is settled, and it is not a light thing. We adore Him for
it. He says, “ eir sins and iniquities will I remember no
more.” But you say, I sin to-day, to-morrow, etc. God says,
“ I remember “ no more. If there is sin, what can put it
away? ere is no more oering for sin. If it is not put
away, how can it ever be done? If He does remember them,
there is no hope for me, because Christ will not die again,
and “ without shedding of blood is no remission.” It is very
important for the conscience to get into the presence of
God, and know our whole condition as to sin there. Looked
at as a Christian, there is no sin, for this one reason, that
Christ has been in the condition in which I was. By virtue
of His being in it and dying, the condition has ceased to
exist, and He is gone a Man into heaven by virtue of the
condition having ceased. God has said to Him, “Sit on my
right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool.” For the
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540
sacrices provided for men in the esh, there is substituted
this one sacrice of Christ.
Verse 5. “ A body hast thou prepared me.” Christ
came once for all into the place of obedience to put aside
all the other appointments. He took ears as a servant.
Whatever man did in oering sacrices, he could not get
out of the condition in which he was. Another comes in.
He takes away the rst that He may establish the second.
ey brought of their voluntary will under the rst; that
was man. But in the second all is of God’s will, and it is
obedience to that. As soon as Christ has the body prepared,
it is not His will at all. It was in the counsels of God long
before. “ In the volume of the book it is written of me,”
etc. ere was the free willing of Christ in heaven to give
Himself. He undertakes the whole thing. en when in it,
He goes through all in obedience. “ As the Father gave me
commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.” ere
is perfect love to His Father, and perfect obedience at the
same time. ere is God’s will in all its perfectness-Christ
oering Himself to be the obedient One; and I have not
only the fact in purpose but all the value of a divine Being
giving Himself up. “ Lo, I come to do thy will.” He is in the
place of obedience.
“ Above, when he said, Sacrice and oering, and burnt
oerings, and oering for sin, thou wouldest not … en
said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.” Here I nd
the will of man altogether set aside. e will of man is
wickedness, the principle of sin. A will independent of
God is the very principle of sin. At the rst, the will of man
was disobedience to God. Christ had a free will, because
He was God; but when in the servant’s place, He had no
will. e horrid pride of man forgets that his independence
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
541
of God, his will not being moved by the will of God, is
rebellion against Him, and that is our natural state. All but
obedience to the will of another is sin. We forget we are
creatures. Christ came to do God’s will, never His own.
is would-be independence of man (for, after all, men are
the slaves of Satan) is entirely set aside by another Man
coming in. He has to learn obedience by the things that
He suered. Every will of His was crossed. ere was not
a single thing to which He could turn in which obedience
was not suering. He suered from God, too, for the sins
of man. He oered Himself by the eternal Spirit. When
tested by Satan’s sheaving Him good and evil, He gave
Himself up (becoming specially the burnt-oering from
the time of the conict in Gethsemane). e rst order
of things is gone entirely. If I could have righteousness by
the law, I would not have it, Paul says, because I have a
better-the righteousness of God. If there could have been
any righteousness by the law, there was an end to it now. A
new thing is brought in.
Verse 11. “ Every priest standeth daily,” etc. ey were
always standing, because sin was always there to be put
away. What they did to put it away never accomplished
anything. ey were dealing with oerings for men in the
esh, and they never did anything. But He has sat down.
ere was a righteousness t to sit down on the throne of
God, and there is where we are. It is on the throne Christ
sits forever. He is not rising up, like the other priests. e
sacrice was completed and He sits forever. It does not
mean eternally but continuously. e other sacrices could
not have this eect; but now His being there is the proof
there is no interruption. e punctuation in some Bibles,
makes no sense of it. It cannot be one sacrice for sins
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542
forever. He is sitting, never having to get up again, because
the value of the sacrice is uninterrupted in the presence
of God, and the Holy Ghost comes out to show me the
result of it. e person who had the sins must be shut out
of heaven; then Christ is shut out, if they are not gone,
for He took them. But the Holy Ghost is the witness that
He is there. If you are reasoning about it, saying, My sins
are forgiven to-day, but to-morrow what I may do may
be remembered against me, you are away from God. In
the presence of God this is my whole condition, without
my sins. In the presence of God, I am either a condemned
sinner, or I have a purged conscience. Away from God we
may reason. In His presence there may be awful distress for
a moment, but faith brings into the condition of a purged
conscience.
Verse 13. “ From henceforth expecting.” is is the
patience of Christ. e conscience has nothing to do
with the waiting. Righteousness has nothing to wait for;
conscience has nothing to wait for. All is done. He has
perfected forever them that are sanctied. Not merely are
those sanctied, sanctied by God, but He has perfected
them; they are perfectly set apart, perfected by God by the
very thing He has set them apart by. en such can say,
I am perfect for God, and my heart is happy with Him,
because I am perfect before Him. It is so settled with Him
that we are thoroughly perfected, that He can sit there
quietly. Heb. 10:12.
Now the Holy Ghost declares it all to me showing me
the practical consequences: “ where remission of these is,
there is no more oering for sin.” e blood is presented
to God, and it abides in unalterable ecacy. is makes
nothing, not only of the gross superstitions connected with
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
543
professing Christianity, but of all forms and ordinances
by which men think to attain anything before God. If we
are not abidingly as in the presence of God with a purged
conscience, we have not got hold of the truth of God about
it. When we realize this is our place, we have a dierent
estimate of sin; evil is detected, and we know it can have no
place, and the good is more understood in the presence of
God; sin is judged in a much deeper way, than when there
is merely terror and uncertainty.
Verse 19. “ Boldness to enter into the holiest.” is going
through the veil is altogether ours. We know it is rent by
the perfect love of God, and we go into the presence of
God through the veil. e way is made manifest. We go
where Christ is gone; the holiness that rent the veil has put
away the sin. Verse 21: “ having an high priest,” etc. We do
not go creeping in all alone; the High Priest who has done
the work is there before us. I cannot go within the veil
without nding Him there. e apostle is following Jewish
gures, becoming a Jew to Jews. ere were other priests
besides the great High Priest. Instead of, like the Jewish
priests, oering incense outside, we go within. ere was
the washing of the priests, as for us. e anointing is not in
question here, but the sprinkling of blood and the washing
of water. So, in substance, it will be for Israel by-and-by.
Verse 22. “ Let us draw near,” etc. e next thing, verse
23, is, “ let us hold fast the profession of our faith,” etc.
e exhortation is to be in communion within, and not
to be attracted by the world without, ordinances, etc., to
which they were in danger of going back. en (v. 24) I
am to think of others, walk in the power of the fruits of
the Spirit; and (v. 25) not only to have love to individuals,
but to remember the assembly. Christ would praise in the
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544
midst of the congregation. A person may say, I am very
happy in staying at home; but this will not do. To go to the
assembly often brings persecution.
e “ day “ spoken of here is not the catching up of the
church, but the appearing. e more the day approaches,
the greater the diculty of assembling ourselves; but the
exhortation is to be found assembling as plain evident
Christians. It is not said to hear a sermon, but assembling
ourselves. e way of God’s working is not only to make
Christians, but to gather together in one the children of
God scattered abroad. is is not to be fullled in the
millennium. ere will be dierent nations then, though
they will come up to worship; and in the Old Testament
times there was one particular nation, but no gathering
together in one-it applies now. Church authority is not what
is meant. It is not faith, but assembling ourselves together
is faith. Not of man’s will, but Christ’s, who, through His
death, has a church or assembly that is not of the world,
and that is manifested by our assembling together.
Verse 26. If you say, “ I give up this assembling to Christ
“ -there is none other sacrice for sin but that He has
made. If you trample underfoot the blood of that sacrice,
knowing what it is (I do not say being regenerated), but
giving it up willfully, your portion is the same as adversaries.
A person who sees truth and gives it up, is always more
bitter than any-he is an adversary. If they chose sin instead
of Christ, there was no more sacrice. It is a case of openly
abandoning the Lord for your own will in sin; not failure
nor disobedience, but apostasy.
We see throughout this epistle the importance of the
place in which we are set, and the responsibility of walk
according to it. Christ is ever in the presence of God for us.
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
545
Consequently, our title is to enter there boldly; our place
never changes, though sin, of course, hinders fellowship till
it is confessed.
CHAPTER 11.
We have already seen in this epistle that the Hebrews,
instead of walking by faith, were in danger of turning back
to the things they could see-things suited to them as men
in the esh, such as ordinances and objects of outward
importance, of which the Jewish system was full. But
Christians were called out of these; God was leading away
from them. e constant tendency of all our hearts is to
go back. It is a shame for Gentiles to take up with those
shadows; in a measure it was natural for the Jews, because
they had had the beggarly elements appointed for them
to observe. Now there was something better. ey were
waiting for Christ to come again, and it is said to them, “
He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry.” In this
epistle we do not have the place of the church, the body
of Christ, brought out at all; in that connection the Lord
comes and takes her to Himself. “ I go to prepare a place
for you,” etc. Here, as pilgrims, there is responsibility before
us, and we look for His appearing. In church character the
hope is to be with Him. Here it is the heavenly calling and
priesthood between us and God.
e apostle goes on in our chapter to show the power of
faith. It is not a denition, but a description of its eects.
It is “ the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.” Perfect certainty of realization is the
eect of faith. e denition of faith is that it “ sets to its
seal that God is true.” It remains that, what we hope for,
we with patience wait for. e promise is just as certain as
if we had the fulllment of it. We do not see it. If we saw
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546
it we should not hope for it, but we realize things not seen.
is is the power of faith in the soul.
In this chapter we have faith in its active character-the
working of faith when it is there. e thing that produces
faith is the Spirit of God bringing home the word with
power; and when the soul sees anything of Christ, it cannot
rest satised without more. “ Of his own will begat he us
with the word of truth,” is the reception of truth in the
soul. en there follows the practical eect in the walk of
the believer. ere is a great deal of method in this chapter,
more than appears at rst sight; for it is not man’s method,
but God’s. e divine mind is always at work according to
the measure of divine love. Directly you get the clue to the
divine mind, you get beauty and order. us,. in Exodus, we
have the account of the things for the tabernacle, and then
the priests, and then again the utensils. e human mind
sees nothing but disorder in all this; but when the object
of the shadow is known, the most perfect order comes out.
Faith here is spoken of in connection with creation.
at nothing could come out of nothing is man’s wisdom!
e philosopher could never of himself have found out
how “ the worlds were framed,” etc. Creation is absolutely
unknown by reason. “ By faith we understand,” but man’s
way of accounting for it led to pantheism, atheism, etc.
Now men have got some knowledge of it from the Bible;
but without Scripture it never could be known simply or
certainly.
In the next exemplar of faith we see the ground on
which man could be in relationship with God: in Abel, the
faith that brought a sacrice; in Enoch, that which led to
walking with God, and the power of life in his translation.
In verse 7, it is faith connected with God in government,
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
547
and the consequent judgment of the world; in the next
example we have that kind of faith that reckons on promise.
It takes the promise of God, is satised with it, gives up
everything, and gets nothing. All that esh clings to is to
be given up. ese Jews had to do that. If I have nothing
to do with earth I am a heavenly man. If I have nothing
on earth, I am not an earthly man. God is not ashamed to
be called the God of one whose heart and portion are in
heaven; but He would be of one whose heart is on earth.
is is the faith that gives character, heavenly character, v.
8-22.
en you have the faith that counts on God, the active
energy of life-not merely character, but energy; not so much
the giving up as the active energy of the new principle in
the soul. is is from verses 23-31. But the getting into the
land is passed over, the rest promised is in heaven. ey
have possession of the land. It is dierent from passing the
Red Sea and the wilderness.
From verse 32 come out all the various diculties and
traits of faith in which individuals had to stand against the
professing people of God. is is a more dicult thing
than any. If you want to live a life of faith, you must often
live without Christians. People have to go alone with God
and no one else, and if not, they must bring in unbelief to
hinder them. Communion of saints is a happy thing, but
there are times when you must act alone. Jonathan acted
in faith, but Saul’s folly spoiled the whole thing. We need
the faith that reckons on God, let the people do what they
like. is is not so brilliant an action of faith, but it is very
valuable. A person who goes to preach in a heathen place
knows what he has to do. His diculty is not nearly so
great as that of a Christian with the world, which professes
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548
to be Christian. If not very near to Christ, a man cannot
discern what is the world and what is of Christ.
Verses 37, 38. ey had to take what portion they could
get here, and they died without receiving the promises, “
God having provided some better thing for us,” etc. e
beginning of chapter 12 is founded on this. e chastening
there is connected with the trials of faith; the chastening
is against the esh; v. 2. Our attention is taken o all the
other examples of faith in chapter 11, and the eye is to be
xed on Him who has gone through all. “ Looking unto
Jesus.” “ Looking away “ is the force of the expression. “
He is set down on the right hand,” etc. Of the Abrahams,
Isaacs, Josephs, Moses, etc., we read, they “ received not
the promises,” but of Christ it is not said, He has not, for
He has. He “ is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God.” He has the reward; and another thing, He has
gone all the way, bearing mockery, scourging, etc. He has
trodden every bit of the path of faith. e others had each
their trial in a particular way, but the encouragement for
faith now is that He has sat down, having run it all. David
has not his reward yet. All these are not made perfect yet,
but Christ is. Christianity was not brought in then. ey
were not brought into resurrection glory. ere were others
to be brought into a better thing. Jesus was the beginner
and nisher of faith, and He has the reward.
It is well that we should see what the character of
the reward is. Reward is never the motive for conduct;
there would be no room for love in that; but it acts as an
encouragement, when we are in the path which love has
brought into, and encompassed with diculties and trials.
ese Hebrews were going back to the expectation of
a Messiah they could see. ey are reminded that none
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549
of those in whom they boasted did see what they waited
for. “ ese all died in faith, not having received,” etc. You
want a visible Messiah; but none of these you glory in got
what they waited for. With a Jew this was an unanswerable
argument. e elders got nothing but by faith. So with us.
What have we but what we have by faith?
Without going into the details of chapter 11, we have,
rst, the creation; then, respecting sacrice, “ Abel oered
unto God a more excellent sacrice than Cain.” One thing
to remark here is, how faith meets all cases since sin came
in. It has nothing to do with innocence. Innocence does not
need faith. When there was enjoyment all around, there
was no need of faith. It was when sin came in that faith
is known-a most blessed ordering of God; for it brings
to us all that is required-righteousness, life, shelter in the
judgment of the world. It can wander in a strange country,
and bring in a living energy to overcome. It brings in God
for enjoyment-communion-want of communion giving the
sense of sin, and bringing back. It is the positive bringing
in of God when sin had turned out of His presence. It takes
out of esh to God. It brings God in; or, rather, God brings
Himself in His word and Spirit. ere is no condition in
which you cannot have it. e rst thing we want it for is
for righteousness.
Abel was a sinner; faith brings into a better place than
innocency. I can enjoy nothing rightly according to esh;
but the moment I get hold of God, I am out of those
things, and am connected with Him. When they were in
the land, the occasion for faith dropped through, except
where special need brought it out.
When sin had shut us out from God, righteousness
is possessed by faith. “ He obtained witness that he was
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righteous.” Cain, before his heart was laid bare, was a very
decent man; he was laboring in the sweat of his brow, and
then went to worship God. What would you have better?
It was this very thing that showed he had not a single
right thought about God. He thought he could worship
God as comfortably as ever. Cain really carried to God the
proof of the curse-just what the natural man does. What
we nd in Abel was entirely dierent: he brings in death;
he takes a rstling of the ock, a slain beast, by which he
acknowledges he is under the eect of sin, not merely
outwardly. He brings blood to God-a sacrice-a slain
sacrice-the only way. He acknowledges by it, he is a sinner,
and lost unless the death of another comes in. He comes to
God with a sacrice, and this declares, I am lost without.
is passage is so clear as to righteousness-” he obtained
witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts.”
is is not only that righteousness is in Christ; He is my
righteousness-I am “ made the righteousness of God in
him.” Abel obtained a witness that he was righteous, not
that God was righteous.
Not merely that God had given the sacrice, but there are
the actings of God in the man. God provided the sacrice,
but faith acts in bringing it to God. “ God testifying of
his gifts.” It is full of blessing. I have the witness that I am
righteous. is is not experience.
I do not want a testimony for what I experience. I want
a testimony that delivers me from the things I am occupied
about in myself, when I am suering from them. I get
it from God’s gift that is perfect. I am “ accepted in the
beloved.” You say, ere is something about myself I cannot
get over. Remember, the testimony of the Holy Ghost in us
is the contrary of the testimony of the Holy Ghost to us. In
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551
me He takes notice of every fault that is not righteousness;
but the testimony to us is, “ their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more.” If a person brings a note to me, he
does not ask what I am. In bringing Christ to God, I bring
perfection. is is a peculiar gure of Christ, the sacrice
of Abel. Christ made Himself our neighbor: Israel slew
Him. ey have the mark on them, having cast o Christ.
But He is the sacrice through which they will be restored.
Faith says, I go to God by the sacrice.
In Enoch, life has come in, as well as righteousness.
Christ is “ declared to be the Son of God with power,
according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from
the dead.” Enoch, before his translation, had this testimony
that he pleased God. In the Old Testament it is said he
walked with God. If we are reconciled to God, we can walk
with Him. en the life is manifested• in walk, and the
power of that life is that he does not die at all. Christ said,
“ He that liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” So
those who are alive when He comes will not die. We may
not die. We shall not all sleep. e “ wages of sin “ for faith
are entirely done away. Enoch is not found, for God took
him-he is not touched by death at all. at which is the
power of death is done away. Another thing accompanying
this is, that “ before his translation, he had this testimony
that he pleased God. Here I get life before death. at we
have as a present thing, and if the Lord comes, we shall not
die. His long-suering is the reason of His not coming.
Walking with God, we have the testimony that we please
God. It is peace, comfort-joy of the favor in which we
stand. e Spirit of God, instead of reproving us, brings
the light of God’s favor streaming in upon our souls. Glory
we now see, through a glass darkly; but it is a real truth that
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the Holy Ghost is in us, and if we are walking with God,
He makes us happy in His favor. Not merely I have done
right in this or that; I do not think of myself at all, but of
God.
If I care only for what natural conscience says, I do not
get God’s mind at all. at does not touch what God is
at all, but what man is; it is saying that man may exalt
himself- has responsibility to himself; but believing God
is a great deal more, for it acknowledges responsibility to
God. “ He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and
that he is a rewarder,” etc. It is coming to Another that is
spoken of. Do I come to a person I am with? In coming, I
think of what He is-what God thinks of a thing. We have
to do with Him in a living way by faith. He is one who
takes notice of everything. If you apply this practically at
any moment, what a dierence it will make! We are called
to judge everything in the light. What do I mind about
diculties, if I know I am pleasing God? Such an one does
not despise any; because, thinking about God, he goes
from strength to strength. Intercourse with God shows
him more of God’s mind-he sees what God is doing. “ If
thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”
If he fail, there will be distress, thus walking with Him,
because he has lost the thing he delights in. If accustomed
to walk carelessly, he does not notice it. “ Without faith it
is impossible to please God.” If there is diligence in seeking
Him, there is the reward.
Verse 7. If Enoch’s case is that of exceptional translation,
like the church, Noah, like the Jewish remnant of the last
days, is found in the place on which judgment was coming,
and warned of things not seen as yet (besides being a
preacher of righteousness, as we hear elsewhere), is moved
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
553
with fear, and prepares an ark. His is the prophetic spirit;
the world is condemned, and himself becomes heir of
the righteousness which is by faith. He accepted God’s
testimony with the provided means of escape, and thus
inherited that righteousness on which the new world is
founded. us we have had faith in creation, faith in
sacrice, walking with God and testimony.
From verse 8 to 16 we have, not the great principles
of human relationship with God from rst to last, as in
the preceding verses, but the faith which goes and keeps
out as a pilgrim, with all the strength given for fullling
the promises. And as these realized strangership on earth
through faith, lived and died in faith, not in the possession
of what was promised, so God regarded them with special
favor, is not ashamed to be called their God, and will exceed
their hopes of heavenly things. Further, we come (v. 17-
22) to the faith that sacrices the thing which apparently
accomplishes the promise, to receive it from God alone, or
condes, spite of all that tends to destroy condence.
e preceding is rather faith’s patience, as what follows
is its energy. us faith in the history of Moses (v. 23-27)
abides rm in the face of the utmost diculties. Moreover,
not providence, but faith, should regulate the believer.
Again, we may observe in the next verses (28-31), that
faith uses the means God appoints; which nature either
refuses, or can only meddle with to its own ruin. But if
the Egyptians were swallowed up-the type of those who,
of themselves, think to pass through death and judgment,
the harlot Rahab identies herself by faith with the spies
and the people of God, before a blow was struck on this
side Jordan, and thus escaped the destruction which fell on
self-condent Jericho.
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en follow statements of the actings and suerings of
faith all through the history of Israel after the conquest of
Canaan, not detailed as before, but general; but all, like the
patriarchs, without receiving the fulllment of the promise.
is was one grand lesson for the Hebrew Christians.
Besides, they were to bear in mind (v. 40) that God has
provided some better thing for us. ey are to be perfected,
as well as we, in resurrection glory; but there are special
privileges for the saints who are now being called-” for us.”
CHAPTER 12.
Two things are the eect of being in the presence
of God- alarm of conscience, and encouragement. e
presence of God keeps the conscience thoroughly alive, but
it is strengthened to look above the evil while seeing the
character of it.
God brings us into His presence to judge all that
is contrary to Him and to strengthen us against it, and
that is encouraging. He delights in us, and He delights in
conforming us to Himself; thus grace comes in so blessedly,
making us partake of His nature. It is of what He is He
would have us partakers, not merely partakers of holiness,
but of His holiness. He does not say, You must be holy, that
is, it does not come out in that form: but He communicates
the holiness-His own nature. See the contrast of grace and
law. Does not God require holiness in His presence? at
is true, but it is law. Grace means, that He delights to give
it.
Separation from evil and power of good is the character
stamped on all God’s dealings down here-chastenings, etc.
We have the secret of His ways and dealings, if we are near
enough to Him to see. e Hebrews were declining in
spirituality; therefore they had not the key to understand
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
555
His ways. e hairs of our head are all numbered. When
once the heart has hold of that, it must apprehend that
it is of God’s grace that He is so occupied with us. It is a
wonderful check on will to know that He is so occupied.
As in Job it is said “ He openeth the ears of men and
sealeth their instruction that he may withdraw man from
his purpose, and hide pride from man.”
We have seen the apostle had named all the worthies in
chapter 11; but then he says “ looking unto Jesus.” Christ
had run the whole course through, the others only a little
bit of it. He despised the shame and has sat down; He has
reached the end, having gone through the whole course of
trouble and diculty.
Verses 3, 4. Addressing them, he says, You are set here
in God’s behalf in the place where sin is, to get the better
of it. We are all set here in a witness of divine good in the
midst of evil in this world, and that with a power greater
than the power of this world. Greater is He that is for us
that he that is against us. We are called to be the epistle
of Christ-to glorify God in all circumstances; not to be
apostles.
We fail here and we fail there; but we are set according
to His will here or there in this world to manifest Christ in
it, and not merely to do the work.
In saying this, one immense truth is supposed, namely,
that we have this life. Another is, that all questions between
us and God are settled; then, whether we eat and drink, or
whatsoever we do, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. To
use His name I must be authorized by Him.
All questions connected with us as sons of Adam are
entirely done with. “ Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ
from the rudiments of the world, why, as though alive? “
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etc.; Col. 2. You are not alive in the world at all; “ reckon
yourselves dead.” at is the reason we are freed from the
law. We are dead; and the law cannot have authority over
our dead man. is position in which we are set as bearing
witness, and all God’s dealings with us, go on this ground-
we are born of God. is is more than receiving life in
nature. We do not read of being born of God as creatures,
but as a Christian I am born of God. e eect of the
communication of this life is having done with all the old
life; we have a life “ hid with Christ in God.” All is settled;
not only we have the nature, but perfect peace. “ My peace
I leave with you “-Christ’s peace. No cloud of any sorrow
was on Him. He has cleansed us to be without spot, and
His righteousness is ours.
We having this nature, born of God, which has to be
manifested (and alas! we nd in nature many hindrances-
temper, etc.), God sets about to do it for us, when we fail
to resist “ striving against sin,” by chastenings, etc. We
are set in the place of children and we must look to what
God’s thoughts are about us. “ Whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth.” I get the discipline, or chastenings, that God
sends to those He loves. ere is my will to be broken,
perhaps, and tendencies to be found out in myself that I
did not know of before, to humble me. I become exercised
about good and evil. He hates the evil and loves the good,
and is breaking us down, subduing the evil, wearing it out,
etc. He is bringing us nearer to Himself. God is educating
us as children. Sometimes when we do not see what He is
doing, we get the blessing. Will works in us; He comes in
to smash the will; and we see afterward that we have got
the blessing through it.
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557
A babe does foolish things which perhaps we may be
amused at, but it has not been taught better. A Christian
is like a babe, to be trained and instructed. God’s patience
in taking such pains with us should cheer us. It is strange
to talk of aiction cheering us; but if our wills are broken,
that is a good thing.
ere are various ways in which as saints we get tried
(though we live in great quietness: there might be more
persecution if there was more faithfulness); but through
all circumstances God is threading our way, occupying
Himself with us, our particular characters, etc., to break
us down and instruct us. What we want is to realize that
God loves us so much-we are of such value to God (more
surely than many sparrows) as that He should take much
pains to make us “ partakers of his holiness.” We are apt
not to believe the activity of His love. Some trouble comes
on us; God has been watching us individually for years,
weeks, etc., watching us to bring this trouble which He
sees needed.
It is of the greatest importance that there should be
the consciousness of God’s constant dealing with us
in love. We are of that family, belonging to Him, God’s
family, and not of the world; therefore He deals with us
as sons. “ No chastening for the present seemeth to be
joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward,” etc. is is
all to encourage. Encouragement is given, founded on the
bond of grace between us and God. en He gives us this
blessed privilege of being the witness for God in this world.
Everything that makes the condition of the heart better is
good, and all is grounded on grace. erefore it is said, “
looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God “-”
lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you,” etc.
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Why does He press this? No profane or impure person!
Oh, because we are come to God. Grace puts us in His
presence, makes us partakers of His holiness; then He says,
“ looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace,” etc., that
is, should lose this entire condence in God’s love. is is
the present practical enjoyment of what God is for you. If
you lose that, you fail. ere is nothing that links up the
heart with God but grace. “ Sin shall not have dominion
over you, for ye are not under law, but under grace.”
Walk in the sanctuary of His presence. You are not
come to the terrible mountain Sinai; but having come to
the perfect grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, take
care how you walk. Grace must be the character of our
walk; v. 22. is is true blessedness. ere is no hindrance
of evil by terror. e eect of the re from Sinai was that
they “ entreated the word should not be spoken to them
anymore.” Was that getting on with God? We are not to
terrify people by our lives. We may warn them if needful
and use the law to hammer at people’s hard consciences-all
is well in its place; but we cannot be a witness in our walk
of this. We are come to a dierent thing. We may speak of
the law, but that is not where we are.
Now we must be living witnesses of what we are, and
where we are. We are come unto Mount Zion, which
represents grace. is is the result, speaking of the place
we are brought to. It is to God. He speaks of what will be
on this earth, and that is as it were looking down. Zion
came at the end of the whole course of responsibility. As
to the law, the result was, “ Ichabod,” for the ark was in the
enemies’ hand. e only link with God was broken. en
God came in and chose David, of the tribe of Judah-not
Joseph (which was signicant of a full tide of blessing in
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
559
nature). e Jebusites conquered and gone, David founded
the temple on Mount Zion. See 2Sam. 5:7, and 6: 16, 17.
is was a new link with God in grace when responsibility
was ended.
But this is not nearly all: the whole of the heavenly,
and of the earthly part is spoken of here. Now we have
something more-that which was in the purpose of God,
which man never had before in any way. God is glorifying
Himself in a way angels never thought of. We are come
to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem-to
heaven. en, when there, we nd ourselves in the whole
company of angels- the universal company of heaven;
then “ the church of the rst-born “-a special assembly
registered in heaven. We are that-not merely creatures as
the angels are, but those registered in heaven, as having this
special privilege-an assembly whom God has identied
with Christ, the First-born. It is remarkable how they are
singled out here. In the general muster, He cannot let them
pass without distinguishing the “ church of the rst-born,
whose names are written in heaven.” We are come to that;
it is all the grand result. ese are all sitting around Him.
en there is another characteristic of the scene, “ to God
the Judge of all.”
ere is Zion on earth, the heavenly Jerusalem above,
the general company of angels, and the church of the rst-
born; then God Himself, and in the way of government,
“ the judge of all “; then the “ spirits of just men made
perfect,” saints of the Old Testament in the character
grace had given them, “ or just men.” ey had run their
course and they are there. en begins what is connected
with the earthly part- looking at the eect. We are come
“ to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.” We are not
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560
come to the new covenant, but to Jesus the Mediator of it.
I am associated with Him who is the Mediator; that is a
higher thing than if merely come to the covenant. He will
make this new covenant with Israel on earth. But there is
added “ And to the blood of sprinkling.” e earth will be
beneted by the shedding of the blood of Christ: it cries
peace instead of vengeance, as Abel’s did.
Having come to the Mediator, I am come to the
prospect of all the blessedness for earth. It is sweet to know
earth will have it, but ours is the better part. We are to
be a witness of whence we are. We come from heaven. In
spirit it is true now. What is true in spirit is more real and
palpable than what we see. What is passing in our hearts
and minds is more what we are really, than what our bodies
are occupied in. Christ was a carpenter (as really as any
other carpenter), but that was not what He was. So with
us, we are brought into all these things with God. en the
thing is to be always a witness of the place to which He has
called us in grace. We are come; then we have God dealing
with us in respect of this place to which He has brought us.
Do you say, this trial or that is enough to discourage me?
But no; it is God who is bringing you into it and God is
with you in the place, dealing with you in grace, according
to the place He has brought you into.
In the midst of the company of heaven, one company is
singled out-that is, ourselves. Surely this is enough to make
us humble.
CHAPTER 13.
e closing exhortations-that is, of our chapter-are
full of importance, and are, as might be expected from all
previously seen, in view of the path in this world proper
to the saints, who have Christ appearing in the presence
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
561
of God for them. ey do not, consequently, rise to the
height of the communications in Ephesians; for the subject
throughout has been the heavenly calling, rather than the
mystery of Christ and the church.
Brotherly love is to continue spite of obstacles.
Hospitality is not to be forgotten, if we would fare like
Abraham. Prisoners and the ill-used are to be borne in
mind, considering ourselves and our own circumstances.
Marriage is to be honored and purity sought in or out of
that state. Our conduct is to be without avarice, contented
with what we have; for God will be true to His word of
unfailing care, even as to these things; so that we say boldly,
“ e Lord is my helper and I will not fear. What shall man
do to me? “
e Holy Ghost then tells the saints (v. 7) to remember
their leaders who had spoken God’s word to them, the issue
of whose conversation was worthy of all consideration and
their faith to be imitated. ey were gone; but Jesus Christ
is the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever. Let them
not, then, be carried away by various and strange doctrines.
Grace is that which establishes the heart, not meats by
which those who walked in them were not proted. It
is a mistake to think that Christians have no altar: they
have one, whereof those who serve the tabernacle have no
authority to eat. at is, the Jews have lost their place of
privilege, which now belongs in an innitely more blessed
way to such as have Jesus. As in Him, so in us, the extremes
of shame here and glory above are found to meet. It was not
so with Israel. ey had the camp, and they could not draw
within the veil. And yet even they had the most striking
type of another state of things. “ For the bodies of those
beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary for sin,
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are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that
he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suered
without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him
without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we
no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.” Christians
now must bear the cross, waiting for heaven with Christ.
All middle ground is gone with the old covenant. But if we
wait for glory, not the less but the rather should we praise
continually, oering by Jesus to God the fruit of the lips
which confess His name, and not forgetting sacrices of
doing good and communication.
Further, we are called to obey our leaders and to submit
ourselves; for “ they watch over your souls as those that
shall give account.” It is not that they are to give account of
the souls of others, but of their own conduct in respect of
others. Obedience on the part of those watched over would
be much for these guides, that they might do their work
with joy, and not groaning, for this would be unprotable
for the saints.
e apostle asks their prayers, which he could with a
good conscience, occupied with the work of grace, and not
the weakness and failure of a careless walk. Moreover, he
besought it of them, that he might be the sooner restored
to them.
And how blessed and suited to their need and comfort
is his concluding prayer! “ e God of peace that brought
again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, the great
shepherd of the sheep, in [virtue of] the blood of the
everlasting covenant, perfect you in every good work to do
his will, doing in you that which is pleasing before him,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen.”
Notes From Lectures on Hebrews
563
e name of Paul does not appear at the close any more
than at the commencement; and this for obvious reasons
in a letter to saints of the circumcision. But who else would
have so spoken of Timothy? e writer was in Italy, and
sends the salutation of such as were there. e apostolic
under-current is apparent to a spiritual mind.
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62979
Comparison of Epistles:
Peter, Colossians and
Ephesians
THE comparison of certain epistles illustrates with
much interest and instruction the path of the Christian. I
send you the thoughts which have suggested the remark.
I refer particularly to the Epistle of Peter, Colossians, and
Ephesians.
In Peter we have Christ risen, having accomplished
redemption; then His own actings, in that resurrection,
of that power of life which is the spring of all our hope,
and sets it in lively exercise towards its end, which is in
heaven, and hence makes a man, and even a Jew (who once
had other thoughts), a stranger and a pilgrim here. We will
examine this in the statements of the epistles.
But to make my meaning more clear, I will rst refer to
the Ephesians. ere the saints are seen sitting in heaven-
there already-not on the way there; their conicts and
position in general ow from this. Hence they are seen
risen with Christ, seated in heavenly places in Him, and
this, through union with their Head, by the Holy Ghost
sent down; on which last great fact their earthly position
also depends.
e Epistle to the Colossians is based indeed on the
same principle; but there they were in danger of not holding
the Head. Hence they are addressed on somewhat lower
ground, and urged up to the point which should have been
the spring from which their thoughts and feelings owed.
Comparison of Epistles: Peter, Colossians and Ephesians
565
To turn now to the epistles themselves, remark, in Peter,
the ground on which the Spirit of God places the saints,
the sojourners of the dispersion, that is, the believing Jews
scattered through the provinces. ey are “ begotten again
to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead.” It is not that they are not risen with Him. Of
course they were; yet they are not viewed under this aspect,
but as redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spot; traveling through
the wilderness towards Canaan-not seated in the land
eating of the old corn of it (whatever conicts were before
them there), but through the ecacy of redemption made
strangers and pilgrims in the desert. It is the Christian’s
place here below- not the privilege and joy of faith, but
the life of faith; and hence, all through which he passes
here become not distractions for his heart, whether painful
or pleasant, but trials of his faith. is is exceedingly
gracious and loving of our God (and what is not?), and the
consequences in many respects exceedingly precious.
In the Ephesians we have, however, the Christian in
another point of view. Heaven is not presented as a hope;
the Christian is there. It is not that the resurrection of
Christ has begotten him to such a hope; the same power
which raised Christ, and set Him at the right hand of God,
far above all principality and power, has wrought in him;
and he is raised up together with Him, quickened together,
and sitting in heavenly places in Him. us he is viewed
as in heaven in Christ the Head, not as hoping to arrive
there. Peter views him as toiling along the road, being
redeemed by the, precious blood of Christ-as Israel in the
desert, with Canaan before them; the Ephesians, as sitting
there in his Head, Christ. Hence neither is the coming of
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Christ presented as a hope in the Ephesians. What is set
before us in the way of hope, in the form of intelligence
communicated of God, is the gathering together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are
on earth-in Him in whom we have received an inheritance.
e power which has wrought in Christ has wrought in
the believer, God having given Christ to be “ the head over
all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of
him that lleth all in all.” God, of His great love wherewith
He has loved us, has, when we were all together children of
wrath, quickened us together with Him, and made us sit,
raised up together, in heavenly places in Him.
In Colossians, at rst sight, we seem to have lost this
position. But the epistle does but serve to bring out more
distinctly the great and precious truth. e apostle is
obliged to bring out heaven prominently before them. ey
needed this; and we have, as in Peter, “ the hope which
is laid
20
up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before.”
Why this dierence where, nevertheless, Christ is put
forward as the Head of the body? ey were beginning
alas! to be beguiled, and to be subject to ordinances, not
holding the Head. But the apostle urges them, as it were,
back to the point from which they were slipping away. He
presses on them their resurrection with Christ; once dead
in trespasses and sins, but buried in baptism with Him,
and raised through faith in the operation of God who hath
raised Him. If dead with Christ, how could they, as alive, be
subject to what related to esh and perished with it? And
then he draws the conclusion, which associates the two
practically: “ If then ye be risen with Christ, seek the things
which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of
20 e word is dierent from the one Peter uses.
Comparison of Epistles: Peter, Colossians and Ephesians
567
God. Set your aections on things above, not on things on
the earth; for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ
in God.” is was their real position. ey were indeed in
danger of slipping away from it; but he urges them upward
to their privilege and place in Christ.
As regards the coming of the Lord, it is also introduced
in a way which remarkably conrms this character of
instruction. ey were not taught to wait for Him as if they
were on earth, and He to appear. Nor is it omitted in order
to contemplate their association with Him in heaven. His
appearance is spoken of; but then their association with
Him, in a life which is with Him now hidden in God, is
pressed upon them, by this remarkable truth, that when He
appears, so identied were they with Him that they would
appear with Him. eir hearts and aections, then, are
urged upwards, but it was to lay hold on the consciousness
that they were one with Him that was there. eir life was
hid with Him there, but they were not holding the Head
as they ought. I do not go farther here; perhaps I may, at
another time, notice the dierent way the Lord’s coming is
spoken of connected with this.
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