MANHOOD MARKING THE PRESENT DISPENSATION
[p. 453] MANHOOD MARKING THE PRESENT DISPENSATION
Ephesians 4:1 - 16; Ezekiel 47:6,7; Ezekiel 47:12
JT The epistle to the Thessalonians gives features of early growth in an assembly, corresponding with the book of Hosea. The expression, “When Israel was a child” refers to early growth, to youthful life as pleasing to God; then it says, “I called my son out of Egypt”, (Hosea 11:1) the latter passage corresponding with Ephesians, where full development is in view, for while sonship applies to all believers, each taking account of himself as a son, yet the thought involves full development — manhood. So God says He called His son out of Egypt, having said to Pharaoh, “Let my son go, that he may serve me”, Exodus 4:23. Sonship involves maturity, and we may see how it is reached consciously, and how divine service is thus secured in the saints.
The passage in Ezekiel serves to show how the energy of the Spirit which marks the present dispensation results in manhood, for trees undoubtedly allude to that. In verse 7 we get the idea of it. Then there is the fruitfulness of the trees, and the evergreenness which would mark those who are prominent among the saints. One idea of a tree is prominence — not what exists on official ground merely. There is also the thought of fruitfulness. We have, “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age”, Psalm 92:14. Ministry is said to be to that end, that we may “all arrive ... at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ”. (Ephesians 4:13) The fulness of Christ alludes to what came out in Him as man.
Ques What is the thought of the “prisoner of the Christ” in Ephesians 3:1?
JT I suppose the deflection in the apostle’s path is referred to as turning aside to the Jews,
[p. 454] when the Lord intended him to be among the Gentiles; it seems as if the Lord would have him be among the Gentiles; Christ Himself was among them (Colossians 1:27); for the principle of ministry is not what you say only, but what you are amongst the saints. The divine idea was to be there concretely.
Rem You have in chapter 4, “I, the prisoner in the Lord”;(Ephesians 4:1) in chapter 3 it is “prisoner of the Christ Jesus”.
JT It is a question of the Lord having him where He wished him to be — a minister among the Gentiles. His imprisonment meant that he was to be taken among the Gentiles. “Prisoner in the Lord” means under the Lord wholly; his natural feelings were not active now.
Ques Does this chapter show how we come into the truth of sonship?
JT Yes; full manhood involving sonship. We are no longer to be babes, though we begin there. Babes are most interesting, but if that state continues beyond the normal age, there is occasion for reproof, as at Corinth. Gifts are not given to children, but where there is maturity. The Corinthians were using gifts as children use toys.
Rem The unity of the faith is introduced.
JT Yes. The banks of the river allude to that, a system of doctrine in relation to which the Holy Spirit operates. The Holy Spirit does not operate here, there, and everywhere; there are fixed limits in relation to which His activities are found — “banks”, in that sense. Gifts are not given to babes, not given to be misused. In Paul we have what the man was, not merely what he ministered. In Ephesians 4:11 the gifts are persons.
One has to distinguish between the grace given to all as in verse 7 and specific gifts; every Christian has a measure of grace, but gifts go beyond that.
[p. 455] Rem Gifts are the spoil of the ascended Man; as viewed thus, we cannot value them too highly.
JT Specific gifts involve prominence in those who have them; this is suggested in the trees. There is not much to look at in the bare trunk of a tree; as soon as it ceases to bear fruit or leaves it should be cut down. It is the divine intent that gifts should be prominent, and the scripture in Ezekiel indicates that they stand in relation to “banks”. The trees derive all their sap from the river, but their position is on the banks. Wherever the waters came everything that had life was affected, but the trees had a distinct place. There was gift among the Corinthians, but Paul says, “In your minds be grown men”, 1 Corinthians 14:20. Prominence after the flesh marked them.
Rem “The trees of Jehovah are satisfied”, Psalm 104:16. Would that preserve us from human aspirations; living in one’s gift, for instance?
JT The apostle says, “The life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God”;(Galatians 2:20) he was not living in his service. Lowliness, as in verse 2 of the chapter we are considering, marks one who has gone through discipline. The “prisoner in the Lord” implies entire subjection to the Lord, that he was wholly at the Lord’s bidding. The greatest epistles issued from the prison in Rome.
Things are to be set right, so he calls on the Ephesians to “walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye have been called, with all lowliness and meekness”, Ephesians 4:1,2.
Ques Do we get virgin affection and the light of sonship in Moses’ song?
JT Israel was “holiness unto the Lord”; the two thoughts, holiness and maturity, go together. The apostle could not speak to the Corinthians as to grown, men, but as to babes. It is like verses 6 and 7 of Ezekiel 47, whereas verse 12 gives the full thought of manhood — trees for food. If God distinguishes a [p. 456] man, it is for the good of others. The faithful and wise servant could minister a portion of food to the household in due season; he would know the kind of food to give each month.
Then when we come to Ephesians 4:13, “Till we all arrive”, the distinguished ones merge. It requires grace and humility to take one’s place as with the brethren in the body. Gifts are not said to be in the body, they are in the assembly.
Ques Are gifts food in the way they suggest Christ to us?
JT The intent in giving gifts is to minister food “for the work of the ministry”, hence if you become bare — no leaves or fruit — of what value are you? Leaves indicate profession, they are not valueless, they are for medicine, as it says; healing power is connected with them. It is profession as evidencing life, the leaf does not fade. The general profession of Christianity is beneficial when in the energy of life. It is a good thing in ministry to convey a right thought, not only in what I say, but in what I am. “There is one body and one Spirit, as ye have been also called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all”. There is this fixed order of things in relation to which all divine operations are carried on; unity pervades everything in that order of things, so that the grace given in a general way is to maintain a state of health, so to speak; “To each one of us has been given grace”; a general healthy state of things is thus preserved. The saints having generally a sense: of direct supply are preserved from clericalism, while making full room for specific gifts.
Then the apostle goes on to show that the Lord descended. He went into the lower parts of the earth; how much it cost Him to bring all this to pass. And now he comes to the specific gifts: first [p. 457] apostles — those vested with authority — to bring about subjection. “Some apostles” — a number of men who embodied the authority of Christ and who were marked by power. The apostles personally have passed away, but their ministry was essential at the outset. When the three thousand were brought in at Pentecost, it is stated that they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, and fellowship, etc.; they came immediately into the moral benefit of the presence of the apostles. The apostles’ doctrine is a system of teaching that is authoritative, that commands the assent of the mind. There is no hope of any one unless subject to the authority of Christ. In the letters of the apostles we have embodied what is necessary for us.
Rem There is the Spirit’s flow, so we have the banks.
JT Yes, men gradually sprang up. Take a man like Barnabas; he comes to light in connection with a new movement in Acts. He merges among the others, but is a most conspicuous link in the testimony, illustrating what is in view in Ezekiel. In Acts 14:14 you get the expression, “the apostles Barnabas and Paul”. Barnabas was not an apostle from the first, he was distinguished as “a son of consolation”, and later as “a good man and full of the Holy Spirit”. (Acts 11:24) He was distinguished morally rather than officially.
Then we have prophecy: “and some prophets”. The order of the gifts is very instructive and applies at any time. Unless there is subjection to the authority of Christ the mind of God cannot be brought in, in the prophet. So at Antioch a prophet foretold the famine; there were others there who could convey the mind of God; Acts 11:2, 28; chapter 13:1.
Then the evangelist, “and some evangelists” — Philip, for example. Stephen, again, was a prominent man by moral power; though only a deacon as far as his commission went, yet he was a distinguished [p. 458] vessel ( most distinguished) and stood out as an instance of what the Lord would do.
Rem He used the strength that remained to him to kneel down and pray for his murderers.
JT Yes, it is beautiful. The evangelist is free after the apostles and prophets have done their work; so from Antioch Paul and Barnabas are sent out. Following on that, there are pastors and teachers, persons who could take care of the flock, for all those operations involve a flock. Note that “pastor and teacher” is one person: “and some shepherds and teachers”. The gifts are “for the perfecting of the saints; with a view to the work of the ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ”. The body of Christ is to continue eternally; the work of the gifts is to edify it now.
Ques How do you distinguish between the body and the assembly?
JT The body is an organism; the assembly is a company of intelligent persons.
1 Corinthians deals with the body, but as regards the gifts it says, God has set “certain in the assembly”. A servant stands out by himself in the exercise of his gift. “Till we all arrive at ... the knowledge of the Son of God”. This refers to Him as outside the order of things here, to the pattern of what God has in His mind in the gospels. It is an objective thought that “the fulness of the Christ” is the divine ideal; what has come out in Him as man. The epistles are to bring us to the gospels. The fulness of the Christ refers to what has come out in Him personally, not to the body, though the body will become expressive of it all by-and-by. It is “the fulness of him that filleth all in all”, Ephesians 1:23.
Ques What is the unity of the faith?
JT There are to be no diverse thoughts among the saints in regard to doctrine. “Faith” there refers to the system of teaching. “Unity of the Spirit” refers to the feelings and affections, but the unity of the faith to what has been presented in doctrine. They run together; one the public teaching which has come out, the other the feelings and affections that go with it. If brethren hold different views, it is not the unity of the faith. There should be ability to discern the truth and hold it. Peter spoke of things in Paul’s teaching which were hard to be understood, but the unity of the Spirit underlay it and held them together. The unity of the faith marked the apostles. We love each other because of what we are personally as formed by the Spirit, as distinct from the teaching. Of course, love of the truth holds together also. Paul had previously gone to Jerusalem to make acquaintance with Peter; that link undoubtedly ran all through, and Peter was therefore able to bear the rebuke Paul administered. The unity of the faith is maintained in the unity of the Spirit; if personal links remain and are established, there is no quarrel about the doctrine. The chief difficulty lies in the lack of affection to one another; if you love a person you will construe what he says in the best light. It is beautiful to see the maintenance of the unity of the faith and the unity of the Spirit in Peter and Paul.
Rem The shepherd and teacher are one, you say?
JT Yes, such an one would keep the saints together and feed them. Shepherding is one of the most onerous of services. Ploughing and shepherding are linked together in Luke 17, and after that is done we are to expect no reward but to say, “We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do”, Luke 17:10. Most of the distinguished men of the Old Testament were shepherds, and a shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians.