CHRIST THE HEAD OF HIS BODY
CHRIST THE HEAD OF HIS BODY
“And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God”, Colossians 2:19.
The subject I desire to bring before you this evening is Christ, the Head of His body. Now while in Ephesians you get the whole structure, what is called there “the Christ”, so that one who apprehended it would have apprehended the whole, still it is of immense importance to understand Colossians. The epistle to the Colossians is of deep interest, because there we learn the Head, and thus are preserved from the effort of the enemy to give the flesh a place in connection with Christ.
I do not doubt that many have learned the doctrine of the Ephesians; those who are well instructed have learnt the unity of the body, that we are all one; but the practical defect in their soul is, that they are not holding the Head. In the Corinthians you get nothing that I know of as relating to the Head save one passage, “So also is the Christ”, 1 Corinthians 12: 12. You get the unity of the body, which I have already spoken of, as the organisation in the house. If one goes into the house of God, if he sees things in any order, then he imagines there is a prearrangement; but there is no prearrangement. There is a divine organisation which is not visible, and it is a great thing for a soul to lay hold of this — that divine power is not visible. The effort of the enemy is to lead you astray by something visible. Divine power is invisible except to faith, and faith sees it. If you take into account the rejection of our Lord here, how could you expect any divine gift to be visible? The miracles and the gifts of tongues were visible at the beginning to confirm the grace proclaimed; now, the greatest manifestation is [p. 157] invisible except to faith. Who sees the organisation in the assembly except the man of faith? He not only sees it, but he is in co-operation with it. The Head is common to all, He is the Lord of each individually. Thus in the assembly no one should give out a hymn, or pray, or speak, or do anything but under the direction of the Lord, who is the Head of each in the assembly; the Head of the body. I now would dwell upon the Head. I may just state the object of this epistle; that is a great thing to get hold of. It was written to an assembly who were apparently in good order in the house, but they were in danger of being ensnared, because they did not hold in power the truth of the mystery, even that Christ was the Head of the body. Now the instruction here comes very suitably to us, because we might be in commendable order, yet we would be in danger of the selfsame snare unless we were holding the Head. Hence the apostle presents the truth that only could preserve them from the snare which was impending, and that is, as I have said, “Holding the Head”.
Now let us turn to the epistle, which I will divide into sections, so that you may find it easier to understand. The fourth verse of the first chapter tells us what their state was: “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints”. That was their state. Look at the advance they had made, and yet they were in danger. The Colossians are described as having “faith in Christ Jesus”. Every believer has faith in God, but this is faith in the Man that is now in heaven; as the Lord said, “Ye believe in God, believe also in me”. Their faith was not resting on anything short of Christ in heaven. Next the apostle prays for them. It is of great importance to apprehend the first thing necessary for souls who had advanced as far as the Colossians. Well, his prayer for them is, “For [or according to] the hope which is laid up for you in heaven”.
[p. 158] Now let me try to bring this before you in its singular importance — “The hope which is laid up for you in heaven”. No one is saved now for earth; you could not be saved for the place where Christ is rejected. You are saved for heaven. That is not connected with the church, but with the gospel. The Father’s house is the home of the prodigal; you are saved for heaven. And mark, he prays for them according to this hope, because if they are not kept connected with heaven and as belonging to it, he never will be able to lead them into the position which they are to occupy as belonging to that place. You will see, as we go on, how important it is. The point that is pressed is that heaven is their place, not earth, because the very moment you accept a new place you will regard everything with reference to that place. If a Christian would plead for any fascination here, I should say, Would you expect it in heaven? No; it would not be compatible. Exactly. So that the moment a man is set upon heaven, he knows very well that his tastes must accord with that place. The natural man would not find a home in heaven, because the natural man is of the earth. “He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth”. Man was made for earth, and heaven would not suit him at all; you must be a new man to enjoy heaven. I never knew a departure from the truth by an enlightened soul, but the first thing given up was the heavenly position. Everything for Christ depends on retaining it. The hope of the church is the coming of the Lord, but the hope of the gospel is heaven.
The first section ends at verse 14. It embraces from the highest point to the lowest, to forgiveness of sins.
The next begins at verse 15. It does not relate to us. It is simply a description of Him who is the Head, and the more you dwell on that description, the more your heart will bow before Him. “Who is the image [p. 159] of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell”. That is, this section is simply a description of Him who is the Head of the body, the church.
The next section is from verse 20 to the end of the chapter, and I will describe it, though I cannot go into it in detail. The point of it is how the truth is ministered. There are two ministries — one in verse 23 — “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel” — (note how he brings in that again) — “which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister”. That is one of the ministries — the gospel — that is universal; it is “to every creature under heaven”. But there is another ministry (verse 24): “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”. He dwells long upon the second; they had learnt the ministry of the gospel, and all he would keep them up to is the hope of the gospel; as we say (it is almost a children’s rhyme), “Heaven is our home”. We belong to [p. 160] heaven; we are on the earth, but we are not saved for earth, but for heaven. It is not we are seated there, but that heaven is our home. As in Luke 15, we have the Father’s house, a parable, showing that our joys now come from the Father’s house. The apostle dwells upon the second ministry — the ministry of the church, the mystery. They had the first in faith, but now he labours that they might hold the second in faith; and hence he dwells upon it exclusively, and that is now my subject. Verse 27 gives You the character of the great communication: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you”. The great point here, beloved friends, is that Christ is in you. I press this, because many think that “the hope of the glory” is the great point. The first noun in Scripture is the prominent one. We very often put the most important noun at the close. As I might say. Will you give me some bread? Bread is really the important noun, and a child would have put “bread” first, because it was the prominent idea in his mind. That is exactly what Scripture does. Now, the first noun here is “Christ in you”; and if Christ is in you there is a consequence, you have the “hope of glory”. It is not, as has been said, like Israel looking for the reign of glory; you have the hope of glory. because Christ is in you. It is a great point to insist on, because if you knew what it is to have Christ in you, you would be clear about the Head. The great object of the epistle is to educate them into the knowledge of the Head. Therefore he ends, “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect [grown up] in Christ Jesus”. If a man grows up in Christ Jesus, the more he is grown up in Christ Jesus, the more Christ is in him.
I turn now to chapter 2 down to verse 10 — that is the next section: what we gain from the mystery.
[p. 161] The apostle begins by telling that he would that they knew what great conflict he had for them — he was in prison, with whom was the conflict? Of course, he would not have had great conflict if there was not great opposition. And I earnestly press this upon you, beloved friends, because many have no idea of Satan’s opposition to the mystery. You may present the gospel without much opposition, especially if there be little separation from the world in connection with it; you cannot preach a full gospel if you do not understand the mystery. You may say it is a distinct ministry, and I quite admit that; but I have found it very difficult to say where the gospel ends and where the mystery begins. Indeed, as has been said, there is the assembly gospel. If you have not learned the assembly gospel you certainly will not apprehend the church; and that is the real lack in Christendom. The assembly gospel is not “the everlasting gospel”, nor even the gospel preached in the early chapters of the Acts; there it was for the remission of sins, and they received the Holy Spirit.
But to proceed, “I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts might be comforted” (what a cheer it would be to me, beloved friends, and I need not say what a delight to the Lord, if some in this room were thus comforted), “being united together” (as is the real force of the words) “in love”. You see, if there is one Head, we must be united. I do not ask my finger to go in concert with my eye; if they have one head they must go in concert. “That their hearts might be comforted, being united together in love, and unto all riches of the full weight of understanding” — not “assurance”; we use the word ‘assurance’ in the sense of being sure, but that is not the meaning here, it is more the sense of the magnitude; “to the full knowledge” — “acknowledgement” is a feeble [p. 162] interpretation, it does not convey the Spirit’s meaning, which is “the full knowledge of the mystery of God, in which are hid all the treasures” — mind you, it does not say ‘some‘ — “ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”. I can understand a godly soul, who never heard of it before, saying, Well, I wish I knew that — “in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”. This gives the description of our gain; we have had the description of our Head already, and, therefore, you can easily apprehend that there must be in this mystery all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
The apostle having stated the greatness of the mystery, now proceeds to present the snare to which they were exposed. “And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, 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. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ”.
Now, beloved friends, we have come to the snare. And you may be sure that Satan is not less active in this day than he was in that day, but he is always most active when there is most purpose of heart to apprehend that whereof we are apprehended by Christ Jesus. I believe he is roused by the energy of the Spirit. Here the snare is different, and it is peculiar in that way from any spoken of before in Scripture. In Corinthians the snare is Antinomian. If one is converted, he may enjoy himself as he likes. I understand Corinthians to be like Israel suffering from Balaam. Israel had obtained much, they were within one step, so to speak, of the land, but they were drawn aside by [p. 163] Balaam, that is, by association with the world. They were in popular favour, thus they were beguiled and corrupted. The Thessalonians suffered from Amalek. The Corinthians were in favour with their neighbours, and from association with them were compromised on every side. The Galatians in a way would correct the Corinthians, but with them it was legalism, and legalism will not correct Antinomianism; in fact legalism is more ensnaring. Because a Christian will never say, I am quite right to indulge myself; the most he will say is, I do not see any harm, I do not see why we should not enjoy ourselves; he tries to excuse himself. But it is very different when a man puts himself under the law, he is quite pleased with himself and commends himself. Therefore the Galatian was far more difficult to correct than the Corinthian. Now the Colossian was the worst, because he had received the gospel and had walked orderly, hence the snare to him was that a man could contribute to Christianity in a double way: one, by his mind, that is, philosophy; the other, by his body. “After the tradition of men” is ritualism, or religiousness; and “the rudiments of the world” is man’s learning, the principle of the world.
Perhaps someone here may think, Oh! I am quite safe from that, I do not think I shall be caught by philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, that is, Judaism; or after the rudiments of the world, that is, the elements on which it is formed. Remember, it is a very deceitful snare, it appeals to the mind and to your body to help on Christianity. It is rampant in Christendom under the terms rationalism and ritualism. It is remarkable that ritualism obtains among those called churchmen, rationalism amongst dissenters. One is exalting the mind to be a contributor, the other is the making the body the expression of religion. Well, what is the object of this snare? It is to displace Christ, to supplant Him, that Christ should not be [p. 164] everything. I must say, beloved friends, to every one here, you do not yet know the tendency of your own heart if you are not aware how readily you are taken both by mentality and religiousness. Very often preachers work upon you by one or the other, or both combined. See how a learned man moves a congregation. People say, Let us go and hear him, especially if he be accredited as being very religious. Now nothing will preserve from this snare but holding the Head; it is most important to bear this in mind. It is sometimes said, Such a truth is not necessary. Not necessary to salvation, I admit, but every part of the truth is necessary for walk. Every truth has a speciality; you could not correct a particular error but by a particular truth. In all the epistles up to this, you never get (except in Ephesians) the speciality which would preserve you from the Colossian snare; nothing can preserve you but the knowledge of “the Head”.
Mark how this section closes, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”, that is according to the description in the first chapter; and then mark how he applies this, “And ye are full in him”; it is the same idea, “Ye are complete in him”. And if I am complete in Him, what do I want with man’s learning, or man’s religiousness? How can you add to me? Any contribution would detract from Christ; the idea of subsidising Him is presumption, as if we needed any addition to Him. No; we do not need any addition, we are complete. A man might say, By my scientific researches I will prove to you the scripture. Because I am complete in Him, I do not want your scientific researches. The attempt in this snare is to make man prominent, and thus to deprive me of the pre-eminence and all-sufficiency of Christ, and nothing can preserve you from it but maintaining the sufficiency of Christ, and not only the sufficiency, but that we are complete in Him.
The next section begins at the eleventh verse, as I [p. 165] read it, and runs down to the end of the chapter. This is an important section, because it describes how we are relieved from all we suffer from. It begins, “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the flesh [not ‘the sins’] by the circumcision of Christ”. There is no scripture that I know of more absolute than this as to the removal of the first man. The figure used is circumcision, which was cutting off, never to be resumed, and that cutting off was at the cross. The copyists of the text felt it was such an absolute statement (I really commiserate them) that the body of the flesh should be cut off never to be resumed, that they thought it impossible, that it must mean our sins, and they put in “the sins”. It is not so in the original. But you can understand how a pious man, who did not see the truth, thought, That must mean sins, and therefore in copying put “of the sins” into the margin; and the next person copying put it into the text. But the fact is, it is not there, it is the body of the flesh cut off. The cross is the circumcision. Baptism is, that you have no status here, that you have been baptised unto the death of Christ, from thence to enter into newness of life through His resurrection. There is no more claim on the one buried by baptism unto the death of Christ. Here, in the sight of God, man in the flesh is absolutely cut off, never to be resumed. There is no returning to it, the ships are burned. Like the man who emigrated with some friends, and when they had reached their destination, fearing his friends might repent of the step they had taken, he proposes to burn the ship, to obviate any possibility of returning.
The first section of the second chapter presents our gain by the mystery; the second insists on that the old man himself, and all that was on him, have been removed by the death of Christ. In verse 20, “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world”, you are looked at as over Jordan. In Romans 6 you do not get farther than that you are dead to sin: “Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus”. Here you get a step further on, you are over Jordan. It is not a question of sin at all, but there is not a single barrier between you and God. The Jordan was a river, it was the last barrier to the land. It is not only that there is not a shade of sin, but there is not to us now a shade of a barrier between us and heaven. We are dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, the elements on which this world is formed. ‘Rudiments’ do not include your relative ties. They are God’s ordinances, and we are sustained in them by Christ, but every barrier is gone; and, thank God, we know it in spirit, though we do not always accept it. Therefore the Lord says to the thief on the cross, “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise”. There is not a single barrier. It was not the thief’s own death which removed the barrier. See Paul caught up to the third heaven. He did not die; it was Christ’s death removed every barrier. How then could you be subject to ordinances, because that would be admitting that you were alive. But here you, as to the body of the flesh, are absolutely gone in the cross; and as you are walking in faith you learn that through the death of Christ there is not a single barrier between you and the place where God is. So that, though I am not actually in paradise, I am, through the gospel, possessed of a home there, and in the church I reach, in spirit, my place there — that is the difference between the gospel and the church. It is my place, my property, and I draw my provision from my property as a child of God; but in the church I am a member of the body of Christ, and I enjoy that place as a member of His body now.
Now I come to the last section I will speak on. It runs from the first to the eleventh verse of the third chapter, and is the practical consequence of the preceding section. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God”. We are spoken of as risen now, as over Jordan; but we are not in possession. In fact, Colossians answers to the fifth chapter of Joshua. We have reached Gilgal; that is, the reproach of Egypt is rolled off. There, it was rolled off practically; that is, it was not rolled off until the circumcision was effected. Now with us, it has been rolled off in the cross, and we have to accept it. I said a while ago, and I repeat it, that we often enjoy being over Jordan, though we do not accept it. The moment we enjoy the presence of the Lord, and feel He is enough for us, we are over Jordan. But there is another question: Do I accept it? If I accept it, heaven is my sole place, I have lost the earth. I must leave everything of myself behind, and enter heaven in quite a new order. In the type they were literally circumcised, and therefore it was called Gilgal — rolling off. They had crossed the Jordan, but they were not in possession. Here I am come to a spot where the Lord is everything. In Joshua 5, the day after the passover they ate of the old corn of the land, they did not eat it the day before. It was a new phase, and this “the morrow” expresses. You are now living in a new scene, feeding on that which grew there; in plain language, it is Christ in glory. You are where He is .
But mind you, when I get to Christ in glory, I get where there is no other man but Himself. Now you have got the Head, and you will never get the Head in any other way. You may have the doctrines, but you have not got the sense in your soul.
I would to God every one in this room could say, I have found where the Lord is. I believe there is a moment in the history of the soul when the question arises, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Of course, as a matter of mere doctrine, you all would say, He is in heaven. But that is not what I mean. I mean: Do you know
where He is? Mary Magdalene said, “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him”. Did John know where He was? He knew He was risen, but he did not know where He was. And many believers know no more. Hence the apostle says, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God”. Now you have reached Him where He is. Next, “Set your affection [mind] on things above, not on things on the earth”. Now earth and heaven are in contrast, and that is of immense moment. It is not heaven and the world, but heaven and earth. I see many who are earthly, who are not worldly. “He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth”. The whole point here is, that you are on new ground; you are over Jordan, and are to “set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth; for ye have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory”. As has been said by another, life is the subject here, not the power of the Spirit. Nothing can give you such an idea of the Head as being in His life. Christ, my life; and if Christ is your life, it is very easy to understand the Head.
Now follows Gilgal — the rolling away of all connected with Egypt, that is judgement; all that had been cut off in the cross. Often this chapter is read for practice (and I do not deny that it is practical), yet I submit that the object of the scripture is to set us in a spot where there is no one but Christ; and in reaching Him you must drop everything that is unfit for Him, seeing that He, in His cross, removed for us everything which was unfit for Himself in glory. We are practically in the effect of His work. In the type, if you would eat of the corn of the land, you must endure Gilgal, that is, practice; you must roll off the reproach of Egypt. It is an excision of the man wholly. It is not merely [p. 169] Marah, a man denying himself when he is tempted; “Arm yourselves with the same mind; for he that has suffered in the flesh has done with sin”. Now here, all of the man is gone, not a bit left, and therefore all is classed under two heads — one where the will works, and the other, habits. “Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth”. Practice is properly, walking consistently with a position or a power conferred on us, as in Ephesians. Here it is the necessary abandonment of everything which has been removed from us in the cross of Christ, in order that we may enjoy Him, our life, where He is. It must be absolute, for we could not reach Him where He is in any other way. Verse 8: “But now ye also put off all these” — now it is habits — “anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds” (all the old, with its connections, must be abandoned), “and have put on the new” (we are no other, through grace, in the sight of God) “which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him”. Now, when you accept all this in faith, you are where Christ is — “Where there is neither Greek, nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all”. There is a spot where Christ is everything and in everything; all of the first man has been removed to you sensibly and practically. I am conscious of it; not only do I believe that all has been cut away in the cross and absolutely removed from the eye of God, and that I have been buried by baptism unto the death of Christ, but I am led now in Christ’s life outside of all that I am as a man, both as to will and habits, and I have come to a place where there is no other man at all but Christ. “Christ is everything”. The apostle enumerates every class of man; it matters not whether he is a Greek (a learned man), or a Jew (a religious man), circumcision or uncircumcision,
[p. 170] Barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, but every kind of man is distanced. It reminds us of that word in the transfiguration, “Jesus only”. And you have reached this heavenly spot, and reached it in and by Him who is your life; you are now eating of the old corn of the land, and you have no other food there. A blessed moment for my heart, to have reached Himself, where there is no intrusion of man. I am sensible that the flesh was excluded, that it could have no place there. Though I do not call this practice, yet it is most practical. Here it is the prodigal, stripping himself of every shred of his old clothes, before he is invested with the new ones. Practice is behaving myself in conformity with my new clothes, not working to obtain them. Here, the object is not practice, but practical, in order to reach the spot where the Lord is everything and in all. Now you are where the Head is, where there is no one to interfere with Him or to rival Him. He has indisputable sway. In Him all fulness dwells. As you know Him here, you know the great fact of “holding the Head”.
I need not add more. The rest of the epistle follows as a consequence. Having reached the Head, you will come out here a different person in your family, and everything. Now practice will follow, as he says lower down, “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus”.
In conclusion, let me ask you to bear in mind the magnitude of this truth. I believe there is no truth so little known as the fact, we all have one Head. The same Head who directs you directs me, if we are right. If you and I were where Christ is, we should do everything in loving subjection to Christ. As we all have the one and selfsame Head, if He direct an assembly to any course, that must be binding upon every assembly on the face of the earth, because there is but one Head. Holding the Head is individual; it is the blessing and privilege of every member of the [p. 171] body of Christ to hold the Head. The one who is “vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind” is not holding the Head.
One thing more: I believe if we insisted more upon the magnitude of having such a Head, we would divert many from the vain pursuits with which they are occupied. When you see a Christian engrossed with his works and usefulness, with his own conceptions, and his prominence as a servant, it is evident that he is not holding the Head. If the Head were held, all these vanish as a cloud before the rising sun. There is little use in controversy. The one thing for us is, to present the blessedness and magnitude of this great truth.