READINGS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS (1)
READINGS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS (1)
JT Perhaps it may be to profit if we remark first on the exercise that has led up to this epistle. What is to be observed at the present time is the great demand made upon the saints in different parts of the world by the ruling powers, and it becomes a matter of great importance as to what principles are to govern us in these circumstances. I believe a distinction has to be made between the believer’s position as recovered through the gospel and his position as viewed in God’s counsels. In the former he finds himself here in the sphere of God’s government, in which he has to recognise the ruling powers as ordained of God. In the latter the ruling powers are all seen as subject to Christ. In Colossians and Ephesians the powers are seen in subjection to Christ, whereas in Romans they are seen as ordained of God, as God’s ministers; so that on the one hand the believer is the scene of God’s government, though in his soul recovered for God; but on the other hand he is taken out of the sphere of God’s government, and if he comes back into it, it is to influence it. In Ephesians he comes back into it as superior, and great enough to influence it in measure for God. Of course the believer is always to be subject, as taught in Romans 13; I am speaking only of the way the truth is presented in the respective epistles.
RSS How does that bear on Christians as we are in the world?
JT In the first instance the believer is viewed as recovered for God. Outwardly his condition and circumstances are [p. 154] unchanged.
R.S.S. Is that Romans?
JT Yes; in Romans he takes account of rulers as God’s ministers, appointed for a certain purpose; whereas in Ephesians he comes out to influence what is here. He is connected with another order of things and he looks at everything as subject to Christ. He has put on the new man.
ARS In what way does he influence this world?
JT He is a heavenly man in it, and so in that way he takes precedence of everything in it, and he moves in it as a stranger and sojourner, but, like Abraham, he is capable of influencing it for God. He has a priestly place, and so he supplicates, prays, and makes intercession for all men: for kings and all that are in dignity (1 Timothy 2:1). That is to mark the house of God, but there is nothing said about being subject to the authorities here.
JS The believer has no place in the world, hence has no vote.
ANW These kings are not exactly the powers that one wrestles against, as referred to in the end of this epistle?
JT No, but whatever powers there are, they are, according to Colossians and Ephesians, subject to Christ. Ephesians 6 speaks of “the spiritual lords of this darkness”, but all principalities and powers are subjected to Christ. As it is said here, God set Him “above every principality, and authority, and power and dominion, and every name named, not only in this age, but also in that to come; and has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the assembly”. So that in Colossians and Ephesians the believer looks at things from a different standpoint.
TR He looks at things from the top where the power is that can never give way.
JT Yes, whereas in Romans, as recovered [p. 155] the believer takes his place in relation to the government of God as it is here. The will of God in Romans refers to the believer’s path here; whereas the will of God in Ephesians refers to His counsels. You have here “the good pleasure of his will”, “the mystery of his will”, and “the counsel of his own will”. The mystery of His will has no reference to the believer s path through the wilderness, whereas the will of God in Romans has.
RSS “That ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
RJC Has he an influence as a recovered man?
JT Undoubtedly he has; as walking after the Spirit he fulfils the righteous requirement of the law. He shows what righteousness is. In Romans it is a question of what God is. God is known in righteousness, love and power, and the believer is in accord with all this.
FL The righteous requirement of the law fulfilled in them that walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit is all connected with the path here.
JT In Romans man is seen as recovered for God in righteousness, but for the “new man” and the heavenly man we must go to Colossians and Ephesians. As seen in these epistles the believer is a stranger here. He sees everything under Christ, so that he is in the faith-system. 1 Timothy 1:4 speaks of “God’s dispensation, which is in faith”. That refers to the Ephesians standpoint.
TR As regards government, Romans is more the sight-system. In connection with what we have been saying, it is important to understand the distinctions that we have been making between Romans and Ephesians. The understanding of what is in Romans would help us as to this.
FL I suppose Philippians is the working out in an individual of what is presented in Colossians and Ephesians, as true from the assembly viewpoint;
[p. 156] so that, as subject to Christ, he does things according to the spirit and mind of Christ all through. “Children of God”, “holding forth the word of life”, “shining as lights in the world”, citizenship in heaven, all applies to the individual formed according to Colossians and Ephesians.
AFM Romans 12 speaks of the body being presented. Would you say a word about that?
JT That raises a very interesting question. The body is the vehicle in which God’s will is carried out now in the recovered man. Romans 6 really prepares for chapter 12 in that sense, only that you have the additional thought in chapter 12 of a “living sacrifice”. Now the doctrine of chapter 6 is well exemplified, I believe, in Genesis 47. There Joseph is said to have secured not only the property of the Egyptians, but the persons themselves for Pharaoh. Now I apprehend that Romans 12 answers to that. The believer is entirely in accord with the rights of God. The doctrine is developed in chapter 6, the body is for God, “an instrument of righteousness unto God”. In chapter 12 the believer is in accord with that, so that he presents it to God as a living sacrifice. Hence it is in that sense different from his property. If the authorities lay claim to one’s property, which they do in taxes, the taxes they receive are gone without recall, but if they lay claim to a man’s body, there may be similarity to a point, but it is quite obvious that they cannot do what they please with the believer, for the reason that the believer’s body is a living sacrifice yielded up to God, and it cannot be recalled.
WB-t Psalm 105:17 - 22 would confirm this: “He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and [p. 157] let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: to bind his princes at his pleasure and teach his senators wisdom”.
JT Yes, he is let go free. God had rights over Joseph, and effected his liberation. The believer falls into the line of the government of God on earth, beyond that he cannot go, because he is God’s, and God’s will, according to Ephesians, leads beyond the sphere of His government here. The believer has to hold himself in reserve for that.
PHP Is it possible for the government of the state to overstep the boundaries in that way?
JT It is quite clear that it may.
FL One of the ruling powers in Paul’s day was Nero. Well, the teaching of Romans is that you should pay your taxes, fulfil all like obligations. What Nero does with your property you cannot control, but if he said to a believer, ‘Go and persecute the Christians; put them to death’, a point would be reached where the government of God and the government of the ruling power part company. They go so far but part company, and then the believer would have to take the stand that he would rather die himself.
JT He must obey God rather than man.
Ques What is the distinction?
JT They are not inconsistent if we see the termination of the line up to which the government of God and the government of man are parallel. The ruling power, the authorities, may retain one’s property. Indeed as to money we know that the stamp on it according to the Lord’s own remark admits that it belongs to the ruling power: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s” (Matthew 22:21). The fact that his stamp was on it signified his claim to it, but then Caesar’s stamp is not on the believer’s body. It is a poor thing for a believer to have a badge, or a button, or anything that denotes an ownership in [p. 158] this world, but we cannot hinder it being on the dollar bill.
Rem On the contrary, the believer is sealed with the Spirit of God.
JT Therefore, it is God’s image and superscription. The “seal” is that; (compare 2 Timothy 2:19, and Revelation 14:1).
WB-t Why is this epistle addressed “to the faithful in Christ Jesus”? I note that that expression is used here and in only one other instance, in Colossians.
JT I should say it refers to what they were; they were faithful. The facts presented in the narrative in the Acts would show that these Christians received wonderful light, and that they were governed by it. They had evidently been faithful to the light they had received so far. I think it is the ground on which further light is vouchsafed to us. It was a very great honour that they should have a letter such as this, which really may be viewed as the Christian charter. I say this because it is unique, as unfolding to us the place of the assembly in the counsels of God.
WB-w As being faithful you are given more light.
JT Yes, as being faithful. He that is faithful in little is faithful in much. Certainly this is much.
BTF Would this bring in others besides the Ephesians?
JT It is addressed, “To the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus who are at Ephesus”. It has been alleged it was more of a circular, referring to other assemblies, but the accepted text implying that it is a local epistle is undoubtedly correct.
AFM In verse 15 he speaks of their faith.
JT Yes, this comes in after the incidents recorded in the Acts, including his charge to the elders. You see, having been left to themselves they had proved [p. 159] faithful. It is as having received light and being left to ourselves that we prove just how faithful we are. In Ephesians you do not have baptism or the Lord’s supper. Baptism is alluded to but not taught, it simply says, “There is ... one baptism” (chapter 4:5). Baptism and the Lord’s supper run together in connection with what is seen here in the wilderness, whereas Ephesians is the faith system. You are connected with another system altogether, of which Christ is Head, and you look at every authority and power as subject to Christ. It is only a matter of time until all that shall be manifested, so that it is “the mystery of his will”. That is the system you are in. “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him”.
TA How is the forgiveness of sins brought in in Ephesians?
JT It is “in whom we have”. It is not a question of the administration of it, but of what we have.
FL To the company breathed into in John 20 the Lord said: “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father”. Then He says to them, “As my Father hath [p. 160] sent me, even so send I you”. That perhaps gives us the view-point of Ephesians, that it is a sent company from the ascended One.
JT It does exactly. John 20 corresponds with Ephesians. Mary leaves the garden with a message, the garden is figuratively what was on earth; now Mary goes to the Lord’s brethren with a message. The message gave them their full standing, their place in heaven. The message came as a matter of light, and the breath of Christ gave them the spirit of heaven. It is not simply the spirit of the Man in John 20, it is the spirit of the Man that ascended, the heavenly Man, that is breathed into them, and as breathing into them He says: “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you”. They go out into the world not only as recovered men, but as dignified by their relation to the heavenly Man and possessed of His Spirit.
JS So if they are in the world it is in testimony?
JT In testimony from heaven.
RSS That is very good. The message, “Go to my brethren”, gave them their position, and then the breathing gave them the spirit of the ascended Man.
JT Yes, the spirit of the ascended Man is the point. It is a new spirit here altogether, come in here from heaven.
RSS Well now, before we leave it, why is it that in Ephesians, when the standpoint is so high, it says, “and you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins”, (Ephesians 2:1); and “in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins”.
JT It is “in whom”. It is more to show what we have in the Person, for we are viewed still as literally on earth. I mean the fact that we have had sins is mentioned, and all that, but it is not a question of the administration of forgiveness; that is Romans. Here we read: “taken into favour in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of offences, according to the riches of his grace; which he has caused to abound towards us in all wisdom and intelligence, having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself for the administration of the fulness of times; to head up all things in the Christ”. It is to present the subject in its clearness, to present the whole situation.
RSS And in its completeness. Then as to, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins”, in Ephesians it is not exactly a recovered man, but a man taken out of death. I [p. 161] mean the question in Romans is how a guilty man can be justified, but in Ephesians how a dead man can live.
JT In Ephesians you are taken out of death and placed in heaven. There is no wilderness here. You see there is no baptism and no Lord’s supper. God takes us out of death, and places us in heaven. It is all private, we may say. The public thing is that you come out of heaven.
FL In bringing in the light of predestination and counsel, there is a passing reference to the fact that the whole question of guilt in man has been taken up and dealt with. It has not been ignored. It is recognised as dealt with, but it is incidental; it is not the theme. There is no need to dwell on it other than to clear the record that God has dealt with that side.
RSS That is helpful, and in the two scriptures that have been brought forward one speaks of what was accomplished: redemption, the forgiveness of sins; and the other speaks of our state as dead.
JT Referring to this history of David in 1 and 2 Samuel, recovery took place at Ziklag. No children were born to David there, yet everything was recovered there. The idea of multiplication is hardly in Romans; what is lost is recovered, but there is no increase. David recovered all, but the passage in 1 Samuel 30 does not speak of increase. Now when you come to Colossians and Ephesians you are in the line of increase, so that in David’s history we are told that he remained two days at Ziklag after all was recovered, and then on the third day he heard of the overthrow of Saul; that is to say, God has cleared the way for him. Well then, he inquires of the Lord as to what he is to do, and he is told to go to Hebron. That is another point. “Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and [p. 162] David had abode two days in Ziklag; it came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head”, (2 Samuel 1:1,2). Well, this man brought tidings of Saul’s overthrow. Then you find the beautiful spirit of David that he was not elated by the overthrow of Saul; he was the rather humbled and regretful, showing the spirit of the recovered man. Then it says, “And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of the Lord, saying, shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron”, (2 Samuel 2:1). And then it says: “So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, Nabal’s wife the Carmelite. And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah”, (2 Samuel 2:2,3). So that he has changed his position now. He is in Hebron, which we know signifies a great deal in Scripture. It was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. It antedated the world-city. So he is on the line of God’s original purpose now, and he and his household and the households of his men are spoken of, which is in keeping with Colossians. They are on the up line.
FL But it is not Ephesians. The full position, Jerusalem, is seven years later.
JT Quite so: he remains seven years at Hebron, and there he gets children, showing figuratively that in Colossians there is increase.
FL The increase by the knowledge of God, (Colossians 1:10).
PHP But Colossians is not universality, is it?
JT No, it is not universality. It is on the line [p. 163] to it, but there the assembly is not seen in heavenly places. So David has to go up to Jerusalem, which is the centre of the system. It is typically the centre of light for the whole universe, and so corresponds with Ephesians; there you have further increase of family, of children. Solomon especially was born there.
Rem David had been there before with the head of Goliath.
JT That was in testimony.
FL That was typical of Christ going up to heaven, “Having ascended up on high, he has led captivity captive” (Ephesians 4:8).
JT So that what it comes to, I think, is this, that what is to increase is the heavenly man. The man that is recovered, as in Romans, is a testimony to God’s power, but the heavenly Man is to increase and fill all things.
BTF Would you say a word in explanation of the counsels of God? We often refer to it, and I thought you might give us some help in understanding the meaning of the counsels of God.
JT That is seen in Hebron; that is, it was built before Zoan in Egypt. Therefore it was not built on the pattern of world-cities. It had reference to God, to what God does, and the fact that it had been given to Caleb makes it of all the more interest; it was Caleb’s city, and withal it was one of the cities of refuge. I think one point in connection with the purpose of God is that the thoughts connected with it precede everything in this world. They are wholly of Himself.
JS And faith takes hold of that, just as Caleb did?
JT Yes, and faith does not want anything else but that.
AFM You mean by that, that what is in the mind of God to bring to pass could not be improved [p. 164] upon. He did not take dignity from this world. For instance, “The princes of Zoan are fools” (Isaiah 19:11). The world system is coming down.
JT But the princes of Hebron are not fools.
ANW How are the measurements of height, and length, and breadth understood?
JT They are understood at Jerusalem; that is, Ephesians gives us the full divine height. From there our bearings are taken.
AAT Do you wish to convey the idea that any man who had been in Jerusalem under David would be a different man if he went back to Zoan to what he had been when there before?
JT He would go back an entirely different man. It is easy to see that. He would go back as a man from Jerusalem.
PHP And have the characteristics of Jerusalem about him.
Rem Our earthly position is governed by our heavenly position.
JT That is right, but Hebron only suggests the idea of the counsels of God. But in Ephesians it is, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ; according as he has chosen us in him before the world’s foundation”. That goes back very far; it is before the world’s foundation.
P.H.P. Before Hebron?
JT Yes, the divine choice as to us has no reference even to the foundation of the earth. Wisdom was there at the foundation, but God’s choice as to us was before that.
FL I think the distinction between the foundation of the world and what was before it is helpful to see. Matthew 24:34, and Revelation 13:8 speak of what is from the foundation of the world; but God’s counsels as to the assembly are before the [p. 165] foundation of the world. Wisdom also was before the foundation of the earth (Proverbs 8:22 - 26).
BTF What light does the Old Testament give on the counsels of God apart from Proverbs 8?
JT Proverbs 8 tells of wisdom being before the material creation, but there is nothing as to the assembly that was hidden. Of course there are certain allusions to the assembly in type; these we understand now by the Spirit. The foundations of the earth refer, I think, to the ways of God. The assembly comes into the sphere of God’s ways, but its own place and calling are outside of it.
JS Would the world’s foundation have reference to the responsible world?
JT That is what I was thinking. It is the theatre upon which the ways of God have been developed.
FL The idea of Christ and the assembly was in the divine mind, but it had to be brought to pass. The earth becomes a sphere in which all is effected, but the counsel of God precedes it, and goes on to the new heavens and the new earth.
JT Just as the sheet in Acts 10 came down and went up, came down and went up, and came down and went up. That is complete testimony, but then it went up and stayed. I think that suggests Ephesians.
TR And all that was in the sheet went up.
PHP Does it suggest to you that we are thereby rendered greater than anything that could be exhibited in the world?
JT Yes, one has the sense of the magnitude of Ephesians. It is our charter, if we could only lay hold of it.
AAT Is Ephesians the position seen in Luke 15 in connection with [p. 166] the house?
JT It corresponds, only Luke is in the presence of the elder brother, it is more before men. Ephesians is heavenly places.
RSS The scripture referred to in Hebrews 1:10 - 12 is very helpful. “And, thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thy hands; they shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail”. It is very striking in this connection, the difference between the ways of God and the counsels of God.